218 
and caches on Melville, Bathurst, and other islands, even on the 
extreme north of Kllesmere island within 8 degrees of the nortii jiole. 
Archaeological investigations, however, face at the outset a very 
serious difficulty; for the aborigines, familiar with no writing except 
picture-writing, have left behind no literature that might help to fix 
52001 
Pelio{fIj'pli near the Bella Coola river. foTir iiiiles from tlio village of Bella Coola. 
(1‘hoio htj JfarUtn I. ShaB/fJ 
tlie dates of these various remains. We may know from the ignor- 
ance of the present day natives concerning their origin, and from the 
absence of any iron tools, that they antedate the arrival of Euro- 
peans two or more centuries ago; but this hardly begins the inquiry. 
In other parts of the world we can sometimes determine the approxi- 
