150 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 60 



(G) The classes of artifacts are very numerous and are, for the 



greater part, presented to good advantage grouped 



Classification i.y n^der the several materials of which they are made 



Materials . ' 



or which enter into their construction, and under 

 these in alphabetical order, as altars, anvils, axes, batons, beads, build- 

 ings, celts, chisels, clubs, etc., and under these again by geographical 

 distribution, by form, use, and other significant characteristics. 

 The life history of all artifacts as such begins with the ac(iuirement 

 of the materials employed, and this step, represented by numerous vital 

 industries, is followed by that of manufacture, in which the charac- 

 teristics of the material have a most important part, determining the 

 nature of the shaping processes and in a large measure the forms 

 produced, as well as the manner and kind of use. So important 

 are these considerations, namely, the acquirement of the materials 

 and the characteristics which affect manufacture and utilization, 

 that a comprehensive study of antiquities from the point of view of 

 the materials employed is exceptionally advantageous. In extending 

 the study of materials into the field of utilization, however, the arche- 

 ologist finds that in many classes of antiquities two or more mate- 

 rials are combined, as in the building arts, projectile weapons, etc., 

 and must complete his researches by resorting to other classifications, 

 under materials, as by arts and industries, by groups of artifacts, etc. 

 (T) All anticjuities may be assembled and described by the groups 

 of activities concerned in their production and utili- 

 ciassiflcation i.y y^j,tion, and much of the storv of the ])eoi)les and 



Activities ' " 1 



culture of anti<iiiity may be thus told to advantage. 

 This method is a favorite one and serves for separate and effective 

 treatment of various phases of ancient material culture. Of these 

 activities the following are among the most important: (a) Food- 

 acquiring arts — hunting, fishing, gathering, cultivating, breeding; 

 {h) food-utilizing arts — preparing, preserving, cooking, serving; 

 (c) material-ac<iuiring arts — collecting, cpiarrying, mining, trans- 

 porting; {d) arts of war — the activities pertaining to offense and 

 defense; (e) the building arts — designing, constructing, decorating; 

 (/) sculptural arts — fracturing, crumbling, cutting, scraping; {{/) 

 the potter's art — modeling, molding, baking, burning; {h) the metal- 

 shaping arts — swaging, casting, smelting; (/) tissue-working arts — 

 scraping, tanning, manipulating; (y) textile arts — hackling, dyeing, 

 spinning, netting, weaving: (k) transporting arts — carrying, haul- 

 ing; {!) costuming arts — cutting, sewing, fitting; {m) surgical arts — 

 amputating, trephining, bleeding, dentistry; (n) medical arts; (o) 

 arts of music; (/>) arts of play ; {(/) arts of embellishment — painting, 

 tattooing, engraving; (r) arts of superstition and magic. These 

 activities are recorded with varying fullness in the materials of an- 

 tiquity, and the culture achievements and status of the peoples become 



