Speculating on their age, Mr. Jones eloquently says, “If we are ignorant of the time when the Chattahooche first sought a highway to the Gulf; if we know not the age of the artificial tumuli which still grace its banks; if we are uncertain when the red Nomads who, in fear and wonder, carried the burdens of the adventurous DeSoto, as he conducted his followers through primeval forests, and, by the sides of their softly mingling streams, first became dwellers here, how shall we answer the question as to the age in which these rude drift implements were fashioned and used by these primitive people?”45 The examples we have quoted, even though the case of California be not considered, are all suggestive of a great antiquity for man, taking us back in time to when the glaciers still “shone in frigid splendor” over the northern part of the United States. When European savants had established the science of Archæology, and shown the existence of separate stages of culture, it was but natural that those interested in the matter on this side of the Atlantic should turn with renewed energy to investigate the archæology of this country, to see if here, too, they could find evidence of a Paleolithic Age. But the scholar in this country is confronted with a peculiar difficulty. Owing to the very multiplicity and variety of relics of prehistoric times, it is difficult to properly classify and understand them. The field is of great extent, the time of study has been short, and the explorers few; so it is not strange that but few localities have been thoroughly searched. But, until this is done, we can not hope to reach definite conclusions. The peculiar culture of the Indians, prevailing among them at the time of the discovery, proved a hindrance, rather than a help, in this matter. The Indians are certainly not Paleolithic, many of their implements being finely wrought and polished; but their arrow-heads, hatchets, and celts were sufficiently rude to spread the conviction that all weapons and implements of stone should be referred to them. This belief has done much to hinder real progress. It is not to be wondered at that some difference of opinion has prevailed, among our scholars, whether the different stages of culture, discovered in Europe, have any existence here.