Fig. 11.Fig. 11.Ideal Scene in the Post-Tertiary.On the right is shown the megatherium. This animal belonged to the sloth tribe, and was a native of South America. It exceeded in size the largest rhinocerous, and the length of its skeleton sometimes attained eighteen feet. In front, near the centre, is the glyptodon another South American animal of the armadillo tribe. The length of its shell, along the curve, was five feet, and the total length of the animal, nine feet. Just back of the glypodon, and holding on to a tree, is the mylodon, belonging to both North and South America, one species of which was much larger than the western buffalo. On the left, and in the rear, is the mastodon, the remains of which are found in both North and South America, though of different species. While this scene does not represent the animals with which we are dealing, yet the general features give an idea of those with which we are interested.
On the right is shown the megatherium. This animal belonged to the sloth tribe, and was a native of South America. It exceeded in size the largest rhinocerous, and the length of its skeleton sometimes attained eighteen feet. In front, near the centre, is the glyptodon another South American animal of the armadillo tribe. The length of its shell, along the curve, was five feet, and the total length of the animal, nine feet. Just back of the glypodon, and holding on to a tree, is the mylodon, belonging to both North and South America, one species of which was much larger than the western buffalo. On the left, and in the rear, is the mastodon, the remains of which are found in both North and South America, though of different species. While this scene does not represent the animals with which we are dealing, yet the general features give an idea of those with which we are interested.
Fig. 12.Fig. 12.Section of the Sepulchral Grotto, in the Hill of Fajoles, Aurignac.a.Vault in which the seventeen human skeletons were found.b.Layer of made ground, two feet thick, inside the grotto in which a few human bones, with entire bones of extinct and living species of animals, and many works of art, were imbedded.c.Layers of ashes and charcoal eight inches thick, containing broken, burned, and gnawed bones of extinct and living mammalia, also hearth-stones and works of art; no human bones.d.Deposit with similar contents; also a few scattered cinders.e.Talus of rubbish washed down from the hill above.f,g. Slab of rock which closed the vault.i,f. Rabbit-burrow.h,k. Original terrace.N.Nummulitic limestone.
a.Vault in which the seventeen human skeletons were found.
b.Layer of made ground, two feet thick, inside the grotto in which a few human bones, with entire bones of extinct and living species of animals, and many works of art, were imbedded.
c.Layers of ashes and charcoal eight inches thick, containing broken, burned, and gnawed bones of extinct and living mammalia, also hearth-stones and works of art; no human bones.
d.Deposit with similar contents; also a few scattered cinders.
e.Talus of rubbish washed down from the hill above.
f,g. Slab of rock which closed the vault.
i,f. Rabbit-burrow.
h,k. Original terrace.
N.Nummulitic limestone.
In the cavern of Maccagnone, in Sicily, there were found ashes and rude flint implements in a breccia containing the bones of the elephant (E. antiquus), hyena, a large bear, lion, (probablyF. spelæa), and large numbers of bonesbelonging to the hippopotamus. The concrete of ashes had once filled the cavern, and a large piece of bone breccia was still cemented to the roof.
The vast number of hippopotamuses implies that the physical condition of the country was different from what it is at present. The bone breccia cemented to the roof, and coated with stalagmite, testifies that the cave, at some time since the formation of the breccia, has been washed out. The exact time of the formation of this breccia cannot be given, but, in all probability, not long after the extinction of the cave-bear, if not before.
The cave or grotto of Aurignac, in which the seventeen human skeletons were found, was carefully examined by Lartet eight years after its discovery. The recess was formed in nummulitic limestone. In front of the grotto, and next to the limestone (c, Fig. 12) was a layer of ashes and charcoal, eight inches thick, containing hearth-stones, works of art, and broken, burned, and gnawed bones of extinct and recent mammalia. Immediately above this layer (d) was another, of made ground, two feet thick, extending into the grotto; and its contents similar to the other, save that within the grotto were found a few human bones. The grotto was closed by a slab, and the made earth without was covered by a talus of rubbish (e), washed down from the hill above.
In these layers were found not less than one hundred flint instruments, consisting of knives, projectiles, sling-stones, chips, and a stone made for the purpose of modelling the flints. The bone implements were barbless arrows, a well-shaped and sharply pointed bodkin made of the horn of the roe-deer, and other tools made of reindeer horn. Besides these there were found eighteen small round and flat plates, of a white shelly substance, made of some species of cockle (cardium), pierced through the middle; also the tusk of a young cave-bear, the crown of which had been carved in imitation of the head of a bird.
The following is a list of the different species found in thelayers, together with the approximate number of individuals belonging to each:
I.—CARNIVORA.
Number of Individuals.1. Cave Bear (U. Spelæus)5-62. Brown Bear (U. arctos)13. Badger (Meles taxus)1-24. Polecat (Putorius vulgaris)15. Cave Lion (Felis spelæa)16. Wild Cat (Felis Catus ferus)17. Hyena (H. spelæa)5-68. Wolf (Canis lupus)39. Fox (C. vulpes)18-20
II.—HERBIVORA.
1. Mammoth (E. primigenius)Two molars and an astragalus.2. Rhinoceros (R. tichorrhinus)13. Horse (Equus caballus)12-154. Ass (E. asinus)15. Boar (Sus scrofa)Two incisors.6. Stag (Cervus elephas)17. Gigantic Irish Deer (Megaceros Hibernicus)18. Roebuck (C. capreolus)3-49. Reindeer (C. tarandus)10-1210. Aurochs (Bison Europæus)12-15
The bones on the outside of the grotto were found to be split open, as if for the extraction of the marrow, and many of them burned. The spongy parts were wanting, having been gnawed off by the hyenas.
M. Lartet came to the conclusion that this grotto was a place of sepulchre, and the broken or split bones were the remnants of the funeral feasts. This he argued from the fact that the bones within the grotto were not split, broken or gnawed, save the astragalus of the mammoth. This meat was placed in the grotto, probably as an offering to the dead. The bones without the cave were scraped, and while the men were yet engaged in the funeral feast, the hyenas prowled about the spot, and at the close of the banquet, devoured theflesh that remained. The slab in front of the cave debarred their entrance, and consequently the bones and human remains within were left untouched.
The observations made by M. Cartailhac, in 1870, lead to different conclusions. On close inspection, he discovered a difference in the color of the walls of the cave, indicating that the lower deposit was of a yellow color, and the next above of a much lighter tint. In the crevices of the lower he found a tooth of the rhinoceros, one of the reindeer, and some fractured bones of the cave-bear. In the higher deposit occurred some small bones of living animals and of man, and a fragment of pottery. From these evidences, M. Cartailhac inferred that the lower deposits of the grotto corresponded with that outside of it, and the layer containing human bones was formed at a subsequent time.
That this grotto was a place of resort at a very early period is proven from the numerous remains of the cave-bear. This animal was one of the first of those great post-tertiary mammalia to become extinct. The exact position of the remains of the reindeer is not given. If its bones were intermixed with the others and found in the lowest as well as the other layers, it would indicate that the climate was not very warm during the deposit of the layers, but to have been similar to that of Switzerland of the present day. The probability is, the reindeer bones did not occur in the lowest layer, and hence that layer was formed during the tropical climate, and the reindeer bones and human skeletons were consigned to the grotto about the close of the inter-glacial, or beginning of the reindeer epoch.
The fossil man of Denise, taken from an old volcanic tuff, must be assigned to this period, since there have been found, in similar blocks of tuff in the same region, the remains of the cave-hyena and hippopotamus major. This fossil man consists of a frontal part of the skull, the upper jaw, with teeth, belonging to both an adult and young individual; a radius, some lumbar vertebræ, and some metatarsal bones.The tuff is light and porous, and none of the bones penetrate into the more compact rock.
In the rubbish heap, or reindeer station, at the source of the Schusse, there were discovered more than six hundred split flints, with a quantity of partly worked antlers and bones of the reindeer. The bones were so numerous that Mr. Oscar Fraas was enabled to put together a complete skeleton of the reindeer which is now preserved in the museum of Stuttgart. Most of the bones were split open for the purpose of extracting the marrow. There were numerous remains of fishes, and a fish-hook manufactured from reindeer horn. There were also the bones of other animals, such as the glutton, arctic fox, and other animals now living in high northern latitudes.
Speaking of this station, Dr. Buchner says, "Not only the careful investigations of the geognostic conditions of the place, but also the flora of the time (for remains of mosses were found which now live only in the extreme north), leave no doubt that the reindeer station on the Schusse belongs to the glacial epoch, or that it probably belongs exactly to the interval between the two glacial epochs which in all probability Switzerland has experienced. Mr. E. Desor declared this deposit to bethe terminal moraine of the Rhine-glacier, which was formerly very large. Moreover, according to him, this discovery is particularly remarkable, because it is the first example of a station of the reindeer-men in a free and open deposit, their remains having hitherto been found only in caves."[62]
From the remarks of Dr. Buchner, the great number of bones of the reindeer, and some show of advancement in the arts, it may be safe to conclude that this station belongs to the close of the inter-glacial.
The Inter-Glacial period continued a great length of time, covering many thousands of years.
Man is an improvable being, and some advancement may be expected in his condition. His mode of life, and continued conflicts with the fierce wild beasts, would tax his every device. Necessity compelled him to be inventive. The limited, bestial mind which he possessed, could not grapple with the higher problems of existence. United efforts and fortified places were beyond his thoughts. Those old axes of flint were great objects to his mind, and one step beyond them was a great stride in progress. That they developed but little cannot be wondered at, not only from their low type, but also from the knowledge that even in the era of history there are nations whose civilization has become fixed and stereotyped for ages; others, who, instead of advancing, have been retrograding.
The impulse given by the rigors of glacial times acted beneficially throughout this period. The rude axes and flints were retained, but improvements were made in utilizing the bones and horns of animals. Out of these, bodkins, fish-hooks, and arrow-heads were made. The teeth of wild animals were perforated, and, along with corals and shells, were used for ornaments. The caverns, used as dwelling-places, being destitute of water, this necessary of life was supplied and carried thither in rude vessels made of clay and dried in the sun. The arrows, flint knives, and axes were used for killing and skinning the animals, splitting the bones containing the marrow, shaping the bone implements, fellingtrees, and stripping the bark, which was used at times for clothing, after having been softened by beating. He commenced the art of engraving, as is witnessed by a sketch of the great cave-bear wrought on a curious stone found in the cave of Massat (Ariége), the bird's head formed from the bone of a cave-bear, at Aurignac, and other examples. The lower jaw-bones of the cave-bear and cave-lion, in the shape of hoes, used for digging roots, were found in the caves of Lherm and in Bouicheta. He made hearth-stones, and on them cooked his food. That he paid honors to the dead, and sheltered them from the ravages of beasts of prey, at present, must remain an open question. If he did, it might seem to imply that he had a religious nature. But when it is considered that he was very low in the scale of existence, it may be inferred that this was done, if done at all, to propitiate an evil genius. Or it may be a faint idea of a ghost state and that these feasts were made to dissuade the ghost from molesting him. That they had a conception of a Supreme Ruler, or a number of gods who ruled for the good of man, would be too preposterous to believe.
Professor Denton has given a description of primeval time which, by a little change, would represent inter-glacial times: "The seasons are fairly established; and spring follows winter, and fall summer, as now; though the summer is longer and warmer than we are accustomed to see in those countries at the present time, and the winters colder. The country is covered with dense forests, through which ramble mighty elephants in herds, with immense curved tusks, coats of long, shaggy hair, and flowing manes.... Shuffling along comes the great cave-bear from his rocky den—as large as a horse: fierce, shaggy, conscious of his strength, he fears no adversary. Crouched by a bubbling spring lies the cave-tiger (Felis spelæa); and, as the wild cattle come down to drink, he leaps upon the back of one, and a terrible combat ensues. It is as large as an elephant, and its hornsof enormous size; and even cave-tigers could not always master such cattle as they.
"Are these the highest forms of life that the country contains? What being is that sitting on yon fallen tree? His long arms are in front of his hairy body, and his hands between his knees; while his long legs are dangling down. His complexion is darker than an Indian's; his beard short, and like the hair of his body; the unkempt hair of his head is bushy and thick; his eyebrows are short and crisp; and with his sloping forehead and brutal countenance, he seems like the caricature of a man, rather than an actual human being.
"Beneath the shade of a spreading chestnut we may behold a group—one old man ... and women and children, lounging and lying upon the ground. How dirty! What forbidding countenances!—more like furies than women. One young man, with a stone axe, is separating the bark from a neighboring tree. Others, agile as monkeys, are climbing the trees, and passing from branch to branch, as they gather the wild fruit that abounds on every side. Some are catching fish in the shallows of the river, and yell with triumph as they hold their captives by the gills, dragging them to the shore."[63]
They have improved their language, and instead of the rude signs and undistinguishable sounds of the glacial, may now be heard short, but occasional sentences, which were the forerunners of the polished tongues of modern Europe.
The glaciers, to a limited extent, have again advanced. The gigantic animals of the past age have either disappeared or are fast becoming extinct. The great cave-bear, cave-lion, cave-hyena, mammoth, and woolly-haired rhinoceros have almost become extinct. They have given way to a less fierce and less gigantic fauna. The advance of the glaciers is announced by the numerous herds of reindeer which are overrunning the forests of Western Europe, and extending as far south as the Pyrenees. In the forests there now existed the horse, bison, wild bull (Bos primigenius), musk-ox, elk, deer, chamois, ibex, beaver, hamster-rat, lemming, and many others. These animals were capable of withstanding and flourishing in a rigorous climate. When the glaciers were again broken up and the climate became warmer, the reindeer, musk-ox, elk, chamois, wild-goat, hamster-rat, and lemming retired to the high northern latitudes in close proximity to the snow, or else to the lofty summits of great mountain-chains.
The evidences of the antiquity of the reindeer epoch, and that it immediately followed the inter-glacial, are numerous. The vast number of the reindeer bones and horns attest to a distinct epoch, and by the remains of arctic animals, as well as the traces of glaciers, the climate must have been unlike that of the present time. The remains of the mammoth, cave-bear, and cave-lion, would not only connect this period with the inter-glacial, but also prove that a few stragglers continued to exist, at least for a short period, after the reindeer epochhad begun. That this epoch was earlier than the Swiss lake-villages, or Danish shell mounds, may be shown by the weapons or implements which point to a more primitive people, the absence of the remains of the dog, and, also, by the absence of the remains of the reindeer in the shell-mounds.
There are no means, yet discovered, by which it can be told how long this epoch lasted. It lasted a sufficient length of time to permit the reindeer to increase greatly its species.
Evidences of the Existence of Man.—M. Christy and M. Lartet examined in conjunction the caves of Central and Southern France. Those which have been most carefully examined are ten in number, and belong to the Department of Dordogne. At Perigord there seems to have been quite a settlement, judging by the number of caves and stations, the principal ones being Les Eyzies, La Madeleine, Laugerie-Haute, and Laugerie-Basse.
At Les Eyzies there were found a flint bodkin and a bone needle used for sewing, a barbed arrow made of reindeer horn and still fixed in a bone, a flint whistle made from the first joint of the foot of the reindeer, and two slabs of schist, on both of which were scratched animal forms, but deficient in any special characteristic.
At La Madeleine there were found a geode very large and very thick, which, it is supposed, was used for a cooking vessel, as one side of it had been subjected to fire; an engraving of a reindeer on the horn of that animal; on another horn the carved outlines of two fishes, one on either side; a representation of an ibex on the palm of a horn; on another, a very curious group, consisting of an eel, a human figure, and two horses' heads. A slab of ivory, broken into five pieces, had an outline sketch of the mammoth (Fig. 13). This was so accurately drawn that the small eye, curved tusks, huge trunk, and the abundant mane, could readily be distinguished. There was also found, on an arrow-head, the figure of a tadpole.
There were workshops at Laugerie-Haute and Laugerie-Basse, where weapons and utensils were manufactured; and they are noted for the abundance of instruments made of reindeer horn. Among the works of art found at the latter station may be mentioned, the stiletto, needle, spoon made in the shape of rods tapering off at one end and hollow in the middle, staff of authority, whistle, and harpoon, all from the horn of the reindeer. On the head of a staff of authority is carved a mammoth's head; there is a representation of the hind-quarters of some herbivorous animal, sketched out with a bold and practiced touch; an animal's head, with ears laid back, and of considerable length, is carved on a round shaft of reindeer horn. It cannot be determined for what purpose this shaft was intended, but as the other end was pointed, and provided with a lateral hook, it may have been the harpoon of some chief. On a slab of slate was drawn, in outline, a reindeer fight. On a fragment of a spear-head there is a series of human hands, provided with four fingers only, and represented in demi-relief. The delineations of fish are principally on wands of authority—on one of which is a series following one another.
Fig. 13.Fig. 13.Sketch of a Mammoth, graven on a Slab of Ivory from La Madeleine.
The cave androck sheltersof Bruniquel (Tarn-et-Garonne) have been carefully examined by competent explorers. These relics are so numerous that M. de Lastic, the proprietor of the cavern, sold to the agent of the British Museum fifteenhundred specimens, of every description, which had been found on his property. In the cave there were found, engraved on a bone, a perfectly recognizable horse's head and the head of a reindeer, and daggers made of ivory and bone, on which were representations of the above-mentioned animals. The engravings are mostly on the horn of the reindeer. The cave has also furnished two almost perfect human skulls, and two half-jaw bones which resemble the Moulin-Quignon.
Therock-sheltersare overhanging rocks, under the projections of which man found a shelter and built his rude dwellings of boughs and sticks. In these shelters have been found fire-hearths, fish-hooks made of splinters of bone, saws made of flint, a complete sketch of the mammoth engraved on reindeer horn, the hilt of a dagger carved in the shape of a reindeer, the cave-lion, engraved with great clearness, on a fragment of a staff of authority, and two daggers made of ivory.
In the excavations which were made in the rock-shelters, was found a quantity of human bones, including two skulls—one of an old man, the other that of an adult.
The cave of Gourdan (Haute-Garonne) contained the largest collection of implements of bone and horn ever discovered. The stones and reindeer horns are carved with great care, and indicate a high degree of artistic taste. There are sketches made of the reindeer, stag, chamois, goat, bison, horse, wolf, boar, monkey, badger, antelope, fishes, and birds, and also the representations of some plants. In the lowest layer of the soil the most perfect works occur, and they grow less as the surface is approached. Several of those implements called "batons of command" occurred, ornamented with animals' heads. On the rib of a horse was carved an antelope, and on the bone of a bird various figures—plants, reindeer, and a fish. This cave was made the subject of a report by M. Piette before the Paris Anthropological Society.
Fig. 14.Fig. 14.The Fossil Man of Mentone.
The fossil man of Mentone, found in a grotto of Mentone, a village near Nice, for some time past has produced much comment among scientists. The skeleton was discovered in undisturbed earth; at a depth of twenty-one feet. The cause of the discussion is that the skeleton is accompanied by a multiplicity of bone-tools, needles, chisels, a baton of command, a necklace, various species of the deer, indicating the reindeer epoch, but surrounded also by the remains of the cave-bear, cave-hyena, and woolly-haired rhinoceros. Dr. Garrigou arrives at the conclusion that this cave was first inhabited by men of the preceding epoch, or inter-glacial, and during the reindeer epoch was used as a place of burial.[64]The attitude of the skeleton was that of repose (see Fig. 14). It was stained by oxide of iron. The tibiæ, or shin-bones, present a noticeable feature by being more flattened than in the European of the present time.
In the same neighborhood there have more recently been discovered, in different caves, four other human skeletons. They were all stained with oxide of iron, and two of them surrounded with pierced sea-shells, teeth of the stag, constituting the remains of necklaces and bracelets. With one skeleton, which belonged to a large individual, were discovered implements of stone and bone, tooth of a cave-bear, bones of other animals, and shells of edible marine mollusks. The other two skeletons were those of children, and not accompanied by either implements or ornaments.
The other bone caves of France, which have afforded much valuable information, and belonging to this epoch, are: La Gorge d'Enfer, Liveyre, Pey de l'Aze, Combe-Granal, Le Moustier and Badegoule (Dordogne), cave of Bize (Aude), cave of La Vache (Ariége), cave of Savigné (Vienne), grottos of La Balme and Bethenas, in Dauphiné, the settlement of Solutré, the cave of Lourdes (Hautes-Pyrénées), and the cave of Espalungue (Basses-Pyrénées)—the last two date back to the most ancient period of the reindeer epoch.
The principal objects found in these caves, and the rock-shelters are worked flakes, scrapers, cores, awls, lance-heads, cutters, hammers, and mortar-stones. These works, though unpolished, are but little ruder than those of the Esquimaux or the North American Indian.
Belgian Caverns.—Under the auspices of the Belgian government M. Edward Dupont examined more than twenty caves on the banks of the Lesse, in the province of Namur. Among these were four, in which occurred numerous traces of the reindeer-man, namely, Trou du Frontal, Trou Rosette, Trou des Nutons, and Trou de Chaleux.
The cavern Trou de Frontal was a place of burial, and similar to the cave of Aurignac. The mouth of the cave was closed by a slab of sandstone, and within were the remains of fourteen human beings belonging to persons of various ages, and some of them to infants scarcely a year old. In front of the cave was an esplanade, where were celebrated the funeral feasts, and which was marked by hearth-stone, traces of fire, flint-knives, bones of animals, shells, etc. The human bones were intermixed with a considerable number of the bones of the reindeer and other animals, as well as the different kinds of implements. Among the remains were two perfect human skulls, in a good state of preservation. The bones were discovered in a state of great confusion, which M. Dupont thinks was caused by the disturbance of water. Sir John Lubbock regards the disturbance of the bones as due to foxes and badgers.[65]
Immediately above this cave is the Trou Rosette, in which the bones of three persons were found, mingled with those of the reindeer and beaver. It also contained fragments of a blackish kind of pottery, which were hollowed out in rough grooves and hardened by fire. Dupont is of opinion that the three men were crushed to death by masses of rock at the time of the inundation of the valley of the Lesse.
In the Trou des Nutons, situated one hundred and sixty-four feet above the Lesse, were found a great many bones of the reindeer, wild bull, and many other species. In the cave, indiscriminately mixed up with these bones, were one hundred and fifty worked reindeer horns, knuckle-bones of the goat, polished on both sides, a whistle made from the tibia of a goat, fragments of very coarse pottery, and fire-hearths.
Fig. 15.Fig. 15.Earthen Vase, found in the Cave of Furfooz, Belgium.
The cave of Chaleux was buried by a mass of rubbish caused by the falling in of the roof, consequently preserving all its implements. There were found the split bones of mammals and the bones of birds and fishes. There was an immense number of objects, chiefly manufactured from reindeer horn, such as needles, arrow-heads, daggers, and hooks. Besides these, there were ornaments made of shells, pieces of slate with engraved figure, mathematical lines, remains of very coarse pottery, hearth-stones, ashes, charcoal, and last but not least, thirty thousand worked flints mingled with the broken bones. In the hearth, placed in the centre of the cave, was discovered a stone, with certain but unintelligible signs engraved upon it. M. Dupont also found about twenty pounds of the bones of the water-rat, either scorched or roasted.
In a cave at Furfooz, Dupont found an urn, or specimen of rough pottery (Fig. 15) intermingled with human bones. It was partly broken; by the care of M. Hauzeur it has been put together again.
France and Belgium are not alone in their monuments of the reindeer epoch, for settlements of this epoch have been discovered in Germany, Switzerland, and Poland.
In the cave of Thayngen, near Schaffhausen, Switzerland, have been discovered a few remains of the mammoth, rhinoceros, and cave-lion; the remains of two hundred and fifty reindeer, four hundred and thirty Alpine hares; also the remains of the brown bear, stag, elk, auroch, glutton, wolf, and several kinds of fox. The large bones invariably appeared in fragments, and the pebbles used for breaking them were found in the refuse. Among birds, the bones of the swan, grouse, and duck predominate. The implements consisted chiefly of needles, piercers, and arrow-heads made of the antlers of the reindeer. The art of engraving and carving was carried to quite a degree of perfection. The most notable of these objects is the delineation of a reindeer in the act of browsing, drawn on a piece of the horn of that animal.
Not far from Cracow (Poland), a cavern has been recently discovered and examined by Count Zawisza. In the upper part of the floor (four feet in depth), consisting of vegetable earth, mould, anddébris, occurred ashes, flint implements, and the split bones of the cave-bear, reindeer, horse, elk, and other animals. Beneath this layer appeared the broken bones of the mammoth, an ornament of ivory, and the perforated teeth of the cave-bear, stag, elk, wolf, and fox. Two thousand flint implements were obtained; and from the frequent occurrence of flint the cave was used by the troglodytes, or cave-men, as a dwelling; and by the remains of the fauna, it must have been occupied during the inter-glacial, and at the beginning of the reindeer epoch.
The Reindeer Epoch, approaching nearer the present age than those already enumerated, presents man under a more favorable aspect, and affords a better view of his traits of character and manner of living. Not only the sturdy climate spurs him to action, but a higher type is supplanting the original savages. The brachycephalic, or round-headed, has penetrated the recesses of that wild country and brought with him the art of making more perfect implements. This new type was of short stature, having small hands and feet. If Asia be the home of man, then from that country, advanced in civilization, came the vanguard who were destined to supplant their predecessors, tame the wild beasts, and conquer the forests. Representatives of this type are found in the Lapps and Fins. Between the two existing races—dolichocephalic and brachycephalic—there may have been a long and bitter strife. The former was large, stout, fearless, and cruel; the latter, small, hardy, and more intelligent. It was a conflict between brute force and intelligence. The more perfect weapons must have told fearfully against the rude axes and arrows of the dolichocephalic. It could not have been a war of extermination, for finally an intermixture took place, producing a medium, as may be judged from the exhumed skulls.
Dwellings.—As in the past ages, man continued to dwell, for the most part, in caves. If the cave was small, he occupied every portion; but if large, only that part near the opening was used. In the centre of this dwelling he made ahearth, out of stones sunk in the floor, and with the fire placed upon it, he cooked his meals and warmed his body. This mode of life did not always satisfy him, for he ventured out, and under the projection of an overhanging rock he built him a booth, or rude hut, out of boughs, and the poles of fallen timber. These dwellings, whether in caves or under the rocks, were near some stream.
Clothing.—The climate being cold, he probably ceased to use the inner bark of trees, and depended solely on the skins of animals. The skins were prepared by the flint scrapers, and then rendered supple by rubbing into them the brains and the marrow extracted from the skulls and long bones of the reindeer. These garments may have been artistically shaped, for they understood the art of sewing. With the bodkin they pierced the skin, and with the needle, end was held to end and side to side, and the same made permanent by the sinew of some animal.
Food.—These people were essentially hunters, and lived principally upon the reindeer, which they attacked with their spears and arrows. The horse, elk, ox, ibex, and the chamois, formed a considerable part of their food. The meat was cooked on the rough hearths, and the skull and the long bones were split open in order to extract the brains and marrow, which formed a delicious dish. To this they also added fish and, occasionally, certain birds, such as the heath-cock, swan, and owl. The chase did not always afford them sufficient food, and at times they were forced to subsist on the water-rat.
Enough evidence has been produced to show that these people were cannibals. Human finger-joints were discovered among the remains of cooking at Solutré in Mâconnais. M. Issel found, at a point on the road from Genoa to Nice, some human bones which had been calcined, and were of a whitish color, light, and friable. The incrustations on their surface still contained small fragments of carbon, and some of them showed notches made by some sharp instrument. In one ofthe grottos of Northern Italy M. Costa de Beauregard found the small shin-bone of a child, which had been carefully emptied and cleansed. Professor Owen thinks he can recognize the trace of human teeth on some human skulls and children's bones found in Scotland, and promiscuously mixed with sculptured flints and the remains of pottery.
The Arts.—Man had not yet discovered the value of metal, but formed his instruments out of flint, bone, and the horn of the reindeer. The hatchet was but little used, and the principal weapons were the flint-knife, arrow-heads, and occasionally the lower jaw-bone of the cave-bear, with its pointed canine tooth. The articles of domestic use were rough pottery, knives, scrapers, saws, bodkins, needles, and other wrought implements. He had articles for ornamenting his person and pleasing his fancy, such as shells for beads, and the whistle for delighting his ear. The art of engraving was practised to a great extent, and so admirably did he execute his designs that, after the lapse of thousands of years, the figures are easily recognized.
The staff of authority would imply that there were certain individuals who were recognized as chiefs or leaders. Some system must have prevailed, for without it the manufactories at Laugeriè-Basse and Laugerie-Haute could not have been carried on. In the first of these workshops the fabrications were almost wholly spear-heads, and in the second reindeer horn was used for the weapons and implements.
Traffic.—Commerce was begun. The inhabitants of Belgium sought their flints in that part of France now called Champagne. From the same locality they also brought back fossil shells, which were strung together and used for necklaces. There can be no doubt of this, as already fifty-four of these shells have been found at Chaleux, and they are not found naturally anywhere else than in Champagne.
Burial.—As in the previous epoch, the dead were consigned to the same kind of caves as were used for habitations, and the entombment was celebrated by the funeral-feast.These banquets afford no evidence of worship. Some have thought they not only saw signs of worship in the banquets, but also in some of the carvings. No idols have been found. That they should have no notion of a future state is not surprising, for Sir J. Lubbock has shown that there are tribes at the present time without this belief.[66]
M. Edward Dupont, in his report to the Belgian minister of the Interior, on the excavations carried on in the caves, has concisely but eloquently given a synopsis of man of the reindeer epoch, in the following language:
"The data obtained from the fossils of Chaleux, together with those which have been met with in the caves of Furfooz, present us with a striking picture of the primitive ages of mankind in Belgium. These ancient tribes, and all their customs, after having been buried in oblivion for thousands and thousands of years, are again vividly brought before our eyes; and, ... antiquity lives again in the relics of its former existence.
"We may almost fancy that we can see them in their dark and subterranean retreats, crouching round their hearths, and skilfully and patiently chipping out their flint instruments and shaping their reindeer-horn tools, in the midst of all the pestilential emanations arising from the various animal remains which their carelessness has allowed to remain in their dwellings. Skins of wild beasts are stripped of their hair, and, by the aid of flint needles, are converted into garments. In our mind's eye, we may see them engaged in the chase, and hunting wild animals—their only weapons being darts and spears, the fatal points of which are formed of nothing but a splinter of flint. Again, we are present at their feasts, in which, during the period when their hunting has been fortunate, a horse, a bear, or a reindeer, becomes the more noble substitute for the tainted flesh of the rat, their sole resource in the time of famine.
"Now, we see them trafficking with the tribes inhabitingthe region now called France, and procuring the jet and fossil shells with which they love to adorn themselves, and the flint which is to them so precious a material. On one side they are picking up the fluor spar, the color of which is pleasing to their eyes; on the other, they are digging out the great slabs of sandstone which are to be placed as hearth-stones round their fire.
"But, alas! inauspicious days arrive." The roof of their principal cave falls in, burying their weapons and utensils, and forcing them "to fly and take up their abode in another spot. The ravages of death break in upon them.... They bear the corpse into its cavernous sepulchre; some weapons, an amulet, and perhaps an urn, form the whole of the funeral furniture. A slab of stone prevents the inroad of wild beasts. Then begins the funeral banquet, celebrated close by the abode of the dead; a fire is lighted, great animals are cut up, and portions of their smoking flesh are distributed to each. How strange the ceremonies that must then have taken place! ceremonies like those told us of the savages of the Indian and African solitudes. Imagination may easily depict the songs, the dances, and the invocations, but science is powerless to call them into life....
"But the end of this primitive age is at last come. Torrents of water break in upon the country. Its inhabitants, driven from their abodes, in vain take refuge on the lofty mountain summits. Death at last overtakes them, and a dark cavern is the tomb of the wretched beings, who, at Furfooz, were witnesses of this immense catastrophe."[67]
The Neolithic, or Epoch of Tamed Animals, is characterized by stone implements, polished or made smooth by a process of grinding and cutting, the greater development attained in the art of pottery, and by the presence of the bones of the domesticated animals. This age, in which no remains of the reindeer occur, immediately follows the reindeer epoch, and to it are referred in general all discoveries made in the so calledalluvialsoil, the most ancient remains of the so called Celts, the shell-heaps of Denmark, the tumuli or grave-mounds, the dolmens, the earlier Swiss pile-buildings, the Irish lake-dwellings, and some of the caves of France.
Caverns.—The caves belonging to this period, and explored by MM. Garrigou and Filhol, are those of the Pyrenees and the caves of Pradiérs, Bedeilhac, Labart, Niaux, Ussat, and Fontanel. Some of these caverns have been used in earlier ages, as is shown by the remains of extinct mammals. The upper crust of the floors of the caves belong to this period, and in them are found the bones of the ox, stag, sheep, goat, antelope, chamois, wild boar, wolf, dog, fox, badger, hare, and horse, intermingled with the remains of hearths, also piercers, spear-heads, and arrow-heads, made of bone; hatchets, knives, scrapers made of flints, and various other substances, such as silicious schist, quartzite, leptinite, and serpentine stone. These implements were carefully wrought, and mostly polished.
The cave of Saint Jean d'Alcas (Aveyron), explored atdifferent times by M. Cazalis de Fondace, was used as a place of sepulture. It was first examined about twenty-five years ago, and at that time five human skulls, in a good state of preservation, were found, but have been lost, as their importance was not then known. Intermingled with these bones were flint, jade, and serpentine implements, carved bones, remains of rough pottery, stone amulets, and the shells of shell-fish, but no remains of funeral banquets. At the mouth of the cave were two large flag-stones lying across one another. The most recent discoveries in the cave have furnished metallic substances, which would place it, as a habitation, to the last of the neolithic.
Danish Kjökken-Möddings, or Shell-Mounds, or kitchen-refuse heaps.—The refuse heaps of Denmark were carefully examined by Professors Steenstrup, the naturalist, Forchammer, a geologist, and Worsaae, the archæologist, commissioned by the Danish government, their reports being presented to the Academy of Sciences at Copenhagen.
They are found chiefly on the north coast of Denmark, and consist of the shells of edible mollusks, such as the oyster, cockle, mussel, and periwinkle. These deposits are from three to ten feet in thickness, from one hundred to two hundred and fifty feet in width, and sometimes as much as one thousand feet in length. In them are found weapons and other instruments of stone, horn, and bone; fragments of rough pottery, stone-wedges, knives, etc., in great abundance, accompanied with charcoal and ashes; no traces of coin, bronze, or iron, or domestic animals, except the dog. The bones of animals are very numerous, but no human bones have ever been discovered. Professor Steenstrup estimates that ninety-seven per cent. of the bones belong to the stag, the roe-deer, and the wild boar. The other remains are those of the urus (Bos primigenius), dog, fox, wolf, marten, wild-cat, hedgehog, bear (Ursus arctos), and the mouse, and the bones of birds and fishes. The auroch, musk ox, domestic ox, elk, hare, sheep, and domestic hog are absent.
The mollusca of these shell-mounds are of a size which are never obtained by the representatives of the same species now living on the Baltic. They are not more than one-half or even one-third the size. At the time of the formation of these mounds, the Baltic was a true sea, or an arm of the ocean, and these mollusks were taken from it. Now the Baltic has not the character of a true sea, but is merely brackish, and the oyster does not occur in the Baltic except at its entrance into the ocean.
These deposits have been found several miles inland, which would indicate that the sea had once covered the intervening space. On the western coast they have not been found, in consequence of their having possibly been swept away by the encroachments of the sea. They are also found on the adjacent islands.
These mounds are not peculiar alone to Denmark; for they are found in England, Scotland, France, and America.
Danish Peat Bogs.—The peat bogs of Denmark, so faithfully investigated by Professor Steenstrup, mark three periods of deposition. The most ancient is called theScotch-Fir; the second, immediately above, theOak, and the uppermost, theBeech. The peat is from ten to forty feet in thickness, and to form a layer from ten to twenty feet thick would require, according to Steenstrup,at leastfour thousand years, and perhaps even from three to four times that period.[68]These three epochs denote three periods of time. The lowest belongs to the neolithic, the middle to the bronze, and the last to the iron epoch. In the lowest, orFirperiod, have been found worked flints and bones. Human bones have been found, which correspond with the bones taken from the tumuli of this epoch.
The Lake-Dwellings of Switzerland.—Dr. Ferdinand Keller and his associates have made known to the world the wonderful remains of villages situated in the lakes of Switzerland and other countries. The villages of Switzerland do notall belong to the same period, and they represent the neolithic, bronze, and iron epochs; but there was no hard line of demarcation between these three periods. These habitations are so numerous that more than two hundred settlements hare been discovered in Switzerland alone. Among the lakes furnishing these remains may be counted the Lake of Neuchâtel (forty-six settlements); Lake Constance (thirty-two settlements); Lake of Geneva (twenty-four settlements); Lake of Bienne (twenty-one settlements); Lake of Morat (sixteen settlements); Lake of Zurich (three settlements); Lake of Pfæffikon (six settlements); Lake of Sempach (six settlements); Lake of Moosseedorf (two settlements); Lake of Inkwyl (one settlement); Lake of Nussbaumen (one settlement); Lake Greiffensee (one settlement); Lake of Zug (six settlements); Lake of Baldegg (five settlements), and others.
The habitations belonging to the neolithic are Lake Constance thirty, Neuchatel twelve, Geneva two settlements; one each at Morat, Bienne, Zurick, Pfæffikon, Inkwyl, Moosseedorf, Nussbaumen, the settlement of Concise, the bridge Thiéle, the peat-bog of Wauwyl, and others.
These dwellings were built near the shore, on piles of various kinds of wood, sharpened by tools and fire, and driven into the mud at the shallow bottom of the lake. In some of the settlements the piles were fastened by heaping stones around them. The piles were sometimes placed together, at others apart. The heads were brought to a level and then the platform beams were fastened upon them. This basis served for the foundation of the rude rectangular huts they erected. These piles are not now seen above the water, yet they are visible above the bottom of the lake. The number of piles in some of these settlements is as high as one hundred thousand, and the area occupied, not less than seventy thousand square yards. It has been estimated that the population of the Lake-villages during the neolithic was over thirty thousand.
The object of these dwellings was to protect the inhabitants from wild animals, the attacks of enemies, and for the ready obtaining of food by fishing. They were not only occupied by the inhabitants, but also by their herds and the stores of fodder.[69]
Robenhausen.—It is not necessary to go into an account of a number of these settlements to represent the neolithic epoch, for the settlement at Robenhausen (Lake Pfæffikon) takes the first rank in giving the domestic arrangements of the ancient inhabitants. This settlement covered a space of nearly three acres, and one hundred thousand piles were used in the whole structure. Its form was an irregular quadrangle. It was about two thousand paces from the ancient western shore of the lake, and about three thousand from the shore in the opposite direction. With the last-named side there was a communication by means of a bridge, the piles of which are still visible. On this side were the gardens and pastures. The dwellers of this settlement were unfortunate, as their habitation was twice burned up, and each time, they rallied and rebuilt their huts. They remained a long time as would seem from the depth of the peat and the vast amount of relics found.
At a depth of eleven feet were found the earliest or most ancient relics; at ten and one-half feet, the remains of the first conflagration—charcoal, stone and bone implements, pottery, woven cloth, corn, apples, etc.; at seven and one-half feet, flooring, relics of the second settlement, and excrement of cows, sheep, and goats; at six and one half feet, remains of second conflagration—charcoal, stone and bone implements, pottery, woven cloth, corn, apples, etc.; at three and one-half feet, broken stones, flooring, and relics of the third settlement; at two and one half feet, stone celts, pottery, but no traces of fire. Above this was two feet of peat and one-half foot of mould.
Without going into detail, the objects found in thesevarious beds are as follows: Made out of wood, are knives, ladles, plates, clubs of ash, in which is fixed a socket of stag's horn containing a stone celt, a boat made of a single trunk, twelve feet long, two and one-half feet wide, and five inches deep, flails for threshing out grain, bows notched at both ends, fishing implements, floats for the support of nets, suspension hooks, tubs, chisels, sandals, yokes made for carrying vessels, and a peculiar ornament. These implements were all made out of yew, maple, ash, fir, and the root of the hazel bush. Out of stag's horn—arrow-heads, daggers, piercing and scraping tools, implements for knitting and for agriculture. The implements of stone were polished, and of the usual form. The objects of clay were fragments of pottery, in the shape of urns, plates, and cups, in great abundance. There were also found spoons, and a perforated cone, supposed to have been used as a weight for the loom. Several crucibles or melting pots have been found, which were used for melting copper. The third building of this village was on the borderland between the stone and bronze ages.
The remains of animals found here and at Moosseedorf and Wauwyl, all of the neolithic, belong to the brown bear, badger, marten, pine-marten, polecat, wolf, fox, wild-cat, beaver, elk, urus, bison, stag, roe-deer, wild-boar, marsh-boar; the domestic animals were the boar, horse, ox, goat, sheep, and dog. The remains of the domestic hog are absent from all the pile works of this period, save the one at Wauwyl.
Among cereals (Robenhausen) were found several varieties of wheat and barley; fruits and berries—service-tree, dog-rose, elder, bilberry, and wayfaring tree; the nuts—hazel, beech, and water-chestnut; the oil-producing plants—opium, or garden poppy, and dogwood; the fibrous plants—flax; plants used for dying—weld; forest trees and shrubs—silver fir, juniper, yew, ash, and oak; water and marsh plants—lake scirpus, pondweeds, common hornwort, marsh bedstraw, buckbean, yellow waterlily, ivy-leaved crowfoot, and marsh pennywort.
Besides these there have been found many specimens of plaited and woven cloth; also ropes, cords, and a portion of a linseed cake.[70]
In the different settlements the same axes and knives abound, and are of small size. The arrow-heads and saws are an improvement on those of the preceding epoch. Among domestic implements, spindle-whorls of rude earthenware were abundant in some of the villages, and corn-crushers are occasionally met with from two to three inches in diameter. About five hundred implements of stone have been found at Wauwyl, consisting of axes, small flint arrow-heads, flint-flakes, corn-crushers, rude stones used as hammers, whetstones, and sling-stones.
As these Lake-Dwellings not only belong to the last of the neolithic, but extend beyond, they naturally have a place in the close of this period. M. Troyon says the dwellings of this period came suddenly to an "end by the irruption of a people provided with bronze implements. The lake-dwellings were burned by these new-comers, and the primitive inhabitants were slaughtered or driven back into remote places. This catastrophe affects chiefly the settlements of East Switzerland, which entirely disappeared, and also a number of those on the shore of the western lakes. Some few settlements, however—namely, those of the so-called transition period—are said not to have been destroyed by the new people till after the inhabitants had begun to make use of bronze implements."[71]
Dr. Keller takes exception to these views. He says there is no sudden leap from one class of civilization to another, and that the metals came gradually into use. The lake-dwellings were not burned down by the irruption of a foreign people; for at Niederwyl, and several settlements of the Unter-See, no traces of fire have been observed. The factthat but a very few human skeletons have been found in the whole settlements, contradicts the supposition of a battle having taken place between the aborigines and the supposed conquerors, and of the destruction of the former by the latter.[72]
Lake-dwellings belonging to this age and the bronze, have been found in Bavaria, Northern Italy, Mecklenburg, Pomerania, France, England, Scotland, and Ireland. Herodotus says that the Pæonians lived this way in Lake Prasias (Thrace), and Lubbock says that the fishermen of Lake Prasias still inhabit wooden huts built over the water. The town of Tcherkask in Russia, is constructed over the river Don, and Venice itself is but a lacustrine city.[73]
Several attempts have been made to estimate the time which has elapsed since the neolithic period. The estimates of M. Morlot are based on the discoveries made in a hillock formed by the river Tinière at its entrance into the lake of Geneva. This cone contained three distinct layers of vegetable earth placed at different depths between the deposits of alluvium. The first was at a depth of three and one-half feet from the top, and was from four to six inches thick, and in it were found relics of the Roman period; the second was five and one-fourth feet lower, and six inches thick, in which were fragments of bronze; the third was at a depth of eighteen feet from the top, and varied in thickness from six to seven inches, and contained fragments of the stone age. History proves that the layer containing the Roman relics is from thirteen to eighteen centuries old. Since that epoch the cone has increased three and one-half feet, and if the increase was the same in previous ages, then the bed containing the bronze is from twenty-nine hundred to forty-two hundred years old, and the lowest layer, belonging to the stone age, is from four thousand seven hundred to ten thousand years old.
The calculation by M. Gillieron was made from the discoveries near the bridge of Thièle. About one thousand two hundred and thirty feet from the present shore is the old abbey of Saint Jean, built in the year 1100. There is a document which seems to show that the abbey was built on the edge of the lake. Then, in seven hundred and fifty years the lake retired one thousand two hundred and thirty feet. The distance of the present shore from the settlement of the bridge of Thièle is eleven thousand and seventy-two feet, and consequently the settlement is not less than six thousand seven hundred and fifty years old.
M. Figuier assigns to the lake-dwellings an antiquity of from six to seven thousand years before the Christian era.[74]
From the human bones found in peat-bogs and tumuli, man is represented as having a narrow but round skull, with a projecting ridge above the eyebrows, showing he was round-headed, his eyebrows overhanging, small of stature though stout, and having a great resemblance to the Laplanders. In many respects the race was much superior to that of the preceding epoch. Man advanced rapidly in the arts, and made great progress in civilization. He had passed out of the barbarous, and might be called a semi-barbarian.
Habitations.—Man's habitation varied according to the locality. In the extreme south of France he continued for a considerable length of time to occupy the caves and rock-shelters; in Switzerland, the pile-buildings, and in Denmark he undoubtedly had rude huts placed close together and in proximity to the shell-heaps.
Clothing.—Clothing also varied according to locality. Where the wild animals were numerous their skins were used—there being no incentive to substitute other material. Coarse material made of fibrous plants had come into use. The lake-dwellers clothed themselves with this material, and completely protected their bodies. They also used sandals for their feet, as these have been found with the usual indications of usage.
Food.—Where wild animals could be obtained they were used, and the marrow of the long bones extracted. To this, fish and birds were added. In Denmark the principal food was the different species of the edible mollusk. In Switzerland a higher order and greater variety of food was used. The meat of the wild animals, birds, and fish was varied with bread made of barley and wheat, and fruit and berries. The meat was not only obtained from the wild animal, but they provided against the uncertainty of the chase by domesticating the boar, ox, sheep, and goat. The horse and dog were domesticated to assist in the chase, but sometimes served for food, probably during a famine.
If these people were cannibals, the evidence must rest solely on the human bones discovered at a dolmen near the village of Hammer, Denmark, which had been subjected to the action of fire. They were found together with some flint implements. But this evidence is not sufficient to lead to the conclusion that at the funeral banquets human flesh was used along with the roasted stag.
Arts and Manufactures.—The flint hatchets of the refuse-heaps are generally of an imperfect type; the long knives indicate a considerable amount of skill; the bodkins, spear-heads, and scrapers are but little improved. In the latter part of this epoch, the various kinds of implements, especially in Switzerland, attained to a surprising degree of perfection, in so much so, it is difficult to understand how this was achieved without the use of metal. They were made into various shapes, and with the design of pleasing the eye.
Besides the various types of implements common to the different countries, the tribes of Denmark manufactured a drilled hatchet, which is combined in various ways with the hammer. A specimen of this type is represented in Fig. 16, now in the Museum of Copenhagen. It is pierced with a round hole, in which the handle was fixed. The cutting edge describes an arc of a circle, and the other end is wrought into sharp angular edges.
New inventions were brought into use. Among them was a comb which, according to shape, might be compared to the dung-fork of the American stables. Ornaments for the body, made of various materials were fashioned. Pottery was stillin a rough state, though gradually improving. The loom was invented, and various kinds of cloth were manufactured. Also out of the fibrous plants cordage was made, which again was fashioned into nets for fishing. Many canoes at various places have been found, showing that they were not only used for fishing but also for carrying cargoes. Workshops were established, and there the stone implements were made and polished; one of these shops was at Pressigny.