146 



NATURE 



[March 31, 192 1 



are several fundamental systems, and it is cus- 

 tomary to reduce any series of observations to 

 one or other of these fundamental systems. If 

 further series of observations are reduced to the 

 Potsdam system, any future revision of this 

 system can easily be extended to all the observa- 



tions based upon it. At present no series has 

 been generally accepted as a standard, and if two 

 determinations of magnitude of a star agree within 

 one-tenth of a magnitude, astronomers now 

 feel very satisfied. 



{^o he continued.) 



The Development and Spread of Civilisation. 



By W. J. Perry, The University, Manchester. 



RECENT research suggests that the various 

 forms of human culture are the result of a 

 process of organic growth. Continuity is appar- 

 ently the key-note of the study of the history of 

 civilisation. But, because it is not possible in 

 each case to supply the missing links, it is in- 

 cumbent on those who believe in continuity to 

 construct a mechanism of the development and 

 spread of civilisation in all ages and places. The 

 following generalisations suggest how this process 

 has been effected. 



It would seem that civilisation — that is to say, 

 the possession of the fundamental arts and crafts 

 necessary for settled corporate life — first appeared 

 in the Near East. There, at some time before 

 3700 B.C., had apparently been discovered the 

 crafts of agriculture, irrigation, stock-breeding, 

 carpentry, metal-working, stone-working, pottery- 

 making, weaving, and so on. All the rest of the 

 world, so far as can be seen, was at that time 

 peopled only by hunting tribes very low in the 

 scale of culture. These were not long left in 

 possession of their hunting-grounds, for civilisa- 

 tions began to appear in outlying parts of the 

 earth, such as Turkestan, Siberia, China, India, 

 the valley of the Wei in China, the valleys of the 

 Usumacinta and Motagua in Guatemala, Lake 

 Titicaca in Peru, etc. The cultural level of these 

 early centres never exceeded, and rarely ap- 

 proached, that of the Near East. Around these 

 centres appeared later other civilisations, 

 usually progressively lower in cultural level as 

 they became more remote from the centre in space 

 and time. For example, the earliest known 

 civilised settlement of North America was that of 

 the first Maya cities of Guatemala. All the later 

 Maya cities, and the tribes that afterwards 

 occupied the same region, display a definite in- 

 feriority of technique in the arts and crafts as 

 compared with these earliest settlements. North- 

 ward from Mexico there is a steady drop in the 

 level of culture. Similarly with South America. 

 It is claimed that negro Africa derived practically 

 all its culture, directly or indirectly, from Egypt. 

 As one goes south from Egypt there is, speaking 

 generally, a steady decline in cultural level, the 

 most southerly people of all, the Hottentots and 

 Bushmen, being the lowest. The study of the 

 beginnings of European civilisation reveals a 

 similar condition of affairs. The earliest centre 

 was in the eastern Mediterranean. In no other 



NO. 2683, VOL. 107] 



'region of the continent did ancient civilisation 

 attain to so high a level, and the various stages 

 of development of culture appeared later in time 

 in the outlying parts than in those nearer to this 

 region. 



It is natural to seek to interpret these and 

 similar facts. In only one region in the world — 

 the Near East — can progressive development of 

 culture be established in ancient times. In that 

 region civilisation probably first appeared, and 

 there it reached the highest level of antiquity. 

 Everywhere in the world outside the area directly 

 and continuously influenced by this region, the 

 story from the beginning is one of uninterrupted 

 degeneration in arts and crafts. In many in- 

 stances it is possible in these outlying regions to 

 establish direct filiation of culture, and it is in- 

 variably found that the process is accompanied by 

 degeneration in the arts and crafts. Since in any 

 one region, such as America, it is found that, 

 wherever direct cultural sequence can be estab- 

 lished, the earlier is the more advanced, and that 

 the earliest known culture is the most advanced 

 of all in the technique of the arts and crafts, it 

 is difficult to account for the facts otherwise than 

 by postulating that the earliest civilisation in such 

 a region was derived from one that preceded it 

 in some other part of the world. Carried to its 

 conclusion, this amounts to claiming that every- 

 where outside the Near East, even in cases where 

 it cannot be established by direct proof, culture 

 exists by reason of direct filiation — in short, it 

 amounts to postulating continuity in culture. In 

 that way it would be claimed that the civilisations 

 surrounding the original culture centres were 

 derived from them, and that the culture 

 centres themselves were derived from those 

 that preceded them on the earth. The 

 chronological argument would thus lead us to 

 derive all the outlying culture centres from the 

 Near East, and the whole process of cultural 

 development would be one of growth outward 

 from the Near East. This solution would satisfy 

 both the spatial and chronological conditions of 

 the problem. 



The indication of a motive will tend to facilitate 

 belief in such a world-wide movement of culture 

 in antiquity. The ancient civilisations in different 

 parts of the earth are fundamentally similar— they 

 are all founded on irrigation — and in their 

 economic, social, political, and religious organisa- 



