Manchester 'Memoirs, Vol. Ixvi. (1922), No. 4 



IV.— The Cultural Significance of the use of Stone. 

 By W. J. Perry, M.A. 



(Read April 2^th, ig22. Received for puhlication Dec. 12th, ig22.) 



If any element of culture be selected, and if inquiry be 

 made throughout the world as to its presence or absence in 

 different communities, it will usually be found, after a short 

 study, that its distribution, at first seemingly capricious, is 

 really according- to definite rules. The formulation of these 

 rules is the work of that branch of study which may be termed 

 Human Geography, a study that lies on the borderland of 

 Geography, Ethnology, Economics, and History. Why does 

 any community possess any element of culture whatever? 

 Why does a tribe make pottery, build stone houses, practice 

 magic, or do any of the thousand and one things that are done 

 by man ? What is the history of any cultural element that is 

 possessed by any community? Did that community invent 

 the element independently of any other community, or did it 

 borrow the idea ? It is possible to conceive that, all the world 

 over, communities have spontaneously invented arts and 

 crafts, and in different ways. On the other hand it is possible 

 that each art and craft was invented, once and for all, in one 

 place, and at one time, and that every instance of the posses- 

 sion of that art or craft is the result of cultural transmission. 

 It is not necessary to emphasize the tremendous intellectual 

 gulf that lies between the standpoints of those who hold these 

 opposite opinions. The whole theory of society depends upon 

 the manner of origin of any particular art or crafts, or of any 

 other element of culture. In view of the importance of this 

 matter, I have chosen for discussion a cultural element that by 

 its very simplicity seems to be capable of off-hand treatm.ent 

 without any exact study ; in the hope of convincing the reader 

 that it is wise to pause before venturing opinions on matters 

 apparently so simple. I take the act of using stone for the 

 building of monuments, for walls, and for any purpose of 

 construction whatever. I shall leave on one side the use of 

 stone for implements, although that is capable of treatment on 

 exactly parallel lines. 



Febntary^ iQ2j. 



