OF THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 121 



the articles found in places very far from their place of manufacture, 

 came to be present. Of the Neolithic man, however, we have much 

 clearer evidence of his trading propensities and energy. The 

 numerous articles of which he had a knowledge, and in which 

 he dealt, were gathered from very widely separated parts of the 

 world. It has been held by some archaeologists that Neolithic man 

 was a new wave of immigrants from the east, which entered Europe 

 and supplanted the old Palaeolithic inhabitants, and as such would 

 bring with him his higher knowledge of art and manufactures, and 

 also his supply of nephrite. He was acquainted with agriculture to 

 a certain extent, and the seeds of the grains found may also have 

 been brought from the east amongst the rest of his paraphernalia. 

 If Neolithic man came from the east, his arrival in ' Europe must 

 have been at a very early date. He must have left Asia before the 

 introduction of iron into the region whence he came, as it can 

 hardly be credited that a man acquainted with the use of iron would 

 not carry that knowledge as well as some of the metal with him, but 

 would voluntarily carry with him nephrite for implements, and 

 abandon such a much more useful material as iron. One thing, 

 however, he did not obtain from the east, and that was the yellow 

 amber of the Baltic. It at least must have been the product of 

 trade of some sort. 



With such evidences as we have, we are forced to admit that 

 the spirit of trade flourished among the men of the stone age in 

 Europe. 



In America, the whole evidence tends to the same conclusion. 

 Whether this trade was a direct exchange of articles, or an exchange 

 in such d way that the articles passed from tribe to tribe, there is 

 very little evidence to show. The probability is that in some cases 

 it was a direct exchange after the manner of the tribes of the moun- 

 tains of Georgia. If such was not the case, then trade must have 

 been very intermittent and often at a standstill, as the frequent wars 

 between neighboring tribes would, while they lasted, completely put 

 an end to anything like the exchanging of articles from tribe to 

 tribe. Such articles as did find their way into the other tribes 

 would be the spoils of victory, and would in that case be more or 

 less likely only such as would help the victor to carry on war. 



