Ancient America: in Notes on American Archaeology

“If, as seems most likely, there was in South America an ancient development of civilized human life, out of which arose the civilizations found in Peru and Central America, its antiquity was much greater than can be comprehended by the current chronologies.” -John D. Baldwin A confidant to many notable thinkers of his time, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charles Darwin, James Russell Lowell, and particularly his friend Charles Sumner. John D. Baldwin asserts that the origins of human civilization arose among an Arabian or Northeast African people, the Cushites, in pre-historic times. “If, as seems most likely, there was in South America an ancient development of civilized human life, out of which arose the civilizations found in Peru and Central America, its antiquity was much greater than can be comprehended by the current chronologies.” -John D. Baldwin CONTENTS. I. ANCIENT AMERICA.—THE MOUND-BUILDERS Works of the Mound-Builders. Extent of their Settlements. Their Civilization. Their Ancient Mining Works. II. ANTIQUITY OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS How long were they here? III. WHO WERE THE MOUND-BUILDERS? Not Ancestors of the Wild Indians. Brereton’s Story. American Ethnology. Who the Mound-Builders were. IV. MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA Their Northern Remains. The “Seven Cities of Cevola.” Central Mexico. The great Ruins at the South. V. MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA Palenque. Copan and Quiragua. Mitla. An Astronomical Monument. Ruins farther South. The Ruins in Yucatan. Mayapan. Uxmal. Kabah. Chichen-Itza. Other Ruins. VI. ANTIQUITY OF THE RUINS Distinct Eras traced. Nothing perishable left. “The Oldest of Civilizations.” American Cities seen by Tyrians. VII. WHENCE CAME THIS CIVILIZATION? The “Lost Tribes of Israel.” The “Malay” Theory. The Phœnician Theory. The “Atlantic” Theory. It was an original Civilization. VIII. AMERICAN ANCIENT HISTORY The Old Books not all lost. The Ancient History sketched. The Toltecs our Mound-Builders. Some confirmation of the History IX. THE AZTEC CIVILIZATION The Discovery and Invasion. The City of Mexico. The Conquest. Who were the Aztecs? They came from the South. X. ANCIENT PERU The Spanish Hunt for Peru. The Ruins near Lake Titicaca. Other Ruins in Peru. The great Peruvian Roads. The Peruvian Civilization. XI. PERUVIAN ANCIENT HISTORY Garcilasso’s History. Fernando Montesinos. His Scheme of Peruvian History. Probabilities. Conclusion. APPENDIX. A. The Northmen in America. B. The Welsh in America. C. Antiquities of the Pacific Islands. D. Deciphering the Inscriptions