World first in contact with the Spanish settlements, acquired the whole horse-complex of the invaders. They did not take over the cart, but as a matter of fact, the Spaniards drew carts and ploughs with oxen, using horses and mules only for packing and riding. Historical data show that the whole horse-complex acquired by the first tribes was passed on to their neighbors in rapid succession, far in advance of interior exploration. Practically nothing was lost. Nor was anything of moment added except the travois in North America and a few ritualistic observances which, so far as they have been studied, seem to have had a common origin. In this region of aboriginal dog-traction there still remains a very important problem as to how much of the older dog-culture was incorporated in the more recent horse-complex. The only good study of dog-culture is that for the Hidatsa by Wilson,[1] which suggests that in the care and handling of dogs and horses we shall find some pattern phenomena. On the other hand, the tribes of the pampas in the South seem to have had no dog-traction. Unfortunately, we have no data as to the ceremonial accompaniments of the horse, but in its objective features the horse-complex agrees with the Spanish riding complex.
The author's studies of maize culture show that in this case the whole complex was carried along over the eastern maize area and, what is perhaps of more significance, almost the entire complex was taken over by the English colonists.[2] In the Old World, where the seed alone was introduced, we do not find this complex but an adaptation of the prevailing cereal complex.
Additional examples of diffusion by whole complexes come readily into mind so that we can generalize by stating that in the New World the diffusion of material complexes has been by wholes. It was not merely a plant, a food, or an idea that was borrowed, but a complete method, with all of its associates. When, however, we turn to ceremonial practices and art, the case is less simple, for there seems to be a conflict between tribal patterns and the new trait.
Perhaps the most carefully studied ceremonial complex is the modern Grass Dance of the Plains area in North America.[3]
