CHAPTER II

The Earliest Migrations into Italy



Primitive Races of Italy


We have no information, not even a tradition, concerning the first
migration of the human race into Italy. It was the universal
belief of antiquity that in Italy, as well as elsewhere, the first
population had sprung from the soil. We leave it to the province
of the naturalist to decide the question of the origin of different
races, and of the influence of climate in producing their diversities.
In a historical point of view it is neither possible, nor is it of
any importance, to determine whether the oldest recorded population
of a country were autochthones or immigrants. But it is incumbent
on the historical inquirer to bring to light the successive strata of
population in the country of which he treats, in order to trace,
from as remote an epoch as possible, the gradual progress of
civilization to more perfect forms, and the suppression of races
less capable of, or less advanced in, culture by nations of higher
standing.

Italy is singularly poor in memorials of the primitive period, and
presents in this respect a remarkable contrast to other fields of
civilization. The results of German archaeological research lead