StiREAtJ OF ETHNOLOGY. 5 



archaiologisfs for tlie thread to lead them out of the mysterious lal)y- 

 rinth; the chaiu which binds together the prehistoric and the historic 

 ages of our country would then be known; a thousand and one wild 

 theories and archseological romances would be relegated to the shades 

 of oblivion; and, the relations of all the lines of investigation to one 

 another being known, these lines would lend common aid in solving 

 many of the problems which have hitherto seemed destined to remain 

 in complete obscurity. Should the result of the examination give a de- 

 cidedly negative answer to the question, one broad field at least would 

 be forever closed and the investigations would be limited to other lines. 

 In either case a great step toward the ultimate solution would be made 

 and the worJk in the various branches bearing on the numerous prob- 

 lems materially restricted. 



The Director was desirous, therefore, of having the question definitely 

 settled in one way or the other, as it is- the pivot on which all the other 

 problems must turn, and this he believed could be done without await- 

 ing the long delay necessarily attending the adoption of the first or 

 second plan of operations. It seemed apparent that by the third plan the 

 various types and forms of the antiquities would be discovered and their 

 relations to one another determined in a shorter time than by any other 

 method. By following this plan and using proper care to note without 

 bias all the facts ascertained and to collect the specimens discovered, 

 the data would be preserved, without prejudice to other theories, for 

 the use and benefit of archfeological students. Moreover, by having 

 the field work carried on in the northern sections in the summer and 

 in the southern sections during the winter months, it would suffer little 

 or no interruption from climatic obstacles. 



Having decided upon the plan to be adopted, the next step was to 

 determine the area to which operations should be confined. As will be 

 seen by what precedes, it was assumed that the antiquities of the 

 country pertain to different archajological districts, which by proper 

 examination and study might perhaps be outlined geographically with 

 reasonable certainty. But these, if determined, would relate chiefly to 

 tribal distinctions and form but parts of one or more larger, compre- 

 hensive ethnological sections. As that part of the United States east 

 of the Rocky Mountains, together with the adjoining portions of the 

 British Possessions, appears to form, so far as the eastern, southern, an<l 

 western boundaries are concerned, a tolerably well marked archaeolog- 

 ical section, that part of this area within the United States was selected 

 as the field of operations. 



That the results have fully justified the most sanguine expectations 

 and, in connection with the investigations of other workers in the same 

 field, have settled the question, so long in controversy, relating to the 

 authorship of these monuments, it is confidently believed, will be con- 

 ceded when the general report is publi.shcd. 



