I. Tertiary man is only known to us from a few faint traces of his industry. Of tertiary man himself we know nothing. Portions of his skeleton have been discovered from time to time, it has been thought, in France, Switzerland, and especially in Italy. Closer study has, however, always forced us to refer to a comparatively much later period these human remains, which, at first sight, were regarded as tertiary.
It is different with quaternary man. We have much better and more precise information about him than about many existing races. The caves which he inhabited, those in which he buried his dead, and the alluvial deposits formed by rivers, which have borne away his corpses, have preserved numerous bones for our study. As many as forty different places in all, especially in the western portion of Europe, have supplied our museums with as many as forty skulls, more or less intact, and numerous fragments of the cranium and face, which science has been able to utilize, as well as a great number of the bones of the trunk and limbs, and even some entire skeletons. The most remarkable specimen, freed from the earth which covered it, but still left in its place, was brought from Mentone by M. Rivière and is now to be seen in the Anthropological Gallery of the Paris Museum.
Such is the accumulation of facts, already very considerable, which M. Hamy and I have consulted in arranging the first part of ourCrania-Ethnica. The importance of the skull in anthropology is well known. It is of itself sufficient to furnish the principal elements of the distinction of human races. The study and comparison of quaternary skulls enables us, therefore, to form a tolerably definite conception of these ancient populations, of the principal relations and most striking differences which, from this period, have distinguished human groups. The examination of the bones of the trunk and limbs tends, moreover, to confirm the results furnished by that of the skull. Thus we feel ourselves justified in expressing the hope that the future, by completing our work in many respects, by modifying it perhaps in others, and by filling up gaps in it, will at least confirm the essential conclusions.
It is evident that I here speak in M. Hamy’s name as well as my own. The truth is, that what I am about to say on the subject of fossil man is almost the summary, not only of our book, but of many other general studies and of many discussions. It belongs, in fact, as much to my coadjutor as to myself.
II. Let us, in the first place, briefly describe the climate in which the fossil human races lived.
The quaternary or glacial period imposed severe conditions of existence on man. What then existed of Europe was surrounded on all sides by the sea, and was subject to all the consequences of an insular climate, that is to say; it was very damp, and moderately uniform in temperature, but chilled, to a great extent at least, by the Polar ice which extended even into France. The heavy rains, frequent in all seasons, took the form of falls of snow upon the high lands, and supported vast glaciers, the traces of which may still be seen in all our mountain chains. Immense water-courses hollowed out valleys in some parts, and deposited thick beds of alluvium in others. This vexed and watery land supported a fauna comprising, besides existing species, others whichhave partly disappeared, partly emigrated to distant countries. Thus, on the one hand, there were the mammoth (elephas primigenius), the woolly rhinoceros (rhinoceros tichorhinus), the gigantic Irish elk (megaceros hibernicus), the cave bear (ursus spelæus), the cave hyæna (hyæna spelæa), the cave tiger (felis spelæa), the horse (equus caballus); on the other hand, the reindeer (cervus tarandus), the elk (cervus alces), the musk-ox (ovibos moschatus), the aurochs (bison europæus), the hippopotamus (hippopotamus amphibius), and the lion (felis leo spelæa).
All these animals lived side by side during the greater part of the quaternary period. They afterwards became by degrees either extinct or separated. At the commencement of the present period, France, in which at one time they were all to be found, only retains the horse; and we must admit further, with M. Toussaint, that our beasts of burden and draught, are descended from fossil species, an opinion which is far from universal amongst palæontologists. We may remark in passing, that the same uncertainty exists upon the subject of the spotted hyæna and the grizzly bear, regarded by some palæontologists asracesreferable to the cave species.
Man was, in Europe, the contemporary of all these species.
The phenomena which have given to these countries their latest characters, have not always had the same violence, nor have they either commenced or terminated abruptly. They offered periods of repose and of relative activity, till the time when the continents assumed their definite proportions, when the glaciers were first confined within their present limits.
The modifications of living beings accord with these oscillations of the inorganic world. The principal animal species seem to predominate in turn; the human races appear in succession, increase and decline.
During the deposition of thelower alluvium(bas niveaux) of our valleys, the mammoth, rhinoceros, and great carnivora, seem to have played the principal part. Man disputed theground with them, and fed upon their flesh. The struggle against the conditions of life, and the wild beasts of the ancient world was terrible. The race of these primitive times bears in a high degree the mark of this savage nature.
During the period in which themean inferior alluvium(moyens niveaux inférieurs) were formed, the great animal species still inhabited the whole of Europe. The number of their representatives seems, however, to be diminishing; less formidable species begin to multiply, and the horse, in particular, forms, at least in places, large herds, which offered an abundant source of nourishment to man. The latter was represented especially by a race endowed with remarkable aptitudes. At first, we find it struggling with as much vigour as the preceding one, and under almost identical conditions; but, by degrees, perfecting all its methods of action, and adapting them to the new conditions introduced by the advance of time.
A great modification in the fauna corresponds to the deposition of themean upper alluvium(moyens niveaux supérieurs). The great carnivora and the mammoth become more and more rare, till at length they disappear altogether; the horse no longer predominates; the reindeer has taken its place, and wanders in vast herds over lands which are gradually subsiding. Man has profited by these changes. New races, perfectly distinct from the preceding ones, appear upon our soil. That of the preceding age develops and attains a certain degree of civilization, attested by true works of art.
At length, the bottom of the ocean rises, and Europe is complete. The polar ice is confined within its present limits, and the insular climate gives place to a continental one, with its extremes of heat and cold. The glaciers of our mountains gradually contract, and withdraw to higher regions. The animal species, no longer finding in the same latitude the temperature suitable to them, emigrate, some to the south, others to the north, or to the higher mountains.
Man must necessarily have felt the consequence of thesechanges. When the animals which formed the basis of his nourishment disappeared, never to return, a part at least of the population must have followed, and emigrated at the same time. The rising societies were thus shaken to their very foundations, and whilst some tribes went off in opposite directions, those which remained behind, experienced a decline of which we may observe the traces in the works which they have bequeathed to us. They were but too easily absorbed by superior races, who brought domestic animals with them, and substituted the pastoral life for that of the hunter.
III. The man of the quaternary period has left here and there a few of his bones by the side of those animals who were his contemporaries. The human bones in question belong, however, almost exclusively to Europe. The fossil man of other parts of the world is almost unknown to us. Lund is said to have discovered it in certain caves in Brazil. But unfortunately we have no other details of this discovery than a short note and two drawings of small dimensions, published quite recently by MM. Lacerta and R. Peixoto. Much has been said about the skulldiscovered by Whitneyin California. Unfortunately, the description of this specimen has not appeared, so that doubts have, on several occasions, been expressed as to the existence of the fossil itself. The recent testimony of M. Pinart has removed them, but has, at the same time, created the most serious doubts as to the antiquity of this specimen, which seems to have been found in disturbed grounds.
The restriction of the discovery of human fossils to Europe is much to be regretted. We have no authority for regarding Europe as the starting point of the species, nor as the theatre of the formation of the primitive races. We should rather seek them in Asia. It was upon the slopes of the Himalaya, at the base of the great central mass, that Falconer hoped to find tertiary man. Assiduous and persevering search can alone verify the prophecies of the eminent palæontologist. This task might be performed by some of the learned officersof the English army, by some of the military surgeons sent out by the great institutions of London. Let us hope that they will set to work; that they will utilize for this end, the leisure they enjoy when on leave in somesanitariumof the Himalayas or Nilgheries. There is every reason to hope that they will enrich science with important and magnificent discoveries.
IV. A few general facts, the interest of which will at once be evident, may already be disentangled from details without leaving European soil. We will first establish the fact, that in quaternary ages, man did not present that uniformity of characters, which a recent origin would lead us to expect. Thespeciesis already composed of severalraces; these races appear successively or simultaneously; they live side by side; and perhaps, as M. Dupont has thought, thewar of racesmay be traced as far back as this period.
The presence of these clearly characterised human groups in the quaternary period, is enough to furnish a strong presumption in favour of the previous existence of man. The influence of very dissimilar and long-continued actions, can alone explain the differences which separate the man of the Vézère in France from that of the Lesse in Belgium.
V. In spite of some opinions which were brought forward at a time when science was less advanced, and when terms of comparison were wanting, we may assert that no fossil skull belongs to the African or Melanesian Negro type. The true Negro did not exist in Europe during the quaternary epoch.
We do not, however, conclude from this that the type must have come into existence later, and dates from the present geological period. Fresh research, especially in Asia, and in countries inhabited by black nations, can alone decide this point with certainty. Nevertheless, up to the present time, the results of observation have been but little favourable to the opinion of some anthropologists, who have regarded the Negro races as anterior to all others.
VI. In fossil, as well as in modern skulls, we find betweenraces and individuals oscillations of a more or less striking character. It is, however, an important fact that these oscillations are often of less extent in known fossil races than those observed in existing populations. I shall only quote one example. The cephalic index of the most ancient European race, taken from the Neanderthal man, in which the characters are exaggerated, is 72; that of the La Truchère skull, which belongs to the latter part of the quaternary period, is 84·32, a difference of 12·32. Now, at the present time, the mean cephalic index of the Esquimaux is 69·30, that of South Germans 86·20, a difference of 16·90. Thus, between the two extreme races separated by the greater part of the glacial period, the oscillation of the cephalic index is less than between two modern contemporary races. Moreover, the latter range between wider limits, both above and below the mean, than the two fossil races. This fact may perhaps be explained by several considerations, which I cannot enter into here.
I should, moreover, observe that the Lagoa Santa skull found by Lund, and which has just been described by MM. Lacerta and Peixoto, effaces in a great measure the differences which I have just pointed out. According to the Brazilian savants, its cephalic index is 69·72, descending almost as low as the mean index of the Esquimaux.
It is interesting to find that this smaller variability of fossil races is established in one of the very characters which has been the principal cause of the comparisons of some of our inferior existing races with apes. Among quaternary skulls there are some which may be considered as presenting the mean degree of orthognathism of the white races themselves. The Nagy-Sap skull, the No. 1 of the Trou du frontal, one of the women of Grenelle, etc., may be quoted as examples. Others, such as the No. 2 of the Trou du frontal, another woman of Grenelle, the old man of Cro-Magnon, several crania from Solutré, are more or less prognathous. There are some which equal, or even exceed, in this respect the mean of our Negro races. Nevertheless, there are nonewhich attain a degree of prognathism equal to that presented by certain examples of the inferior Australian types, or of the Kaffir race.
Another order of facts, which, without possessing the importance of the preceding, are still of real value, present similar results. I allude to the stature and to its variations. M. Hamy has determined it by the measurement of the femur and humerus. It appears from his investigations that the maximum presented by the Mentone skeleton is 1·85 m. (6·06 ft.), and the minimum, taken from one of the Furfooz skeletons, is 1·50 m. (4·92 ft.) The difference between these two numbers, 0·35 m. (1·14 ft.), is far smaller than that which exists between the extremes of the table given above.
The mean of the numbers found by M. Hamy, 1·764 m. (5·839 ft.), places the race of Cro-Magnon very near to the Patagonians of Musters; but the Furfooz race, with its mean of 1·530 m. (5·019 ft.), stands well above the Bosjesmans and Mincopies. It occupies almost the same position as the Lapps.
Oscillations have taken place in time as well as in space. The most ancient race is not the tallest. The skeletons of Neanderthal and Brux give a mean of only 1·705 m. (5·593 ft.). The race of Cro-Magnon, superior in height to all others, is chronologically intermediate between them.
The preceding generalizations rest, it is true, upon a number of observations as yet too limited to be regarded as conclusive. But they at least confute some assertions, and tend to dissipate more than one prejudice.
VII. Dolichocephalic or brachycephalic, large or small, orthognathous or prognathous, quaternary man is always man in the full acceptance of the word. Whenever the remains have been sufficient to enable us to form an opinion, we have found the foot and the hand which characterised our species, the vertebral column has displayed the double curvature to which Lawrence ascribes such great importance, and which was made by Serres the attribute of the human kingdom, as he understood it. The more we study the subject, the more are we convinced that every bone of theskeleton, from the most massive to the smallest, carries with it, in its form and proportions, a certificate of origin which it is impossible to mistake.
By reason of its special importance, the skull deserves consideration for a moment from this point of view.
We will first state that all the bones of the modern human skull are to be found in the fossil skull under the same forms, and presenting the same relations. Whether we consider them separately or as a whole, they cannot fail to awaken the recollection of what we see around us every day. Even the immense development of the superciliary ridges in the Neanderthal man cannot disguise the entirely human character of this exceptional skull, which I shall presently discuss more at length.
In all fossil races we find the essentially human character of the predominance of the cranium over the face. With them, as with us, the bony framework which contains the brain becomes longer, narrower, or shorter, at the same time increasing in size; it rises or is flattened, but always preserves a capacity comparable to that of the crania of the present day. In the Neanderthal cranium, which has been termed the mostbrutalknown, the cranial capacity, calculated by men who, we may be sure, did not wish to exaggerate, was as much as 1220 cubic centimetres (74·420 cub. in.). Even M. Schaaffhausen considers it as equal to that of the Malays, and superior to that of Hindoos of small stature. In the Brazilian skull from Lagoa Santa it is 1388 cubic centimetres (84·66 cub. in.).
We can, therefore, with perfect safety apply to the fossil man, with which we are acquainted, the words of Huxley: “Neither in quaternary ages nor at the present time does any intermediary being fill the gap which separates man from the Troglodyte. To deny the existence of this gap would be as reprehensible as absurd.”
The eminent naturalist who wrote this sentence did not the less seize every occasion which presented itself to point out, in the different human races, what are calledsimiantraitsandcharacters. Is there then in Huxley an unfortunate contradiction? Evidently not. It is in his case, as in that of all true naturalists, only an abuse of language, against which I have already protested. Belonging to the white race, which they naturally regard as the normal type, confining their attention to the very substantial anatomical similarities which exist between the man and the ape, they compare constantly and solely the white on the one hand, with the anthropoid ape on the other. They forget that theoscillations of morphological characters, the inevitable result of the formation of the human races, must necessarily sometimes increase and sometimes diminish, in however small a degree, the distance which separates the extreme terms; they allow themselves to employ these figurative expressions, and I should let them pass without comment were they not sometimes understood literally, either voluntarily or involuntarily. We know that the English naturalist has himself been obliged to protest strongly against the conclusions which have been drawn from his words or writings.
Huxley allows that the oscillations are never so great as to cause confusion. Thehuman character, therefore, does not alter in nature; it does not becomesimian. The oscillations to which I allude may sometimes be observed in the same individual and even in the same bone. In the old man of Cro-Magnon, of whom I shall presently speak at some length, the femur is the broadest and thickest that M. Broca has ever measured in man, and we have found others of still greater size. Now, in the chimpanzee this same bone is broader and much thinner. Are we therefore justified in saying that the femur of Les Eyzies is partlysimianand partlymore than human?
Finally, what has really been proved, is the conclusion of Huxley which I have just quoted. Believers inpithecoid manmust be content to seek him elsewhere than in the only fossil races with which we are acquainted, and to have recourse to the unknown. There may be some who willmurmur at this necessity, and protest in the name ofphilosophy. Let them say what they will, we are content with having experience and observation on our side.
VIII. If we consider the general formation of the skull, all fossil races may be referred to two fundamental types; the one distinctly dolichocephalic, and the other advancing by degrees from metacephaly to a very strongly marked brachycephaly.
Animated discussions were held some years ago to decide which of these two types preceded the other. This question again is connected with a number of general ideas which may be designated as themongoloid theory.
At the conclusion of some excavations among ancient tombs and a few dolmens, Serres announced in 1854 that the inhabitants of France reckoned Mongolians among their ancestors. Some time previous to this, some Scandinavian savants, among othersS. Nilsson, Retzius, Eschricht, etc., had connected with the Lapps, that is to say with the Finnish race, round-headed skeletons which had been discovered in the neolithic tombs and the peat-bogs of Scania. M. Pruner Bey, combining these earlier notions with the data recently acquired concerning the antiquity of man, has formulated by degrees a complete theory, remarkable for its simplicity and for the light which it throws upon the whole past history of the populations of France.
In the opinion of this eminent anthropologist, there still exists at the present time a vast human formation which he designatesmongoloid, because it appears to him to be connected in certain respects with the Mongol type, properly so called, whilst at the same time preserving a certain number of characters in which it resembles the white races. This great race, as it is understood by M. Pruner Bey, occupies the greater portion of the north of the old continent, and extends even into America. It is, moreover, represented in the centre and south of Europe by several more or less isolated groups, such as the Basques. Certain historical populations, such as the Ligurians, have belonged to it.There is every indication of its having once occupied the whole of Europe. Now, this race itself is descended from the primitive quaternary race, as it is known to us through the fossil skulls found by M. Dupont at Furfooz in the valley of the Lesse. The parentage and filiation of these races appear to M. Pruner Bey to be attested by the general form of the skull and by its proportions, which in all these races are more or less brachycephalic.
The opponents of these general views brought forward the existence of the crania found in the Neanderthal in Prussia, in the Engis cave in Belgium, in the tufa beds of La Denise in Auvergne, in the loess of the Rhine at Eguisheim in Alsace. All these heads are dolichocephalic. They were said to be more ancient than those of Furfooz. But at this time there were doubts of a different nature with regard to nearly all these bones which might have appeared legitimate, and the theory of M. Pruner Bey gained by this means many strong adherents. When writing in 1875 myRapport sur les progrès de l’Anthropologie, I felt obliged to ascribe anteriority to the brachycephalic type, though at the same time making formal reservations, especially in favour of the Eguisheim skull. The discovery at Cro-Magnon, in Périgord, which followed soon after, showed how carefully we must guard against drawing too hasty conclusions. It was evident, that, in presence of these great dolichocepliali, incontestably anterior to the men of the Lesse, the mongoloid theory must undergo serious modifications which I did not hesitate to acknowledge.
Since then science has been enriched by new discoveries, and many points have been cleared up. The old beds of the Seine, studied with remarkable intelligence by M. Belgrand, have furnished us with arelative chronometer, the indications of which have been fully appreciated by M. Hamy. The work presented by him at the Stockholm Congress leaves no room for doubt. Till the present time the dolichoceplialic type only has been found in thelowest gravelsof the plain of Grenelle. It is therefore represented by theCanstadt race. It reappears in the form of theCro-Magnon race, in thealluvial bedsat the level of and below the erratic blocks at a depth of from 3 to 4 m. (10 to 13 ft.). Skulls which approach more or less to the brachycephalic type are only found above this level at a depth of from 2·50 m. to 1·40 m. (8 ft. 2 in. to 4 ft. 7 in.).
The superposition, and consequently the succession of types, is here evident. Does this authorise us to consider the dolichocephalic type as having everywhere preceded the brachycephalic? We ought perhaps still to retain some doubts on this point. Some fragments, belonging probably to the latter, have been discovered at Clichy, very little above a cranial vault of the Canstadt race, and the beautiful skull from Nagy-Sap in Hungary was obtained from a well characterized loess, the age of which does not however appear to have been determined.
Perhaps, when fresh facts are forthcoming to dispel the latest doubts, we shall find that the two types appeared at almost the same time upon the lands which were one day to become Europe; but at present everything argues in favour of the anteriority of the dolichocephali. In America the only known fossil skull leads to the same conclusion.
However this may be, the mongoloid theory can no longer be accepted as absolute. The man of Cro-Magnon and that of Furfooz cannot be placed in the same group, and considered as belonging to the same race. The idea of M. Pruner Bey is, nevertheless, partly true; and the honour of having connected living with fossil populations cannot be denied to this eminent anthropologist. Still, what he has said of one race must be applied to the rest. The inhabitants of Western Europe are connected with the quaternary period, not by a single root, but by six at least, and perhaps more.
IX. A methodical distribution of the different races of a species is never an easy task. The difficulty is very strongly felt in the study of living human races; it is still greater in dealing with fossil races. Even if the materials were asabundant as they are rare, we no longer have the perfect individual, and cannot attempt to apply thenatural method; we are forced to be content with asystematic classification. This is what M. Hamy and I have been obliged to do; and without sharing the absolute opinions which were once advanced by Retzius, we took the general form of the skull as the starting point for our classification. In so doing wehave, moreover, onlyimitated palæontologists in their studies upon fossil animals.
We have already seen that considerations drawn from this method lead to a division of fossil man into two groups, the one dolichocephalic, and the other brachycephalic. The Lagoa Santa skull, which must from all appearance be the type of a distinct race, is evidently connected with the former. The accounts of this fossil are, however, at present so incomplete, that I cannot stop to consider it in such a rapid sketch as this.
In these two fundamental groups differences exist side by side with the common character. In the former these differences are very great and strongly marked; they are generally less so in the latter. Thus we have clearly distinguished the two dolichocephalic types, while we have placed in the same chapter, and as it were in a kind of family, part at least of the brachycephalic races.
Several objections may be raised against this nomenclature, of which we are well aware. We understood perfectly that the skull of La Truchère is as distinct from those of Furfooz as the Neanderthal skull is from that of Cro-Magnon. On the one hand, however, this skull is the extreme limit of a graduated series, from which it seemed to us difficult to detach it; on the other, this fossil, at the time when we were writing, was perfectly unique. Even at the present time it has only again been met with in the neolithic period. Thus, in giving it a place in our table, we did not wish to separate in an absolute manner an individual case.
As to the other types which we have placed in the same chapter, they form a true natural group, each at the sametime having its special characters, which by careful study we are able to recognise. The races may, therefore, be clearly defined. The Grenelle race, especially, will always be very distinct from the two Furfooz races. Nevertheless, we here no longer meet with decisive characters which strike us at the first glance, and the ethnical affinities are evidently closer. It will, perhaps, at some future time be possible to trace these three branches to the common source from which they have all sprung. In short, we must represent the present state of our knowledge without interfering with the rights of the future. Our nomenclature satisfies, we believe, this condition.
We admit then two dolichocephalic races, those of Canstadt and of Cro-Magnon. The more or less brachycephalic races are four in number. Under the title of Furfooz races we have included two races discovered in that famous locality. The Grenelle race and that of La Truchère also take their names from that of the localities where they were found.
Let us rapidly review all these races.