Prehistoric America [1 ed.] 9780817384166, 9780817352721

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Prehistoric America

CLASSICS IN SOUTHEASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY Stephen Williams, Series Editor

Prehistoric America

by the MARQUIS DE NADAILLAC

Translated by N. D'ADVERS Edited by W. H. DALL Introduction by JON MULLER

THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA PRESS Tuscaloosa

Introduction copyright © 2005 The University of Alabama Press Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0380 All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America

The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Science-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Nadaillac, Jean-Fran\(ois-Albert du Pouget, marquis de, 1818-1904. [Amerique prehistorique. English] Prehistoric America / by the Marquis de Nadaillac ; translated by N. D'Advers; edited by W. H. Dall ; introduction by Jon Muller. p. cm. - (Classics in southeastern archaeology) Originally published: London: J. Murray, 1884. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8173-5272-1 (paper: alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8173-5272-4 1. America-Antiquities. 2. Indians-Antiquities. I. Dall, William Healey, 1845-1927. II Title. III. Series E61.N33 2005 970.01-dc22 2005053829 ISBN -13: 978-0-8173-8416-6 (electronic) Front Cover Image: Plan of Alligator Mound, Fig. 35 Back Cover Image: Wildcat pipe, Fig. 70

CONTENTS

Note by the Editor (1885) Preface Introduction to the 2005 Edition by Jon Muller

vii ix xiii

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10

1 46 80 133 198 260 317 387 476 518

Appendix Index

533 539

NOTE BY THE EDITOR (1885)

THE PRESENT TRANSLATION of the Marquis de Nadaillac's l' Am/rique Prihistorique has been made with the author's sanction. By his permission it has been modified and revised to bring it into harmony with the results of recent investigation and the conclusions of the best authorities on the arch~ology of the United States. This has required a revision of the chapters relating to the arch~ology of North America and the addition to them of much new information. For such changes and additions the editor is to be held responsible. Many quotations have been verified by Mr. J. W. Gibbs, and the acknowledgments of the translator are also due for assistance rendered in architectural matters by Prof. T. Roger Smith, of London University, and in other details by Dr. Sainsbury and Miss F. E. Judge. To the courtesy of the Messrs. Harper & Bros. the publishers are indebted for the opportunity of using a number of illustrations relating to the arch~ology of Peru. These originally appeared in Squier's well-known work on Peru, which has been cited as an authority on numerous occasions by the author of the present work.

PREFACE.

Pre-historic man has for some time excited a justifiable interest not only among men of science but among men of intelligence everywhere. The first revelations in regard to the co-existence of man with extinct animals were received not only with surprise but with natural incredulity. Soon, however, proofs of such weight multiplied, that doubt became no longer reasonable, and we are now able to assert with confidence that, at a period from which we are separated by many centuries, man inhabited the earth, already old at the time of his appearance. The length of this period can be measured by no chronology, no calculation can compute it, history and tradition are silent with regard to it; and it is only by the study of works which may be almost termed stupendous, and by the most careful reasoning that traces of pre-historic man have been followed up through an almost fabulous past and some idea has been gained of the rude pioneers who were the ancestors of the human race. With some probability Asia has been fixed upon as the primceval cradle of humanity, from which by successive migrations, during an incalculable period, man spread to the uttermost parts of the Old W orId. At an epoch not far distant, men probably derived from the same source, made their appearance in the New W orId, wandering on the shores of either ocean. Like their nomad contemporaries of the other hemisphere they knew no shelter save that afforded by nature in her forests and rocks. Rudely shaped stones served them alike for tools and weapons and their social condition was paralleled by that known for their European contemporaries under the name of the Stone age. In accordance with a universal law of

x

PREFACE

Nature now well recognized, men alike in habits, physique, and mental culture, though in the midst of most diverse conditions of fauna, flora, and climate, were traversing the forests of India and the frigid regions of the north, chasing the reindeer or the bear on the banks of the Delaware or the Mississippi as well as along the Thames or the Seine. N or is this all; the inhabitants of distant continents passed through strictly analogous phases of culture. The nomads were succeeded by sedentary tribes who settled by the banks of rivers or the shores of ocean, wherever the bounty of the waters afforded subsistence. Shell-heaps and kitchen middens bear witness to the long duration of their sojourn. Centuries passed, new wants were fcIt,