-Kl l.l I \l. l:i. MAINS 1 1 



Mich remains likely to occur and how is their antiquity to IN- 

 determined. Tin- iii-st of these queries is angered with compara- 

 tive ease. Maii's greatest necessities a iv food ami water, and univ 

 strained -ett lenient of primit i \ peoples \va- guided e\ ervwhere (o a 



large extent ly facilities for obtaining these requisites. The only 

 other -tron^ motives wliich generally influenced the choice of dwell- 

 ing -ites \\eiv the iv<|iiiiriiu>nts of comfort (including primarily H 

 favorable climate) and of safety. It may be assumed, therefore, 

 that the habitations of the earliest Americans were established on 

 defensible sites along the seashore and larger streams where the food 

 supply, consist ing of mollusks, fish, and game animals, as well as of 

 fruits, was particularly abundant, and in regions free from the ex- 

 tremes of climate. Thus it is mainly on and about elevated sites 

 along the sea coasts and in the valleys of the temperate zones of the 

 |>eriods of occupation that bones of early man should first l>e looked 

 for. If there are contemporaneous rock recesses, especially caves, 

 these should receive attention, for such shelters were utilized by all 

 primitive peoples for l>oth dwelling and burial. Hog deposits, which 

 naturally offer favorable conditions for the preservation of the bones 

 of those who jxrished in such places, also deserve examination. 



Proper identification of human Ixjnes as those of early man is of 

 the first im]x>rtance, and at the same time is fraught with exceptional 

 difficulties. Finds of osseous remains suggesting man of other than 

 the recent jxriod should l>e photographed in situ, and should Ix- 

 examined by more than one man of science, including especially a 

 geologist familiar with the particular formations involved: and the 

 chemical and somatological characters of the hones should receive the 

 closest attention with the view of determining their l>caring on ques- 

 tions involving the antiquity of the remains. The history of a ma- 

 jority of archeological finds suggestive of early man in this country is 

 particularly instructive in this connection," illustrating as it does 

 many of the difficulties attending efforts at chronological identifi- 

 cation. 



A point requiring especial attention is that of the possibility of 

 intrusive burials. Men of recent times have inhabited many of the 

 >ites that may have IMMMI occupied by early man, and it will l>e readily 

 appreciated that human remains of different periods might often 

 IM- closely associated or even intermingled. Where such an occurrence 

 i- -uspr<-te|. chemical and somatological tests are of particular value. 



See specially the paper* of W. II. Holmes on Traces of Glacial Man In Ohio, Journal 

 f <i,<,l<,,iv. i. 147 UW. IVI.runry-March. 1K03 ; Veatlxea of Karly Man In Minnesota. 

 Amcrinin <;, ,/.,</ir \i. _!!> :MO. April. IHft.'t ; Are there Truo-n "f Man In the Trenton 

 Uravfls? Ji,urniil <{ >;,<,l.,,,,i. i. 1"- :". .lanuary-Keliniarjr. l>!:i; Primitive Man In the 

 iH-laware Valley. NHctic,. n. K.. vi. s-j s-.-.i. is;7. nnd Review of the RvMence relating 

 to AiirirenuiH travel Man In California. SinUh<>nian tf</>orf for 18W). 410-472, Wash- 

 ington. 1901. 



