Prehistoric Man; Researches Into the Origin of Civilisation in the Old and the New World

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1865 edition. Excerpt: ...correspondence 1 Ancient Monuments of the Miwhvsipp'i Valley, p. 152. to the type of the modern North American Indian. The workman ship of this head is described by its discoverers as unsurpassed by any specimen of ancient American art which has fallen under the notice of the authors, not excepting the best productions of Mexico and Peru.1 In the well-executed illustration which accompanies these remarks, the Red Indian features are unmistakably represented; nor has this failed to receive abundant attention, and to have ascribed to it even more than its due importance. Mr. Francis Pulszky, the learned Hungarian, thus comments on it in his Iconographic Researches on Human Races and their Art: --A most characteristic, we may say artistically beautiful head, the workmanship of these unknown Mound-Builders, dug up and published by Sipiier, exhibits the peculiar Indian features so faithfully, and with such sculptural perfection, that we cannot withhold our admiration from their artistic proficiency. It proves three things: 1st, That these Mound-Builders were American Indian in type; 2d, That time (age ante-Columbian, but otherwise unknown, ) has not changed the type of this indigenous group of races; and 3d, That the Mound-Builders were probably acquainted with no other men but themselves.2 Such are the sweeping deductions drawn from premises supplied by a single example of mouud-sculpture: or rather from the depiction of it in Messrs. Squier and Davis's volume; for after a careful examination of the original, its ethnic characteristics appear to me to be misrepresented in the illustration referred to. The artist has, no doubt undesignedly, given to his drawing much more of the typical Indian features than are traceable in the...