﻿470 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  192 
  9 
  

  

  In 
  addition 
  to 
  metal 
  work 
  there 
  are 
  other 
  important 
  interconti- 
  

   nental 
  changes 
  in 
  technology 
  and 
  design, 
  regarding 
  which 
  space 
  does 
  

   not 
  permit 
  elaboration. 
  But 
  the 
  important 
  bearing 
  of 
  these 
  archeo- 
  

   logical 
  indications 
  is 
  on 
  the 
  question 
  of 
  ancient 
  population 
  of 
  the 
  wet 
  

   tropics 
  below 
  the 
  intensively 
  developed 
  Mayan 
  territory. 
  For, 
  if 
  

   civilization 
  had 
  a 
  long 
  time 
  to 
  run 
  in 
  such 
  environment, 
  it 
  must 
  surely 
  

   have 
  resulted 
  in 
  dense 
  settlements. 
  

  

  The 
  best 
  evidence 
  that 
  civilization 
  did 
  have 
  a 
  fairly 
  long 
  life 
  in 
  

   certain 
  parts 
  of 
  humid 
  South 
  America 
  is 
  seen 
  from 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  a 
  

   high 
  culture 
  existed 
  about 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  Amazon 
  which 
  had 
  disap- 
  

   peared 
  before 
  the 
  arrival 
  of 
  the 
  whites. 
  The 
  archeological 
  bond 
  be- 
  

   tween 
  Central 
  America, 
  Venezuela, 
  and 
  the 
  lower 
  Amazonas 
  is 
  first 
  

   found 
  on 
  the 
  Ai'chaic 
  level 
  corresponding 
  to 
  an 
  early 
  distribution 
  of 
  

   the 
  maize 
  complex.^'' 
  But 
  eastern 
  Brazil 
  became 
  the 
  center 
  of 
  new 
  

   agricultural 
  developments. 
  Manioc, 
  sweet 
  potatoes, 
  pineapples, 
  

   etc., 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  domesticated 
  here 
  and 
  distributed 
  towards 
  

   the 
  west. 
  The 
  high 
  culture 
  attributed 
  to 
  the 
  Arawack 
  and 
  Tupi 
  

   tribes 
  was 
  broken 
  down 
  by 
  the 
  raiding 
  Caribs, 
  and 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  

   the 
  West 
  Indian 
  occupation 
  may 
  correspond 
  roughly 
  with 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  

   the 
  Amazonian 
  civilization. 
  Some 
  of 
  the 
  tribes 
  moved 
  out 
  over 
  

   the 
  Antilles, 
  and 
  others 
  pushed 
  down 
  along 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  Brazil. 
  But 
  

   there 
  are 
  other 
  evidences 
  that 
  the 
  Amazonian 
  use 
  of 
  jade 
  and 
  several 
  

   religious 
  concepts 
  displayed 
  in 
  art 
  must 
  be 
  placed 
  at 
  the 
  earliest 
  about 
  

   1000 
  A. 
  D. 
  This 
  leaves, 
  however, 
  a 
  long 
  enough 
  interval 
  after 
  the 
  

   introduction 
  of 
  agriculture 
  on 
  the 
  Archaic 
  horizon 
  to 
  account 
  for 
  

   high 
  populations. 
  

  

  CONCLUSIONS 
  

  

  1. 
  The 
  present 
  equivalent 
  of 
  the 
  Indian 
  blood 
  in 
  the 
  New 
  World 
  

   is 
  in 
  excess 
  of 
  25,000,000 
  individuals. 
  

  

  2. 
  There 
  are 
  fewer 
  Indians 
  to-day 
  than 
  at 
  the 
  coming 
  of 
  Europeans. 
  

  

  3. 
  Various 
  ancient 
  peaks 
  are 
  indicated 
  by 
  the 
  archeological 
  record 
  

   in 
  different 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  New 
  World. 
  The 
  first 
  high 
  population 
  level 
  

   was 
  reached 
  in 
  Central 
  America 
  and 
  Mexico 
  during 
  the 
  First 
  Empire 
  

   of 
  the 
  Mayas 
  (with 
  greatest 
  density 
  about 
  550 
  A. 
  D.), 
  and 
  a 
  second 
  

   one 
  of 
  much 
  greater 
  extent 
  obtained 
  during 
  the 
  florescence 
  of 
  the 
  

   Toltecs. 
  

  

  4. 
  The 
  chronological 
  evidence 
  indicates 
  the 
  greatest 
  aboriginal 
  

   population 
  of 
  America 
  about 
  1200 
  A. 
  D., 
  this 
  being 
  a 
  halcyon 
  epoch 
  

   of 
  far-flung 
  trade 
  at 
  the 
  maximum 
  expansion 
  of 
  wet-land 
  cultures. 
  

   The 
  numbers 
  of 
  the 
  red 
  race 
  may 
  then 
  have 
  amounted 
  to 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  

   times 
  the 
  present 
  numbers, 
  or 
  say 
  50,000,000 
  to 
  75,000,000 
  souls. 
  

  

  " 
  Female 
  fetishes 
  of 
  fertility 
  reach 
  from 
  Mexico 
  to 
  the 
  island 
  of 
  Marajo 
  in 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  Amazon. 
  For 
  

   a 
  brief 
  presentation 
  of 
  the 
  evidence 
  see 
  my 
  "Ancient 
  Civilizations 
  of 
  Mexico 
  and 
  Central 
  America," 
  pub- 
  

   lished 
  as 
  a 
  handbook 
  by 
  the 
  American 
  Museum 
  of 
  Natural 
  History, 
  3rd 
  edition, 
  1928. 
  

  

  