724 MOUND EXPLORATIONS. 



l)ait of tlie fontiuent east of the Rocky luountains and iiortli of the Gulf 

 of Mexico, and the Pacific section tlie remainder from Alaslva to the 

 isthmus of Panama. The arctic regions, except Alaska, are not taken 

 into consideration. 



While there are manifest and marked differences in the t,vi)es and 

 characters of the ancient works and remains of different areas within 

 each of these two comprehensive sections, yet when those of the I'acific 

 slope as a whole are compare<l with those of the Atlantic slope, there is 

 a dissimilarity which marks them as the products of different races or 

 as the result of different race influences. 



If this division into two great archeologic sections is based on suffi- 

 ciently reliable data to justify its adoption, it will form a very important 

 landmark in the discussion of the chief problems of the prehistoric times 

 of our continent. Reference to some, only of the evidences bearing upon 

 this point, is made here to show their character, as it would not be 

 possible to present them in detail in a short chapter. 



One of the first impressions made upon the mind of the student of 

 North American ethnology is the resemblance in a broad and general 

 sense of the features, custcnns, arts, and archeological remains of the 

 west coast to those of the islands in and countries bordering on the 

 Pacific ocean, while on the other hand there is no such resemblance 

 between them and those of the Atlantic slope. In other words, the 

 types when classified in the broadest sense appear to arrange them- 

 selves in two general divisions — those belonging to the Pacific slope 

 and those confined to the Atlantic slope. 



Although this classification in exjiress words has not been made, yet 

 we see a tendency in the works relating to the west coast ethnology 

 toward su(;h a classification and a disposition to form what may be 

 termed the Pacific types. This is perhaps most clearly indicated by 

 Prof. W. H. Dall, in his paper on " Masks, labrets and certain abo- 

 riginal customs," published in the Third Annual Report of the Bureau 

 of Ethnology. Referring to this subject in his summary, he says: 



The original population of America is too distant to form tbr 8nl)ject of disiussion. 

 There can lie no doubt that America was populated in some way l>.v pco])le of an ex- 

 tremely low grade of culture at a ])eriod even geologically remote. There is no 

 reason for supposing, however, that immigration ceased with these original people. 

 Analogy would suggest that from time to time accessions were received from other 

 regions of people who had risen somewhat in the scale elsewhere, while the iuchoate 

 American population had been doing the same thing on their own ground. Be this 

 aa it may, we find certain remarkable customs or characteristics geographically 

 spread north and south along the western slope of the continent in a natural line of 

 migration with overflows eastward in convenient localities. These are not |)rimi- 

 tive customs, but things which appertain to a point considerably above the lowest 

 scale of development in culture. 



Some are customs pure and simple; e. g., labretifery ; tattooing the chin ol' adult 

 females; certain uses of masks, etc. 



.Some are characteristics of culture, e. g., a certain style of conventionalizing nat- 

 ural objects, and, in a higher stage, the use of conventional sigus in a hieroglyjihic 



