THE NEW ABCE OOLOGY 



101 



Trenton. They were found deep down 

 in sand and gravel, suggesting great 

 age. For many years these facts had 

 been debated and discussed without 

 definite result; but two years ago, Mr. 

 Leslie Spier turned his attention to the 

 Trenton sand deposits, dissecting them 

 through and through Avith the same in- 

 finite patience. The outcome of this 

 study is that we now know that the 

 stone tools of man are found at one 

 general level in the Trenton sand, and 

 that they are a part of the pebble series 

 for the same. In short, it is beyond dis- 

 pute that the history of the pebbles in 

 the sand is also the history of the stone 

 tools. Yet, this sand deposit is below 

 the soil and so situated as to indicate 

 its formation at a time when the cli- 

 matic conditions of Xew Jersey were 

 quite unlike what they are to-day. Here 

 again progress has been made toward 

 the first step in the solution of man's 

 origin in the Xew World. 



Tery much the same can be said of 

 the question as to whether our North 

 American caves were occupied by man 

 at an early period. A good many j-ears 

 ago, Avhen the first discoveries were 

 made in Europe leading to the theory 

 that there was a time when man's cul- 

 ture could be truly characterized by the 

 term "cave dwellers," our archaeologists 

 examined many of the now famous 

 caves of Kentucky and Virginia. They 

 fdund that prehistoric man had entered 

 these caves, but had left behind no- 

 where such clear-cut evidences of his 

 successive appearances as in Europe. It 

 was concluded, therefore, that all these 



traces of nuvn behjjig to a very recent 

 period. Last autumn, however, Mr. 

 Nelson made a careful study of Mam- 

 moth Cave. He made careful vertical 

 sections in the accumulated deposits 

 near the entrance to the cavern, and by 

 the minute dissection of these, found a 

 definite difference between" the cultures 

 represented here and those of the his- 

 toric Indians. There is now every rea- 

 son to believe that the culture of the 

 Indians found in Kentucky by our first 

 explorers was not the initial culture of 

 that area. There is every hope that 

 the use of proper methods of research 

 will give us a chronological series for 

 the whole Ohio drainage. 



We cannot here describe the new 

 methods that were used to get these re- 

 sults. They belong to the technique of 

 the subject, but we should not forget 

 that every field excursion of an archae- 

 ologist will bring him face to face with 

 a case a little different from anything 

 he has encountered before. The new 

 situation must be analyzed and dealt 

 with as its nature requires. So, in short, 

 the real equipment of an archaeologist 

 is a scientific mind. As soon as archae- 

 ology ceases to strive for the mere col- 

 lection of fine objects or curios, and 

 turns to prol)lems, it makes discoveries. 

 We may justly take pride in the ap- 

 pearance of this now science, partly 

 because our own ]\Iuseum has played a 

 conspicuous part in its inception, and 

 partly because it will hasten the day 

 when our archaeological exhibits can be 

 made to tell the true story of man's 

 career in the New World. 



