News Pvblished Monthly by Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago Vol. 5 JANUARY, 1934 No. 1 NEOLITHIC SUN-WORSHIP IS ILLUSTRATED IN THE HALL OF THE STONE AGE By Henry Field Assistant Curator of Physical Anthropology The seventh* group in the new Hall of the Stone Age of the Old World (Hall C) shows the sun rising over the great align- ment of stones at Carnac in Brittany, France. The people of the new stone age, who probably came into Europe from those regions east of the Caspian Sea, brought with them the new culture upon which our modern civilization rests. Among their contributions were the practice of agricul- ture; the true domes- tication of animals, which involves breed- ing in captivity; the manufacture of pot- tery; and tool-making by grinding and polishing. Agriculture and the domestication of ani- mals played a large part in the early development of man. The finest hunting ground can support only a limited number of families, whereas, with sheep, cattle, and grain, a fertile and well-watered soil can be made to produce food and clothing for a large population. It is possible that paleo- lithic man may have tamed wild animals occasionally so that they worked for him, but true domestica- tion of the sheep, goat, pig, and cattle did not take place until the neolithic period. It is interesting to note * The first six groups — Chellean, Neanderthal, Aurignacian, Solutrean, Magdalenian and Azilian — have been pictured and described in Field Museum News, issues of July to December, 1933, inclusive. that the horse was not domesticated until early historical times. Fragments of pottery have been found in upper paleolithic deposits, but finished jars have been found from no period earlier than the neolithic. Neolithic men lived in huts, which were often grouped together to form villages. The most primitive form of hut was the pit dwelling, either circular or oval in shape, but occasionally in the form of a roofed trench with a fireplace. In late neolithic Copyright Field Museum of Natural History A Neolithic Priest Welcomes a New Day enue of menhirs at Carnac, Brittany, is shoi Stone Age of the Old World. The time represented is about 10,000 years ago. The mysterioiis prehistoric^avenue of menhirs at Carnac, Brittany, is shown in this group in the Hall of the times houses were built which were more like modern types, with several compart- ments and occasionally with two stories. The neolithic population was mainly long- headed, although skulls of round and inter- mediate form have been excavated. In northern and western Europe tombs of many types were constructed with large, roughly dressed stones, many of which weigh several tons. The method employed to drag these stones to the desired place and raise them to an upright position is unknown. In addition to special tombs, there are single standing stones, known as menhirs, marking burials. Menhirs placed in parallel lines are known as alignments. The most important of these is the Carnac alignment, a general view of which is pre- sented in the Museum group. This great line of menhirs, running east and west, was a place of worship of the sun, possibly combined in some way with the cult of the dead. A priest is shown with his arms raised toward the rising sun, which casts long, dark shadows behind the great blocks of weathered granite. He is welcoming the birth of a new day. The figure of the neolithic priest is by Frederick Blaschke. The painted back- ground is the work of Staff Artist Charles A. Corwin, who had for reference a scale model, sketches, and paintings made at Carnac by Pierre Gatier, and still and motion pictures taken by Henri Barreyre. The group was planned and directed by the writer with the collaboration of the Abbe Henri Breuil and Zacharie le Rouzic. MUSEUM RADIO TALKS ON WGN Through the courtesy of WGN, the Chicago Tribune radio station, a series of talks on Field Museum and its activities is being broadcast by members of the Museum staff. The series opened on December 15 with a lecture by Director Stephen C. Simms on the Museum as a whole. Dr. Berthold Laufer, Curator of Anthropology, outlined the work of his department on December 29. Others scheduled to speak are Associate Curator Paul C. Standley, who will tell of the work of the Department of Botany on January 12; Acting Curator Henry W. Nichols, who will talk on the Department of Geology on January 26; Dr. Wilfred H. Osgood, Curator of Zoology, who will speak about his department on February 9; and Miss Margaret M. Cornell, Chief Guide- lecturer, who will sketch the activities of the James Nelson and Anna Louise Ray- mond Foundation for Public School and Children's Lectures, on February 23. These talks are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. An additional talk, to be announced later, will be given in March. PHANTOM CRYSTALS Two quartz crystals with phantoms, pre- sented to the Museum by Fritz Ackerman of Bahia, Brazil, have been added to the mineral collection in Hall 34. Phantoms are diaphanous crystal shapes which appear in the interior of transparent crystals. Some are quite distinct, others are faint, misty forms which well merit the name of phantom. Many are the result of microscopic gas or air bubbles arranged in crystal form. In others, minute rods and spangles of other minerals replace the bubbles. Sometimes when a crystal is growing the surface be- comes soiled and the soiled surface is later covered as the crystal continues to grow. A growth which began as a colored crystal may change during its growth to another color or to a colorless form. Phantom crystals are seldom mentioned by name in the text books, yet they have always been favorites of mineral collectors. —H.W.N. Uses Same Nest Year after Year Unlike most birds, the golden eagle uses the same nest year after year, merely enlarging it periodically to meet its needs. A striking group of these birds, mounted amid a setting reproducing their natural environment, is on exhibition in Hall 20. Page 2 FIELD MUSEUM NEWS January, 19Si Field Museum of Natural History Founded by Marshall Field, 1893 RooseTelt Road and Lake Michl^n. Chicago THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES Sbwell L. Avery John Borden William J. Chalmers Marshall Field Stanley Field Ernest R. Graham Albert W. Harris Samuel Insull, Jr. Cyrus H. McCormick John P. Wiluam H. Mitchell Frederick H. Rawson George A. Richardson Fred W. Sargent Stephen C. Simms Jambs Simpson Solomon A. Smith Albert A. Sprague Silas H. Strawn Wilson OFFICERS Stanley Field President ALBERT A. Sprague Pint Viee-Pretident James Simpson Seeitat Groups: Thurs- day— General Tour; Friday — Ancient Burials. Week beginning Januar>- 8: Monday — Makers of Totem Poles; Tuesday — Plant Fibers and Their Uses; Wednesday — Life in Northern Lands; Thursday — • General Tour; Fridays-Chinese Art. Week beginning January 15: Monday — Work of Heat, Wind and Water; Tuesday — Bird Life in Many Lands; Wednesday — Musical Instruments: Thursday — General Tour; Friday — Gems and Jewelry. Week beginning January 22: Monday — Hall of Systematic Mammals; Tuesday — Plants and Animals of Long -\go: Wednesday — Primitive Costumes; Thursday — General Tour; Friday — Looms and Textiles. Week beginning January 29: Monday — Cats and Dogs; Tuesday — Palms and Cereals; Wednesday — Hall of Plant Life. Persons wishing to participate should apply at North Entrance. Tours are free and no gratuities are to be proffered. A new schedule will appear each month in Field Museum News. Guide-lecturers' services for special tours by parties of ten or more are available free of charge by arrangement with the Director a week in advance. Gifts to the Museum Following is a list of some of the principal gifts received during the last month: From Dr. Berthold Laufer — a lacquered arm-rest of the K'ien-lung period (1736-95), China; from Mrs. Ynes Mexia — 27 herbarium specimens, Brazil; from Dr. Earl E. Sherff — 40 herbarium specimens, mostly Hawaiian; from the Firestone Tire and Rubber Com- pany— 6 sample sheets of various grades of rubber, Liberia and Sumatra; from James Zet«k — 73 herbarium specimens. Canal Zone; from Phil G. Zalsman — 4 brook trout, Michigan; from Charles F. Walker — 4 tree frogs, Ohio; from Miss M. B. Baker — a pine grosbeak in the flesh, Illinois; from H. M. Bower — 4 butterffies, Michigan; from H. B. Conover — a pheasant and a bobwhite, Illinois; from the John G. Shedd .\quarium — 20 specimens of fish; from J. H. Robinson — 58 insects; from Henry Dybas — 4 beetles, Illinois and Indiana; from the Charleston Museum — 6 rock sea bass, 14 grass pickerel, and a chain pickerel. South Carolina; from Edward Brundage, Jr. — 231 insects and 2 hairworms. United States; from Albert B. Wolcott — 173 insects, Illinois and Indiana; from Bumham S. Colbum — 5 specimens of minerals. North Carolina; from John W. Jennings — a slab of polished chalcedony, Arkansas; from Floyd Markham — ^ inver- tebrate fossils, Illinois. NEW MEMBERS The following persons were elected to membership in Field Museum during the period from November 16 to December 15: Associate Members Charies M. Geringer, Mrs. Carroll L. Griffith, August Kochs, L. B. Logan, Mrs. Robert Mandel, .\lwin Fredericlc Pitzner. Annual Members Harold O. Barnes, Mrs. W. H. Bishop, Mrs. O. J. Buck, Reuben G. Danielson, Maxirice M. Dreyfus, Samuel E. Erickson, Harley O. Gable. George F. Gunkel, Miss Carol F. Roe, Benjamin J. Spring. Male Glacier Bear Deserts Family While its cubs are small, the male glacier bear leaves home and does not associate with its mate and offspring. For an extended period the family is entirely in charge of the mother. A group of a mother and three cubs, shown in a reproduction of their natural habitat near Yakutat Bay, Alaska, is on exhibition in Hall 16. Glacier bears are very small, and are colored a beautiful bluish-gray. They are found only in Alaska. A model of one of the largest and most modem types of flour mills is shown with the grain exhibits in Hall 25. rRINTEO BY FIELD MUSEUM PRESS News Pvblished Monthly by Field Mtiseum 0/ Natural History, Chicago Vol. 5 FEBRUARY, 1934 No. 2 eastward through the forest zone to the upper Congo region and even to restricted mountain forests in Kenya Colony. Slight distinctions have been drawn between eastern and western specimens, but the general characters are the same and the animal is so rare that conclusions must be regarded as tentative. Few animals are more difficult to hunt than this one. It frequents bamboo thickets and dense forest undergrowth where follow- ing it quickly or quietly is nearly impossible. RARE BONGO, COLLECTED BY WHITE-COATS EXPEDITION, IN HABITAT GROUP By Wilfred H. Osgood Curator, Department of Zoology Africa, which is headquarters for ante- lopes, produces so many kinds that all of them cannot be shown even in such a large display as that provided for in Carl E. Akeley Memorial Hall (Hall 22). There are some, however, that are so interesting and so striking in appearance that they demand admittance, and in all plans for expansion space is reserved for them. One of these is the rare and beautiful species known as the bongo, which now is repre- sented by a magnifi- cent group, completed in January, specimens for which were obtained by Captain Harold A. White of New York and the late Major John Coats of Ayrshire, Scotland, on their African expedition for Field Museum in 1930. The bongo is the most brilliantly color- ed of all antelopes or, for that matter, of all hoofed mammals. It is, in fact, a veritable harlequin among large animals. Its body color of bright tawny- ochraceous is almost blazing in intensity and against this are ten or more vertical white stripes very sharply defined. Further contrast is offered by rich markings on the head and legs. It is unusually massive in form, standing about four feet high at the shoulder and perhaps reaching a weight of 500 pounds. One of the first to call attention to the bongo was the famous traveler Paul du Chaillu, who found it in the forests of West Africa in 1856 and brought complete skins to Europe. These doubtless came from native sources, and it was not until more than fifty years later that the animal was actually killed by a white man. Meanwhile, it was thought to be wholly confined to West Africa, but it is now known to range These rare antelopes mens in this exhibit were Group of Bongo In Carl E. Akeley Memorial Ilall of Africa are seldom seen, either in museumii, or alive in their homeland. The speci- collected by the Harold White-John Coats African Expedition of Field Museum. Natives capture it in deadfalls and concealed pits along its trails, but white men rarely find it. In spite of its striking coloration, it is not easy to see, for the broken pattern, like that of the tiger, has a concealing effect against a background of vines, branches and alternating light and shade. The hunter's feeling in regard to it is well indicated by the following quotation from a letter sent from Africa by Captain White shortly after the specimens for the group were taken: "In all of my hunting experience, I have never hunted quite so hard nor had more breaks of good luck than we did the first two weeks on the Aberdares. The bongo live there at an altitude of 10,000 feet in the thick bamboo forest where the sun hardly ever shines. It is raining there most of the time, but we got a break in the weather and did get some dry spells. "After one week of hunting twelve hours a day in that terrible forest, an old native tracker brought us into the heart of the bamboo forest where we discovered an old salt lick that his father had told him about and which had been lost to the younger generation. Here, early one morning, we saw a herd of over thirty bongo just entering the forest, and we picked our female and young yearling out of this group. Several days later, after waiting all night at this lick in terrible cold and rain, we shot a large bull just coming down to drink." Although the simi- larity is not very close, the bongo is probably more nearly related to the eland than to the smaller bushbucks and harnessed ante- lopes with which it was once classified. The eland inhabits open country or light scrub, while the bush- bucks are forest dwellers. The bongo combines some of the structural characters and some of the habits of both. It shares with the eland the possession of horns in both sexes, the large size, the striped body, and the long bovine tail. Like the eland, also, it has the herding habit, whereas the bushbucks and forest antelopes in general are more solitary. Therefore it is likely that it is descended from a plains-inhabiting ancestor. The Museum's group was prepared by Staff Taxidermist C. J. Albrecht. The painted background is by Staff Artist Charles A. Corwin. FOSSIL MARSUPIAL DISCOVERED BY MUSEUM PALEONTOLOGIST An important scientific discovery — a hitherto unknown South American pre- historic animal of large size and most unusual physical characteristics, which appears to have been one of the greatest killers of its time, some two million years ago — has been announced by Professor Elmer S. Riggs, Associate Curator of Paleontology at Field Museum. The animal, recently described in a published report for the information of other scientists, was discovered in the Argentinian province of Catamarca by Professor Riggs when he was in the field as leader of the Marshall Field Paleonto- logical Expedition to Argentina. The skulls and parts of skeletons of the species brought to the Museum are the only specimens in the world so far as is known to date. Like the well-known sabertooth tiger which died out a few thousand years ago, the new animal has long pointed tusks which must have made it a formidable attacker, but its further peculiarity lies in the fact that it carried its young in a pouch like such marsupial animals as the kangaroo and the opossum. It has therefore been named Thylacosmilus (marsupial saber- tooth) by Mr. Riggs. The animal had a massive head, and was larger in body than a modern North American mountain lion. The sabertooth marsupial lived in South America long before the sabertooth tiger, which found its way to most parts of the world, reached that continent. Among the contemporary creatures in- habiting the world with the newly discovered fossil animal were the giant sloths and the armored glyptodonts, upon which the marsupial may have preyed. Pages FIELD MUSEUM NEWS February, 19H Field Museum of Natural History Founded by Marahall Field, 1893 Roosevelt Road and Lake Michigan, Chicago THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES Sewell L. Aveby John Bobdbn William J. Chalmers Marshall Field Stanley Field Ernest R. Graham Albert W. Harris Samuel Insull, Jr. Cyrus H. McCormick John P. William H. Mitchell Frederick H. Rawson Geobge a. Richardson Fred W. Sargent Stephen C. Sihus Jambs Simpson Solomon A. Smith Albert A. Sprague Silas H. Stbawn Wilson OFFICERS Stanley Field Pretident Albert A. Sprague Firtt Viee-Prendent James Simpson Second Viee-PreeiderU Albert W. Harris Third Viee-Praidenl Stephen C. Simms Director and Secretary Solomon A. Smith . . . Trea$ureT and A$ti»tant Secretary FIELD MUSEUM NEWS Stephen C. Simms, Director of the Museum Editor CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Berthold LaufBR Curator of Anthropology B. E. Dahlgren Acting Curator of Botany Henry W. Nichols Acting Curator of Geology Wilfred H. Osgood Curator of Zoology H. B. Harte 3fan