FROM PRIMITI\E TO MODERN MAN 743 



that the Java man maj' represent a Miocene rather than a Pliocene stage in 



human evolution. 



PKIMITIXE MAX AS REN'EALED in' IllE WORK OF HIS HANDS 



However difficult the prohlcms of man's anceslrx , however fragmentary 

 the skeletal proofs of his anticiuity,one ])hase of his prehistoric existence offers 

 a fertile iicid for research in the endeavor to discern his lineaments so greatly 

 dimmed by the past. The use of certain extracoipoix'al agencies must have 

 been the secret of his fust real successes in the conquest of tlu' earth. Ashedrst 

 began to manifest the attributes of man through the arts and industries of 

 manual contrivance, as he passed slowly from one stage to the next, what 

 record of himself has he left in the way of tlu' implements by means of which 

 he achieved his ultimate successes? 



PKiMnr\ H Man — His Cultural Pjl\ses 



Man's obscure beginnings are all but lost in the great geological ages 

 which lie behind liis recorded history. To eomi^rehcnd this vast extent of 

 time, whether it be something more or less than a million \ ears, is enough to 

 baffle the most facile imagination. Little wonder that such insignificant traces 

 of his remains have yet \x\-n brought to light. Doubtless when the search 

 becomes more extensive and more thoroughly organized, fiuther signs of his 

 prmiiti\e structure and activities will be discovered. 



Quite as important as the morphological remains of prehistoric man are 

 those works of his hand, w hich have been slowly accumulating as tiie result 

 of untiring patience and geological research. It is now possible to classify 

 this great body of evidence in such a way as to show the existence of certain 

 industrial and cultural stages through which man has passed prior to his 

 actual historical period. That he began as a nomadic hunter, slowly acquired 

 the crude essentials of manufacture, gradually developed the dexterity and 



