subject of earnest study "by a large number of scholars and already 
i 
a great body of data relating to them has been collected end 
an extensive literature is in existence, 
^UABHYIHG AHD MIHXHGr — Much of the history of the activities 
concerned in the acquisition of the raw materials of subsistence 
and the arts is best studied among existing peoples. This is 
f 
especially true of hunting and fishing, the gathering of wild 
fruits and groins, and agriculture, but archeology can alone 
be depended upon to tall the story of the industries concerned 
with developing the mineral resources. These activities es- 
caped the observation of the conquerors and colonists and were 
discontinued so abruptly that very meager records of their op- 
eration have been preserved. The story of the struggles of 
primitive man in exploiting the valleys and mountains and in ex- 
tracting the staple materials of the stoneage culture from their 
rooky beds forma one of the most interesting and important 
chapters in the history of incipient civilization. With only 
stone, bone, and wood for implements the aborigines attached the 
