see captionFig. 19. Section of the strata at Trinil in Java.Avegetable soil.BSand-rock.CLapilli-rock.DLevel at which the bones were found.EConglomerate.FClay.HRainy-season level of river.IDry-season level of river. (From Dubois.)
Fig. 19. Section of the strata at Trinil in Java.Avegetable soil.BSand-rock.CLapilli-rock.DLevel at which the bones were found.EConglomerate.FClay.HRainy-season level of river.IDry-season level of river. (From Dubois.)
Mauer.Impressed by the similarity of the conditions at Mauer to those of the fossiliferous tufa-beds near Taubach and Weimar, Dr Schoetensack had anticipated the possibility of obtaining valuable fossil relics from the former locality. For some twenty years, Dr Schoetensack kept in touch with the workmen of Mauer, and thus when the jawbone was found, he was summoned at once. Even so, the jaw had been removed from its resting-place, and broken in two fragments. Yet there is no doubt as to the exact position in which it was found. Sand and löss (a fine earthy deposit) had accumulated above it to a thickness of seventy feet. The nature of thesurroundings may be estimated by reference to the illustration (Fig. 20) reproducing Dr Schoetensack's photograph of the sand-pit. The sands which contained the mandible represent an alluvial deposit, and so far resemble the Trinil beds in Java. The attempt to institute an exact comparison would be unprofitable, but on the whole it would seem that, of the two, the Mauer sands represent the later stage. The fauna associated with the Mauer jaw includes such forms asElephas antiquus,Rhinoceros etruscus,Ursus arvernensis,U. deningeri(an ancestral form ofU. spelaeus), together with a species of horse intermediate betweenEquus stenonis, and the fossil horse found at Taubach. The cave-lion, bison, and various deer have also been recognised.
see captionFig. 20. View of the Mauer sand-pit. X (in white) position of jawbone when found. (From Birkner, after Schoetensack.)
Fig. 20. View of the Mauer sand-pit. X (in white) position of jawbone when found. (From Birkner, after Schoetensack.)
The aspect of this collection shews a marked similarity to that of the so-called Forest-bed of Cromer, though at the same time indicating a later age. The Mauer jaw must therefore be assigned to the very earliest part of the Pleistocene epoch. In his original memoir, Dr Schoetensack gave no account of any associated ‘industry,’ in the form of stone implements. But now (1911) Professor Rutot unhesitatingly (though the reasons are not stated) ascribes to the horizon of the Mauer jaw, that division of the eolithic industries termed by him the “Mafflien.” Upon the correctness of such a view judgment may well be reserved for the present.
Taubach. The bone-bed (Knochenschicht) of Taubach whence the two human teeth were recovered, lies at a depth of some 15 feet (5·2 m.) from the adjacent surface-soil. No fewer than eleven distinct horizons have been recognised in the superincumbent strata. Palaeoliths had often been obtained from the same stratum as that which yielded the human teeth. Dr Weiss referred it to the first, i.e. the earlier of two inter-glacial periods judged to have occurred in this region. The associated fauna includesElephas antiquus,Rhinoceros merckii,Bison priscus, with Cervidae and representatives of swine, beaver and a bear. The similarity of this assemblage to that of the Mauer Sands has been noted already.
The hippopotamus however does not seem to have been recorded in either locality. Nevertheless, the general aspect of the mammalian fauna is ‘southern’ (faune chaudeof French writers). Upon this conclusion, much depends, for the Palaeolithic implements (claimed as contemporaneous with the extinct ‘southern’ mammals recorded in the foregoing paragraphs) are said to correspond to the type of Le Moustier. But Mousterian implements are (it is alleged) practically never associated with ‘southern’ animals, so that in this respect the Taubach bone-bed provides a paradox. Without discussing this paradox at length, it may be stated that theimplements just described as ‘Mousterian’ are not recognised as such by all the experts. Thus Obermaier identifies them with those of Levallois,i.e.a late S. Acheul type (cf. Obermaier, 1909). Others declare that the type is not that of Le Moustier, but of Chelles. The latter type of implement is found habitually in association with the southern fauna, and thus the paradox described above may prove to be apparent only and not real. But the unravelling of the different opinions relating to the Taubach finds is among the easier tasks presented to anyone desirous of furnishing a clear statement of the actual state of our knowledge on these matters. The difficulties with which the whole subject bristles may thus be realised.
Krapina.Researches productive of evidence as to the existence of Palaeolithic man in Croatia, were commenced at Krapina so long ago as August, 1899, by Professor Kramberger. A preliminary report was published in December, 1899. Until the year 1904 these researches passed almost unnoticed in this country. The site was not exhausted until 1905. The actual excavations were made in a rock-shelter on the right bank of the Krapini[vc]a river, near the village of Krapina. The rock-shelter had been to some extent invaded not long before the archaeological work commenced, and evidence of early human occupation of the site was revealed in the form ofdark bands of earth, containing much charcoal. These bands were seen as lines in the lower parts of the exposed section of the cave contents. Fragments of human and other bones to the number of several thousands were removed. In one season's work six hundred stone implements were found.
A section of the several strata has been published and is reproduced in Fig. 21. Human bones or artefacts were found throughout a wide series of strata, in which no variations of a cultural nature were detected. Throughout the period of human occupation, the Palaeolithic inmates of the cave remained on an unaltered and rather lowly level of culture. This is described by some authorities as Mousterian, by others as Aurignacian; in either case as of an early Palaeolithic aspect.
see captionFig. 21. Section of the Krapina rock-shelter. 3, 4 strata with human remains. 1bformer level of river-bed. (From Birkner, after Kramberger.)
Fig. 21. Section of the Krapina rock-shelter. 3, 4 strata with human remains. 1bformer level of river-bed. (From Birkner, after Kramberger.)
But when the animal remains are considered, Krapina seems to present the difficulty already encountered in the case of Taubach. For there is no doubt but that the ‘southern’ fauna is to some extent represented at Krapina. This qualified form of statement is employed because one representative only, viz.Rhinoceros merckii, has been discovered, whereas its habitual companions,Elephas antiquusand Hippopotamus, have left no traces at Krapina. Other animals associated with the cave-men of Krapina are not so commonly found in the presence of theRhinoceros merckii. Thus theUrsus spelaeus,U. arctos,Bos primigenius, and the Arctomys (Marmot) are suggestive of a more northern fauna. But the presence of even a possibly strayRhinoceros merckiiis sufficient to confer an aspect of great antiquity on this early Croatian settlement. No evidence of formal interments has come to light, andas regards the cannibalistic habits of the human cave-dwellers, no more than the merest surmise exists.
S. Brélade's Bay, Jersey.In the cave thus designated, old hearths were met with at a depth of twenty-five feet below the surface. Human beings are represented by teeth only. No evidence of interments has been recorded. The implements are of Mousterian type. Associated with the hearths and implements were many fragmentary remains of animals. Up to the present time, the following forms have been identified:Rhinoceros tichorhinus(the hairy rhinoceros), the Reindeer, and two varieties of Horse. So far as this evidence goes, the age assigned to the implements is supported, or at least not contra-indicated. It is most improbable that the period represented can be really earlier than the Mousterian, though it might be somewhat later. That the Krapina teeth (which so curiously resemble those of S. Brélade's Bay in respect of the fusion of their roots) should be assigned to the same (Mousterian) epoch is perhaps significant.
La Chapelle-aux-Saints(Corrèze). This is the best example of an interment referable to the early Palaeolithic age (Fig. 22). Two reasons for this statement may be given. In the first place, the skeleton lay in a distinctly excavated depression, beneath which no signs of an earlier settlement are recorded. Secondly, the superincumbent strata can be assignedto one period only of the archaeological series, viz. that of Le Moustier. Indications of the preceding period (S. Acheul) as well as of the subsequent one (Aurignac) are practically negligible. Moreover the surroundings had not been disturbed since the interment: this is shewn by the leg-bones of a large bovine animal (Bison or Bos) found in their natural relations just above the head of the human skeleton.
see captionFig. 22. Plan of the cave at La Chapelle-aux-Saints (Corrèze). (From Boule.)
Fig. 22. Plan of the cave at La Chapelle-aux-Saints (Corrèze). (From Boule.)
The latter lay on the back, the right arm bent, the left extended; both legs were contracted and to the right. In general, this attitude recalls that of the skeletons of La Ferrassie and the Grotte des Enfants (Grimaldi). At Le Moustier too, the skeleton was found in a somewhat similar position.
At La Chapelle-aux-Saints, the associated fauna includes the Reindeer, Horse, a large bovine form (? Bison),Rhinoceros tichorhinus, the Ibex, Wolf, Marmot, Badger and Boar.
It would seem that this particular cave had served only as a tomb. For other purposes its vertical extent is too small. The stone artefacts are all perfect tools: no flakes or splinters being found as in habitations. The animal remains are supposed to be relics of a funeral feast (or feasts). But the presence of the Rhinoceros is perhaps antagonistic to such an explanation.
Le Moustier(Dordogne). The skeleton lay on its right side, the right arm bent and supporting the head; the left arm was extended. The stratum upon which the body rested consisted largely of worked flint implements. These are assigned to the later Acheulean and earlier Mousterian epochs.
Two features in contrast with the conditions at La Chapelle are to be noticed. It is doubtful whether the skeleton at Le Moustier had been literally interred. It seems rather to have been placed on what was atthe time the floor of the grotto, and then covered partly with earth on which implements were scattered. Indications of a definite grave were found at La Chapelle. Again at Le Moustier, other parts of the same grotto had been occupied as habitations of the living. At La Chapelle this seems not to have been the case.
The evidence of the accompanying animal remains also differs in the two cases. At Le Moustier, only small and very fragmentary animal bones with the tooth of an ox were found in the immediate vicinity of the human skeleton. An extended search revealed bones ofBos primigeniusin the cave. No bones of the Reindeer were found and their absence is specially remarked by Professor Klaatsch, as evidence that the skeleton at Le Moustier is of greater antiquity than the skeleton accompanied by reindeer bones at La Chapelle. In any case, it would seem that no great lapse of time separates the two strata.
La Ferrassie.The skeleton was found in the same attitude as those of La Chapelle and Le Moustier, viz. in the dorsal position, the right arm bent, the left extended, both legs being strongly flexed at the knee and turned to the right side. The bones were covered by some 3·5 m. ofdébris: stone implements were yielded by strata above and below the body respectively. Beneath the skeleton, the implements are of Acheulean type, while above and around it the type of Le Moustier was encountered. Aurignacian implements occurred still nearer the surface.
In regard to the evidence of interment the conditions here resemble those at Le Moustier rather than those of La Chapelle. The human skeleton did not appear to have been deposited in a grave, but simply laid on the ground, covered no doubt by earth upon which flint implements were scattered. But the cave continued to be occupied until at the close of the Aurignacian period a fall of rock sealed up the entrance. It is difficult to realise the conditions of life in such a cave, after the death of a member of the community, unless, as among the cave-dwelling Veddas of Ceylon, the cave were temporarily abandoned (Seligmann, 1911). It is possible that the normal accumulation of animal remains created such an atmosphere as would not be greatly altered by the addition of a human corpse, for Professor Tylor has recorded instances of such interments among certain South American tribes. But it is also conceivable that the enormously important change in custom from inhumation to cremation, may owe an origin to some comparatively simple circumstance of this kind. The animal remains at La Ferrassie include Bison, Stag, and Horse, with a few Reindeer. The general aspect is thus concordant with that at La Chapelle.
Pech de l'Aze.It is impossible to decide whether the child's skull had been buried intentionally or not. The associated fauna is apparently identical with that of La Ferrassie and La Chapelle.
Forbes Quarry(Gibraltar). Of the surroundings of the Forbes Quarry skull at the time of its discovery nothing is known. In 1910 the present writer explored Forbes Quarry and a small cave opening into it. But no evidence of the presence of prehistoric man was obtained. Bones of recent mammalia and certain molluscs found during the excavations, throw no light on this subject.
Andalusia.At the time of writing, only the following information is available as to the surroundings of these human cave-bones. They were discovered on or near the floor of a deep fissure leading to a series of labyrinthine passages. The walls of the fissure or cave were decorated with drawings of animals resembling those at Cretas in Aragon. Besides the mineralised bones, other fragments of less antiquated aspect were found. Potsherds were also obtained, but I have no information as to the occurrence of implements.
Grotte des Enfants(Mentone). With regard to the two ‘negroid’ skeletons of this cave, the first important point is the enormous thickness of accumulateddébrisby which the bones were covered. A depth of some twenty-four feet had been reached before the discovery was made (Fig. 23).
see captionFig. 23. Two sections of the Grotte des Enfants, Mentone.I.stratum in which the “Grimaldi” skeletons were found. (From Boule.)
Fig. 23. Two sections of the Grotte des Enfants, Mentone.I.stratum in which the “Grimaldi” skeletons were found. (From Boule.)
The bodies had been definitely interred, large stones being found in position, adjusted so as to protect the heads particularly. The bodies had beenplaced on the right side. Of the woman, both arms were bent as were the lower limbs. The male skeleton has the right arm flexed, but the left extended (as in the cases of La Chapelle, Le Moustier, and La Ferrassie).
It is practically certain that the skeletons do not belong to an epoch represented, as regards its culture or fauna, by strata lower than that which supported the human remains. This conclusion is very important here. For the evidence of the stone implements accompanying the human bones is fairly definite: it points to the Mousterian age. The animal bones are those of the Reindeer and Cave Hyaena. The presence of the former animal supports the conclusion arrived at on the evidence of the human artefacts. The presence of the Cave Hyaena does not controvert that conclusion.
But an interesting fact remains to be considered. Below the two human skeletons, the animal remains are those of the ‘southern’ fauna. All the characteristic representatives were found, viz.Elephas antiquus,Rhinoceros merckii, and Hippopotamus. The Hyaena was also associated with these large animals. It is not clearly stated whether implements of Mousterian type occurred in these, the deepest strata of the cave-floor. Were this so, the contention made in respect of the Taubach implements (cf.supra, p.67) would be remarkably corroborated,as would also the somewhat similar suggestion made in regard to Krapina. For the moment, however, it must suffice to attribute these human remains of negroid aspect to the Mousterian period at Mentone. Inasmuch as the reindeer appears in several strata overlying the remains of the Grimaldi race (for so it has been named by Dr Verneau), it is certainly conceivable that the two individuals are Aurignacian or even later. But this is to enter a wilderness of surmise. Human skeletons were actually found in those more superficial strata and also were associated with the Reindeer. But their cranial features are of a higher type (Cro-Magnon) and contrast very clearly with those of the more deeply buried individuals.
South America.The two discoveries mentioned in the preceding chapter were made in the so-called Pampas formation of Argentina. This formation has been subdivided by geologists into three successive portions, viz. upper, middle and lower. The distinction is based partly upon evidence derived from the actual characters of deposits which differ according to their level. But the molluscan fauna has also been used as a means of distinction. The whole formation is stated by some to be fluviatile. Other observers speak of it as Löss. This need not necessarily exclude a fluviatile origin, but speaking generally that term now suggests an aerial rather than a subaqueous deposit. The upper subdivision isdesignated the yellow löss in contrast to the brown löss forming the middle layer. Opinion is much divided as to the exact geological age of the Pampas formation. Ameghino refers it to the Pliocene period, excepting the lower divisions which he regards as upper Miocene. Professor Lehmann-Nitsche assigns Pliocene antiquity to the lowest sub-division only. Dr Steinmann regards the middle and lower sub-divisions as equivalents of the ‘older’ löss of European Pleistocene deposits. The latter determinations are more probably correct than is the first.
Baradero.The Baradero skeleton was obtained from the middle formation or brown löss, in a locality marked by the presence of mollusca corresponding with modern forms, and contrasted with the Tertiary Argentine mollusca. The skeleton was in a ‘natural’ (i.e.not a contracted) position, the head being depressed on the front of the chest. No associated implements or remains of mammalian skeletons are recorded.
Monte Hermoso.The vertebra and femur were found in the lower subdivision of the Pampas formation. We have seen that Ameghino refers this to the Miocene epoch: Lehmann-Nitsche speaks of it as Pliocene, Steinmann's opinion suggests a still later date, while Scott also declares that no greater age than that of the Pleistocene period can be assigned. The two specimens were obtained at very differenttimes, an interval of many years separating the dates of the respective discoveries. So far as is known, no mammalian or other animal remains have been yielded by the strata in question, so that the whole case in regard to evidence is one of the most unsatisfactory on record. Indeed the whole question of ‘dating’ the Argentine discoveries, whether absolutely or relatively, must be regarded as an unsolved problem.
Combe Capelle(Dordogne). The circumstances of this discovery were as follows. The skeleton lay in an extended position, and it had been placed in an excavation made for the purpose of interment. This excavation entered a stratum distinguished as Mousterian. But the interment is considered to be later, and of Aurignacian antiquity. Stone implements of Aurignacian type were disposed around the skeleton: in addition to these, a number of molluscan shells were arranged about the skull. This suggestion of ornament would of itself suggest the later period to which the skeleton is assigned. No remains of animals are mentioned in the accounts accessible to me.
Brüx(Bohemia). The Brüx skeleton was discovered in 1871. It lay some five feet beneath the surface in a deposit which seems to be an ancient one of fluviatile origin. The Biela river is not far from the spot. The bones were very fragmentary, and in particular the skull-cap has been reconstructed from no less than a dozen fragments. The limb boneswere also fractured. Near the skeleton, some remains of an Ox were found on the same level. Two feet above the skeleton, a stone implement, seemingly a Neolithic axe, was brought to light.
The information is thus meagre in the extreme, and when the condition of the skull is taken into account, it is evident that the Brüx skeleton is not one upon which far-reaching arguments can be successfully based. The interest of the specimen depends above all upon the results of the careful analysis of its characters made by Professor Schwalbe[25](1906).
Brünn(1871). This discovery was made at a depth of 4·5 metres in red löss. Close to the human bones lay the tusk and the shoulder-blade of a Mammoth. The same stratum subsequently yielded the skull of a young Rhinoceros (R. tichorhinus): some ribs of a Rhinoceros are scored or marked in a way suggestive of human activity: other ribs of the same kind were artificially perforated. More noteworthy, however, is a human figurine carved in ivory of a Mammoth tusk. Several hundreds of the shell ofDentalium badenselying close to the human remains were truncated in such a way as to suggest that they had once formed a necklace.
Galley Hill(Kent). The gravel-pit whence the skeleton was obtained invades the ‘high-level terrace-gravel’ of the Thames valley. Such is the opinionof expert geologists (Hinton[26]). In the gravel-pit a section through ten feet of gravel is exposed above the chalk. The bones were eight feet from the top of the gravel. Palaeolithic implements of a primitive type have been obtained from the same deposit at Galley Hill. No precise designation seems to have been assigned to them. From the published figures, they seem to correspond to the earlier Acheulean or to the Chellean type. One in particular, resembles the implements found at Reculver, and I have recently seen similar specimens which had been obtained by dredging off the Kentish coast near Whitstable. Some of the Galley Hill implements are compared to the high plateau forms from Ightham. These must be of great antiquity. Professor Rutot in 1903 assigned the Galley Hill skeleton to a period by him named Mafflian. This diagnosis seems to have been based upon the characters of the implements. Recently however (1909) Professor Rutot has brought the skeleton down into the Strépyan epoch, which is much less ancient than that of Maffle.
The associated fauna comes now into consideration. From the Galley Hill gravel-pit no mammalian remains other than the human skeleton have been reported, but the fauna of the ‘high-level terrace’ has been ascertained by observations in the vicinity of Galley Hill as well as in other parts of the Thames basin. The molluscCyrena fluminalis, indicative of a sub-tropicalclimate, has been found in these strata. As regards the mammalian fauna, it is interesting to compare the list given by Mr E. T. Newton in 1895, with that published by Mr M. A. C. Hinton in 1910 on the basis of independent observations.
No definitely ‘Arctic’ mammals are recorded: the general aspect of the above fauna shews a strong similarity to the Pliocene fauna, which appears to have persisted to this epoch without much alteration of the various types represented.
TABLE A
[1]South American remains and some others are omitted owing to insufficiency of data relating to their surroundings.
[2]Names of fossil varieties of Rhinoceros. These are very confused. The term R.leptorhinusshould be avoided altogether. R.megarhinusrepresents the R.leptorhinusof Falconer and Cuvier. R.merckiirepresents R.hemitoechusof Falconer, which is the R.leptorhinusof Owen and Boyd Dawkins. R.tichorhinusis R.antiquitatisof Falconer and some German writers.
[3]The formation of the High Terrace drift is earlier than the date of arrival of the ‘Siberian’ invasion of Britain by certain Voles. Already in Pliocene times, some Voles had come into Britain from the south-east of Europe. But the Galley Hill man, if contemporary with the High Terrace drift, had arrived in Britain ages before the appearance ofHomo aurignacensissupposed by Klaatsch to be closely allied, and to have come into Europe through Central if not Northern Asia. The ‘High Terrace’ mammals have a ‘Pliocene’ facies.
[4]The upper strata at Taubach yielded Reindeer and Mammoth. Near Weimar, Wüst says the stratigraphical positions ofR. merckiiandR. antiquitatishave been found inverted.
[5]Typical Val d'Arno (Pliocene) form.
The most important of recent discoveries of the remains of early prehistoric man have now been considered. Not only the evidence of the actual remains, but also that furnished by their surroundings has been called upon. It is evident that the last decade has been remarkably productive of additions to the stock of information on these subjects.
In the next place, enquiry has to be made whether any relation exists between the two methods of grouping, viz. (1) that in which the characters of the skeletons are taken as the test, and (2) that dependent upon the nature of the surroundings. A first attempt to elucidate the matter can be made by means of a tabulated statement, such as that which follows.
In constructing this table, the various finds have been ordinated according to the degree of resemblance to modern Europeans presented by the respective skeletons. Thus Division II with SubdivisionBheads the list. Then follows SubdivisionA, and finally Division I will be found in the lowest place.This order having been adopted, the remaining data were added in the sequence necessarily imposed upon them thereby.
(a) In an analysis of this table the several columns should be considered in order. Taking that headed ‘Immediate surroundings,’ it is evident that whereas most of the members of Division II were ‘cave-men,’ two exceptions occur. Of these, the Galley Hill skeleton is by far the most remarkable. The Taubach remains represent, it will be remembered, a form almost on the extreme confines of humanity. That it should resemble the members of Division I, themselves in a similar position, is not very remarkable. And indeed it is perhaps in accordance with expectation, that remains of the more remote and primitive examples should be discovered, so to speak, ‘in the open.’ All the more noteworthy therefore is the position of the Galley Hill man, whose place according to his surroundings is at the end of the list opposite to that assigned to him by his physical conformation.
(b) Passing to the ‘Associated animals,’ similar conclusions will be formed again. Thus in the first place, most of the ‘cave-men’ were accompanied by remains of the Reindeer. Le Moustier and Krapina are exceptions but provide Bison or Urus which are elsewhere associated with the Reindeer. Otherwise Galley Hill and Taubach again stand outas exceptions. Moreover they have again some features in common, just as has been noted in respect of their alluvial surroundings. For the Elephant (E. antiquus) is identical in both instances. But the Rhinoceros of the ‘high level’ terrace gravel is not the same as that found at Taubach, and though the succession is discussed later, it may be stated at once that theRhinoceros megarhinushas been considered to stand in what may be termed a grand-parental relation to that of Taubach (R. merckii), theRhinoceros etruscusof the Mauer Sands representing the intervening generation (Gaudry[27], 1888). For the various names, reference should be made to the list of synonyms appended to Table A. Should further evidence of the relative isolation of the Galley Hill skeleton be required, the gigantic beaver (Trogontherium) is there to provide it, since nowhere else in this list does this rodent appear. The paradoxical position of the Galley Hill skeleton having been indicated, it is convenient to deal with all the examples of skeletons from alluvial deposits taken as a single group, irrespective of their actual characters.
(i) The study of the animals found in the corresponding or identicalalluvial deposits, leads to inferences which may be stated as follows. The Trinil (Java) fauna will not be included, since the Javanese and European animals are not directly comparable. If attention is confined to the remaininginstances, viz. Galley Hill, Taubach and Mauer, agreement is shewn in respect of the presence ofElephas antiquus, and this is absent from all the cave-deposits considered here [v. infra(ii) p. 90]. A rhinoceros appears in all three localities, but is different in each. Finally, two (viz. Galley Hill and Mauer) of the three, provide at least one very remarkable mammalian form, viz. Trogontherium (Mimomys cantianusis equally suggestive) of the high-level gravels, and theUrsus arvernensisof the Mauer Sands.
The significance of these animals may be indicated more clearly by the following statement. If the history ofElephas antiquusbe critically traced, this animal appears first in a somewhat hazy atmosphere, viz. that of the transition period between Pliocene and Pleistocene times. It is a more primitive form of elephant than the Mammoth. Indeed, Gaudry[27](1888) placed it in a directly ancestral relation to the last-mentioned elephant. And though the two were contemporary for a space, yetElephas antiquuswas the first to disappear. Moreover this elephant has much more definite associations with the southern group of mammals than has the Mammoth. Its presence is therefore indicative of the considerable antiquity of the surrounding deposits, provided always that the latter be contemporaneous with it. With regard to the Rhinoceros, the speciesR. megarhinusandR. etruscushave been found indefinitely Pliocene strata. The former (R. megarhinus) seems to have appeared earliest (at Montpellier), whereas the Etruscan form owes its name to the late Pliocene formations of the Val d'Arno, in which it was originally discovered. The third species (R. merckii) is somewhat later, but of similar age toElephas antiquus, with which it constantly appears. It is remarkable that theR. etruscus, though not the earliest to appear, seems yet to have become extinct before the olderR. megarhinus. The latter was contemporary withR. merckii, though it did not persist so long as that species. With regard to the three alluvial deposits, the Rhinoceros provides a means of distinction not indicated by the elephantine representative, and the presence ofR. etruscusis a test for very ancient deposits. From what has been stated above, it follows that of the three localities the Mauer Sands have the more ancient facies, and it is significant that here also the human form proves to be furthest removed from modern men. But the other localities are not clearly differentiated, save that the Taubach strata are perhaps the more recent of the two.
Coming next to the ‘peculiar’ animals; theUrsus arvernensisof Mauer is almost as distinctively ‘Pliocene’ as its associate,Rhinoceros etruscus. The Taubach strata have yielded nothing comparable to these, nor to the Trogontherium (or Mimomys)of the high-level terrace gravel. These animals are also strongly suggestive of the Pliocene fauna.
To sum up, it will be found that the evidence of the Elephant is to the effect that these alluvial deposits are of early Pleistocene age. It leads to the expectation that the fauna in general will have a ‘southern,’ as contrasted with an ‘arctic’ aspect. From the study of the Rhinoceros it appears that the Mauer Sands are probably the most ancient in order of time, that the strata of Taubach are the latest of the three and thatElephas antiquuswill occur there (as indeed it does).
The other animals mentioned clinch the evidence for the Pliocene resemblance, and (at latest) the early Pleistocene antiquity of the Mauer Sands and the high-level terrace gravels. Within the limits thus indicated, the deposit of Mauer is again shewn to be the oldest, followed by the terrace-gravels, while Taubach is the latest and youngest of the three. All the characteristic animals are now entirely extinct.
For the reasons stated above, the fossil Javanese mammals of Trinil have not been discussed. It will suffice to note that on the whole they indicate a still earlier period than those of the European deposits in question.
(ii) The animals associated with thecave-mennow call for consideration. The great outstanding featureis the constancy with which the Reindeer is found. This leads to a presumption that the climate was at least temperate rather than ‘southern.’ Beyond this, it will be noted that in general the cave-fauna is more familiar in aspect, the Reindeer having survived up to the present day, though not in the same area. Again, save in one locality, not a single animal out of those discussed in connection with the alluvial deposits appears here. The exception is the Krapina rock-shelter. The surviving animal isRhinoceros merckii, described above as one of the later arrivals in the epochs represented by the alluvial deposits. Krapina does not provide the Reindeer, and in this respect is contrasted again with the remaining localities. Yet the presence of the Marmot at Krapina may be nearly as significant as that of the Reindeer would be.
Another cave, viz. the Grotte des Enfants, may also need reconsideration. For instance, theRhinoceros merckiiwas found in the deepest strata of this cave: but I do not consider that adequate evidence is given of its contemporaneity with the two human skeletons here considered. But the Reindeer is found in the same cave, as indicated in the table.
With the exception of Krapina therefore, the conditions are remarkably uniform. This conclusion is confirmed by the evidence from many caves not described in detail here because of the lack of humanbones therein or the imperfection of such as were found. Such caves have yielded abundant evidence in regard to the ‘associated fauna.’ A few of the more important results of the investigation of the mammals may be given. Thus the distribution of the Reindeer is so constant that except in regard to its abundance or rarity when compared with the remains of the horse in the same cave, it is of little or no use as a discriminating agency. The Mammoth (E. primigenius) was contemporaneous with the Reindeer, but was plentiful while the Reindeer was still rare. A similar remark applies to the Hairy Rhinoceros (R. tichorhinus), and also to the Cave-Bear. The Cervidae (other than the Reindeer), the Equidae, the Suidae (Swine) and the smaller Rodentia (especially Voles) are under investigation, but the results are not applicable to the finer distinctions envisaged here.
To sum up the outcome of this criticism; it appears that of the cave-finds, Krapina stands out in contrast with the remainder, in the sense that its fauna is more ancient, and is indicative of a southern rather than a temperate environment. The latitude of Krapina has been invoked by way of explaining this difference, upon the supposition that theRhinoceros merckiisurvived longer in the south. Yet Krapina does not differ in respect of latitude from the caves of Le Moustier and La Chapelle, while it is rather to the north of the Mentonecaves. Lastly, some weight must be attached to the alleged discovery at Pont Newydd in Wales, of Mousterian implements with remains ofR. merckii.
The fauna of the other caves suggests temperate, if not sub-arctic conditions of climate. In all cases, the cave-finds are assignable to a period later in time than that in which the fluviatile deposits (previously discussed) were formed. The cave-men thus come within the later subdivisions of the Pleistocene period.
(c) The fifth column of the table gives the types of stone implements found in association with the respective remains. As is well known, and as was stated in the introductory sentences of this book, stone artefacts constitute the second great class of evidence on the subject of human antiquity. As such they might appropriately have been accorded a separate chapter or even a volume. Here a brief sketch only of their significance in evidence will be attempted. The value of stone implements in deciding upon the age of deposits (whether in caves or elsewhere) depends upon the intimacy of the relation existing between various forms of implement and strata of different age. How close that intimacy really is, has been debated often and at great length. Opinions are still at variance in regard to details, but as to certain main points, no doubt remains. Yet the study is one in which even greater specialisationis needed than in respect of comparative osteology. The descriptions following these preliminary remarks are based upon as extensive an examination as possible, both of the literature, and of the materials.
To discuss the validity of the claims made in favour of or against the recognition of certain individual types will be impossible, save in the very briefest form. The better-known varieties have received names corresponding to the localities where they were first discovered, or where by reason of their abundance they led to the recognition of their special value as a means of classification. These designations will be employed without further definition or explanation, save in a few instances.
Commencing again with the fifth column of the table, the first point to notice is that no implements at all have been discovered in immediate association with the fossil remains at Mauer and Trinil (Java). Yet in the absence of evidence, it must not be concluded that the contemporary representatives of mankind were incapable of providing such testimony. Evidence will be adduced presently to show the incorrectness of such a conclusion.
In the next place, the great majority of the cave-men are associated with implements of one and the same type, viz. the Mousterian, so called from the locality (Le Moustier) which has furnished so complete an example of ancient prehistoric man.
Lastly, the Galley Hill skeleton maintains the distinctive position assigned to it, for as in the previous columns, it disagrees also here with the majority of the examples ranged near it.
If enquiry be made as to the significance,i.e.the sequence in point of time and the general status of the various types of implements mentioned in the table, it will be found that all without exception are described as of Palaeolithic type. Indeed they furnish largely the justification for the application of that term (employed so often in Chapter II) to the various skeletons described there.
To these Palaeolithic implements, others of the Neolithic types succeeded in Europe. [It is necessary to insist upon this succession as European, since palaeoliths are still in use among savage tribes, such as the aboriginal (Bush) natives of South Africa.] Confining attention to palaeoliths and their varieties, the discovery of a form alleged to fill the gap separating the most ancient Neolithic from the least ancient Palaeolithic types may be mentioned. The implements were obtained from the cave known as Le Mas d'Azil in the south of France.
In Germany, the researches of Professor Schmidt[28]in the caverns of Württemburg have revealed a series of strata distinguished not only in position and sequence but also by the successive types of stone implements related to the several horizons. Thesequence may be shewn most concisely if the deposits are compared in a tabular form as follows (Table I).
These caves give the information necessary for a correct appreciation of the position of all the cave-implements in Table A. Reverting to the latter, and having regard to the cave-men, both subdivisions of Division II (cf.Table A) appear, but no example or representative of the earliest form (designated by Division I). The fauna is entirely Pleistocene, if we except such a trifling claim to Pliocene antiquity as may be based upon the presence ofRhinoceros merckiiat Krapina.
The results of this enquiry shew therefore that genuine Mousterian implements are of Pleistocene age, that they were fabricated by human beings of a comparatively low type, who lived in caves and were by occupation hunters of deer and other large ungulate animals. So much has long been known, but the extraordinary distinctness of the evidence of superposition shewn in Professor Schmidt's work at Sirgenstein, furnishes the final proof of results arrived at in earlier days by the slow comparison of several sites representing single epochs. That work also helps to re-establish the Aurignacian horizon and period as distinctive.
TABLE I.
When attention is turned from the cave-finds to those in alluvial deposits, names more numerous but less familiar meet the view. As the animals have been shewn to differ, so the types of implementsprovide a marked contrast. Yet a transition is suggested by the claim made on behalf of Mousterian implements for the Taubach deposits, a claim which (it will be remembered) is absolutely rejected by some experts of high authority.
In pursuing the sequence of implements from the Mousterian back to still earlier types, cave-hunting will as a rule provide one step only, though this is of the greatest value. In a few caves, implements of the type made famous by discoveries in alluvial gravels at S. Acheul in France (and designated the Acheulean type) have been found in the deeper levels. Such a cave is that of La Ferrassie (cf. p.74); another is that of La Chapelle, in which (it will be remembered) the Acheulean implements underlay the human interment. Kent's Hole in Devonshire is even more remarkable. For the lowest strata in this cavern yielded implements of the earliest Chellean form, though this important fact is not commonly recognised. Such caves are of the greatest interest, for they provide direct evidence of the succession of types, within certain limits. But the indefatigable labours of M. Commont[29]of Amiens have finally welded the two series, viz. the cave-implements and the river-drift implements, into continuity, by demonstrating in the alluvial deposits of the river Somme, a succession of types, from the Mousterian backwards to much more primitive forms. These newly-published results have been appropriately supplemented bydiscoveries in the alluvial strata of the Danube. Combining these results from the river deposits, and for the sake of comparison, adding those from the caves at Ofnet and Sirgenstein, a tabulated statement (Table II) has been drawn up.
The two examples of human skeletons from alluvial deposits given in Table A are thus assigned to epochs distinguished by forms of implement more primitive than those found usually in caves; and moreover the more primitive implements are actually shewn to occur in deeper (i.e.more ancient) horizons where superposition has been observed. The greater antiquity of the two river-drift men (as contrasted with the cave-men) has been indicated already by the associated animals, and this evidence is now confirmed by the characters of the implements.
It may be remarked again that the details of stratigraphical succession have but recently received complete demonstration, mainly through the researches of Messrs Commont, Obermaier[30], and Bayer[30]. The importance of such results is extraordinarily far-reaching, since a means is provided hereby of correlating archaeological with geological evidence to an extent previously unattained.
(d) It will be noted that this advance has taken little or no account of actual human remains. For in the nature of things, implements will be preserved in river deposits, where skeletons would quickly disintegrate and vanish.
TABLE II.
[1]For the occurrence of Acheulean and Chellean implements in caves, v. page 98.
[2]Schmidt, 1909.
[3]Commont, 1908.
[4]Obermaier and Bayer, 1909.
The next subject of enquiry is therefore that of the antiquity of Man as indicated by the occurrence of his artefacts.
The succession of Palaeolithic implements has just been given and discussed, as far back as the period marked by the Chellean implements of the lower river gravels (not necessarily the lower terrace) of S. Acheul. For up to this point the testimony of human remains can be called in evidence. And as regards the associated animals, the Chellean implements (Taubach) have been shewn to accompany a group of animals suggestive of the Pliocene fauna which they followed.
But implements of the type of Chelles have been found with a more definitely ‘Pliocene’ form of elephant than those already mentioned. At S. Prest and at Tilloux in France, Chellean implements are associated withElephas meridionalis, a species destined to become extinct in very early Pleistocene times. Near the Jalón river in Aragon, similar implements accompany remains of an elephant described as a variety ofE. antiquusdistinctly approachingE. meridionalis.
In pursuing the evidence of human antiquity furnished by implements, a start may be made from the data corresponding to the Galley Hill skeleton in column 5 of Table A. Two divergent views are expressed here, since the alternatives “Acheulean” or “Strépyan” are offered in the table. In the former instance (Acheulean) a recent writer (Mr Hinton,1910) insists on the Pliocene affinities of the high-level terrace mammals. But as a paradox, he states that the high-level terrace deposits provide implements of the Acheulean type, whereas the Chellean type would be expected, since on the Continent implements associated with a fauna of Pliocene aspect, are of Chellean type. To follow Mr Hinton in his able discussion of this paradox is tempting, but not permissible here; it must suffice to state that the difficulty is reduced if Professor Rutot's[31]view be accepted. For the Strépyan form of implement (which M. Rutot recognises in this horizon) is older than the others mentioned and resembles the Chellean type. To appreciate this, the sequence which Professor Rutot claims to have established is here appended.
Several results of vast importance would follow, should the tabulated suggestions be accepted unreservedly in their entirety.
An inference of immediate interest is to the effect that if Professor Rutot's view be adopted, the high-level terrace of the Thames valley is not contrasted so strongly with continental deposits containing the same mammals, as Mr Hinton suggests. For Professor Rutot's Strépyan period is earlier thanthe Chellean. It may be questioned whether Mr Hinton is right in assigning only Acheulean implements to the high-terrace gravels. Indeed Mr E. T. Newton (1895) expressly records the occurrence at Galley Hill, of implements more primitive than those of Acheulean form, and ‘similar to those found by Mr B. Harrison on the high plateau near Ightham,’—i.e.the Mesvinian type of Professor Rutot. A final decision is perhaps unattainable at present. But on the whole, the balance of evidence seems to go against Mr Hinton; thoughper contrait will not escape notice that since 1903, Professor Rutot has ‘reduced’ the Galley Hill skeleton from the Mafflian to the Strépyan stage, and it is therefore possible that further reduction may follow.
Leaving these problems of the Galley Hill implements and the Strépyan period, the Mesvinian and Mafflian types are described by Professor Rutot as representatives of yet older and more primitive stages in the evolution of these objects. As remarked above (Chapter III), the Mauer jaw is referred by Professor Rutot to the Mafflian (implement) period of the early Pleistocene age, though the grounds for so definite a statement are uncertain.
More primitive, and less shapely therefore, than the Mafflian implements, are the forms designated ‘Reutelian.’ They are referred to the dawn of the Quaternary or Pleistocene period. But with thesethe initial stage of evolution seems to be reached. Such ‘eoliths,’ as they have been termed, are only to be distinguished by experts, and even these are by no means agreed in regarding them as products of human industry. If judgment on this vital point be suspended for the moment, it will be seen that Professor Rutot's scheme carries this evidence of human existence far back into the antiquity denoted by the lapse of the Pliocene and Miocene periods of geological chronology. But let it be remarked that when the names Kentian, Cantalian and Fagnian are employed, no claim is made or implied that three distinctive types of implement are distinguished, for in respect of form they are all Reutelian.