The first inhabitants of America probably came from the Old World. At a remote epoch a land-bridge connected northwest Europe with Greenland, and Iceland still remains a witness to its former existence. Over this bridge animals and men may have found their way into the New World. Another prehistoric route may have led from Asia. Only a narrow strait now separates Alaska from Siberia, and the Aleutian Islands form an almost complete series of stepping-stones across the most northerly part of the Pacific.
THE AMERICAN ABORIGINES
The natives of America, whom Columbus called Indians, certainly resemble Asiatics in some physical features, such as the reddish-brown complexion, the hair, uniformly black and lank, the high cheek-bones, and short stature of many tribes. On the other hand, the large, aquiline nose, the straight eyes, never oblique, and the tall stature of some tribes are European traits. It seems safe to conclude that the American aborigines, whatever their origin, became thoroughly fused into a composite race during long centuries of isolation from the rest of mankind.
INDIAN CULTURE
Because of their isolation the Indians had to work out by themselves many arts, inventions, and discoveries. They spoke over a thousand languages and dialects; and not one has yet been traced outside of America. Their implements consisted of polished stone, occasionally of unsmelted copper, and in Mexico and Peru, of bronze. They cultivated Indian corn, or maize, but lacked the other great cereals. They domesticated the dog and the llama of the Andes. They lived in clans and tribes, ruled by headmen or chiefs. Their religion probably did not involve a belief in a "Great Spirit," as is so often said, but rather recognized in all nature the abode of spiritual powers, mysterious and wonderful, whom man ought to conciliate by prayers and sacrifices. In short, most of the American Indians were not savages, but barbarians well advanced in culture.
THE MAYAS
Indian culture attained its highest development in Mexico and Central America, especially among the Mayas of Yucatan, Guatemala, and Honduras. The remains of their cities—the Ninevehs and Babylons of the New World— lie buried in the tropical jungle, where Europeans first saw them, four hundred years ago. The temples, shrines, altars, and statues in these ancient cities show that the Mayas had made much progress in the fine arts. They knew enough astronomy to frame a solar calendar of three hundred and sixty-five days, and enough mathematics to employ numbers exceeding a million. The writing of the Mayas had reached the rebus [25] stage and promised to become alphabetic. When their hieroglyphics have been completely deciphered, we shall learn much more about this gifted people.
THE AZTECS
Several centuries before the arrival of Europeans in America, the so- called Aztecs came down from the north and established themselves on the Mexican plateau. Here they formed a confederacy of many tribes, ruled over by a sort of king, whose capital was Tenochtitlan, on the site of the present city of Mexico.
[Illustration: AZTEC SACRIFICIAL KNIFE British Museum, London. Length, twelve inches. The blade is of yellow, opalescent chalcedony, beautifully chipped and polished. The handle is of light-colored wood carved in the form of a man masked with a bird skin. Brilliant mosaic settings of turquoise, malachite, and shell embellish the figure.]