Crystallisation on wrought flintsFig. 8.—Dendritesor Crystallisations found on the surface of wrought Flints.
Fig. 8.—Dendritesor Crystallisations found on the surface of wrought Flints.
The ancient flints present a glassy surface which singularly contrasts with the dull appearance of the fresh cleavages. They are also for the most part covered with a whitish coating orpatina, which is nothing but a thin layer of carbonate of lime darkened in colour by the action of time. Lastly, many of these flints are ornamented with branching crystallisations, calleddendrites, which form on their surface very delicate designs of a dark brown; these are owing to the combined action of the oxides of iron and manganese (fig. 8).
We must add that these flint implements often assume the colour of the soil in which they have been buried for so many centuries; and as Mr. Prestwich, a learned English geologist, well remarks, thisagreement in colour indicates that they have remained a very considerable time in the stratum which contains them.
Among the stone implements of primitive ages, some are found in a state of perfect preservation, which clearly bears witness to their almost unused state; others, on the contrary, are worn, rounded, and blunted, sometimes because they have done good service in bygone days, and sometimes because they have been many times rolled over and rubbed by diluvial waters, the action of which has produced this result. Some, too, are met with which are broken, and nothing of them remains but mere vestiges. In a general way, they are completely covered with a very thick coating which it is necessary to break off before they can be laid open to view.
They are especially found under the soil in grottos and caves, on which we shall remark further in some detail, and they are almost always mixed up with the bones of extinct mammalian species.
Certain districts which are entirely devoid of caves contain, however, considerable deposits of these stone implements. We may mention in this category the alluvial quarternary beds of the valley of the Somme, known under the name of drift beds, which were workedby Boucher de Perthes with an equal amount of perseverance and success.
Gravel quarry at Saint-AcheulFig. 9.—Section of a Gravel Quarry at Saint-Acheul, which contained the wrought Flints found by Boucher de Perthes.
Fig. 9.—Section of a Gravel Quarry at Saint-Acheul, which contained the wrought Flints found by Boucher de Perthes.
This alluvium was composed of a gravelly deposit, which geologists refer to the great inundations which, during the epoch of the great bear and the mammoth, gave to Europe, by hollowing out its valleys, its present vertical outline. The excavations in the sand and gravel near Amiens and Abbeville, which were directed with so much intelligence by Boucher de Perthes, have been the means of exhuming thousands of worked flints, affording unquestionable testimony of the existence of man during the quaternary epoch.
All these worked flints may be classed under some of the principal types, from which their intended use may be approximately conjectured.
One of the types which is most extensively distributed, especially in the drift beds of the valley of the Somme, where scarcely any other kind is found, is thealmond-shapedtype (fig. 10).
Almond-shaped hatchetFig. 10.—Hatchet of theAlmond-shapedtype, from the Valley of the Somme
Fig. 10.—Hatchet of theAlmond-shapedtype, from the Valley of the Somme
The instruments of this kind are hatchets of an oval shape, more or less elongated, generally flattened on both sides, but sometimes only on one, carefully chipped all over their surface so as to present a cutting edge. The workmen of the Somme give them the graphic name ofcats' tongues.
They vary much in size, but are generally about six inches long by three wide, although some are met with which are much larger. The Pre-historic Gallery in the Universal Exposition of 1867, contained one found at Saint-Acheul, and exhibited by M. Robert, whichmeasured eleven inches in length by five in width. This remarkable specimen is represented in fig. 11.
Almond-shaped flint hatchetFig. 11.—Flint Hatchet from Saint-Acheul of the so-calledAlmond-shaped type.
Fig. 11.—Flint Hatchet from Saint-Acheul of the so-calledAlmond-shaped type.
Another very characteristic form is that which is called theMoustier type(fig. 12), because they have been found in abundance inthe beds in the locality of Moustier, which forms a portion of the department of Dordogne. This name is applied to the pointed flints which are only wrought on one side, the other face being completely plain.
Wrought flintFig. 12.—Wrought Flint (Moustier type).
Fig. 12.—Wrought Flint (Moustier type).
To the same deposit also belongs the flintscraper, the sharp edge of which forms the arc of a circle, the opposite side being of some considerable thickness so as to afford a grasp to the hand of the operator.
Flint ScraperFig. 13.—Flint Scraper.
Fig. 13.—Flint Scraper.
Some of these instruments (fig. 13) are finely toothed all along their sharp edge; they were evidently used for the same purposes as our saws.
Flint KnifeFig. 14.—Flint Knife, found at Menchecourt, near Abbeville.
Fig. 14.—Flint Knife, found at Menchecourt, near Abbeville.
The third type (fig. 14) is that ofknives. They are thin and narrow tongue-shaped flakes, cleft off from the lump of flint at one blow. When one of the ends is chipped to a point, these knivesbecome scratchers. Sometimes these flints are found to be wrought so as to do service as augers.
The question is often asked, how these primitive men were able to manufacture their weapons, implements, and utensils, on uniform models, without the help of metallic hammers. This idea has, indeed, been brought forward as an argument against those who contend for the existence of quaternary man. Mr. Evans, an English geologist, replied most successfully to this objection by a very simple experiment. He took a pebble and fixed it in a wooden handle; having thus manufactured a stone hammer, he made use of it to chip a flint little by little, until he had succeeded in producing an oval hatchet similar to the ancient one which he had before him.
The flint-workers who, up to the middle of the present century, prepared gun-flints for the army, were in the habit of splitting the stone into splinters. But they made use of steel hammers to cleave the flint, whilst primitive man had nothing better at his disposal than another and rather harder stone.
Primitive man must have gone to work in somewhat the following way: They first selected flints, which they brought to the shape of those cores ornucleiwhich are found in many places in company with finished implements; then, by means of another and harder stone of elongated shape, they cleft flakes off the flint. These flakes were used for making knives, scratchers, spear or arrow-heads,hatchets, tomahawks, scrapers, &c. Some amount of skill must have been required to obtain the particular shape that was required; but constant practice in this work exclusively must have rendered this task comparatively easy.
Flint CoreFig. 15.—Flint Core or Nucleus.
Fig. 15.—Flint Core or Nucleus.
How, in the next place, were these clipped flints fitted with handles, so as to make hatchets, poniards and knives?
Some of them were fixed at right angles between the two split ends of a stick: this kind of weapon must have somewhat resembled our present hatchets. Others, of an oval shape and circular edge, might have been fastened transversely into a handle, so as to imitate a carpenter's adze. In case of need, merely a forked branch or a piece of split wood might serve as sheath or handle to the flint blade. Flints might also have been fixed as double-edged blades by means of holes cut in pieces of wood, to which a handle was afterwards added.
These flint flakes might, lastly, be fitted into a handle at one end. The wide-backed knives, which were only sharp on one side, afforded a grasp for the hand without further trouble, and might dispense with a handle. The small flints might also be darted as projectiles by the help of a branch of a tree forming a kind of spring, such as we may see used as a toy by children.
The mere description of these stone hatchets, fitted on to pieces of wood, recall to our mind the natural weapons used by some of the American savages, and the tribes which still exist in a state of freedom in the Isles of Oceania. We allude to the tomahawk, a name which we so often meet with in the accounts of voyages round the world. Among those savage nations who have not as yet bent their necks beneath the yoke of civilisation, we might expect to find—and, in fact, we do find—the weapons and utensils which were peculiar to man in primitive ages. A knowledge of the manners and customs of the present Australian aborigines has much conduced to the success of the endeavours to reconstruct a similar system of manners and customs in respect to man of the quaternary age.
It was with the weapons and implements that we have just described that man, at the epoch of the great bear and mammoth, was able to repulse the attacks of the ferocious animals which prowled round his retreat and often assailed him (fig. 16).
Great Bear and mammoth epochFig. 16.—Man in the Great Bear and Mammoth Epoch.
Fig. 16.—Man in the Great Bear and Mammoth Epoch.
But the whole life of primitive man was not summed up in defending himself against ferocious beasts, and in attacking them in thechase. Beyond the needs which were imposed upon him by conflict and hunting, he felt, besides, the constant necessity of quenching his thirst. Water is a thing in constant use by man, whether he be civilised or savage. The fluid nature of water renders it difficult to convey it except by enclosing it in bladders, leathern bottles, hollowed-out stumps of trees, plaited bowls, &c. Receptacles of this kind were certain ultimately to become dirty and unfit for the preservation of water; added to this they could not endure the action of fire. It was certainly possible to hollow out stone, so as to serve as a receptacle for water; but any kind of stone which was soft enough to be scooped out, and would retain its tenacity after this operation, is very rarely met with. Shells, too, might be used to hold a liquid; but then shells are not to be found in every place. It was, therefore, necessary to resolve the problem—how far it might be possible to make vessels which would be strong, capable of holding water, and able to stand the heat of the fire without breaking or warping. What was required was, in fact, the manufacture of pottery.
The potter's art may, perhaps, be traced back to the most remote epochs of man. We have already seen, in the introduction to this work, that, in 1835, M. Joly found in the cave of Nabrigas (Lozère), a skull of the great bear pierced with a stone arrow-head, and that by the side of this skull were also discovered fragments of pottery, on which might still be seen the imprint of the fingers which moulded it. Thus, the potter's art may have already been exercised in the earliest period which we can assign to the development of mankind.
Other causes also might lead us to believe that man, at a very early period of his existence, succeeded in the manufacture of rough pottery.
The clay which is used in making all kinds of pottery, from the very lowest kitchen utensil up to the most precious specimens of porcelain, may be said to exist almost everywhere. By softening it and kneading it with water, it may be moulded into vessels of all shapes. By mere exposure to the heat of the sun, these vessels will assume a certain amount of cohesion; for, as tradition tells us, the towers and palaces of ancient Nineveh were built entirely with bricks which had been baked in the sun.
Yet the idea of hardening any clayey paste by means of the action of fire is so very simple, that we are not of opinion that pottery which had merely been baked in the sun was ever made use of to any greatextent, even among primitive man. Mere chance, or the most casual observation, might have taught our earliest forefathers that a morsel of clay placed near a fire-hearth became hardened and altogether impenetrable to water, that is, that it formed a perfect specimen of pottery. Yet the art, though ancient, has not been universally found among mankind.
Ere long, experience must have taught men certain improvements in the manufacture of pottery. Sand was added to the clay, so as to render it less subject to "flying" on its first meeting the heat of the fire; next, dried straw was mixed with the clay in order to give it more coherence.
In this way those rough vessels were produced, which were, of course, moulded with the hand, and still bear the imprints of the workman's fingers. They were only half-baked, on account of the slight intensity of heat in the furnace which they were then obliged to make use of, which was nothing more than a wood fire, burning in the open air, on a stone hearth.
From these data we give a representation (fig. 17) of theworkshop of the earliest potter.
First potterFig. 17.—The First Potter.
In the gravel pits in the neighbourhood of Amiens we meet with small globular bodies with a hole through the middle, which are, indeed, nothing but fossil shells found in the white chalk (fig. 18). It is probable that these stony beads were used to adorn the men contemporary with the diluvial period. The natural holes which existed in them enabled them to be threaded as bracelets or necklaces. This, at least, was the opinion of Dr. Rigollot; and it was founded on the fact that he had often found small heaps of these delicate little balls collected together in the same spot, as if an inundation had drifted them into the bed of the river without breaking the bond which held them together.
Fossil shells used as ornamentsFig. 18.—Fossil Shells used as Ornaments, and found in the Gravel at Amiens.
The necklaces, which men and women had already begun to wear during the epoch of the great bear and the mammoth, were the firstoutbreak of the sentiment of adornment, a feeling so natural to the human species. The way in which these necklaces were put together is, however, exactly similar to that which we meet with during the present day among savage tribes—a thread on which a few shells were strung, which was passed round the neck.
It has been supposed, from another series of wrought flints, found at Saint-Acheul by Boucher de Perthes, that the men of the epoch of the great bear and mammoth may have executed certain rough sketches of art-workmanship, representing either figures or symbols. Boucher de Perthes has, in fact, found flints which he considered to show representations, with varying degrees of resemblance, of the human head, in profile, three-quarter view, and full face; also of animals, such as the rhinoceros and the mammoth.
There are many other flints, evidently wrought by the hand of man, which were found by Boucher de Perthes in the same quaternary deposits; but it would be a difficult matter to decide their intention or significance. Some, perhaps, were religious symbols, emblems of authority, &c. The features which enable us to recognise the work of man in these works of antediluvian art, are the symmetry of shape and the repetition of successive strokes by which the projecting portions are removed, the cutting edges sharpened, or the holes bored out.
The natural colour of all the wrought flints we have just been considering, which bring under our notice the weapons and utensils of man in the earliest epoch of his existence, is a grey which assumes every tint, from the brightest to the darkest; but, generally speaking, they are stained and coloured according to the nature of the soil from which they are dug out. Argillaceous soils colour them white; ochreous gravels give them a yellowish brown hue. Some are white on one side and brown on the other, probably from having lain between two different beds.
Thispatina(to use the established term) is the proof of their long-continued repose in the beds, and is, so to speak, the stamp of their antiquity.
[Pg 56]
The Man of the Great Bear and Mammoth Epoch lived in Caverns—Bone Caverns in the Quaternary Rock during the Great Bear and Mammoth Epoch—Mode of Formation of these Caverns—Their Division into several Classes—Implements of Flint, Bone, and Reindeer-horn found in these Caverns—The Burial-place at Aurignac—Its probable Age—Customs which it reveals—Funeral Banquets during the Great Bear and Mammoth Epoch.
Havinggiven a description of the weapons and working implements of the men belonging to the great bear and mammoth epoch, we must now proceed to speak of the habitations.
Caverns hollowed out in the depth of the rocks formed the first dwellings of man. We must, therefore, devote some degree of attention to the simple and wild retreats of our forefathers. As the objects which have been found in these caverns are both numerous and varied in their character, they not only throw a vivid light on the manners and customs of primitive man, but also decisively prove the fact of his being contemporary with mammals of species now extinct, such as the mammoth, the great bear, and theRhinoceros tichorhinus.
But before proceeding any further, it is necessary to inquire in what way these caverns could have been formed, in which we find accumulated so many relics of the existence of primitive man.
M. Desnoyers, Librarian of the Museum of Natural History at Paris, is of opinion that these caverns are crevices of the same class as metalliferouslodes, only instead of containing metallic ores they must have been originally filled by the deposits of certain thermal springs.
Vein of clayFig. 19.—Theoretical Section of a Vein of Clay in the Carboniferous Limestone,beforethe hollowing out of Valleys by diluvial Waters.
Fig. 19 represents, according to M. Desnoyers' treatise oncaverns, one of these primordial veins in the carboniferous limestone. At the time of the diluvial inundation, these veins were opened by the impetuous action of the water. When thus cleared out and brought to the light of day, they assumed the aspect of caves, as represented in fig. 20.
Vein to cavernFig. 20.—Theoretical section of the same Vein of Clay converted into a Cavern,afterthe hollowing out of Valleys by diluvial Waters.
Fig. 20.—Theoretical section of the same Vein of Clay converted into a Cavern,afterthe hollowing out of Valleys by diluvial Waters.
The European diluvial inundation was, as we know, posterior to the glacial epoch.
It is also likely that caverns were sometimes produced by the falling in of portions of some of the interior strata, or that they were formerly the natural and subterranean channels of certain watercourses; many instances of this kind being now known in different countries.
We must also add that it is not probable that all caverns originated in the same way; but that one or other of the several causes just enumerated must have contributed to their formation.
Under the general denomination ofcaverns, all kinds of subterranean cavities are comprehended; but it will be as well to introduceseveral distinctions in this respect. There are, in the first place, simple clefts or crevices, which are only narrow pits deviating but slightly from the vertical. Next we have grottos (orbaumesas they are called in the south of France), which generally have a widely opening inlet, and are but of small extent. Lastly, we must draw a distinction between these and the real bone caverns, which consist of a series of chambers, separated by extremely narrow passages, and are often of very considerable dimensions. Some of these caverns occupy an extent of several leagues underground, with variations of level which render their exploration very difficult. They are generally very inaccessible, and it is almost always necessary to ply the pick-axe in order to clear a way from one chamber to another.
In most of these grottos and caverns the ground and sides are covered with calcareous deposits, known by the name ofstalactiteandstalagmite, which sometimes meet one another, forming columns and pillars which confer on some of these subterranean halls an elegance replete with a kind of mysterious charm.
These deposits are caused by the infiltrated water charged with carbonate of lime, which, oozing drop by drop through the interstices of the rock, slowly discharge the carbonic acid which held the carbonate of lime in solution, and the salts gradually precipitating form the crystalline or amorphous deposits which constitute these natural columns.
The calcareous deposits which spread over the ground of the caverns are calledstalagmite, and the name ofstalactiteis given to those which hang down from the roof, forming pendants, natural decorations, and ornaments as of alabaster or marble, producing sometimes the most magnificent effects.
Under the stalagmite the largest number of animal bones have been found. This crust, which has been to them a preservatory grave, is so thick and hard that a pick-axe is required in order to break it. Thanks to the protecting cover, the bones have been sheltered from all the various causes of decomposition and destruction. The limestone formed a kind of cement which, uniting clay, mud, sand, flints, bones of men and animals, weapons and utensils into a compact mass, has preserved them for the study and consideration of scientific men in our own days.
The soil calledbone-earthis, in fact, found under the crystalline bed which covers the ground of the caverns.
Fig. 21, which represents a section of the cave of Galeinreuth, in Bavaria, will enable us clearly to understand the position occupied by the bones in most of these caverns.
Cave of GaleinreuthFig. 21.—The Cave of Galeinreuth, in Bavaria.
Fig. 21.—The Cave of Galeinreuth, in Bavaria.
Bone-earth consists of a reddish or yellowish clay, often mixed with pebbles, which seem to have come from some distant beds, for they cannot be attributed to the adjacent rocks. This stratum varies considerably in depth; in some spots it is very thin, in others it rises almost to the top of the cavern, to a height of forty or fifty feet. But in this case it is, in reality, composed of several strata belonging to different ages, and explorers ought to note with much attention the exact depth of any of the organic remains found in their mass.
There are, however, in several bone-caverns certain peculiarities which demand a special explanation. Caves often contain large heaps of bones, situated at heights which it would have been absolutely inaccessible to the animals which lived in these places. How, then, was it possible that these bones could have found their way to such an elevated position? It is also a very strange fact, that no cavern hasever produced an entire skeleton or even a whole limb of the skeleton of a man, and scarcely of any animal whatever. The bones, in fact, not only lie in confusion and utter disorder, but, up to the present time, it has been impossible to find all the bones which in times past formed an individual. It must, therefore, be admitted, that the accumulation of bones and human remains in most of the caves are owing to other causes than the residence of man and wild animals in these dark retreats.
It is supposed, therefore, that the bones in question were deposited in these hollows by the rushing in of the currents of diluvial water, which had drifted them along in their course. A fact which renders this hypothesis likely is that drift-pebbles are constantly found in close proximity to these bones. Now these pebbles come from localities at considerable distances from the cavern; often, indeed, terrestrial and fluviatile shells accompany these bones. It may sometimes be remarked that the femurs and tibias of large mammals have their points rubbed off, and the smallest bones are reduced to rounded fragments. These are all evident indications that these bones had been carried along by rapid currents of water, which swept away everything in their course; or, in other words, by the current of the waters of the deluge which signalised the quaternary epoch.
During this period of the existence of primitive man, all these caverns were not applied to the same purpose. Some were the dens of wild beasts, others formed the habitations of man, and others again were used as burial-places.
There is no difficulty in the idea that dens of wild beasts might very readily be occupied by man, after he had killed or driven out the fierce inhabitants; no discovery, however, has as yet confirmed this supposition. It can hardly be doubted that primitive man seldom dared to take up his abode in dens which had been, for some time, the refuge of any of the formidable carnivora; if he did, it was only after having assured himself that these retreats had been altogether abandoned by their terrible inhabitants.
We shall now proceed to consider these three classes of caverns.
Caves which, during the quaternary epoch, have served as dens for wild animals, are very numerous. Experiencedsavantsare enabled to recognise them by various indications. The bones they contain are never fractured; but it may be seen that they have been gnawed bycarnivorous animals, as they still bear the marks of their teeth. Into these retreats the cave-lion (Felis spelæa) and the hyæna (Hyæna spelæa) were accustomed to drag their prey, in order there to tear it to pieces and devour it, or divide it into portions for their young ones. In fact, in these caverns, excrements of the hyæna mixed with small and undigested bones are often found. The cave bear retired into the same retreats, but he probably only came there to pass the period of his hibernal sleep. Lastly, the same dens no doubt offered a refuge to sick or dying animals, who resorted thither in order to expire in peace. We have a proof of this in the traces of wounds and caries on some of the bones of animals found by Schmerling in the caverns of the Meuse; also in the skull of a hyæna, the median ridge of which had been bitten and appeared to be half healed.
Those caverns which formed a shelter for primitive man are, like the preceding ones, to be recognised by a mere inspection of the bones contained in them. The long bones of the ox, horse, stag, rhinoceros, and other quadrupeds which formed the food of man during the quaternary epoch, are always split; and they are all broken in the same way, that is, lengthwise. The only cause for their having been split in this manner must have been the desire of extracting the marrow for the purpose of eating. Such a mode of breaking them would never have been practised by any animal.
This apparently trivial circumstance is, however, of the highest importance. In fact, it leads to the following conclusion: "That man, having eaten large mammals of species now extinct, must have been contemporary with these species."
We shall now proceed to examine the caverns which were used as burial-places for man.
To M. Édouard Lartet, the celebrated palæontologist, the honour must be ascribed of having been the first to collect any important data bearing on the fact that caverns were used for burial-places by the primitive man of the great bear and mammoth epoch. We have thus been led to discover the traces of a funeral custom belonging to the man of these remote ages; we allude to thefuneral banquet. The source of this information was the discovery of a pre-historic burial-place at Aurignac (Haute-Garonne), of which we have given an account in the Introduction to this work, which, however, we must again here refer to.
Near the town of Aurignac rises the hill of Fajoles, which the inhabitants of the country, in theirpatois, call "mountagno de las Hajoles" (beech-tree mountain), a circumstance showing that it was formerly covered with beech-trees. As we have already stated, in the Introduction to this work, it was on one of the slopes of this hill that, in the year 1842, an excavator, named Bonnemaison, discovered a great slab of limestone placed in a vertical position and closing up an arched opening. In the cave closed up by this slab the excavator discovered the remains of seventeen human skeletons!
We have already told how these skeletons were removed to the village cemetery, and thus, unfortunately, for ever lost to the researches of science.
Eighteen years after, in 1860, M. Lartet, having heard of the event, repaired to the spot, accompanied by Bonnemaison; he quite understood how it had happened that, during a long course of centuries, the cave had escaped the notice of the inhabitants of the country. The entrance to it was concealed by masses of earth which, having been brought down from the top of the hill by the action of the water, had accumulated in front of the entrance, hiding a flat terrace, on which many vestiges of pre-historic times were found. As no disturbance of the ground had taken place in this spot subsequent to the date of the burial, thistalushad been sufficient to protect the traces of the men who were contemporary with the mammoth, and to shield their relics from all exterior injury.
Sepulchral Cave at AurignacFig. 22.—Section of the Sepulchral Cave at Aurignac.
Fig. 22.—Section of the Sepulchral Cave at Aurignac.
Fig. 22, taken from M. Lartet's article, represents a vertical section of the sepulchral cave at Aurignac.
After a rapid inspection of the cave and its surroundings, M. Lartet resolved to make complete and methodical excavations, aided by intelligent workmen labouring under his superintendence; the following are the results he obtained.
A bed of "made ground" two feet thick covered the ground of the cave. In this were found some human remains which had escaped the first investigations; also bones of mammals in good preservation, and exhibiting no fractures or teeth-marks, wrought flints, mostly of theknifetype (fig. 23), and carved reindeer horns, among which there was an instrument carefully tapered off and rounded, but deprived of its point (fig. 24), the other end being bevelled off, probably to receive a handle.
Flint knife AurillacFig. 23.—Flint Knife found in the Sepulchral Cave at Aurignac.
Fig. 23.—Flint Knife found in the Sepulchral Cave at Aurignac.
Reindeer or stag's horn implementFig. 24.—Implement made of Reindeer's or Stag's Horn, found in the Sepulchral Cave at Aurignac.
Fig. 24.—Implement made of Reindeer's or Stag's Horn, found in the Sepulchral Cave at Aurignac.
We must here add, that at the time of his discovery Bonnemaison collected, from the midst of the bones, eighteen small discs which were pierced in the centre, and doubtless intended to be strung together in a necklace or bracelet. These discs, which were formed of a white compact substance were recognised as sea-shells of aCardiumspecies.
Perforated discsFig. 25.—Series of perforated Discs of theCardiumShell found in the Sepulchral Cave at Aurignac.
Fig. 25.—Series of perforated Discs of theCardiumShell found in the Sepulchral Cave at Aurignac.
The cavern of Aurignac was a burial-place of the quaternary epoch, for M. Lartet found in it a quantity of the bones of the cave-bear, the bison, the reindeer, the horse, &c.
In fig. 26, we give a representation of a fragment of the lower jaw of a great bear as an example of the state of the bones found in this cavern.
Lower jaw fragmentFig. 26.—Fragment of the Lower Jaw of a Cave-Bear, found in the Sepulchral Cave at Aurignac.
Fig. 26.—Fragment of the Lower Jaw of a Cave-Bear, found in the Sepulchral Cave at Aurignac.
The perfect state of preservation of these bones shows that they were neither broken to furnish food for man nor torn by carnivorous animals, particularly by hyænas, as is seen in a great many caverns. We must therefore conclude from this peculiarity, that the stone which closed the entrance to the cave was moved away for every interment and carefully put back into its place immediately afterwards.
In order to explain the presence of so many foreign objects by the side of the human skeletons—such as animals' bones—implements of flint and reindeers' horn—necklaces or bracelets—we must admit as probable that a funeral custom existed among the men of the great bear and mammoth epoch, which has been preserved in subsequent ages. They used to place in the tomb, close to the body, the weapons, hunting trophies, and ornaments of all sorts, belonging to the defunct. This custom still exists among many tribes in a more or less savage state.
In front of the cave, there was, as we have already said, a kind of flat spot which had afterwards become covered with earth which had fallen down from the top of the hill. When the earth which covered this flat spot was cleared away, they met with another deposit containing bones. This deposit was situated on a prolongation of the ground on which the skeletons were placed in the interior of the cavern. Under this deposit, was a bed of ashes and charcoal, 5 to 7 inches thick. This was, therefore, the site of an ancient fire-hearth.
In other words, in front of the sepulchral cave there was a kind of terrace upon which, after the interment of the body in the cavern, a feast called thefuneral banquetwas held.
Bison upper molarFig. 27.—Upper Molar of a Bison, found in the Ashes of the Fire-hearth of the Sepulchral Cave at Aurignac.
Fig. 27.—Upper Molar of a Bison, found in the Ashes of the Fire-hearth of the Sepulchral Cave at Aurignac.
In this bed, situated in front of the cavern an immense number of the most interesting relics were discovered—a large number of the teeth and broken bones of herbivorous animals (fig. 27); a hundredflint knives; two chipped flints, which archæologists believe to be sling projectiles; a rounded pebble with a depression in the middle, which, according to Mr. Steinhauer, keeper of the Ethnographical Museum at Copenhagen, was used to flake off flint-knives; lastly, a large quantity of implements made of reindeers' horn, which exhibit the most varied shapes. We may mention, for instance, the arrow-heads fashioned very simply, without wings or barbs (fig. 28); some of these heads appear to have been subjected to the action of fire, as if they had been left in the body of the animal during the process of cooking; a bodkin made of roebuck's horn (fig. 29) very carefully pointed, and in such a good state of preservation that it might still be used, says M. Lartet, to perforate the skins of animals before sewing them; and this must, in fact, have been its use; a second instrument, similar to the preceding, but less finely pointed, which M. Lartet is inclined to consider as an instrument for tatooing; some thin blades of various sizes, which, according to Steinhauer, much resemble the reindeer-horn polishers still used by the Laplanders to flatten down the seams oftheir coarse skin-garments; another blade, accidentally broken at both ends, one of the sides of which is perfectly polished and shows two series of transversal lines at equal distances apart; the lateral edges of this blade are marked with deeper notches at almost regular intervals (fig. 30). M. Lartet considers that these lines and notches are signs of numeration, and Mr. Steinhauer has propounded the idea that they are hunting-marks. Both hypotheses are possible, and the more so as they do not contradict each other.
Arrow-head made of reindeer hornFig. 28.—Arrow-head made of Reindeer's Horn, found in the Sepulchral Cave of Aurignac.
Fig. 28.—Arrow-head made of Reindeer's Horn, found in the Sepulchral Cave of Aurignac.
BodkinFig. 29.—Bodkin made of Roebuck's Horn, found in the Sepulchral Cave of Aurignac.
Fig. 29.—Bodkin made of Roebuck's Horn, found in the Sepulchral Cave of Aurignac.
Truncated bladeFig. 30.—Truncated Blade in Reindeer's Horn, bearing two Series of transversal Lines and Notches, probably used for numeration.
Fig. 30.—Truncated Blade in Reindeer's Horn, bearing two Series of transversal Lines and Notches, probably used for numeration.
Among the bones, some were partly carbonised, others, only scorched, but the greater number had not been subjected at all to the action of fire. All the bones having medullary hollows, and commonly called marrow-bones, were broken lengthwise, a certain indication that this operation had been effected to extract the marrow, and that these bones had been used at a feast carried on according to the manners and customs of that epoch, when the marrow out of animal bones was regarded as the most delicious viand—many men of our own days being also of this opinion.
A certain number of these bones exhibited shallow cuts, showing that a sharp instrument had been used to detach the flesh from them. Nearly all those which had not been subjected to the action of fire bore the mark of the teeth of some carnivorous animal. This animal, doubtless, came to gnaw them after man had taken his departure from the spot. This carnivorous animal could have been none other than the hyæna, as is shown by the excrements left in the place.
The ossiferous mound situated immediately above the fire-hearth contained, like the subjacent ashes, a large number of the bones of certain herbivorous animals.
The discovery of the fire-hearth situated in front of the cave of Aurignac, and the various remains which were found intermingled underneath it, enable us to form some idea of the way in which funeral ceremonies took place among the men of the great bear epoch. The parents and friends of the defunct accompanied him to his last resting-place; after which, they assembled together to partake of a feast in front of the tomb soon to be closed on his remains. Then everyone took his departure, leaving the scene of their banquet free to the hyænas, which came to devour the remains of the meal.
This custom of funeral-feasts is, doubtless, very natural, as it has been handed down to our days; though it now chiefly exists among the poorer classes.
In accordance with the preceding data we here represent (fig. 31) afuneral feast during the great bear and mammoth epoch.
FeastFig. 31.—Funeral Feast during the Great Bear and Mammoth Epoch.
Fig. 31.—Funeral Feast during the Great Bear and Mammoth Epoch.
On a flat space situated in front of the cave destined to receive the body of the defunct, some men covered merely with bears' skins with the hair on them are seated round a fire, taking their part in the funeral-feast. The flesh of the great bear and mammoth forms themenuof these primitive love-feasts. In the distance may be seen the colossal form of the mammoth, which forms the chief dish of the banquet. The manner of eating is that which distinguishes the men of that epoch; they suck the marrow from the long bones which have previously been split lengthwise, and eat the flesh of the animals cooked on the hearth. The dead body is left at the entrance of the cavern; the primitive grave-stone will soon close on it for ever.
The relics found in the interior of the sepulchral cave of Aurignac have led to a very remarkable inference, which shows how interesting and fertile are the studies which have been made by naturalists on the subject of the antiquity of man. The weapons, the trophies, the ornaments, and the joints of meat, placed by the side of the defunct—does not all this seem to establish the fact that a belief in a future life existed at an extraordinarily remote epoch? What could have been the use of these provisions for travelling, and these instruments of war, if the man who had disappeared from this world was not to live again in another? The great and supreme truth—that the wholebeing of man does not die with his material body is, therefore, innate in the human heart; since it is met with in the most remote ages, and even existed in the mental consciousness of the man of the stone age.
An instinct of art also appears to have manifested itself in the human race at this extremely ancient date. Thus, one of the articles picked up in the sepulchral cave of Aurignac consisted of a canine tooth of a young cave-bear, perforated so as to allow of its being suspended in some way or other. Now this tooth is so carved that no one can help recognising in it a rough outline of some animal shape, the precise nature of which is difficult to determine, although it may, perhaps, be the head of a bird. It was, doubtless, an amulet or jewel belonging to one of the men interred in the cave, and was buried with him because he probably attached a great value to it. This object, therefore, shows us that some instincts of art existed in the men who hunted the great bear and mammoth.