240 The American Geologist. April, 1393 
bitt from the discovery of worked (quartzes along the base of the 
terrace? second, is there evidence of man's presence at the close 
of the glacial epoch, as indicated by the occurrence of art forms dis- 
tributed through the surface loams? and third, is there evidence 
that the art or any part of the art attributed to either of these 
horizons is paleolithic? All of these questions may be answered 
emphatically in the negative. It is clear from the facts pre- 
sented in the preceding pages, that had a thoroughly careful and 
well directed study of the phenomena of the site been made in the 
first place, the first and last of these questions need never have 
arisen. 
The mistakes made by Miss Babbitt are precisely such as others 
have made through taking up investigations in the geologic depart- 
ment of archeolog}^ without adequate knowledge either of the pro- 
cesses and phenomena of geology or of the arts and habits of our 
aboriginal peoples. It is manifestly easier to explain the puzzling 
phenomena of prehistoric archeology' in America by current theo- 
ries borrowed from foreign sources, than to attribute them to con- 
ditions and causes of which no knowledge has been acquired. 
Like mistakes are made to some extent by all students and at all 
stages of progress in research, and it must be regarded as a duty 
rather than as a charity to pass lightly over all such shortcomings 
in the work of genuine investigators; at the same time our high- 
est dutj' is to science, and vital errors, no matter what their origin, 
should be unhesitatingly pointed out, and expunged from the rec- 
ords. 
In closing, it may be stated with entire confidence that there is 
no available evidence of either a paleolithic man or glacial man 
in any part of the upper Mississippi valley. So far as my own 
observations and interpretations go, the vestiges of early man in 
Minnesota are confined exclusively to ordinary traces of Indian 
occupation. Considering the facts observed at Little Falls, and 
all the known ethnic phenomena of the region, this conclusion is 
so simple and natural that it ought to stand unquestioned until 
positive proofs to the contrary, proofs not yet foreshadowed, are 
brought forward and subjected to the tests of science. 
