﻿472 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  the 
  most 
  primitive, 
  is 
  the 
  collecting 
  of 
  relics 
  secured 
  in 
  a 
  casual 
  

   way, 
  and 
  since 
  it 
  aims 
  simply 
  to 
  amass 
  the 
  various 
  objects 
  used 
  by 
  

   the 
  early 
  races 
  for 
  preservation, 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  called 
  the 
  preservation 
  

   method. 
  1 
  Inasmuch 
  as 
  the 
  objects 
  are 
  secured 
  by 
  those 
  unfamiliar 
  

   with 
  the 
  requirements 
  of 
  scientific 
  archeology, 
  it 
  is 
  natural 
  that 
  they 
  

   should 
  be 
  those 
  most 
  attractive 
  to 
  the 
  eye, 
  the 
  less 
  striking 
  things 
  

   being 
  passed 
  over 
  as 
  unworthy 
  of 
  preservation 
  if 
  not 
  overlooked 
  

   entirely. 
  This 
  method, 
  now 
  obsolete 
  in 
  progressive 
  institutions, 
  is 
  

   one 
  that 
  has 
  been 
  employed 
  by 
  people 
  with 
  whom 
  collecting 
  was 
  

   only 
  an 
  incident 
  or 
  by 
  historical 
  societies 
  that 
  have 
  sought 
  to 
  add 
  

   archeological 
  material 
  to 
  their 
  collections 
  of 
  antiquities. 
  The 
  second 
  

   method, 
  called 
  the 
  synoptic 
  method, 
  is 
  a 
  systematic 
  attempt 
  to 
  pro- 
  

   cure 
  in 
  any 
  way 
  specimens 
  to 
  illustrate 
  the 
  known 
  facts 
  of 
  arche- 
  

   ology. 
  The 
  third 
  method 
  is 
  termed 
  the 
  research 
  method. 
  By 
  this 
  

   method 
  the 
  archeologist 
  aims 
  to 
  obtain 
  material 
  first-hand 
  from 
  

   original 
  sources, 
  such 
  as 
  mounds, 
  camp 
  and 
  village 
  sites 
  and 
  earth- 
  

   works 
  of 
  various 
  kinds. 
  Such 
  sites 
  are 
  carefully 
  and 
  systematically 
  

   excavated 
  and 
  all 
  the 
  accompanying 
  objects 
  secured. 
  Painstaking 
  

   records 
  are 
  kept 
  and 
  every 
  fact 
  that 
  might 
  be 
  of 
  value 
  noted 
  in 
  

   record 
  books. 
  The 
  methods 
  employed 
  in 
  the 
  field 
  by 
  the 
  State 
  

   Museum 
  exemplify 
  the 
  workings 
  of 
  this 
  system. 
  

  

  1 
  For 
  this 
  nomenclature 
  the 
  author 
  is 
  indebted 
  to 
  Methods 
  of 
  Collecting 
  

   Anthropological 
  Material, 
  by 
  Harlan 
  I. 
  Smith. 
  

  

  