Essays of an Americanist / I. Ethnologic and ArchAEologic. II. Mythology and Folk Lore. III. Graphic Systems and Literature. IV. Linguistic.

CONTENTS.

		PAGE

Preface		iii, iv

Table of Contents		v-xii


PART I.

ETHNOLOGIC AND ARCHÆOLOGIC.

Introductory		17–19

A Review of the Data for the Study of the Pre-historic Chronology of America		20–47

	Classification of Data. I. Legendary: of northern tribes; of Peruvians, Mexicans and Mayas; limited range. II. Monumental: pueblos of New Mexico; stone and brick structures of Mexico, Central America and Peru; ruins of Tiahuanaco; artificial shell heaps; the sambaquis of Brazil. III. Industrial: palÆolithic implements; early polished stone implements; dissemination of cultivated food plants. IV. Linguistic: multitude and extension of linguistic stocks; tenacity of linguistic form; similarities of internal form; study of internal form. V. Physical: racial classifications; traits of the American type; permanence of the type. VI. Geologic: date of the glacial epochs in North and South America; the earliest Americans immigrants; lines of migrations. Importance of archÆological studies.

On PalÆoliths, American and Other		48–55

	The cutting instrument as the standard of culture; the three “Ages” of Stone, Bronze and Iron; subdivisions of the Age of Stone into PalÆolithic and Neolithic; a true “PalÆolith”; subdivision of the PalÆolithic period into the epochs of “simple” and “compound” implements; palÆolithic finds along the Delaware river; the glacial period in America; earliest appearance of man in America.

On the Alleged Mongolian Affinities of the American Race		56–66

	A practical question; Cuvier’s triple division of the human species; alleged Mongolian affinities in language; supposed affinities in culture; imagined physical resemblances, as color, cranial analogies, the oblique or “Mongoloid” eye, etc. Insufficiency of all these.

The Probable Nationality of the “Mound-Builders.”		67–82

	Who were the “Mound-builders”? Known tribes as constructors of mounds, the Iroquois, Algonkins, Cherokees and Chahta-Muskoki family. Descriptions from De Soto’s expedition; from Huguenots in Florida; from French writers on Louisiana; great size of the southern mounds; probable builders of Ohio mounds.

The Toltecs and their Fabulous Empire		83–100

	Statement of the question; the current opinion; the adverse opinion; Tula as an historic site; the Serpent-Hill; the Aztec legends about Tula; date of the desertion of Tula; meaning of the name Tula or Tollan; the mythical cyclus of Tula; birth of Huitzilopochtli; myth of Quetzalcoatl at Tula; his subjects, the Toltecs; purely fabulous narratives concerning them.

PART II.

MYTHOLOGY AND FOLK-LORE.

Introductory		101–103

The Sacred Names in Quiche Mythology		104–129

	The Quiches of Guatemala, and their relationship; sources of information. Their Sacred Book, the Popol Vuh; its opening words; The name Hun-Ahpu-Vuch, the God of Light; Hun-Ahpu-Utiu; Nim-ak, the Great Hog; Nim-tzyiz; Tepeu; Gucumatz; Qux-cho and Qux-palo; Ah-raxa-lak and Ah-raxa-sel; Xpiyacoc and Xmucane, the primal pair; Cakulha; Huracan and Cabrakan; Chirakan, the god of the Storm and the Earthquake; Xbalanque and his journey to Xibalba, or the Descent into Hell.

The Hero-God of the Algonkins as a Cheat and Liar		130–134

	Micmac story of Gluskap, the Liar; the Cree god, the Deceiver; Michabo and his tricks; psychological significance of such stories.

The Journey of the Soul		135–147

	General belief in a soul; Egyptian theory of its fate; it sinks and rises with the sun; invocation to Osiris; symbols of the river, the boat, the dog, and the sacred numbers; recurrence of these symbols in Greek, Vedantic and Norse beliefs; the Aztec account of the soul’s journey to Paradise. Origin of these symbolic narratives from the apparent daily course of the Sun.

The Sacred Symbols in America		148–162

	The four symbols of the Ta Ki, the Triskeles, the Svastika and the Cross; the prevalence of the Triskeles in the Old World; the meaning of the Ta Ki in Chinese philosophy; the Yin and Yang; the Svastika; origin illustrated from n picture-writing; the Copan stone; the earth-plain; the wheel-cross; winter-counts and year cycles; time-wheels and sun-motions; the Four Ages and Tree of Life.

The Folk-Lore of Yucatan		Clyx.com