PART II. -NORTH AMERICA. 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 



While there is no difficulty in comprehending the term " prehistoric," when 

 applied to the antiquities of Europe, the same word assumes an altered signifi- 

 cance in its connection with the artefacts left by the former inhabitants of this 

 country. Here, by general consent, all objects are considered as prehistoric, 

 which occur in mounds and other burial-places of early date, on and below the 

 surface of the ground, in caves, shell-heaps, etc. in fact all articles of aborigi- 

 .nal workmanship that cannot with certainty be ascribed to any of the tribes 

 which are either still in existence, or have become extinct within historical times, 

 or, to speak more distinctly, within the recollection of the white successors of 

 the Indians. Thus, a collection of North American relics may contain specimens 

 of very high antiquity as well as others of comparatively recent date ; yet there 

 is no way of suggesting accurate discrimination. Moreover, it cannot be doubted 

 that some, or even many, of the objects classed with our antiquities originated 

 after the arrival of Europeans in this country ; for, though the natives were not 

 slow in recognizing the superiority of the white man's tools and other implements, 

 and endeavored to obtain them by barter from the immigrants, the less favored 

 ones among them for not all could be supplied at once were still compelled to 

 manufacture, according to old usage, various articles, which, when discovered, 

 are placed in collections of North American antiquities. 



It certainly would be a mistake to attribute aboriginal relics from any given 

 district positively to the Indians who occupied it when the whites arrived. 

 Though these natives doubtless left many manufactures on the soil of their 

 special country, it cannot be decided, at least not in most cases, whether an object 

 there discovered is to be assigned to the last occupants, or to invaders, or to pre- 

 decessors of a different lineage.* 



If all these circumstances are taken into account, there arises a probability 

 that the one or the other object hereafter described by me may be of more or less 

 recent origin, and even post-date the advent of the Caucasians in this country. 



* These observations refer immediately to the long-settled eastern regions of North America ; but they can 

 with equal force bo applied to the western districts which have lately been colonized by the whites. 



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