Page:The American Indian.djvu/334

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276
THE AMERICAN INDIAN

archæology seem to hold to the belief that our data here in the New World are quite susceptible of division into true Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. Again, when the notion of a cave culture developed in Europe, American students searched our caverns for similar types, but without marked success. All this occupies an important place in the history of our subject; but the result was in the main negative, since no exact parallels were found. Unfortunately, the investigators of this period sought for specific parallels and not finding them, formulated a theory that the New World was extremely young and that in consequence no true Paleolithic, or even deeply stratified remains, would be found. The reaction to this seems to have been a turning away from all stratigraphic and analytic studies to other problems, with the obvious result that no advance has been made.

Recently some of the younger anthropologists have turned to the problem anew, this time not seeking mere parallels, but seeking to analyze the situation as found. For example, Nelson[1] worked last season in the Mammoth Cave district of Kentucky, finding two cultures, the earlier of which is without pottery and with very little polished stone. Again, new studies at Trenton, New Jersey, by Spier[2] have made conclusive the existence of an earlier culture, also without pottery and polished stone. Since both of these observations are east of the Mississippi River, we may conclude that the existence of two culture periods is extremely probable in eastern United States. In other words, when the problem is treated independently, we can, by analysis, arrive at chronological distinctions. We may, therefore, expect great developments in the near future. While it is clear that the specific concepts of European archæology cannot apply here, yet in the end it may turn out that there is something in common; at least, the pioneer efforts of the new anthropological school have brought results.


INFERENTIAL CHRONOLOGIES

We now turn to the second method of determining time relations for culture. The theoretical demonstration of the

  1. Nelson, N. C., 1917. I.
  2. Spier, 1916. I.