FARABEE— SOUTH AMERICAN PETROGLYPHS 



each other, but in one region the animal may be a clan totem, in 

 another a personal record, and in a third, it may have no significance 

 whatever — a mere portrayal of an animal. Conventionalism begins 

 with the individual, and if he leaves no intermediate forms or other 

 indication of meaning, the significance disappears with the author. 

 In symbolism diverse significance may be attached to the same figure, 

 and differing figures may be used to express the same thought. Hence 

 resemblances between typical forms prove nothing — neither similar 

 ideas, evidence of contact, nor routes of migration. 



The study of petroglyphs is important because they are examples 

 of early practices and the only evidence we have of an extinct culture. 

 Whatever their significance may be, they are interesting to us because 

 they are the first efforts by primitive man toward artistic presentation 

 and mark a step in his evolution. 



University Museum 

 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 



[95] 



