﻿AN 
  ERIE 
  INDIAN 
  VILLAGE 
  AND 
  BURIAL 
  SITE 
  467 
  

  

  a 
  knowledge 
  of 
  what 
  man 
  is 
  has 
  an 
  immensely 
  important 
  bearing 
  on 
  

   what 
  man 
  may 
  be. 
  The 
  study 
  of 
  this 
  story 
  of 
  man's 
  development 
  is 
  

   termed 
  anthropology 
  and 
  may 
  be 
  properly 
  divided 
  into 
  three 
  divi- 
  

   sions, 
  present 
  anthropology 
  which 
  is 
  ethnology, 
  historic 
  anthropology 
  

   which 
  is 
  history 
  or 
  ethnography 
  and 
  prehistoric 
  anthropology 
  which 
  

   is 
  archeology. 
  

  

  Archeology 
  has 
  definite 
  ends 
  in 
  view 
  far 
  more 
  important 
  than 
  the 
  

   mere 
  aggregation 
  and 
  description 
  of 
  relics 
  and 
  specimens. 
  What 
  an 
  

   archeologist 
  finds 
  is 
  never 
  a 
  relic 
  only, 
  although 
  for 
  convenience 
  

   sometimes 
  termed 
  so. 
  His 
  discoveries 
  are 
  specimens 
  of 
  certain 
  

   'human 
  artifacts 
  illustrative 
  of 
  some 
  stage 
  of 
  culture 
  or 
  of 
  some 
  local 
  

   development 
  of 
  that 
  culture, 
  and 
  as 
  such, 
  are 
  valuable 
  primarily 
  

   for 
  what 
  may 
  be 
  learned 
  from 
  them. 
  

  

  To 
  those 
  who 
  are 
  wont 
  to 
  rely 
  upon 
  the 
  written 
  records 
  of 
  history 
  

   it 
  may 
  not 
  at 
  first 
  clearly 
  appear 
  how 
  much 
  may 
  be 
  learned 
  from 
  

   such 
  relics 
  or 
  how 
  such 
  things 
  can 
  have 
  the 
  import 
  which 
  the 
  

   archeologist 
  claims. 
  Let 
  it 
  first 
  be 
  realized 
  that 
  early 
  man 
  has 
  left 
  

   upon 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  earth 
  traces 
  of 
  himself 
  by 
  which 
  his 
  history 
  

   may 
  be 
  materialized 
  far 
  more 
  accurately 
  than 
  it 
  might 
  ever 
  have 
  

   been 
  translated 
  from 
  a 
  word-written 
  document. 
  We 
  have 
  become 
  

   so 
  accustomed 
  to 
  rely 
  upon 
  the 
  testimony 
  of 
  word-made 
  records, 
  

   that 
  we 
  lose 
  sight 
  of 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  words 
  are 
  but 
  thought 
  symbols, 
  

   ideaphoncs, 
  and 
  ideographs, 
  and 
  that 
  written 
  records 
  may 
  be 
  erro- 
  

   neous 
  and 
  incomplete 
  while 
  material 
  objects 
  may 
  convey 
  clearer 
  

   meanings 
  by 
  which 
  a 
  much 
  more 
  accurate 
  knowledge 
  may 
  be 
  gained. 
  

   We 
  seek 
  to 
  know 
  the 
  man 
  of 
  prehistoric 
  times, 
  yet 
  that 
  man 
  has 
  

   left 
  us 
  few 
  written 
  documents 
  by 
  which 
  we 
  may 
  read 
  in 
  words 
  his 
  

   thoughts 
  and 
  learn 
  of 
  his 
  activities. 
  He 
  has 
  done 
  better, 
  and 
  we 
  

   may 
  know 
  him 
  notwithstanding. 
  He 
  has 
  left 
  pencilings 
  upon 
  the 
  

   surface 
  *of 
  the 
  earth 
  which 
  he 
  trod 
  which 
  neither 
  rains, 
  nor 
  floods, 
  

   nor 
  the 
  ravages 
  of 
  time 
  have 
  erased, 
  save 
  in 
  spots, 
  as 
  a 
  stray 
  rain- 
  

   drop 
  might 
  expunge 
  a 
  letter 
  from 
  a 
  slate 
  and 
  yet 
  leave 
  the 
  word 
  

   still 
  readable. 
  For 
  example, 
  take 
  the 
  fire 
  pit 
  by 
  which 
  the 
  ancient 
  

   warmed 
  his 
  body 
  and 
  in 
  which 
  he 
  cooked 
  his 
  meat, 
  into 
  which 
  he 
  

   cast 
  the 
  bones 
  he 
  could 
  not 
  eat 
  and 
  swept 
  the 
  refuse 
  of 
  his 
  bower. 
  

   That 
  fire 
  pit 
  remains 
  to 
  this 
  day 
  to 
  tell 
  the 
  story 
  of 
  the 
  man 
  who 
  

   dug 
  it. 
  By 
  the 
  relics 
  found 
  within 
  it, 
  it 
  tells 
  us 
  what 
  he 
  ate, 
  what 
  

   he 
  wore, 
  what 
  trinkets 
  he 
  had, 
  the 
  beasts 
  he 
  killed, 
  the 
  weapons 
  he 
  

   used, 
  how 
  far 
  advanced 
  he 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  arts, 
  how 
  much 
  and 
  where 
  he 
  

   commerced, 
  what 
  grains 
  he 
  cultivated, 
  what 
  implements 
  he 
  made 
  of 
  

   stone 
  and 
  bone 
  and 
  shells 
  and 
  clay 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  fabrics 
  he 
  wove 
  from 
  

  

  