February io, 1893.] 



SCIENCE. 



75 



ancient Peruvians. The source of supply was doubtless from 

 the sciuid or octopus, which are still found in abundance along the 

 «oaPt. 



CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY.— XXII. 



[Edited by D. G. Brinton, M.D., LL.D.'] 



The Canstatt and Neanderthal Skulls. 



Even in some very late treatises on archaeology and ethnology 

 I observe that there is still talk of the " race of Canstatt " and the 

 ■"race of Neanderthal," these imaginary races of ancient Europe 

 being supposed to be represented by the skulls found in those 

 respective localities. The late M. de Quatrefages was, I believe, 

 responsible for the erection of these skulls into " types," and for 

 the theories of prehistoric ethnography based upon them. 



It should be recognized, once for all, that there is no sort of 

 foundation for these scientific dreams. In neither instance did 

 the locality in which these skulls were found guarantee them any 

 high antiquity. The Canstatt skull was unearthed along with 

 Roman pottery, and in all probability belonged to the fourth or 

 fifth century, A. D. The Neanderthal skull, on which still greater 

 stress has been laid, and casts of which are to be seen in most 

 archaeological museums, was not dug up at all, but was picked 

 up in a gully which had been washed in the mountain side, and 

 came from dear knows where. Probably there had been an old 

 graveyard further up the hill, but by no means one in quaternary 

 times. The fragment, moreover, is so fragmentary, and presents 

 •such evident signs of pathologic processes, that it is more than 

 daring to assume it as the typical cranium of any race. 



These and many allied facts in the same direction were admir- 

 ably brought out in a discussion last August at the meeting of 

 the German Anthropological Association by such speakers as Von 

 Holder, Virchow, Kollmanra, and Fraas. Their arguments leave 

 no room to doubt the unimportance of these remains. 



Time-Reckoning of the Mayas. 



A short but carefully studied article in a recent number of the 

 Globus (Bd. 63, No. 3), by Dr. Forsteraann, presents somestriking 

 facts showing the accuracy attained by the ancient Mayas of 

 Yucatan in the calculation of time. His sources are the Dresden 

 and other ancient codices, to the interpretation of which he has 

 devoted fruitfully much study. The contents of the Dresden 

 ■Codex is largely astronomical or astrological, several of its pages 

 being comparisons of the relative times and positions of the heav- 

 enly bodies. It is clear that these sky-readers had ascertained 

 that the mean synodical revolution of Venus is 584 days, which 

 is correct to a very small fraction. They had fixed the revolu- 

 tion of Mercury at 115 days, and it is probable but not quite cer- 

 tain that they had rightly estimated the revolution of Mars at 

 780 days. Jupiter and Saturn they did not study, or, at least, 

 take into these calculations. 



Not less surprising was the accuracy they reached in measur- 

 ing the lunar month. They had by their observations reduced it 

 to 29.536 days. This is about five minutes in the month too short, 

 as the true synodical revolution is 29.53 days. For this differ- 

 encs, intercalary days would be required at certain epochs. 



It is probable from this that the Mayas were ahead of any other 

 American stock in the measurement of time, exceeding even the 

 Mexicans; though these also appear to have discovered the length 

 of the year of Venus. Dr. Forstemann's discussion of the sub- 

 ject amounts to a demonstration, and merits the close attention 

 of students of Maya civilization. 



The Co-Existence of the Mammoth and Man. 



Not long since, the distinguished and venerable archaeologist, 

 J. Steenstrup, of Copenhagen, published a paper examining the 

 discoveries in Europe which are supposed to prove the contem- 

 poraneity of man with the mammoth ; and reached the conclusion 

 that not only is the evidence inadequate, but for climatic and 

 geologic reasons no such co-existence was possible. 



At the last meeting of the German Anthropological Association 

 Professor Virchow quoted Steenstrup's conclusion and endorsed 

 it, as did also others present. The " reindeer period " was the 

 remotest to which they were willing to assign the appearance of 

 man in Europe on existing evidence. The artefacts of mam- 

 moth teeth and bones found in the caves were asserted to be from 

 fossil remains picked up by the cave men. Where such artefacts 

 are found in gravels along with mammoth bones, they would say 

 that these gravels are themselves posterior to the reindeer period, 

 and hence contain objects of various preceding periods. 



There remains for consideration the delineation of a mammoth 

 on a bone from the Lena cave in the south of France. This was 

 but discussed, being probably considered of questionable origin. 

 In the United States two such delineations have been brought 

 forward. They are both strikingly similar to this French origi- 

 nal, which has long been made familiar to American readers 

 through various publications. Both proceed from the valley of 

 the Delaware River. One is on shell and one on stone. I have 

 examined both originals very carefully, and apart from the vague- 

 ness which surrounds the finding of both, for purely technical 

 reasons I believe both to be recent. There still lacks conclusive 

 evidence that man and the mammoth were contemporaneous in 

 the area of the United States. 



Proposition for an Ethnographic Study of the White Race in 

 the United States. 



In preparing some lectures last winter on the ethnography of 

 the United States, I was struck with the deficiency of trustworthy 

 material on this subject. The Indians and the Negroes have re- 

 ceived far more attention at the hands of ethnologists than the 

 whites. It is high time that a systematic study be made of the 

 latter, with a view to discover what influences the New World 

 and its conditions have exerted on this race wholly foreign to its 

 soil. 



I would propose that a plan be adopted similar to that which 

 has recently been outlined in Great Britain for an ethnographic 

 survey of that kingdom. A joint committee has been appointed 

 by the leading anthropological, antiquarian, and folk-lore socie- 

 ties to raise means and carry out details. A list of certain typi- 

 cal villages will be made in which there are at least a hundred 

 adults whose ancestors are believed to have lived a number of 

 generations in the district, and to have been subjected to a mini- 

 mum outside influence. From this list the committee will select 

 the most promising places, and will send a properly equipped stu- 

 dent to record the following points: — 



1. Physical type of the inhabitants by measurements, photo- 

 graphs, etc. 



3. Peculiarities in dialect, local pronunciations, expressions, 

 etc. 



3. Local traditions and superstitions. 



4. Old buildings, relics, and other antiquities. 



5. Historical evidence and genealogies showing purity of 

 race. 



Such a plan could be most advantageously carried out in the 

 United States. Suppose thirty students were selected, trained, 

 and sent to pass their summer vacation in as many secluded vil- 

 lages in New England, the Middle States, and the oldest settled 

 portions of the South, all pursuing their investigations on the 

 same lines. We should receive a mass of the most valuable infor- 

 mation by which to solve many most interesting and instructive 

 ethnographic problems. One pleasant feature would be the very 

 moderate expense for which this could be accomplished; for 

 these secluded villages are precisely where one can live the 

 cheapest in the whole country. 



We could then compare the descendants of the middle class 

 English who settled New England with those of the Scotch-Irish 

 and Palatine Germans of Pennsylvania, with the French of 

 South Carolina and Louisiana, the settlers of the mountains of 

 Virginia and East Tennesse, the " crackers" of Georgia, and so 

 on. Will not the active societies in the United States interested 

 in these lines of research unite their efforts to realize some suck 

 project? 



