996 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIII. No. 861 



The next chapters are devoted to mortars, 

 pestles, metates, muUers, stone dishes used 

 in preparation of foods and paint, and to 

 shell and bone ornaments, utensils, imple- 

 ments and weapons in considerable variety. 

 The bone objects from the Mandan village 

 sites are of special interest as are also the cut 

 and inlaid bear teeth and engraved bones 

 from the Ohio mounds. 



The native copper implements of the Great 

 Lakes region are well illustrated. The elabo- 

 rate ceremonial forms from the mounds of 

 Ohio and other sections are of great interest. 

 Implements of this metal are principally 

 knives and projectile points, perforated 

 needles, fish hooks, adzes and axes. The orna- 

 ments are mainly beads, breast plates and ear 

 buttons. Some of the symbolic forms are 

 elaborate, especially those shown in repousse 

 designs. Various tribes in the United States 

 had mastered the early stages of copper work- 

 ing, but they had not discovered the art of 

 casting. All the forms shown were made by 

 hammering, annealing, grinding, perforating, 

 cutting or embossing. Sheet mica was also 

 cut into symbolic and ornamental designs 

 similar to those of copper. 



A few textiles from the dry caves of Ken- 

 tucky and the Ozark region and from the 

 cliff-house ruins of Utah are described and 

 illustrated. The twined woven shoes from the 

 Kentucky eaves are unique. The specimens 

 shown in general however give but a faint 

 idea of the great variety and beauty of the 

 woven fabrics common among our Indians in 

 early historic times. 



The pottery of the United States is treated 

 briefly, types from the various culture areas 

 being shown. Many of the illustrations are 

 from the publications of W. H. Holmes and 

 C. B. Moore. The author writes, " In the far 

 north there is no pottery." He forgets the 

 well-made pottery bowls, lamps and cooking 

 pots of the Alaskan Eskimo. 



The following chapters are devoted to 

 grooved axes, celts, pendants and other forms 

 in hematite, and also to miscellaneous objects 

 of stone, such as salmon clubs from Oregon 

 and Washington, perforated stone club heads, 



grooved stones for straightening and finish- 

 ing arrow shafts, semi-lunar knives of slate, 

 etc. 



The last two chapters are devoted to the 

 author's conclusions which are grouped under 

 several headings. He acknowledges his in- 

 debtedness to forty individuals who contrib- 

 uted plates, figures, or to the text, or who al- 

 lowed the use of published material. The 

 most important of these original contributions 

 is the excellent bibliography of forty-one 

 pages by Dr. Charles Peabody. 



The " Stone Age in North America " is 

 written primarily for collectors and the gen- 

 eral public, but anthropologists will find 

 much of interest in its pages. 



The author's view point of American 

 archeology is best shown by the following 

 quotation from the opening chapter. 



It seems to me that the study of all these 

 learned individuals, the results of which are set 

 forth in the Indian "Handbook" [Bureau of 

 American Ethnology], has led many of them to 

 consider prehistoric life in America as nearly the 

 same as the life of our Indians for the past one 

 or two centuries. I can not believe that the arts 

 of the past are the same to any appreciable extent 

 as those which obtained at the time of the Lewis 

 and Clark expedition. 



Again in the closing chapter, referring to 

 certain New Jersey archeologists, he writes: 



They understand conditions as they existed in 

 ancient times, and that is something that few 

 men of to-day grasp. ' It can not be learned from 

 reading the reports, from studying in museums, 

 or through obtaining a degree from one of our 

 universities. 



The failure to comprehend the culture of 

 the prehistoric American Indians except 

 through the study of their stone implements 

 and similar remains is a defect common to 

 many archeologists which is usually apparent 

 in their writings. We can never acquire a 

 comprehensive knowledge of ancient Amer- 

 ican peoples without first studying existing 

 tribes, and working backward through his- 

 tory, for stone implements alone can teach 

 little without the knowledge thus acquired. 

 Charles C. Willoughby 



