MAN FROM THE FARTHEST PAST 
bridges’’ long since sunk beneath the sea. When Asia and 
Africa have given up more of the secrets which recent 
discoveries show are concealed 1 in their soil, we shall know 
much more about man’s origin and earliest history than 
we do now. 
The records of man’s prehistoric past fall into several 
classes, of which two are of leading importance—first, his 
own actual bodily remains in the shape of his bones; and 
second, the objects of his handiwork, such as tools and 
weapons and evidences drawn from the traces of his oldcamp 
sites, his burial customs, and his dawning artistic sense. 
In addition, the animal life and the vegetation associ- 
ated with early man can contribute much information. 
Certain types of plants and animals flourish in tropical 
climates, while others can exist only under temperate and 
even cold conditions. Their remains give a clue to climate 
and other conditions under which early man lived. We 
can also learn something of prehistoric man from the more 
backward races of the present day. 
But before we describe these methods and their ap- 
plication, let us see how the trained archeologist works. 
Once he has chosen his site, he digs methodically and with 
closest attention, sometimes even straining every spadeful 
of earth through a sieve. He makes exhaustive notes of 
every bit of evidence that he finds, records each fragment 
of pottery or bone or worked stone as to its position and 
condition when found. He takes photographs not only 
of the objects themselves but also of their surroundings, 
in some cases even from aeroplanes; draws detailed plans; 
makes maps; notes fully the geology and climate, the 
human and animal life and vegetation of the region, 
both past and present—everything, in short, which might 
throw light in any way on the mode of life of the men of 
that time and place. The final study of the finds them- 
selves can be done properly only at some great institu- 
tion, a museum or university, with the aid of all the 
resources that modern science can bring to bear. 
[38 ] 
