DEVELOPMENT OF PRIMAL SHAPING ARTS. 505 



ORDER OF ARTS DEPENDENT ON MEN'S NEEDS. 



A study of the elemental shaping acts does not aid us in determin- 

 ing what particular art would take precedence or what variety of art 

 product ought to characterize the earliest periods of human history. 

 If, however, as appears to be the case, the four shaping processes 

 were equally within the reach of man when art began, it does not nec- 

 essarily follow that all would come into general use at or even near the 

 same time or stage of advancement. It is not the simplicity or dis- 

 coverability of a shaping process that decides the order of its adop- 

 tion. The question is rather as to whether or not it is better suited 

 than any other process for supplying human wants. The simplest 

 process possible, though in operation before man's eyes from the 

 beginning to the end of his career, w r ould never come into use did it 

 not subserve the requirements of his existence. The assertion may be 

 safely made, therefore, that, capacity and environment being uniform, 

 the shaping process that would directly supply a permanent or fre- 

 quently recurring need not otherwise supplied would be the first proc- 

 ess generally utilized. 



A study of human needs in the auroral days may assist in throwing 

 light upon the order of succession and course of development prob- 

 ably taken by the implement-producing arts. Let us inquire what 

 devices would naturally be called for in supplying primal needs; first 

 the need of food, second the needs of defense and offense, third the 

 needs of shelter and clothing, fourth the needs of transportation. The 

 need of food is a first and ever present incentive to activity, and in 

 early periods man's ingenuity must have been constantly exercised in 

 securing a sufficient and permanent supply. Food getting would lead 

 to the development of varied activities, and call into use all available 

 manual aids. It would certainly in time lead to the multiplication and 

 specialization of utensils, thus opening the way for progress in the 

 shaping arts and the evolution of culture. 



It is necessary, then, to inquire as to the probable nature of the 

 artificial devices that food getting and preparing would call into exist- 

 ence. The devices employed would depend on the nature of the 

 food resources available to primitive man. The question is compli- 

 cated by the fact that environment is far from uniform, and that the 

 food resources vary with the habitat. Yet, considering general con- 

 ditions onl} T , we are able to reach measurably satisfactory results. 

 Whatsoever man's habitat, his food resources were limited to the prod- 

 ucts of animal and vegetable life, or to both combined, and, so far as 

 the use of stone is concerned in dealing with these substances, it is safe 

 to say that two classes of implements and only two would be in 

 constant demand. First, roundish or blunt stones would be needed 

 for throwing, striking, crushing, breaking, grinding, etc.; second, 



