CONCLUSION
In the preceding chapters an attempt has been made to summarize our present knowledge of the prehistory of the great area called the Southwest. Although the Southwest is possibly the best known area in America, we have barely scratched the surface and great discoveries lie ahead. For the present there are many gaps in our knowledge. Doubtless in many cases, data have been incorrectly interpreted. Archaeological opinions are by no means unanimous on all points. In the years to come, other archaeologists with greater knowledge and more refined techniques will reveal new pages of prehistory and re-interpret many of those which their predecessors have tried to decipher. The findings of all science must be regarded, “not as rigid dogma, but as reasonable approximation to truth, certain to be largely extended and modified in the future.”[2] Although there is yet much to be learned and much to be reevaluated, a great deal has already been accomplished in the realm of Southwestern [archaeology]. Through scattered clues, carefully assembled and painstakingly studied and correlated it is at least possible to see something of the growth and development of unfamiliar cultures.
Inevitably certain questions are asked of those who devote themselves to such work. “What good is [archaeology]?” “Why is it important to know these things?” The best answer seems to be still another question. “Are we sufficiently sure of the worth of our own achievements to deny the value of trying to reconstruct another chapter of human history, even if we have nothing more than pottery and stone to guide us?”[3] According to our standards the prehistoric inhabitants of the Southwest did not achieve civilization. Still, there might be something to be learned from people so uncivilized that they believed that the cultivation of the land, the creation of beautiful as well as useful objects, and keeping in harmony with the great natural forces of the universe, were more important than the subjugation or destruction of their fellow men.
GLOSSARY
Aborigine—The native inhabitants of a country; in America, the Indians.
Apocynum—A plant, related to the milkweed, which provided fibers used in weaving.
Archaeology—The scientific study of the material remains of human life and human activities in prehistoric or ancient times.
Artifact—A product of human workmanship. Commonly used by archaeologists in speaking of prehistoric tools, implements, etc.
Atlatl—An Aztec word meaning spear-thrower. Atlatls are throwing sticks which have a handle on one end and on the other a spur which fits into a pit or cup drilled into the basal end of a dart shaft. When the dart is thrown the [atlatl] remains in the hand.
Basic Culture—See [Culture].