Brinton.] ^^ [April 19, 



They abound both in prefixes and suffixes, but these are not, or 

 are rarely, independent themes. The same affix may be used 

 either as a prefix or a suffix. The verbs have a direct conjuga- 

 tion in which the theme is verbal, and another in which it is 

 nominal (e. g., " I see it," and " the seeing it is to me "),* 



The physical type of the Caucasic stock is that of the pure 

 white race, the brunette variety. The modern skulls are broad 

 (brachy cephalic), but those from the most ancient cemeteries are 

 much less so, proving that a change has taken place in this re- 

 spect during historic times. f The stature is slightly above the 

 European average. The hair is dark and wavy, beard abundant, 

 eyes straight and dark, nose prominent. Handsome men are 

 frequent, and the beauty of the women is famous the world 

 over. 



In the opinion of M. Chantre — an archaeologist who has most 

 thoroughly investigated the subject — the Georgians have resided 

 in their present territory at least since 2000 B.C.J This is cor- 

 roborated by the development of their dialects. Their own 

 legends, which trace their ancestry back to Kartvel, fourth in 

 descent from Noah, are worthless. § 



Whenever it was that they reached Trans-Caucasia, they cer- 

 tainly brought with them an advanced culture. The oldest ceme- 

 teries belong to the dawn of the Iron Age (the Halstatt epoch); 

 a few burial mounds may date back to the Copper Age, but none 

 are in the exclusively Stone Age.|| This proves, as already sug- 

 gested, that their earlier development was in another clime, in 

 some more southerly latitude, where the}' were in contact with 

 an older civilization, which must have been either Aryan or 

 Semitic. 



*Fr. Miiller, G)-undriss der Sprachwissenschaft, Bd. iii, Abth. i, s. 216, sq. 



t Dr. R. Virchovv, Verhand. Berliner Anlhrop. Qes., Bd. xiv, s. 474-480. In the necropolis 

 of Sam tha wo two-thirds of the oldest skulls are dolicho-cephalous. The modern Geor- 

 gians have an index of about 84°. Many of the old skulls average as low as 73°. See on 

 this Dr. Zaborowski, in Bull, de la Soc. d' A nthropologie de Parix, 1894, p. 43. This change 

 in cranial form is doubtless owing in part to intermarriage with brachycephalous stocks, 

 but partly also to persistent antero-posterior deformation finally exerting hereditary in- 

 fluence. 



tSee his article, "Origine et Ancienneto du premier Age du Fer au Caucase," in the 

 Mcms. de la Soc. d'Anlfiropoloj/ie de Lyons, 1892, and in the reports of the International 

 Congress of Prehistoric Archaeology at Moscow, 1892. De Morgan refers the older tombs 

 of Armenia and Trans-Caucasia to a period 2500-3000 B.C. (Mission Sciaifijlque au Cau- 

 case, p. 203.) 



gThey are epitomized in N. F. Rittich's Die Elhnographie Russlands, p. 2. 



11 Dr. Virchow, uhi sup., p. 482. 



