HarpersMagazine-1902!08!0008375 Primeval America
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Transcript of HarpersMagazine-1902!08!0008375 Primeval America
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From" Records of the Past"
UXMAL. CEr
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THE PRIMEVAL NORTH-AMERICAN. 397
tecture built and occupied those great
cities in Yucatan, Honduras, Guatemala,
and other Oentral-American states, whose
populations oncc numbered hundreds. of
thousands. Explorations have opened outthe secrets of these mural wastes, and
archaiologists have coincidently been ex-
cavating their desert counterpar-ts in the
Old World to verify their relationship.
Anaglyphs of a long - forgotten people
have been deciphered, and the revelationis like an open book. .
An approximate date when this civiliza-
tion was at the acme of its glory would
be about 10,000 years ago. This is estab-lished by observations upon the recession
of the existing glacier fronts, which are
known to drop back twelve miles in one
hundred years. How many centuries
previously this civilization had endured
is a problem hard to solve, because it is
not within mortal ken to know how long
the ice sheet remained in bulk before it
began to melt faster than it accumulated.
Hence the popular assumption thatAmerica was originally peopled by mi-
grations from the north is erroneous on
the facc of it, though within the past
1500 years racial injections from Eu-
rope and eastern Asia have largely over-
spread the higher latitudes. Ethnologists
have made a mistake in drawing in-
ferences from superficial signs which
sequentially must be recent. If we wish
to learn ancient. history, we must dig.
Ruins of sufficient antiquity to be con-
sidered ancient by comparison with re-
cent architecture overlie mural and ce-
ramic deposits of ages long forgotten,
the excavation of which discloses dates,
events, notable names and places, and
monuments of art, which the practised
archseologist could interpret with a con-
siderable degree of accuracy, even if
graven tablets and monumental inscrip-
tions did not invariably turn up to assist
and confirm his deductions. So whether
we work at Ur of Ohaldea or at Ohi-
chen-Itza of Oentral America we are not
liable to err if careful and consistent.
It is by some such intelligent adjustment
of coefficients that we are enabled to solve
the racial problem of the Western Hemi-
sphere, not only as respects the origin
of the American Indigenes (miscalledIndians), but approximately the antiq-
uity of their progenitors, whose ruined
and silent cities, like those of Asia
:Minor, long since passed out of history,
and whose massive pyramids, temples,
Reproduced by permission Iruur , . Records uf the Past"
MAP SHOWI~G GENERAL DISTRIBUTION OF PREHISTORIC RUINS SO FAR AS KNOW~ IN THE
UNITED STATES
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398 HARPER'S MONTHLY' MAGAZINE.
IT ~tr~~][(
By courtesy of the Bureau of Forestry
ANCIENT PICTOGRAPHS. MADE ABOUT 5000 YEARS AGO. KERN RIVEn CANON. CALIFORNIA
and palaces vie with those of the Old
World, and are inferentially not onlycoeval with them, but closely related.
The nicety with which the parts fit
is proof of the correctness of a thesis
which not only indicates the birthplace of
the people from which the early inhab-
itants of North America sprung, but
locates their point of departure (in Con-
tral America), and the several divergent
routes of exodus therefrom northward,
which eventuated in the distribution ofthe population over the greater part of
the continent. And it is able to trace and
establish these designated routes by mu-
ral inscriptions, petroglyphs, stone tab-
lets, writings, and traditions, the authen-
ticity of which is self-evident and self-
contained. Pictographs and painted
rocks to the number of over 3000, all
located and listed, are scattered all over
the country, from the Dighton Rock inMassachusetts Bay to the Kern River
Cation in California, and from the Flor-
ida cape to the .Mouse River in Mani-
toba, which, if translated, would give us
a current history of migrations and events
which have transpired since the glacial
sheet was uncovered. The identity of the
Indians with their ancient progenitors is
further proven by relics, mortuary cus-
toms, linguistic similarities, plants andvegetables, and primitive industrial and
mechanical arts which have remained
constant throughout the ages. And not
only is the progress of migration and dis-
tribution intelligently traced, but also
the incidental metamorphoses and de-
generation" which, in the course of the
;:.This theory of degeneration from thehigh civilization of ancient Central Amer-
ica to the breech- clout Indians of thePlains, which is not popular with evolution-ists, is manifested in the case of negroes on
long period of transformation, ultimately
touched the level of savagery in manyinstances.
With the gradual withdrawal of the
glacial sheet the climate grew proportion-
ately milder, and flora and fauna moved
simultaneously northward. Coincidently
the solar heat at the equator, which had
before been tolerable, became oppressive;
large areas of agricultural land became
desiccated; quarrels and jealousies arose;
the overcrowded population grew restless,and an impulse of extradition super-
vened which has probably had no parallel.
Some emigrants went to South America
and settled there, carrying their customs,
arts, ceremonial rites, hieroglyphs, archi-
tecture, etc.; and an immense exodus
took place intu Mexico and Arizona,
which ultimately extended westward up
the Pacific coast. Ooincidently a north-
ward migration took place through NewMexico to southeastern Oolorado, and
another exodus still more direct acros
the Gulf of Mexico in flotillas from Yu-
catan to the mainland, and thence du
northward between the 87th and the 97t
meridians, extending at last as far up a
Lake Superior, the progressive trend be
ing punctuated at succeeding stages b
defensive earth-works, whose construction
the sea islands along the coast of SoutCarolina, whose gibberish in the course oonly thrce generations has become unintelligible, and it is further illustrn.ted anstrengthened in modern history by thmountaineers of Kentucky and West Virginia, who arc the descendants of some othe best Virginia families since only a cetury ago, and who forgot in their transplanting to establish with their homes thschools and churches which their forefthers had considered indispensable to me
tal and moral culture, And this barbarisis in the heart of an educated and progresive country.
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THE SETTLDMD~T AT KING'S ISLAND, ALASKA
[The King's Island settlement was in existence when Captain Cook, in circumnavigating the globe, visited Bering
Sea, and how much older it is no one can tell. There are DO outer platforms or vestibules of the cave dwellings.
When, in summer, the caves become 'too damp for health, the people move out, and construct of driftwood and walrus-
skins the summer houses or tents which are prominent in the picture. The driftwood probably comes from the Yukon
River. and is t hrown up against the rocks a nd caref ully gathered by t he people. The f loor is made of t hese drift wood
trees hewn to be fairly level, and laid side by side. Then a light frame of driftwood is mane over the floor, and
covered with walrus-skins or the skins of t he large seal. The rear end of t he platform rests upon the ground, and
t he front of t he summer t ent is oftentimes t wenty or thirty feet above t he ground. In the picture ma y be seen some
small holes in the side of t he hill with layers of stone around the openings. These are the ent ra nces to the caves.
Inside the o pening there is a small ha llway f rom ten t o t wenty feet in lengt h, and that opens t hroug h a small hole
into the main living-room of the cave.]
was attributed until recently to a hypo-
thetical people termed Mound-Builders,
Great numbers of emigrants also went to
the Antilles, the Bahamas, and other
neighboring islands, where colonies had
already been planted, and thence to
Florida, and from there were dissemi-
nated all over the eastern part of the con-
tinent as fast as it became habitable.These initial migrations t~ok place in
the early history of the glacial period.
In subsequent epochs, when the ice sheet
had withdrawn from large areas, as far
at least as up to the latitude of the Great
Lakes, there were immense influxes of peo-
ple from Asia via Bering Strait and theKamtchatkan Peninsula on the Pacific
side, and from northwestern Europe via
Greenland on the Atlantic side (thatsubarctic tract being hospitable then),
and these continued, pari passu, as the
earth became uncovered, distributing
themselves over the country by available
watercourses, which were then larger and
more numerous than now, until large
communities occupied its most attractive
uplands, notably the region south of
Lakes Erie and Ontario, as is made evi-
dent by the abandoned copper-mines ofLake Superior and the many mounds
imd defensive earth-works in Ohio and
contiguous territory.
Early migrants from Central America
into Mexico and beyond were able to
maintain the high civilization of their
forebears as long as their basic relation
and environment remained unchanged, a
postulate which is abundantly attested by
arohssological evidence, as well as by theenduring testimony of petroglyphs. But
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400 HARPER'S .i\WNTHLY },{AGAZINE.
finally came those stupendous terres-
trial dislocations, upheavals, emergencies,
droughts, denudations, and associated
dynamic phenomena which punctuated
the lapse of geological time and changed
the contour of the continent. :R y thesame great cataclysm which broke up the
"fountains of the great deep," accord-
ing to the Scripture, and inundated so
large a part of the globe and its ante-
diluvian fauna and flora, the fructifying
rivers of Central America were engulfed,
and the acequias, aqueducts, and irri-
gating canals werc destroyed or rendered
useless. Some disjointed records of this
overwhelming catastrophe are inscribed
upon pyramids, temple walls, monoliths,
and porticos of those massive ruins which
attest to their extinguished greatness,
while oral traditions, next in historical
value to the libraries which Cortez de-
stroyed, have been transmitted down the
centuries, even to Southwestern Indians
of the present day. Drought, famine,
malignant diseases, persistent inter-
necine wars, and ultimate depopulationsupervened, and after efforts to maintain
themselves on the home sites, the dis-
comfited survivors scattered.
For many centuries large communities
tarried in Mexico, New Mexico, and
Arizona, sections of which were populousup to the arrival of Coronado in lG40,
but finally aridity of the soil, caused in
large part by forest denudation, frequent
tidal waves, the deflection of surface wa-ters into subterranean rock fissures, thc
merciless raids of the Spaniards, and in-
ternecine wars scattered them over the
lava beds and alkaline wastes of sage-
bush and cactus, to eke out a precarious
livelihood with their starveling flocks.
The remnants ultimately betook them-
selves to. the cliffs and mesas, which they
fortified, and attempted to subsist on
crops forced from scantily irrigated gar-dens on the arid plains below. This for
a distressful period, and then northward
again to more peaceful and fertile locali-
ties in eastern Colorado, where melting
snows from the uplifted continental di-
vide afforded perennial moisture. Here
they maintained a long-protracted status
as agriculturists and shepherds, estab-
lishing thrifty towns and villages, of
which a few remain to this day as " pueb-los." Records of their vicissitudes and
dire extremity arc pecked upon many a
neighboring rock-of the continued at-
tacks and defences, and how the cliff-
dwellers were finally cut off by their
enemies, and how few escaped. The ad-
vent of the Spaniards and their ruthless
quest for gold broke into the bucolic life
of the pueblos. :Many were exterminated,
while others, harassed and impoverished,
abandoned agriculture in despair and
took to the chase for a livelihood. From
that to semi-savagery the lapse was easy.
The introduction of horses by Coro-
nado at this juncture was a godsend to
the afflicted people, for it not only en-
abled them to chase the big game of the
Rocky .Mountain foot-hills, but it made
long journeys possible. It enabled them
to follow the erratic movements of the
buffalo into the Great Plains, whose in-
terior until then had been unoccupied by
men. Eventually they reached their east-
ern border, where they encountered the
forest Indians, who had also followed the
migrations of the buffalo westward from
Ohio, Virginia, and lllinois, which wereits favorite habitat at the period when
America was colonized by England.
The collision of these nomadic horse
Indians with the more sedentary forest
tribes, who clustered in villages and had
no horses, and have not had to this day,and the continuous struggle for terri-
torial possession and hunting prerog-
atives which followed, account in large
part for the suggestive zone of moundswhich spans the width of ten meridians,
and extends from the Gulf of Mexico to
Lake Superior. Outside of this zone
there are no similar mounds east of. the
Rio Grande. For three hundred and fif-
ty. years this broad territorial strip was
disputed ground, the principal seat of
the struggle being in Ohio, where there
is every evidence of pitched battles hav-
ing been fought in front of intrench-ments, and in whose 'vicinity there are
still great tumuli where hosts of the slain
were buried. Distributively the mounds
show quite exactly the area of territory
fought over, their sinuous or waving
lines or series indicating the varying for-
tunes of the combatants. :\founds are
of diverse sizes and shapes, from five to
thirty feet high, and were used for burial
and sacrificial purposes, for dykes, assites for temples and dwellings, as
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THE PRIMEVAL NORTH-AMERICAN.
refuges from inundations, as amphithe-
atres for ball games, and for ornamental
purposes, as in public parks and gardens
of the present day. Many in the sem-
blance of elephants, leopards, turtles, rats,
snakes, deer, and the like, were copied
from the Aztec and Toltec gardens, and
from others extant in the Zuni and Mo-
have country. They were reproduced
just as we copy patterns from the Old
World.
Memorabilia of permanent occupancy in
bass-relief, sculpture, and hieroglyphs oc-
cur everywhere among the ruins of the
exhumed cities of Yucatan, and are re-
peated all over Central America and parts
of South America, while pictographs and
rock inscriptions of later periods mark
the exodus and advances of the emigrants
along the trails which diverge from the
point of departure through Mexico and
Arizona, and thence northwestward up
the Pacific, or due north to Colorado, and
thence eastward along the Arkansas
River across the Great Plains, or north-
easterly across the Rio Grande through
401
southern Texas to Arkansas. The hiero-
glyphs" include outlines of animals, clan
marks, totems, secret - society insignia,
challenges, defiances, taunts (since prac-
tised hy all Indian tribes), cautions
against ambuscades and natural obstacles,
directions to water - holes, camping-
grounds, and rendezvous, as well as men-
tion of skirmishes, forced marches, mis-
adventures, and special events, practices
which were in vogue in Palestine and
Egypt in Biblical times. Every new
archeeological discovery adds testimony
to establish the more than hypothetical
orig-in of our American aborigines, and
the close relationship between their an-
cestors of Central America and the peo-
ples of Egypt and Asia. The Bureau of
Ethnography at Washington has remarked
~Pictographs on inaccessible rock cliffsand walls of canons were made from canoeswhen the permanent stage of water at allpoints was thirty-flve feet higher than now.This is illustrated at Red Hock on Lake Su-perior, the level of all the Great Lakes be-ing at one time in the past that much high-er than it is now.
By courtesy of" The Antiquarian"
HUT AND MANITOU FACE ON THE FASADE OF A TEMPLE AT PALENQUE
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B}, courtesy of . Records of the Past" Exploration Society
CLIFF DWELLINGS AT \VALPI, ARIZONA (CONTEMPORANEOUS WITH ANCIENT BABYLON)
the ident ity of certain American hiero-
glyphics in form and significance withthose of Eg'ypt and the East. The cal-
endar of Mexico duplicates in essential
features the calendars of India and
Arabia; some social customs of America
resemble those of Africa and Australia;
and the beliefs and ceremonials of theAmerican abor-igines simulate and some-
times exactly repeat those of India,
Ohina, and other countries. The sun-
dance of the plains Indians is a relic ofthe sun-worship of Peru and Mexico andback to the worship of Baal Pear; and
all the altars and sacrificial stones, the
human sacrifices, the passing through
fire, and those horrid abominations which
were bewailed and denounced by the
Bible prophets in Asia Minor 5000 years
ago, were doubtless contemporary and in
simultaneous practice on both hemi-
spheres up to the advent of the Spaniardsand the overthrow of the Montezuinas,
They obtain even now in isolated regions
of this continent.
The entire proposition contained in this
paper may bc synoptically stated as fol-
lows: The primeval peoples of both
North and South America originatedfrom a civilization of high degree which
occupied the sub - equatorial belt some
10,000 years ago, while the glacial sheet
was still on. Population spread north-
ward as the icc receded. Routes of ex-odus diverging from the central point 0 1 '
departure are plainly marked by ruins
and records. The subsequent settlements in
Mexico, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado,
Utah, and California indicate the suc-
cessive stages of advance, as well as thepersistent struggle to maintain the an-
cient civilization against reversion and
the catastrophes of nature. The varying
architecture of the valleys, cliffs, andmesas is an intelligible expression of the
exigencies which stimulated the builders.
The gradual distribution of population
over the higher latitudes in after-years
was supplemented by accretions from Eu-
rope and northern Asia centuries before
the coming of Oolumbus. Wars and re-
prisals were the natural and inevitable
results of a mixed and degenerating
population with different dialects. Th~mounds which cover the mid-continental
areas, isolated and in groups, tell the
story thereof. The Korean immigration
of the year 544, historically cited, which
led to the founding of the Mexican Em-
pire in 1325, was but an incidental con-
tribution to the growing population of
North America. So also were the vcry
much earlier migrations from Central
America across the Gulf of .Mexico.