468 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1896. 



supports of the dolmens iu the Grottos of Coizard in the valley of Petit- 

 Morin (Marne). 



Similar rude sculptures have been found in other parts of Prance, 

 which have been collated by M. Cartailhac in the work above cited, 

 which collation has been extended in his description of the sculptures 

 of the dolmen d'Epone (Seine-et Oise).^ 



The collation of sculptures of the human form was continued by 

 M. Solomon Eeinach.- It is not deemed necessary to here enlarge on 

 the subject in greater detail. Tliose interested can follow it in the 

 authorities cited. 



Plate 43 represents four of a series of eight discovered bj^ Abbe 

 Hermet and drawn and described by M. Cartailhac.-' The figures are 

 the best of the series and have the nearest approach to human beings. 

 Some have legs and feet represented below the girdle, but shorter, 

 narrower, straighter, and closer together, until it becomes an even 

 chance whether they may not have been intended to represent the 

 fringed ends of a scarf. M. Gabriel de Mortillet has reported and fig- 

 ured by photograph the same statues.^ 



M. Solomon Reiuach figures and describes the same,^ and says: "I 

 find it inexplicable that these should ever have been qualified as Neo- 

 lithic. The accessories which distinguish them can respond only to an 

 origin in the time of metal, probably of bronze." 



Other sculptures near Paris are reported by M. Adrien de Mortillet." 



NORTH AMERICA. 



Aboriginal sculptures in North America are quite different from those 

 of Europe. The Neolithic i)eoples of the United States, whether North 

 American Indians or their ancestors or predecessors, made many pieces 

 of sculpture in stone, wood, or pottery, representing animal as well as 

 human faces and forms. Most of these were rude, though they some- 

 times presented the subject in a bold and marked manner. 



In fifone. — The sculptures in stone exhibited a skill iu art inferior to 

 that displayed in flint chipping, drilling, and polishing. The ordinary 

 decoration of objects was not, as in Europe, confined to geometric 

 designs. It appears as though the aboriginal American artist gave his 

 fancy or imagination free rein, was not hampered by rules of art nor 

 deterred from the most daring attempts by any imaginary mechanical 

 or technical difficulty. It is true that he made designs b}^ sculptur- 

 ing on fiat surfaces, sometimes on stone, but many more times on pot- 

 tery. Still, on numerous occasions he essayed the highest flights of 



iL'Antliropologie, 1894, V, pp. 147-156. 

 2 La Sculpture en Europe, pp. 25-34, 172-185, and 288-305. 

 ^L'Anthropologie, 1892, III. No. 2, p. 222. 



4Revue Meiisuelle de I'ficole d'Anthropologie, troisieme Annee, X, 15 Octobre, 1893, 

 p. 321. 



sL'Anthiopologie, V, pp. 26, 27, figa. 22, 23. 

 ^Bulletin de la Socioto d'Anthropologie de Paris. 



