

n 



ft 



898 



KEPOUT — 1884. 



Section H.— ANTHROPOLOGY. 



Pkesidknt of thk Si:riiox- K. B. Tyi.oh, D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S. 

 [For Dr. Tyler's Address, soc next page.] 



7/i(/jfsn.\ y, A rousT 28. 



The following I'apers wore road: — 



1. The TlLHtije of fJie Eskiinti in Space and Time. 

 By Protessor W. BovD Dawmx.s, F.Ii.S. 



The Eskimos occiiiiy the coldest parts of the earth in Amoricfi and Asia, aiiil 

 their civilisation is of a rude and priniitiv(> type. To the south of the I'',skiuios in 

 America is a dehatable land, Ijelonnrliifr neither to theoi nor to the lied Indian, 

 l)etween which races a feud exists. In Asia the l^skimos are on better terms w..,i 

 thjir neighbours. It has been asserted that the Kskhnos are related to tli" It^l 

 Indian on the ground of their language being agglutinative, but tliis is Imrdly 

 sufficient proof. There are very contlicting opinions as to when they iirsl appeared 

 in America, Mr. Markham considers tlioy were driven from Asia shortly ljefi)re 

 1319 by the pressure of Tartar tribes. On the oth(>r hand, Dr. Itink considers 

 them the last wave of migration hy ^shi(•h the American C(jntinent was originally 

 peopled. It is probable that in ancient times they ranged much further south, ami 

 havt only lately been driven further north. I'urtliermore, if we trust to the 

 accounts of the Scandinavians who vi-ited America in the eleventh century, they 

 must have had a much lower rang", and this is supported by other facts. Thus 

 the Eskimos are a retreating race, the remnant of the ancient ])Ossessors of a very 

 wide area, who would have been exterminated but for the inclemeiicy of the nortli, 

 which has kept back the Ued Indian. The I^skimo word ' Kavak," a * skin-covereil 

 canoe,' meaning probably a ' birch-covereil canoe,' is, according to Dr. Isaac Tayhn', 

 derived from a primitive word common to the Yakut and Seljuk races in Asia. 

 This agrees very well with the ]>revious results as to the primitive range of tlie 

 race. As to their range in time, Professor Dawkins connected them with the 

 primitive cave-men, using needles and gloves, three and four, but never five fingered, 

 and im])lements of stone and bone. They were a race of hunters and fishermen, 

 and were fond of engraving reindeer and now extinct aniuials u|>oii bones. \N Idle 

 hunters, they were hunters of a high type. They were like the Eskimos in their 

 disregard of '.he rites of burial. Thus, of the cave-men no ])erfect skeletons are! 

 left, probably owing to the prevalence of beasts of prey, ami more especially of 

 hyajnas. 'I'he least that v-tin be said of the cave-men of lOurope is, tiiat they wero 

 exactly in die same stage of civilisation as the I'^skimos. They nsed tlie .siiue 

 implements and lived the same life. In the absence of any proof of any two race* 

 of diverse origin presenting this identity of implements, we.ipons, and art, itiij 

 very probable that they belong to !!ie sann' stock as the l-'skimos. lie therefore felt I 

 inclined to extend tiie range o*" the Eskimos i.. the Ph-isioeene age, as far to be 

 south and the east as the musk sheep (ox), through Northern Asia and middle j 

 Europe to the Alps and the Pyrenees. 



