holmes] 



ABOEIGIXAL AMERICAN AXTIQUITTES PART I 



21 



any considerable numbers on the American shores except by this 

 route, and the evidence of such arrivals, even if they actually took 

 place, must be far to seek and difficult of evaluation. A primitive 

 boat's crew reaching the Western Continent as voluntary voyagers or 

 as wayfarers brought unwillingly by the winds and currents, even if 

 hospitably received by the resident population, assiuning such to 

 have existed, could \ea\e no physical trace of their presence that 

 would last beyond a few generations, and the culture they happened 

 to represent might not find even a temporary foothold. Yet germs 

 of culture have sometimes 

 wonderful potentialities, and 

 a very simple device, a tech- 

 nical suggestion, or a tenet 

 of belief introduced by a 

 foreign wayfarer (regarded 

 possibly as a superior being) , 

 might catch the primitive 

 fancy, engraft itself upon 

 the native culture, and in a 

 very short period influence 

 the whole current of its 

 development. However, in- 

 stances of this kind have 

 not been observed and, in- 

 deed, had they occurred, 

 might be impossible of identification by means of archeologic remains 

 alone. It may not be amiss in this place to inquire as to the 

 kind of archeologic evidence which might be thought of as 

 warranting the conclusion that transoceanic visitors had arrived 

 on American shores in numbers sufficient to introduce culture germs 

 of distinctive character. In beginning it is necessary that we 

 exclude from the body of material to be considered all handiwork 

 which bears the taint of post-Columbian influence. We have to 

 consider, also, lest we misinterpret the meaning of 

 the similarities, analogies, and identities in the cul- 

 ture achievements of distinct peoples which arise 

 and, from the nature of things, must arise, as a result of the like 

 constitution everywhere of the human body and mind and the 

 like environment the world over. It is not wise to throw these evi- 

 dences overboard entirely or too rashly, for they ma}^ possess values 

 of very different degrees. They may range from the merest fortuitous 

 resemblances to correspondences so close, so intimate, and so complex 

 that actual intercourse could be safely inferred. The nature of such 

 possible evidence may be theoretically and briefly considered. 



Ancient wheeled toy from a child's grave, 

 Mexico. 



Value of Analogies 

 in Culture 



