the Royal Society of London, six years later, by Mr. James Winthrop, Hollisian Professor of Mathematics. In 1786, the Rev. Michael Lort, D. D., one of the vice-presidents of the Society of Antiquaries of London, again brought the subject, with all its accumulated illustrations, before that society; and Col. Vallency undertook to prove that the inscription was neither Phoenician nor Punic, but Siberian. Subsequently, Judge Winthrop executed a drawing in 1788; and again we have others by Judge Baylies and Mr. Joseph Gooding in 1790, by Mr. Kendall in 1807, by Mr. Job Gardner in 1812, and finally, in 1830, by a commission appointed by the Rhode Island Historical Society, and communicated to the Antiquaries of Copenhagen with elaborate descriptions: which duly appear in their Antiquitaties Americana, in proof of novel and very remarkable deductions. Surely no inscription, ancient or modern, not even the Behistun cuneatics, or the trilingual Rosetta Stone, ever received more faithful study. After inspecting the rude scrawls of which it chiefly consists, it is pleasant to feel assured of this, at least : that when learned divines, professors and linguists thus perseveringly questioned this New England sphinx for upwards of a century and a half, we have good proof that no more valuable inscriptions have been allowed to perish unrecorded. But the most curious matter relating to this written rock is, that after being thus put to the question by learned inquisitors for a hundred and fifty years, it did at length yield a most surprising

response.

The description given by Prof. Greenwood of his own process of copying, and by Prof. Winthrop of the method pursued by his colleague, Mr. Sewall-as well as the assiduity and zeal of other copyists-would, under all ordinary circumstances, have seemed to render any further reference to the stone itself superfluous. But no sooner do the Danish antiquaries write to their Rhode Island correspondents, with a hint of Leif Erikson and other old Norsemen's New England explorations than the Dighton Rock grows luminous; and the Rhode Island Commission sends a new drawing to Copenhagen, duly engraved, with all the others, in the Antiquitates Americanæ, from which the learned Danes, Finn Magnusen and Charles C. Rafn-as indeed the most unlearned of English or American readers may-discern the name of Thorfinn, with an exact, though by no means equally manifest enumeration of the associates who, according to the saga, accompanied Karlsetne's expedition to Vinland in A. D. 1007. The annals of antiquarian exploration record many marvellous disclosures, but few more surprising than this."*

The Dighton Rock inscription having been so well received in Copenhagen, Dr. Webb, the Secretary of the Rhode Island

Prehistoric Man 143 46

Society, again essayed to enlighten the Danes, so sent them a drawing of the circular stone mill at Newport, along with some metallic implements found in conjunction with a skeleton at Fall River. These new evidences were published in the Supplement to Antiquitates Americana, which appeared in 1841. Much learning was employed to prove by analogies that these also were of Norse origin. That the Round Tower at Newport, Rhode Island, is of Scandinavian origin rests on no other foundation than that of bold assertion. And yet the idea has found its way into our school books, and a picture of it is given, in

attestation of the early visit of the Icelanders. This structure, which has so forcibly been pressed into service to do duty in substantiating an unhappy theory, stands on an eminence in the center of the town of Newport, being about twenty-four feet high and twenty-three feet in diameter, circular in form. It rests upon eight piers, connected by arches: has four small windows, and, high up the wall, above the arches, was a small fire-place. The columns are about ten feet high; the height of the center of the arches from the ground is twelve feet six inches, and the toundation extends to the depth of four or five feet. The stones composing the structure are irregular in size and not placed in regular layers.

IDOLS AND IMAGES.

BY STEPHEN D. PEET.

One of the most interesting subjects connected with American. archæology is the one which relates to the worship of images or idol worship. This was the earliest form of religion in historic countries, and is, even now, a most extensive and wide spread system and so introduces a most important field of research. We are, to be sure, in America brought to it from another side than that which is usual, namely, the prehistoric, but it ends where it began in historic countries. Its chief development was among the civilized races, though its origin lies back of all civilization, and can be only learned from the uncivilized countries. America furnishes unusual advantages for the study of this system, for it not only presents idolatry in a high stage of development and associated with a comparatively high state of art, but it also brings before us various lower stages in which idol worship prevailed. We are evidently brought by the symbolism of America nearer the sources of idolatry than in any other country, and therefore may find it profitable to study these symbols. The subject of comparative religions has been followed hitherto in eastern countries, America having been left out of the account altogether, but we are really nearer the sources of the ancient religions than the people of the east, and may well study the tokens which are at our very doors.

I. Let us consider the character of idolatry on the American continent. It is well known that idolatry prevailed in scripture. lands and was there condemned as a source of degredation. The common theory is that it was a system which came from the decline of a higher faith to a lower, and that its appearance in other lands involves the same conclusion. Contrary to this is the theory that idolatry was one of a series which led from a lower to a higher stage, and would ultimately have ended in monotheism. From this some have drawn the conclusion that every form of religion was the result of the process of evolution. Worship of nature powers led up to personification, this personification introduced the human image as the chief form of its embodiment, and so these images or idols were ultimately the means by which the mind sought to reach the apprehension of divine attributes. Some would maintain that the worship of "culture heroes" followed the worship of images, and after this the polytheistic divinities

appeared, and that the end would have been a Monotheism, similar to that of oriental countries. This, however, is mere conjecture and is by no means sustained by the study of symbolism on this continent.

While there was a progress from the lower condition up to a higher, there was never the attainment of such a conception as prevailed in historic countries and certainly no such view as that given in the Book of Revelation. Though we have the various members of the series-animal worship, sun worship, fire worship, sky worship or Sabæanism, image worship and even hero worship, there was no such thing as the worship of a personal god and no conception of the spirituality of the divine being. This may be ascribed to lack of opportunity, or to arrested development; but it would seem as if the experiment had been sufficiently tried. The remoteness of America from historic countries was such that the influence of revelation was not felt. The people were not brought to the idea of holiness by that or any other influence, and were lacking in the essential element which constitutes the religion of historic countries. There is this extenuating circumstance, they had never come directly in contact with anything better. If there was a higher view aniong the civilized and historic nations which had enjoyed the benefits of revelation, it never came to them. If there was any contact with historic countries it was so slight that its influence is imperceptible. Still, the same reproach brought against idolatry in the east might be brought against it here. Man was held in bondage to his own superstition. He never rose above himself. While there was a progress in civilization and a wonderful advance in symbolism there was very little progress in morality or true religious lite. In reality the greatest cruelty which was ever practiced in America was that which appeared in connection with the worship of idols and personal divinities in Mexico. Montezuma, the Aztec king, sought out human captives by thousands and offered them to the great sun divinity whose image stood on the summit of the lofty Teocalli of the city. Civilization brought in a most elaborate system of symbols, all of which were expressive of the personification of nature powers, but were at the same time expressive of the worst passions of human nature. The rise of idolatry in this country does not prove that man would have reached the worship of the one true God without the aid of revelation, but rather proves the contrary; so that we have the same lesson here that we learn in heathen countries. While there was a correlation between the geographical surroundings and the social condition, there was nothing in man's environment to bring him to a condition of spirituality.

This lesson is also taught by the geography of religion. It is remarkable that different zones should present so many forms of religion; that as we pass through the geographical districts

from the north to the south we find the symbols of nature worship growing more elaborate and advanced; but it is still more remarkable that when nature powers were personified and human attributes were given to animal divinities, man should not have arisen at a subsequent stage to the apprehension of the true God.

The following are the religions and the order in which they appear: (1.) Shamanism, which prevailed among the degraded fishermen of the north. Here the people were brought under the control of their medicine men, who often threw themselves into a frenzy and became the chief of the dog-eaters. It was a degraded system which prevailed among a most degraded people. (2) Next to this was totemism. This was found among the hunter tribes. It was the religion of savagery. It consisted in the worship of animals as clan divinities, some of which were rulers of the sky, others the rulers of the forest and the field. It prevailed on the Northwest Coast among the Thlinkeets, among the aborigines of Hudson's Bay, and among all the Algonkin tribes situated along the chain of the great lakes. Totemism was perhaps a higher system than shamanism, but it brought in no higher personality than man himself. (3.) The religion which followed totemism consisted in the worship of mythologic divinities, some of which were apparently human and others purely animal. Mythologic divinities prevailed, especially among the Iroquois, the Dakotas, the Cherokees and the tribes of that general stock. They were incident to the highly organized confederacies, and were often made identical with the historic personages which appeared as the founders of these confederacies, "Culture heroes" also appeared among the wilder tribes, such as the Algonkins. These were mythologic divinities, but they always bore with them the symbolism of the lower animal worship, showing that they were totemistic in their origin and nature, and not historic. (4) Sun worship. This prevailed among the agricultural races inhabiting the Mississippi Valley, who had their chief seats along the Ohio River and in the Gulf States. Among them were the Cherokees, Natchez and Muscogees. The Mound-builders who inhabited these districts were also sun worshipers. They embodied the sun symbols in their works and relics. (5.) A fifth form of worship was that found among the semi-civilized races of the great plateau of the west, especially the Zunis and Moquis. They were Sabæans or the sky worshipers. While they believed the sun to be a great divinity, they regarded all nature powers as divine. They had symbols for the sky, lightning, winds, rain, and for the points of the compass; they divided the sky into six parts, which they called houses, and gave a different color to each of these houses. They held to a sort of animal worship also, and placed animals as the guardians of the different parts of the sky: the eagle of the upper region, the