sent us in the course of several thousand years the various more pronounced sub-types of the American Indian, which according to all indications have developed outside of America. As a matter of fact, we have searched and watched for evidence concerning such remains for many years, and every publication that dealt with archeological exploration in eastern Asia or brought photographs of the natives, has in one way or another strengthened our expectations.
No archeologic work on an adequate scale, however, and no comprehensive anthropologic investigation of the natives of eastern Asia, have as yet been carried out, and in consequence many points on which light was needed remained uncertain.[1] Under these circumstances the writer was very desirous to visit personally at least a few of the more important parts of eastern Asia, to observe what was to be found there, and to determine what should be done in those regions by anthropologists and archeologists interested in the problem of the identity and origin of the American Indian.
An opportunity to undertake something in this direction came at last during the present year; but the means were limited and necessitated a restriction of the trip to the more important and at the same time more accessible territory. The choice was made of certain parts of south-eastern Siberia and of northern Mongolia, including Urga, the capital of outer Mongolia, which encloses two great monasteries and is constantly visited by a large number of the natives from all parts of the country. Besides the field observations a visit was also made to the various Siberian museums within the area covered, for the purpose of seeing their anthropological collections.
It will not be possible to enter here into details of the journey and I shall, therefore, restrict myself to mentioning in brief the main results. Thanks to the Russian men of science and the Russian political as well as military authorities, my journey was everywhere facilitated, I was spared delays, was shown freely the existing collections, and received much valuable information.
I have seen, or been told, of thousands upon thousands of as yet barely touched burial mounds or “kourgans”, dating from the present time back to the period when nothing but stone implements were used by man in those regions. These kourgans dot the country about the Yenisei and its affluents, about the Selenga and its tributaries,
- ↑ It is only fair, however, that attention be called here to the Bogoraz and Jochelson work among the natives of Northern Siberia, as a part of the Jessup Expedition, for the American Museum of Natural History, New York City. Regrettably this work did not extend far enough to the south.
