﻿468 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  roots 
  and 
  grasses. 
  We 
  may 
  even 
  read 
  his 
  thoughts 
  in 
  his 
  artifacts 
  

   and 
  know 
  his 
  sense 
  of 
  beauty 
  and 
  of 
  accuracy, 
  we 
  may 
  learn 
  of 
  his 
  

   superstitions 
  and 
  personal 
  habits 
  and 
  more 
  things 
  than 
  these. 
  None 
  

   of 
  his 
  day 
  left 
  us 
  the 
  written 
  record 
  by 
  which 
  we 
  know 
  these 
  things, 
  

   but 
  if 
  by 
  strange 
  chance 
  the 
  wild 
  raw 
  story 
  of 
  man 
  primeval 
  or 
  of 
  

   his 
  early 
  descendants 
  has 
  been 
  written 
  on 
  a 
  parchment 
  by 
  his 
  con- 
  

   temporary, 
  it 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  destroyed 
  by 
  the 
  accidents 
  of 
  time, 
  or 
  

   if 
  it 
  escaped, 
  been 
  laughed 
  at 
  as 
  a 
  legend; 
  if 
  preserved 
  in 
  symbols 
  

   wrought 
  on 
  rock 
  walls 
  the 
  crude 
  ideographs 
  would 
  be 
  unintelligible 
  

   mysteries 
  to 
  the 
  people 
  of 
  the 
  later 
  day. 
  The 
  age 
  of 
  stone 
  in 
  the 
  

   State 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  has 
  left 
  nothing 
  in 
  the 
  way 
  of 
  inscriptions 
  by 
  

   which 
  the 
  wondering 
  steel 
  age 
  of 
  now 
  may 
  know 
  of 
  it. 
  It 
  is 
  better 
  

   that 
  it 
  has 
  left 
  us 
  in 
  its 
  fire 
  and 
  refuse 
  pits, 
  in 
  its 
  graves, 
  in 
  its 
  monu- 
  

   ments 
  and 
  earthworks 
  a 
  record 
  far 
  more 
  satisfactory, 
  enduring 
  

   and 
  truthful. 
  

  

  THE 
  FIELD 
  OF 
  ARCHEOLOGY 
  IN 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  past 
  20 
  years 
  tremendous 
  strides 
  have 
  been 
  made 
  in 
  

   archeology. 
  Museums 
  have 
  been 
  especially 
  active. 
  Questions 
  that 
  

   seemed 
  incapable 
  of 
  solution 
  have 
  yielded 
  to 
  careful 
  investigation. 
  

  

  Museums 
  and 
  collectors 
  have 
  found 
  New 
  York 
  a 
  most 
  fertile 
  field 
  

   for 
  archeological 
  research 
  and 
  for 
  years 
  have 
  carried 
  beyond 
  our 
  

   borders 
  thousands 
  of 
  specimens. 
  

  

  With 
  the 
  creation 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  Education 
  Department 
  and 
  the 
  

   installation 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  Director 
  a 
  new 
  policy 
  was 
  instituted. 
  An 
  

   archeologist 
  was 
  engaged 
  to 
  examine 
  the 
  prehistoric 
  and 
  recent 
  

   monuments 
  of 
  the 
  aborigines 
  and 
  by 
  exploration 
  and 
  excavation 
  to 
  

   obtain 
  first-hand 
  from 
  original 
  sources 
  specimens 
  to 
  illustrate 
  the 
  

   facts 
  of 
  that 
  occupation, 
  to 
  discover 
  the 
  various 
  cultural 
  areas 
  and 
  to 
  

   collect 
  from 
  the 
  Indian 
  tribes 
  yet 
  residing 
  in 
  the 
  State 
  such 
  material 
  

   as 
  should 
  be 
  properly 
  contained 
  in 
  the 
  museum 
  series. 
  The 
  out- 
  

   come 
  of 
  this 
  policy 
  has 
  been 
  the 
  creation 
  of 
  the 
  position 
  of 
  arch- 
  

   eologist 
  on 
  the 
  Museum 
  and 
  Science 
  Division 
  staff. 
  

  

  As 
  a 
  field 
  for 
  archeological 
  research 
  New 
  York 
  State 
  presents 
  one 
  

   exceptionally 
  inviting. 
  Specimens 
  discovered 
  in 
  different 
  parts 
  of 
  

   the 
  State 
  evidence 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  distinct 
  ethnic 
  cultures 
  of 
  great 
  

   interest. 
  The 
  various 
  problems 
  connected 
  with 
  these 
  culture 
  regions 
  

   will 
  form 
  the 
  subjects 
  of 
  special 
  research. 
  Nor 
  will 
  conclusions 
  be 
  

   formed 
  hastily. 
  Several 
  years 
  of 
  active 
  field 
  work 
  in 
  each 
  district 
  

   will 
  be 
  done 
  and 
  the 
  results 
  embodied 
  in 
  reports 
  or 
  special 
  bulletins. 
  

  

  