HOLMES] ABORIGINAL AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES PART I 45 



Although the story of the evohition of the American peoples and 

 cultures can of course never be kno^Yn in great detail, 

 tin^T"'^ ^^^''" it is to be expected that the archeologist working in 

 unison with the ethnologist, the biologist, the geolo- 

 gist, and the geographer will be able to supply an approxi- 

 mate outline of the course of events during the prolonged in- 

 terval between the arrival of the pioneer settlers and the coming 

 of Columbus. History comes to the aid of these sciences by con- 

 tributing to the post-Columbian phases of the subject. Passing for 

 the present over the theories (1) that the race originated in America 

 and (2) that its arrival on the continent dates back to Tertiary or 

 early glacial time, it is assumed that the occupation did not begin 

 until the peoples of northeastern Asia had accjuired a degree of cul- 

 ture devehjpment somewhat analogous to that of the more primitive 

 hunting, fishing, fire-using, igloo-building tribes of the far north in 

 recent times. Arriving in limited groups, the movements would be 

 hesitating and slow ; the pioneers ^^■ould creep along the ocean shores, 

 meander the river courses, and scale with much difficulty the moun- 

 tain ranges and, avoiding the ice-clad and arid areas, 

 brSnvironmeif'^ would pass gradually into the temperate and tropical 

 climes. The culture of the groups that lingered in 

 the north would undergo little change, and the status of those 

 who found their way into the vast forests and the featureless 

 plains would continue, with local changes, practically on the 

 same level from generation to generation and century to century. 

 The people would nece-ssarily continue to subsist by the precarious 

 resources of unaided nature. In regions where the supply of fish 

 was abundant during the year there would probably result practi- 

 cally permanent settlement accompanied by limited progress in di- 

 rections imposed by the environment, and in temperate and sub- 

 tropical valleys complete sedentation would ensue and far-reaching 

 changes would be initiated; resultant increase in numbers would 

 gradually lead to the failure of the chase, and agriculture and do- 

 mestication of animals, where tractable species were available, would 

 follow and an artificial basis of food supply would be established. 

 The hunter would lose his calling and would gradually share with 

 the women the work of tilling the soil; new agencies of progress 

 would come into being, new activities would arise, and specialization 

 of labor would follow ; exi:)loitation of resources would develop new 

 sources of food supply and new materials for the handicrafts, and 

 arts and industries would multiply; the textile art, pottery, mining, 

 metallurgy, and stone building would be added; the graphic arts and 

 pictography would lead upward toward glyphic writing; and skill 

 in numbers and observation of the heavenly bodies would make 



