holmes] aboriginal AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES PART I 105 



fades out as we penetrate the interior. A suggestion of cultural con- 

 nection with South America is found in the frequent occurrence in 

 this and other Gulf States of a perforated hoe-shaped stone imple- 

 ment which corresponds closely with a type of ax prevalent in South 

 America. It is believed to have had only a ceremonial use north of 

 the Gulf. 



The superiority of the culture of this area over that of the North 

 Atlantic region is manifest, especially in skill in 

 Compared * "^ *" ^ the potter's art and in the manipulation of metals. 

 On the whole, considering all branches, the mate- 

 rial culture of typical centers differs but slightly in state of ad- 

 vancement from that of corresponding centers in the Mississippi 

 Valley. In some respects it is decidedly inferior to that of the more 

 advanced culture centers of the West Indies. 



The leading explorers of the antiquities of the Georgia-Florida 

 area are: Brinton, Wyman, "Webb, C. C. Jones, Barti-am, Gushing, 

 Moore, and members of the Museum of the American Indian. 



3. The Middle and Lower Mississirri Valley Area 



The very extensive interior region, which comprises the middle 

 and lower sections of the Mississippi Valley with much outlying 

 territory, was the seat of a remarkable group of peoples, whose 

 culture, all things considered, stands higher than that of any other 

 characterization area north of middle Mexico. This culture was 

 characterized by well-established sedentary life, extensive practice 

 of agricultural pursuits, and construction of permanent works — 

 domiciliary, religious, civic, defensive, and mortuary — of great mag- 

 nitude and much diversity of form. The people, many if not all of 

 whom were mound builders, were of numerous linguistic stocks, 

 principal among which were the Siouan, Algonquian, Iroquoian, 

 Muskhogean, Tunican, Chitimachan, and Caddoan; and these his- 

 toric peoples, remnants of which are still found within the area, were 

 doubtless preceded b}^ other groups not of a distinct race but belong- 

 ing to the same or related linguistic families. This view in recent 

 years has gradually taken the place of the early assum))tion that the 

 mound culture belonged to a people of high cultural 

 Mound r.uiiding attainments which had been succeeded by the Indian 

 tribes. That mound building continued down to the 

 period of European occupancy is a well-established fact, and many 

 of the burial mounds contain as original inclusions articles of Euro- 

 pean make. 



Traces attributed to very early occupants of the area have been 

 reported from time to time, especially the osseous remains of man 

 foTmd in association with remains of the mastodon and mammoth. 

 In nearly every instance, however, subsequent observations have 



