The Journal of Geology, January-February 1893: A Semi-Quarterly Magazine of Geology and Related SciencesVarious
Science
The Journal of Geology, January-February 1893: A Semi-Quarterly Magazine of Geology and Related Sciences
Various
Geology -- Periodicals
Yet is there really nothing in it all, in the theories, the
observations, the collections and the books? Do I speak too positively
in condemnation of the results of years of earnest investigation?
Perhaps so, but the voluminous testimony is so overloaded with
inaccuracies, the relics of unscientific method and misleading
hypotheses, that every item must be sharply questioned; and the
conclusions reached so far overstep the limits warranted by the
evidence, that heroic measures alone can be effectual in determining
their exact value. If, as many believe, vital errors have been
embodied in the evidence presented by the advocates of the theory,
it is impossible to state the case too strongly. Error once fully
absorbed into the literature of science has many advantages over the
tardy truth; it is strongly fortified and must be attacked and exposed
without fear or favor. Truth involved with it cannot permanently
suffer. If the twin theories of a gravel and a paleolithic man in
eastern America are to be assailed as unsound or as not properly
supported, it should be done now while the originators and upholders
are alive and alert to sustain their positions or to yield to the
advances of truth. I do not wish to wrongly characterize or to unduly
minimize the evidence brought to bear in favor of these theories. I do
intend, however, to assist the world so far as possible in securing an
exact estimate of all that has been said and done, and all that is to
be done.
In a previous article I have examined the evidence relating to
paleolithic art in the eastern United States, and have indicated
its utter inadequacy and unreliability. In this paper the testimony
relating to the occurrence of gravel art, in the locality most fully
relied upon by advocates of the theory, has been partially reviewed
and subjected to the strong light of recent observations. It is found
that the whole fabric, so imposing in books and museums, shrinks away
surprisingly as it is approached. The evidence furnished by the bluff
face and by the railway cutting, the two leading sites, is fatally
weakened by the practical demonstration of the fact that the gravels
proper are at these points barren of art remains. In endeavoring to
naturalize an immigrant hypothesis, our gravel searchers, unacquainted
with the true nature of the objects collected and discussed, and little
skilled in the observation of the phenomena by means of which all
questions of age must be determined, have undoubtedly made grievous
mistakes and have thus misled an expectant and credulous public.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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