i 
 
 I 
 
 w 
 
 r 
 
 mniiWj 
 
 k 
 
 !iwpwiw i » w»m i w I I iw < >i>' i ii<i «i i m 
 
 mj ^iJ B wMHaiww 
 
 MuMnnMmBii pwwRHMIBt mpwaiMmaim 
 
 -■ *» Um»l« I M WMIW»l>WI»W»l<!IW»)ll|»>lll l'.WI > lLW >l W ' *« 
 
 THE 
 
 ^^5»fo|, 
 
 SCIENTIFIC SERIES! 
 
 ^^^•c 
 
 
 
 niif'iiiiTiiinmii 
 
 i i i[i ii a i rii i < i ii <iai<iiijBi>«itii ^i iiii i» i"iii fHi ri ^' *« ' i « » « »i u i . i 
 
 -•Mtimll^Md^^^SIMM^^^I**" 
 
 AHeMMMWEUiW 
 
 v''**»v.'^«*<.,;**c^^ 
 
 '--^S**"-- 
 
 I MI II 1 l >l lll l l«lliy«iaM 1 il lWlWl l llMMt iiiM i<ni«iWt» ) >»tf» MWiW a jMli a . ^ ^^ 
 
 'aiia** 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis bool< is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031174661 
 
arV1871 
 
 Man before metals. 
 
 Cornell University Library 
 
 3 1924 031 174 661 
 olln.anx 
 
THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SERIES 
 VOLUME XLV. 
 
THE 
 
 INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SERIES. 
 
 Each book complete in One Volume, 12mo, aitd bound in 
 Cloth. 
 
 I. FORMS OF WATEE: a Familiar ExpoBition of the Origin and 
 Phenomena of Glaciers. By J. Ttndall, LL. D., F. E. S. With 
 25 lUuMrations. $1.50. 
 
 n. PHYSICS AND POLITICS ; Or, Thoughts on the Application of 
 the Principles of "Natural Selection" and "Inheritance" to 
 Political Society. By Walteb Baoehot. $1.50. 
 
 III. FOODS. By Edward Smith, M.D.,LL.B.,F.E.S. With numer- 
 
 ous Illustrations. $1.75. 
 
 IV. MIND AND BODY; The Theories of their Eelation. By Alex- 
 
 ander Bain, LL. D. With Four Illustrations. §1.50. 
 
 V. THE STUDY OF SOCIOLOGY. By Hekbeet Spencer. $1.50. 
 
 VI. THE NEW CHEMISTEY. By Professor J. P. Cookb, of Harvard 
 University. With 31 Illustrations. $2.00. 
 
 VII. ON THE CONSEEVATION OF ENERGY. By Balfour Stewart, 
 M.A.,LL.D.,F.E.S. With 14 Hlustrations. $1.50. 
 
 \'1II. ANIMAL LOCOMOTION ; or. Walking, Swimming, and Flying. 
 By J. B. Pettiohew, M. D., F.E. S., etc. With 180 Illustra- 
 tions. $1.75. 
 
 IX. EESPONSIBILITY IN MENTAL DISEASE. By IIiLNiiY Mauds- 
 ley, M. D. $1.50. 
 
 X. THE SCIENCE OF LAW. By Professor Sheldon Amos. $1.75. 
 
 XI. ANIMAL MECHANISM ; A Treatise on Terrestrial and Aerial 
 Locomotion. By Professor E. J. Marev. With 117 lUustrar 
 tions. $1.75. 
 
 New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond Street. 
 
2 The International Scientific Series. — (Continued.) 
 
 XII. THE HISTOEY OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN EELIGION 
 AND SCIENCE. By J. W. Dbapee, M.D., LL. D. $1.75. 
 
 Xra. THE DOCTRINE OF DESCENT AND DARWINISM. By 
 Professor Osoak Schmidt (Strasburg University). With 26 
 Illustrations. $1.50. 
 
 XIV. THE CHEMICAL EFFECTS OF LIGHT AND PHOTOG- 
 RAPHY. By Dr. Heemann Vogel (Polytechnic Academy 
 of Berlin). Translation thoroughly revised. With 100 Illus- 
 trations. $2.00. 
 
 XV. FUNGI: Their Nature, Influences, Uses, etc. By M. C. Cooke, 
 M. A., LL. D. Edited by the Eev. M. J. Berkeley, M. A., 
 F. L. S. With 109 Illustrations. 81.50. 
 
 XVI. THE LIFE AND GROWTH OP LANGUAGE. By Professor 
 William Dwight Whitney, of Yale College. $1.50. 
 
 XVII. MONEY AND THE MECHANISM OF EXCHANGE. By W. 
 Stanley Jevons, M. A., F. E. S. $1.75. 
 
 XVm. THE NATUEE OF LIGHT, with ^ General Account of Physi- 
 cal Optics. By Dr. Eugene Lommel. With 188 Illustrations 
 and a Table of Spectra in Chromo-lithography. $2.00. 
 
 SIX. ANIMAL PARASITES AND MESSMATES. By Monsieur 
 Van Beheden. With 83 Illustrations. $1.50. 
 
 XX. FERMENTATION. By Professor SouCtzenbeegee. With 25 
 Illustrations. $1.50. 
 
 XXI. THE FIVE SENSES OF MAN. By Professor Bebnstein. 
 With 91 Illustrations. $1.75. 
 
 XXn. THE THEORY OF SOUND IN ITS RELATION TO MUSIC. 
 By Professor Pieteo Blasekna. With numerous lUustra. 
 tions. $1.50. 
 
 New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond Street. 
 
The International Scientific Series. — (Continued.) 3 
 
 XXIII. STUDIES IN SPECTRUM ANALYSIS. By J. Nokmait 
 
 LocKYEE, F. E. S. With Six Photographic Illustrations of 
 Spectra, and numerous Engravings on Wood. |2.50. 
 
 XXIV. A HISTORY OF THE GROWTH OF THE STEAM-EN- 
 
 GINE. By Professor R. U. Tiiueston. With 163 Illustra- 
 tions. $2.50. 
 
 XXV. EDUCATION AS A SCIENCE. By Alexander Bain, LL. D. 
 
 XXVI. STUDENTS' TEXT-BOOK OF COLOR, ok. Modern Cnno- 
 MATios. With Applications to Art and Industry. By Pro- 
 fessor OoDEN N. Rood, Columbia College. New edition. 
 With 130 Illustrations. $2.00. 
 
 XXVII. THE HUMAN SPECIES. By Professor A. de Quateefaoes, 
 Merabre de I'Institut. $2.00. 
 
 XXVIII. THE CRAYFISH : an Introduction to the Study of Zoology. 
 By T. H. Huxley, F. E. S. With 82 Illustrations. $1.75. 
 
 XXIX. THE ATOMIC THEORY. By Professor A. Wuetz. Trans- 
 lated by E. Cleminshaw, F. C. S. $1.50. 
 
 XXX. ANIMAL • LIFE AS AFFECTED BY THE NATURAL 
 CONDITIONS OF EXISTENCE. By Kael Sempee. 
 With Two Maps and 106 Woodcuts. $2.00. 
 
 XXXI. SIGHT : An Exposition of the Principles of Monocular and Bi- 
 nocular Vision. By Joseph Le Conte, LL. D. With 132 
 Illustrations. $1.50. 
 
 XXXII. GENERAL PHYSIOLOGY OF MUSCLES AND NFRVES. 
 By Professor J. Rosenthal. With 75 Illustrations. $1.50. 
 
 XXXm. ILLUSIONS: A Psychological Study. By James Sot.lt. $1.50. 
 
 XXXIV. THE SUN. By C. A. Youno, Professor of Astronomy in the 
 College of New Jersey. With numerous Illustrations. $2.00. 
 
 New York : D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, & 6 Bond Street. 
 
The International Scientific Series. — (Continned.) 
 
 XXXV. VOLCANOES : What they Are and what they Teach. By 
 John W, Jodd, F. E. S., Professor of Geology in the Eoyal 
 School of Mines. With 96 Illustrations. $2.00. 
 
 XXXVl. SUICIDE; An Essay in Comparative Moral Statistics. By 
 Henky Mokselli, M. D., Professor of Psychological Medi- 
 cine, Eoyal University, Turin. $1.75. 
 
 XXXVII. THE FOEMATION OF VEGETABLE MOULD, THEOUGH 
 THE ACTION OF WOEMS. With Observations on their 
 Habits. By Cuables Darwin, LL. D., F. E. S., author of 
 "On the Origin of Species," etc., etc. With Illustrations. 
 $1.50. 
 
 XXXVm. THE CONCEPTS AND THEOEIES OF MODEEN PHYS- 
 ICS. By J. B. Stallo. $1.75. 
 
 XXXIX. THE BEAIN AND ITS FUNCTIONS. By J. Lirrs. $1.50. 
 
 XL. MYTH AND SCIENCE. An Essay. By Tito Vignoli. 
 $1.50. 
 
 XLI. DISEASES OF MEMOEY : An Essay in the Positive Psy- 
 chology. By Th. Eibot, author of " Heredity." From the 
 French, by William HuiraiirGTON Smith. $1.50. 
 
 XLII. ANTS, BEES, AND WASPS. A Eecord of Observations on 
 the Habits of the Social Hymenoptera. By Sir John Lub- 
 bock, Bart., F. E. S., D. C. L., LL. D., etc. $2.00. 
 
 XLHI. SCIENCE OF POLITICS. By Sheldon Amos, author of 
 " Science of Law." $1.75. 
 
 XLIV. ANaMAL INTELLIGENCE. By Geoege J. Eom^ujes. $1.75. 
 
 New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond Street. 
 
THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SERIES. 
 
 MAN BEFORE METALS. 
 
 BY 
 
 N. JOLY, 
 
 PH0FE8S0R AT THE SCTENOE FAODLTT OF TOTTLOITBE; 
 OOBBBSPONDENT OF THE DtSTITITTE. 
 
 WITB ONE BTTNDRED AND FORTY-EiatlT ILLVSTBATIONS. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 
 
 1, S, AHB 6 BOND STEEET. 
 
 1883, 
 
/l/i^l> 
 
 ^/ 
 
 tlCRNELL- 
 
 UNIVEBSITYj 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 FAOB 
 
 INTRODUCTION . 1 
 
 PAET I. 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 CBAP. 
 
 I. The Pebhistorio Ages 
 
 (I.) General notions of the structure of the earth. (II.) The 
 meaning of the word ' fossil ' as applied to man and other 
 organised beings. (III.) Prehistoric ages. (IV.) The 
 great antiquity of man proved by Egyptian monuments. 
 
 II. The Work op Boucher db Perthes . . . .35 
 (I.) The splintered flints of Abbeville. (II.) Discovery of the 
 jawbone of Moulin-Quignon. 
 
 III. The Bone Caves 48 
 
 (I.) History of the question. (II.) Description of the bone 
 caves. (III.) Age of the caverns. (IV.) Quaternary 
 fauna; inhabitants of the bone caves. (V.) Bones of 
 wounded animals found in the cavea. (VI.) Entire 
 human skeletons found in the caves. Wounded human 
 bones. Fractured skulls. (VII.) Proofs furnished by the 
 condition of the bones, and their chemical composition. 
 
 iv. The Peat Mosses and the Kitchen Middens . . 91 
 (I.) The Danish peat mosses. (II.) The peat mosses of Swit- 
 zerland. Leaf-marked coal of Morchweill, of Wetzikon, 
 of Utznach, and of Durnten. (III.) The kitchen middens 
 or shell mounds. 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAQB 
 
 V. The Lake Dwellings and the Nueaghi . . . 105 
 (I.) The lake dwellings of Switzerland. (11.) Implements of 
 Stone age found in the Swiss lakes. (HI.) The in- 
 habitants of the lake dwellings. The Swiss epoch of the 
 lake dwellings. Manners and customs of their inhabi- 
 tants. (IV.) The flora of the Swiss lake dwellings. 
 (V.) Ancient and modern constructions similar to the 
 lake dwellings. (VI.) The Nuraghi of Sardinia. 
 
 VI. BuEiAL Places 130 
 
 (I.) Various methods of sepulture. (II.) Burial in caves. 
 (III.) Eemarks upon the burial places found in the 
 caves. (IV.) The dolmens. (V.) The giant tombs of 
 Sardinia. 
 
 VII. Pebhistoeic Man in Ameeica 162 
 
 (I.) The Chulpas of Peru and Bolivia. (II.) The mounds and 
 the mound_ builders. 
 
 VIII. Man of the Teetiaet Epoch 175 
 
 (I.) The human bones of the Volcano of la Denise. The striated 
 bones of the elephant of Saint Prest. The Meiocene 
 flints of Thenay, 
 
 IX The Gebat Antiquitt of Man 181 
 
 PART II. 
 
 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 I. Domestic Life 188 
 
 (I.) The origin of the use of fire. (IT.) Food and cooking. 
 (III.) Clothing. (IV.) Ornaments and jewels. 
 
 II. INDUSTBY 211 
 
 (I.) Methods employed in the manufacture of stone imple- 
 ments. (II.) Religious and superstitious uses of the 
 flints. (III.) Weapons of war and of the chase. (IV.) 
 Fishing implements. (V.) Tools. (VI.) Weaving and 
 sewing. 
 
CONTENTS. vii 
 
 CHAP. PAOB 
 
 in. AGBICUIiTUEB 252 
 
 (I.) Primitive agriculture. (II.) Tlie domestication of animals. 
 (III.) Origin and home of our principal domestic animals. 
 (IV.) Origin of our cultivated plants. 
 
 IV. Navigation and Commbecb 280 
 
 (I.) Navigation. (II.) Commerce. 
 
 V. The Fine Aets 287 
 
 (I.) The arts of design in the oaves. (II.) Painting and music. 
 (Ilfc) Pottery. 
 
 VI. Language and Weiting 312 
 
 (I.) The origin of speech. (II.) Supposed characteristics of 
 primitive tongues. (III.) Origin of writing. 
 
 VII. Kbligion 327 
 
 (I.) Religious ideas of primitive man. (II.) Worship and 
 amulets. (III.) Cannibalism and human sacritice. (IV.) 
 Transformation of human sacrifice into modern religious 
 dogma. 
 
 VIII. The Portrait or Quatebnary Man .... 362 
 
MAN BEFORE METALS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The only trustworthy annals of primitive humanity aj-e 
 written in the Book of JN^ature ; to it, therefore, we should 
 have recourse. Unfortunately many leaves have disap- 
 peared, or have been effaced from this great book, written 
 by the hand of God, and those which remain are for the 
 most part hard to interpret. Hence, in spite of the pre- 
 cept of ancient philosophers {yv&Oi asavrov), that which 
 man knows least well is himself. For in fact neither his 
 body, his affections, nor his mind, nor the vital principle 
 which animates him, are entirely known to him; he is 
 ignorant of his origin, his cradle, his history. 
 
 But on the other hand, man has measured the heavens, 
 and calculated the weight of the earth and the distance 
 of the stars. He has converted Jove, the Thunderer of 
 old, into a mere messenger, who instantaneously trans- 
 mits the thought, and even the voice of man from one 
 end of the world to the other. He is able, moreover, by 
 another unlooked for wonder, to recall the voice of the 
 dead. He has taught golden-haired Phoebus and pale 
 Diana to paint their image, his own, or that of anj^thing 
 he wishes, on the lens of a camera-obscura, and has even 
 reduced them to the humble rdle of copyists of ouj ancient 
 manuscripts. He has dethroned Neptune, and laughs at 
 his terrors. He can outstrip the bird on the wing, and 
 
2 INTEODUCTION. 
 
 machines made by him can travel without fatigue ten 
 times as fast as the swiftest horse. 
 
 Man has conquered the elements ; the winds obey 
 him as his slaves, and soon, perhaps, ships of a new kind 
 will cut their way through the regions of the air as safely 
 as vessels now traverse the vast extent of the ocean. Fire 
 has become a liquid in his hands.' The earth, subjected to 
 an universal analysis, reveals her secrets one by one. In 
 short his genius daily invents wonders, which, surprising 
 as they are, now appear so natural that the bare mention 
 here made of them may appear common-place to the reader. 
 
 Man, I repeat, knows not his own nature nor his own 
 history. Yet nothing of greater moment could be presented ' 
 as the object of his study, of his active curiosity, and of his 
 eager desire to learn the origin and nature of things. 
 
 Wrapped in a thick veil, buried in the remote past, 
 the first records of the human race have long been con- 
 cealed from the eyes of seekers, who did not even suspect 
 their existence, or at any rate their deep significance. The 
 rare concurrence of fortunate circumstances, the wisdom, 
 ingenuity, and courageous perseverance of a man imbued 
 at once with courage and the true scientific spirit, have 
 been necessary to the complete interpretation of the mys- 
 terious language of these splintered stones, of these bones 
 dug out of the bowels of the earth and given back to the 
 light of day after so many thousands of years, perhaps of 
 centuries! Archaeology, greeted at first with ironical 
 sneers or the contempt of incredulity, has by an inevitable 
 reaction given rise to extravagant enthusiasm, and to ill- 
 considered systems, which have more than once injured its 
 cause and obstructed its real progress. With equal disre- 
 gard for over-eager enthusiasts and systematic detractors, 
 we must concern ourselves solely with the results obtained. 
 Beyond all question the most important, the most unex- 
 
 ' Under the well-chosen name of liquid fire, the learned and la- 
 borious Nickl6s has defined a, substance of which the important dis- 
 covery cost him his life. May I be allowed to lay the tribute of my 
 affectionate and sincere sorrow on the grave, which closed so prematurely 
 over this savant, who was as honourable ae he was learned 1 
 
INTEODUCTION, 3 
 
 pected, and at the same time one of the most assured of 
 these results, is the establishment of the great antiquity 
 of prehistoric man. 
 
 The name itself indicates that history, as it has been 
 hitherto understood and taught, is unable to give us any 
 precise information concerning this antiquity. 
 
 Neither the tables of Manetho, nor the Bible itself, 
 can help us here. Many learned men and theologians 
 admit that their chronology is imcertain, full of gaps, and 
 corrupted by copyists and commentators. Sylvestre de 
 Sacy, a Christian of undoubted orthodoxy admitted that 
 there was no Bible chronology. One of our most learned 
 ecclesiastics has owned, with a sincerity which does him 
 credit, that 'the chronology of the Old Testament has i 
 never been accepted by the Church.' He declared it to 
 be the result of the combination of certain dates, of the 
 interpretation of certain passages, which concern neither 
 faith nor morals, and which may be corrupt; it is even 
 certain that there are breaks ; and the cosmogonies of the 
 different authorised versions do not agree with each other, 
 &c. &c. ' Nothing therefore,' continues the learned theo- 
 logian, 'need prevent the addition of a greater or less 
 number of years to the generally accepted figure touching 
 the first appearance of man on the earth, if science were 
 able to fix the date with certainty. But this certain result 
 is far from being attained.' ' On this last point we entirely 
 agree with the learned Abbe Duilhe de Saint-Projet. But 
 the concession which he makes regarding the uncertainty 
 of Bible chronology is in our eyes far more important than 
 his own, since it shelters us from the reproach of impiety 
 so often cast upon unoffending science by those who know 
 nothing of her spirit and misconceive her aims. Moreover, 
 science replies by facts, and often by benefits, to those 
 conclusions, rashly formed a priori, by which some men 
 attempt to annul her discoveries, to accusations as unjust 
 
 ' See the Semaine oafholique de Touhvse, March 28, 1869, and espe- 
 cially the MineroB de Toulouse, in which the Conferences of M. I'AbbS 
 Duilh6 de Saint-Projet are reviewed in a spirit of impartiality which 
 does credit both to the able critic and the learned theologian. 
 
4 rSTEODUCTION. 
 
 as they are malicious, which are too often and too lightly 
 brought against her. Some of the following facts, revealed 
 by learned men, confirm in all essentials the statements 
 of the purest orthodoxy. 
 
 ' No date,' says the eminent palaeontologist, M. Ed. 
 Lartet, ' is to be found in Genesis which assigns a time 
 for the birth of primitive humanity ; but chronologists 
 have for fifteen centuries endeavoured to force the Bible 
 facts into agreement with their systems. Thus, no less 
 than one hundred and forty different opinions have been 
 formed about the single date of the Creation, and between 
 the extreme variations there is a discrepancy of 3,194 years 
 in the reckoning of the period between the beginning of 
 the world and the birth of Christ. The chief disagree- 
 ment is with respect to the interval of time nearest to the 
 Creation. From the moment therefore that it becomes a 
 recognised fact that the question of human origin owes 
 no allegiance to dogma, it will become, as it ought to 
 become, a scientific thesis open to discussion, to be con- 
 sidered from every point of view, and capable of receiving 
 that solution which tallies best with fact and with ex- 
 perimental proof.' 
 
 Such is our own scientific profession of faith upon this 
 delicate question. It would have been far better to move 
 onward with Gralileo than to force an unworthy recantation 
 from him, especially as we have seen in our own day one 
 of the most famous of his countrymen. Father Secchi, 
 Director of the Eoman Observatory, and Corresponding 
 Member of the French Institute, proclaim the superiority 
 of the philosophy of this same Gralileo, once condemned 
 and imprisoned by the Inquisition. ' Let science take 
 her course,' we repeat with M. Duruy, ' let her do her 
 work ; the soul is at the end of it.' ^ 
 
 We pass on to the consideration of the means by which 
 the new science of archaeology is enabled to establish, not 
 
 ' Ed. Lartet, Nouvelles reoherohes siir la ooexistence de Vlwmme et 
 del grands mamimifercs fosdles, reputes caraoteristiqiies de la derniere 
 •pirwde geologiqiis {Armales des Sciences NatureUei, i' Serie, t. xv. p. 256.) 
 
 2 V. Duruy, Discours an Senat, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 the precise date of the appearance of man on the earth, 
 since this result has not been and perhaps will never be 
 attained, but to determine an approximate date which is 
 certainly prior to that indicated by any cosmogony. 
 
 Flints are found scattered over the surface of the soil, 
 or buried in its depths ; in the heart of gloomy caves, or 
 beneath the ruins of the most ancient monuments ; some 
 rudely shaped, others finely polished and fashioned into 
 forms similar to those of our axes, knives, and tools of 
 every kind. 
 
 These flints had been observed by the ancients, who 
 gave them the names of lapides fulrnvn/is, ceraunice 
 gemmoB, &c., and in later times they were called lightning 
 atones, thunderbolts, stones fallen from heaven. They 
 were employed in certain sacred rites by the Egyptians, 
 the Komans, and perhaps also by the Scandinavians, the 
 worshippers of Odin and Thor. 
 
 Even in our day, in the nineteenth century, so slow is 
 progress in any direction, these stones, said to be fallen 
 from heaven, are the object of superstitious veneration in 
 remote country districts, and they may not unfrequently 
 be found in the cottages or cowsheds of peasants, who 
 firmly believe that they can thereby preserve their dwell- 
 ings from lightning, themselves from witchcraft, and 
 their cattle from disease. 
 
 But what are these strange stones, which, since they 
 have attracted the notice of antiquaries, have been found in 
 almost every part of the world : at Paris and at the Cape 
 of Good Hope, at Toulouse and Christiania ; In the dilu- 
 vium of the valleys of the Somme and of the Thames, and 
 in the ossiferous clay of the caves of Languedoc and Peri- ^ 
 gord ; in the dolmens of Brittany, of Algeria, and of Pal- , 
 estine; beneath;^the ruins of Nineveh aad Babylon; in 
 the Malay peninsula and in Japan ; and even on the banks 
 of the Ohio and the Mississippi? 
 
 This question was difficult to answer. According to 
 some, these splintered flints were ' freaks of nature,' others 
 held that they were of volcanic origin ; others again, that 
 they were stones split off by winter frosts. Some sagacious 
 
6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 men maintained that they were gun-flints, and moreover 
 of recent fabrication. 
 
 A learned antiquary of Abbeville, struck by the singular 
 form of some of these flints, which abound in Pieardy, 
 collected a great number of them, and examined and com- 
 pared them with anxious and loving study. ' "Were it 
 only a question of pin-making, this is the price of success,' 
 are the words of some philosopher. Unfortunately, the 
 heated imagination of the antiquary, unconsciously in- 
 fluenced by a deceitful illusion, discovered on these flints 
 the figures of men, of animals, of plants, carved with a 
 definite intention, and even graphic signs, true hiero- 
 glyphs. Here he was mistaken : but while the dream of 
 the archaeologist soon vanished, the reality remained. 
 
 These flints were, indeed, works of art, a rude and 
 primitive art it must be confessed ; but as real and full 
 of meaning in its simple expression as the Venus of Melos 
 or the friezes of the Parthenon. They were evidently 
 man's handiwork ; he had shaped these flints, had given 
 them definite forms, and had made them into weapons or 
 tools. 
 
 And as these instruments of war, of the chase, or of 
 handicraft were found buried at great depths, along with 
 bones of extinct species, in strata undisturbed since their 
 original formation, the logical, necessary, irrefutable con- 
 clusion is that 
 
 Dieu e3fc ^ternel, mais I'homme est bien vieux. 
 
 Old in truth, for he was the contemporary of the mam- 
 moth or woolly elephant, of the Rhinoceros tichorhinus, 
 of the unwieldy hippopotamus, the bear, and the great cat 
 of the caverns, of the Irish elk, and of other animals of 
 extinct species, of which our natmral history museums 
 possess complete and magnificent specimens. 
 
 But M. Boucher de Perthes underwent infinite trouble, 
 annoyance, I had almost said humiliation, before he ob- 
 tained the recognition of this conclusion, upon which 
 all the otters really depended. Etienne Greofiroy Saint- 
 Hilaire has said, and he speaks with authority, 'the 
 
INTEODUCTION. 7 
 
 crown of the innovator is a crown of thorns.' The famous 
 antiquary wreathed his brows with such a crown, which 
 wounded him more than once. 
 
 The idea was suggested, however, and since it was 
 true, nothing could prevent its ultimate triumph, which 
 is now complete. 
 
 More than twenty years elapsed before the discovery 
 of M. Boucher de Perthes was allowed to come before the 
 areopagus of the Institute. It is said that Cuvier refused 
 to accept it ; and this may easily be believed of a savant 
 who had laid' down the principle that man, the last born 
 of creation, could never have been contemporary with 
 those lost species whose remains lie buried in the most 
 ancient quaternary beds. MM. Brongniart, Flourens, and 
 Dumas, to their praise be it spoken, were the first to 
 encourage the researches of Boucher de Perthes, and to 
 show themselves open to conviction. The cautious and 
 the timid, those who feared to be involved in some 
 heresy or imposture, held aloof, and maintained that, even 
 admitting the flints of Abbeville and of Saint-Acheul to 
 be of human workmanship, their great antiquity would 
 still remain a matter for dispute, so long as the precise 
 age of the beds in which they were discovered was unde- 
 termined, so long as the virgin condition of these beds was 
 unproven, and lastly, until not only the bones of extinct 
 species, but also those of the human race, should be found 
 buried with these stone tools. 
 
 These will certainly be found, was the confident reply 
 of the courageous author of the book on Antediluvian 
 Antiquities, and it was not long before the event justified 
 his prophetic words. Many such discoveries have been 
 made, and at the present day nothing seems more surely 
 proved than the great antiquity of the human race. How- 
 ever, some belated or cautious minds are still in doubt, 
 and it is precisely those whom we seek to convince. In 
 order to accomplish this end, modern science has neglected 
 no means of information, has left no ground unexplored. 
 Cyclopean monuments, cities buried under layers of five 
 or six forests, the frozen soil of Siberia and Greenland, the 
 
8 INTEODUCTION. 
 
 tumuli of Ohio and Scandinavia, burial caves, dolmens, 
 and menhirs, the lake dwellings of Switzerland and Italy, 
 the nuraghi of Sardinia, the lava and volcanoes of Au- 
 vergne, the dUuvium of plains and valleys, bone caves and 
 fossil beds, have all been investigated by the science of 
 our day, even to the rubbish heaps formed by the refuse 
 of the primitive kitchens of the Scandinavians, known to 
 Danish archaeologists as ' kjokkenrndddinger,' and in Eng- 
 land as ' kitchen middens.' 
 
 Our aim in publishing this book has been to bring 
 before the reader the numerous proofs hitherto collected 
 of the great age of the human race, together with the 
 details which confirm them. This forms the subject of the 
 first part. In the second, we shall treat of the customs, 
 the industry, the moral and religious ideas of man, such 
 as Jie was before the use of metals was known to him, and 
 we shall endeavour to trace his portrait with fidelity. 
 
PAET L 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 TKE PMEHISTORIC AGES. 
 
 I. GEITEBAL BTOTIONS OP THE STKUOTUHE OP 
 THE EAKTH. 
 
 It seems necessary, for the better understanding of the 
 following chapters, to give to those of our readers who 
 are unfamiliar with geological terms, a general idea of the 
 various stages through which our globe has passed before 
 arriving at the condition which it now presents to our 
 view. 
 
 The immense majority of geologists hold that the 
 earth was originally a mass of incandescent and fluid 
 matter. As it gradually cooled an outer crust was formed, 
 and the vapours dispersed in the atmosphere were con- 
 densed upon the surface of the globe, and formed the 
 seas. At the bottom of these original seas the primary 
 rocks and those of the transition period were deposited. 
 These were followed by those of the tertiary period, which 
 Lyell has divided into eocene, meiocene, and pleiocene ; * 
 
 ' The beds of the tertiary period have been thus divided by Lyell 
 according to the number of recent shells contained in them as compared 
 to the fossil ones. The lowest layer, the eocene beds (?a>s, dawn, and 
 Kaii/is, recent), that is, the most ancient deposit of the tertiary epoch, 
 contains only 3J species per cent, similar to those which now exist. 
 The meiocene, or middle layer (fieTo;/, less, and Kaifds, recent) is that in 
 which the recent shells, less numerous than in the pleiocene, are in the 
 proportion of 17 or 20 per cent, as compared to the extinct species. The 
 proportion increases to 40 or 50 per cent, in the upper layer, the 
 pleiocene beds (irAeioi', more, and Kaiii6s, recent). An important remark 
 
10 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 lastly the beds of the quaternary epoch, improperly styled 
 diluvian.' 
 
 The oldest rocks, those which were formed by the 
 action of fire, and which have therefore received the name 
 of plutonic, are not stratified, that is, disposed in layers, 
 and contain no organic remains. The sedimentary or 
 aqueous rocks contain, on the other hand, numerous 
 remains of vital organisms, belonging to creatures more or 
 less complex, and bearing more or less resemblance to the 
 plants and animals of the present day as they are nearer 
 to or farther removed from our own time. 
 
 The geologist is thus enabled to determine the relative 
 age of a given rock by means of the fossil species of which 
 it bears the impression or retains the dSbris, just as an 
 antiquary can judge of the age of a monument by the 
 coin he has found beneath its ruins. 
 
 But we cannot enter into the history, full of interest 
 as it is, of the successive phases of life on the surface of 
 the earth ; suflfice it to say that birds ^ and mammalia are 
 rare in the beds of the secondary epoch, at least in Europe, 
 and are first found in great abundance in the tertiary for- 
 mations ; that certain marsupials and pachydermata now 
 completely extinct (pterodon, palceotherium, acerothe- 
 
 has been made by Mr. Marsh, namely that the three layers of beds of the 
 tertiary epoch, as they exist in America, ' are not the exact equivalents 
 of the eocene, meiocene, and pleiocene of Europe, although usually so 
 considered and known by the same names ; but, in general, the fauna 
 of each appears to be older than that of ii s corresponding representative 
 in the other hemisphere ; an important fact not hitherto recognised.' 
 (Marsh, Introduction and Succession of Vertebrate Life in America, p. 24. 
 An address delivered before the American Association for the Advance- 
 ment of Science at Nashville, Tenn., August 30, 1877.) 
 
 ' The words diluviiim, diluvian strata, since they sometimes convey 
 the impression that the biblical deluge created these beds, should be 
 abandoned along with the error which has given rise to these mis- 
 leading terms. The names of rocks of the fourth epoch, or post-pleiocene, 
 have rightly been substituted for the latter, as more in harmony with the 
 facts of geological chronology. The beds known under these names 
 are far anterior to the historical deluge of Noah or of Deucalion. 
 
 2 Birds are already numerous in the secondary rocks in America. It 
 was in the chalk beds of the Kansas that Marsh discovered the remark- 
 able odontm-nithes, or toothed birds, which seem to establish one link 
 between birds and reptiles, as the pterosaurians without teeth (genus 
 ptiyranodelonytoixa the passage from reptiles to birds. 
 
QUATEENAKY EOCKS. 11 
 
 rium, &c. &c. ), are the first to appear ; that these are 
 succeeded by other often colossal and extinct forms, such as 
 the megatherium, the di/notherium,, the nmacroiherium,, 
 the Tnastodon, and even monkeys (dryopithecus) ; finally, 
 that later on, and in the uppermost or pleiocene beds, 
 elephants, oxen, horses, carnivorous and quadrumanous 
 animals begin to appear, which show much analogy with 
 extant genera and species. 
 
 As Professor Albert Gaudry justly observes : ' The 
 pachyderms flourished on the earth during the earlier 
 half of the tePtiary period, and only isolated examples of 
 them are to be seen at the present day; the ruminants 
 on the other hand lived during the second half of the 
 tertiary period, and their order is still extremely numerous 
 in our own time.' ' The quaternary or diluvian beds 
 follow the pleiocene, and their latest formations may be 
 considered as belonging to the present epoch. We will 
 therefore devote a few moments to the study of these beds, 
 which are the more important to us, since they alone, as 
 far as we yet know, are almost incontestably proved to 
 contain the most ancient traces of the existence of man 
 upon the earth. 
 
 QUATERNARY OR DILUVIAN ROCKS. 
 
 The diluvium of geologists. — The quaternary beds, 
 also called diluvian, pleistocene, or still better, post-plei- 
 ocene, are composed of a series of layers or depositions 
 of very various nature (marine, fluviatile, torrential, or 
 glacial), formed between the end of the pleiocene period 
 and the dawn of history. Sometimes stratified, sometimes 
 mixed or incoherent, they contain the remains of numerous 
 mammals, some of which of colossal size have slowly and 
 gradually become extinct, while others, usually smaller, 
 have survived to our own day. 
 
 The stratified deposits of which these beds are partly 
 composed are very similar to those of the tertiary period. 
 
 ' Albert Gaudry, Zes eneJiaiitements du monde anvmal dams les temps 
 gSologiques, p. 77, Paris, 1878. 
 
12 THE ANTIQUITY OP THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 The great marine formation of the coasts of Sicily, the 
 pampas of South America, the sands of Sahara, the steppes 
 of Eastern Eussia, the travertine of Tuscany, are well- 
 known examples of quaternary deposits. But in addition 
 to these, other much less regular deposits have been 
 formed under circumstances very characteristic of the 
 epoch in question. 
 
 These characteristic phenomena are as follows : — 
 
 (1) Erratic deposits of the Alps, and of the north of 
 Europe. 
 
 (2) Diluvium of the valleys. 
 
 (3^ Filling of the caves and osseous breccia. 
 
 (4) Certain appearance of man upon the earth. 
 
 Glacial, Period. Erratic Phenomena. — It seems 
 proved beyond a doubt that towards the close of the 
 tertiary, or at the beginning of the quaternary epoch, the 
 temperature of the northern hemisphere was sensibly 
 lowered. As the atmosphere became moister and colder, 
 the watery vapour was condensed, and frequent falls of 
 snow, in the form of n4ve, covered the mountains, plains, 
 and valleys of northern and central Europe with glaciers. 
 This is known as the glacial period.^ The Alpine traveller 
 
 ' This term is perhaps incorrect, as it leads to the belief that there was 
 but one glacial period. Many geologists, however, and notably M. Ch. 
 Martins, reckon two glacial epochs, the first belonging to the older plei- 
 ocene period, the second to the more recent, that is, towards the beginning 
 of the quaternary epoch. Certain geologists go so far as to maintain, 
 that these glacial phenomena recurred periodically from the time of the 
 most ancient fossiliferous strata down to that of the diluvian rocks 
 properly so called. M. Julien, who has specially devoted himself to the 
 study of glaciers, also admits two glacial epochs ; the one beginning ' 
 after the development of the mastodon, which became extinct in Europe 
 at the end of the tertiary period, while it continued to live in America 
 throughout quaternary times. This first glacial epoch was followed by 
 the diluvian period, a consequence of the melting of these first glaciers, 
 to which magnificent phenomenon the formation of valleys, the erosion 
 of the soil, the transport of boulders, &o., must also be attributed. The 
 glacial phenomena were repeated at the epoch of the EleiJJias primigenius, 
 and have left their traces in the Vosge.s, the Alps, and the Pyrenees, as 
 the first had done in Switzerland and in northern Europe. The inter- 
 glacial epoch, that is, the intervening period, is represented by the sub- 
 merged forest of Cromer, the leaf -impressed coal of Dumteu and of 
 Utznaoh (canton of Zurich), the deposits of the Val d' Arno, &o. M. 
 Julien considers the Alpine diluvium to be a re-formation of the sedi- 
 
EEKATIC PHENOMENA. 13 
 
 is surprised to see blocks of granite or porphyry lying on 
 the eastern flank of the Jura, or dispersed in the Swiss 
 valleys ; they are often of enormous size, and their mine- 
 ralogic constituents differ completely from that of the 
 calcareous beds or Jurassic marl upon which they lie. 
 Striated, grooved, and poUshed surfaces may be observed 
 on these detached blocks, and upon the undisturbed rocks 
 which shut in on either side the Alpine valleys. 
 
 The transport of these colossal masses of rock to the 
 heights where they may now be seen, and the scratching, 
 grooving, and*partial polish which may be observed upon 
 them, are now generally admitted to be the work of ex- 
 tinct glaciers, which in their slow progress, and by means 
 of the stones imbedded in their mass, have polished, and 
 as it were, engraved the rocks with which their movement 
 brought them in contact. The erratic blocks lying upon 
 peaks often very far from their original site were also 
 brought thither by the glaciers of that period. 
 
 At some definite period a rise in the temperature of 
 the surrounding atmosphere brought about the melting of 
 the ice, and as a natural consequence all the foreign bodies 
 which were borne along by the glacier were deposited on 
 the sides of the mountains or in the valleys. The action 
 of the floods, caused by the melting of the same ice, 
 sufficiently explains also the presence of glacial mud, the 
 fragments of rock, the gravel and waterwom pebbles which 
 are to be found at the foot of the Alps, and in the neigh- 
 bouring valleys (moraines). 
 
 The erratic phenomena in the north, more complex and 
 more extensive than those of the Alps, are evidently due 
 to analogous causes. In this case the floating ice from 
 the arctic regions transported immense blocks, of which 
 the mineralogic constituents sufficiently prove their foreign 
 
 ment of the first period, to which he also attributes the upper grey and 
 red diluvium, and the lower grey diluvium, or diluvium of the plains. 
 He attributes to the second period the diluvium of the Vosges, and he 
 connects the heas with the melting of the glaciers of the Bhine which 
 belong to this period, and which still subsisted when those of the Vosges 
 had completely disappeared. {Mate/rioAuc pow wrmr h Vhigtmre primitive 
 et natv/relle de Vhomme, t. v. p. 374.) 
 
 2 
 
14 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 origin, to a great distance from the place of their forma- 
 tion. These blocks, known in Germany under the name 
 of Fwndlinge (foim.dlings), are scattered abundantly over 
 the plains of Eussia, Poland, Prussia, and even of England. 
 Nearly similar phenomena took place in North America. 
 
 Deposits of sand, gravel, and sea shells, known under 
 the name of drift, are to be found in the neighbourhood 
 of these blocks, which are for the most part angular. 
 Everything seems to prove that these deposits, which ex- 
 tend over a great part of Northern Eiuope, starting from the 
 Scandinavian peninsula, were formed at the bottom of the 
 sea, by which, during or immediately after the first glacial 
 epoch, the greater part of North America, the British Isles, 
 and Scandinavia was covered. 
 
 Diluvium, of the Valleys.— The ordinary erratic pheno- 
 mena, we are told by M. Leymerie, took place principally 
 among mountains and in their immediate neighbourhood, 
 and the glaciers were the principal agents, or at least took 
 a direct part in their production. The various phenomena 
 which are known collectively as diluviuTn, are on the con- 
 trary chiefly to be observed in the plains, and they owe 
 their existence to river-floods. Two distinct and contrary 
 effects are produced by these phenomena — the formation 
 of those valleys known as valleys of erosion, and the 
 partial filling of these same valleys by the diluvian waters 
 bearing along in their current the debris from the moun- 
 tains (gravel, waterworn pebbles, sediment of mud and 
 sand, usually impregnated with oxide of iron or calcareous 
 matter), which they deposit upon the plain. The two 
 sorts of diluvium are generally distinguished as the grey 
 and the red diluvium, the latter more recent than the 
 former. Lastly, an important deposit of an homogeneous 
 greyish-yellow sediment, known in Alsace under the name 
 of lehTTt, (loam) and on the other side of the Ehine as 
 loess, covers the stony deposit which constitutes the true 
 diluvium to a depth of sixty or eighty yards. 
 
 M. Favre has established between the diluvian beds 
 of the north-west of France, and those of the valley of 
 the Ehine, a parallel which it may be useful to reproduce 
 
QUATERNAJIY EOCKB. 
 
 15 
 
 here. If, as we have no reason to doubt, this parallel 
 be exact, it foUows that the remains of human industry 
 found in the valleys of the Somme, of the Seine, and of the 
 Mame, correspond to the lower diluvium of the Ehine 
 valley, a deposit far more- ancient than the glaciers of the 
 Vosges, since it is separated from the latter by the mean 
 diluvium of the Ehine, or red diluvium of the Seine 
 valley.' 
 
 Quaternary Beds. 
 
 In the North-icest of France. 
 
 Upper Dbposit. — Zehm or loess. 
 
 Mean Deposit. — Sand and gravel, 
 known as red diluvium (valleys 
 of the Somme, Seine and Maine). 
 
 Lower Deposit. — Gravel trans- 
 ported from a distance, contain- 
 ing flints of human workmanship, 
 and fossil remains of Elephas 
 primigenius, rhinoceros, stag, 
 horse, ox, &o. 
 
 In the R/tine Vatley. 
 
 Zehm or loess in the plain, moraines 
 in the monntains. 
 
 Gravel composed of materials not 
 transported from a distance : an 
 earlier deposit than the ancient 
 glaciers. 
 
 Gravel, pebbles, composed ex- 
 clusively of rooks of Alpine 
 origin, of earlier date than the 
 glaciers. 
 
 The diluvian, or quaternary, epoch, is further charac- 
 terised, as we have before remarked, by the deposits in 
 the caves, by the formation of osseous breccia,* and by 
 the certain appearance of man upon the earth. The cir- 
 cumstantial details into which we shall shortly enter allow 
 and even constrain us to confine ourselves for the moment 
 to these general outlines. With the exception of a few 
 species, extinct or migrated,' the quaternary fauna and 
 flora offer the most striking analogies, or more strictly 
 speaking, the most complete identity, with the fauna and 
 flora of the present day. 
 
 ' A. Favre, Bur Vexistenoe de I'lumme s^ir la terre anteriewement a 
 Vapvarition des anciens glaciers. (^BibliotJiique universelle de Genifoe ; 
 Archives, t. viii. p. 200, 1860.) 
 
 * The osseous breccia are heaps composed of angular fragments of 
 rock and various fossil bones, cemented together by calcareous or ferru- 
 ginous mud. These osseous breccia occur in the bone caves, and in the 
 numerous holes or fissures which abound on the coasts of the Mediter- 
 ranean (Cette, Antibes, Nice, Gibraltar, &o.). 
 
 • The principal species of the quaternary beds which are extinct at 
 the present day are the mammoth, the Rhinoceros tioliorhinus, the great 
 bear, the great cat, the cave hyena, and the Irish elk. 
 
16 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 Gheonoiogical Table 
 
 Jl. — ^Aqueous rocks formed at the bottom 
 Modem Bocks , , . , 
 
 Quaternary or post- 
 pleiooene rocks 
 
 Tertiary Kooks 
 
 Secondary Eooks 
 
 Transition Eooks 
 
 Primary Eocks 
 
 ( Pleiocene 
 Meiooene 
 
 Eocene . 
 
 Cretaceous 
 Jurassic . 
 
 Trias 
 
 /■Permian . 
 
 Carboniferous . 
 Devonian 
 Silurian . 
 Cambrian 
 
 OF THE PeINCIPAIi EOCKS. 
 
 of seas, and stratified, or disposed in layers. 
 
 J Lacustrine and fluTiatile deposits. 
 \ Sand hUls 
 
 Eed diluvium, and upper lehm 
 
 or loess 
 Grey diluvium 
 Ehine loess of glacial origin 
 Sand pits of Saint-Prest 
 
 Freshwater strata 
 Sands of the Orleannais 
 FaXwns of Tonraine 
 Limestone of Beauce 
 
 ■Gypsum and marl of Paris and 
 
 Aix 
 Paris limestone beds 
 London clay 
 Chalk of Champagne 
 Lithographic limestone of Solen- 
 
 hofen 
 Variegated marl, muscTwVkalk 
 
 Sandstone of the Vosges 
 
 Coal fields, new and old red sand- 
 stone, schistose rocks of the 
 Pyrenees 
 
 B. — ^TJnstratifled or Plutonic rocks. 
 CrystaUine schists 
 Gneiss, mica-schist 
 Metamorphic limestone 
 
 Eruptive MooJcs 
 
 Granite Trachyte Serpentine 
 
 Protogine Basalt Diorite 
 
 Porphyry Lava Ophite 
 
 II. THE MEABTIITG OP THE ■WOBD FOSSIL AS APPLIED 
 TO MAN AND OTHER OBGANISED BEINGS. 
 
 The species of man •whom ■we propose to study is 
 commonly kno'wn as fossil^ man, priTrdtive man, pre- 
 
 ' JPreJiistorio man is frequently but -wrongly designated fossil man. 
 This last epithet suggests the idea of an extinct species ; applied to 
 
FOSSIL SPECIES 17 
 
 historic man : he has even been sometimes called man- 
 monlcey, or pithecanthrope. The first of these denomi- 
 nations needs comment; tha second rests upon a bold 
 hypothesis, which needs proof. What then is a fossil 
 being ? The various definitions which this word has re- 
 ceived necessarily bear the stamp of the opinions prevalent 
 at the time when they were given. 
 
 Thus, when geologists explained all phenomena by 
 tremendous cataclysms, when Alcide d'Orbigny supposed 
 that the Sovereign Architect, filling the ungrateful rdle of 
 Penelope, created and destroyed his still incomplete work 
 twenty-seven times, the word fossil was understood to 
 mean any organic remains naturally buried in the strata 
 of the earth previous to the last catastrophe which over- 
 whelmed it, that is, before the appearance of man upon its 
 surface. Now, this first appearance, placed after the dilu- 
 vian or post-pleiocene epoch, properly so called, apparently 
 formed a natural boundary between geological ages and 
 the present time. Every animal or vegetable species of 
 which the remains were found buried in the diluvian, ter- 
 tiary, or yet older strata, were reputed to be fossil, and 
 therefore necessarily extinct. All species buried at a later 
 date than the diluvian deposit were to be considered 
 merely humatile or sub-fossil. The words fossil species 
 were, therefore, synonymous with extinct species, as if any 
 organised being might not be individually fossil, without 
 the extinction of the entire species to which it belonged. 
 
 Thus the urus was only fossil in Caesar's time ; at the 
 present day the whole species is fossil and extinct. But 
 the aurochs, whose remains are found in the diluvian beds 
 with those of the cave bear and of the mammoth, is at 
 once fossil and living, since it is still to be found, in small 
 numbers it is true, in the forests of Lithuania, where it 
 continues to breed under the special protection of the Czar 
 of Eussia. 
 
 Moreover, a certain number of animals of which the 
 
 man it signifies merely that he has been contemporary with lost species, 
 for bis own still exists. 
 
18 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 remains are found in strata of a later date than the first 
 appearance of man, have become extinct at a time very 
 near our own. No one will deny that these species are at 
 once fossil and extinct. The dodo of the Isle of France, 
 the dinomis of New Zealand, and the epyornis of Mada- 
 gascar are cases in point. We therefore apply the word 
 fossil to all species really extinct, even though its extinc- 
 tion was not prior to the present geological period, and 
 took place under conditions similar to those now existing. 
 For us every extinct species, such as mammoth or dodo, 
 is fossil, although every fossil species is not necessarily 
 extinct, such as reindeer and musk ox. 
 
 As it is essential in the discussion of every important 
 subject to arrive at a distinct understanding as to the 
 meaning of the terms employed, we assert that, in our 
 opinion, the term fossil as applied to man does not repre- 
 sent the idea of extinction (for we hold that primitive 
 man still exists in the person of his descendants), but 
 that of synchronism with those great animals (mammoth, 
 Rhinoceros tichorhinus, &c.) which, after leaving more or 
 less numerous traces in the pleiocene rocks, have ended 
 by becoming extinct at difierent ages of the quaternary 
 epoch, and of which some few have survived even to our 
 own day, as the reindeer, musk ox, &e. 
 
 Fossil man, as we understand the words, does not 
 belong to the present geological age, to that which directly 
 follows the quaternary epoch. His actions are not within 
 the domain of history, since they are far earlier. The 
 study of primitive man belongs to the province of palaeon- 
 tology, on the same grounds as that of his contemporaries, 
 the great cave bear and the mammoth. The human species 
 is fossil but not exti/nct. 
 
 III. PREHISTOKIC AGES. 
 
 ' It is with humanity as with the successive individuals 
 of which it is composed; memory only begins at a some- 
 what advanced stage of the development of the race ; it 
 has no consciousness of earlier conditions. The first mani- 
 festations of essential activity have left no traces in the 
 
PREHISTORIC AGES. 19 
 
 memory of mankind.' ' But, as is invariably the case, at 
 the point where history ceases, fable begins. 
 
 Classical antiquity tells us of four successive ages — the 
 ages of gold, silver, bronze, and iron. Under the reign of 
 Saturn, that is during the golden age,' men enjoyed a long 
 life, which they spent in the midst of happiness, peace, 
 and plenty. But the horrors of war were soon let loose 
 among them ; iron took the place of gold ; a rapid de- 
 cadence began, and man retains at the present day only 
 faint traces oj his primitive perfection and happiness. 
 Another myth of later date, and more in harmony with 
 the facts observed, tells us that the earth was originally 
 inhabited by a race of giants, and by a subsequent creation 
 of a race of dwarfs. The giants dwelt among the rocks, 
 and built there walls of cyclopean masonry ; they carried 
 stone clubs, and were ignorant of the use of metals. The 
 dwarfs, far weaker, but at the same time far more in- 
 dustrious than the giants, inaugurated the age of bronze.' 
 They sought this metal in the bowels of the earth, and 
 with the help of fire forged precious ornaments and shining 
 arms, which they gave to men. Finally, giants and dwarfs 
 gave place to the men of the iron age, and were forced to 
 abandon the land. It is curious to see poetry thus fore- 
 stall history, and mention distinctly tJie series of epochs 
 which are generally admitted by modern science. Lucre- 
 tius has these lines in his poem, ' De natura rerum ' : — 
 
 Arma antiqua, manns, migues, denteaque f uertmt, 
 Et lapides, et item sylvarum fragmlna rami : 
 Posterlus f erri vis est, serisque reperta, 
 Sed prior seris erat, quam f erri cognitus usas. 
 
 The researches undertaken, and the discoveries given 
 to the world in these days in Denmark, England, France, 
 Switzerland, Italy, and, indeed, in almost every part of the 
 world, show that the facts are very nearly in agreement 
 with the fable. 
 
 Archaeology combines with geology to show that human 
 civilisation has passed through three more or less distinct 
 stages, in Europe at least, for which the names of stone, 
 
 ' Lamennaia, Esquisse d'wne PhiloiopMe, t. iii. p. 42. 
 
20 THE ANTiaUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 bronze, and iron ages have been retained, although they may 
 be, perhaps, rather too suggestive of the myth. We ought, 
 probably, to reckon that a copper age intervened between 
 the stone and bronze ages, if not in Europe,' where it has 
 left few traces, at least in certain districts of the New 
 World. For instance, the mound builders, an ancient and 
 long extinct race, whose earthworks excite the astonishment 
 and admiration of the traveller in the valleys of the Ohio 
 and Mississippi, wrought the native copper of Lake Supe- 
 rior with stone hammers and without the aid of iire, long 
 before the day when the Mexicans and Peruvians cast 
 bronze statues, weapons, and ornaments of every kind. It 
 is certain that Europe, whose advanced intellectual culture 
 is justly the object of our admiration, was first inhabited 
 by tribes to whom the use of metals was entirely unknown. 
 Flints more or less skilfully fashioned, and other very hard 
 materials, such as serpentine, quartz, and diorite, bones, 
 horn, and wood were the only tools used in the manufac- 
 ture of their weapons and of the implements of their rude 
 industry. 
 
 These tribes belonged, then, to the stone age, the first 
 stage of civilisation. But it has been thought expedient 
 to divide this age into two periods, according to the dif- 
 ferent degrees of perfection to which the workmanship of 
 the implements had attained in each subdivision; the 
 earlier of these two periods has received the name of 
 archseolithic or palaeolithic (the age of rough hewn stone), 
 
 ' Several urns and instruments of pure copper have, however, been 
 found in the British Isles, in Hungary, Savoy, Switzerland, and Spain, 
 where, according to M. de Prad, the copper age preceded the bronze 
 age. According to M. Bougemont, the Bussian Tschoudes also had their 
 age of pure copper. Lastly, implements both of pure copper and of 
 bronze have been taken from Egyptian tombs which date from the 
 time of Suphis, the builder of the great pyramid. We cannot hitherto 
 decide with certainty whether or no a copper age existed in France or 
 in America. But it is a fact that ornaments of red copper (necklace 
 beads, rings, and bracelets) have lately been found in the burial caves 
 of Saint Jean d'Alcas and of Durfort, and even in the dolmens of 
 AvejTon (Cazalis de Fondouce, Cartailhac). In this there is nothing 
 surprising, since copper is far easier to work than bronze : it is therefore 
 natural that the former should have preceded the latter, especially in 
 districts where copper in a pure state is more or less abundant. 
 
THE STONE AGES. 
 
 21 
 
 the more recent that of neolithic (age of polished stone).' 
 (See figs. 1, 2, and 3.) 
 
 The cave bear, the mammoth, the Rhinoceros ticho- 
 
 Fio. 1, 2. Carved flints 
 (Dbsmark). Specimens of 
 
 STONE IMPLEMENTS. (After 
 
 Lubbock.) 
 
 Fig. 3. Specimen of polished 
 STONE (Irish axe). 
 
 rhi/nus, &c. belong to the first of these periods ; they 
 had become extinct in the neolithic period. At this last 
 
 ' The archseo- oi palseolithio age is anterior to, the neolithic age 
 posterior to, the second glacial epoch. 
 
22 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUlffiAIJ EACE. 
 
 epoch even the reindeer had disappeared from our lands 
 and had migrated northwards, whither the musk ox (Ovibos 
 moschatus) soon followed it. The age of polished stone 
 is further characterised by the construction of the dolmens, 
 the dawn of agriculture, and the complete domestication 
 of several animals, which have since become the faithful 
 companions or the useful servants of man. 
 
 The neolithic age was succeeded by that of bronze, 
 an alloy of about nine parts of copper to one of tin, 
 which is inferior in hardness to steel, but usually harder 
 than iron.' 
 
 After the lapse of a period of time whose duration is 
 yet undetermined, iron, which is far more diflScult of ex- 
 traction and fusion than copper, replaced bronze ; at which 
 point the third period or stage of European civilisation 
 began. 
 
 It is sometimes rather diflScult to draw the line sharply 
 between the various ages which we have just enumerated ; 
 the work of one is often carried on into another. Thus 
 for instance in a single cave of the island of Zeeland, flints 
 simply splintered, and those which are polished or at least 
 carefully fashioned, have both been discovered ; and again 
 during the age of bronze, even during that of iron, stone 
 was stiU frequently used concurrently with metal. The 
 discovery of one or more implements of stone in any given 
 spot is, therefore, not a suflScient groimd for asserting that 
 these implements belong, actually and exclusively, to one 
 or other of the palaeolithic or neolithic periods established 
 by Lubbock.^ 
 
 In Uke manner, the use of bronze was not discontinued 
 immediately after the dawn of the iron age ; witness the 
 tombs of Hallstadt in Austria, where bronze swords were 
 
 ' It is supposed to be satisfactorily proved, that the iron age in 
 Denmark extends back about as far as the Christian era ; the age of 
 bronze is supposed to have lasted about 2,000 years ; lastly, the stone 
 age, which includes the indefinite time previous to the bronze epoch, 
 lasted for a thousand years, during which man occupied that country. 
 
 2 In North America, for instance, implements of rough hewn stone 
 are commonly found mixed with polished flints. It is therefore im- 
 possible to establish any chronological order. 
 
THE IRON AND BRONZE PERIOD. 23 
 
 found with axes and knives of iron. At Hallstadt the 
 passage from one age to another was evidently slow and 
 gradual. But elsewhere, in Switzerland for instance, at 
 the time of the invasion of the Helvetians, the transition 
 appears to have been violent, like social revolutions or the 
 great disturbances of the earth's crust. In short it is easy 
 to understand that in a given country, among a given 
 people, a thousand circumstances may have influenced the 
 successive or simultaneous use of stone and of metals. 
 Hence arises a more or less pronounced inequality in the 
 march of civilisation ; the use of iron, for example, being 
 known to one people, whilst another had only stone and 
 bronze at its disposal. Thus in Liguria, no trace of the 
 use of , metal previous to Eoman times has been discovered ; 
 the age of stone lasted in that country until the beginning 
 of history ; and finally, it was not until the early years of 
 the present century that the Lapps abandoned the use of 
 stone tools. 
 
 Even in our day groups of men exist who are still in 
 their lithic age, and who are nevertheless in intimate 
 and daily relations with peoples who have attained an 
 advanced stage of civilisation. Such are the Australians, 
 who cling persistently to their savage life, and continue to 
 use weapons and tools of stone in presence of the metals 
 of every kind introduced by the English. The modem 
 Papuans remain stationary, while under the influence of 
 British civilisation the fauna and flora of their native land 
 are undergoing a change as radical and complete as that 
 which might be produced by a sudden disturbance of the 
 earth's crust. 
 
 The New Caledonians of the present day employ iron 
 implements concurrently with axes of well polished stone. 
 Sir Samuel Baker assures us that the inhabitants of 
 Illuria (Northern Africa) use extremely primitive tools, 
 such as anvils and hammers of stone, and yet at the same 
 time they show remarkable skill in ironwork. Similar facts 
 have been observed among the Kafiirs and the inhabitants 
 of Polynesia. According to Charles Smart, surgeon in the 
 United States army, the Lacaudones of Chiquis, the last 
 
24 THE ANTiaUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 remains of a people whom the conquerors were unable to 
 subdue, live in huts buUt of palm leaves, and hunt with 
 stone-headed arrows, though they cultivate the sugar-cane 
 and fruit trees. 
 
 We should, however, be drawing a false inference from 
 these facts, in concluding that the tribes of which we have 
 just spoken are still in the Etone age properly so called. 
 A slight examination will prove this conclusion to be 
 erroneous, and will show that the simultaneous use of stone 
 and metal is no rarer in our own day than it was before 
 and during the Trojan war. A sufficient proof is furnished 
 us by the example of the smiths and tinkers of Ireland, 
 who until a comparatively recent period used in their daily 
 work hammers and anvils of stone. M. Emile Bumouf 
 assures us that in certain districts of the Levant pieces of 
 flint fixed in a triangular piece of wood drawn by a horse 
 are still used to chop straw for fodder. 
 
 If, therefore, as far as Europe is concerned, the ex- 
 clusive use of stone may serve to characterise an extremely 
 remote period, the case is different when instruments of 
 metal are found in company with stone implements. Thus, 
 when M. Moura, who represented the French interests at 
 the court of the King of Camboja, discovered axes of 
 polished stone among the strata of that country, the pre- 
 sence of wrought copper permitted our learned colleague 
 Dr. Noulet to consider these implements as marking the 
 transition between the neolithic and bronze ages.* The 
 same inferences are naturally drawn on the several oc- 
 casions when the simultaneous use of stone and metal 
 has been found in Europe. 
 
 It is therefore indispensable, before pronouncing an 
 opinion as to the real age of a flint implement, to be 
 thoroughly acquainted not only with the place where it 
 was found, but also with all the circumstancjes which 
 attended its discovery. Moreover, the use of iron is not 
 
 " Dr. Noulet, VAge de la pierre poUe au Camhodge, d'aprea les 
 d4oomiertm de M. Mowa, Uevtenant de vaisseau, Toulouse, 1877. 
 
DURATION OF THE STONE AND BRONZE EPOCHS. 25 
 
 necessarily preceded by that of bronze and copper (Northern 
 Tartary, and Finland, are cases in point), and similarly 
 copper and bronze may have been long in use among a 
 people (such as the Mexicans and Peruvians), to the 
 almost total exclusion of iron. As for the use of stone, 
 unless it be exclusive, it does not, as we have just seen, 
 imply any very marked social inferiority, stiU less any 
 definite degree of antiqvuty. 
 
 Nevertheless some authors have attempted to establish 
 precise dates, assigning 5,000, or 7,000 years, as the most 
 remote limit of the stone age ; 3,000, or 4,000 years, as 
 that of the age of bronze ; while the iron age would only 
 have a duration of 2,000 years.' 
 
 It is needless to point out that, so far, no proofs are 
 forthcoming in support of these assertions, and that every 
 well-balanced mind should be on its guard against such 
 precision, not to say audacity, of statement, since in the 
 present state of science it is absolutely impossible that it 
 can be trustworthy. We will therefore continue to 
 employ this entirely relative or mineralogic chronology, 
 until a better one is satisfactorily determined ; taking 
 especial care not to neglect the valuable data which 
 palaeontology, stratigraphy, and all industrial progress may 
 furnish us. We must also remember that all the divi- 
 sions we have established, of which the rigorous application 
 is hardly admissible, even as far as Europe is concerned, 
 cannot be appHed with any certainty to America, Africa, 
 or AustraHa. Indeed numerous facts which have been 
 observed in America, tend to prove that it is not necessary 
 for the complete social development of a people that it 
 should pass successively through the three ages of stone, 
 bronze, and iron. 
 
 As a summary of the preceding remarks, we may 
 present them in a synoptic form. 
 
 ' According to Count Gozzadini, it appears nearly certain that, if 
 the use of iron only began in Scandinavia cowards the beginning of the 
 Christian era, the metal was employed at YUlanova and Marzabotto at 
 least as early as 1600 B.C. 
 
26 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 a 
 
 MiNBBALOGIC CHKONOLOGY. 
 Ages. - 
 
 /Flints simply chipped (palseo- or arohseolithic age of 
 Stone. \ Lubbock '). 
 
 t Polished Flints (neolithic age, id.) 
 
 /Completely transitory, and apparently accidental in 
 Copper. J Europe. 
 
 i More real and permanent in America. 
 Bronze. Common to the two continents, but at different epochs. 
 
 , Comparatively recent in America and Scandinavia, more 
 
 ■( remote in Italy and the rest of Europe. 
 
 Iron. 
 
 Saint-Acheui. Type. Axe, carved on both sides. 
 FiQ. 4. Front view. Fio. 5. Side view. 
 
 M. de Mortillet has proposed to substitute for this 
 chronology, which is altogether mineralogic, another 
 founded solely upon the relative skill shown in the work- 
 manship of the flints. Setting aside for the moment the 
 flints of Saint-Prest and of the calcareous beds of Beauce, 
 of which we shall speak presently, we give the following 
 chronology, which we may call industrial : 
 
 1. The Saint,- Acheul epoch, the oldest of the qua- 
 ternary beds, characterised by its amygdaloid or almond 
 shaped axes (figs. 4 and 5). 
 
 ' Evans subdivides the neolithic age into two periods ; that of nver 
 gravel, and that of the caves. 
 
CAEVED FLINTS. 
 
 27 
 
 2. The Moustier epoch, with its scrapers, and triangular 
 lance heads, worked only on one side (figs. 6, 7, and 8). 
 
 Moustier Ttpb. Lance head, carved only on one side. 
 Fis. 6. Uncut surface. Fio. 7. Side view. Fia. 8. Carved surface. 
 
 3i The Solutre epoch, with its beautiful arrow-heads 
 cut in the form of laurel leaves (fig. 9). 
 
 Fig. 9. SoLtTTR^ Type. Lance bead. 
 
 4. The Madeleine epoch, in which bone implements 
 and weapons are found with those of stone. 
 
 6. The Eobenhausen epoch, or that of polished stone. 
 
28 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 These divisions are wortli consulting, for they are use- 
 ful landmarks in this long series of centuries which must 
 have elapsed between the earliest traces of human industry 
 and the age of bronze properly so called. 
 
 Unfortunately, in this case also, the authors who have 
 paid most attention to this subject are far from being 
 agreed ; and the determination of the limits and nature of 
 prehistoric epochs is at present characterised by a certain 
 vagueness which future discoveries and comparisons wiU 
 doubtless help to dissipate. 
 
 Professor Broca, by turning to account the data fur- 
 nished at once by stratigraphy, palaeontology, and archaeo- 
 logy, has already been able to establish among the data in 
 question a certain agreement or concordance, of which the 
 following table may serve to show the importance and 
 appropriateness. 
 
 Pbbhistoric Chronology of the Quateenaet Epoch. 
 
 Stratigraphical 
 Sata 
 
 V 
 
 Arohseolithic 
 period 
 
 Low levels 
 of undis- 
 tvirbed val- 
 leys 
 
 Mean levels 
 
 High levels 
 
 Neolithic period Eeoent beds 
 Metallic period \ " 
 
 Falseontological 
 Data 
 
 Age of the 
 mammoth 
 
 Id. interme- 
 diate 
 
 Id. of the rein- 
 deer 
 
 Modern fauna 
 
 Archseological 
 Sata. 
 
 Age of carved stone 
 or archseolithic 
 age: axe of Saint- 
 Acheul. 
 
 Arrow head of 
 Moustier 
 
 Id. of Solutr^ 
 
 Polished axe 
 
 Age of bronze 
 Age of iron 
 
 It was for some time generally believed that the age 
 of stone was confined to northern Europe. It is now es- 
 tablished beyond dispute that every part of this continent 
 at one time employed carved flints to the exclusion of all 
 metal, and that the age in question has been more or less 
 fully represented, at diiferent times, not only in Scandinavia, 
 but also in Finland, Germany, France, Italy, England 
 
PALEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC AGES. 29 
 
 Belgium, Syria, Palestine, in Egypt, China, Japan, in India, 
 and even in America. Finally, it must be remembered 
 that all we have said respecting the succession of the 
 different ages applies almost exclusively to Europe, some- 
 times exclusively to France. 
 
 Certain authors, among others MM. de Mortillet, Car- 
 taiUiac, and Forel, of Lausanne, have asserted that there 
 exists an immense interval between the palseoUthic and 
 neolithic ages, considered from the three points of view of 
 ethnology, palseqptology, and workmanship. But M. Cazalis 
 de P^ondouce maintains that no such interval exists.' He 
 holds first, with M. de Quatrefages, that there was a con- 
 tinuity of race during the two epochs, and that a great part 
 of the present population of Europe is descended from 
 those prehistoric men whom we are now considering ; and 
 he maintains that, in the quaternary fauna, between the 
 ages of carved and of polished stone, there is the same 
 continuity. Successive extinctions have taken place, clear- 
 ances brought about gradually in the lapse of time, from 
 the disappearance of the cave bear and of the mammoth 
 to the migration of the reindeer and of the musk ox to- 
 wards colder cUmates than our own ; but the animals of the 
 neolithic period, and even those of modem times, are the 
 survivors of that ancient fauna in the midst of which dwelt 
 the men of Abbeville and Cro-Magnon. The quaternary 
 flora, as we shall presently see, leads us to precisely the 
 same conclusions. In short, everything tends to show that 
 there is direct filiation between the rude workmanship of 
 the flint of Saint-Acheul, and the skilled workmanship of 
 the flint of the neolithic age. But a still better proof 
 that this gap, assumed to exist by certain archseologists, is 
 purely imaginative, is to be found in the recent discovery 
 of a deposit which presents the manifest transition between 
 the ages of splintered and of polished stone. I allude to 
 the cave of Duruthy, situated near Sorde (Basses Pyrenees), 
 where MM. Lartet and Chaplain-Duparc have observed ' a 
 human race, associated in Perigord with the mammoth, 
 
 ' See Cazalis de Fondouoe, Pierre tmlUt et Pierre poUe, laeime qui 
 aurait existi entre ces deux ages ; Remie d'Anthr&pologie, 1874, p. 631. 
 
30 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 the lion, and the reindeer,' first in the age of triangulai 
 bone arrow-heads (Cro-Magnon), then in that characterised 
 by the barbed bone arrow-heads, and representations of 
 animals (La Madelaine, Laugerie Basse), and which, after 
 manifesting itself in the fully developed artistic phase at 
 the bottom of the cave discovered at Sorde, is found again 
 towards the upper part of the same cave, with flint weapons, 
 which from their finished form, and rudimentary pohsh 
 might almost be classed in the age of polished stone.' 
 
 In conclusion ; the three ages of stone, bronze, and iron 
 have not been in all places and at all times successive, 
 but very often simultaneous. Though they mark three 
 stages in the civilisation of nations, it does not follow that 
 aU have passed through them at the same periods. The 
 chronological value of these ages is not always therefore 
 absolute and general, but sometimes purely local and 
 relative. Finally, flint implements are so far from being 
 themselves, and in all cases, the distinctive marks of a 
 very remote epoch, that many tribes, even among those 
 to whom the use of iron is known, often employ stone in 
 preference to metal. On the continent of Europe the 
 general series of facts has everywhere been the same, but 
 the details, the particular characters, have varied accord- 
 ing to a great number of local circumstances. Though 
 they resemble each other, there is not always perfect 
 synchronism. It is not therefore to be wondered at, if 
 we are stiU, as regards many points, reduced to mere con- 
 jecture and hypothesis. The important point is the 
 establishment of the principal landmarks ; this has been ^ 
 already done more or less successfully ; the future wiU 
 decide whether it is necessary to displace them. 
 
 IV. THE QBEAT AITTIQTTITY OP MAW PROVED BT 
 EGYPTIAM- MONUMElfTS. 
 
 Formerly learned men regarded the famous lists of 
 the kings of Egypt, drawn up by Manetho, as apocryphal 
 and false, lists whkih ascribed an extremely remote date 
 
 • Loiiis Lartet et Chaplain Dnparo, Uhe sepvltii/re des anoiens troglo- 
 dytes des Pyrenees, Paris, 1874, 
 
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION. 31 
 
 to the most ancient dynasties. At the present day the 
 curious monuments brought to light by the excavations of 
 M. de Mariette have shown that far from having gone 
 beyond the facts of history, and ' over-crowded his picture 
 with imaginary Pharaohs' (as M. Maury has happily 
 expressed it), Manetho has omitted several whose inscrip- 
 tions and devices modem Egyptian scholars can read 
 almost as easily as the inscription on the Pantheon may 
 be read in Paris. 
 
 It is no long^ disputed that ' on the banks of the Nile 
 art and civilisation date from a time anterior to all history ; 
 that Egypt was from the beginning cast in a mould which 
 has hardly changed with ages, and which the foreign con- 
 querors who succeeded in establishing their rule in the 
 land were forced to respect.' ' 
 
 The development of this idea, which strongly supports 
 our own theory, forms the subject of a learned paper by 
 this weU-known Academician, with which the readers of 
 the ' Eevue des deux Mondes ' are doubtless acquainted. 
 In order to dissipate every legitimate doubt as to the great 
 antiquity of the Egyptian people, and of their civilisation 
 and their arts, it is not necessary to cross the sea, to go to 
 Karnac and to penetrate into its temple, four times as 
 large as Notre Dame in Paris, although it was reserved 
 exclusively for the devotions of the king. It was enough 
 to visit the little temple of Philse in the Champ de Mars, 
 where the rich treasures of the Egyptian exhibition (1867) 
 were displayed to the eyes of all nations. Their artistic 
 beauty and richness, and above all the art displayed in the 
 adorning of the sepulchres, were very remarkable. This is 
 due to the fact that the inhabitants of the Nile, ever pre- 
 occupied with the idea of a future Hfe, looked upon the 
 tombs ' as their true abodes throughout eternity ' (Alfred 
 Maury). Here were exposed coflSns in the form of mum- 
 mies, entirely covered with symbolic figures whose colours 
 have resisted the ravages' of time, and two statues, the one 
 of diorite, the other of green basalt, representing the king 
 
 • Alfred Maxixy, Vancienne Egypte d^aprh Us dernieres decouvertes ; 
 Jtevue dos deux Mondes, Sept. 1, 1867, p. 183. 
 
32 THE ANTiauiTY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 Chafra or Chephren (the fourth king of the fourth dynasty, 
 and the builder of the second of the great pyrainids); 
 statues so well preserved, one of them especially, that fihey 
 appear to be ' fresh from the hands of the able sculpt6r,'by 
 whom they were carved more than 5,000 years ago.' 
 
 Art does not attain at once to that grace of line and truth 
 of expression of which the face of Pharaoh, son of Ea, the 
 sun-god (Chafra), offers us an example. Side by side with 
 these statues of the king Chafra or Schaffra we may'place 
 the wooden statue of one named Ea-em-ke, • feiriarkable 
 for its wonderful state of preservation, and also for its 
 beauty as a work of art, unsurpassed by any of the Greeks, 
 as we are told by a competent judge.' This Ea-em-ke 
 was the governor of a province during the fifth dynasty, 
 that is to say, about a century later than king Schaffra. 
 Lastly, the door of the great pyramid of Sakkara, now one 
 of the most precious treasures of the Berlin Museum, 
 formed part of a monument, which, if it were really built, 
 as it is generally believed, under the first dynasty,'' has 
 withstood for nearly sixty-eight centuries the destroying 
 hand of man and of time. 
 
 ' Such figures terrify the imagination. Forty-niae cen- 
 turies before the birth of Christ is a great age for a work 
 of human hands, and above all, for a true work of- art. 
 Neither India, Asia, nor Assyria have any relics Of a time 
 which approaches so nearly to the origin of humanity. 
 But that which is really overwhelming to the mind is to 
 find at that date, not savage tribes, but a powerfully con- 
 stituted society, of which the formation must have required 
 the lapse of centuries; a civilised people advanced in science 
 and art, and in the knowledge of mechanics, capable of 
 raising monuments of immense size and of indestructible 
 solidity.' ^ 
 
 I shall only mention the jewels found at Thebes on the 
 mummy of the queen Aah-hotep, mother of king Amosis, 
 
 • M. Fr. Lenormant. 
 ^ Under King Onennephes, 4895 B.C. 
 
 ' r. Lenormant, L'AnUguUe d, Vllxiposition wniverselle : Gazette dei 
 Beaux-Arts, Sept. 1, 1867. 
 
EGYPTIAN ART. 33 
 
 jewels of unequalled finish aoad beauty, although they date 
 from the time when Joseph became the minister of the 
 then reigning Pharaoh. Necklaces, bracelets, mirrors, 
 and sacred axes of bronze, carved and gilt, a richly worked 
 dagger, enamelled earthen vases, &c., all these works of 
 antique art excite our surprise and admiration. ' Neither 
 Greece nor Etruria,' we are told by M. Lenormant, ' has 
 produced any jewels which surpass those of the queen 
 Aah-hotep in grandeur of conception, in elegance and 
 purity of form, or in beauty of workmanship. But imagi- 
 nation is confounded at the thought that these ornaments, 
 which reveal such a high degree of artistic culture, such 
 wonderful manual skill in the workmen, are the product of 
 a time of civil trouble and of war, when Egypt was pain- 
 fully emerging from a long-continued struggle with a horde 
 of barbarians (hyhsos or shepherd kings) whose invasion 
 had covered her land with ruins.' 
 
 It is time to conclude, but I cannot refrain from no- 
 ticing two other objects in a wonderful state of preservation 
 which were exposed in the collection of M. Maxiette. Here 
 again M. Lenormant shall speak for us. ' The graceful 
 wooden spoon, which represents a young Nubian girl swim- 
 ming and pushing an oval basin before her on the surface 
 of the water, is of the time of Moses. With a little 
 imagination we might almost believe that it lay on the 
 table of Pharaoh's daughter. This charming little basket, 
 with a cover woven of parti-coloured cane, and admirably 
 preserved, which one of our own ladies might use as a 
 work-basket, was found at Thebes in a tomb of the eleventh 
 dynasty. It is therefore two centuries older than Abraham. 
 Many centuries must have elapsed before such a degree of 
 perfection was attained, and we are, indeed, far removed 
 from the first attempts at sculpture which have been dug 
 out of the caverns of Languedoc and Perigord. Yet there 
 can be no doubt that Egyptian art, so perfect under the 
 reign of Chephren and his successors, began by equally 
 rude attempts. But from what remote age they date, or 
 what were the names of those earlier artists, we know as 
 
34 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 little as we know who were the sculptors whose chisel 
 created the sphinx and the statues of the kings.' 
 
 We must add that in the remote epochs of which we 
 are speaking, the Egyptian tongue was already formed, 
 I and possessed a written character. The greater number 
 ' of our domestic animals were bred by the Egyptians, and 
 distinct and .long established breeds were known to them 
 i (greyhounds, lop-eared goats, &c.). No one can tell with 
 certainty the number of centuries they must have passed 
 through before attaining to so complex a civUisatiou. 
 The whole history of Egypt confirms our belief in the 
 immense antiquity of the human race. 
 
 We pass on now to compare the remains of primitive 
 industry preserved in the diluvian gravel. of the vaUeys or 
 the sediment of the bone caves with the works of Egyptian 
 art. We must study the flints and the lesson to be drawn 
 from them. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 TSE WORK OF BOUCSES. DE PERTHES. 
 
 I. THE SPLIITTEKED FLIBTTS OE ABBEVILLE. 
 
 To the history of the diluvium a discovery belongs which, 
 though insignificant in appearance, is in reality of the 
 utmost importance from its bearing upon primitive in- 
 dustry : I allude to the flints, sometimes merely chipped 
 into shape, sometimes carefully polished, found in such 
 abundance and in such widely distant parts of the earth, 
 from Paris to Nineveh, from China to Camboja, &om 
 Grreenland to the Cape of Good Hope. Although the true 
 nature of these flints has not been made known to us for 
 more than forty years, the ancients knew of their existence, 
 and, at least to those that were polished, they gave the 
 strange names of lapides fuhninis, ceraunice gemmcE, 
 which expressed the strange notion that they had fallen 
 from the skies with the thunderclap, or were formed in 
 the earth by the fire of Jove. They afterwards came to be 
 looked upon as ' freaks of nature ' (lusus naturce) : as early 
 as 1734, Mahudel, and after him Mercati, ventured to say 
 that they were the weapons of antediluvian man, but this 
 bold assertion was received with ridicule and incredulity. 
 
 Buffon in 1778, in his ' Epoques.de la Nature,' aflBrmed 
 again that the first men began by sharpening into the 
 form of axes these hard flints, jades, or thunder-bolts, 
 which were believed to have fallen from the clouds and to 
 be formed by the thunder, but which, said he, ' are merely 
 the first monuments of the art of man in a state of nature.' 
 This just theory passed unnoticed at the time, but all 
 scientific men are now agreed upon its truth. But it 
 
36 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 is to M. Boucher de Perthes that the honour belongs of 
 having dispersed all doubts and inspired conviction. From 
 the year 1836 to 1841 he made researches, pickaxe in 
 hand, among the ancient tombs, the caves, the peat 
 mosses, the diluvium of the valleys and of the bone 
 caves, and collected thence flints of a remarkable form, 
 more or less sharpened at the edges, presenting a number 
 of unequal facets, and shaped like axes or knives. The 
 origin of these chipped stones and the strata to which 
 they rightly belong form the subject of a series of in- 
 genious inductions, and of prophetic remarks which the 
 event soon justified. I leave the author to speak for 
 himself: 
 
 ' The yellowish tinge of some of these chipped stones 
 of the diluvium was a first indication. This tinge was 
 not that of the flint itself, but was entirely superficial, 
 whence I concluded it was due to the ferruginous nature 
 of the soil with which the stone had come in contact. 
 A certain layer of the diluvium fulfilled this condition ; 
 the shade of colour was precisely that of my axes. They 
 had been imbedded in it, but the question remained 
 whether their presence there was the effect of a recent 
 revolution, and later displacement, or if it dated from the 
 formation of the bed. If the axe was in the bed from its 
 beginning the problem was solved ; the man who had 
 made the implement was anterior to the cataclysm to 
 which the deposit owed its formation. In this case there 
 is no possibility for doubt ; for the diluvian deposits do not, 
 like the peat-bogs, present an elastic and permeable mass, 
 nor a gaping chasm Mke the bone caves, open to every 
 comer, and which have for centuries served as a shelter, 
 and then as a tomb, to so many different creatures ; in 
 such a mixture of all ages, in this neutral bed, a species 
 of caravanserai for past generations, it is impossible to 
 characterise the different epochs. 
 
 ' In the diluvian formations, on the contrary, each 
 period is sharply defined. The horizontally disposed 
 layers, the strata differing in colour and substance, 
 show us the history of the past in clear characters : the 
 
DISCOVERIES OF BOUCHEB DE PERTHES. 37 
 
 great convulsions of nature seem to be traced upon them 
 by the finger of God. 
 
 ' Here the proofs begin ; and they cannot be gain- 
 said, if this work of human hands, of which I said, " It is 
 there," has remained there from the first. As irremovable 
 as the bed itself, it came with it, and has there remained, 
 and since it has aided in its formation, it had a prior 
 existence.' ' 
 
 This work of human hands, to which M. Boucher de 
 Perthes was devoting all his efforts, was ' those rude stones 
 which in their imperfection prove the existence of man no 
 less surely than such a building as the Louvre itself could 
 have done.' 
 
 He had found the proofs which he sought so eagerly, 
 and in 1839 he brought them from Abbeville to Paris : but 
 the axes and knives of the dUuvium excited the ridicule of 
 geologists, and inspired them with doubts as to the sanity 
 of the man of genius who came with a candour which 
 does him honour, to submit his discoveries to those who 
 could not understand him. They were afraid of these 
 stones, whose language, as interpreted by M. Boucher de 
 Perthes, concealed, as they thought, some heresy or mysti- 
 fication ; and for a time the flints of Abbeville were con- 
 demned to ridicule or oblivion. But fortunately, as it 
 nearly always happens, truth, long unrecognised, ended 
 by overcoming the systematic resistance, the absurd preju- 
 dices, and the presumptuous incredulity of its opponents. 
 They consented at last to examine the discoveries, and 
 thenceforward doubt became impossible. They had under 
 their eyes the manifest proof of human workmanship of a 
 much earlier date than the earliest traditions, or than the 
 monuments which the most remote antiquity has left us. 
 
 In spite of the evidence of proofs, the question was 
 not generally considered to be resolved; objections poured 
 in from every quarter. Some maintained that these 
 fractured flints were not of human workmanship ; that 
 they were of volcanic origin ; melted by intense heat, and 
 
 ' Boucher de Perthes, De Vliomme a/idedilv/ricn et de ses ceimres, p. 3, 
 Paris, I860. 
 
 3 
 
38 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 thrown up into space from the crater, they fell back into 
 the water in the form of a vitrified glass. Others attributed 
 them to the action of frost, which had split the flints 
 so adroitly as to cause them to take the form of axes 
 and knives. The means by which they were introduced 
 into the diluvian beds was easily explained by the assertion 
 that the workmen employed in the excavations had placed 
 them there. Some even went so far as to maintain that 
 these axes had penetrated the upper layers in virtue of 
 their own weight, as if the beds in which they are found 
 were sufficiently permeable ever to have allowed of such 
 infiltration. 
 
 Some well-known geologists asserted that these de- 
 posits were of recent origin, or at least but little earUer than 
 the arrival of the Eomans in Gaul. Others, considering 
 them to belong to the quaternary epoch, that is, to a pre- 
 historic period, have maintained the opinion, unsupported 
 by any adequate proof, that these strata have been dis- 
 turbed by man ; that is, that their original position has 
 been changed long after their formation. Others again 
 asserted that these chipped stones were merely gunflints : 
 ' a remarkable statement,' said a critic, with a spice of 
 malice, ' which proves that its authors were very certainly 
 not the inventors of gunpowder.' 
 
 Indeed these objections are not serious, and it seems 
 astonishing that they can have been seriously made by 
 their authors. The first, which attributes the origin of 
 the flints to volcanic action, may be classed with the 
 ancient notion which attributed to Jove the origin of 
 the Iwpides fulmvais, of the ceraunice gemmcB. The 
 second, which explains the origin of these same flints by 
 the action of frost, is no explanation at all. To admit the 
 third, we must admit also the most complete under- 
 standing among the workmen of every country, and these 
 are not a few, where artificially shaped stones have been 
 found in the diluvium. The fourth objection, asserting 
 that the stones deposited on the surfaces of the diluvian 
 beds have by their own weight buried themselves in them, 
 is sufficiently refuted by its own absurdity. 
 
ANTIQUITY OF THE BONES. 39 
 
 There remains, then, only the assertion of those who 
 hold that the diluvian strata, displaced after their forma- 
 tion, received at a comparatively recent epoch the axes 
 and knives which they contain. But as M. Boucher 
 de Perthes reasonably demands, by whom were they dis- 
 placed ? Not by man, for the whole population of Gaul 
 would not have sufficed for the task, even if the diluvium 
 of Abbeville were alone in question. The utter im- 
 possibility of such a displacement is made manifest when 
 we consider that the same phenomenon, that is, the pre- 
 sence of hewn mnts, has been observed in the same 
 situations and in identical circumstances in aU quarters of 
 the globe. 
 
 Moreover, the bones of extinct animals, of fossil ani- 
 mals in the sense which Cuvier himself attached to the 
 word, are nearly always found with the flints in question. 
 Such are the Mephas primigenius, the Rhinoceros ticho- 
 rhinus, &c. Again, a whole limb of the Rhmoceros haymi- 
 toechus was found at Menchecourt, of which the different 
 bones were still, as it were, articulated and placed each in 
 the position which they had occupied during life. Cer- 
 tainly, if, as it must be admitted, this Hmb had occupied 
 undisturbed for thousands of years its original position in 
 the gravelly bed where it was found, it is impossible still to 
 deny that the hewn flints lying beside it were contempo- 
 raneous with it. 
 
 Many other similar or analogous facts have been 
 observed. However, it must be owned that we cannot 
 conclude with absolute certainty that they are of the same 
 date from the fact that the flints are frequently found in 
 company with the bones of extinct species. It is just 
 possible that violent currents had borne along in their 
 course and mingled together the d&hris of very different 
 epochs. But doubt would be no longer possible if unequi- 
 vocal traces of human workmanship were discovered upon 
 the bones found buried in the same beds with the flints. 
 
 Our learned colleague, however, M. Ed. Laxtet saw, 
 and many others have since seen, incisions. made by a sharp 
 instrument, probably a flint knife, upon the bones of the 
 
40 THE ANTiaUITY OF THE HUMAK EACE. 
 
 rhinoceros, and upon the antlers of stags of extinct species 
 which were found in all the diluvian beds of the valley of 
 the Somme. Similar examples have since been repeatedly 
 remarked, and there is no tolerably complete collection 
 which does not contain flint implements found in company 
 with the antlers and bones of extinct animals, bearing the 
 marks of the teeth of saws or of incisions made in order to 
 detach the skin from them, to separate them from the 
 skull, or to divide them into fragments of a convenient 
 size. 
 
 We may conclude then, that the flints of the diluvium 
 of Picardy are the productions of human art, proving that 
 the man of Abbeville lived at the same time as the mam- 
 moth and the Rhinoceros hcemitcechus, that is to say, at an 
 altogether prehistoric period, At that time the bed of the 
 Somme was 60 ft. higher than its present level ; the 
 river had not then hollowed out the valley in which it 
 now flows. England was not separated from France by 
 the Straits of Dover at the epoch of which we are speak- 
 ing; and supposing London and Abbeville to have been 
 then in existence, the traveller might have gone from 
 one town to the other on foot. The Ehine valley stretched 
 away to the northward across the plains not yet sub- 
 merged beneath the German Ocean, and received the 
 tributary waters of the Humber, the Tweed, and the 
 Thames, whose streams were fuller and more rapid than 
 they are in our day. The Ehine and the Ehone, abun- 
 dantly fed from the same source, hollowed their vast beds, 
 bearing along in their currents the dSbris of the con- 
 temporary fauna, and burying with them the stone im- 
 plements of our European ancestors in the fresh deposits 
 which they formed. 
 
 Nevertheless, in spite of the important results ob- 
 tained by the patient researches of M. Boucher de Per- 
 thes, the Institute, for more than fifteen years, regarded 
 with the most complete indifference the discoveries of 
 the learned antiquary of the Somme. Finally, however, 
 its members were obliged by the force of circumstances to 
 cast a more or less contemptuous glance upon these dis- 
 
CONTROVERSY RESPECTING THE ST.-ACHEUL FLINTS. 41 
 
 coveries. A paper * written by Dr. EigoUot, at first the 
 declared adversary, but afterwards the warm partisan of the 
 theories of Boucher de Perthes, drew the attention of the 
 first, scientific body in France to the 'Antiquites Dilu- 
 viennes,' a book which contains, it is true, many daring 
 conjectures, but at the same time a number of convincing 
 facts, ingenious theories, and unanswerable arguments. 
 
 As the author says, ' this attention was not kindly. 
 A purely geological question was made the subject of 
 religious controvgrsy. Those who threw no doubt upon 
 my religion accused me of rashness : an unknown archeeolo- 
 gist, a geologist without a diploma, I was aspiring, they said, 
 to overthrow a whole system confirmed by long experience 
 and adopted by so many distinguished men. They declared 
 that this was a strange presumption on my part. Strange, 
 indeed ; but I had not then, and I never have had, any 
 such intentions. I revealed a fact; consequences were 
 deduced from it, but I had not made them. Truth is 
 no man's work ; she was created before us and is older 
 than the world itself; often sought, more often repulsed, 
 we find, but do not invent her. Sometimes too we seek 
 her wrongly, for truth is to be found not only in books ; she 
 is everywhere ; in the water, in the air, on the earth ; we 
 cannot make a step without meeting her, and when we do 
 not perceive her it is because we shut our eyes or turn 
 away our head. It is our prejudices or our ignorance 
 which prevent us from seeing her, from touching her. 
 If we do not see her to-day, we shall see her to-morrow ; 
 for strive as we may to avoid her, she will appear when 
 the time is ripe. Happy the man who is prepared to 
 greet her, and to say to the passers-by, Behold her ! ' ^ 
 
 As the Institute of France had so long refused to Listen 
 or to believe, it is not astonishing that the public re- 
 mained indifferent or incredulous, and that as late as 1853 
 M. Boucher de Perthes was still asked how it was that 
 
 ' Dr. Eigollot, Memoire smr les indruments en silex trouves a Saint- 
 Acheul, Amiens, 1851. 
 
 ' Boucher de Perthes, De Vhomme antedilumcn et de scs anivres, 
 p. 13, Paris, 1860. 
 
42 THE ANTiaUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 his pretended" antedihivian axes and knives were only to 
 be found in the gravel beds of the valley of the Somme ; 
 how it happened that he alone had found any such? 
 Numerous facts gave a prompt reply to these questions, 
 of which the contempt and incredulity were ill-disguised. 
 Others were sought for and were found, indeed, had already 
 been almost unconsciously found. 
 
 In fact, without going back to the precise details 
 which antiquity has furnished us respecting the flints 
 called thunder-bolts, there is in the British Museum a 
 stone weapon, found by Conyers, as the label tells us, 
 more than a centiiry and' a" hafl;' ago, with an elephant's 
 tooth, near Grruyes. This weapon, which, according to 
 Evans, is rudely sketched in a letter on the antiquities 
 of London, dated 1715, is the exact reproduction of the 
 flint lance heads so common in the diluvian beds of Abbe- 
 ville and Saint-Acheul. 
 
 A century later than Conyers, in 1800, John Frere found 
 in a gravel quarry at Hoxne, in Suffolk, flint tools of the 
 same type as those since found in the valley of the Somme, 
 and like them, intermixed with bones of extinct elephants 
 and rhinoceros. Similar discoveries have since been made 
 in every quarter of the globe. Thus in this case also, 
 truth, long denied and banished, has overcome systematic 
 and contemptuous incredulity, and, at the moment I write 
 these lines, there is no scientific man who is not convinced 
 that the most rudely shaped flints show human workman- 
 ship as clearly as the axes of the Eoman lictors : for ' the 
 flints speak,' says Lubbock. We have heard and have still 
 more to hear of what they have to tell us. 
 
 II. DISCOVERT OF THE JA'CTTBOITE OF MOUIiIlf- • 
 aUIGKOW. 
 
 On March 23, 1863 (we are careful to give this me- 
 morable date), M. Boucher de Perthes was gratified by 
 the discovery, at Moulin-Quignon, of the famous jaw- 
 bone, or rather the part of a human jawbone, which 
 became the subject of so much controversy. It lay im- 
 bedded about five yards deep in dark sandy gravel, the 
 
JAWBONE OF MOULIN-QUIGNON. 43 
 
 colour of which was due to an admixture of manganese 
 and oxide of iron, and which was in immediate contact 
 with the subjacent chalk. The same bed contained carved 
 flint, axes of the Saint-Acheul type, and teeth of the 
 mammoth (Elephas primigenius). On April 24, in the 
 same year, M. de Quatrefages made known this discovery 
 in the author's name to the members of the Institute, 
 proclaiming it to be ' one of the most important which 
 could be made in natural science.' (See fig. 1 0.) 
 
 All the newi^papers, not only the scientific journals, 
 but also the political organs, vied with each other in 
 spreading the news of the discovery ; and it was indeed 
 
 Fig. 10. Jawbose of Mol'lik-Quignon. 
 
 a memorable event. Following the example of M. de 
 Quatrefages, who had been one of the first to visit Abbe- 
 ville to inspect the place of this important discovery, 
 and to enquire into all the accompanying circumstances, 
 several English savants, whose names are justly cele- 
 brated (Evans, Falconer, Prestwich, all members of the 
 Koyal Society, who had already visited Abbeville in 
 1859), again visited France, and having entered at once 
 upon a strict and conscientious enquiry into the alleged 
 facts, they began to entertain doubts as to the authen- 
 ticity of the jawbone, and to suspect that it might have 
 been fraudulently introduced by the workmen into the 
 bed where it was foimd. Far from denying in a general 
 way the great antiquity of the human race, these men of 
 science had more than once brought proofs in its favour 
 
44 THE ANTiaUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 but in the present case they did not feel absolutely con- 
 vinced, and they said so honestly. 
 
 Their doubts were principally due to the close resem- 
 blance which this jawbone bears, physically and anato- 
 mically, to other inferior maxillaries belonging to members 
 of races now in existence. Prompted by the desire of dis- 
 pelling such doubts, and of resolving at once and for 
 all the important question in debate, M. de Quatrefages 
 proposed that a kind of congress should be held, at 
 which, after having seen and handled the subject of dis- 
 pute, English and French men of science should discuss 
 together the difficult or disputed points and then draw 
 their conclusions. 
 
 In accordance with this suggestion, Messrs. Busk, 
 Carpenter, Falconer, and Prestwich went to Abbeville. 
 Among the French savants were MM. Milne-Edwards, 
 de Quatrefages, Desnoyers, Delesse, Lartet, Daubree, 
 Delafosse, Hebert, Albert Gaudry, P. Bert, Alph. Milne- 
 Edwards, de Vibraye, Dr. Vaillant, I'Abbe Bourgeois, 
 Dr. Garrigou, &c. M. H. Milne-Edwards was chosen 
 president of the congress. After the facts had been 
 examined and discussed, it was unanimously agreed that 
 the axes and the jawbone of MouUn-Quignon were really 
 authentic, and that fraud had had no part in their burial. 
 However, Messrs. Busk and Falconer still desired to make 
 some reservations, and the latter requested that the 
 following declaration should be annexed to the report. 
 'My opinion is that the discovery of the human jaw- 
 bone is authentic, but that neither its characteristics nor 
 the conditions under which it was found, sufficiently prove 
 that the aforesaid jawbone is of very great antiquity.' 
 
 Messrs. H. Milne-Edwards, de Quatrefages, Lartet, 
 Prestwich, and Carpenter, on the other hand, remained 
 firm in the belief that this human relic belonged to an 
 extremely remote date. M. Pictet of Geneva, and the 
 immense majority of geologists, both French and foreign, 
 embraced this opinion, and declared that the man of 
 Moulin-Quignon had witnessed the geological phenomenon 
 which had deposited the beds of diluvian gravel. 
 
CONGRESS OF SAVANTS AT ABBEVILLE. 45 
 
 Messrs. Falconer and Busk did not remain long uncon- 
 vinced. One dissentient voice was raised, however, in the 
 midst of the general concord, and affirmed in the Academy 
 of Sciences at Paris, that neither the axes of Moulin- 
 Quignon, nor those of Menchecourt, and of Abbeville, nor 
 even those of Grrenelle and Clichy, should be considered as 
 diluvian. Subsequent causes had imbedded them in 
 these strata, which had been disturbed and were even 
 comparatively modem. Therefore, added the same Aca- 
 demician, a great authority in geological questions, it is a 
 mistake or a chimera to believe that man was the con- 
 temporary of the mammoth or the diluvian rhinoceros. 
 This incredulous, or at least exceedingly cautious Acade- 
 mician, was M. Elie de Beaumont. 
 
 On the other hand, we can oppose to this well-known 
 name those of MM. Prestwich, Lyell, Lartet, Des- 
 noyers, Gaudry, and others, who all maintained that the 
 beds of Abbeville and of Moulin-Quignon belonged to the 
 quaternary epoch, and had remained undisturbed from 
 the day of their formation. 
 
 This was the state of affairs, and the ' trial of the jaw- 
 bone' seemed to be at an end, when on July 18, 1864, 
 M. de Quatrefages communicated to the Academy a new 
 Note, in which he announced that M. Boucher de Perthes 
 had just found, in the district of Moulin-Quignon, already 
 so famous, a second jawbone, a skull, and other human 
 bones. The author of the memorandum insisted upon the 
 identity of the spot, upon the precautions taken to avoid 
 deception, and he declared himself to be as before, abso- 
 lutely convinced of the authenticity of these remains. 
 The learned Academician left it to geologists to determine 
 the age of the beds whence they were taken, and also the 
 antiquity of the human race buried therein. 
 
 The question now appeared to be definitively settled, 
 for so many minute precautions, such a careful examina- 
 tion, such learned consultations, with names so justly re- 
 spected, seemed to be a guarantee of the truth which was 
 above the least suspicion. Yet it was whispered, and even 
 audibly spoken in certain circles which profess to be well 
 
46 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 informed, that the members of the Congress of Abbeville 
 were the victims of a monstrous fraud, and Evans himself 
 repeats that ' I do not of course allude to the too cele- 
 brated Mouhn-Quignon jaw, over which I have already 
 pronounced a Requiescat in pace,' ' 
 
 Even granting that this deception was really practised, 
 no one can deny that the skuUs of Grenelle and of CUchy, 
 of which we shall soon have occasion to speak, were taken 
 from an undisturbed bed of grey diluvium, as ancient as 
 that of MouHn-Quignon. The skulls of Neanderthal, of 
 Engis, &c., and the jawbones of Naulette (figs. 1 1 and 12), 
 
 Fig. 11. jAWBONii of Naulette. 
 
 Fig. 12. Jawbone of chimpanzee. 
 
 of Aurignac, and of Arcy, found in the bone caves of the 
 palaeolithic age, also bear strong testimony in favour of 
 the great antiquity of the human race. It is in the caves 
 therefore that we will now seek our proofs. But here, 
 more than anywhere else, we must surround ourselves with 
 
 ' See Evans, The Ancient Stone Implements, Weapons, and Orna- 
 ments of Great Britain, p. 617. Although human bones have not yet 
 been found in the diluvium of English valleys, the author whom we 
 have just quoted admits that the human race is contemporaneous with 
 the extinct animals of which the remains are found abundantly in 
 Franee in the same diluvium, or in a number of bone caves. 
 
SKULLS OF NEANDERTHAL. 47 
 
 minute precautions. We shall have to examine the bones 
 and other objects which are found there, and determine 
 whether they are buried in a virgin soil which has never 
 been disturbed ; since it is on this condition only that we 
 can draw certain conclusions from the facts which have 
 been observed. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 THE BONE CAVES. 
 I. HISTOKT OP THE QUESTIOIT. 
 
 Every important discovery is generally preceded by partial 
 discoveries which herald or foreshadow its approach. Some 
 fact attracts the attention of an observant mind ; another 
 similar fact appears, perhaps simultaneously, perhaps 
 after an interval of greater or less duration ; other phe- 
 nomena of like nature group themselves around the first ; 
 and this assemblage of scattered gleams produces a ray of 
 light which at length strikes the eyes of all beholders. 
 But the new idea which shines out brilliantly from the 
 surrounding obscurity is nearly always opposed to the 
 reigning opinion which has become, so to speak, an article 
 of scientific, often even of reUgious faith. Hence arise a 
 strenuous opposition, a more or less passionate strife, 
 until at last the human mind can enjoy its new conquest 
 in peace. 
 
 Such is the approximate history of every question 
 which has been the subject of human dispute. That 
 which concerns the synchronism of our species with the 
 great extinct mammals could form no exception to the 
 general law. Proofs of this fact are now abundant ; and 
 the bone caves have furnished a contingent which is by 
 no means to be despised. 
 
 As early as 1828, Toumal of Narbonne announced to 
 the scientific world the discovery of human remains,' and 
 of things fashioned by the hand of man, in the cave of 
 Bize (Aude) intermixed with bones of animals which 
 
 ' A fragment of the superior maxillary. 
 
MAN AND EXTINCT SPECIES CONTEMPOEARY. 49 
 
 Cuvier himself considered as fossil in every acceptation of 
 the word. This discovery, important in every point of 
 view, was received with a caution which was almost exces- 
 sive, even on the part of the Institute. 
 
 It is true that the proof is not absolutely complete, 
 since the cave of Bize was at one time beUeved to date 
 only from the time of the reindeer, and, as it was said, con- 
 tained no remains of the cave bear, nor of the cave hyena, 
 nor of the mammoth, nor of the Rhinoceros tichorhinus, 
 &c., in a word, of none of the great characteristic mam- 
 malia of the beginning of the quaternary epoch. But at 
 the present day every serious objection disappears in face 
 of the fa^ts attested by Grervais, that the cave bear and cave 
 hyena do occur at Bize, that he has himself found them 
 there, and that consequently the cave is of more ancient 
 date than was originally believed. We cite the words 
 of the learned professor of the museum, who is known to 
 be as a rule opposed to the theory of the great antiquity 
 of man. 
 
 ' I maintain that the Ursus spelcsua and the Hyaena 
 spelcea are buried in the same place as man ; and that the 
 cave of Bize may be cited as a proof in support of the 
 opinion that our species was the contemporary of these 
 two great carnivora.' ' 
 
 Every doubt as to the contemporary existence of man 
 and of extinct species should have disappeared, when on 
 June 29, 1829, M. de Christol, then secretary of the 
 Societe d'Histoire Naturelle of MontpeUier, submitted to 
 the Institute a paper entitled, ' Notice sur les ossements 
 fossiles des cavemes du departement du Gard.' The 
 author of this work, which received at the time less 
 notice than it deserved, after having carefully examined 
 the caves of Pondres and of Souvignargues (Gard), adduced 
 new and conclusive facts in support of those already cited 
 by M. Toumal. He proved incontestably, as we think, 
 that the cave of Pondres, being entirely filled by the 
 diluvium at the time when he visited it, could not have 
 
 ' Gervais, Reoherches swr Vaneiennete de Vlwmme et de la periode 
 quaternaire, p. 64. 
 
50 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 received any substance of modern or foreign origin, which 
 has sometimes happened with certain hollows more easy 
 of access. He showed further that the bones of hyenas 
 and the fragments of pottery which occur there are found 
 at every depth, and that the human remains are ' in 
 precisely the same geological conditions as all the other 
 bones with which they are associated.' 
 
 At Souvignargues M. de Christol dug out of the 
 deepest part of the undisturbed diluvium a humerus, a 
 radius, a fibula, a sacrum, and two vertebrae, which had 
 formed part of the skeleton of an adult of sniall size, 
 perhaps of a woman, as Professor DubreuU thinks. 
 
 In 1833 Dr. Schmerling explored the numerous caves 
 of Belgium, and in several of them, notably at Engis and 
 at Engihoul, near Liege, he ascertained the existence of 
 skulls and of portions of the human skeleton, together 
 with those of bears, hyenas, elephants, rhinoceroses, &c., 
 lying in the diluvian deposits, sometimes above and some- 
 times below the remains of these species which are already 
 universally recognised as fossil. Bones and flints shaped 
 by human hands, extracted from the same beds, served to 
 confirm Schmerling in the belief that man was the con- 
 temporary of the extinct animal population whose remains 
 he had found. 
 
 The conclusion was no doubt logical, and yet it was 
 opposed by several geologists of great authority. Lyell 
 himself did not at first admit it (1833) ; but more than a 
 quarter of a century later (1860), on the occasion of a 
 visit to the Schmerling collection, and to several of the 
 places whence the specimens it contains were extracted, 
 the famous author of the ' Principles of Greology ' frankly 
 acknowledged and retracted his error, in terms which 
 are still more creditable to his character than to his 
 judgment. 
 
 This brings us to 1835, the date at which I, an un- 
 known disciple of science, ventured to maintain that man 
 was perhaps the contemporary of the bears whose remains 
 I had lately found at Nabrigas (Loz^re) together with a 
 fragment of pottery of early workmanship, which was 
 
EELiaUIiE DILUVIAN^. 51 
 
 judged worthy by M. Christy to be cast at Toiilouse for the 
 purpose of enriching the principal museums of France.' 
 
 My paper, which was published in the ' Bibliotheque 
 Universelle ' of Greneva, being the work of an unknown 
 author, attracted very little notice in France, and in spite 
 of the new proofs which it brought forward in support of 
 the theory of the co-existence of man and extinct species, 
 was perhaps for that very reason, forgotten or ranked with 
 those rash assumptions then called juvenile, of which my 
 learned predecessors MM. Tournal and Christol had given 
 me the example. I hope the reader will pardon me this 
 personal allusion, this return towards an already distant 
 past, which recalls to me my early beginnings in science, 
 to which I have with disinterested devotion consecrated 
 the greater part of my life. 
 
 In 1838 a work appeared entitled ' Essais sur les 
 cavemes a ossements et sur les causes qui les y out accu- 
 mules.' After enumerating the different places where 
 either human remains or fragments of human industry 
 have been found, the author, M. Marcel de Serres, con- 
 cludes by saying : ' It appears then an established fact 
 .... that man was the contemporary of the extinct 
 species whose remains are found scattered in certain of 
 the bone caves of Europe' (p. 198). It is true that, in 
 1860, Marcel de Serres expressed a very different opinion. 
 ' It appears,' he says, ' that the true beds of diluvian 
 deposit, also called diluvium, do not contain the least 
 trace of bones, nor of human industry and remains.' ^ At 
 the present day few, if indeed any, geologists share this 
 later opinion of the MontpelUer professor. 
 
 In England the bone caves had also been eagerly ex- 
 plored, but often without method, and with preconceived 
 ideas. The important work of Dr. Buckland, published 
 in 1823, under the title of 'Eeliquise Diluvianse,' had 
 
 ' I presented one of these casts to the Museum of Natural History at 
 Toulouse. 
 
 ^ Marcel de Serres : ' Ses espeoes perdueg, et des rOfCes qui ont 
 disparu des lieux gu'elles haHtaient primitivement ' {Annal. Seient. 
 Natwrel., t. xiii. p. 300, 1860). 
 
52 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 attracted considerable attention among scientific men ; 
 but it maintained that man was not contemporary with 
 the extinct species. The discoveries made in 1842 in 
 Kent's Cavern, near Torquay, Devonshire, by Mr. Grodwin 
 Austen, clearly disproved these conclusions, but without 
 convincing geologists or palseontologists. 
 
 The year 1858 marks the beginning of an important 
 era. A reaction against the too absolute opinions of Dr. 
 Buckland set in in England, and this opposition originated 
 in the Royal Society. Several of its most eminent mem- 
 bers, among others Falconer and Prestwich, were com- 
 naissioned by the Eoyal Society to explore with the greatest 
 care the recently discovered cave of Brixham (Devon- 
 shire), and to draw up a report on the subject. Among a 
 quantity of caxved flints and bones of extinct species, 
 an entire left hind leg of Ursus spelceus was found lying 
 above the incrustation of stalagmite which covered the 
 bones of other extinct species and the carved flints. 
 The bear had therefore lived after the manufacture of 
 these flint knives, consequently after the men who fashioned 
 them. These men were therefore more ancient than the 
 cave bear. 
 
 Such were the conclusions of the Eoyal Society, and 
 they were shortly afterwards confirmed by discoveries 
 similar to those made at Brixham, notably by those of the 
 cave of Long Hole (Grlamorganshire), where Colonel Wood, 
 in 1861, found imbedded in the same stratum flint tools 
 of the type of those of Amiens, together with bones of the 
 Rhinoceros hcemitcBchus, which is of yet earlier date than 
 the tichorhinus. 
 
 From all these facts we gather that the theory of the 
 co-existence of man and extinct species is no new one, and 
 that proofs in support of it are not wanting ; but it has 
 only been supported by incontestable evidence, at least 
 as far as France is concerned, since the publication of the 
 valuable works of M. Lartet on the bone caves of Perigord 
 and upon the burial cave of Aurignac (Haute Garonne). 
 It may even be said that the last remarkable monograph 
 of this savant has become the starting point of all the 
 
DESCRIPTION OF THE BONE CAVES. 53 
 
 researches which have since been undertaken in France, 
 in England, in Belgium, in Italy, and in Spain. I am far 
 from wishing to underrate the value and importance of 
 the work which has been done in the bone caves of neigh- 
 bouring countries ; but the caves of France, and especially 
 those of southern France and of Perigord, have supplied 
 the most convincing proofs in support of this theory of 
 synchronism, which acquires every day a greater number 
 of partisans. This is an important fact, which Lyell him- 
 self seems to h^ive somewhat forgotten, but M. d'Archiac 
 has taken care to claim the recognition of its great im- 
 portance. 
 
 II. DESCBIPTIOIT OP THE BONE CAVES. 
 
 The name of bone caves is given to the more or less 
 extensive natural cavities which occur in Ihe sedimentary 
 rocks of almost every epoch, but especially in those of the 
 cretaceous beds of the Jurassic Mountains, and which 
 contain a variable number of bones of men or of animals, 
 intermixed, as a rule, with articles of human workman- 
 ship. These cavities, usually complex, and very irregular 
 in form, communicate with each other, sornetimes by wide 
 galleries, sometimes by winding passages^ so narrow and so 
 low that they can only be traversed on hands and knees. 
 Varying considerably in length and height, they extend 
 sometimes a distance of some miles in the interior of the 
 strata in which they are concealed. Situated for the most 
 part at a much higher level than existing watercourses, 
 they communicate with the outer air by openings in the 
 side of the mountain, by holes in the vaulted roof, or by 
 a species of natural wells, into which in many cases those 
 torrents fell which formerly bore along in their current 
 the various matters now found in the caves. Hence come 
 the evident marks of erosion which are almost always to 
 . be observed on their walls.' 
 
 As they hollowed out the valleys and gradually 
 deepened their beds, the great rivers of the quaternary 
 
 ' The care of Duruthy, recently described by M. Louis Lartet, is 
 hollowed in a bed of nummulitic chalk. 
 
54 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HXTMAN EACE. 
 
 epoch, often swollen by heavy rains, bore away the rocks 
 which closed the entrance of the caverns, and deposited 
 within them the ossiferous sediment and the waterworn 
 stones which are found there ; we must therefore admit, 
 with M. Ed. Dupont, first, that the openings of the caverns 
 found on the slopes of the valleys took place at a date 
 corresponding to their greater or less height above the 
 present level of the river ; secondly, that the fluviatile de- 
 posits with which they are partly filled are the more ancient, 
 the higher they are raised above this same level. 
 
 These deposits usually consist of a reddish, or some- 
 times black sediment of sand or mud, containing bones of 
 different kinds intermixed with sand, gravel, and water- 
 worn pebbles, or with angular fragments broken off firom 
 the roof or walls of the cavity. The ossiferous sediment is 
 usually disposed in layers ; sometimes it forms a hard crust, 
 intermixed with fragments of bone imbedded firmly in its 
 mass, and it is then termed a bone breccia. Breccia of this 
 nature nearly always occupy the lower part of the caverns 
 and fill up their fissures. 
 
 A stalagmitic crust of varying thickness covers in 
 many cases the sediment and the remains imbedded in it. 
 Sometimes even the successive ossiferous deposits are 
 separated from each other by as many layers of stalagmite 
 as there are layers of sediment.' Other calcareous incrust- 
 ations, known as stalactites and stalagmites, presenting the 
 most varied and whimsical forms, often cover the floor, 
 the walls, and the roof of the caverns, and give them that 
 fantastic appearance which caused them formerly to be 
 considered as the abode of fairies. 
 
 Occurring, as we have said, in the most various beds 
 (chalk of the transition period, Jurassic, cretaceous, nummu- 
 Utic, and upper marine tertiary rocks), and in every country 
 
 ' In certain Brazilian caves Lund has counted seven layers of ossi- 
 ferous sediment, separated by as many layers of stalagmite ; a certain 
 proof that the bones therein contained were deposited at different and 
 successive epochs. The same phenomenon was observed in a gallery of 
 the cave of Brixham, near Torquay, and in certain caverns of France and 
 Belgium. This clearly shows that the waters were introduced and with- 
 drawn several times, and in the intervals the stalagmite was deposited. 
 
CONTENTS OF THE BONE CAVES. 55 
 
 on the earth, the bone caves present nearly everywhere 
 the same general characters, but not the same contents. 
 Thus while the most ancient caverns of the European con- 
 tinent contain in more or less abundance the bones of the 
 Ursus spelcBus, the Hycena spelcea, the Mephas primige- 
 nius, the Rhinoceros tichorhinus, the Cervus tarandus, the 
 Megaceros hibemicus, the Bison europceus or aurochs, &c., 
 those of America contain, besides the monkeys peculiar to 
 that continent, the remains of animals which recall, but 
 in colossal proportions, certain species of edentata stiU 
 living in the country. Such are the megatheriuTn, the 
 mylodon, the Tnegalonyx, the glyptodon, &c. 
 
 Finally, in Australia, where the only indigenous mam- 
 mals belong exclusively to the family of marsupials or 
 pouched animals, we find marsupials of gigantic size in 
 the bone caves {Diprotodon australis, Macropus atlas, 
 Phascolomys gigas, &c.). 
 
 The condition of the bones imbedded in the sediment 
 of the caves shows that they have undergone considerable 
 changes in their chemical composition. They have gene- 
 rally lost the greater part of their organic matter. They 
 are fragile, resonant, more or less friable, cracked, and 
 stick to the tongue when they are touched with it. Many 
 of them are irregularly broken across, or else intentionally 
 split lengthways. As a rule, they are scattered without 
 any order in the sediment of the caves, but sometimes 
 they have retained their natural positions. This was" the 
 case with a femur, tibia, fibula, patella, and an astragalus of 
 Ursus spelceus, found by Dr. Falconer in the cave of Brix- 
 ham. The skeletons of the great mammalia (elephant, 
 horse, ox, &c.) are very rarely found entire' in the ossifer- 
 ous grottoes, while all the pieces of the skeleton of the 
 reindeer and of animals of small or middling size are very 
 often, indeed nearly always, to be found. This is owing 
 to the fact that the troglodyte savages of our lands carried 
 
 ' Among the rare examples of which we are speaking, we may instance 
 the al rost entire skeleton of a rhinoceros found in the ossiferous s.jdi- 
 ment of Dream Cave, in Derbyshire, an evident proof that when intro- 
 duced into this subterranean cavern, it was still clothed with flesh, or 
 at least that the bones were still connected by ligaments. 
 
56 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 away entire to their subterraneous dwellings those victims 
 of the chase whose weight was not too great, while they 
 cut up on the hunting ground the larger booty, contenting 
 themselves with bearing away the head and limbs to eat 
 in the cavern. 
 
 So many different opiaions have been put forward with 
 respect to the means by which the bone caves were filled, 
 that it appears impossible to reconcile them with each 
 other. The supposition that all bone caves have been filled 
 by watercourses in flood, which at different times have 
 borne thither, in company with gravel, mud, and pebbles, 
 the immense quantity of bones which they encountered on 
 the surface of the soil, is, we think, a too absolute assertion, 
 and one which observation has shown to be false. For 
 often even the youngest and most fragile bones present no 
 trace of a violent or prolonged removal ; their sharpest 
 edges, their most acute angles, are intact, which would 
 certainly not be the case had they been carried any dis- 
 tance by the current. 
 
 Now this is precisely what has been observed in those 
 caverns which contain only the remains of Ursus spelceus. 
 We are therefore justified in ascribing the accumulation 
 of these remains to the prolonged habitation of the bears 
 in these caves, until the moment when they were over- 
 whelmed by the waters, diluvian or other, and buried then 
 and there in the sediment which they bore along with them. 
 
 Again, when we find in company with these bones of 
 bears, and imbedded in the same sediment, those of herbi- 
 vorous animals intermixed with those of the great Felidm 
 or of Hyaena spelcea, we ought to admit with the author 
 of ' Eeliquise Diluvianae,' that these great carnivora may 
 have carried their prey into these subterranean hollows, to 
 devour it there at their leisure. The marks of the teeth 
 of the carnivora still to be seen on the bones of the 
 herbivora crushed by their powerful jaws ; the presence 
 of their excrement (^coprolithes) in the very place of de- 
 posit; the heaps formed by these ejecta, still placed one 
 over the other, and as if articulated together ; are so many 
 proofs which testify against the th.eory which assigns the 
 
ACCIDENTAL DISTXTHBANCES IN THE CAVES. 57 
 
 action of diluvian currents as the sole agent in the trans- 
 port of organic remains into the bone caves. 
 
 The action of man himself should be seriously taken 
 into consideration in seeking to determine the causes 
 which have brought about the filling of the caves. For 
 in many cases ' they have served as dwellings, as refuges, 
 as the rendezvous of hunters, as meeting places or tombs 
 to the earliest populations of these districts. It is there- 
 fore not surprising that they should have left in them 
 their mortal remains, the fragments of their daily meals, 
 their weapons, their tools, in a word the still simple pro- 
 ducts of their dawning industry. 
 
 Unfortunately, we cannot always be sure that these 
 objects are of the same date as the bones of extinct species 
 with which they are found. Accidental disturbances of 
 the soil, occurring at widely separated periods, may have 
 mixed the productions of human industry with bones of 
 a very different date. This is evidently the case in the 
 cave of Fausan (Herault), where Marcel de Serres found a 
 fragment of enamelled glass embedded in a skull of Ursus 
 spelcBUS ; specimens of fire-baked pottery, relatively quite 
 modern, were found at Bize by the same naturalist, side 
 by side with other vessels of unbaked clay, and of far ruder 
 workmanship. Similar facts, which may have occasioned 
 many mistakes, have been observed in several other caves, 
 among which it is suflScient for the moment to cite those 
 of Herm and Aurignac. 
 
 We cannot therefore always, and as a matter of course, 
 conclude that the human bones found in company with 
 the remains of extinct animals were contemporary with 
 each other. But doubt is no longer reasonable when the 
 bones of animals and those of our own species, uniformly 
 mixed, imbedded in the same sediment, and which have 
 undergone the same alterations, are moreover covered by 
 a thick layer of stalagmite ; when objects of a completely 
 primitive industry occupy the same bed with bones be- 
 longing to extinct species ; when the latter bear the 
 
 ' Some Italian caves were inhabited in the time of the Etruscans, 
 and a few are still used in modern days. 
 
58 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAIJ EACE. 
 
 evident marks of human workmanship ; finally, when we 
 find in the dUuvian strata of the valleys, manufactured 
 objects and bones exactly like those discovered in caves 
 of the same date. Now aU these circumstances occur 
 together in the valleys of the Somme, the Ehine, the 
 Thames, &c. ; as well as in certain caves of France, Eng- 
 land, Belgium, Italy, Sicily, &c. 
 
 All these bone caves cannot and must not, as we shall 
 presently show, be referred to the same epoch. There 
 are many far less ancient than those of which we have 
 just spoken. 
 
 A considerable number of caves belong to the age of 
 polished stone, among which those in the departments of 
 Ariege, of Aveyron, of Lozere, of Grard, and of Marne, have 
 acquired a certain notoriety. In most of these, especially 
 in those which have been used as places of burial, human 
 bones have been found in company with objects made by 
 man, and with remains of animals belonging to species 
 which are analogous to, or altogether the same as those 
 of our time. MM. Grarrigou and Filhol, who have care- 
 fully studied the caves in Ariege {Niaux, Bedeilhac, 
 Mas-d'Azil, &c.) are of opinion that they are of the same 
 date as the oldest lake dwellings of Switzerland.' "We 
 shall have occasion to recur to several of these eaves in 
 the course of this work. 
 
 * In' spite of the opinion of certain geologists who are 
 somewhat behind the age, the researches ma;de in the 
 caves, and likewise those of which the ancient alluvial 
 deposits have been the theatre, clearly prove that man is 
 prior to the events of which the diluvium was the product 
 and the witness. Before that hour his foot pressed the 
 soil which in the far distant future, now for us an obscure 
 past, was to become the land of Gaul. He was the 
 contemporary of the great annihilated quadrupeds. He 
 saw, in our latitude, the primitive elephants wandering in 
 virgin forests, the hippopotamus disporting itself in the 
 rivers, the rhinoceros wallowing in the mud of the 
 
 • See F. Garrigou and H. Filhol, Age de la 2>ierre poUe dams Us 
 cavernes des Pyrenees ariegeoises. 
 
AGE OF THE CAVERNS. 59 
 
 marshes ; he heard the roaring of the Hon, and disputed 
 his life with the terrible cave hear, and hunted those 
 primitive oxen and stags the species of which are extinct.' 
 ('Cosmos,' Journal Scientifique, 1867, p. 199.) 
 
 III. AGE OP THE CAVEBlirS. 
 
 M. Lartet is the author of the idea, at once natural and 
 ingenious, that a kind of palseontologic chronology founded 
 upon the gradual and successive disappearance of the 
 great characteristic species of the quaternary epoch might 
 be established f(Sr the bone caves of Europe. In following 
 out this suggestion we find four principal divisions in the 
 long period to which the bone caves belong, namely : 
 
 1. The age of the great cave bear {Ursits spelceua). 
 
 2. The age of the mammoth elephant (^Elephas pHmi- 
 genius), and of the rhinoceros with partitioned nostrils 
 {Rhinoceros tichorhinus). 
 
 3. The age of the reindeer (Gervus tarandus). 
 
 4. The age of the aurochs {Bison Europceus). 
 
 The first of these ages is characterised by the presence 
 of the bear, usually accompanied by the hyena, and the 
 great cat or cave lion; the Ursus spelceus did not, accord- 
 ing to M. Lartet, smvive this first period. The second 
 epoch is distinguished by the disappearance of the mam- 
 moth, which became extinct, after having long had as 
 almost inseparable companions the Rhinoceros tichorhinus, 
 the great hippopotamus, and Gervus megaceros. In the 
 third period the reindeer, which at first predominates, 
 disappeared from central Europe and migrated further 
 north. Lastly, in the fourth age, the aurochs, which still 
 live among tte Caucasus mountains and in the Lithu- 
 anian forests, is at the present day, with the reindeer, 
 emigrated towards the North, the sole remaining repre- 
 sentative in temperate Europe of those species which are 
 reckoned characteristic of the quaternary period. 
 
 M. Dupont has proposed a classification of the caves 
 which differs from that of M. Lartet. He holds that the 
 oldest caves should be characterised by the presence of 
 such animals as are completely extinct {Mammoth, Ursus 
 
60 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 spelcBus, Felis spelcea). To the second class would belong 
 those caves in which are found the hones of those animals 
 which have migrated (reindeer, chamois), but which 
 survive to our own day. In a third and last group he 
 would include those caves which contain the bones of 
 species still living, or which have been destroyed by man. 
 But as it nearly always happens in such cases, subsequent 
 observations soon showed that these divisions were far too 
 definite, the same cave often belonging to two and even 
 to three consecutive ages. 
 
 For instance, Garrigou and Martin proved that the 
 cave of Lourdes (Hautes Pyrenees),^ ranked by Milne- 
 Edwards and Lartet in the age of the aurochs, should 
 be ascribed to an earlier epoch, for it contains a quantity 
 of reindeer bones, a species which disappeared, as we 
 have already shown, considerably earlier than that of the 
 aurochs." In several caves of Sologne, the Marquis de 
 Vibraye observed in the lowest layer of the diluvium 
 (grey diluvium) bones of extinct species contemporary 
 with the mammoth, together with flint tools of rude 
 workmanship ; the upper layer (red diluvium) contained, 
 on the other hand, abundant remains of the reindeer inter- 
 mixed with flints wrought with a degree of skiU which 
 testifies to the existence of a civilisation equal to that of 
 the lake dwellers of Switzerland. Four successive ages have 
 also been observed in the cave of Mas-d'Azil (Ariege).^ 
 The age of the reindeer and that of polished stone are 
 equally represented in the cave of la Vache.' 
 
 ' Thus we have,' says M. d'Archiac, ' in this single 
 valley of Ariege, the elements of a human chronology 
 which is nowhere else to be found in so complete a form 
 in so limited a space.* 
 
 The Cave of the Fairies (Yonne), explored by M. de 
 
 ' Comptes rendia de Vlmtitut, Mar. 2, 1864. Age de Vavirochs et dge 
 dvi renne dans la grutte de Lourdes. 
 
 2 Garrigou and Filhol, Age de la pierre polie dans les eavernes del 
 Pyrinees anegeaises. 
 
 » Dr. Garrigou, Age du renne dans la gratte de la VaeTie, pres de 
 Tarascon {Ariege). Memoire Soo. Sist. Nat. de Taultmse, 1867, p, 58. 
 
 * D'Archiac, Faune quaternoAre, p. 106, Paris, 1865. 
 
KENT'S CAVERN. 61 
 
 Vibraye, is likewise an example of a cave where several 
 successive ages are well represented. In the lowest layer 
 are contained the remains of the great characteristic 
 species of the diluvium ( ITrsus spelceus, Hycena spelcea, 
 &G.) ; in the middle layer are those of the reindeer ; lastly, 
 in the upper layer (loess) bones of animals stiU living in 
 the district (fox, badger). Analogous facts have been 
 remarked in the department of Herault (cave of Pontil) 
 by M. Grervais ; in that of Aude (at SallMes-Cabardes) by 
 M. Filhol ; in Poitou by MM. Brouillet and Meilles, &c. 
 
 Kent's Cavefn, near Torquay, is another example 
 which proves incontestably that the same bone cave may 
 have been inhabited by man at different epochs. In a 
 layer of red loam overlying the original soil of this cave 
 are found bones of extinct or migrated animals {Machai- 
 rodus latidens, Ursus spelceus, ffycena spelcea, Gervus 
 tarandus, &c.), intermixed with carved flints (some of the 
 Saint-Acheul type, others resembling those of Aurignac, 
 of Moustier, and of Laugerie Haute), and with implements 
 of reindeer bone (harpoons and barbed arrows, awls, pins 
 and needles), which resemble the delicate work of the 
 troglodytes of la Madelaine (Dordogne).' The bed of red 
 loam which contains these various objects is itself covered 
 by a layer of stalagmite from one to three feet thick, and 
 a third layer of dark muddy soil, from four to fifteen inches 
 in depth, overlies the stalagmite. 
 
 ' Above the stalagmite, and principally in the black 
 mould, a number of relics have been found belonging to 
 different periods, such as socketed celts, and a socketed 
 knife of bronze, and some small fragments of roughly- 
 smelted copper, about four hundred flint flakes, cores, and 
 chips, a polishing stone, a ring of stone already described, 
 numerous spindle-whorls, bone instruments terminating 
 in comb-like ends, pottery, marine shells, numerous mam- 
 
 ' Among the flint instrnments discovered in Kent's Cavern are several 
 ■which have the form of long splinters, similar to the splinters of obsidian 
 with which the inhabitants of New Caledonia tip their javelins, and 
 which those of Terra del Fuego use both for arrow heads and knives. 
 Tho English flint knives in question are very like those of Laugerie 
 HautOj but the workmanship is not so good. 
 
 4 
 
62 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 malian bones of existing species, and some human bones, 
 on which it has been thought there are traces indicative 
 of cannibalism. Some of the pottery is distinctly Eoman 
 in character, but many of the objects belong, no doubt, to 
 pre-Roman times.' ' 
 
 We cannot hesitate to conclude from this list, that 
 subsequent to the deposit of the stratujn of dark soil, 
 Kent's Cavern was frequented by men of the age of bronze 
 and of polished stone, without counting those of the Roman 
 epoch who have left in the cave the traces of their in- 
 dustry. But it is equally incontestable that Kent's Cavern 
 long served as a dwelling to the primseval inhabitants of 
 the country, that they had their meals in it, and worked 
 in i3int and bone there, &c., until the day when the thick 
 layer of stalagmite which covers the ossiferous sediment 
 was formed. No other explanation would account for this 
 strange admixture of bones of extinct species, of flints of 
 the Saint-Acheul and Moustier types, of artistically wrought 
 bone implements, contained in the same sediment. 
 
 Here then is a cave which contains incontestably in 
 situ, according to the scientific men who have explored it, 
 objects belonging to all ages, and which it is consequently 
 impossible to rank in either of the too exclusive categories 
 admitted or proposed by palaeontologists. The caves of 
 Hohefels in Wurtemberg and of Thayngen in Switzerland 
 offer analogous and perhaps even more remarkable facts ; 
 for in the last especially were found an essentially northern 
 fauna, and animals whose contemporaneity was far from 
 being suspected. 
 
 The palaeontological classification of caves is therefore 
 liable to lead us into serious mistakes ; and moreover it 
 is often entirely local. Thus Louis Lartet himself was 
 obliged to modify in almost every respect the chronology 
 of his illustrious father, in determining the age of the 
 Spanish caves which he had been exploring. Therefore 
 
 ' ETans, The Ancient Stone Implements, Weapons, and Ornaments 
 uf Great Britain, p. 445, 1872. In certain Italian caves (Grotta dell' 
 Onda, Grotta de' Goti e della Giovannina) bones of Ursus spelieui have 
 been found as well as tools of the neolithic age. 
 
CLASSIFICATION OF THE CAVES. 63 
 
 in 1867 Dr. Garrigou proposed to the Societe d'Histoire 
 Naturelle of Toulouse a new classification, which is gene- 
 rally adopted at the present day. It is as follows : — 
 
 1. The age of the TJraus spelceus, with which the 
 author connects also the period of the mammoth. 
 
 2. The age of the Cervus tarandus (reiadeer), com- 
 prising also that of the aurochs, and characterised in its 
 latter half by the almost complete disappearance of the 
 species of the first age indicated above. 
 
 3. The age pf poUshed stone. 
 
 Like those which it was intended to reform, the classi 
 fication of Dr. Garrigou is somewhat arbitrary ; for we 
 do not know with certainty the precise epoch at which 
 the animals which characterise any given period ap- 
 peared in our lands or disappeared from them. More- 
 over, these epochs sometimes overlap one another, like 
 those of stone, bronze, and iron. • "We know, for instance, 
 that the great cave bear and the mammoth often accom- 
 pany the reindeer, even in those caves where the bones of 
 the latter are far more numerous ; that in certain caves 
 (Solutre) the bones of the last-named animal were dis- 
 covered along with those of the horse, predominant in its 
 turn and perhaps already domesticated ; finally that M. 
 L. Lartet found carved and engraved reindeer bones in the 
 cave of Duruthy, together with objects of industry which 
 announced the dawn of the age of polished stone. 
 
 While recognising the defects we have mentioned, and 
 taking as his point of departure the comparative degree 
 of skill attained in the workmanship of the artificial pro- 
 ducts taken from the bone caves, M. de MortUlet proposed 
 to class these implements as follows : — 
 
 1. The epoch of Saint-Acheul (Somme), distinguished 
 by the almond-shaped axe, the axe in the form of a cat's 
 tongue, and by the absence of bone implements. 
 
 2. The epoch of Moustier (Dordogne), distinguished 
 by scrapers and triangular lance heads, cut only on one 
 side. 
 
 3. The epoch of Solutre (Sa6ne-el>-Loire). The 
 almond-shaped axes disappear j the flint spear heads are 
 
64 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACK 
 
 more skilfully wrought. The principal weapon is an 
 angular mace, which reappears in the following epoch. 
 
 4. The epoch of Aurignac (Haute Garonne). Bone 
 implements are more frequent. The angular mace per- 
 sists. The arrow and spear heads, instead of being flint, 
 are fashioned in bone or from the antlers of the reindeer. 
 
 5. The fifth epoch is that of la Madelaine (Dordogne), 
 distinguished from the preceding by the presence of 
 numerous works of art carved or engraved upon stone or 
 bone. The arrow and lance heads in bone or reindeer 
 horn are, as at Aurignac, bevelled or pointed at their lower 
 extremity so as to penetrate the shaft which is destined 
 to carry them. 
 
 The above classification would be doubtless convenient, 
 if it were in entire agreement with the facts. Unfor- 
 tunately the testimony of facts tends to lessen its value. 
 Thus the workmanship of Cro-Magnon, for instance, 
 seems less advanced than that of la Madelaine, and yet 
 M. de Mortillet confounds the two epochs. Moreover, 
 judging from its tombs, its carved flints, and rude 
 sculpture, we are inclined to place Solutre in an epoch 
 intermediate between the ages of the reindeer and of 
 polished stone. This cave would thus be more recent 
 than la Madelaine, although it is ranked long before it by 
 M. de Mortillet, However, on receipt of further informa- 
 tion, M. de MortiUet subsequently modified his original 
 classification, and we here reproduce an abridged form of 
 his new table of the geological ages. 
 
 Ages Periods 
 
 Neolithic, or of polished stone I ^^ Epbenhausen. The lake dwellings 
 ' ^ [ and dolmens. 
 
 Palseolithio, or of chipped 
 
 stone 
 
 /Of la Madelaine. The majority of 
 the bone oaves ; almost the whole 
 of the reindeer epoch. 
 
 Of Solutrfi. The reindeer and the mam- 
 moth. 
 
 Of Moustier. The great cave bear. 
 
 Of Saint- Aohenl. The mammoth. 
 
 Eoltthic, or of stone splintered f „« mi, m i- 
 
 by the action of fire jOf Thenay. Tertiary period. 
 
CLASSIFICATION Of M. HAMY. 65 
 
 However ingenioug and convenient the industrial classi- 
 fication of M. de Mortillet may be, it is not even a purely 
 artificial one, and more than one objection has already 
 been raised against it on this head. For whatever he 
 may maintain, the progress of industry is not sufficiently 
 evident nor the differences sufficiently marked, between 
 the types of Moustier and Saint-Acheul, to allow us to 
 admit their regular succession in space and time. Nume- 
 rous and precise observations made on the spot by M. 
 d'Acy prove thjt one type is not placed above the other, 
 and that the flints of the Moustier type are as abundant 
 in the lower strata as in the upper, although, according to 
 the theory of M. de Mortillet, they do not occur in the 
 former and only appear higher up. 
 
 Taking into account at once the stratigraphical, palae- 
 ontological, and archaeological characters, and especially 
 desirous to remove the doubts which some people still retain 
 with respect to the authenticity or to the great age of the 
 bones and works of art found in the caves, M. Hamy has 
 endeavoured to establish, between the caves and the 
 quaternary alluvium, a parallel which shows them to be 
 often identical. Indeed it could hardly be otherwise, 
 since in a great number of cases, the filling of the caves 
 took place at the same time as the deposition of the allu- 
 vium in the valleys. There is therefore an agreement, 
 and even synchronism, between these two series of facts, 
 and the organic remains, as well as the products of human 
 industry, are generally identical in the two kinds of de- 
 posit in question. 
 
 If then the fauna of the alluvium of the valleys and 
 that of the sediment of the bone caves are similar,-^the 
 proofs furnished by the one corroborate those given by 
 the others, and by establishing a comparison we can draw 
 our conclusions with certainty. Starting from these pre- 
 mises, which are undoubtedly correct, and always subor- 
 dinating, as he says, the history of the caves to that of the 
 alluvium, M. Hamy has divided the bone caves into five 
 groups corresponding to as many places which serve 
 as types of stratified alluvium. 
 
66 THE ANTiaUITY OF THE HUMAIJ EACE. 
 
 The first group belongs to the period of transition be- 
 tween the upper pleiocene and quaternary strata. It com- 
 prises, on the one hand, the shelly and sandy beds (crag) 
 of the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, the submerged 
 forests of England, and the caves of which Montreuil is the 
 type ; on the other, the caves of Wookey, Gower, Syracuse, 
 of San Teodoro, &c., which were fiUed up at a date ante- 
 rior to the second glacial period. The pleiocene and 
 quaternary species here co-exist, but the latter become 
 more and more abundant, while the former gradually 
 disappear.' Flint implements exist, but they are more 
 rudely fashioned than those of Abbeville. 
 
 The caves of the second group, of which Moustier, 
 Herm, and Nabrigas may be considered as the principal 
 types, belong to the age of the mammoth. This group is 
 characterised palseontologically by the simultaneous pre- 
 sence of extinct animals (cave bear, mammoth, &c.), 
 those which have migrated (reindeer and hippopotamus), 
 and those stiU extant in the country (horse, ox, &c.). 
 Geologically it corresponds to the grey diluvium of Paris, 
 that is, to the lowest layers of the fluviatUe alluvium, to 
 which M. Belgrand has given the name of lower levels. 
 The corresponding typical beds are those of Hoxne, Saint- 
 Acheul, Abbeville, Levallois, the valley of the Ehine, 
 Clermont-sur-Ariege, Denise, &c. The skulls of Neander- 
 thal, Lahr, Egnisheim, and of the Olmo ; the jawbones of 
 MouUn-Quignon, of Naulette, and of Arcy, belong to this 
 age of the mammoth. 
 
 The third group forms a link between the ages of the 
 mammoth and reindeer. The typical caves are those of 
 Aurignac, Bize, Cro-Magnon, Engis, and the Trou du 
 Sureau in Belgium. The stratified alluvium comprised 
 
 ' An ElepTias meridionaUs was fotmd at San Teodoro ; and in the 
 cave of Baume (Jura), which chronologically corresponds to the strati- 
 fied deposits of Cromer and Montreuil, a Maelimrodus latidens, a plei- 
 ocene species of great hear, with long flattened canine teeth, serrated at 
 the edges and curved backwards like a scimitar, was found in company 
 with the Hyama spelcea and the ElepTiat primigenkm, animals which 
 distinctly belong to the quaternary epoch. 
 
DIVISIONS OF THE QUATERNAEY EPOCH. 67 
 
 in this group belongs to the mean levels of the Seine and 
 to the deposits of which those of Grenelle and Var are 
 types. The work in bone improves, and the shaping of 
 the flint tools is simplified. 
 
 The fourth group includes the types of Eyzies, of la 
 Madelaine, of Laugerie Haute ; to which must be added 
 the other caves of Perigord (excepting that of Cro-Mag- 
 non) as well as la Vache, Massat, Bruniquel, Trou Magrite, 
 Pont a Lesse, and Solutre. M. Hamy ranks in this sub- 
 division the beds of Boulonnais, of Schiissenried, and the 
 high levels of Qie Seine (red diluvium and loess). This 
 group corresponds to the first age of the reindeer. 
 
 The grotto of Chaleux and other caves of the valley of 
 the Lesse {trou du Frontal, trou des Nutons), belonging 
 1.0 the second age of the reindeer, are comprised in the 
 fifth group. With these are reckoned in France the 
 caves of Lourdes, and those of la Balme and Bethenas in 
 Dauphine. The skulls of Furfooz belong to this epoch, 
 which is distinguished from the preceding ones by a 
 marked decadence in the work in flint and bone, which in 
 the preceding epoch had shown a steady improvement. 
 
 At Eyzies and at Massat the first attempts at engrav- 
 ing on stone were discovered. At la Madelaine carving 
 in bone begins, and at Laugerie Basse and at Bruniquel 
 it attains its highest degree of perfection. A specimen of 
 carving on stone was found at Solutre. 
 
 The data furnished at once by stratigraphy, palseon- 
 tology, and prehistoric archaeology, form the bases of the 
 divisions proposed by M. Broea for the quaternary epoch, 
 divisions which he has himself drawn up in the following 
 table, which we have already given, p. 28. 
 
68 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 StratigrapMcal 
 Data 
 
 Palaeontologioal 
 Data 
 
 ArcbffiOloglcal 
 Data 
 
 Quater- 
 nary - 
 epoch 
 
 Modem 
 epoch 
 
 Low levels of undis- 
 turbed valleys 
 Mean levels 
 
 High levels 
 Recent beds ' 
 
 Age of the 
 lhammoth 
 
 Intermediate 
 age 
 
 Age of the 
 reindeer 
 
 Modern fauna 
 
 The axe of Saint- 
 Acheul (fig. 13-14"; 
 
 Airo-whead of Mous- 
 tier (fig. 15-17) 
 
 Arrow head of So- 
 lutr6 (fig. 18) 
 
 The polished axe 
 (fig. 19) 
 
 Hence we see that M. Broca adopts the stratigraphi- 
 cal data established by M. Belgrand, and, that in deter- 
 mining the palseontological data, he admits, with M, Hamy, 
 an intermediate age between that of the mammoth and 
 of the reindeer, that is, an age corresponding to the 
 middle of the quaternary epoch. At this period, several 
 species contemporary with the mammoth had already dis- 
 appeared; others were nearly extinct; while the reindeer, 
 on the contrary, was becoming more common, since it 
 was altogether predominant in the following age, to which 
 it gives its name. • 
 
 As for the data founded upon archseology, that is on 
 the greater or less degree of perfection attained by the 
 workmanship of stone during the archseolithic period, 
 M. Broca reduces them to three principal ones, and cha- 
 racterises each representative type nearly in the same way 
 as M. de Mortillet has done. 
 
 Finally, applying this classification to the caves of 
 Perigord, he ranges them in the following chronological 
 order : — ■ 
 
 1 . Moustier, the earliest of the caves in Dordogne. 
 
 2. Cro-Magnon, more recent than the preceding, but 
 belonging equally to the intermediate age. 
 
 3. Laugerie Haute and Grorge-d'Enfer, on the right 
 
 bank of the Vez^re, already form part of the reindeer age. 
 
 ' M. Broca justly remarks chat though they are called recent as 
 compared to the quaternary beds proper, the epithet is unsuited to them 
 from the point of view of our modern chronology, since the lapse of 
 ssveral centuries was required for the formation of some of them. — 
 \Bevue Soieatifique, Nov. 16, 1872.) 
 
Saint-Acheul Typk. 
 Iio. 13. Front view. 
 
 Axe, carved on both sides. 
 FiQ. 14. SideTiew. 
 
 MouSTi 1 __B. 
 
 Via. 15. Uncut surface. 
 
 Lanob head carved oitlt on one side. 
 Fia. 16. Side view. FiQ. 17, Carved surface; 
 
70 
 
 THE ANTiaUITY OF THE HUMAN KACE. 
 
 4. Laugerie Basse, Eyzies, and la Madelaine form a 
 group which brings us down to the total disappearance of 
 the reindeer from France, and consequently to the end of 
 the quaternary epoch, succeeded by the modern or neo- 
 lithic period.' 
 
 Fig. 18. Solctee Type. 
 Lance head. 
 
 Fig. ]9. Polished stone axe. 
 (AJEter Lubbock. * Prehistoric man.') 
 
 All these are doubtless laudable attempts, and they 
 throw some light on a subject which still remains somewhat 
 obscure ; but each author has his own distinct system, and 
 
 ' Some facts observed at Bruniquel, at Solutr6, and in the cave of 
 Duruthy, seem to indicate that the reindeer became extinct in France 
 towards the beginning of the neolithic period. 
 
QUATEENAEY FAUNA. 71 
 
 it is difficult to decide to which to give the preference, not 
 as being the most convenient, but the most correct. 
 
 However, it is undeniable that these essays are useful, 
 since they connect the abundant facts of past ages, deter- 
 mine their chronological sequence, and in a word illustrate 
 the history of quaternary man. Unfortunately, the classi- 
 fication drawn up by the authors of these various attempts, 
 ingenious as they are, cannot always be pronounced strictly 
 accurate, and they do not present that concord and har- 
 mony which is one of the distinguishing marks of truth. 
 They may nevertheless be adopted provisionally until the 
 progress of science, or the chances of the future, furnish 
 us with a better guide. 
 
 IV. dUATEBNABT FATTIJ-A. HSTHABITAITTS OF THE 
 BONE CAVES. 
 
 At the beginning of the quaternary epoch the mastodon 
 existed no longer, at least in Europe,' nor the Mephas 
 meridionalis of the sand-pits of Saint-Prest. The Hippo- 
 potamus major and the iJAinoceros Merkii and leptorhinus 
 of the pleiocene period were still living. But the quater- 
 nary fauna properly so called, is chiefly represented among 
 us by the mammoth, the Rhinoceros tichorhinus, the cave 
 bear, cave hyena, great cave lion, the Irish elk, &c., which 
 ended by yielding place to the reindeer, to the glutton, 
 the musk ox, the Saiga antelope, the chamois, the wild 
 goat, and the marmoset, which at a later date migrated 
 to other districts. We may add to this list nearly all the 
 animals living at the present day, and which appear to 
 be the more or less modified descendants of quaternary 
 species. Of these then some are extinct; such as Ursus 
 spelcBUs, Hyaena spelcea, Felis spelcea, Elephas primi- 
 genius. Rhinoceros tichorhinus, Megaceros hibemicus, 
 to which we must add the Machairodus cultridens and 
 latideins (R. Owen) found in certain caves of France and 
 England. Other species still living; lemming, lagomys, 
 glutton, arctic fox, reindeer, musk ox, have migrated 
 towards the north of Europe, and even to America. Others, 
 
 ' This animal lived in America during tide quaternary period. 
 
72 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN BACE. 
 
 on the contrary have gained the east (Saiga antelope, 
 hamster), or the south, or have no longer any kindred 
 species except in the hottest regions of Africa and Asia 
 (hippopotamus, elephant, lion, hyena). 
 
 Others have taken refuge on the summits of the Alps 
 and Pyrenees (chamois, wild goat, marmoset) or have dis- 
 appeared from our countries since the beginning of history ; 
 such for example is the urus {Bos prmdgenius), which in 
 the time of Caesar still inhabited the Hercynian forest and 
 even the great woods of the Vosges and other parts of 
 Lorraine (Godron). 
 
 Others have fled before man, their improvident de- 
 stroyer. Of these are the aurochs {Bison europceus), 
 restricted at the present day to the forests of Lithuania, 
 ■ with the exception, however, of a few scattered individuals 
 recently found wild in the neighbourhood of the Caucasus ; 
 the lynx, which, according to Cuvier, has almost entirely 
 disappeared from inhabited districts, but which is still to 
 be found in the Pyrenees and even in Africa ; the beaver, 
 formerly very common among us, and now banished to 
 the banks of the Ehine and the Danube, where it is only to 
 be found in small numbers ; the mouflon, which M. Bour- 
 guignat says he found in the cave of Vence in Provence, 
 and which now exists only in the islands of Sardinia and 
 Corsica. Others, finally, have remained in those same 
 districts where we find at the present day the bones of 
 their earliest ancestors : the wolf, the dog, the fox, the 
 badger, the otter, the mole, the hedgehog, the common 
 stag, the ox, the wild boar, the horse, &c. 
 
 Birds, reptiles, fishes, and molluscs, of similar or analo- 
 gous species to those now existing, are also to be found in 
 the caves of Europe ; but these are in small number as com- 
 pared to mammalia. With regard to fishes, M. Ed. Lartet has 
 made an important observation : they are rare or common 
 in proportion to the remote or recent date of the bone 
 caves. For instance, in the caves of Aurignac (Haute Ga- 
 ronne), of Moustier, of Gorge d'Enfer (Dordogne), and of la 
 Chaise (Charente), they are distinguished by the presence of 
 the unbarbed arrow, and where not a single fishbone has 
 
BIRDS RECENTLY EXTINCT. 73 
 
 been hitherto discovered. We are left in uncertainty as 
 to whether the earliest inhabitants of our lands were 
 possessed of tackle sufficiently perfect to procure them- 
 selves an abundance of iish, or whether, as is highly 
 improbable, they were in the habit of eating on the banks 
 of the river the raw fish they had just caught. On the 
 other hand, fish abound in caves of more recent date, 
 where barbed arrows and harpoons are found, in la Made- 
 laine, at Eyzies, at Bruniquel, &c. 
 
 The same remarks apply to birds, which are also less 
 abundant where arrow heads with a double range of barbed 
 points are wanting. This fact had been already noticed 
 by M. Brun, before M. Ed. Lartet called attention to it. 
 With regard to birds, only two species have become ex- 
 tinct in Europe since the quaternary epoch, and nearly in 
 our own time, the grouse {Tetrao urogallus) and the great 
 penguin (^Alca impennis), which are no longer found in 
 Denmark. But cases are numerous among the birds of 
 the Isles of Bourbon and Matu"itiu8, of Madagascar and 
 New Zealand.' 
 
 No species, either among reptiles, fish, or invertebrate 
 animals, has lately become extinct excepting the Cyrena 
 fluminalis, which lived formerly in the Somme and the 
 Thames, and which is now confined to the waters of the 
 Nile and certain rivers of Asia.' 
 
 ' The dinomis and the epyornis are two gigantic birds, something 
 like the ostrich; the one found in the most recent strata oJE New 
 Zealand, the other in the modem alluvium of the Isle of Madagascar. 
 The height of the latter was about 16 feet, its eggs were equal in 
 capacity to six ostrich eggs, to 148 hens' eggs, to 60,000 humming 
 birds' eggs. One of them which I was enabled to see and measure at 
 Toulouse had the following dimensions : — 
 
 m. 
 
 Great diameter 1 ft. 8 in. 
 
 Little diameter 9 in. 
 
 Thickness of the shell . . . . 1 to 2 lines. 
 Finally, it could contain nearly 2 gallons of water. One of the eggs of 
 the epyornis described by Saint-Hilaire was still larger. Hence we 
 readily conceive that the Malagasy use them as provision vessels, and 
 even, it is said, as saucepans. It is not quite certain that these birds 
 are completely extinct. The dodo, nearly akin to our gallinaceous 
 birds, was still extant in Mauritius in 1626. 
 
 ^ Certain Crustacea (^Qamma/rus loricatvi and Mysis reUcta), whose 
 
74 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN KACE. 
 
 All the species of mammalia which we have already 
 named as occurring in the eaves of Europe are not equally 
 and uniformly distributed among them. In some the 
 pachydermata and the great camivora are predominant, 
 especially the hyenas (^e.g. Kirkdale in Lancashire, Lunel- 
 viel in Herault). Elsewhere (in the caves of Franconia, 
 of Osselles, of Nabrigas, of Herm, &c.) the bears are more 
 abundant, sometimes to the exclusion of all other species. 
 In a great many districts (Bize, Bruniquel, la Madelaine, 
 Eyzies), the reindeer predominates, nearly always accom- 
 panied by other ruminants of the genera bos, cervus, and 
 ovibos, and even by the cave bear and other great pachy- 
 dermata then gradually disappearing. 
 
 It was for a long time believed that the reindeer was 
 only to be found in the bone caves. Eecently discovered 
 facts have proved this to be a mistake which it is im- 
 portant to correct. In a diluvian bed in the Thames 
 valley, that of Acton, which resembles in all particulars 
 that of the valley of the Somme, Colonel Lane Fox found 
 the bones of Cervus tarandus intermixed with those of 
 Hippopotamus major, of Elepha^ prvmigenius, of Rhino- 
 ceros hoiinitcechus, of Bos primigenius, and of Bison 
 'prisons, in company with flint implements of the rudest 
 workmanship. Some months after this discovery by 
 Colonel Lane Fox, M. Chantre observed in the sediment 
 of the Ehone basin a curious assemblage of species of 
 the quaternary fauna, among which figured the Cervus 
 tarandus. Finally, the bones of the reindeer were found 
 at Schiissenried in Suabia on a moraine of an ancient 
 Rhine glacier ; ^ a new proof that this animal lived in 
 
 origin dates from the glacial period, are still extant in Sweden, in Lakes 
 Wenner and Wetter. Moreover, recent soundings made on the coasts of 
 Europe and America hare raised from the bottom of the sea tereiratulce 
 and sea urchins similar to those found in the chalk of the hill of Meudon, 
 of the cliffs of the coast of England, and of the plains of Champagne. 
 
 > At Schiissenried reindeer bones were found on the moraine of an 
 ancient Rhine glacier, in company with those of the glutton and of the 
 arctic fox, with remains of mosses which are now only found in the 
 most northern regions of Europe. The bones of this animal were so 
 abundant in the above mentioned place that Professor Fraas was enabled, 
 by making an anatomical selection among them, to reconstruct an entire 
 akeleton, now in the museum at Stuttgard, Reindeer bones were also 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF QUATERNARY FAUNA. 75 
 
 Suabia during the glacial period, perhaps even during the 
 interval which elapsed between the two glacial periods 
 which have left their traces in Switzerland. Its existence 
 in France long after the extinction of the great pachyder- 
 mata, of which event moreover the exact date is entirely 
 unknown to us, is rendered more than probable by the 
 discovery of its bones intermixed with those of the horse 
 and the ox in the caves of Bethenas and of la Balme in 
 Dauphine, and further by implements of the neolithic 
 age, perhaps ev^ of the age of bronze, found with these 
 same bones at Bruniquel. As for the Saiga, M. Albert 
 Gaudry has lately shown that this species of antelope 
 lived in the reindeer age not only in Perigord but also in 
 Angoumois, and that our ancestors fed upon the flesh of 
 this beautiful animal. 
 
 In short, the quaternary faima resembles our modern 
 fauna, which is merely the continuation of it ; but the 
 former is richer, more varied, better nourished, and conse- 
 quently more vigorous than ours. However, in spite of 
 their greater size, the diluvian mammalia, like those of 
 the tertiary rocks, had, it seems, a relatively small brain, 
 and perhaps a shorter life than those of modern times. 
 
 "We are struck by the strange association, especially in 
 the quaternary fauna, often in an extremely narrow circle, 
 of species so numerous and so distinct either in their 
 habits or with regard to the geographical distribution of 
 kindred species now extant. We shall shortly examine 
 the cause of this phenomenon, which has long perplexed 
 palaeontologists, and which has lately found a satisfactory so 
 lution in the knowledge of the distribution of land and water 
 in Europe at the time when these animals lived in Europe. 
 
 As an example of the singular assemblage of species of 
 which we are speaking, we shall presently quote the list of 
 those which, according to M. Merk, were found together in 
 the Kesslerloch, in the neighbourhood of Thayngen. See 
 p. 78. 
 
 found in abundance at Thayngen, and in the cave of Pont-du-Gard. 
 This animal advanced, therefore, further towards the east of Europe 
 than it was originally believed. — (_Revue Soi»n,tiflque, Jan. 11 and 25, 
 1873, pp. 665 and 712.) 
 
76 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 Principal Mammalia op the Caves of Feancb, or of 
 THE Diluvium. 
 
 
 
 Extant in the districts 
 
 Extinct or highly modified 
 
 Migrated 
 
 where they are now found 
 in a fossil state 
 
 Hyiena spelsea 
 
 Cape hyena 
 
 Bat (several species) 
 
 Felis spelsea 
 
 Aurochs 
 
 Shrew mouse 
 
 Blephas primigenius 
 
 Eeindeer 
 
 Hedgehog 
 
 Ursus spelaeus 
 
 Elk 
 
 Dormouse 
 
 Machairodus cultridens 
 
 Canadian stag 
 
 Water rat 
 
 Rhinoceros tichorhinus 
 
 Virginian stag 
 
 Common bear 
 
 Ehinooeros hsemitseohus 
 
 Lagomys 
 
 Badger 
 
 Equus lartetianus 
 
 Lemming 
 
 Wolf 
 
 Megaoeros hibernicus 
 
 Spermophilus 
 
 
 Urus 
 
 
 1 
 
 Domestic Animals 
 
 Dog 
 
 Marmoset 
 
 Fox 
 
 Horse 
 
 Chamois 
 
 Polecat 
 
 Ox 
 
 Wild goat 
 
 Weasel 
 
 Goat 
 
 Beaver 
 
 Marten 
 
 Sheep 
 
 Musk ox 
 
 Babbit 
 
 Pig 
 
 Saiga 
 
 Hare 
 
 Fallow deer 
 Eoe deer 
 
 
 
 Bed deer 
 
 Fauna of the Bnolish Caves. 
 
 We think it desirable to give for the sake of comparison 
 the list of animals and of the products of art found in 
 Kent's Cavern, near Torquay. The following list, drawn up 
 by Evans, is the enumeration of the species whose bones 
 were found in the red loam underlying a thick layer of 
 stalagmite. 
 
 Maehairodus latidens very rare 
 
 Mlis leo, var. spelcsa, cave lion . . . abundant 
 
 Hycena orooicta, var. spelaa, cave hyasna . very abundant 
 
 Camis Vapus, wolf ..... rare 
 Cmiis imlpes, var. spelaus, large fox . . „ 
 
 Oulo luicus, glutton very rare 
 
 X/rius spelceus, cave-bear .... abundant 
 Ursus prisons— ferox, grizzly bear . . „ 
 
 Vrsits a/rcios, brown bear .... scarce 
 
 Mephas primigenitcs, mammoth . . . not very common 
 
OBJECTS FOUND IN THE OSSIFEROUS SEDIMENT. 77 
 
 Bhiiwcero! tieTwrTiirmg, woolly rhinoceros , 
 
 JSquus eaballug, horse 
 
 Bos primigenim, urus 
 
 Sison priseus, bison . 
 
 Cervus megaoeros, Irish elk 
 
 Cervws elaphvs (Strongyloceroi spdieun, 
 
 Owen), stag . 
 Ce-rvus taraadus, reindeer . 
 Lepiis timidus (var. cUhimanus ?) 
 Lagomys spelams, cave pika 
 Arvicola ampMbius, water vole . 
 A. agrestis, field vole . 
 A. pratensu, bank vole 
 Ccutor fiber, be^er . 
 
 hare 
 
 abundant 
 very abundant 
 scarce 
 abundant 
 not uncommon 
 
 abundant 
 
 rare 
 
 very rare 
 rare 
 »» 
 very rare 
 scajToe ' 
 
 Animals wTwse remains merefovmd in the bed of black vuntld 
 above tlie stalagmite. 
 
 Dog X 
 
 Short-horn ox {Bos 
 
 longifrons) 
 Boe deer 
 Sheep 
 Goat 
 Pig 
 Babbit 
 
 That is, the fauna of the present 
 day, accompanied by instruments 
 of the polished stone and bronze 
 ages. 
 
 In other bone caves of Great Britain, the following 
 species have been found : 
 
 Rhinoceros hcemitcechus. 
 
 Mhi/noceros megarhinus. 
 
 Elephas antiquus. 
 
 Cervus Guettardi (a variety of the reindeer). 
 
 Lemming'. 
 
 In the diluvian gravel beds two molluscs occur which 
 no longer exist in England (Hydrohia marginata, and 
 Go7-bicula fiuminalis). 
 
 Objects of Human Industbt found in the Ossiferous 
 Sediment. 
 
 Flint implements of the types of Saint-Acheul, of 
 Aurignac, of Moustier, of Laugerie Haute ; barbed har- 
 
 ' Note the absence of Ovibos mosahatus, or musk ox, both in the oaves 
 and diluvian gravel beds of England. The birds and fish found in 
 Kent's Hole have not yet been determined. See Evans, Ancient Stone 
 Implements and Weapons of Great Britain, pp. 462, 463. 
 
78 
 
 THE AJSTTIQXriTY OF THE HXMAN EACE. 
 
 poons and arrows, fish hooks, pins and needles of bone, 
 nearly resembling similar objects found at la Madelaine 
 (Dordogne). 
 
 Fauna of the Cave op Kbssleeloch, nbae Thayngen (Switzer- 
 land), ACOOEDINe TO THE LIST OF M. MBKK. 
 
 
 
 f 1- 
 
 Number of Specimens 
 Cave lion ... 3 
 
 Extinct animals . 
 
 2. 
 3. 
 
 Mammoth . 
 Ehinoceros 
 
 4-6 
 
 1-2 
 
 
 [ i. 
 
 Bear . 
 
 1 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 1 5. 
 
 Reindeer . 
 
 250 
 
 
 Towards the north . 
 
 6. 
 
 Glutton 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 7. 
 
 Arctic fox . 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 ■ 8. 
 
 Chamois 
 
 1 
 
 "3 
 
 Towards the Alps . 
 
 9. 
 10. 
 11. 
 
 Wild goat 
 Alpine hare 
 Marmoset . 
 
 1 
 500 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Towards America . 
 Towards the Alps 
 
 12. 
 13. 
 14. 
 
 ri5. 
 
 Wapiti 
 Canis lagopus 
 Lagoped . 
 Aurochs 
 
 1 
 
 40-60 
 
 80 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 
 16. 
 
 Eed deer . 
 
 6 
 
 § 
 
 
 17. 
 
 Bear . 
 
 2 3 
 
 To neighbouring countries- 
 
 18. 
 19. 
 20. 
 
 Lynx . 
 Wild cat . 
 Wolf . 
 
 3 
 1 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 21. 
 
 Swan . 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 22. 
 23. 
 
 Wild goose . 
 Osprey 
 
 2 
 1 
 
 '3 
 
 Still in the land . 
 
 f24. 
 25. 
 
 European fox 
 Hare . 
 
 2-3 
 
 2 
 
 a ■ 
 
 
 26. 
 
 Crow . 
 
 3 
 
 'a 
 
 < 
 
 Domesticated . 
 
 27. 
 28. 
 
 Dog J 
 Horse . 
 
 1 
 
 20 
 
 V. BOITES OF WOUNDED AWIMALS POTTlfD IW THE 
 CAVES. 
 
 If it be true that the wrought flints are works ' which 
 no freak of nature, no agency but a human hand, guided 
 by a human mind, could have produced ' (A. Graudry), we 
 may say the same with still more certainty of the bones 
 of extinct or migrated species which bear the unmistake- 
 able marks of wounds made by man, or the no less evident 
 trace of an industry which reveals an art, doubtless rude, 
 but already animated by a lively sense of nature. We 
 will consider the former in the first instance. 
 
BONES OF WOUNDED ANIMALS. 79 
 
 In his ' Eecherches sur les Ossements Fossiles,' vol. iv. 
 p. 396, Cuvier speaks of a head of cave hyena (of Gailen- 
 reuth) whose occiput had been fractured, and which had 
 recovered from the wound; Marcel de Serres has observed 
 a similar fracture on the skull of an Hyceifia speloea (of 
 Lunel-viel), whose left parietal bone was cleft through the 
 whole thickness of the bone, a wound produced, he thought, 
 by the tooth of some other carnivorous animal.' But it 
 seems more natural to attribute these wounds to some 
 weapon (flint javeUn, or arrow) thrown by man, for since 
 the time at which these observations were made by the 
 authors whom I have quoted, several authentic examples 
 of this kind of wound have been noted by trustworthy 
 observers. I myself excavated from the cave of Nabrigas,^ 
 in Loz^re, a skull of Vraus spelceus, which presented a 
 marked depression on the right frontal bone, and in the 
 centre of this depression a circular hole, whose smooth and 
 polished edges indicate that a wound made by some sharp 
 projectile had begun to cicatrise. Supposing tbat-a combat 
 had taken place between this bear and one of its own 
 kind, it is more than doubtful, in my opinion, that one of 
 the canine teeth of the latter could have thus pierced and 
 fractured one of the frontal bones, while the other left not 
 the slightest trace upon the skull. The wound in ques- 
 tion seems to me therefore to have been made by some 
 missile thrown by a human hand. 
 
 Admiral Wauchope affirms that he has seen a stone 
 hammer imbedded in the skull of an Irish elk (^Cervus 
 megaaeros), and even several heads of other animals of 
 the same species wounded in like manner. On an entire 
 skeleton of Bos urus (the urus of Csesar) dug in the 
 presence of Nilsson from out a deep peat moss of Southern 
 Scandinavia, he observed the first lumbar vertebra pierced 
 from in front by a javelin armed with a flint head, which 
 had been thrown with such force that the point had pene- 
 
 ' Maroel de Serres, Essai stir Us cavernes a ossements, p. 165. Paris, 
 ] 838. 
 
 ^ See N. Joly, Note swr uns notmelle caveme a ossements {Lozire'), in 
 the BibHothegue Unirerselle de Geneve (1835.) 
 
80 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 trated into the next vertebra, in which it remained im- 
 bedded.' Professor Steenstrup possessed, in his collection, 
 fossil skulls of stags found in the kitchen middens, con- 
 taining, incrusted in the bone, splinters of flint, doubtless 
 broken off from some missile thrown by the hunter. Lastly, 
 MM. Lartet and Christy have given an illustration in 
 their interesting work on the caves of Perigord, of the 
 vertebra of a young reindeer pierced by a flint arrow, 
 which had remained in the wound (fig. 20). 
 
 The Toulouse Museum of Natural History possesses 
 the lower maxillary of an Ursus spelceus, of which one 
 
 Fig. 20. Vkrtebra of a reindeeIi, with flint arrow head imbedded 
 
 in the bone. 
 
 (After Ed. Lartet and Christy.) 
 
 branch, violently broken in two, resumed its functions 
 after a complete cicatrisation. In what manner and on 
 what food the animal lived during the necessarily very 
 slow formation of the bone, it is impossible to say. That 
 the wound in question was made by man seems extremely 
 probable, we cannot say it is certain, since it is just pos- 
 sible that the animal may have broken its jawbone by 
 falling from a rock. 
 
 As for the bones which bear the marks of regular in- 
 cisions more or less deep, although they have sometimes 
 
 ' Sven Nilsson, The Primitive Inhabitcmts of Scandinavia, p. 169, 
 London, 1868. 
 
HUMAN BONES IN THE CAVES. 81 
 
 given rise to strange mistakes, the bones of haUtherium 
 found at Pouance for instance,' it is known that palaeon- 
 tologists set a high value on those of the pleiocene beds 
 of Saint-Prest {Elephas Tneridionalis), of the quaternary 
 deposits of the Somme valley (Rhvnoceroa 7neridionali8\ 
 or of the channel of the Oureq (^Megaceros hibernicus), 
 not to mention the incisions made vdth a flint tool on a 
 quantity of reindeer bones, with the evident purpose of 
 cutting the tendons near to their root, in order to use them 
 for sewing. All these facts prove nothing less than the 
 certain existence of man at an epoch far anterior to all 
 historical tradition. 
 
 We must not close this chapter without saying a few 
 words about the fractured jawbones of the cave bear 
 and lion, which M. Garrigou believes to have been used 
 by man as defensive weapons. It seems more natural to 
 attribute these fractures to a simpler cause than that which 
 has been assigned. The dental canal of these maxillaries 
 is enormous, and the disappearance of the dental nerve 
 after they have been buried for a short time leaves a con- 
 •siderable hollow, and age and damp render the slightest 
 shock sufiBcient to break the bone at its weakest point. 
 This may account for the fracture, which is always in the 
 same place, observed on the numerous jawbones of Ursus 
 spelcBUS in the Natural History Museum of Toulouse. 
 We give this explanation with the more confidence that 
 our opinion on this point was shared at the session of the 
 Congress of Bologna by Professor Steenstrup, of Copen- 
 hagen, a savant whose weight as an authority will certainly 
 not be denied. 
 
 VI. EWTIBE HTTMABT SKBLBTOWS FOUND IM" THE 
 CAVES. WOUNDED HUMAIT BONES. TEAOTUKED 
 SKUIiIiS. 
 
 Although the caves have at every epoch served as 
 dwellings, and frequently also as burial places, entire 
 
 ' It is now generally known that Sir Charles Lyell and many other 
 palaeontologists attribute to the teeth of the dog-fish (pa/rehm-odori) the 
 supposed human incisions which have been observed by certain scien- 
 tific men on the bones of the halUherirum found in the shell marl of 
 Pouanofi.. 
 
82 THE AKTiaTJITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 human skeletons are rarely found in them. "When this 
 does occur, it generally shows that the corpse was buried 
 in the fossil-bearing stratum long after its formation. M. 
 Cartailhac, indeed, asserts that all the researches he has 
 made justify him in declaring that every complete human 
 skeleton found in the caves may be considered, a 'priori, 
 as of later date than the fluviatile deposit in which it is 
 contained. 
 
 This is, perhaps, too sweeping an assertion, but it 
 should be remembered by those palaeontologists who wish 
 to avoid such mistakes as have been made, especially with 
 regard to the human remains of Herm and Aurignac. 
 
 Schmerling,who has explored forty-eight Belgian caves, 
 found human bones in only two or three of them. Lund, 
 out of 800 Brazilian caves, which he examined, found 
 only six containing human remains. These bones are 
 always rather rare in the ossiferous caves belonging to the 
 oldest stone age, but they become fairly common in the 
 reindeer epoch, and still more so in the neolithic age. 
 
 If I am not mistaken, we possess hitherto only four 
 or five authentic examples of the complete human skeleton, 
 belonging undoubtedly to a very ancient epoch, the true 
 palaeoUthic age. The first was discovered at Laugerie 
 Basse (Dordogne) by MM. Massenat, Lalapde, and Car- 
 tailhac, in a layer containing carved reindeer bones, an 
 evidently undisturbed stratum, for it was covered with 
 enormous blocks, detached from the rock which formed 
 the vaulted roof of the shelter which served as a refuge to 
 the troglodytes of the reindeer age, and which was pre- 
 ferred by them to other homes. The authors of this dis- 
 covery rightly judged from these facts that they beheld 
 the victim of a landsUp, which occasionally took place at 
 that remote epoch, as in our own day, and of which the 
 traces still exist. 
 
 The skeleton of Laugerie Basse was lying on its side, 
 and appeared to have originally been in a crouching posture. 
 The left hand lay under the left parietal bone, the right 
 upon the neck. The elbows fell nearly to the knees ; one foot 
 was close to the pelvis. The vertebral column had been 
 
ENTIEE SKELETONS. 83 
 
 crushed by the corner of a great block, and the pelvis was 
 broken ; but all the bones retained their natural positions 
 or were little removed from them. In a word, this skele- 
 ton presented exactly the appearance of a startled man, 
 raising his hands to his head, and making himself suddenly 
 as small as possible. Near the skeleton, and scattered in 
 pairs, lay shells {Oyprceapyi^um and Cyprom lurida) which 
 had no doubt served to adorn some garment. Two pairs of 
 these shells lay on the forehead, one pair nearly touching 
 each humerus, four for the knees, and two at each foot. 
 
 The skeleton of Laugerie Basse is then a well authen- 
 ticated example of human remains contemporary with the 
 reindeer. Unfortunately, the authors of this important 
 discovery have given us no detailed account of character- 
 istics of the skeleton in question, which is so much the 
 more to be regretted that it would have been of great 
 interest to compare its skull with those of Bruniquel, of 
 Furfooz, of Cro-Magnon, and with all those of the reindeer 
 age, and even of earlier epochs. 
 
 Another entire skeleton, buried in the caves of the 
 arehseolithic epoch, was found on March 26, 1872, by M. 
 Eivi^re, in one of the bone caves of Mentone,' at a depth 
 of about twenty-one feet, along with numerous flint and 
 bone implements,^ marine and land shells, and bones of 
 mammalia, among others of Ursus spelceus, HycBna spelcea, 
 Felis antiqua, &c. This skeleton was lying on the left 
 side, in the attitude of a man whom death had overtaken 
 during sleep. A number of perforated shells of Nassa 
 neritea, and a few stag's teeth, also perforated, were 
 scattered here and there upon the skull, and it is probable 
 that these teeth and shells were formerly part of some head 
 ornament ; other shells of the same species, symmetrically 
 
 ' In the cave of Cavillon, the fourth bone cave of the bamisse roussS 
 (a patois word for red rocks). 
 
 ' These instruments belong to three . different types, those of Mous- 
 tier, of la Madelaine, and of polished stone. There is therefore 
 reason to suppose that several epochs at once are represented in these 
 caves. In spite of several fractures the skull had preserved its form : 
 it was dolichocephalous. The vertebral column, the ribs, and the bones 
 of the limbs were nearly intact, and lay in their natural positions. 
 
84 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 arranged, were probably also the ornaments of the dress. 
 M. Eiviere at the end of his report calls attention to the 
 fact that the skeleton in question ' offers no characteristics 
 which in any way proves it to be akin to monkeys, and 
 that the human skulls which it most nearly resembles 
 are those found at Cro-Magnon ' (Perigord). Three other 
 skeletons presenting the same characters as the above have 
 since been found at Mentone. 
 
 If entire skeletons are rare in the caves of the palaeo- 
 lithic age, they are on the other hand fairly common in 
 the burial caves of the neolithic period. As we shall have 
 
 Fig. 21. Female skull of Cro-Magnok, wounded in the forehead. 
 (After Louis Lartet.) 
 
 occasion to speak of these caves where we treat of the 
 burial grounds, we need only mention this fact in passing. 
 
 When isolated human bones, more or less entire, are 
 intermixed with the remains of extinct species, when it is 
 certain that the stratum in which they are found has not 
 been disturbed, we may assume with certainty that these 
 bones are really contemporary with the deposit in which 
 they are imbedded. But these cases of indisputable syn- 
 chronism are rare (jawbones of Arcy, of la Naulette, &c.). 
 
 Another criterion of the great age of human remains 
 
WOUNDED HUMAN BONES. 85 
 
 is furnished by the wounds made by stone weapons, of 
 which some among them bear the marks or contain the 
 fragments. Of this number is a human tibia found in the 
 dolmen of Font Kial in Aveyron, which is pierced by a 
 flint-headed arrow which had remained in the wound and 
 had produced considerable exostosis. We may also cite 
 as an example, a female skull, discovered several years ago 
 by M. Louis Lartet in the cave of Cro-Magnon, and of 
 which the frontal bone showed a wound in process of 
 healing, which was probably produced by a flint weapon 
 (fig. 21). 
 
 The elder M. Lartet, in his remarkable work, ' Sur la 
 coexistence de I'homme et des grands mammif^res fossiles,' 
 speaks of a Danish dolichocephalous skull of the stone age 
 perforated by a lance-headed piece of the antler of an elk. 
 Beside this skull lay thirty or forty skeletons also of a 
 dolichocephalous race, and near them the stone weapons 
 which the conquerors had used to slay their enemies. 
 
 Spring saw in the cave of Chauvaux, in Belgium, a 
 human parietal bone in which the flint axe which had 
 broken the victim's skull remained fixed. Nilsson, cited 
 by Lubbock, says that in a tomb of the neolithic age 
 attributed to Albus McGaldus, king of Scotland, a skele- 
 ton of extraordinary size was found in 1807, of which 
 one arm had been almost separated from the trimk by a 
 blow from an axe of diorite, of which a fragment still 
 remained in the bone. 
 
 Lastly, M. Pruni^res discovered, in the caves of Baumes- 
 Chaudes in Loz^re, still more convincing proofs.' These 
 are human bones which still contain the flint heads of the 
 arrows which wounded them. Often too these flint arrow- 
 heads are encased in a newly formed bony tissue, a clear 
 proof that they had pierced the bone of the living subject 
 and that the wounds had subsequently healed. M. 
 Pruni^res has observed, moreover, that these flint arrow 
 heads were not like those made by the inhabitants of the 
 caves, but resembled those of the inhabitants of the 
 
 ' See the Bulletin de la SooiHl d'Anthropologie de Paris, p. 215, 
 May 16, 1878. 
 
 5 
 
86 
 
 THE ANTiaUITY OF THE HUMAJ* EACE. 
 
 neighbouring dolmens, to whom therefore these wounds 
 must be attributed. 
 
 Undoubtedly one of the most curious discoveries which 
 has been made of late years, is that of pierced or rather 
 
 Fig. 22. TEEPAifNED skull taken from a dolmen, and presented by 
 
 M. Peunieees to the Museum of the Institut Anthkopologique. 
 
 (Half natural £ize.) 
 
 A B, Median line of the stull, passing the root of the nose at A, the crown of the head at 
 c, the lamhdoid suture at D, and the occiput at B ; E, bone of the left eyebrow ; P, bone 
 of the right, fractured ; a 6, sickle-shap^ edge of the surgical trepanning jfractised in 
 childhood on the upper edge of the left pariei^bone; dc, 6d, edges of the posthumous 
 trepanning. The suture, instead of following the median line CD, has been drawn 
 considerably to the left. 
 
TEEPANNED SKULLS. 87 
 
 trepanned human skulls, found by Dr. Pruni^res in the 
 cave of Homme-mort in Lozere ' and in several dolmens 
 in the same department. Discs of bone, equal in size to 
 the holes in the skulls have been found, sometimes within 
 them, sometimes separately, lying beside them or at some 
 distance. Many of these are pierced by one or two holes, 
 so as to allow them to be strung upon a cord. Their 
 diameter varies from that of a shilling to that of a crown- 
 piece (see fig. 22). Some of them, more or less elliptical 
 in shape, measure seven inches in length and five in their 
 greatest width. M. Broca has made an exhaustive study 
 of the subject,'' which is, thanks to his labours, now very 
 well known. 
 
 The trepanning was effected sometimes on the living 
 subject, sometimes after death. An incision in the form 
 of a X was first made on the skin under the hair, then 
 the bone was scraped with a flint knife, until sooner or 
 later the disc or discs of bone were detached from the skull ; 
 for sometimes two or three were taken from one indi- 
 vidual even while living. It is a remarkable fact that the 
 cases in which the operation, which is especially dangerous 
 when we consider the poverty of the surgical apparatus of 
 our ancestors of the stone age, proved fatal, are so rare that 
 out of twenty skulls in the possession of Dr. Pruni^res, he 
 has only observed one instance. AU the others present 
 unmistakeable traces of a complete recovery. 
 
 The motive of this operation has of course been sought, 
 and the use of these discs found in the interior of the 
 cranium or in the soil where the corpses had been buried. 
 "We shall return to this subject in the chapter on Eeligion. 
 We shall see that the practice of trepanning persisted 
 throughout the neolithic period, and that the use of 
 these discs is the earUest proof of a beUef in a future life. 
 
 The instances of human bones in the caves which were 
 
 ' Artificially perforated skulls have also been found in the burial 
 caves of la Marne, of Sordes, in the neighbourhood of Pan, in the 
 ancient tombs of the Canary Isles, in the dolmens of Algeria, and even 
 in Mexico and Peru. 
 
 ' See the Revue d' Amtlwopologie, t. ii. p. 18, 1873, and t. vi. pp. 1 an;! 
 193, 1877. 
 
88 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN KACE. 
 
 undoubtedly contemporary with extinct species are rare ; 
 we purposely repeat this fact, and the greatest circum- 
 spection is required before pronouncing on this kind of 
 synchronism. Nothing is easier than to make the greatest 
 mistakes on this point ; the cautious M. Ed. Lartet him- 
 self assumed that the human bones of Aurignac were 
 contemporary with those of Ursus spelceus and of the 
 mammoth which he had himself found in the true archaeo- 
 lithic stratum of this cave, whereas, imbedded in a far 
 more recent layer, overlying the former, they dated in 
 reality from the neolithic age. 
 
 VII. PBOOFS FTJENISHED BT THE COBTDITIOIT OP THE 
 BOlfES, AND THEIB CHEMICAL COMPOSITIOIJ". 
 
 When human bones are found buried in the same 
 strata with those of extinct species, and when it is certain 
 that the bed which contains them both is virgin and undis- 
 turbed soil, we may logically conclude, as we have said, 
 that these remains of men and animals date from the same 
 epoch. The similarity of appearance, and especially the 
 equal quantity of animal matter which they still contain, 
 duly considering, of co.urse, the age and nature of the 
 animal, give new weight to this conclusion. Now the 
 quantity of ossein is easily deduced from that of the 
 nitrogen discovered by chemical analysis. In this manner 
 M. Delesse found that the proportion of nitrogen con- 
 tained in the human bones found at Aurignac was very 
 nearly the same as that in the bones of the bear, reindeer, 
 and rhinoceros with which the remains of our own species 
 were found associated in this burial cave. The numerous 
 analyses of M. Scheurer-Kestner produced similar results, 
 and led their author to believe with M. Delesse in the 
 co-existence of man and the extinct species whose remains 
 were under examination. 
 
 The nature of the bones, that of the soil, its dryness or 
 humidity, its permeability by air and water, the more or 
 less ancient date of burial, the depth at which they lie, 
 &c., have a considerable effect on the condition of the 
 bones, so that those most recently buried are not always 
 
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF POSSIL BONES. 89 
 
 the best preserved. Hence M. Fremy has had no diffi- 
 culty in proving that nothing is more variable ' than the 
 quantity of organic matter contained in fossil bones; 
 some of them no longer contain any at all, others have a 
 proportion of 8, 10, and even 20 per cent. Some strata 
 have such a preserving power that M. Gimbernat was able 
 to make an edible jelly from some bones of Elephas 
 primigenius, and M. Bibra made a strong paste from the 
 bones of Ursus spelceus. Mr. A. Milne-Edwards has seen a 
 tooth of the last-^amed fossil species, found in the diluvium 
 of the-neighbourhood of Compi^gne, which still contained 
 sufficient ossein to retain its shape, after its calcareous 
 substance had been expelled by the action of hydrochloric 
 acid. Lastly, some bones of the mastodon found at New 
 York, in 1845, still contained 27 to 30 per cent, of ani- 
 mal matter. With bones so well preserved it would then 
 be possible to prepare an antediluvian broth, a real soup 
 oi pre-adamite gelatine. Who knows if this strange notion 
 may not one day be realised by the unceasing progress of 
 chemistry, which every day displays wonders far more sur- 
 prising and of greater interest.^ 
 
 The impossibility of determining by analysis the 
 precise age of any bone, ancient or recent, will be easily 
 seen from the foregoing statements. On the other hand, 
 if the bones under examination, belonging partly to the 
 human race, partly to extinct species, occupy the same bed 
 and contain the same proportion of nitrogenous matter, 
 we may admit with some degree of certainty the synchro- 
 nism of the analysed remains. In this way M. Scheurer- 
 Kestner satisfied himself that the skull of Eguisheim, for 
 example, was of the same date as the bones of the mam- 
 moth and of the cave bear found along with it.' 
 
 ' Marrel de Serres had long since observed that the chemical 
 composition of the bones of the caves and that of the remains contained 
 in the tertiary beds are sometimes absolutely identical. 
 
 ' This strange idea, of which we have just spoken, was put in execu- 
 tion by German naturalist s at the congress of Tubingen. ' They had th e 
 pleasure,' M. Babinet tells us, ' of eating, not a beefsteak, but a soup of 
 mammoth gelatine.' See Revue Soientijique, 1866. Conference by M. 
 Babinet on the Glacial Period. 
 
 ' Scheurer-Kestner, Reeherohes C7dmiqiies snr les Ossements trnuvea 
 
90 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 From all these facts we must conclude that if the 
 chemical analysis of bones can, in certain cases, and by 
 comparison, furnish useful data with respect to their rela- 
 tive ages, it cannot tell us anything about their absolute 
 age. Hence again it results that if the doubts recently 
 put forward with regard to the human bones of Aurignac 
 have a real foundation, that is, if these bones are much 
 less ancient than those of the cave bear, mammoth, and 
 rhinoceros, considered as contemporaneous by M. Ed. 
 Lartet, we must also conclude that the analysis of these 
 bones made by M. Delesse does not prove all that which 
 he wished it to show. 
 
 dans le Ichm cHEgvJiiTieim,. AnnaUs des Sciencei Natwrelleg, t. vii. p. 1 65, 
 1867 
 
91 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE PEAT MOSSES AND THE KITCHEN MIDDENS. 
 
 I. THE DAWISH PEAT MOSSES. 
 
 It is well known that in certain regions (chiefly at the 
 bottom of gently sloping valleys), and under the influence 
 of certain conditions, aquatic plants, the hypnum, the 
 sphagnum, &c., herbaceous land plants, heaths, and even 
 forest trees, heaped up in shallow waters, become inter- 
 laced and partly decomposed, and produce a combustible 
 of no great value. This combustible is peat. Denmark is 
 especially rich in various kinds of peat beds, known in 
 that country as engmose (meadow marshes), lyngmose 
 (heath marshes), and skovmose (forest marshes). 
 
 The last alone deserve a few moments' attention, since 
 they show that very different vegetations succeeded each 
 other at different epochs in the soil of Denmark. Professor 
 Steenstrup, who has made a special study of the subject, 
 tells us that a layer of peat, composed of perfectly recog- 
 nisable aquatic plants [hypnum), is placed above the amor- 
 phous, almost felt-like peat, which occupies the centre 
 and bottom of the funnel-shaped basins in which it was 
 formed. Stunted pines, heaped one over the other, still 
 occupy the place in the marsh where they grew in the 
 remote past. Then the sphagnum, takes the place of 
 the hypnum, and the heath appears, along with whortle- 
 berries, birches, hazels, and elders. Lastly, the Scotch fir,, 
 which once grew along the borders of 'the moss, but which 
 has long since disappeared from the land, appears in great 
 abundance, and principally on the outer belt. These trees 
 now lie overturned in such a way that their roots are turned 
 towards the edge of the basin and their tops towards the 
 
92 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAIJ RACE. 
 
 centre; they are heaped upon each other and overlap 
 with such regularity, that they present the appearance of 
 piles of timber artificially arranged. 
 
 By degrees they disappear and are replaced by the 
 sessile-leaved oak (Qwercus robur sessilifolia of Smith), 
 which in its turn gives place to the pedunculate leaved 
 oak {Quercus pedunculata, Eberhard), almost the only 
 one now existing in Denmark. Finally the beech appears 
 {Fagus sylvestris), which at the present day grows 
 so luxuriantly in this part of Scandinavia, that these 
 forests are reckoned the finest in the world. 
 
 What causes brought about these changes in the 
 vegetation ? Judging from the shells of the peat mosses, 
 whose species are identical with those actually existing 
 in that region, the climate does not appear to have under- 
 gone any great modifications of temperature. Hence 
 Steenstrup has been led to beUeve that the succession of 
 the fir, the sessile-leaved oak, and the beech is simply due 
 to a gradual desiccation and improvement of the soil, 
 the fir thriving in poor and marshy, while the beech 
 grows only in dry and fertile districts. 
 
 The series of layers of peat which we have just de- 
 scribed extends to a depth of not less than 15 to 20 ft., 
 and this argues the lapse of a great period of time between 
 their origin and the moment at which their formation 
 ceased. Ten to twelve thousand years perhaps, according 
 to Steenstrup, went to the accumulation and transformation 
 of these remains of a vegetation which has partly or wholly 
 disappeared from the district. 
 
 The traces of fire still to be seen upon some of the pine 
 trunks, and the presence of carved flints in the layer of peat 
 formed by the same substance, are facts brought forward 
 by the famous professor of Copenhagen in support of his 
 assertion, that man existed at the period when dense pine 
 forests covered Denmark with their sombre but rich vegeta- 
 tion. Other facts, not less convincing, corroborate the 
 deductions of the learned Danish professor. He drew out, 
 with his own hands, an iixe which had been violently driven 
 into the trunk of a Scotch fir {Pinus sylvestris). Now 
 
EEMAINS FOUND IN PEAT MOSSES. 93 
 
 this tree is no longer, and has never been since historic 
 times, indigenous to the Danish isles, and has not thriven 
 when the attempt has been made to re-introduce it. 
 
 It has also been proved by Steenstrup in a most in- 
 genious and conclusive way that the Bos primigenius was 
 contemporary with the ancient Danish forests. In a forest 
 peat moss of the island of Moen, he discovered an entire 
 skeleton of this primitive ox, buried, so to speak, in a 
 shroud of the needles of the Scotch fir. Needles of the 
 same trees, slightly crushed, and in small fragments, con- 
 stituted a blackish mass, placed within the space occupied 
 by the skeleton, which mass is nothing else than the 
 perfectly recognisable excrements of the ruminant, which 
 lived and browsed in the Danish forests together with the 
 blackcock, which has long since disappeared from them. 
 
 Two bones of the stag, found in the peat mosses of 
 Jutland and Finland, where the Scotch fir is very abun- 
 dant, have led the Danish savant to the same conclu- 
 sion with regard to the animals to which these bones 
 belonged. Steenstrup has further, concluded from the 
 presence of flint arrow heads in these bones, and arrow 
 heads which had during the life of the animal been covered 
 by a new formation of bone, that man had pursued and 
 wounded the stags, but had not been able to kill them. 
 He was therefore contemporary with them, and conse- 
 quently with the pine forests of Denmark. 
 
 The stone age terminates with these forests. That 
 of bronze saw the birth of the first oak of the peat 
 mosses (^Quercus rohur sessiUfolia) ; for it is in a layer of 
 this oak that the magnificent bronze shields which now 
 adorn the Museum at Copenhagen were found. Lastly, 
 the historic, or iron age, belongs essentially to the epoch 
 of the beech. No human bones have as yet been found 
 in the Danish peat mosses. ' Who will tell us,' exclaims 
 Virchow, ' how long this calendar of trees, if I may be 
 allowed the expression, has been established ; how 
 many centuries have elapsed since the pine forests ceased 
 to spread their dark verdure over the surface of these 
 marshes ? We do not know, but we know that with the 
 
94 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 disappearance of the pines the blackcock also was forced 
 to quit Denmark, for it fed upon their young shoots in 
 the spring. If doubt were still entertained as to the 
 coincidence of the age of the pines and the stone age, the 
 discovery of a flint implement in the peat at the foot of 
 such a pine would be a conclusive fact.' ' 
 
 We must not leave the peat mosses of Denmark with- 
 out mentioning the numerous necklace beads and ear- 
 rings of amber which were dug out of those of Jutland. 
 One of them furnished, it is said, more than 4,000 such 
 beads, enclosed in a wooden casket, which has suggested 
 the idea that this was the stock in trade of some jeweller 
 of the neolithic age. 
 
 The Irish bogs have furnished palaeontology with 
 remains of the Megaceros hibernicus in a perfect state 
 of preservation, and several museums, especially that of 
 Toulouse, possess a complete and well mounted skeleton 
 of this animal, which was the contemporary of the mam- 
 moth and the cave bear. 
 
 Among the French peat mosses we may mention in 
 particular those situated near the mouth of the Somme, 
 from some of which M. Boucher de Perthes extracted 
 rough-hewn axes, and bones of the Irish elk, and from 
 others a quantity of bone and flint implements (stag's 
 horn axes with wooden handles, flint knives, bone fish- 
 hooks, necklaces, &c.), which undoubtedly_belong to the 
 age of polished stone. The proofs of the great antiquity 
 of man furnished by the peat mosses of the Somme 
 valley are less striking than those of the Danish bogs, 
 but they have their value. Boucher de Perthes tells us 
 moreover that in several districts in the neighbourhood 
 of Abbeville, where an immense forest formerly stood, 
 alders and oaks twelve feet in diameter may be laid bare 
 by digging through the layer of peat formed subsequently 
 above them. Some of these are still standing, others are 
 uprooted and lie with their heads towards the source of 
 the river. The renowned antiquary surmises that these 
 
 ■ Tirchow, Zes tumuli et les Jialitations lacuHres (Revue des court 
 scientifiques, i' ann^e, 1866, p. 7). 
 
PEAT MOSSES NEAB PAEIS. 95 
 
 trees were overthrown by a gust of wind from the sea, or 
 by a tidal wave of more than ordinary force, the same 
 perhaps which swept away the isthmus which formerly 
 united Grreat Britain and the Continent.' 
 
 Whatever we may think of this last hypothesis, it is 
 certainly true that these trees have fallen on the very spot 
 where they grew, and that since they fell, great beds of 
 peat not less than 5 or 6 yards in. depth, have been formed 
 above them. This peat is covered by a bed of waterworn 
 pebbles to a dept|i of 12 or 16 inches. Now in the lowest 
 layer, half-polished axes, along with bones of oxen, boars, 
 roebucks, and stags, have been found. The conclusion is 
 easy to draw. 
 
 The peat mosses of the neighbourhood of Paris belong 
 for the most part to the same epoch. Some few among 
 them seem, however, to date from the reindeer age. In 
 the latter, which are formed of a fibrous peat, MM. 
 Eoujou and Julien found hearthstones, flint imple- 
 ments, and even pottery, which they believe to be of 
 later date than the period of the mammoth, but more 
 ancient than the age of polished stone. However, we 
 must not forget that, by reason of their greater per- 
 meability, especially when they are in a soft condition, 
 the peat mosses may have received and covered bones 
 and products of human industry which it would be a 
 mistake to regard in every case as contemporaries, merely 
 from the fact that they occupy the same level. Many 
 mistakes have been committed in this respect, and it is 
 impossible to be too cautious in pronouncing upon the 
 real age of any object found in the peat. But when 
 Boucher de Perthes and Steenstrup have searched these 
 bogs with the attention and care for which they are so 
 justly celebrated, the results have great value, and give 
 the most convincing' evidence in favour of the thesis 
 which we are endeavouring to establish ; namely, the great 
 antiquity of the human race. 
 
 ' Boucher de Perthes, De Vhonime Antidilwcien, p. 18. 
 
96 
 
 THE ANTiaUITY OP THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 II. THE PEAT MOSSES OE STWITZEKLABTD. LEAE- 
 MAEKED COAL OF MOBCH"VrEIIiI,, OE 'WETZIKOM', 
 OE UTZNACH, AND OE DUKUTEIT. 
 
 We cannot leave unnoticed tlie peat mosses containing 
 leaf-impressed coal wliicli occur in various parts of Switzer- 
 land, notably at Wetzikon in the east of Switzerland, at 
 Morchweill near Saint Gall, at TJtznach, and at Diirnten 
 in Oberberg. These masses of carbon, of which the 
 mean thickness is a yard, and which in certain districts 
 attain to a depth of 4J yards, are traversed by veins of 
 clay, and they rest upon a bed subsequently formed of 
 dirty white or yellowish clay. The shells of freshwater 
 molluscs still existing in the country have been found 
 imbedded in this layer {Anodonta, valvata depressa, 
 obtusa, &c.). The trunks of pines are also abundant, 
 overthrown in every direction, with their roots, their 
 bark, and fibrous tissue with its concentric layers, show- 
 ing that some of them were more than a century old, in a 
 perfect state of preservation. These trees are much 
 flattened, and encased in a blackish or brownish substance 
 produced by the decaying of herbaceous plants. The trees 
 are rarer in the upper layers, which are principally com- 
 posed of compressed masses of carbon interlaced with roots 
 and reeds. 
 
 Twenty-four species of plants, of which eight are trees 
 or shrubs, have been discovered by Heer in these peat- 
 bogs of the ancient world. We give the list of them : — 
 
 Common fir (^Pinus abies). 
 
 Scotoli fir QPinus syhiestris). 
 
 Mountain pine {Finns montamd). 
 
 Larch {Pvrvui Im-ix). 
 
 Tew (taxus hacoata). 
 
 Birch (^Betula alba). 
 
 Oak {Querous robv/r). 
 
 Maple (^Acer pseudoplatan'us). 
 
 Hazel (^CoryVus avellana). 
 
 Herbaceous Plants 
 
 Marsh trefoil (Jlenyanthes trifo- 
 Uata). 
 
 Common reed (Phragmites eom- 
 mtmis). 
 
 Raspberry (Puius idism). 
 
 Perforated myrtle ( Vaociniwm vitis 
 idced). 
 
 Lake scirpns (^Sovrpvs laovstrW). 
 
 Several species of sphagnwm. 
 
 Mosses, among others Mypnum di- 
 Imiii, found at Thonou by M. 
 Morlot among other glacial re- 
 mains. 
 
ANIMAL EEMAINS IN PEAT MOSSES. 97 
 
 Only one plant of this epoch seems to have disappeared, 
 namely, a species of nuphar, of which M. Gaspary has 
 made a separate genus, under the name of holopleura. 
 
 Animals which occuk in the Lbaf-maeked Coal. 
 
 Hammolia Insects 
 
 Elephas antiquus ) 
 
 JRMnooeros etnisous [ Extinct 
 Bob prim^enmt \ species 
 Ur»ui 8pel(sus } 
 
 Molluscs 
 Anodonta 
 Vahata depressa 
 Valvata oMusa 
 Iridium oiliquv/m , 
 
 Donaoia discolor 1 Existing 
 D. sencea ] species 
 
 Existirg species 
 
 At Diirnten and at Utznach we find trunks of firs and 
 birches a foot in diameter, with well preserved cones. At 
 Morchweill an acorn still retaining its cup was found, and 
 two varieties of hazel nut, of which one resembled the 
 modern kind. Lastly, among the animals whose remains 
 have been found in these beds, the most ancient species of 
 the diluvium of the valleys occur, such as Mephas an- 
 tiquus, Rhinoceros etruscus, Bos primigenius, and Ursus 
 spelcBus, contemporaries of the man of the caves. We 
 find with these species, long since extinct, the elytra of 
 insects belonging to species identical with those which 
 still exist on the shores of the Swiss lakes {Donacia dis- 
 color and D. sericed). 
 
 According to Oswald Heer, one of these peat mosses, 
 that of Morchweill, and perhaps that of Wetzikon, is placed 
 between two beds containing striated erratic blocks, which 
 seems to show that they were formed in the interval 
 which separates the two glacial periods admitted by some 
 geologists and rejected by others. Whichever opinion is 
 adopted, it is at any rate true and incontestible that these 
 masses of leaf-impressed carbon are covered by a glacial 
 deposit. They belong therefore to an extremely remote 
 epoch, and are at least contemporary with the ancient Ehine 
 alluvium, above which the lehm or loess was deposited at 
 the epoch of the great extension of the glaciers of the 
 
98 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 Swiss Alps and of the Vosges, now extinct. JN'ow, it is in 
 this loess, at Eguisheim in Alsace, and at Lahr in Baden, 
 that MM. Faudel and Ami Bone found human bones of 
 which we shall soon have occasion to speak, a conclusive 
 proof that man existed during the glacial period, that is, 
 at an epoch when the woolly elephant, the rhinoceros, and 
 the reindeer existed in our land. 
 
 III. THE KITCHEM- MIDDENS OB SHELL MOUNDS. 
 
 The remains of prehistoric cookery, which are found in 
 considerable heaps on the seashore, are known as kitchen 
 middens to Scandinavian archaeologists. These heaps are 
 principally composed of oyster shells (Ostrea edulis), of 
 mussel shells {Mytilus edulis), of limpets (Garditi'm 
 edulp), and of periwinkles (Littorina littorea). Bones of 
 mammalia, of birds and fishes, are found together with 
 these molluscs, and other similar refuse. 
 
 The principal mammalia are the st;ag {Gervus elephas), 
 the wild goat (C. capreolus), and the wild boar [Sus 
 scrofa). The reindeer is rarely found; but according 
 to Steenstrup, it does occur in the kitchen middens, 
 though its presence was long disputed. We must add to 
 these about fifteen other species which are far less com- 
 mon than those already mentioned. These are the brown 
 bear, the dog, the wolf, the fox, the cat, the lynx, the 
 marten, the otter, the seal, the walrus, the beaver, the 
 water rat, and the mouse. Birds are represented by the 
 wild swan {Gygnus musicus'), the blackcock (Tetrao 
 urogallus), and the great penguin {Alca impennis), now 
 nearly extinct. The fishes which occur most frequently are 
 the herring (Ghipea harengus), the cod {Gadus cellarius), 
 the dab {Pleuronectes liTnanda), and the eel {^Murcena 
 anguilla). It is worthy of remark that none of these 
 animals belong to an extinct fauna. 
 
 As for the kitchen debris themselves, they form heaps 
 from 1 to 3 yards in height, by 100 to 350 yards long 
 and 50 to 70 wide, and there are more than fifty of them, 
 all situated a short distance from the shores of the Baltic, 
 and seldom raised more than three yards above the level 
 
KITCHEN MIDDENS. 99 
 
 of the sea. Among the refuse still remain the coal cinders 
 of ancient hearths, rude pottery, numerous flint imple- 
 ments, and some few traces of stag's horn. But there is 
 no vestige of metals, nor of cereals, nor, consequently, of 
 agriculture. The dog was, however, already domesticated, 
 as Professor Steenstrup has proved in a most ingenious 
 way. He had observed that nearly all the long bones of 
 mammalia and birds taken from the refuse heaps were 
 reduced to their shaft or diaphysis. The heads or extre- 
 mities had disappeared or were very irregularly broken. 
 Moreover, Steenstrup remarked that the long bones were 
 from twenty to twenty-five times more numerous than the 
 short bones. Struck by these two facts, he shut up several 
 dogs and gave them bones to gnaw. They devoured the 
 short bones, gnawed the heads of the long bones, and 
 left the shafts in precisely the same condition as those 
 of Copenhagen. Hence the learned professor concluded 
 that the Danish aborigines were in possession of a do- 
 mestic animal, the dog, which accompanied them every- 
 where, shared their repasts, and served itself as food to 
 these still barbarous tribes. 
 
 As for the bones of the other mammalia, they bear 
 evident traces of having been purposely fractured by man, 
 who broke them in order to extract the marrow which they 
 contained for food. 
 
 As zoological museums of ancient times, and as 
 links between the past and the present, the kitchen 
 middens furnish Danish men of science with valuable data 
 respecting the fauna of the coimtry which their labours 
 have rendered famous. Thus at the time when the use 
 of metals was still unknown to their ancestors but when 
 they were already in possession of better flint tools 
 than those found in the diluvium of Abbeville and in 
 certain caves of prehistoric times, the mammoth, the 
 woolly .rhinoceros, the musk ox, &c., no longer existed 
 in Denmark. The oyster, at that time very common on 
 the shores of the Baltic, has in several districts completely 
 disappeared, and in the places where it is still found it is 
 comparatively small and stunted. This is. also the case 
 
100 THE ANTiaUlTY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 with the other edible molluscs before mentioned. This 
 result is attributed to a perceptible decrease of saltness 
 which has taken place in the waters of the Baltic, owing 
 
 Figs. 23, 24. Lamce heads from .the kitchen middens. 
 vAfter Lubbodk.) 
 
 to the great quantity of fresh water poured into this inland 
 sea by the rivers of the present day, and to the obstruction 
 of the channel of communication between the North Sea 
 and the Kattegat caused by the formation' of the land 
 added to Jutland. 
 
REMAINS FOUND IN KITCHEN MIDDENS. 101 
 
 The presence of the bones of the blackcock in these 
 refuse heaps proves that this bird, now extinct in Denmark, 
 found the resinous buds which form its favourite food in 
 the pine forests which grew near the coast. The great 
 penguin (^Alca, im'pennis, Linnaeus), now, according to 
 some authorities, confined to the most inaccessible rocks of 
 Iceland and Greenland, or, as others say, entirely extinct, 
 was then common upon these shores. Its oily flesh was 
 not despised ; its fat was used at once for food, fuel, and 
 light.' The refuse heaps contain no remains of the do- 
 mestic fowl. 
 
 As a sporting, and especially as a fishing people, the 
 ancient Danes have left in their kitchen middens a quan- 
 tity of the remains of eels, cod, flounders, and herrings ; 
 all deep sea fish, in search of which they were obliged to 
 venture far out to sea in boats formed of the trunk of a 
 tree hollowed by flints and fire : a terrible struggle for 
 existence, in which many human victims fell, but in which 
 dangerous school many bold spirits were formed. 
 
 Human remains have hitherto been sought in vain in 
 the kitchen middens ; but as we have already said, a 
 number of flint implements have been found there, some 
 of which are rudely fashioned and resemble those of the 
 diluvium (figs. 23 and 24) ; others, less common than the 
 former, are of better workmanship and are even polished 
 by the grindstone, for example some axes of a peculiar 
 character, flat on one side and more or less convex on the 
 other, and of which the object is confessedly unknown to 
 M. Steenstrup (figs. 25, 26, and 27). Certain savage tribes 
 of modern times make similar axes (figs. 28, 29, 30), 
 
 According to calculations of which we do not guarantee 
 the accuracy, the kitchen middens of Denmark are about 
 7,000 years old, and are contemporary with the earliest 
 lake dwellings. Steenstrup believes them to be of the 
 same age as the dolmens, and believes that the people 
 
 ' By placing a wick of any kind, moss for instance, in the stomach 
 of a penguin, an economical lamp was obtained. In the middle ages 
 the fat of this bird was used as fuel in the place of wood on the coasts 
 of Newfoundland. 
 
102 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 Fia. 25. Convex taoe. 
 
 Axe of the kitches jiidden's (after Lubbock). 
 
 Fio. 26. Side Tiew. 
 
 Pig. 27. Ilat &oe. 
 
 'lis ^ 
 
 
 MoDEKN New Zealand axe lit the British Museom. (After Lubbock 
 
 ' Prehistoric Man.') 
 
 Fio. 28. ConveK face. Fio. 29. Side view. FiQ. 30. Flat face. 
 
CARVED BONES AND HOEN. 103 
 
 ■who raised these great stone monuments, and those who 
 have left the refuse of their meals in the kitchen middens, 
 are one and the same. Worsae, de Quatrefages, and Desor 
 do not share this opinion. According to the famous 
 Danish archaeologist, the refuse heaps represent in the 
 north the beginning of the age of splintered stone, while 
 the dolmens belong to the end of it. M. de Quatrefages, 
 again grounding his belief upon the fact that the remains 
 of the industry of the people who formed the shell mounds 
 are never found wj.th the remains of Elephas primigenius, 
 nor even with those of the reindeer (although, as we have 
 seen, Stoenstrup affirms that the latter do occur in the 
 refuse heaps), concludes that the construction of the 
 kitchen middens is of a much later date than the race of 
 Aurignac and of Moulin- Quignon ; he adds that, ' between 
 the stone age of our earliest ancestors and that of the 
 primitive Danes a whole, geological period intervenes.' 
 M, Desor, for his part also, denies the identity of the 
 people of the kitchen middens with that of the dolmens, 
 for, independently of the numerous domestic animals to be 
 met with in the latter, objects in bronze and even in iron 
 occur also, which are never found in the kitchen middens. 
 It is therefore more than doubtful whether these two 
 kinds of monuments date from the same epoch ; we may 
 even go so far as to say that the problem is now solved ; 
 the dolmens, and especially those in which iron and bronze 
 occur, being proved to be far more recent than the kitchen 
 middens of Denmark. 
 
 Blackish ashes have been found in the latter, which 
 chemical analysis has shown to contain a considerable pro- 
 portion of manganese ; these ashes were produced by the 
 combustion of a species of sea-weed {Zostera marina) 
 sprinkled with sea-water. This double process resulted 
 in a sort of saline efflorescence (the sal nigrum of Pliny). 
 
 Bones and antlers of the stag carved into fish-hooks, 
 chisels, axe blades, &c,, have been found among the debris. 
 A sort of bone comb was discovered at Meilgaard, destined 
 probably to split the tendons then used as thread and 
 cordage. The remains of Danish cooking seem to show 
 
104 THE ANTiaUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 that the tribes who formed one layer after another in such 
 a way that they bear a certain resemblance to geological 
 strata, Hved under the shelter of tents, and practised 
 hunting and fishing, eating their spoils on the spot. 
 
 Eefuse heaps of still earlier date than those of Den- 
 mark have been observed in Suabia at Schiissenried. 
 Others occur in certain caves of France, Belgium, in the 
 Orkney Isles, in Scotland, England, &c. We may mention 
 among others the cave at Brixham, where, associated with 
 fragments of rude pottery and bones of extinct species, 
 heaps of oyster shells and other saltwater molluscs occur, 
 as well as fishbones of the genus scarus. 
 
 Cook observed debris of a similar character at Cape 
 Leveque, in Australia. Lastly, Darwin and Lyell men- 
 tion others in Guinea, and on the coasts of New Finland. 
 They have even been found in America ; in the States of 
 Maine, Florida, Massachusetts, &c. Those of America are 
 of two kinds, some containing marine shells in abundance, 
 the others, situated in the interior of the continent, espe- 
 cially on the banks of the Mississippi and the St. John 
 rivers, contain only freshwater molluscs (unio, paludina, 
 aTnpullaria). In all of them occur axes, arrow heads and 
 flint knives simply splintered, rude pottery, but never 
 metal. The fauna excavated from them differs in no 
 respect from that of the present day. Everything in 
 these refuse heaps indicates a civilisation similar to that 
 of the people who formed the Danish shell mounds, but 
 not perhaps of such remote antiquity. 
 
105 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 TEE LAKE DWELLINGS AND THE NUBAGBL 
 
 I. THE IiAEi: DWELLIiras OF S'WITZEELAITD. 
 
 It was during the winter of 1853-54, at an epoch when 
 the waters of the lake of Zurich had fallen to the lowest 
 level they are ever known to have attained, that Keller 
 observed near Obermeilen the first piles, which led to so 
 many important discoveries and such remarkable strides 
 in the science of archaeology. 
 
 Anyone may have observed in the Paris Exhibition of 
 1867, in the galleries devoted to Natural Science, those 
 curious specimens which displayed before our eyes the 
 dawning arts, industry, agricultural labours, and domestic 
 life of the first inhabitants of Helvetia. 
 
 If we read the successive reports communicated by 
 Keller to the Antiquarian Society of Zurich; Troyon's 
 book on the lake dwellings, which Carl Vogt styles some- 
 what severely an historical romance, a •pious fancy ; lastly, 
 the work on the lake dwellings of Neufchatel, published by 
 M. Desor, in 1865 ; if we add to these works the general 
 views of Morlot on archaeology, several critical articles of 
 Pictet on fossil man, independently of what he has said 
 in his great treatise on palaeontology ; the ' Crania Helve- 
 tica ' of His, the studies of Eiitimeyer on the fossil fauna 
 of Switzerland, the ' Crania Grermanise Meridionalis Ori- 
 entalis ' of Ecker, the ' Vorlesungen iiber den Menschen, 
 seine Stellung in der Schopfung und in der Greschichte 
 der Erde,' by Carl Vogt, the ' Pfahlbaualterthiimer von 
 Moosseedorf,' by Jahn and Uhlmann, &c., we shaU be 
 convinced that love of science, allied to the noblest 
 patriotism, could alone have brought to light so many 
 
106 
 
 THE ANTiaUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 interesting discoveries in so short a time and in so limited 
 a space of ground. The following details are taken from 
 these original sources and from personal recollection. 
 
 It has been justly remarked that the lake dwellings of 
 Switzerland are at the same time monuments of prehistoric 
 architecture, a zoological museum, and a gallery of anthro- 
 pology. Framework and piles, remains of wild and domes- 
 tic animals, various forms of human skulls, implements of 
 
 Fig. 31. Ancient Swiss lake dwellings, in part restored by com-' 
 
 PAKISON WITH THE LAKE HUTS OF MODERN SAVAGES IN Nkw GuINEA. 
 
 every description in bone, flint, bronze, and iron, pottery 
 of more or less artistic workmanship, objects of art and 
 ornament, woven stuffs, grinding stones, millstones for 
 crushing, grains, bread, fruits, ashes, coal, &c., all these 
 are found therein, or at least were found there in a state 
 of confusion, which the science of antiquaries and palaeonto- 
 logists has reduced to the most perfect order (fig. 31). 
 
 Long known to the fishermen, who often entangled 
 their nets in them, the piles of the Swiss lakes only at- 
 
CONSTRUCTION OF LAKE DWELLINGS. 107 
 
 tracted the attention of scientific men about 1853. Keller 
 was one of the first to understand, their importance, and 
 the reports whch from that time (1854) he continually 
 laid before the Antiquarian Society of Zurich bear witness 
 to the zeal, conscientiousness, and power of observation 
 which he has displayed in the production of a work worthy 
 of his country and of himself. 
 
 By the help of the ruins which remain beneath the 
 waters, let us endeavour to reconstruct in imagination 
 these ancient dijellings, which a well-known savant, for 
 once mistaken, asserted to have been built and inhabited 
 by beavers. Imagine a number of piles,' fifteen to thirty 
 feet long, with a diameter of three to nine inches, standing 
 about four to six feet above the surface of the water when 
 it is still. The distance between these piles varies ; some 
 of them are arranged at right angles to the shore, others 
 are parallel to it, and form altogether a rectangle or a 
 circle. 
 
 Usually fixed in the mud of the lake above the surface 
 of which they are raised, they are sometimes supported 
 (when the nature of the soil does not allow them to be 
 imbedded in it) by heaps of stones, or Stemhergen, arranged 
 round their base. Suppose these piles to be joined by 
 transverse beams, held in their places by wooden pins. 
 It then only remains to establish a kind of platform des- 
 tined to support the hut and constructed of thick planks 
 or of split trunks of trees roughly squared, and bound 
 together by strong cords, wooden pins, or even by cross 
 pieces of wood and by dovetailing. Finally, suppose that 
 oval, circular, or rectangular huts are built upon this plat^ 
 form, ten, fifteen, or even twenty-seven feet in diameter, 
 of which the walls are formed of perpendicular posts, 
 bound together by wattled branches lined with a cement 
 of clay. Each hut is covered by a roof of bark, thatch, 
 cane, reed, fern, or moss ; a door is left for the entrance, 
 and a trapdoor within communicates with the lake. The 
 trunk of a tree serves for seat and table, a heap of moss 
 
 ' More than 40,000 were counted at Wangen, and about 100,000 at 
 Eobenhausen. 
 
108 THE ANTiaUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 for a bed. Lastly, suppose each hut surrounded by a ring 
 of piles, of which the upper end touches the surface of 
 the water, to prevent the approach of hostile canoes, and 
 united to the shore by a drawbridge, and a sufficiently 
 exact idea will be obtained of the lake dwellings which in 
 prehistoric times existed in Switzerland and elsewhere. 
 The number of these habitations at present known in this 
 country exceeds 200. The lake of Neufchatel alone has 
 furnished forty. Each village was composed on the aver- 
 age of about 300 huts.' 
 
 It is no easy task to decide the precise motive for the 
 construction of these lake dwellings. It is scarcely likely, 
 us some authors have maintained, that they were simply 
 huts, used temporarily for fishing, or magazines for food 
 and other stores, if we take into consideration the im- 
 mense labour it must have cost to build them. Moreover, 
 it is impossible by this hypothesis to account for the 
 number and diversity of the objects found among the piles 
 if we deny that these places were lake villages or cities, 
 inhabited by a population already so dense that certain 
 districts contained from twelve to fourteen hundred souls. 
 
 Again it has been said, but there are absolutely no 
 grounds for the assertion, tha,t these houses on piles were 
 places of temporary meeting, and even temples consecrated 
 to the worship of the waters. 
 
 Everything seems to show that the oldest lake dwellings 
 
 of Switzerland do not go bsick beyond the neolithic age, 
 
 and that they ceased to exist quite at the beginning of the 
 
 iron age, that is, shortly after the Eoman invasion. The 
 
 huts of Moosseedorf, Wangen, Eobenhausen, Meilen, 
 
 Concise, Saint Aubain, &c., belong to the age of polished 
 
 stone. None of the lake cities of the bronze age which 
 
 have been hitherto discovered are situated in the east of 
 
 Switzerland. To this age belong those of Greneva, Bienne, 
 
 Sempach, Morat, CortaiUod, Auvernier, Neufchatel. Those 
 
 At Wangen, near Lucerne, and in the lakes of Zurich, of Pfeffikon, 
 and of Constance, floors or platforms placed one above the other were 
 remarked, bearing circular huts with a conical roof thatched with straw 
 and bark. These platforms, though much damaged, still measured 
 forty-two feet in length by fifty in width. 
 
DATE OF LAKE DWELLINGS. lO'J 
 
 of BienDe and Neufchatel witnessed the earliest days of 
 the iron age and come very near to historic times. At 
 la T^ne a Eoman coin bearing the efiSgy of Claudius was 
 discovered, which would seem to prove that this settle- 
 ment existed as late as the middle of the first century of 
 our era. Moreover, a vase bearing a Latin inscription was 
 discovered in the lake of Bourget, and some Eoman swords 
 at Bienne. 
 
 Some of these settlements contain remains belonging 
 to two or three di^erent ages. For instance the ages of 
 stone and bronze are represented at Estavayer, and those 
 of stone, bronze, and iron at Neufchatel and Nidau, 
 
 In the east of Switzerland the lake cities disappear 
 with the age of stone ; in the west they last until the 
 iron age. Some few even seem to have lasted to the 
 beginnings of history, but to fix the precise date of 
 their first appearance seems to be too bold an attempt. 
 Certain authors, however, assign an age of 5,000, and even 
 of 7,000 years to the oldest lake cities, whose construction 
 would thus be anterior to that of Nineveh and Babylon. 
 Troyon makes them date from 2,000 years before our era, 
 that is, eight to ten centuries before the Trojan war, and 
 M. Gervais himself adopts this calculation, which probably 
 falls considerably short of the truth. Finally M. Eiitimeyer 
 believes that the lake cities form in Switzerland the earliest 
 stage in the history of the human race, a conclusion which 
 is inadmissible since the discovery at Verrier,' at the foot 
 of Mont Sal^ve, of human constructions of the reindeer 
 age," which M. Ed. Lartet, an authority on such questions, 
 
 ' The hill of Verrier, at the foot of Mont Salfeve, near Geneva, 
 was formed by a landslip of the almost vertical strata of this mountain 
 after the glacial epoch. The cavities left between the great blocks of 
 which it is formed afterwards served as shelter to man. But the 
 presence of carved reindeer bones in this place, and especially those of 
 Thayngen, and the total absence, or at least the extreme rarity of 
 such remains in the lake cities, incoutestably prove that the arrival 
 of man in Switzerland is anterior to the lake dwellings. 
 
 ' Reindeer bones, carved or otherwise, had, before these discoveries, 
 already been observed in different parts of Switzerland, notably in the 
 neighbourhood of Geneva, on the lake at Meilen, and at Windisch on 
 the banks of the Keuss. All these bones were found in the alluvium of 
 
 6 
 
110 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAU EACE. 
 
 believes, judging from the workmanship, to be contem- 
 porary with several settlements of Perigord of the so- 
 called second epoch (reindeer age). The recent discovery 
 of the cave of Thayngen, near Schafif hausen, confirms the 
 theory of the learned palaeontologist. The inhabitants of 
 the lake dwellings were therefore preceded in Switzerland 
 by the dwellers in the caves, who date from the archseo- 
 lithic epoch, and perhaps even they are not the earliest 
 representatives of the human race in that country. 
 
 It is generally admitted that the lake cities were more 
 than once, by accident or design, destroyed by fire. The 
 ruins found at the bottom of the lakes are a clear proof of 
 this fact. A terrible conflagration seems to have marked 
 the limit of each historical period. 
 
 The confused and vague ideas which are all that we 
 hitherto possess, will not allow us to give a definite reply 
 to the question as to who these strange people were that 
 built and inhabited these lake cities. Here, as in many 
 other cases, there is an immense field for conjecture, 
 and adventurous minds may give the rein to their im- 
 agination. If we consult the archasologists of the north — 
 M. Worsae, for instance — ^they tell us that the first inhabi- 
 tants of the lake cities were aborigines of the west and 
 north of Europe, of Keltic origin. . Their race endured as 
 long as the lake dwellings, and perfected itself in arts and 
 manufactures on the spot they inhabited. Keller, Dessor, 
 and Virchow share this opinion. The almost complete 
 identity of plan in the lake buildings of different epochs ; 
 the great resemblance of certain objects in common use, 
 made of stone, bronze, iron, and clay ; the similarity of the 
 way in which fruits and other provisions of various kinds 
 were preserved ; all this seems to refute the opinion held 
 by M. Troyon and others, that peoples of different races 
 and degrees of civilisation successively invaded and occu- 
 pied the lake dwellings, the conqueror imposing his 
 customs, industry, and way of life upon the conquered. 
 
 the terraces which succeeded the glacial epoch, and at a height of con- 
 siderably more than twenty-five or thirty yards above the actual level 
 of the rivers and lakes of Switzerland. 
 
IMPLEMENTS IN SWISS LAKES. 
 
 Ill 
 
 From the fact that certain 
 practised in Switzerland during 
 the epoch of polished stone 
 somewhat resembled those 
 which the ancient Egyptians 
 had adopted about iifty cen- 
 turies before the Etruscan pe- 
 riod, Carl Vogt concludes that 
 the bidlders of the lake cities 
 came from the laanks of the 
 Nile long before the first Aryan 
 migrations, and before the use 
 of metals was known in Egypt. 
 Unfortunately the data upon 
 which so original an opinion is 
 based do not appear to us suf- 
 ficient to place it beyond dis- 
 pute. 
 
 IL IMPLEMEITTS OP STONE 
 AGE I-OUBTD IN THE S-WISS 
 IiAKES. 
 
 The objects found in the 
 Swiss lakes, under the peat, 
 and among the ruins of the 
 lake dwellings of the stone age, 
 , are, as was to be expected, very 
 similar to those found in the 
 caves ofthe neolithic age. Buta 
 harvest richer in many respects 
 is gathered from the lake dwell- 
 ings, since, independently of 
 the weapons and utensils of 
 every kind in stone, bone, and 
 clay, the remains of a fauna and 
 flora almost completely similar 
 to our modern fauna and flora 
 have been discovered in them. 
 
 The stone axes, hammers, and 
 
 agricultural processes 
 
 Fig. 32. Axe, with hoen socket 
 and wooden handle, found 
 AT RoBENHAUSEN. (After Lub- 
 book.) 
 
 chisels are always 
 
112 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 highly polished, and usually fixed in a handle carved from 
 the antler of a stag (fig. 32). Stones for polishing pur- 
 poses, grindstones, stones for crushing corn, and stone 
 hearths, are not rare in the lake cities. Paring knives, 
 or polishers, of which some are a species of jade highly 
 polished, are usually fixed in a stag's-horn handle. Lance 
 and arrow heads and knives of flint are not uncommon, 
 and, as usual, represent the types universally adopted. 
 The same holds good of the weapons. The flint saw (fig. 
 
 33), usually only two or three 
 inches long, is fixed in the 
 groove of a wooden blade and 
 is held firmly in its place by 
 a dark-coloured cement of 
 which the composition is un- 
 
 FiG. 33. Flint SAW. (After Lubbock, ^nown. Utensils and tools 
 
 ' Prehistoric Man.') of bone and hom have also 
 
 been found, such as knives, 
 scissors, axes, hammers, arrows, harpoons, bodkins, fish- 
 hooks, straight and curved needles, pierced by one or two 
 holes, and sometimes even grooved to prevent the thread 
 from interfering with the firee play of the implement. 
 Some needles are sharpened at both ends, and the eye is 
 then in the middle. The bone hairpins present the closest 
 resemblance to the metal ones of modern days. The innate 
 taste for ornament shows itself in the rings and bracelets of 
 bone or stone, in the necklace beads made of Baltic amber, 
 of stags' antlers sawn into fragments more or less small, 
 and even of nuts pierced through and through. Horn 
 drinking cups of varied forms, and naturally of small 
 size, have been found at Concise and Moosseedorf. One 
 of these, hollowed from a stag's antler, was furnished 
 with a wooden bottom attached by means of three pins, 
 of which the holes are to be seen near the lower edge. 
 
 A quantity of fragments of rude pottery, like that of 
 the caves of the neolithic age, sometimes blackened by 
 plumbago, not thrown on the wheel, and but very slightly 
 ornamented, have been taken from a number of these 
 lake settlements (fig. 34). Some vases are intact, but 
 rather small, with flat and rounded bottoms, while in the 
 
PRAGMENTS OF POTTEEY. 
 
 113 
 
 succeeding age vases of a similar nature ended in a conical 
 point and were supported on stands or rings of clay. 
 
 Fig. 34. Feagmknt of pottery found in the lake of Zueich. 
 (After Lubbock.) 
 
 Several of those found at Concise bear two lumps or 
 knobs pierced with a hole to allow of their being sus- 
 pended by a cord. 
 
 Fig. 35. Pieof, of woven stuff found at Eobenhausen. 
 (After Lubbock.) 
 
 The weaver's shuttle, the spindle, the weights destined 
 to aid in the rotatory movement of the spinning wheel, 
 the loom itself, with its spools for stretching the thread. 
 
114 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 already existed. Cords made from the bark fibre of cer- 
 tain trees, thread made from flax (not hemp), woven and 
 plaited stuffs, had been discovered at the bottom of the 
 lakes of Constance and PfefiSkon, at "Wangen and Roben- 
 hausen (fig. 35). Twigs of willow, interlaced with straw, 
 were even found at Wangen, probably the remains of a 
 basket even more ancient than that used by queen Aah- 
 Hotep (see p. 33). 
 
 The preserving property of peat explains, in part at 
 least, the preservation for such a length of time of all 
 these tissues, as well as that of the half-carbonised cereals, 
 seeds, and fruits, of which Heer discovered the existence 
 in the lakes of Constance and Pfeffikon (see p. 120). 
 
 Lastly, in one of the oldest settlements of the lake 
 of Bienne, that of Locras (age of polished stone), M. Grass 
 discovered wooden bowls and platters, and even little 
 birch-bark boxes, furnished with lids and made to open 
 and shut at will by means of a string hinge. Ob- 
 jects made of stag's horn or bone are not uncommon 
 at Locras. Several of great historic interest have been 
 discovered in that place : among others a comb pierced 
 with a hole by which it might be suspended, maces, or 
 battle axes, which still retain a part of their handle, and 
 a sort of wand of office. The bone objects include fish- 
 hooks, daggers, and a sort of comb for carding flax, formed 
 of three ribs split lengthways, pointed at one end, and 
 joined together by fine string. Lastly, a flat rectangular 
 piece of bone pierced with a hole at one end, was probably 
 used for making nets. Few tissues occur at Locras ; but, 
 on the other hand, several balls of thread, string, and 
 cord have been found there. 
 
 At Grerafin (lake of Bienne, stone age), a spoon was 
 found made of yew wood beautifully wrought, and at 
 'V\''eyeregg, Austria (age of polished stone), a bone fork. 
 The lake dwellings of the stone age have also furnished 
 a great number of bones of animals, of which a list 
 will be found on p. 119, There are no entire skele- 
 tons, and the bones are generally split lengthways, 
 in order to extract the marrow, a very ancient and per- 
 
LAKE CITIES IS OTHEE LANDS. 115 
 
 sistent custom, since it dates from the earliest stone 
 age, from the epoch even of the cave bear and mam- 
 moth, and it is still practised by the Lapps and other 
 peoples of the Finn race who inhabit the north of Europe. 
 To their praise be it spoken, no trace of cannibalism has 
 been observed among the inhabitants of the Swiss lake 
 dwellings. 
 
 Switzerland is not the only country in which lake cities 
 occur. Italy, Austria, Hungary, Pomerania, France, and 
 Savoy possess huts built on piles after the manner of those 
 of Switzerland, but they are generally smaller, and nearly 
 all belong to the age of polished stone. Occasionally, how- 
 ever, metal objects occur in them, probably of foreign 
 origin, which were imbedded in the mud of the lake at 
 a date subsequent to the construction of the huts. Paolo 
 Lioy has described those of Lake Fimon (Italy), and he 
 maintains that they belong to the reindeer age.' Those 
 of Savoy are far less ancient, since some of them, that of 
 Grresine for instance on the lake of Bourget, are, accord- 
 ing to M. Rabut, not more than 3,000 years old. Those 
 of Lake Paladru in Is^re are yet more recent ; for M. 
 Chantry, who explored them with so much care, found in 
 them a quantity of iron objects and even a Carlovingian 
 coin. However, history makes no mention of this lake 
 city. The local tradition that the ruins of an ancient city 
 which had been destroyed by divine vengeance existed at 
 the bottom of the lake, led to the discovery 6f the ruins 
 of a lake village occupying in point of fact the spot 
 indicated. 
 
 A recent author ^ has even asserted that Toulouse was 
 once a lake city ; but M. de Mortillet has refuted this 
 opinion in a manner which appears to us conclusive. It 
 is worthy of remark, however, that according to Strabo, 
 Cicero, and Justinian, a sacred lake existed formerly in the 
 neighbourhood of Toulouse where the neighbouring tribes 
 offered gold and silver to their gods. 
 
 • See Paolo Lioy, Ze abitazioni Icuiustre delta eta della jAetra nel 
 Vicentino. Yicenza, 1866. 
 
 ' See Revue wroheologigue du Midi de la France, 1866-1867, pp. 170 
 and 196. 
 
116 THE ANTiaUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 HI. THE INHABITANTS OF THB LAKE DASrELLINGS. 
 THE SWISS EPOCH OP THE LAKE II"WrBLLIlirGS. 
 MANNEBS AND CUSTOMS OF THEIB INHABITANTS. 
 
 At the epoch of the lake cities, immense forest's, already 
 peopled by our modern fauna, covered the slopes of the 
 Swiss mountains, and descended sometimes to the very 
 shores of the lakes. Here the urus, the aurochs, the red 
 deer, the roebuck, the wild goat, the wild boar, the wolf, 
 the fox, roamed at liberty. The otter disported himself 
 in the clear waters the beaver constructed its dams, the 
 brown bear crouched in his cave, while the IdmTner-geyer 
 (lamb-slayer vidture), watching his prey, hovered in the £dr. 
 The dog, already the companion and help-mate of man, 
 hunted with him the denizens of the forests whose flesh 
 served as food for both of them. Besides the dog, the 
 dwellers on the lake had brought under their sway the 
 greater number of the animals which are now domesti- 
 cated : the ox, the goat, the sheep, the pig, and perhaps 
 even the horse — an immense step in advance, which even 
 rendered agricultiu-al labour possible. In effect they cul- 
 tivated most of our cereals. The spoils of hunting, and 
 of fishing with net and line, milk, and fruits of all kinds, 
 also served for nourishment. 
 
 To judge from certain of their works of art and orna- 
 ments (coral necklaces, amber beads, jade, &c.), it would 
 appear that they carried on a commerce by barter with 
 the peoples of the Mediterranean, of the Baltic, of the 
 Scilly Isles, perhaps even of the 'East. But these asser- 
 tions are possibly rash, and are still the subject of serious 
 doubts. They were clothed in skins, sewn or unsewn, 
 and in hempen, or linen stuffs skilfully woven. Woollen 
 stuffs were unknown to them ; at least no trace of them 
 has hitherto been found. The arts of making baskets,' 
 ropes, and lace, had already reached a comparatively 
 advanced stage of development. Their pottery, not made 
 upon the wheel, is not wanting in a certain elegance. 
 But the arts of design were in an extremely backward 
 
 > Baskets closely resembling those taken from Egyptian tombs have 
 been found in Switzerland. 
 
INHABITANTS OF LAKE CITIES. 11 V 
 
 condition, compared to their development in the reindeer 
 age among the inhabitants of the caves of Perigord and 
 Languedoc. Their architecture was of the simplest de- 
 scription; but their carpenters had invented ingenious 
 methods of joining, mortising, dovetailing, &c., of remark- 
 able size and solidity, which are in no respect inferior to 
 several of those adopted in our own day. Finally, with 
 the aid of fire and of flint tools, the lake dwellers of the 
 age of stone constructed boats of astonishing size and 
 soHdity. • 
 
 In our present social conditions it is difficult for us to 
 understand the motives which led the early inhabitants of 
 Switzerland to expend so much labour in constructing 
 dwellings above the surface of the water. But if we con- 
 sider that at that remote epoch Switzerland was almost 
 covered by impenetrable ■virgin forests, inhabited by 
 innumerable wild beasts, we shall understand these super- 
 human efforts to defend themselves from their attacks, 
 and to avail themselves of the protection of water against 
 the attacks of an enemy of superior strength. With 
 regard to the moral Ufe of the lake dwellers of Switzer- 
 land we are reduced as in so many other cases to mere 
 conjecture. Those of the neolithic age probably worshipped 
 nature, but they did not stain their religious rites by bloody 
 sacrifices. It is said that the erratic blocks, scattered in 
 such profusion in all mountainous districts where glaciers 
 occiu", served them for altars.' 
 
 Until quite lately it was not known where and in what 
 
 manner the lake dwellers buried their dead, or even if 
 
 they did so at all. A recent and quite unforeseen discovery 
 
 has thrown light upon this doubtful question ; I allude to 
 
 the discovery made at Auvernier, not far from the shores 
 
 of Lake Neufchatel, of a burial cave containing at least 
 
 a dozen corpses of every age and sex, which had been 
 
 interred in stone coffins. This stone coffin, like those 
 
 ' Some antiquaries consider that this use was made of, 1st, the 
 Cowrt Stone, still to be seen in the lake near Lausanne; 2nd, the 
 Nodding Stones; situated near Geneva ; and 3rd, the Wedding Stone 
 (lake of Neufchatel), where, a few years ago, betrothed couples still 
 swore eternal love and fidelity to each other. 
 
118 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN ILi.CE. 
 
 found in England, was barely six feet long by three and 
 a half wide, and five deep. It was formed of great slabs 
 of granite placed upright and covered by other stones, like 
 the dolmens, with this difference, however, that the tombs 
 of Auvernier were hollowed in the ground and enclosed by 
 granite slabs. Moreover, on the southern side there was 
 a sort of narrow passage, with no stone roof, communi- 
 cating with the principal division or tomb. Another 
 accessory chamber, constructed on the northern side, en- 
 closed two skuUs and a few bones. Although some bronze 
 objects (evidently of more recent importation) were found 
 in this new kind of dolmen, M. Desor attributes the tomb 
 of Auvernier to the end of the neolithic age. 
 
 It therefore appears that the lake dwellers committed 
 their dead to the earth and surrounded them, with stone 
 slabs in the form of a coffin, thus suggesting a comparison 
 with the gigantic monuments which we shall describe 
 under the name of dolmens. The objects interred with 
 the dead, although few in number, also bear a close re- 
 semblance to those of the dolmens (serpentine axes per- 
 forated for suspension, teeth of bears and wild boars, and 
 bone discs also pierced, &c.). 
 
 The anatomical characteristics of the lake dwellers of 
 Switzerland are scarcely better known than their moral 
 and religious ideas. However, M. His, upon insufficient 
 data as we think, has undertaken to class them according 
 to the form of the skull. He distinguishes f jur principal 
 types :— 
 
 1. That of Sion, where the dolichocephalous' character 
 is strongly marked. 
 
 2. That of Hohlberg 1 -0 xi. j i- i. 1,1 
 
 3. That of Bel-Air j ^°^^ dohchocephalous. 
 
 4. That of Dissentis. the only brachycephalous t3rpe. 
 But we place little faith in these sharply defined racial 
 
 characters. 
 
 ' The dolichocephalous skulls (or long-heads) are those of which the 
 form is comparatively long and narrow ; the brachycephalous (or short- 
 heads) are distinguished by their relatively greater transverse diameter, 
 as compared to the longitudinal section ; the mesocephalou (or mean- 
 heads) hold the middle place between the two above-mentioned forms. 
 
FAUNA OF SWISS T-AKK CITIES. 119 
 
 To judge from the bones, unfortunately few in number, 
 found in the Swiss lakes, their inhabitants were of small 
 size and possessed of no grace of limb. ,But we cannot 
 decide with certainty the ethnic origin of these strange 
 tribes, which is enveloped in obscurity, so that we can 
 only wander with uncertain steps in the region of con- 
 jecture. Nevertheless, these unknown people, be they 
 whom they may, have left to us beneath the clear waters 
 of their lakes, records whose meaning is as clear as that 
 of the pyramids, tjie statues, and the sphinx of Egypt. 
 Modern science has already cleared up unexpectedly some 
 points of the history of this people ; but there is no written 
 record of its origin or its end, and the bones which remain 
 are too few in number to allow us to decide with certainty 
 to what race it belonged. 
 
 Fauna op the Swiss Lake Dwellings. (After Kutimeyer.) 
 
 Vrsits arctos 
 
 Moles intlgarii 
 
 Sfvftelafoina 
 „ martcs 
 „ putorUi^ 
 „ ermiuca 
 
 J.vtra vulgaris 
 
 CaiiU lujms 
 „ famiUarU 
 „ miJpet 
 
 Felis catvs 
 
 liriiiaceiis ewopania 
 
 (Jastor fiber 
 
 Sciiirus ewropiBus 
 
 jVus sylvatictts 
 
 Xepui timidiis 
 
 Sus scrofaferui 
 „ paliiMris 
 „ domesticus 
 
 Eqmis caballus 
 
 Cermu aloes 
 „ elaphus 
 „ cajveolus 
 
 Oris aries 
 
 Antilope nipieapra 
 
 Bos primigenius 
 „ bison 
 
 Taurus primigeni'ia 
 „ brachyceros 
 „ frontosus 
 
 Capra ibex 
 „ hirous 
 
 To this list we must add about twenty birds and ten 
 species of reptiles or of fish which are still extant. Out 
 of the thirty-two species of mammalia mentioned above, 
 six were domesticated, namely, the dog, the horse, the pig, 
 the goat, the sheep, and the ox, of which last there were 
 several varieties. The hare is extremely rare, and the 
 mouse, the rat, the cat, the ass, and the fowl are entirely 
 absent. It will be seen that this fauna also dififers from 
 the present fauna of Switzerland by the possession of the 
 
120 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 urus, of the aurochs or European bison, the elk, the 
 stag, and the wild boar. 
 
 IV. THE PLOBA OF THE SWISS LAKE D'WELLIITaS. 
 
 Like the fauna of the same epoch, this flora offers the 
 closest analogy with that of our day. However, a plant 
 then very common in Switzerland (Trapa Tiatans) seems 
 to have completely disappeared, though Lubbock affirms 
 that it is still occasionally to be met with. Some few have 
 only changed their altitude ; such are the Pinus fnughon 
 and the NwpJiar pumilum, or dwarf water lily. For the 
 rest, this flora, in its two principal elements, the plain and 
 the mountain, has its root in the lignites of Diirnten and 
 TJtznach, where larches, pines, and maples of similar 
 species to the modern ones occur. 
 
 We subjoin a list drawn up by Professor Heer, and 
 borrowed from the work 'Habitations Lacustres,' of M. 
 Troy on, of the seeds and fruits of the stone age found in 
 the Swiss lakes. 
 
 I. Cereals. 
 
 Wheat . 
 German wheat 
 
 Six-ranked Barley . 
 Double-ranked Barley 
 
 Tritiown vuZ^ore, Will. Eobenhausen. Wangen ' 
 „ dweoctnim, Schw. „ 
 
 „ monocoocum, L. „ 
 
 Sordewm Iwxasticlwn, L. „ „ 
 
 „ distichwm, L. „ 
 
 n. Fbuits. 
 Apple tree (two varieties, 
 
 wild and cultivated) . Pyrus malus, L. . Robenhausen. Wangen 
 Pear tree . . . Pyrus commwnis, L. . „ „ 
 
 Cherry tree . . . Prwnus avium, L. . „ 
 
 Plum tree insitioia, L. . „ 
 
 III. Textile Plants. 
 
 Flax . . . Linum usUatissimum, L. Eobenhansen. Wangen 
 
 ' At Wangen several bushels of wheat were found heaped up in one 
 place. This was evidently the provision of some family or tribe. The 
 preservation of seeds, fruits, and even bread, found at Eobenhausen 
 and Wangen, is a most unexpected phenomenon, but it can be explained 
 by the more or less complete carbonisation which they have undergone, 
 and by the preserving virtue of the peat in which they are found. 
 What are the antiquities of Herculaneum and Pompeii compared to 
 those of Wangen and Robenhausen 1 
 
ANCIENT P^ONIANS. 
 
 121 
 
 Hazel nut ' 
 Beech nut 
 . Blackberry 
 Kaspberry 
 Strawberry 
 Sloe 
 
 IV. Edible Wild Fruits. 
 
 . Corylus miellana, L. . Bobenhausen 
 
 . Fctg-us syhatiea, L. . „ 
 
 . Mubus idcBus, L. . „ Wangen 
 
 „ fructicoms, L. „ 
 
 . Fraga/ria msoa, L. . „ 
 
 . Smims spinosa, L. . „ 
 
 V. Othek Seeds and Fhttits 'which mat have been used 
 
 Bird cherry . 
 
 Water chestnut 
 Yew . 
 Common Gomel 
 
 wood) 
 Water lily 
 Yellow water lily 
 Dwarf water lily 
 Lake soirpus . 
 Scotch fir 
 Marsh fir 
 
 (Dog- 
 
 FOB Food. 
 
 Pnmus padus, L. 
 Trapa natcms, L. 
 Taxus baccata, L. 
 
 Eobenhausen. Wangon 
 
 Comits tanguinea, L. 
 . NyiivphcBa alba, L. 
 . Nuphav Uttevm, L. . 
 . Nuplmr pumilum, L. 
 . Soirpus lacvMris, L. . 
 , Pimm sylveitris, L. . 
 . Pinu) uligiTwta, L. . 
 
 We must add to this list the Sambucus nigra or com- 
 mon elder, of which the fruit is edible, and is used to 
 make a preserve ; the Triticum turgidwrn (Egyptian 
 wheat), Triticum, spelta, Secale cereale, Avena sativa, 
 Panioum miliaceum, Setaria italica, Silene cretica, Faba 
 vulgaris, Fisum sativum, Ervum lens, Linum angusti- 
 folium. Hemp appears to have been unknown to the 
 lake dwellers of Switzerland. 
 
 V. AWOIEITT AliTD MODEHW COWSTETTCTIOIirS SIMILAK 
 TO THE LAKE D-WTELLIlfOS. 
 
 All the authors who have studied the huts built on 
 piles have mentioned those of Lake Prasias, in Thrace, as 
 presenting a remarkable analogy with the lake cities of 
 Switzerland. Professor Virchow of Berlin, one of the 
 last to treat of them, gives from Herodotus (fifth century 
 before Christ) the following description of the aquatic 
 dwellings of the ancient Pseonians : — 
 
 ' The people of the Pseonians dwelt in Thrace. Several 
 
 of these tribes had settled on dry land. But one of them. 
 
 inhabited a city built on piles, in the middle of the lake 
 
 • Some of these have a hole bored through them, as if they had been 
 used for necklace-beads or children's toys. 
 
122 THE ANTIQUITY OP THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 of Prasias, wliose only cominunicatioii with the shore was 
 a narrow bridge. The town, of which the piles had been 
 set up in the first instance by the common labour of the 
 citizens, continually increased in size ; for each citizen 
 who took a wife was bound to bring three posts from the 
 neighbouring forest of Orbelos, and to fix them in the 
 lake; the number of wives was not limited. On these 
 piles a common flooring of beams was placed, and each 
 man built thereon his hut, communicating with the water 
 by a trapdoor. They fastened the little children by a cord 
 that they might not fall into the water. Horses and cattle 
 were fed upon fish, which were so abundant in the lake 
 that it was only necessary to open the trapdoor and let 
 down a net, which was soon filled.' 
 
 Hippocrates, in his treatise on Air, Water, and Places, 
 tells us that the people settled on the banks of the Phasis 
 (the river rendered famous by the Golden Fleece and the 
 Expedition of the Argonauts) built houses of wood and 
 reeds on piles in the middle of the marshes ; their health, 
 he adds, is much impaired by this way of life. 
 
 Even to this day, and in the same place, the inhabit- 
 ants build their dwellings as in the time of Hippocrates. 
 Virchow further informs us, on the authority of the traveller 
 Maurice Wagner, ' that the town of Eedout-Kaleh, on the 
 Chopi, is composed of two long rows of wooden huts. 
 These huts, which are hardly larger and more spacious 
 than the booths at Frankfort fair, rest on piles raised a 
 foot above the marshy soil. The same is true of Novo- 
 Tscherkask, the capital of the Cossacks of the Don.' 
 (Virchow, ' Eevue des cours scientifiques,' 1866, vol. iv. 
 p. 10.) 
 
 In modern times we know of a number of places where 
 habitations are constructed more or less resembling the 
 lake cities of ancient Helvetia. Without speaking of the 
 Papuans of New Gruinea, who at the present day build 
 their houses precisely after the fashion of the Pseonians, 
 the persistence of this same mode of construction among 
 the inhabitants of the banks of the Phasis, and even among 
 the Cossacks of the Don, is worthy of remark. Very 
 
LAKE HUTS IN COCHIN CHINA. 123 
 
 similar habitations occur also in various parts of Oceania, 
 in Borneo, in the Islands of Ceram and Mindanao, &c. 
 Dumont d'Urville saw at Tondano, in the Island of Celebes, 
 a town now almost entirely destroyed, private dwellings 
 supported on piles artistically carved, and representing 
 men and animals. He tells us that Tondano is a compound 
 word, signifying tnan of the water, and that the houses of 
 
 Fig. 36. Modekn lake TywexAssas of tite inhabitants of New 
 Guinea. (After Dumont d' UivUle.) 
 
 this town bore a striking resemblance to the reed huts 
 and marsh dwellings of la Vendee, his native country. 
 
 In the port of Dorei in New Guinea certain houses, or 
 sanctuaries consecrated to the gods, are raised on piles 
 representing naked human figures. In many tribes the 
 ordinary houses are also built in like manner (fig. 36). 
 
 The interior of Africa is still too little known to enable 
 us to mention many lake dwellings in that country. The 
 practice of building above the surface of the water seems 
 however to have taken root there, at least along the banks 
 of the Niger, the Zambesi, and the Tsadda. 
 
124 THE AlfTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 In Cochin China, the present inhabitants of Camboja 
 (placed under the protectorate of France in 1864), ' live,' 
 Dr. Noulet tells us, ' in bamboo huts supported on piles, 
 not only along the banks of the rivers, but also on land, 
 and even in the vast forests which cover the interior of 
 the country, and in places where there can be no risk of 
 floods.' • 
 
 With regard to America, we know that in order more 
 surely to avoid hostile attacks, the Aztecs raised their 
 houses of cane and reed on piles, planted among a group 
 of low and marshy islands, which they afterwards con- 
 nected by dikes protected by palisades. Such was the 
 origin of Mexico, which resembles at once, as we see, the 
 
 FiQ. 37. Tbaksveese section ok an Irish okannoge. (After Lubbock.) 
 
 crannoges of Ireland (fig. 37) and the lake dwellings of 
 Switzerland. 
 
 Lastly, on their arrival in the New World, the Spaniards 
 saw on the lagoon of Maracaibo a kind of village entirely 
 built on piles, ' a little wooden Venice,' says Elisee Eeclus, 
 to which one of the republics of Columbia owes at the 
 present day its name Venezuela. In the 'same way the 
 floating islands ^ of the ancient Assyrians and Chinese 
 had, or have still, their parallels ia Mexico, in those floating 
 gardens which the first historians of the conquest describe 
 with enthusiasm, and which were a species of raft covered 
 
 ' Dr. Noulet, Z'dge de la pierre polie et du bronze au Ca/nibodge, 
 tHapres les dicoimertes de M. J. Mowra, lieutenant de vauseau, repre- 
 sentant du proteetarat franqais au Cambodge, in the archives of the 
 Natural History Museum of Toulouse, 1879, p. 6, first report. 
 
 ^ On the Assyrian bas-reliefs are to be seen artificial islands formed 
 of great reeds, interlaced with one another, and which served as 
 dwellings to the wealthy men of the time of Nineveh and Babylon. 
 
THE NUEAGHI OF SAEDINLl. 125 
 
 with soil, bearing houses surrounded by the fairest flowers 
 and the richest vegetation. 
 
 According to M. Desor, the Isle of Roses, in the lake 
 of Starnberg in Bavaria, is only an artificial island dating 
 from the stone age, and inhabited from that time down to 
 our own day. At this very day a castle rises in the midst 
 of its cool shade.' 
 
 VI. THE KUKAQHI OI" SARDIiriA. 
 
 The Nuraghi are perhaps the most curious monuments 
 of the stone age. 'Those cyclopean constructions, which 
 have withstood the wear of centuries, a,nd which, scattered 
 almost in profusion throughout Sardinia (the Abbate 
 Spano has counted more than 40,000 of them), still rear 
 their imposing mass before the wondering eyes of the 
 traveller and of the archaeologist. There is no doubt that 
 they were the cradle and home of the primitive races who 
 settled in the island in the remote past. The labours of 
 the learned Abbate Giovanni Spano ^ have proved beyond 
 dispute that we have here one of the earliest examples of 
 the natural formation of a society by men after they have 
 abandoned the nomadic life of hunters. Here, as Mante- 
 gazza has happily expressed it, ' We may read a page of 
 history written by an ancient people over the whole face 
 of Sardinia.' 
 
 "What this people was, we do not know. Spano sup- 
 poses them to have come from the plains of Shinar at 
 the time of the great emigration which dispersed the 
 tribes of Chaldea through Persia, Palestine, Greece, Italy, 
 and Northern Europe. The first comers grouped their 
 dwellings in the most favourable sites for combined resist- 
 ance in case of a hostile invasion. By degrees, as the 
 chiefs of the tribes grew more powerful, as the family 
 increased, the dwelHngs became more numerous. New 
 comers built others ; and here we find the explanation of 
 the fact that all the Nuraghi are not equally well built, 
 
 ' E. Desor, Zes Palafittes ou ocmstmctions laoustres da lao de Neuf- 
 chatel, p. 11. Paris, 1865. 
 
 " See Giovanni Spano, Paleontologia siM-da, ogaia Vetci, preMstorioa 
 segnata rwi monumenti o7ie si trovanc in Sa/rdegna. CagUari, 1871. 
 
126 
 
 THE ANTiaUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 Fig. 
 
 A Sardinian nuraghi of the earliest 
 
 EPOCH. 
 
 the earliest being constructed simply of natural masses, 
 which had been detached from the neighbouring rocks 
 and lay scattered upon the ground, while those of a later 
 
 date are built of 
 hewn stone, al- 
 though the ma- 
 sonry stiU re- 
 mains rude. The 
 former belong to 
 the stone age, 
 the latter to that 
 of bronze. 
 
 They are all 
 in the form of a 
 truncated cone. 
 Some have only 
 one room ; others two, and sometimes even three, one 
 above the other. In the interior of these there is a 
 winding stair made of enormous blocks placed at an acute 
 
 angle in the thickness of 
 the wall, leading to the 
 upper chamber. Others 
 again have an outer wall 
 enclosing a triangular or 
 polygonal space, with an 
 apartment of the same 
 form as the Nuraghi at 
 each angle. These rooms 
 communicate with each 
 other by vaulted passages 
 of which the roof is 
 almost always pointed. 
 Each layer of stone is 
 laid without mortar (figs. 
 38 and 39). The interior consists sometimes of a great 
 room with a conical roof, and capable of containing forty 
 or fifty people.' The vaulted roof is built of uniform 
 
 Fig. 39. Vertical section of the 
 
 SAME, showing THE NICHES AND 
 THE WINDING STAIK. 
 
 ' The Nuraghi tetirola of the land of Botolana serves as a shelter in 
 
POTTERY IN THE NUEAGHI. 127 
 
 stones, disposed like those of our modern buildings, pre- 
 senting, that is to say, their larger end to the outer, and 
 their smaller to the inner surface of the wall. 
 
 The most ancient Nuraghi have but one room, without 
 niches or hiding-places constructed in the thickness of the 
 wall, and terminated in a pointed arch. Three such 
 niches usually occur in the dwellings of a later age, one 
 opposite the door, and one on either side. Another niche 
 to the right of the door was intended as a lurking-place 
 for the defender of J;he entrance in case of attack. 
 
 The soil which has been formed round the earliest 
 Nuraghi since their construction is no less than two or 
 three yards in thickness. In the lowest layer we find 
 remains of rude hand-made pottery, coal and bones 
 crumbled to dust, but never bones of species extinct in 
 the island, except stag's antlers and boar's tusks, inter- 
 mixed with accumulations of the remains of birds. Pieces 
 of flint and of obsidian occur also, axes of black basalt and 
 porphyry of the archseolithic type, fragments of pottery, &c.,_ 
 some of which appear to belong to the earliest stone age.' 
 
 In the succeeding layers, we come to polished axes, 
 arrow heads, knives, stones for slinging, fossilised teeth of 
 the dogfish, pottery which has been partially baked by 
 
 winter to about 500 pigs, driven down from the mountains by the 
 swineherds. 
 
 ' Many French archaeologists maintain that pottery dates only from 
 the age of polished stone. We know, however, that M. de Serres found 
 at Bize in Aude, and M. de Christol at Souvignaiguea in Gaide, fragments 
 of pottery which it is scarcely possible not to consider contemporary 
 with the reindeer, perhaps even with the bear, in company with whose 
 remains they were found. I myself extracted some from a bear cave at 
 Nabrigas (Lozfere), M. Perry at Vergisson, near M^oon, and M. Dupont 
 in several bone oaves of Belgium has observed specimens of still earlier 
 date. Lastly, the Abbate Giovanni Spano assures us that he found in 
 the different layers of soil which surround the Nuraghi of Sardinia, 
 earthen vases (entire or in pieces) belonging to all the ages, ' gtmiiglie 
 che in se portano il carattcre di un' eta la jn& rimota,' says the learned 
 abbate. He calls attention also to the fact that the rudest specimens 
 occur in the lowest layer. Those which are found in the second or 
 middle layer are less rude, and so on until we arrive at the uppermost 
 strata, where they are smooth and polished. Some few even appear to 
 belong to the fioman epoch. On the other hand, in the giant tombs in 
 the neighbourhood of the Nuraghi, we only find ill-formed pottery of 
 the rudest description. 
 
128 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 fire, with teeth of the wild boar and other animals, and 
 shells of several species of molluscs, which appear to be the 
 kitchen refuse of these primitive tribes. Lastly, smooth 
 black fragments of pottery have been extracted from the 
 upper layers, as well as pieces of bronze, which indicate 
 the age of transition between stone and this metal. The 
 Abbate Spano has not been able to find any iron objects : 
 he accounts for the absence of iron by the destructive 
 effect of damp ground and the influence of the atmo- 
 sphere upon this metal. 
 
 The same savant attributes the construction of the 
 
 Fig. 40. Burgh of Moussa, Shisilanu Isles. (After Lubbock.) 
 
 Nuraghi to the first immigrants who came from the East 
 into Europe. Orientals or aborigines, archseolithic or neo- 
 Hthic, these peoples have in any case left us monuments 
 of real and great value to the history of humanity, and 
 although we do not adopt all the Abbate's theories without 
 reserve, we recognise with gratitude the zeal which their 
 discoverer has displayed in dispelling, to some extent, the 
 obscurity which still envelopes them. 
 
 Similar monuments have been found in the Balearic 
 isles, where they are known by the name of Talayoti ; in 
 the Island of Pantelleria, where they are called Sesi ; 
 
SIMILAR CONSTRUCTIONS IN IRELAND. 
 
 129 
 
 and even in France, in the department of Herault, ac- 
 cording to M. Cazalis of Fondouce. 
 
 But they are especially numerous in Scotland and the 
 neighbouring islands. They are there known as burghs 
 or brocks, and we give an illustration of one of the most 
 celebrated, the burgh of Moussa, one of the Shetland Isles 
 (fig. 40). It will be seen that these monuments resemble 
 in every respect the Nuraghi of Sardinia, and the existence 
 of an identical type in so distant a country renders the 
 truth of the bypotiesis of the Abbate Spano with regard 
 
 i^»^/f<t«*^'^ 
 
 SitSSP 
 
 Fig. 41. Fout of Staigue (Kerry.) 
 
 to the origin of the builders of the Nuraghi extremely 
 doubtful. 
 
 In the British Isles, moreover, the construction of 
 similar buildings of uncemented stones continued until 
 very late, and some of them, like Fort Staigue, for in- 
 stance (fig. 41), are certainly subsequent not only to the 
 age of stone, but even to that of bronze. 
 
130 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 BURIAL PLACES. 
 
 I. VARIOUS MODES OF SEPtTLTTJEE. 
 
 As the anatomist demands from death the secrets of 
 life, so the archaeologist seeks in the tombs a revelation 
 of the secrets of the past. If many tombs are forgotten 
 or silent, others are faithful narrators of the history of 
 bygone times, and, as it were, bring again to life those 
 ■whose bones they contain, and make us acquainted with 
 the customs and the ideas of the tribes or the nations to 
 which they belonged. Moreover, all ruins appeal to the 
 imagination; and what ruins can be more eloquent or 
 more suggestive than a skull or any other human remains ? 
 Some ideas and certain feelings appeal to the sym- 
 pathies of all humanity, and this is especially the case with 
 those respecting the worship of, and respect for, the dead. 
 But the manifestation of these feehngs, and the thoughts 
 which result from them, vary considerably according to 
 time and place. Thus the modern Hindus commit to the 
 waters of the Ganges the bodies of their aged parents, 
 whom they have purposely allowed to die of starvation on 
 the banks of the sacred river. The inhabitants of the 
 Viti Islands, and the Esquimaux, bury their nearest rela- 
 tions alive when they have attained a certain age, in 
 order to spare them the inconveniences and sufferings of 
 old age. According to Dumont d'Urville, the natives of 
 New South Wales burn the bodies of those who die 
 young and bury those of the old. Sir Massinger Bradley 
 tells us that certain tribes of South Australia do not bury 
 their dead, but light a great fire in the hut, and suspend 
 the corpse above the hearth : when it is dried they wrap 
 
PLACES OF BURIAL. 131 
 
 it in a coarse cloth and lay it in a tree in the midst 
 of the leaves. A yet stranger custom is that which the 
 traveller Macdonald says that he observed among the 
 natives of the Upper Mary Eiver, in Queensland. They 
 flay the dead, feed upon the flesh, and distribute the 
 bones among the various members of the family. They 
 prepare the skin with care, and bear it about with them 
 as a precious relic ('Eevue scientifique,' November, 187^, 
 p. 476). 
 
 The ceremonies practised by the Egyptians in the em- 
 balming of bodies are well known, as well as the processes 
 employed by the Peruvians of the time of the Incas in 
 order to preserve the bodies of their deceased relations. 
 
 Burial places belonging to the archaeoUthic age are 
 comparatively rare ; ' and many which were first believed 
 to belong to the earlier epoch have proved, upon a nearer 
 examination, to date only from the age of polished stone. 
 Very little is known of the funereal rites practised in the 
 early part of the quaternary epoch ; but in the reindeer 
 age {iSolutrS; cave of Duruthy, &c.) the bodies were 
 stretched horizontally upon the hearths, surrounded with 
 ashes and embers; sometimes the bones are more or less 
 carbonised. 
 
 We are far better informed as to the treatment of the 
 dead in the subsequent ages. Thus, in the neolithic 
 epoch interment was the most widely diffused custom, 
 but cremation was already practised towards the end of 
 the epoch of the dolmens. This custom prevailed, but not 
 universally, during the age of bronze. The last asylum 
 which the tribes of the age of polished stone reserved for 
 the dead was sometimes the natural or artificial caves 
 which often had served them as dwelling-places ; some- 
 times monuments of huge stones of various construction, 
 but usually formed of slabs of unhewn stone and of colossal 
 size (uncovered dolmens, dolmens covered by a tumulus, 
 
 ' Gaetano Chierici asserts, however, that he discovered in Italy (a 
 San Polo) some tombs which date in his opinion from the first stnne 
 age: he considers this burial ground to be hitherto unique in that 
 country. 
 
132 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 cromlechs, covered alleys, giants' tombs, American chul- 
 pas). M. Broca was therefore in error when he laid it 
 down as a principle that at the epoch of splintered stone 
 men buried their dead in eaves, and that in the polished 
 stone age the dead were interred in dolmens ; since in 
 Aveyron, for instance, we find, at a short distance apart, 
 monuments of huge stones and burial caves in which the 
 objects buried with the dead are precisely the same {e.g., 
 the cave of Saint-Jean d'Alcas and the dolmen of Pilaude). 
 Cremation continued until the age of iron, when inter- 
 ment was once more practised. Such appears to have been 
 the almost universal rule; but this rule was subject to 
 numerous variations, according to the religious ideas of 
 the different peoples and their reciprocal relations and 
 alliances.' I desire no further proof of this than the ashes 
 and calcined human bones discovered by the Earl of An- 
 trim in certain neolithic tombs of Grreat Britain. A stiU 
 more conclusive proof is that furnished by certain dolmens 
 of Aveyron (those of la Marconni6re), where M. Pruni^res 
 found at the same time bones which had never been ex- 
 posed to the action of fire, and others burnt black and 
 shining like jet. Some fine lance heads of polished flint 
 lay over these bones, but there was no trace of metal.^ 
 
 During the iron age the two rites (interment and cre- 
 mation) were sometimes practised simultaneously. In the 
 case of the cremation of bodies the ashes and the bones 
 which are not entirely consumed are placed in funereal 
 urns, which form part of the furniture of the tomb. 
 
 The position in which the dead are placed varies with 
 the mode of burial. Usually, in the age of polished stone 
 the body is placed in a horizontal position on the ground 
 or on the hearth, sometimes covered by a thick layer 
 of ashes. It is very rarely enclosed in a coffin of un- 
 
 ' At an epoch nearer to our own time the Romans burnt the bodies of 
 their dead, the Etruscans buried theirs. The Gauls of the time of Caesar 
 committed the corpses to the funeral pile, but several districts of Gaul 
 had remained faithful to the ancient practice of interment. 
 
 ' Dr. Puniferes, Fmdlles des dolmens de la Ma/rconnihre, Matiriaux, 
 1877, p. 523. M. Waldemar Schmidt was mistaken in saying that dead 
 bodies were never burnt in France at the epoch of polished stone. 
 
POSITION OF THE COBPSE. 133 
 
 hewn stones ; this sort of chest or coffin is, on the other 
 hand, extremely common during the age of bronze, and 
 especially during that of iron. In the dolmens the body 
 is generally in a sitting or crouching posture, the knees 
 drawn up under the chin and the arms crossed on the 
 breast. At least this is the attitude which seems to be in- 
 dicated by the position of the bones, arranged in a circle 
 round the skull, which usually occupies the centre of the 
 heap formed by the whole.' This was also the position 
 in which the ancipnt Peruvians and the Guanches of 
 the Canary Isles placed their mummies, so that the corpse 
 when returned to the earth, our common mother, might 
 take the posture natural to the child in its mother's womb. 
 The Assyrians, and the troglodytes of Ethiopia, also pkced 
 their dead in this attitude, as do also some modem tribes, 
 the Baskirs, for example. Finally, as if primitive man 
 had a faint presentiment of a future life, he placed beside 
 the dead man his arms, tools, and ornaments — all the 
 objects which he had valued during his Ufe. They 
 even left near him a supply of food destined to meet 
 his wants in his new abode. The fire, of which the 
 traces may be observed in certain sepulchres, was pro- 
 bably kindled to expel foul air, or with a view to some 
 mystical purification. It may sometimes perhaps indicate 
 a cannibal feast, as at Chauvaux, for instance. 
 
 We must not close this chapter without calling atten- 
 tion to the fact that among all peoples and in all epochs, 
 the monuments destined to be the abode of the dead offer 
 a close resemblance to the dwellings of the living, a re- 
 semblance which arises from the instinct of imitation, 
 from the natural inclination of man towards symbolism, 
 and from the widely spread belief that death is but a con- 
 tinuation of the same kind of life in another world : 
 Mors janua vitae. 
 
 ' Wilson mentions some British tombs of the stone age in which 
 two crouching skeletons were found, together with necklaces of Jferita 
 littoraUs, with traces of other bones. This author thinks that these 
 skeletons belonged to two tribal chiefs whose widows and servants had 
 been sacrificed on their tombs. (Wilson, Prehistm-io Man, p. 129, 1865.) 
 
 7 
 
134 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 II. BtJEIAL IN OAVES. 
 
 After having served as a home for the living, the 
 caves of the stone age often served as an asylum for the 
 dead. Among the most famous we may cite those of 
 Aurignac and Herm (Haute Garonne), of Cro-Magnon 
 fDordogne), of Duruthy (Basses Pyrenees), of Solutre 
 (Saone-et-Loire), and among the caves of a more recent 
 epoch, those of Saint-Jean d'Alcas (Aveyron), of Durfort 
 (Grard), of I'Homme Mort (Lozere), and lastly the arti- 
 ficial caves hollowed out of the chalk on the banks of the 
 Marne. We will examine a few of these burial caves, be- 
 ginning with that of Aurignac. 
 
 Aurignac. — The discovery of the burial place of Au- 
 rignac, rendered famous by the remarkable treatise on the 
 subject by M. Ed. Lartet, is due to a labourer named 
 Bonnemaison, who, on introducing his arm into a rabbit- 
 hole on the slope of the mountain of Fajoles, near Saint- 
 Graudens, withdrew a human bone of large size. Sus- 
 pecting the existence of a burial ground on that spot, he 
 began to clear the surrounding soil, and in a few hours 
 perceived a large slab of sandstone, placed vertically 
 against an arched opening which gave access to a spacious 
 cavity. There lay a certain number of human skulls and 
 skeletons, partly covered by loose soil, which was probably 
 introduced into this sepulchral cave at the time of the 
 interment of the bodies whose remains it contained. 
 
 The discovery of Bonnemaison attracted notice, and 
 caused the old inhabitants of the country to recount 
 tales about a gang of coiners of false money, who, they 
 said, had formerly committed a number of murders 
 and carried the bodies of their victims into the cave of 
 Aurignac. 
 
 The truth really is that this cavity contained about 
 seventeen human skeletons, which M. Amiel, mayor of 
 the place, unfortunately caused to be re-buried in the 
 cemetery of the commune before a strict and scientific 
 examination made it possible to determine the precise 
 date of the original interment. 
 
AGE OF THE BUEIAL GEOUNDS. 135 
 
 Some time afterwards M, Ed. Lartet visited the cave, 
 and found a few human bones still imbedded in the loam 
 in which the others had been discovered. Beside them 
 lay carved reindeer bones, bones of extinct species of 
 mammalia, and splintered flints. 
 
 ' The age of this burial ground,' observed M. Lartet, 
 ' cannot be determined either by tradition, or by history, 
 or by numismatic dates, since no such records have been 
 found which can be used for this purpose. The absence 
 of any kind of metal, the habitual use of tools and weapons 
 of flint and bone, are sufficient indications to enable us 
 to attribute this settlement of Aurignac to the prehistoric 
 period known to modern antiquaries as the age of stone. 
 Palaeontology assigns the human race of Aurignac to the 
 most remote period of antiquity in which we have hitherto 
 discovered proofs of the existence of man or remains of his 
 industry. For this race was not only contemporary with 
 the aurochs, the reindeer, the great stag, the rhinoceros, 
 the hyena, &c., but also with the cave bear, which 
 seems, as we shall presently see, to have been the last 
 to disappear of all that group of great mammalia 
 always cited as characteristic of the latest geological 
 period.' ' 
 
 The intentionally broken bones of the reindeer, and of 
 most of the extinct mammalia, show that man had long 
 dwelt in this cave, had eaten his meals, and had perhaps 
 celebrated funeral feasts therein. 
 
 L'Herm.—ln 1862 MM. Eames, Garrigou, and Filhol 
 explored the cave of I'Herm, and found in it a quantity of 
 bones of Ifrsus spelcBUS, in company with rarer remains of 
 hycena and Felis speloea. They also found some human 
 bones, and did not hesitate to pronounce them contem- 
 porary with the extinct species. Our learned colleague 
 Dr. Noulet, who visited the same cave at a later period 
 of the same year, found in the vestibule, which had not 
 been examined by the three naturalists whom we have 
 just mentioned, the remains of about thirty human 
 
 ' Ed. Lartet, Sur la coexistence de Vhomnie et cles grands vianmifins 
 fotnles. Ann. Sciences Nat. vol. xv. 4th series, p. 381. 
 
136 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 skeletons of all ages, fragments of pottery, bones carved 
 by human hands, and lastly, polished axes of jade in 
 a state of excellent preservation, a few necklace beads, 
 and a ring of bronze. But the conclusions of the learned 
 doctor were very different from those which his prede- 
 cessors had formulated. One of them is thus expressed : 
 ' The vestibule of the cave of I'Herm was the asylum 
 of the dead.' This cave was, then, used as a burying 
 place ; at what epoch we shall shortly see. 
 
 SolutrL — Bruniquel, Laugerie Basse, la Madelaine, 
 &c., were simply sheltered stations, that is, masses of rock 
 overhanging more or less spacious retreats in which man 
 might take refuge or even dwell. MM. de Ferry and Ar- 
 celin first, and afterwards M. Lartet and I'Abbe Ducrost, 
 discovered at Solutre, near Maconnais, a station in the 
 open air which has at the same time been used as a 
 burial ground, and which is therefore doubly interesting 
 to archaeologists. 
 
 At the foot of a picturesque hill which overlooks the 
 village is a hillock formed of earth and loose stones, and 
 containing a number of carved flints, heaps of kitchen 
 refuse, works of art (carved reindeer horn and stone), 
 human graves belonging to at least two epochs, bones of 
 the reindeer, mammoth, Arctomya prvmigenius, &c., and 
 especially a great quantity of bones of the horse. It was 
 on this hillock that the tribe had settled, whose history, 
 still obscure on many points, has been undertaken by 
 MM. P^erry and Arcelin. 
 
 Solutre is remarkable for the enormous heaps of bones 
 of the horse, more or less calcined, which form quite a 
 wall of l.SO feet long by 10 feet high round the principal 
 enclosure and close to the hearths. It is calculated that 
 the bones of more than ten thousand ' individuals were 
 employed in the construction of this wall. This remark- 
 able accumulation was produced, in the opinion of 
 
 ' According to yet more recent calculations, the number of horses at 
 SolutrS has been reckoned at 40,000, and the wall entirely formed of 
 their remains is five feet in height by eleven to fourteen yards long, and 
 four and a half feet ■wide. 
 
MODE OF SEPULTURE. 137 
 
 MM. Ferry and Arcelin, by funereal rites and bloody 
 hecatombs. 
 
 But we are inclined to doubt this theory, and rather 
 consider these remains of horses as mere refuse heaps, 
 true kitchen middens, similar to those of Denmark, of the 
 Lapps, and of the Esquimaux. The wall of enclosure which 
 we mentioned above probably enclosed a group of huts, 
 of which the hearths are still to be found. These elliptical 
 hearths were surrounded by a ring of unhewn stones, laid 
 flat, and incomplete only towards the setting sun. The 
 body of the dead was laid there, the head turned towards 
 the west, and his weapons ' and the objects which he had 
 most valued while in life were placed beside him. The 
 body was placed on ashes, burnt or broken bones, pieces 
 of flint, or tools of difiierent kinds. Human skeletons 
 bearing evident traces of the action of fire are not uncom- 
 monly found, showing that the corpse was often laid upon 
 the hearth while it was still warm, and the fire not quite 
 extinguished. A certain number of graves have been 
 found underneath the hearths themselves. Hence MM. 
 Ferry and Arcelin are led to infer, and we hold the same 
 opinion, that it was customary at Solutre to bury the dead 
 in the hut where he had passed his life. The walls were 
 then thrown down over the corpse, and another hut was 
 often built upon the same spot, as the accumulation of 
 kitchen refuse and of successive hearths above the human 
 corpses seem to prove. The hearths of which we are speak- 
 ing, situated at a considerable depth (averaging five feet 
 and sometimes more), have to all appearance never been 
 disturbed. The human bones which they contained are 
 therefore contemporary with the bones of the reindeer and 
 mammoth found with them. 
 
 Besides the graves of which we have just spoken, there 
 are others, usually considered as- belonging to the same 
 
 • Arrows are especially numerous at Solutrfi ; and M. Ferry says they 
 display an unequalled finish of workmanship. The bow appears to have 
 been here in common use, and to judge from the form, the weight, and 
 the finish given to these arrows, the hunters who dwelt there seem to 
 have been skilled in archeiy. 
 
138 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 epoch, which, instead of lying on the hearth exposed to 
 the air .are placed upon heaps of horse bones; or they 
 occupy the sub-soil, situated at a depth of two or three 
 yards below the surface. In this case carved flints, rein- 
 deer bones and antlers, bones of the horse, and human 
 remains are found scattered pellmell around them. 
 
 Lastly, other graves, disposed without any order, are 
 formed of slabs of unhewn stone placed upright, which 
 form together a sort of parallelogram destined to receive 
 the body : a separate slab protected the head. This kind 
 of grave, much more recent than the two first, does not 
 appear to be of an earlier date than the age of polished 
 stone ; it is even possible that they belong to the Grallo- 
 Eoman epoch, and do not in that case come within the 
 scope of this work. 
 
 The works of art and of industry found at Solutre, 
 although very similar to those of Languedoc and Peri- 
 gord, belong nevertheless to a different type, inter 
 mediate between that of Moustier and la Madelaine, and 
 distinguished, as we have said, by the arrow and lance 
 heads in the form of a laurel leaf, carved on both sides 
 (fig. 18). 
 
 From the preceding facts we gather that Solutre was 
 formerly inhabited, or at least frequently visited, by hunters 
 of reindeer and horses. To judge from the human bones 
 which are found there, the race who encamped in this 
 place was below the middle stature, dolichocephalous, with 
 high cheekbones, low retreating forehead, prognathous 
 jaws, while their civilisation and the condition of their in- 
 dustry were about on a par with those of the troglodytes 
 of Perigord.' 
 
 Burial Cave of Duruthy (Basses-Pyr&Ti&es). — We are 
 indebted to MM. Louis Lartet and Chapelain-Duparc for 
 the important discovery, made in 1874, and for the full 
 
 ' M. Broca maintains, on the other hand, that the race of SolutrS 
 was not prognathous, that the tibias were not platycnemic, and that the 
 perforation, of the humerus was extremely rare. It is difficult to decide 
 which of these contradictory assertions is correct. Unfortunately, ethno- 
 logists are far from being in perfect agreement with regard to prehistoric 
 races, and even wilh regard to those now in existence. 
 
CAVE OP SAINT- JEAN-D'ALCAS. 139 
 
 description of a covered burial place, hollowed in the side 
 of a sort of numinulitic promontory, which overhangs the 
 valleys of the Grave de Pan and of the Gave d'Oloron. 
 This cave, formerly much deeper than it is at the present 
 day, bears on its walls traces of prolonged calcination, 
 the natural effect of the fires lighted at intervals by the 
 troglodytes who inhabited it. 
 
 There are bones of the reindeer, the aurochs, and the 
 horse, teeth of the lion and the bear revealing designs cut 
 with a flint knife, barbed arrow heads, bone fish-hooks 
 similar to those' of Perigord, and carved flints, some of 
 which are very carefully wrought ; and together with these 
 a quantity of human bones were found, whose ethnical 
 character is, according to MM. Quatrefages and Hamy, 
 almost identical with that of the oldest Cro-Magnon race, 
 from which that of Duruthy appears to be descended. 
 The distinguishing feature of this burial cave is that the 
 race of which we are speaking, found in the first instance 
 at the base of the hearths underlying the burial ground,' 
 in company with the bones of the bear, the lion, and the 
 reindeer, recurs in a grave placed above the hearths of the 
 age of the bear, along with weapons which seem to inau- 
 gurate the age of polished stone, at which epoch these 
 animals no longer existed in France.^ 
 
 Saint- Jean-d'Alcas and Baume-des-Morts. — The 
 grotto of Saint-Jean-d'Alcas (Aveyron), and that of Durfort 
 or Baume-des-Morts (Gard), both very small, and both con- 
 taining almost the same funeral paraphernalia, are among 
 the burial caves belonging to the latter part of the age of 
 polished stone which has been the most thoroughly in- 
 vestigated. M. Cazalis de Fondouce found in the first 
 human bones and skulls of every age and of both sexes ; 
 the second proved equally rich in human remains. These 
 bones show no trace of calcination or of cannibalism. The 
 author of the work on this subject attributes them, some- 
 
 ' This race was represented by a single individual, whose crushed 
 skull seems to show that he was killed by one of the landslips which 
 occurred repeatedly in the chaik overhanging the burial cave. 
 
 " L. Lartet and Chatelain-Duparc. Une sejmltv/re des aneiens tro- 
 glodytes des Pyrcnies, Paris, 1874, p. 66. 
 
140 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 what rashly as 1 think, to one of those races formerly so 
 much talked of, and which he calls Celto-Ligurian, because 
 lie considers them as a mixed race descended from the 
 Ligurians, the earliest inhabitants of the district of Larzac, 
 and from the Celtic invaders ; whereas the troglodytes of 
 the Pyrenees of Ariege of the age of polished stone be- 
 long, according to him and to M. Garrigou, to the Celto- 
 Iberian race. 
 
 Whatever we may think of these opinions, insufficiently 
 proved even in the eyes of their supporters, it is at any 
 rate a well-established fact, that towards the end of the 
 neolithic age the inhabitants of the Pyrenees and of Gard 
 buried their dead in caves and buried along with them a 
 curious funereal paraphernalia of which the following is a 
 list. Axes of polished serpentine, one in green jade, similar 
 to those of the savages of New Caledonia; flint lance 
 and arrow heads, skilfully wrought ; stones for slinging ; 
 sections of belemnites and discs pierced for necklaces, 
 similar to those which are sometimes found in con- 
 siderable numbers in the caves of the age of the reindeer 
 and bear ; ' long beads of stone or of jet in various shapes ; 
 ear-rings of similar materials, or of living or fossil shells, 
 or even of the perforated teeth of certain mammalia (wolf, 
 fox, wild boar, &c.). We may also mention a few orna- 
 ments carved in bone, such as pendants, possibly amulets ; 
 a little spindle made of buck-horn pointed at both ends, 
 which was probably used as an arrow head ; pieces of 
 blackish pottery, not fire-baked or made on the wheel. 
 All these articles are intermixed with the bones of animals 
 of still extant species (dog, fox, badger, common stag, &c.). 
 
 Lastly, it is worthy of remark that at Durfort the 
 
 human bones are for the most part buried at a considerable 
 
 depth (twelve or thirteen feet) in the sediment of the 
 
 cave ; these are more scattered and less well preserved 
 
 than those of the upper layers. The latter have besides 
 
 retained to a certain extent their natural positions one 
 
 to another ; it seems likely that they were laid there 
 
 while still clothed in flesh, and that the last comers took 
 
 ' These perforated discs were made from fragments of the shell of 
 the Candivm. 
 
CAVES OF LA MAENE. 141 
 
 the place of the earlier corpses, of which the bones were 
 then scattered loosely in the underlying soil. 
 
 Besides the furniture of the tombs, similar in nearly 
 all points to that of Saint-Jean-d'Alcas, twenty-five to 
 thirty beads and a fish-hook of red copper were found at 
 Baume-des-Morts, with some buttons of a calcareous ala- 
 baster, in the form of a cone of which the base, slightly 
 convex, was pierced by two holes through which a thread 
 might be passed to fasten it to the clothing. We shall 
 shortly see that tlje funeral accessories of the biu-ial caves 
 of Languedoc are the same as those of the dolmens of 
 southern France, which are contemporary with these same 
 caves. 
 
 Burial Caves of la Mame. — The burial caves of la 
 Marne have been hollowed out of the chalk by the hand 
 of man with flint implements, traces of which may still 
 be seen upon the walls. In those larger caves which 
 served as dwelling-places before being used as burying 
 grounds, several carvings in bas-relief and some rude 
 pottery have been found. The bodies were either com- 
 pletely exposed or covered with a layer of ashes not less 
 than a yard and a half or two yards deep. The former 
 were in a horizontal position, the latter crouching. A 
 certain number of the bones were carbonised or calcined. 
 These tombs belong to the latter part of the neolithic age. 
 
 III. KEMAKKS UPOlSr THE BUBIAL PLACES FOUND 
 ins THE GATES. 
 
 The full details we have given incontestably show that 
 the caves of all prehistoric ages have been used as places 
 of burial. But it would be a great mistake to suppose 
 that the human bones found therein are in all cases con- 
 temporary with the bones of animals associated with them. 
 Yet errors of this kind have been committed, even by men 
 who are justly considered as authorities upon this question. 
 For instance, M. Ed. Lartet honestly believed that the 
 man of Aurignac was coexistent with the cave bear and 
 the mammoth found in that neighbourhood, and many 
 others shared his opinion. 
 
 With respect to the cave of I'Herm, 'this,' says Dr. 
 
142 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 Noulet, ' like so many other Pyrenean xaves, was used as 
 sepulchres long after the formidable carnivora of the 
 quaternary epoch who had frequented them had been 
 destroyed, and when the tribes who had consecrated the 
 ground to this pious use had reached a relatively advanced 
 stage of civilisation, since they were acquainted with the 
 art of the potter, knew the use of bronze, and had domes- 
 ticated those animals which still render us such valuable 
 service.' ' 
 
 Evidently, and for similar, reasons, there is no longer 
 any belief in what has been called the poetry of Aurignac, 
 or in the funeral feast so readily admitted by certain 
 arch^ologists who have made a study of prehistoric times. 
 Moreover, when we have assigned a more recent date to 
 these tombs, the same correction brings nearer to our own 
 day the greater part of the human remains which they 
 contain, and considerably modifies our views upon their 
 palgeontology, craniology, and ethnology. The study of 
 the graves erroneously supposed to be contemporary with 
 the subjacent quaternary stratum must therefore, if it is 
 still possible, be begun again. In any case the warning is 
 now given, and a careful examination of the articles con- 
 tained in the caves is all that is needed for the avoiding of 
 similar mistakes for the future.' 
 
 The cave of Duruthy furnishes a further proof of the 
 extreme care necessary to determine the age of any given 
 tomb. Judging only from the human bones found be- 
 neath the hearths, it appears to belong to the epoch of 
 the cave bear ; ' whereas it should really be attributed to 
 
 ' Dr. Noulet, Etnde sni/r la carerne de VHerni. Mem. de VAcad. des 
 Sciences., iriscnpt. et lettrcs de Tmdouse, vol. vi. p. 516, 1871. 
 
 ^ The list of these mistakes, il we are to rely upon the statement of 
 M. Cartailhac, is already considerable. It includes the human bones of 
 Bize (Tournal), of Pondus and Souvignargues (of Christol) ; of Cann- 
 stadt even (Jager), and of Mosbach (Meyer), which are much more 
 recent than was supposed. It is the same with those of the cave to 
 which M. Bd. Dupont has given the name of Trou du Frontal (Belgium), 
 and whose contents he wrongly liljened to those of the cave of Aurignac. 
 Bruniquel, Cro-Magnon, and even Solutrg, are open to dispute. These 
 are grave assertions, and should be considered seriously; but in my 
 opinion, at least, the proofs are not suflSciently convincing. 
 
 ' At Duruthy a human skull was found, with a number of flint 
 
SOLUTEE. 143 
 
 the intermediate epoch which separates the reindeer age 
 from that of the dolmens, and in which the fine carving 
 of the flints announces the near approach of the age of 
 polished stone. 
 
 We have already spoken of the funeral feast of which 
 M. Ed. Dufort believed he had discovered the traces in the 
 Trou du Frontal: a mistake all the more natural that 
 there are in the burial caves a number of hearths, as well 
 as the broken and charred bones of animals in still greater 
 abundance. Feasts and every meal were then held there, 
 of which the fle§h of wild animals -now extinct was the 
 chief article of diet. But these meals took place, these 
 fires were lighted, at a far earlier date than that of the 
 funerals, perhaps even by men of another race than those 
 whose remains are found above the quaternary beds. 
 
 Solutre, however, forms an exception to the general 
 rule, and it appears difficult to reconcile the circumstances 
 connected with this cave with the law enunciated by 
 M. Cartailhac, who goes so far as to say that ' every com- 
 plete human skeleton found in the ca,ves may be assumed, 
 a priori, to be more recent than the fluvial bed in which 
 it lies.' For in fact it is proved that at Solutre many 
 human skeletons, entire or nearly so, are placed hori- 
 zontally upon the hearths. There is nothing to show 
 that the overlying stratum has been disturbed since the 
 time at which they were interred ; moreover this bed 
 contains no object dating from the neolithic age, it con- 
 tains on the contrary a number of bones of the reindeer, 
 horse, and mammoth, and a number of articles of a very 
 primitive industry. It is true that Solutre is not a cave, 
 but merely an open-air station. 
 
 For the rest, although we ought to be extremely cau- 
 tious in determining the age of the remains contained in 
 the burial crypts, it does not follow that human remains 
 
 implements and a necklace made of teeth of the lion and the bear. 
 But It lay in a bed which had evidently been disturbed, in a tomb 
 overlying a fossUiferous stratum. We cannot, therefore, be certain 
 that this skull was the contemporary of the animals of whose teeth the 
 necklace was formed. 
 
144 THE ANTIQUITY. 05 THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 of the same date as tlie bones of extinct animals found 
 along with them never occur in the burial caves, hollow 
 rocks, and elsewhere. We have already cited a conside- 
 rable number of examples ; but in these various cases, 
 with a few exceptions (Mentone, Laugerie Basse), the 
 human bones were generally isolated, few in number, and 
 scattered here and there, like those of other mammalia 
 of extinct species and their contemporaries. 
 
 Lastly, the human skeleton found entire by MM. Mas- 
 senat and Cartailhac under the heap of rocks close to the 
 shelter of Laugerie Basse, and that discovered at Mentone 
 by M. Eiviere, and which is now in^the Paris Museum, 
 prove the synchronism of man and the reindeer towards 
 the middle of the palaeolithic age.* 
 
 There is then nothing to show that man did not co- 
 exist with the Ursua spelceus in the cave of I'Herm, if it 
 be true, as MM. Rames, Grarrigou, and Filhol maintain, 
 that the human bones found by them in this cave were 
 collected not upon the surface of the soil, but some in a 
 deep layer of undisturbed argillaceous sediment, the others 
 below a thick crust of intact and crystalline stalagmite, 
 and were in precisely the same condition as those of the 
 extinct species with which they were found. 
 
 The tomb discovered by M. Noulet (the vestibule of 
 I'Herm) is of far more recent date, and the cave of Herm, 
 like so many others, contains remains belonging to two 
 different epochs. As for the caves of the neolithic age, 
 there is seldom any difficulty in assigning a date to 
 the tombs which occur in them {e.g., Saint-Jean-d'Alcas, 
 Durfort). 
 
 IV. THE DOLMEWS. 
 
 The traveller in the plains of Brittany, in the centre of 
 
 France, and in the valleys of the Pyrenees, encounters, 
 
 ' M. Eivifere at first held that the human skeleton discovered by 
 him in one of the cares at Mentone was contemporary with the cave 
 bear whose hones were found in company with it. But the tools and 
 ornaments which surrounded the skeleton prove beyond dispute that it 
 belongs to a more recent age, namely, that of the reindeer, although 
 this animal never inhabited that region. The cave of Mentone is then 
 one of the many instances in which the subsequent disturbance of the 
 ground may lead to considerable mistakes. 
 
DOLMENS. 145 
 
 almost at every step, strange monuments, generally con- 
 structed of one or more unhewn stones of colossal size 
 placed horizontally upon two, three, or four upright 
 blocks,' and sometimes on heaps of unmortared stones, 
 the whole covered with earth, or left exposed. These are 
 the dolmens,' called also covered alleys, druidic altars, or 
 sometimes giant tombs. According to the Baron de Bon- 
 stetten, the word dolmen is formed from the two Breton 
 words daul or dol, table, and men, stone, and signifies 
 consequently stone-table (see fig. 42). 
 
 Fig. 42. Specimen of uncovered dolmen. 
 
 Isolated upright stones may also be observed ; these 
 are known as menhirs (fig. 43). The menhirs are enor- 
 mous blocks of stone, triangular, pyramidal, or conical, a 
 kind of unhewn or roughly squared obelisk, sometimes 
 occurring singly, sometimes in groups or rows. In the 
 latter case they are often in considerable numbers. The 
 famous stones of Carnac (Morbihan), extending nearly a 
 
 ' Six and even seven oconr in the dolmens of Poitou. 
 
 ' The words dolmen, cromlech, and menhir are purely conventional 
 words coined by archaeologists. They are borrowed from the low- Breton 
 patois or from the Gaelic, and signify stone-table, stone-circle, and long- 
 stone. But in spite of their Keltic origin, these terms are no proof that 
 these megalithio monuments, sometimes also styled Druidic, are the 
 worlc of the Kelts or Druids. 
 
146 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OP THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 mile in length, number eleven thousand, ranged in eleven 
 rows. The size of some of these blocks is truly colossal. 
 The conical menhir of Lock-Maria-ker in Morbihan, for 
 example, measures twenty yards in length, and averages 
 two yards across. At Dol, near Saint Malo, the menhir 
 of Champ-Dolent rises thirty feet above the surface of the 
 
 Fig. 43. Specimen of menhib. That of Croiaic (Loire-Inf^rieure). 
 
 soil, and extends below it to a depth of fifteen. The dol- 
 mens are not peculiar to Brittany ; they are found in 
 other French provinces, and they also occur in the north 
 of Europe, in the whole of the Mediterranean basin, and 
 even in India. 
 
 These megalithic monuments may be divided into two 
 
VAUIETIES OF DOLMENS. 
 
 147 
 
 classes. The first includes the exposed dolmens, that is, 
 those which are not and havo never been covered with soil 
 
 Fio. 44. Hindu dolmen, without tumulus. (After Lubbock.J 
 
 (fig. 44). The second class comprises those dolmens which 
 
 Fig. 45. Danish tumulus, showing the entrance to a dolmen. 
 
 are covered by a mound or tumulus often of considerable 
 size (usually more than thirty feet high), and consist of a 
 
148 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 burial vault, simple or divided into several compartments. 
 Such are the barrows, the Ganggriften or galleried tombs 
 of Sweden and Denmark (figs. 45 and 46), the Hunen- 
 grdber, or giant tombs of Germany, &c. 
 
 One of the finest examples of these burial vaults, hidden 
 beneath a mound of earth and stones raised by human 
 hands, is that of Gavr' Innis, situated near Carnac, at the 
 entrance of the bay of Morbihan (figs. 47 and 48). The 
 
 Fig. 46. Tumulus, with innkr ciiambee, at Uby (Denmark), 
 
 tumulus which covers this sepulchre is 30 feet high and 
 390 feet in circumference. The stones which line the walls 
 are of a very hard granite, and are carved in relief with 
 the representation of three serpents and some so-called 
 Keltic axes. Winding and parallel, concentric or parabolic 
 lines, zigzags, semicircles, and ellipses are also indicated 
 (figs. 49 and 50). 
 
 The blocks of stone used in the construction of the 
 megalithic monuments are of enormous size. There has 
 

 
 
 
 -;ir 
 
 V,, >■■■■ . 
 
 \? 
 
 
 
160 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 been much discussion as to the means employed by the 
 unknown builders of the dolmens, who had at their dis- 
 posal but very slight mechanical aids, in moving and 
 placing in position masses of stone of which several are 
 not less than twenty-one feet long by twelve wide and 
 three deep, for example, the dolmen of Antiguera, near 
 Malaga, in Spain. 
 
 ^^'^f'^^ 
 
 Fig. 49. Specimens of drawings in the covered aliey of 
 Gave' Innis. 
 
 In many instances the megalithic tombs of Europe 
 are surrounded by one or more circles of stones (there are 
 as many as ten to those of Aveyron), called cromlechs 
 (fig. 51). The dolmens of Palestine and of Algeria also 
 present a similar feature. 
 
 Many archaeologists have maintained that these monu- 
 ments are always turned towards the same quarter of the 
 heavens, but this appears to be a mistake, a preconceived 
 
BUBIAL IN DOLMENS. 
 
 151 
 
 notion which must be abandoned ; for M. Cartailhac has 
 taken the bearings of the position of more than fifty dol- 
 mens in Aveyron, and finds that they face every way. 
 This is also the case in Lozere, Brittany, and Poitou, in 
 Algeria and Palestine. 
 
 The bodies of the dead whose bones are found in the 
 dolmens were buried in a sitting or crouching position ; 
 
 Fig. 50 Specimens of drawings in the covered alley of 
 Gavb' Innis. 
 
 but a few of them have been discovered lying on their 
 backs with the head or feet turned towards the east. A 
 number of observations combine to show that interment 
 was preferred to cremation, but this latter custom was, 
 however, sometimes adopted, for calcined bones are by no 
 means rare in the sepulchres, and ashes and coal are also 
 found. 
 
152 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 Besides the human bones, we may mention among 
 the funereal contents of the dolmens serpentine pendants, 
 necklace beads of the same substance, of slate, chalk, ala- 
 baster, jet, amber, and of a kind of turquoise, and several 
 kinds of shells {cyprcea, neritina, erato, pterocera, patella, 
 dentalium, &c.) used for ornament, and lastly discs made 
 from the upper part of the cardium, and perforated for 
 stringing. The dolmens and the tumuli also contain 
 funeral urns, drinking cups (figs. 52 and 53), and other 
 
 Fie. 51. Ckomlech, called the altar of the Great Saracen. 
 (Channel Isles.) 
 
 vases of tolerably fine clay, and occasionally elegant, 
 though not very varied in form. Lance and arrow heads 
 of various kinds of stone, and often delicately wrought, 
 occur also, and lastly axes improperly styled Keltic. It is 
 worthy of note as a distinctive peculiarity, that these 
 polished axes are comparatively rare in the dolmens of 
 the centre and south of France, while a number of mag- 
 nificent specimens have been found in those of Brittany 
 and the north of Europe (Denmark, Sweden, &c.) 
 
 It was for a long time'believed that the dolmens never 
 
CONTENTS OF DOLMENS. 
 
 153 
 
 contained metallic objects, but this was a grave mistake. 
 Not to speak of the bronze ornaments found in a dolmen 
 in the department of Lot, by M. Delpon ; in Vivarais by 
 M. de Malbos ; in Loz^re by M. Lalande ; in Algeria by 
 M. Bergbrugger, and above all by General Faidherbe ; 
 M. Cartailhae found in a dolmen of Aveyron (that of 
 Boussac), a long bronze bead, through which was passed a 
 hempen thread preserved from decay by the oxide of the 
 metal. Two other necklace beads, also of bronze, were 
 
 FlO. 62. FUNEKAL URN FOUND IN AN 
 
 English bakkow. (After Lubbock.) 
 
 Fig. 63. Drinking cup found in 
 AN English barrow, (After 
 Lubbock.) 
 
 still united by the connecting thread and by the rust 
 formed at the point of contact. The present Directeur des 
 Materiaux also discovered in a dolmen a bronze pendant, 
 similar in every respect to an ornament forming part of 
 an Egyptian necklace, to be seen in one of the glass cases 
 of the Louvre Museum. Lastly, we are also indebted to 
 M. Cartailhae for the discovery of red amber in some of 
 the dolmens of the departments of Gard and Aveyron, 
 
154 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 and that of bronze bracelets similar to those of Algeria. 
 Similar discoveries have been made in the dolmens of 
 Lozere by MM. Prunieres and de Malafosse. 
 
 The presence of pure copper has been noticed by M. 
 Cazalis de Fondouce in certain dolmens of Aveyron, and 
 even in the caves of Durfort and Saint-Jean-d'Alcas, which 
 are contemporaneous with the dolmens of the later 
 neolithic period. According to General Faidherbe, iron 
 abounds in the megalithic tombs of Algeria. Although 
 it is much rarer in those of France, it is nevertheless 
 occasionally present. The people who erected these monu- 
 ments, whoever they were, saw the dawn of those two 
 epochs to which bronze and iron have given their names. 
 But it is time to consider what was this people (if indeed it 
 has ever existed) by whom the dolmens were constructed. 
 Far from regarding these monuments as Keltic, M. Alfred 
 Maury believes them to be the work of a people whom 
 the Kelts destroyed or conquered as they amalgamated 
 with them. Had they been the work of the Druids of 
 Graul, this species of construction would have been intro- 
 duced wherever that people migrated, in Europe, in India, 
 in Africa. Moreover, it has now been proved beyond all 
 doubt that the Druids lived at an epoch far more recent 
 than that of the megalithic tombs. M. Eenan appears to 
 us to be nearer the truth in assuming these monuments 
 to be the work of that primitive population which existed 
 in France before the arrival of the great Aryan races. 
 But how then shall we explain the presence of the dol- 
 mens in countries beyond Europe, even in America ? 
 
 Bonstetten, Bertrand, and many others have had re- 
 course to the hypothesis of the emigrations of this ex- 
 tremely problematic people. They have even traced the 
 route followed by these wandering architects, but the 
 routes indicated by such authors differ widely from each 
 other. They are not even agreed as to the direction of 
 the supposed emigrations, whether from north to south or 
 south to north, and the most contrary opinions have been 
 put forward on the subject. 
 
 According to Bonstetten the people of the dolmens, 
 
THE BUILDERS OP DOLMENS. 155 
 
 starting from the coasts of Malabar, entered Europe through 
 the passes of the Caucasus. Thence they spread them- 
 selves along the coasts of the Black Sea as far as the 
 Crimea, where they divided, one stream directing its course 
 towards Greece, Syria, and perhaps Italy and Corsica, the 
 other northward, sweeping round the Hercynian forest. 
 Later on these wandering tribes penetrated into Brittany 
 and Normandy, whence they overran the British Isles, 
 advanced towards the south of Gaul, crossed the Pyrenees, 
 and, traversing Spain and Portugal obliquely, crossing the 
 sea, they spread over the northern coast of Africa, and 
 established themselves on the Egyptian frontier in ancient 
 Cyrenia. General Faidherbe regards the shores of the 
 Baltic as the starting-point of the dolmen builders, and 
 Africa as their final goal. Worsae and Desor are of 
 opinion that the architects of the dolmens followed a 
 course completely opposed to that indicated by General 
 Faidherbe, that they advanced northwards from the south 
 of Europe ; an opinion which is contested by M. Cartail- 
 hac, since no bronze occurs in the dolmens of the north 
 of France, whereas this metal is not very rare in those of 
 the south. 
 
 It is a question whether we are to consider these 
 monuments as the work of one and the same people, or 
 if we ought to attribute them to various peoples, different 
 in race and living at different epochs. On this point also 
 the most conflicting opinions are held, and these discus- 
 sions have led to no certain result, but they have widened 
 our horizon and prepared the way for the science of the 
 future. 
 
 Not content with inventing one or more peoples, 
 certain archaeologists and palaeontologists have described 
 in detail the race or races which, according to them, 
 were the constructors of the dolmens. M. de Quatrefages 
 admits two; the one of small stature, brachycephalous, 
 remarkable for the fine texture of its bones; the other 
 tall, dolichocephalous, with a heavy and thick cranium. 
 Both these are found in the tombs of Borreby (Denmark). 
 General Faidherbe represents the architects of the African 
 
156 THE ANTIQUITY OP THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 dolmens as equal and even superior in height to the tallest 
 soldiers of the French army. ' Their skulls,' he says, ' are 
 elongated, fine and intelligent, in a word, such as might 
 belong to those European races who are most favoured in 
 this respect.' ' 
 
 On the other hand, the human bones found in many 
 of the dolmens of France and Germany are in no way 
 remarkable in point of size ; they belonged to a race about 
 the average of our own in height. Virchow is therefore 
 justified in saying, speaking of the Hiinengraber or giant 
 tombs of Germany, and we may say the same of the dol- 
 mens and the tumuli of France, that ' the tombs alone are 
 gigantic, and not the bones they contain.' 
 
 The dolmen builders appear to have attached little 
 importance to agriculture. They possessed, however, most 
 of our domestic animals, they could shape and polish 
 their flints with much skill, and their pottery, manufac- 
 tured without the help of the wheel, was not without a 
 certain elegance. The arts of design were little cultivated, 
 but were not entirely unknown, as may be seen from the 
 geometrical figures which adorn their burial urns and 
 even vessels in daily use ; from the two human feet repre- 
 sented on a dolmen in the neighbourhood of Vannes, and 
 by the axes engraved or carved in strange groups on the 
 dolmens of Loc-Maria-Ker, of Gavr' Innis, and of Manne- 
 er-Hroek (Morbihan). Leaves of the oak and fronds of 
 fern are represented with these axes, which, in the opinion 
 of M. Faultrier, might have been sacred emblems intended 
 to assure the inviolability of the monuments on which 
 they were drawn. 
 
 In spite of the differences of opinion existing among 
 French and foreign archseologists, nothing seemed better 
 established or more generally adopted than the existence 
 
 • According to the savant whom we have just qnoted, the ethnical 
 characters of the African dolmenic race reappear among the modern 
 Berbers and Touaregs, who are the descendants of the Tamahous or 
 Tambous, the fair-skinned, blue-eyed invaders who inhabited the shores 
 of Libya under the Eamaeses, and whose type is easily to be recognised, 
 it is said, in the paintings which decorate the royal tombs in the famous 
 Thebes with a hundred gates. 
 
THEIR EXISTENCE DISPUTED. 157 
 
 of a people who invented such singular edifices as the 
 dolmens, a people which was formerly spread over almost 
 every part of the habitable globe. And now, in spite of 
 all that has been written upon the subject, the reality of 
 this existence is strongly contested, and even formally 
 denied, by a savant who has especially devoted himself 
 to the study of prehistoric man. As there is a natural 
 transition from the dolmen containing a stone coflBn to 
 the sarcophagus formed of four upright stones roofed with 
 a fifth slab, so there^is the same transition from the burial 
 cave to the ordinary dolmen. 
 
 Arguing from these premisses, M. de Mortillet concludes 
 that the existence of a people of builders of the dolmens is 
 a pure hypothesis (' Eevue scientifique,' August 29, 1874, 
 p. 199). The author adduces the following arguments in 
 support of this theory : — 
 
 1. The differences presented by the dolmens of dif- 
 ferent countries, and even of different parts of France. 
 If they were the work of a single people they would, on 
 the contrary, be very similar, if not identically the same 
 in construction. Now in Brittany these monuments con- 
 sist of single chambers which are entered only through 
 long passages. Near Paris they are long, wide, covered 
 alleys, with a very short vestibule. Finally, in the centre 
 and south of France they are merely rectangular chests 
 formed of four or five colossal stones. 
 
 2. "Whatever analogies they may present, the dolmens 
 do not stand alone ; they form part of a great whole, they 
 are akin to the burial cave of which they are the artificial 
 imitation, and they are used for the same purpose. This 
 imitation is practised by a number of different peoples 
 who have nothing in common, excepting that they had all 
 ceased to be nomadic and had adopted the same rites. 
 
 3. The identity of these customs, to which the dol- 
 mens and the burial caves upon which they were modelled 
 were devoted, is fiu:ther proved by the similarity of the 
 funeral furniture of the tombs (for example, the cave of 
 Saint-Jean-d'Alcas and the dolmens of Aveyron), and even 
 by the hybrid character of these caves, which in the de- 
 
 8 
 
158 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 partment of Var (eaves of Cordes and Castellet) partake 
 at once of the character of the dolmen and of the cave 
 hollowed by the hand of man with a similar object to pre- 
 serve and do honour to the bodies of the dead. 
 
 4. A further confirmation of the intimate connection 
 existing among the three kinds of burial places (natural 
 and artificial burial caves and dolmens), is the singular 
 practice adopted severally in each of them, the custom of 
 removing a disc of bone from the skull of the dead, and 
 even of the living subject. 
 
 The principal facts which lead M. de Mortillet to be- 
 lieve that the dolmens were built by peoples differing 
 from each other, but in no sense migratory, are the diver- 
 sity in the mode of construction of the dolmens, diversity 
 of form and proportion in the human remains found in 
 them, and the similarity of these remains in each district 
 with those of the palaeolithic ancestors. The similarity 
 observed in the contents of the tombs, whether dolmens, 
 natural or artificial caves, proves that the former are, so to 
 speak, the successors of the others, that they were nearly 
 contemporary with them and were destined to the same 
 purpose. MM. de Quatrefages and Broca, who formerly 
 studied the ethnological character and the migrations of 
 the supposed dolmenic people or peoples, have now adopted 
 without reserve the opinion of their learned colleague. 
 On the other hand, the remarkable recinrence of the mega- 
 lithic monuments in all quarters of the globe would also 
 seem to sanction the opinion held since 1869 by Mr. 
 WestrDpp and M. Bastian. They hold that this wide diffu- 
 sion is not due, as M. de Mortillet believes, to an instinct 
 of imitation strengthened by necessity, but to a funda- 
 mental psychological principle, which manifests itself, as 
 it were inevitably, as soon as the tribe has attained to a 
 certain degree of intellectual development, and is produced 
 everywhere with certain modifications due to the variation 
 of customs, beliefs, and the materials employed. 
 
 The association of ideas, the need of giving to them a 
 natural and sensible expression, the desire of perpetuating 
 the memory of an important event, such would be the 
 
THE SEARCH UNPROFITABLE. 
 
 159 
 
 entirely psyehological explanation of the origia of the 
 monuments in question, whether the obos of the Mongols, 
 the kurgans of Siberia, the tumuli of the mound-builders, 
 or the cromlechs, the peulvans, the dolmens, and the 
 Tuenhirs of Brittany, India, and Africa. 
 
 But it is a waste of labour and unprofitable to 
 science to seek for a special people of dolmen builders, to 
 endeavour to trace its wanderings, and to determine its 
 ethnical character, if no such people exists, or has ever 
 existed. This is ^he opinion of M. Bastian and Mr. 
 Westropp, founded upon considerations very similar to 
 
 Fio. 54. Plan op a giant tomb 
 OF Sardinia. (After the Abbate 
 Spano.) 
 
 Pia. 56. Monoliths of the giant 
 TOMBS OF Sardinia of the 
 
 EAELIEB EPOCH. 
 
 those which influenced M. de Mortillet. It does not en- 
 tirely solve the question of the origin of the dolmens, but 
 perhaps it prepares the way for a speedy and satisfactory 
 solution. 
 
 V. THE GIANT TOMBS OP SABDIWIA. 
 
 Sepolture del giganti (tombs of the giants) is the 
 name by which sepulchres similar in construction to the 
 nuraghi near which these tombs are invariably found (see 
 page 126), are still known to the peasants of Sardinia. 
 They resemble nuraghi laid horizontally (see figs. 54 
 and 56). 
 
160 THE Al^TIQUITY OF THE HUMAN KACE. 
 
 They resemble a kind of amphitteatre formed of one 
 or two rows of roughly hewn blocks of stone (fig. 54). 
 In the midst rises a tall conical shaft, rudely shaped 
 (figs. 55 and 57), in which a hole one or two inches 
 square is made about half way between the base and the 
 summit of the cone, and another also square or in the 
 
 Fig. 56. Nueago, situated near a giant tomb. 
 (Alter the Abbate Spano.) 
 
 form of a, half circle near the top. Sometimes the column 
 does not consist of a single stone, but is formed of two 
 stones placed one above the other. Behind the monolith 
 lies the burial place, ten to fourteen yards long by one or 
 two in width. It is composed of rough blocks forming a 
 wall of three, four, or six rows of stones placed in steps. 
 
 -*ti* 
 
 Fig. 57. Monoliths of the Sardinian tombs of the 
 latek epoch. 
 
 sloping inwards towards the top, and roofed by great slabs 
 two or three yards wide. In fact no better name could be 
 found for these tombs than that given them by the vivid 
 imagination of the people, of giant sepulchres. 
 
 The floor of the sepulchres is formed by a layer of 
 small stones, above which larger ones, polygonal or unhewn, 
 are placed. It may therefore be presumed that the corpses 
 
SAKDINIAN TOMBS. 161 
 
 were not covered with earth, but simply deposited in a 
 tomb of six feet or more in depth. Like the nuraghi, near 
 which they are always found, some of these tombs (those 
 constructed of unhewn blocks of stone) seem to belong 
 to the earlier age of stone ; others, composed of stones 
 more or less rudely hewn, and some of superior masonry, 
 date from the neolithic age, or even from the epoch of 
 transition between stone and bronze. Most, if not all, of 
 these tombs, have been repeatedly rifled by treasure 
 seekers at dififeient times, so that the researches of the 
 Abbate Spano have not been very productive. He only 
 discovered in them a few broken and calcined human bones, 
 which crumbled to dust at the lightest touch, and several 
 clay vases, of which not a single one was entire. But he 
 was satisfied that several bodies had been buried together 
 in the same tomb, and that these were therefore family 
 burial places. When the death of one of the members 
 of the tribe occurred, one of the great transverse stones 
 which covered the long alley built behind the monolith 
 was removed, and then replaced until the time came for 
 another body to claim its place in the tomb. The mono- 
 lith, called by the Sardinian peasants pietra dell' altare, 
 or altar-stone, because they believe it to have been used 
 for human sacrifice, always faces the south or east. This 
 is the case with the entrances of all the nuraghi. The 
 Abbate Spano attributes the giant tombs of Sardinia to 
 the same epoch as the nuraghi, that is to say, to the time 
 of the earliest immigrations from the East, but many of 
 them are evidently of earlier date. 
 
162 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN BACE. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PREEISTOBIG MAN IN AMEBIGA. 
 
 M. Albeet GtAudey and Mr. Marsh maintain that the vast 
 continent discovered by Columbus is not really as recent as 
 it is generally said and supposed to be, and I am inclined 
 to be of their opinion. A number of incontestable proofs 
 justify this opinion. 
 
 The Indian redskin living in a state of barbarism at 
 the time of the conquest cannot be called the primitive 
 American. Nor were the luxuriant forests where he 
 hunted his prey truly primeeval, for they were preceded 
 by other forests, which themselves did not deserve the 
 name of virgin, since they had already been trodden by 
 the foot of man, whose remains lie buried beneath their 
 own. At New Orleans, on the banks of the Mississippi, an 
 entire human skeleton was found buried beneath four 
 ancient forests. Dr. Dowler attributes an age of 57,000 
 years to these remains. We cannot guarantee the a ccuracy 
 of these figures, but if this single fact were established 
 beyond dispute, it would in itself be a sufficient proof of 
 the great antiquity of the human race in America. 
 
 Other discoveries of no less weight corroborate our 
 opinion. A pelvis was found near Natchez in the loess of 
 the Mississippi valley, in company with the mastodon of 
 the Ohio, the megalonyx of Jefferson, and other species 
 long since extinct. Human bones were extracted by 
 Agassiz from a calcareous conglomerate which forms 
 part of a coral reef in Florida, and of which the 
 learned professor estimates the age to be more than 
 10,000 years. If these proofs are not enough, we may 
 
AGE OF THE NEW WORLD. 163 
 
 mention in addition the human remains found by Lund 
 in the caves of Brazil, with those of the glyptodon, the 
 megatherium, and a number of fossil animals with whom 
 man was contemporary ; and the recent discovery of a 
 human skull picked up at Jacksonville, on the banks of 
 the Illinois, 100 feet above the present level of the river, 
 and remarkable, like that of Neanderthal, for the deep 
 grooves made by the muscles, and the prominence of the 
 bones above the orbits. 
 
 Lastly, at a ^epth of about nine feet below the surface 
 of the soil, in the pampas of Mercedes, near Buenos Ayres, 
 some human bones were recently found in company with 
 rudely carved flints and remains of extinct species {Eu- 
 tatus, Hoplophorus, Reithrodon, Hesperomys, &c.). In 
 one of the layers overlying the above mentioned one, bones 
 of the m/ylodon and of the glyptodon were also found.' 
 
 The products of the industry of this race, which may 
 really be termed primitive, resemble in almost every 
 respect those of European man in the height of the stone 
 age ; only instead of flint, rare or absent in certain dis- 
 tricts of America, the Indian used granite, syenite, jade, 
 porphyry, quartz, and especially obsidian, a vitreous rock 
 which abounds in Mexico and elsewhere. Splinters of 
 this rock, skilfully obtained by means of percussion, were 
 employed for the fabrication of knives sharp as razors, of 
 arrow and lance heads, fish-hooks, harpoons, in a word of 
 numerous implements similar to those used in Europe by 
 the contemporaries of the mammoth and the cave bear. 
 It is worthy of note, however, that neither axes nor stone 
 hammers pierced with a hole for the handle, have hitherto 
 been found in America. Some of these stone implements 
 are merely more or less rudely carved ; some are perfectly 
 
 ' I am indebted for the knowledge of this important discovery to 
 the kindness of Mr. Cope of Philadelphia, who has done me the honour 
 of sending to me, with other extremely interesting works of which 
 he is the author, a pamphlet published in December, 1878, in which 
 the learned American palaeontologist gives, after the drawing of Pro- 
 fessor Ameghino, a. section of the stratum in which the fossil man of 
 Mercedes was found, and also a list of the extinct animals whose bones 
 were mixed with his. 
 
164 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OP THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 polished, such as the fine axes of green jade found in the 
 country of th6 Carabees, which are now in the Museum 
 of Antiquities in Copenhagen. Some of these implements 
 are of very uncommon form, and we see in these the art 
 of shaping by percussion carried to a wonderful degree of 
 perfection. Such are for instance the flints of which we 
 borrow the drawings from Dr. Wilson ('Prehistoric Man') 
 and of which one is a weapon toothed like a saw, pointed 
 
 I 
 
 Fig. 58. Flint weapon, pointed 
 at both ends, takes fkom a 
 cave in hondukas. 
 
 Fig. 59. Flint halberd, in the 
 
 FORM OF A CRESCENT, FfiOM A 
 
 CAVE IN Honduras. 
 
 at either end, and measuring more than sixteen inches 
 in length ; the other is in the form of a crescent furnished 
 with jutting points, and somewhat resembling certain 
 halberds of modem date (figs. 58 and 59). These two 
 specimens of the primitive art of the New World were 
 found in 1794 in a cave of the Bay of Honduras. But 
 the most striking feature in the primitive weapons and 
 tools found in America is, we repeat, their perfect resem- 
 blance with those of the European caves ; they present the 
 
ANTIQUITY OF AMERICAN EACES. 165 
 
 same forms, only a little less varied, and served conse- 
 quently the same purposes. The work of' man in these 
 widely separated epochs ofifers in both worlds the most 
 perfect analogy. We are therefore forced to conclude that 
 the age of stone is not the peculiar apanage of any one 
 people, but that it represents a stage in human culture 
 which at periods more or less remote occurs in every part 
 of the earth. 
 
 Articles of the toilet and ornaments, and some frag- 
 ments of pottery, evidently dating from the prehistoric 
 epoch, have been found in Mexico and other parts of the 
 American continent. Obsidian beads, intended to be sus- 
 pended from the lips, pearls, perforated teeth and shells 
 for necklaces or for ornamenting the dress, clay buttons 
 baked or dried in the sun, round mirrors of pyrites, &c. 
 &e., all of great geological antiquity, were also found in 
 different parts of the continent, which we persist in calling 
 the New World. Its extinct fauna and flora also combat 
 this theory, and the great number of different races scat- 
 tered over the surface of the same continent, and the still 
 greater variety of dialects and languages, which number 
 more than twelve hundred, are proofs suflBcient to establish 
 and confirm our opinion. 
 
 The study of the American monuments would, if 
 we could undertake it, furnish new proofs in favour of 
 the great antiquity of man in the New World. Without 
 counting the palaces whose magnificent ruins astonish 
 the traveller, and the cyclopean constructions, siiliilar to 
 the European monuments very incorrectly styled Pelasgic, 
 the mounds of Ohio and Yucatan furnish very valuable 
 treasures of great interest to archaeology. Some details 
 respecting these mounds, which were intended for different 
 purposes, must find place here. But we must first say a 
 word or two about the Cbulpas. 
 
 I. THE CHiriiPAS OV PEBTJ AND BOLIVIA. 
 
 Burial places dating from a period anterior to the 
 Incas, and resembling the dolmens and cromlechs of the 
 European continent, and the nuraghi of Sardinia, are 
 
166 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 found in Peru and Bolivia. They are there known under 
 the name of Ghulpas. They are burial crypts built of 
 great upright stones, supporting the enormous slabs which 
 form the roof. Other chulpas, of more recent date than 
 the former, are surrounded by a wall built in the figure 
 of a square or a circle, of which the height varies from 
 30 to 100 feet, a species of tower, narrowed at the base 
 and slightly enlarged towards the summit, which is ter- 
 minated by a cornice in the case of a square tower, and 
 by a rounded dome when it is circular. The stones of 
 which these monuments are built are usually hewn on 
 the outer face of the building, and are held together by 
 means of a stiff clay. Other Peruvian chulpas, built of 
 unhewn stones, are plastered over with stucco and painted 
 both outside and inside. 
 
 As a rule these tombs contain only one burial chamber, 
 or sometimes two placed one above the other, and vaulted. 
 More or less numerous niches in a single or double row, 
 and hollowed in the thickness of the wall, were destined 
 for the reception of the dead bodies, which were placed 
 in a sitting or crouching position. 
 
 These monuments, whether simple dolmens, cromlechs, 
 or burial towers, which are scattered over the vast plateau 
 of the Andes, are the work of a single people, who gra- 
 dually improved with time; their primitive civilisation 
 seems to have passed through stages analogous to those 
 of the builders of the megalithic monuments of the Old 
 World, which appear to have served them as models. This 
 strange people was probably indigenous, and held the land 
 previous to the arrival of the Ineas.' 
 
 II. THE MOtJlirDS AND THE MOUBTD BUILDERS. 
 
 We must attribute to the prehistoric ages of the New 
 
 World a series of strange monuments, of varied form and 
 
 gigantic size, the work of a people of mysterious origin 
 
 and unknown race, usually designated by Anglo-American 
 
 fjavants as mound builders. These mounds, species of 
 
 • For fuller details see E. G. Squier, The Primeval Monuments of 
 Peru, compared tvith those in other pa/i-ts of tJie World. American Na- 
 twralist, p. 518. Salem, 1870. 
 
MOUNDS AND THEIR BUILDEES. 167 
 
 artificial hills, axe great earthworks, often mixed with 
 stones, destined, some of them, to serve as mihtaiy de- 
 fences or as sacred enclosures ; others are crowned with 
 temples ; others, again, were consecrated to the bmrial of 
 the dead or to religious rites ; lastly, some served the 
 purpose of look-out posts. 
 
 These artificial constructions, which at the first glance 
 may easily be mistaken for natural hills, are scattered in 
 profusion throughout Wisconsin, Illinois, and especially 
 in the rich vall^j^s of the Scioto, the Ohio, and the Mis- 
 sissippi. They are sometimes isolated and sometimes they 
 occur in groups ; usually circular and occasionally elliptical 
 in form, they sometimes represent the figure of animals, and 
 even of man, while a few imitate the form of inanimate 
 objects, among which occur pipes of gigantic size. It is 
 worthy of notice that all the geometrical figures are 
 perfectly regular, even circles of 1,000 feet in diameter, 
 and they seem to have been traced according to a scale of 
 which the proportions were determined with accuracy and 
 faithfully executed. The following examples will be suffi- 
 cient to give an idea of their dimensions. 
 
 According to Messrs. Squier and Davis, to whose mag- 
 nificent work ' we are indebted for the following details, 
 some of these artificial hills measure not less than 550,000 
 cubic metres, so that it is calculated that four of them 
 would be greater in bulk than the largest of the Pyramids 
 of Egypt, the volume of which is said to be 2,000,000 
 cubic metres. The truncated pyramidal mound of Calokios, 
 in Illinois, measures, according to Lubbock, 700 feet long 
 by 500 feet wide and 90 feet high. Its total volume is 
 estimated to be 20,000,000 cubic feet. 
 
 These monuments have yielded to the researches of 
 archseologists treasures as valuable as they were unexpected. 
 Their age is unknown ; but many of them date, it would 
 seem, from a period anterior to the neolithic age of the 
 New World, since thejr contain weapons of unpoHshed 
 aphanite, a species of greenstone, resembling in form and 
 
 ' Squier and Davis, Ancient Monimients of the Mississippi Valley. 
 Smitlisonian Contributions to Knowledge, vol. i. 
 
168 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN KACE. 
 
 workmanship the flint axes and arrow heads of Abbeville 
 and Amiens. But for the most part, side by side with 
 these rudely shaped stone implements, others are found 
 so well polished that they will bear comparison in this 
 respect with our most skilfully wrought flints, a circum- 
 stance which seems to indicate that the archaeolithic and 
 neolithic ages are less distinct in America than in Europe. 
 This opinion is further confirmed by the presence in 
 most of the mounds of weapons and tools of pure copper 
 wrought by stone hammers — a clear proof that at one 
 time metal and stone were employed simultaneously. We 
 refer our readers to the work of Squier and Davis for 
 a number of interesting details about several kinds of 
 mounds. We need only say a few words about the sym- 
 bolical mounds, representing animals, and those known as 
 sacrificial mounds, used at once as tombs and as altars for 
 human sacrifice. 
 
 Symbolical Mounds are numerous in the State of 
 Wisconsin, but rarer in the valleys of the Ohio and of 
 the Scioto. The characteristic feature of the sym- 
 bolical mounds is that they represent almost exclusively 
 the image of man and of certain animals, and sometimes 
 gigantic pipes. Turning to account the undulations of 
 the prairies, the prehistoric architects of Wisconsin 
 modelled those immense bas-reliefs which faithfully re- 
 produce the outlines of the bear, the fox, the otter, the 
 glutton, the elk, the bufialo, the eagle, the tortoise, the 
 lizard, the frog, &c. Man himself, as we have said, figures 
 in these strange groups. Earthworks in the form of a 
 cross or a crescent, and other geometrical figures, occur 
 also, and the battle-axe is sometimes represented. 
 
 Among the most famous of the symbolic mounds we 
 will mention two, which for several reasons deserve special 
 notice. The one situated in the Mississippi valley bears 
 the name of Alligator Mound ; the other, known as the 
 Great Serpent Mound, occupies the extreme point of a 
 tongue of land formed at the junction of two rivers which 
 flow into the Ohio. The first of these animals, designed 
 with considerable skill, is no less than 250 feet in length 
 
SYMBOLIC Al^D FUNERAX MOUNDS. 169 
 
 from the tip of the nose to the extremity of the tail. Ex- 
 cavations made in various parts of the figure show that 
 the interior is formed of a heap of stones, over which the 
 form has been moulded in fine, stiflf clay. The Great 
 Serpent is represented with open mouth, in the act of 
 swallowing an egg of which the diameter is 100 feet in 
 the thickest part; the body of the animal is wound in 
 graceful curves, and the tail is rolled into a spiral. The 
 entire length of the animal is 1,000 feet. This work is 
 unique in the New World, and there is nothing on the 
 old continent which ofifers any analogy to it. It has 
 given rise to a number of absurd theories, not only on 
 the part of the present savage inhabitants of America, 
 who believe this symbolic serpent to be the work of the 
 great Manitou, but also among modern savants, who con- 
 sider the symbol to be akin to, or even the parent of, 
 certain superstitions which reign in Egypt, in Assyria, 
 and in Greece, and of which the traces still remain upon 
 the temples of India, of Central America, and even upon 
 the megalithic monuments of Avebury and of Camac. 
 
 Funeral Mounds. — ^The dimensions of these mounds 
 seem to bear an exact proportion to the rank of the indi- 
 vidual whose remains they cover. Each contains one or 
 more chambers, the roof being supported by enormous 
 beams, covered by the earth and stones which form the 
 tumulus. The body usually reposes in a sarcophagus, 
 of which the sides are formed of rudely squared logs of 
 wood, and the bottom consists of thin planks, which time 
 has decayed, and their dust is mingled with that of human 
 bones. The latter are so fragile that they break and 
 crumble to dust at the slightest touch. The sarcophagus 
 is sometimes made of unhewn stones placed upright, and 
 the body is enveloped in a shroud of bark, or covered 
 with plaques of mica. Bone necklaces, consisting of 
 one or two rows, tools, stone or pure copper mns, and 
 perforated discs of this metal, form the principal contents 
 of the tomb. They generally lie among ashes, charcoal, 
 and half-charred bones — a certain proof that cremation as 
 well as interment was practised by the mound builders, 
 
170 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 and that they sacrificed human victims on the tombs of 
 their chiefs, a custom, moreover, which at a later period 
 was common among the Mexican Aztecs, and among the 
 Peruvians of the time of the Incas. 
 
 Lewis Morgan found some blades of flint ranged side 
 by side like teeth over a space of about two feet in length, 
 in an Iroquois mound. He supposes, and I am inclined to 
 agree with him, that these flint knives had been originally 
 fixed with bitumen and fine cord in a groove made in the 
 edges of a sword-shaped piece of wood. "We cannot fail 
 to see that this description answers exactly to that of 
 the magahuitl or primitive sword of the early inhabitants 
 of Mexico and Yucatan. The ancient Mexicans, however, 
 instead of arming the wooden sword with flint teeth, 
 used blades of obsidian (itzli) as sharp as razors, which 
 made it a terrible weapon of war. (See Dr. Wilson, ' Pre- 
 historic Man.') 
 
 Sacrificial Mounds and Altars. — Certain mounds 
 are distinguished from the rest by special features which 
 leave not the smallest doubt as to their original destina- 
 tion. The mounds in question are nearly always found 
 within the sacred enclosures ; they are built up of alternate 
 layers of gravel, mould, sand, and slices of mica, and they 
 usually cover an altar of stone or baked clay, hollowed 
 into the form of a basin, on which were deposited offer 
 ings of various kinds, nearly all bearing the traces of the 
 prolonged action of fire. 
 
 Obsidian knives, thin slices of mica cut into graceful 
 curves or geometrical figures, others thicker, round or 
 oval in shape and perforated for stringing ; necklaces made 
 of beads and pierced teeth, and even of silver ; ear-rings and 
 armlets of finely polished bloodstone j pendants and other 
 badges of distinction of different shapes and materials, and 
 beautifully wrought ; lance and arrow heads made of quartz, 
 obsidian, flint, and even of manganesian garnet ; imple- 
 ments of pure copper ; bone and ivory needles ; fine and 
 rude pottery; carved stones and pipes, sometimes orna- 
 mented with beads ; the whole intermixed with a quantity 
 of ashes, charcoal, calcined shells, human bones broken and 
 
CONTENTS OF MOUNDS AND ALTAES. 
 
 171 
 
 half consumed, and the remains of garments completely 
 carbonised, in which the web of the tissue is still distin- 
 guishable ; such are the usual contents of the basin- 
 shaped altars in use among the ancient inhabitants of 
 the valleys of the Ohio and the Mississippi. Sometimes 
 the sheets of mica, so common in the tombs and the sacred 
 basins, are circular and overlap each other Uke the scales 
 of a fish, and represent together the figure of a crescent. 
 Hence it has been somewhat rashly assumed that the 
 mound buildere worshipped the moon. 
 
 Another and probably truer conclusion is that the 
 pipes carved in stone which are found in quantities upon 
 the altars, even to the exclusion of all other ofiferings, are a 
 proof of the use of tobacco in religious ceremonies from 
 
 FiQ. 60. Stone pipe from Elliott's Mound in Ohio. 
 
 the time of the mound builders. They imagined that the 
 scent of this narcotic plant was agreeable to the Great 
 Spirit : they smoked its leaves in his honour. The pipe 
 was the censer, and the smoke the incense. Some of 
 these pipes are of soft stone (steatite, chlorite, clayey 
 schist, ferruginous sandstone, calcareous stones), the others 
 of clay. They vary considerably in size and form. They 
 represent for the most part the figures of animals, especi- 
 ally birds, often also that of man more or less caricatured 
 (fig. 60). Some of them have a tube connected with the 
 bowl of the pipe, others are without it ; and the opening 
 destined for the passage of the smoke is so narrow that a 
 straw or very fine tube can with diflSculty be introduced 
 
172 
 
 THE AIJTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 into it. The larger and more ornamented ones have 
 received the name of calumet-pipes, and were probably 
 employed on solemn occasions and in great religious cere- 
 monies. Lastly, there are the portrait pipes (fig. 61), or 
 
 Fig. 61. Specimen of portrait pipe feom the mounds. 
 
 what are supposed to be such ; for we may assume that 
 the fidelity and even the talent with which the artists of 
 prehistoric times have reproduced the animals they saw 
 around them, are a guarantee for the accuracy of the 
 
 Fig. 62. Pipe of the Chippeways. 
 
 representation of the features of their contemporaries, 
 when they did not wish, as is often the case, to make gro- 
 tesque caricatures, placing human heads upon the bodies 
 of animals. 
 
RACIAL ORIGIN OF MOUND BUILDERS. 173 
 
 Thus, by a strange chance, the pipes found in the 
 mounds and upon the sacrificial altars give us at once 
 an idea of the fauna known to the mound builders,' 
 numerous specimens of an art since practised upon a 
 smaller scale and perhaps with less originality (fig. 62), 
 and lastly a probably faithful representation of their racial 
 type. 
 
 But the pipe-portraits, and even the two or three 
 skulls found in the mounds, do not furnish sufficient data 
 
 Figs. 63, 64. Skull taken from a mound in the Scioto valleit. 
 Fkofile and bird's-eye views. 
 
 to enable us to determine the race of the mound builders. 
 The nearly perfect skull of the valley of Scioto (figs. 63 
 
 ' Among the animals which the pipes represent, the following are 
 the most common : — The sea cow, the wolf, the bear, the otter, the 
 panther, the wild cat, the racoon, the beaver, the squirrel, the eagle, 
 the owl, the falcon, the heron, the parrot, the crow, the duck, the rattle- 
 snake, the frog, the toad, the tortoise, and the alligator. All these 
 animals, with the exception of the sea cow, belong to the fauna of 
 North America, and it is very probable that the carved pipes of which 
 we are speaking were manufactured in the State of Ohio, and especially 
 in the district called Mound City, because of the great number of 
 tombs which occur there. (See Squier and Davis, Ancient Monuments of 
 the Missinsijipi Valley. Smithnoniam Contributions to Knowledge, vol. i. ; 
 and Rau, The Archceohgieal Collection of the United States National 
 Miaevmi. Washington, 1876.) 
 
174 THE AlfTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 and 64) offers the following characters. The vertical 
 height is considerable ; diameter from the forehead to the 
 back is small ; great width between the parietal bones, 
 considerable depression of the occiput, forehead high and 
 arched ; prominent cheekbones, wide face, prominent 
 nose, and heavy and powerfully developed jaws. It must 
 remain doubtful whether this almost unique skull is, as 
 Morton affirms, the perfect type of the conformation of 
 the cranium common to all the tribes, ancient or modern, 
 which have dwelt or stiU dwell upon American soil. As 
 the native savages answer when the Anglo-American 
 archaeologists question them upon the history of the re- 
 mote past, Quien sabe, ' who knows ' ? However, Schoolcraft 
 assures us that the mound builders were no other than 
 the Alleghanians, that is, the Indian tribe earliest estab- 
 lished in the valleys of the Ohio and the Mississippi. But 
 it is certain that previous to their coming other populations 
 had lived in America, that here, as in Europe, man was 
 the contemporary of species long since extinct, and there- 
 fore that here also his existence dates from geological 
 epochs. 
 
175 
 
 CHAPTEE VIIL 
 
 MAJf OF THE TEBTIABY EPOCH. 
 
 The Human Bones of the Volcano of la Denise. — The 
 Striated Bones of the Elephant of Saint Brest. — The 
 Meiocene Flints of Thenay. 
 
 We have hitherto concerned ourselves solely with the 
 quaternary strata in our search for proofs of the great 
 antiquity of the human race. The tertiary rocks will in 
 their turn show unmistakeable traces of the appearance 
 of man upon the earth as early as the meiocene and plei- 
 ocene epochs, indications which although vague are never- 
 theless worthy of the most serious consideration. 
 
 In 1844, M. Aymard, a distinguished naturalist of 
 Auvergne, announced the discovery of some human re- 
 mains in a volcanic breccia of the mountain of la Denise ; 
 on the other slope of the mountain, in a breccia very 
 similar to the preceding, M. Aymard found bones of the 
 great mammalia — ^the elephant, rhinoceros, stag, horse, &c., 
 of extinct species, and even of one extinct genus, the 
 mastodon. Hence he concludes that man was their con- 
 temporary. This conclusion was rejected by the geolo- 
 gists of that epoch, notably by M. Pomel, who became 
 afterwards convinced of the co-existence of our race in 
 Auvergne, not with the mastodons whose remains are here 
 found for the first time in company with those of animals 
 of the quaternary epoch, but only with the reindeer and 
 Elephas primigenius. He believes, moreover, that the 
 man of la Denise witnessed the latest cataclysm which 
 modified the surface of the globe. 
 
176 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 The authenticity of the human bones found near la 
 Puy was at first contested ; but it has been established, 
 since 1859, by Ed. Lartet, Albert Gaudry, and Lyell, 
 and previously, by the members of the scientific congress 
 assembled at Puy in 1856. 
 
 The age alone, whether pleiocene or only quaternary, 
 of the volcanic tuff whence the bones of the man, or rather 
 of the two men (the one a youth, the other an adult), 
 of la Denise were taken, has given rise to differences of 
 opinion among geologists, some of whom maintain that 
 these bones were contemporary with the Elephas meri- 
 dionalis, and even with the mastodon ; while others attri- ' 
 bute them to the epoch of the reindeer and mammoth. 
 
 Many people still remember the great sensation created 
 in the scientific world by M. Desnoyers, when, on June 8, 
 1863, he made known to the Institute of France his dis- 
 covery of traces in the undisturbed pleiocene sands of Saint 
 Prest, near Chartres, proving the co-existence of man and 
 the Mephas ttieridionalis^ the Rhinoceros leptorhinus, 
 and other extinct mammalia of the upper tertiary strata. 
 These traces were incisions and scratches varying in form 
 and length, which M. Desnoyers had seen upon the bones 
 of these animals, and which he attributed to the action 
 of a race of men still more ancient than those of the 
 caves inhabited by the bear, and who, like the latter, 
 possessed only rudely carved flints for weapons and tools. 
 
 The author of this communication believed he might 
 conclude, from the facts he had observed, if not with 
 certainty, at least with a great appearance of probability, 
 that ' man lived upon the soil of France at the same time 
 as the Elephas mneridionalis and the other pleiocene 
 species which characterise the valley of the Arno in 
 Tuscany; that he strove for existence with those great 
 
 ' Palaeontologists distinguish three principal species of elephants : 
 1st, the Elephas meridwrialis, ■which has been found at Chartres, and is 
 therefore in no sense southern ; 2nd, the ElepTias antiqwis, which, in 
 spite of the name it bears, is less ancient than the preceding ; 3rd, 
 the Elepliat primigemm, the most recent of the three. We hare here 
 a striking example of the inconvenience of too significant names in ^ 
 natural history. 
 
MIOCENE FLINTS. 177 
 
 animals prior to the elephas primigenms, and to the 
 other mammalia whose remains are found in company 
 •with the vestiges of man in the transported or quaternary 
 beds of the great valleys or of the caves ; lastly, that the 
 deposit of Saint Prest is, as far as we yet know, the earliest 
 example in the geological period at which man co-existed 
 in Europe with extinct species.* 
 
 These bold but logical conclusions were received, as 
 might have been expected, with considerable caution, even 
 by the members of the Institute. An odious calumny, 
 soon condemned by public opinion, attempted to annul or 
 to destroy the importance of the discovery given to the 
 world by M. Desnoyers. On the other hand, M. Ed. Lartet 
 gave it the modest and loyal support of his testimony and 
 authority. 
 
 Sceptical men of science demanded, however, the pro- 
 duction, if possible, of ■ stronger proofs in support of so 
 momentous an assertion as that of the contemporaneity 
 of man and pleiocene species. 
 
 Another discovery, equally unlocked for, soon excited 
 in the scientific world an interest equal to that created by 
 the communication made by M. Desnoyers to the Academy, 
 namely, that of the carved flints (arrow heads and scrapers) 
 found beneath the meiocene deposits of Thenay, in the 
 department of Loir-et-Cher. However extraordinary and 
 unexpected this new discovery might appear, the Abbe 
 Bourgeois asserted it as a fact without the smallest hesi- 
 tation before the Prehistoric Congress" assembled at Paris 
 in 1867. ' The presence of carved flints at the bottom of 
 the chalk in Beauce,' says the learned abbe, 'is a re- 
 markable fact, and hitherto without precedent ; but it is 
 in my opinion authentic and of gp-eat importance.' He even 
 attempts to trace, by means of data collected on the spot, 
 the order of the appearance of the various species which 
 succeeded each other in Beauce and Orleanais after the 
 
 • J. Desnoyers, Swr les indices materieU de la coexistence de Vhommie 
 a/veo Velephas meridionalAs dans un terrain des environs de Chcurtrcs plus 
 a/noien que les terrains de transport quatemaAres des vallees de la Somme 
 et de la SaSne. (^Gomptes-rendus de VInstitut, 8 juin 1863.) 
 
178 THE ANTIQUITY OP THK HTJMAJS RACE. 
 
 date of the flints found below the mfeiocene beds in these 
 districts. ' On the shores of the lake of Beauce,' he says, 
 ' man lived in the midst of a fauna which completely 
 disappeared (aceratherium, tapir, mastodon). With the 
 fluviatile sands of Orleanais came the anthropomorphous 
 monkey (jpliopithecusantiquus^the dinotherium Guvieri, 
 the mastodon angustidens, the mastodon tapvnoides, the 
 Tnastodon Pyrenaicus, &c. These species, which probably 
 persisted during the epoch of the shell deposits, then made 
 way for the quaternary fauna which I found near there in 
 the breccia of VUliers (rhinoceros tichorhinus, hycena 
 spelcea, felis spelcea). Lastly, it was succeeded by the 
 contemporary fauna.' ' 
 
 In spite of these distinct assertions of the learned 
 abbe, his meiocene flints inspired in Paris and elsewhere 
 an almost universal distrust, and they met with no better 
 reception at the Prehistoric Congress held at Brussels in 
 1872. While Worsae, Englehardt, Waldemar, Schmidt, 
 Capellini, De Quatrefages, De Mortillet, Hamy, and Car- 
 tailhac are inclined to see upon some of them the traces 
 of human handiwork, Steenstrup, Virchow, and Desor 
 cannot recognise upon these stones the indication of any 
 work whatsoever, Van Beneden declares that he can come 
 to no decision, and Hebert absolutely denies all belief in 
 them. 
 
 On the other hand, M. de Mortillet says : ' The flints 
 of Thenay bear unmistakeable trace of the work of human 
 hands. . . . And, moreover, the specimens bear in them- 
 selves the seal which denotes their origin and their 
 authenticity. They are made of a species of flint totally 
 different to that found on the surface. It is impossible 
 to confound them. Besides, as I have already said, the 
 means employed in shaping them were entirely different. 
 Hitherto we have only been acquainted with the mode of 
 chipping them by blows ; those of Thenay were splintered 
 by fire. This is a well-marked and characteristic indus- 
 
 ' In Italy, Professor Capellini drew the same conclusions from 
 incisions which he believed to be intentional on the bones of pleiocenc 
 Cetai. But the nature of these incisions is strongly disputed. 
 
PROBLEM OF TEETIAEY MAN. 179 
 
 trial distinction which denotes a widely different pre- 
 historic epoch, more ancient than the quaternary, since 
 in the latter period percussion was universally and exclu- 
 sively employed. (G, de MortUlet, ' Promenades au musee 
 de Saint-Grermain,' p. 76.) 
 
 This is all very well, but here we meet with a slight 
 diflSculty. Who kindled the fire which served to spHnter 
 the flints ? Was it man himself, or the lightning from 
 heaven ? And in either case where are the cinders and 
 the ashes ? « 
 
 While allowing the authenticity of the splinters of 
 flint found by the Ahh6 Bourgeois, M. Albert Gaudry 
 does not admit the existence of man during the meiocene 
 epoch, and it must be confessed that the facts on which 
 he grounds his opinion have considerable weight. ' There 
 was not,' he says, ' in the middle of the meiocene epoch a 
 single species of mammal identical with species now 
 extant. Considering the question merely from a palaeon- 
 tological point of view, it is difficult to believe that the 
 flint carvers of Thenay remained uninfluenced by this 
 universal change." The eminent professor alludes here 
 to the modifications which have, since the above-mentioned 
 epoch (mean meiocene), taken place in the successive fauna 
 and in the geological phenomena. 
 
 ' After the fauna of the chalk beds of Beauce and of 
 the shell deposits, came that of the upper meiocene beds 
 of Eppelsheim, of Pikermi, and of Liberon, which differs 
 from it. The fauna of the lower pleiocene of Montpellier, 
 that of the pleiocene of Perrier, of Solilhac, of Coupet, 
 succeeded that of the upper meiocene beds. Afterwards 
 followed the epoch of the forest beds of Cromer, succeeded 
 in its turn by the glacial epoch of the boulder clay, which 
 endured a long time, to judge from the Norfolk deposits ; 
 the epoch of the boulder clay was followed by that of the 
 diluvium ; then came the reindeer age ; and, lastly, the 
 present geological age.' (Albert Gaudry, p. 240.) 
 
 We very well understand M. Gaudry's disbelief in 
 
 ' Albert Gaudry, Zes enohainements du monde animal da/m Us tempa 
 giologiques, p. 240, Paris, 1878. 
 
180 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAIT EACE. 
 
 man of the meiocene age, since we are not ourselves 
 entirely convinced on this head ; but he will doubtless 
 permit us to differ from his opinion that the famous 
 Thenay flints were carved by the dryopithecus. 
 
 The question of tertiary man (meiocene or pleiocene) 
 is not as yet completely solved : ' Adhuc sub judice lis est ; ' 
 but in my opinion there is nothing impossible in this hypo- 
 thesis. Since two anthropomorphous monkeys {pliopithe- 
 cus antiquus and dryopithecus fontmii) could Uve, the 
 one at Sansan in the department of Gers, the other at 
 Saint Gaudens in Haute Garonne, as early as the meiocene 
 epoch, I do not see that there is suflScient reason for 
 denying the existence of man during this same epoch 
 either in Beauce or Orleanais or in Languedoc. But in 
 such questions proof by analogy cannot supply the place 
 of direct proof, and the latter is not hitherto forthcoming. 
 
181 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 THE QBEAT ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 All nations have an innate tendency to attribute to tlieii 
 race a great antiquity. Thus the Arcadians styled them- 
 selves more ancient than the moon, trpoaiXrivoi, and the 
 inhabitants of Attica boasted that they were created before 
 the sun.' 
 
 The idea that the human race had giant ancestors is 
 also widely spread. The bones of the mammoth and 
 mastodon, long mistaken for human remains, seemed to 
 confirm this most erroneous opinion. A still greater and 
 more deplorable error was the attributing these bones to 
 saints, and as such they were paraded with great pomp 
 through the towns and in the country as late as 1789, in 
 the hope of thereby obtaining rain from heaven in years 
 of prolonged drought. 
 
 Everyone knows the audacious imposition practised 
 by a certain Mazoyer upon his contemporaries, including 
 Louis XIII. of France. He pretended that the bones of 
 a mastodon, found in 1613 near the chateau of Chaumont 
 in Dauphine were the remains of the giant Teutobochus, 
 king of the Cimbri, who after having invaded Gaul, were 
 conquered by Marius in the neighbourhood of Aix in 
 Provence. 
 
 All the science and discernment of Cuvier were needed 
 to show in the clearest way that the pretended hojno 
 diluvii testis of Scheuchzer, found in 1725 in the clayey 
 
 ' Ante Jovem genitum terras habuisse feruntur 
 Arcades, et luna gens prior ilia fuit. 
 
 Ovid, Fasti, ii. vv. 289-290. 
 
 9 
 
182 THE ANTIQUITY OP THE HUMAN JIACE. 
 
 schist of (Eningen in eastern Switzerland was nothing 
 but a gigantic salamander.' It is hardly worth while to 
 mention the petrified horseman of the forest of Fontaine- 
 bleau which led astray the imagination of lovers of the 
 marveUous rather than of the truth. 
 
 The great antiqidty of the human race is at the 
 present day established beyond dispute by proofs of a less 
 doubtful character ; we may even say that there is a super- 
 fluity of such proofs. Not to mention the well-known but 
 still somewhat dubious jawbone of Moulin-Quignon, or the 
 carved flints of the diluvium at Abbeville and elsewhere, 
 the bones of extinct animals bearing undeniable marks of 
 wounds made by man, or traces of human work ; the 
 remains of our species intermixed with those of extinct 
 species, in the tombs, the caves, the osseous breccia, and 
 the lava of ancient volcanoes, or accompanied with the 
 vestiges of a very primitive industry ; the total and pro- 
 longed ignorance of the use of metals ; the changes which 
 have taken place in the conformation of the earth's sur- 
 face since the first appearance of man ; there are certainly 
 more proofs than are necessary to convince even those 
 who close their ears most obstinately to the accents of 
 truth. To these proofs we have nevertheless added others 
 drawn from traditions, moniiments, the degree of civilisa- 
 tion attained by the nations who constructed them, even 
 from historical chronology, though the time which has 
 elapsed since the earliest dawn of history is but an instant 
 compared with eternity. For what are the 7,000 years 
 which have elapsed since the foundation of Thebes with 
 its hundred gates ? What are the 5,000 or, at most, 
 6,000 years admitted by archaeologists as the age of the 
 pyramids and the statues of Schafra and Ea-em-ke ? Of 
 what account even are the sixty-six centuries attributed to 
 the great pyramid of Sakkara ? All these dates, supposing 
 them to be accurate and established by proof, are nothing 
 
 • Schenchzer, at once a naturalist and a theologian, accompaiiies 
 his description with the following pious exhortation :-:- 
 ' Betriibtes Beingeitist von einem alten SiLuder, 
 Erwaohe, Stein, das Herz der neueu Eosheitskinder.' 
 
THE AGE OF MAN. 183 
 
 in comparison to the geological ages during which European 
 man left the traces of his dawning industry and even his 
 own remains which we find in the diluvium of the caves 
 and valleys, perhaps even in the pleiocene and meiocene 
 strata of the tertiary beds. 
 
 However, we are far from reposing bHnd faith in those 
 rash or at least premature calculations, by means of which 
 certain geologists would determine in more or less plau- 
 sible figures the date of the first appearance of man on the 
 earth or the ^respective durations of the ages through 
 which he passed in Europe as he gradually emerged from 
 a state of complete barbarism to the advanced civilisation 
 he has now attained. 
 
 Since, as the most distinguished among our learned 
 men avow, science is as yet unable to determine the pre- 
 cise dates of events which took place in the earliest times 
 of Egyptian history, since they tell us that fifty years ago 
 not a word of this history was known,' it is rash to en- 
 deavour to reconstruct as a whole the early archives, of 
 the human race, and to believe that we possess all the 
 records indispensable to the execution of so difficult and 
 so gigantic a work. 
 
 It matters little whether man has inhabited the earth 
 for 100,000 years, as a well-known geologist maintains, or 
 for as many centuries, as others are inclined to think. 
 But from the results of our researches, and from discoveries 
 whose authenticity has been proved by the strictest exami- 
 nation, we can now draw conclusions of immense value, 
 and of which the certainty can no longer be denied. 
 
 From the country now known as Picardy, the ancient 
 inhabitant of Abbeville or Amiens could pass into Great 
 
 ' In making soundings in the slimy soil of the Nile valley, two baked 
 bricks were discovered, one at a depth of twenty, the other of twenty- 
 four yards. If we estimate the thickness of the annual deposit formed 
 by the river at eight inches a century, we must assign to the first of 
 these bricks an age of 12,000 years, and to the second that of 14,000. 
 By means of analogous calculations, Burmeister supposes seventy-two 
 thousand years to have elapsed since the first appearance of man upon the 
 soil of Egypt, and Draper attributes to the European man who witnessed 
 the last glacial epoch an antiquity of more than 250,000 years. 
 
184 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 Britain without crossing tlie Channel. The British Isles 
 were united to Gaul by an isthmus which has been since 
 submerged. The level of the Baltic and of the North 
 Sea was 400 feet higher than it is at the present day. 
 The valley of the Somme was not hollowed to the depth 
 it has now attained ; Sicily was- joined to Africa, Barbary 
 to Spain. Carthage, the pyramids of Egypt, the palaces 
 of Uxmal and Palenque were not yet in existence, and the 
 bold navigators of Tyre and of Sidon who at a later date 
 were to undertake their perilous voyages along the coasts 
 of Africa, were yet unborn. "What we know with certainty 
 is that European man was contemporaneous with the 
 extinct species of the quaternary epoch {elephas primi- 
 genius, rhinoceros tichorhvnus, ursus speloeus, feUs 
 spelcea, &c.), that he witnessed the upheaval of the Alps 
 and the extension of the glaciers, in a word, that he lived 
 for thousands of years before the dawn of the remotest 
 historical traditions. 
 
 It is even possible that man was the contemporary of 
 extinct mammalia of species yet more ancient than those 
 just mentioned, that is of the elephas meridionalis of the 
 sands of Saint Brest, or at the least of the elephas anti- 
 quus, assumed to be prior to the elephas primigenius, 
 since their bones are found in company with carved flints 
 in several English caves, associated with those of the rhi- 
 noceros hwmitechus and even of the machairodus latidens, 
 which is of still earlier date. 
 
 M. Ed. Lartet is also of opinion that there is nothing 
 really impossible in the existence of man as early as the 
 tertiary period. The incisions observed upon the bones 
 of the elephas meridionalis by M. Desnoyers, perhaps 
 even those remarked by the Abbe Bourgeois upon the 
 carved flints of la Beauce, tend to this conclusion. But 
 in the absence of more numerous facts and of more deci- 
 sive proofs we are forced to suspend our judgment mitil 
 we are more fully informed. Let us give a few moments 
 attention to the words of an extremely orthodox savant, 
 M. F. Lenormant, a sincere Catholic. He says : ' But it 
 will be doubtless objected to by some people, alarmed at 
 
THE BIBLE AND SCIENCE. 185 
 
 the audacity of these assertions to which the public is not 
 yet accustomed, and which are nevertheless regarded as 
 indisputable by men of science : " How can you make 
 .your Egyptian dates agree with the Bible, with the 4,004 
 years which the Scriptures assign as the lapse of time 
 between the creation of man and the coming of Christ, 
 with the 2,348 only which they count between the deluge 
 and the Incarnation ? " Many, people would reject as 
 valueless the authority of Moses in reply to such a ques- 
 tion. I am not of the number. A Catholic, profoundly 
 convinced of the truth of all that my religion teaches, I 
 respect the Holy Scriptures, I bow to their authority, 
 and I believe in the divine inspiration which dictated 
 them. But many things which do not really belong to 
 them are attributed by commentators to the Scriptures, 
 and chronology is of the number. I do not consider 
 myself in any way bound to accept it as an article of 
 faith, and when I meet with positive facts which refute 
 it, I prefer the facts to the most ingenious systems of 
 commentators. One of the most eminent learned men 
 of the present century, and at the same time a sincere 
 Christian, Sylvestre de Sacy, used to say, " People perplex 
 their minds about Biblical chronology, and the discrepancy 
 which exists between it and the discoveries of modern 
 science. They are greatly in error, for there is no Biblical 
 chronology." Nothing can be truer, and Catholics as well 
 as their opponents should always bear this in mind when 
 they are occupied with the study of the early history of 
 humanity. For chronology can only exist where the ne- 
 cessary elements occur, when we are in possession of 
 records which control the accuracy of the figures trans- 
 mitted by the chroniclers, and, above all, when we know 
 the measure of time in use among the people whose 
 annals we seek to reconstruct. It is no use, therefore, to 
 seek in the Scriptures that which they cannot contain, 
 a fixed and certain chronology.' (Franpois Lenormant, 
 'L'Egypte,'p. 61.) 
 
 "We repeat the statement we made at the beginning of 
 this book : — ' Science is bound to no philosophy — ^to no 
 
186 THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 religion. Is there a Protestant geometry, physics, and 
 physiology, and another Catholic ? ' 
 
 We may add, moreover, to the honour of our century, 
 that the Catholic Church itself, so long and so bitterly 
 hostile to the discoveries of profane science, confirms 
 them at the present day by the voice and the labours of 
 her most cultivated and enlightened ministers. 
 
 A learned abbe, professor at the Sorbonne, asserts 
 categorically that prehistoric archaeology and palaeontology 
 may, without running counter to the Scriptures, discover 
 in the tertiary beds and in those of the early part of the 
 quaternary period the traces of pre-Adamites. Since it 
 disregards all creations anterior to the last deluge but one 
 (that which produced the diluvium, according to the abbe), 
 JBible revelation leaves us free to admit the existence of 
 man in the grey diluvium, in pleiocene and even in eocene 
 strata. On the other hand, however, geologists are not 
 all agreed in regarding the men who inhabited the globe 
 in these primitive ages as our ancestors.' (L'Abbe Fabre, 
 ' Les origines de laterre et de I'homme,' p. 454.) M. Fabre 
 will I hope permit me to differ from him on this last point. 
 
 The Abbe Bourgeois, whose courage and perseverance 
 has been recognised by M. Broca, president at the Con- 
 gress of the Anthropological Sciences, has laboured during 
 eleven years in the search for proofs of the existence of 
 man during the meiocene epoch. Although an early death 
 cut short his labours before he was able to see the definite 
 triumph of his theory, rash in appearance, but nevertheless 
 strictly logical, he was at least, says M. Broca, ' a rare and 
 noble example of a deeply religious mind, whose faith is 
 suflBciently firm to have nothing to fear from scientific 
 truth.' (Speech at the opening of the Congress of the 
 Anthropological Sciences, Paris, August 16, 1878.) 
 
 Lastly, the Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg, doing homage 
 also to scientific truth, expresses himself as follows on 
 the subject of the old traditions of the New World : — 
 ' If I am to believe the records which I have been so 
 fortunate as to discover, there are dates which allude to 
 ancient convulsions of nature in these regions, to deluges 
 
UNANIMOUS PEOOFS OF ANTIQUITY. 187 
 
 and terrible inundations, followed by the upheaval of 
 mountains accompanied by volcanic eruptions. Traditions 
 whose traces recur in Mexico, in Central America, in' 
 Peru, and in Bolivia, suggest even the idea that man 
 existed in these different countries at the time of the 
 gigantic upheaval of the Andes, and that he has retained 
 the memory of it.' 
 
 Thus all the proofs that we have collected together 
 touching the great age of the human race, and those 
 which scientific men of every nationality are daily collect- 
 ing, are it is true of unequal value, but all are in perfect 
 agreement, and most of them are checked by geologists 
 of the first rank, and judges whose competence cannot be 
 surpassed, among whom is the eminent palaeontologist, 
 M. Ed. Lartet. He says upon this subject, ' The truth so 
 long contested, that of the co-existence of man with the 
 great extinct species (elephas primigenius, rhinoceros 
 tichorhinus, hycena spelcea, ursus speloeus, &c.), appears 
 to me to be henceforward unassailable and definitely con- 
 quered by science.' (' Cavernes du P^rigord,' p. 35.) 
 
 We repeat then, with the real founder of archaeology, 
 ' God is eternal, but man is old indeed,' even in the New 
 World. Such is the logical conclusion of the first part of 
 this work. 
 
PART 11. 
 
 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 DOMESTIC LIFE. 
 
 I. THE OKIGIBT OF THE USE OF FIRE. 
 
 Fire, the common source of heat, light, and life, the active 
 agent in numberless industries, and above all in the work- 
 ing of metals, is beyond question one of the most precious 
 conquests which man has made from, nature. Its discovery 
 was more than a benefit ; it was a giant stride forward 
 in the path of civilisation. With the use of fire society 
 arose, family life and all the sacred joys of the domestic 
 hearth ; art and industry were born, with all the wonders 
 which they have produced and are daily producing. Hence 
 it is easy to understand that fire has been and still is 
 among a great many nations the object of a special worship 
 (the priests of Baal, the Brahmins of India, the vestal 
 virgins, the priestesses of the sun in Peru, are a few 
 examples among many), and that it has often figured in 
 the religious and funeral rites of nations remote from each 
 other both in time and space ; for example, the Chaldeans, 
 Hebrews, Grreeks, Eomans, Hindus, Peruvians, Mexicans, 
 &c. But how and at what epoch did man arrive at this 
 great discovery, without which it is difficult to conceive 
 the possibility of his various arts, nay of his very exist- 
 ence ? Did he steal fire from heaven, as the Indian and 
 Hellenic myths tell us ; or, as other legends say, did he 
 
LEGENDAEY ORIGIN OF FIRE. 189 
 
 turn to account the spontaneous burning of the forests, 
 the rubbing of two dry branches violently agitated by the 
 wind ; or, lastly, did he from the very beginning endeavour 
 to find one of those simple and practical means employed 
 at the present day by certain savage or half-civilised 
 tribes to procure themselves the fire necessarv to daily 
 Ufe? 
 
 In spite of a number of contrary assertions, however 
 far we go back in the history of man we always find him 
 in possession of ^re. The fable of Prometheus, who went 
 to seek it on Olympus itself, is no other than the Vedic 
 myth which represents the god Agni, or the celestial fire, 
 in Latin Ignis, as hidden in a casket whence Matarichvan 
 forced him to come forth, and presented him to JNIanou the 
 first man, or to Brighu the brilliant, father of the priestly 
 family of that name. 
 
 The name of Prometheus himself is of Vedic origin, 
 and recalls the process employed by the ancient Brahmins 
 to obtain the sacred fire. They used for this purpose a 
 stick which they called rnatha or pramatha, the prefix 
 pra adding the idea of robbing by force to that contained 
 in the root matha of the verb mathdmi or manthnami, 
 to produce by friction. Prometheus is he who discovers 
 fire, brings it from its hiding place and commimicates it 
 to men. From Pramantha or Pramathyus, he who hollows 
 by friction, who steals fire, the transition is easy and 
 natural ; and there is but a step from the Hindu Pra- 
 mathyus to the Greek Prometheus, who stole the fire from 
 heaven to kindle the spark of life in the man of clay. 
 
 The lighting stick or pramantha was furnished with a 
 cord of hemp twisted with cow's hair, and by means of this 
 cord rolled round the upper part, the priest of Brahma 
 imparted to it a rotatory motion alternately from left 
 to right, and from right to left. The stick was turned 
 in a little hollow formed at the point of intersection of 
 two pieces of wood placed one above the other in the form 
 of a cross, and of which the extremities bent at right angles 
 were firmly fixed by four bronze nails. The whole apparatus 
 
190 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION 
 
 was called Swastika.^ The father of the sacred fire bore 
 the name of Twastri, that is, the divine carpenter, who' 
 made the Swastika, and the Pramantha whose friction 
 produced the divine child Agni, in Latin Ignis. His 
 mother was named Maya. He himself was styled Akta 
 (^anointed, T^pto-Tos) after the priests had poured upon his 
 head the spirituous Sdma, and on his body butter purified 
 by sacrifice. 
 
 In his interesting work upon the origin of fire (' Die 
 Herabkunft des Feuers') Adalbert Kiihn always designates 
 the 4-" and this other similar sign rfj? by the name of 
 arani, and he considers them both as the principal 
 religious symbols of our Aryan ancestors. He adds : ' This 
 process of kindling fire naturally led man to the idea of 
 sexual reproduction. This is what we see in a hymn of 
 the Rigveda where the Pramantha evidently represents the 
 male, and in which the dimensions of the Arani and of its 
 various parts are accurately given and the exact spot 
 indicated on which the pramantha should be placed in 
 order to obtain the desired result.' 
 
 The legend of which we have just spoken recurs in 
 the Zend-Avesta, or sacred book of the Persians, and in 
 the Vedic hymns of Hindustan, under its double form at 
 once material and metaphysical. But the authors of these 
 hymns bear witness that this same legend had long before 
 their time been symbolised in a great national worship, 
 whose founder, Rhibu, is none other than Orpheus himself. 
 This tradition, common to the Greeks, Hindus, and Per- 
 sians, carries us back to those early times when the branches 
 
 ' It is a remarkable fact that the Sivastiea of India J-i occurs often 
 in these two forms, r^ or roV] upon the fusatoles or terra-cotta discs 
 foand in such abundance by Dr. Schliemann under the ruins of an- 
 cient Troy. Hence the natural conclusion that the Trojans were of 
 Aryan race. See Heinrioh Schliemann, Trqjcmuohe AUerthiimer, and 
 Emile Burnouf, Za soieime des Religions. The close resemblance whicli 
 exists between certain ceremonies of the worship of Agni and certain 
 rites of the Catholic religion may also be explained, at least to a certain 
 extent, by their common origin. Agni, in the condition of AMa ot 
 anointed, is suggestive of Christ; Maya, Mary His mother; Twagtri, 
 Saint Joseph, the carpenter of the Bible, 
 
PRIMITIVE METHODS OF OBTAINIKG FIEE. 
 
 191 
 
 of this yet undivided stock still wandered on the banks of 
 the Oxus. 
 
 In his ' Researches on the Early History of Mankind,' 
 Tylor gives valuable details respecting the invention of 
 fire, and the various means employed in every age to pro- 
 cure it. The primitive method seems to have been, in his 
 opinion, the friction of two pieces of dry wood one against 
 the other; but this process improved with the lapse of 
 time, and in proportion to the degree of ingenuity of the 
 
 Fig. 65. The stick and groove Fig. 66. The fire drili. used m 
 
 method employed at tahiti, 
 Tonga, Samoa, ln the Sandwich 
 Isles, New Zealand. &c. The 
 wood used for kindling the fire, es- 
 pecially at Tahiti, is the Hibiscus ti- 
 liaceus, a light dry wood. 
 
 Abstkalla, Tasmania, Kahts- 
 chatka, Thibet, Hindustan, 
 Africa, among the Guanchos 
 OF the Casaries, in Mexico, &c. 
 
 peoples by whom it was adopted. Thus in the first place 
 the friction was produced by means of a stick moved 
 rapidly backwards and forwards upon a piece of soft dry 
 wood placed upon the ground. This method is employed 
 by the savages of Tahiti, New Zealand, the Sandwich 
 Islands, Timor, &c. This process is named stick and 
 groove (see fig. 65) by Tylor, as opposed to the fire drill 
 which is far more generally used (figs. 66, 67, and 68.) In 
 its simplest form the fire driU consists of a stick of which 
 
192 
 
 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 Fig. 67. Ancient Mexican kind- 
 ling A FIRE BY MEANS OF THE 
 
 FIRE DBILL. (From an ancient 
 Mexican painting, reproduced in 
 outline by Tylor.) 
 
 one end is placed in a cavity hollowed in a piece of dry 
 wood ; it is turned rapidly between the two hands, which 
 
 exercise upon it at the 
 same time a powerfiil 
 vertical pressure. This 
 implement recurs not 
 only in Australia,. Su- 
 matra, the Caroline 
 Islands, and Kamts- 
 chatka, but even in 
 China, Southern Africa, 
 and the two Americas. 
 It was used by the an- 
 cient Mexicans (fig. 67); 
 and is still emplbyed 
 among the Yenadis in 
 the south of India, the 
 savage Veddas of Ceylon, and the Gauchos of South America 
 (fig. 68.) 
 
 It was a further advance when the stick used to 
 
 kindle the fire was 
 made to turn upon 
 itself by a cord or 
 1 athem thong wound 
 1 und it, and of which 
 lie two ends were 
 alternately pulled in 
 opposite directions. 
 This is the instru- 
 ment described in the 
 Veddas, and still em- 
 ployed by the Brah- 
 mins of the present 
 day to kindle the 
 sacred fire. For as 
 Tylor points out, in 
 rehgious ceremonies fire is very frequently obtained by 
 antique methods in preference to the simpler means in- 
 vented by modern art. Thus the sacred fire allowed to die 
 
 Fig. 68. Another kind of fire 
 
 DRILL, USED BY THE GAUCHOS, A 
 
 half savage pastoral people, 
 inhabitants of the pampas of 
 America. 
 
THE THONG DKILL. 193 
 
 out by the vestal virgins was rekindled by means of a 
 burning glass. A similar means was employed by the an- 
 cient priests of Peru to light the fire for sacrifices. It is 
 one of those pious customs by which men are shown that 
 they revere the memory of their remotest ancestors. 
 
 An instrument somewhat resembling that used by the 
 Hindu Brahmins is employed at the present day among 
 the Esquimaux and the inhabitants of the Aleutian Isles 
 (fig. 69.) It consists of a stick of which one end is 
 supported by a piece of wood fixed between the teeth, and 
 
 FiQ. G9. Esquimaux lighting a fike by means of 
 
 THE THONG DRILL. 
 
 the other rests in a little hollow made in another piece of 
 dry wood ; it is put in motion by means of a thong twisted 
 twice round the upright stick, and which the two hands 
 draw alternately to the right and to the left. Slight 
 modifications introduced into the construction of the fire 
 drill, and the ingenuity of different tribes, have produced 
 various instruments destined to the same purpose. Such, 
 for instance, are the how drill, moved by means of a bow, 
 which resembles the modern drill ; and the pump drill, 
 employed both for the production of fire, and for boring 
 holes in wood, stone, or metal (figs. 70 and 71.) 
 
194 
 
 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 Among other methods of obtaining fire, or at least 
 sparks, we may mention in passing, the striking of two 
 flints against each other, or of one flint against a piece of 
 steel or iron pyrites ; the shock of two pieces of bamboo, 
 a means employed in China ; the compression of air in a 
 wooden or ivory tube, a Malay process, &c. &c. 
 
 The dried parenchyma of the touchwood tree, the 
 frayed bark of the cedar,' dried leaves, charred vegetable 
 fibre, &c., are the combustible materials usually employed 
 for the reception of the spark obtained by percussion. 
 
 Fig. 70. The bow drili,, kmploted 
 ET THE Sioux and Canadian 
 Indians. 
 
 Fig. 71. The pump deit.i. in 
 
 USE AMONG THE IrOQUOIS 
 FROM TIME IMMEMORIAL. 
 
 Does there exist, has there ever existed, a people to 
 whom the use of fire, or of the manner of producing it, 
 was completely unknown? A considerable number of 
 authors incline to this opinion. It has been said, for 
 instance, that the inhabitants of Tasmania are acquainted 
 with fire and make use of it, but that they are ignorant 
 of the means of producing it. Hence it is the special 
 
 ' The bark of the cedar ravelled and dried is, according to Paul 
 Kane, the substance employed by the Chinooks of the river Columbia 
 to catch the sparks produced by means of a round stick turned by both 
 hands in a hollow made in the middle of a plank of cedar wood. 
 
FABLED ORIGIN OF FIBE. 195 
 
 province of their wives to bear torches, burning night and 
 day, which serve to guide the steps of the tribe through 
 the bush. Should the torch go out, a journey sometimes 
 of considerable length is undertaken in order to rekindle 
 it at the fire of another tribe. Each family nearly always 
 carries a cone of the banksia, whose slow combustion, like 
 that of the touchwood, is calculated to fulfil the desired 
 purpose. 
 
 A further proof that the Australians themselves are 
 not so ignoraat of the use of fire as certain authors 
 imagine or assert, is found in a legend relating to its 
 origin. We borrow the account of this fable from Wilson, 
 who, in his work upon Prehistoric Man, has devoted a 
 most interesting chapter to the question now before us : — 
 
 'A long, long time ago, a little bandicoot, a small 
 sharp-nosed animal, not unlike the guinea-pig, was the 
 sole owner of a firebrand, which he cherished with the 
 greatest jealousy. So selfish was he in the use of his 
 prize, that he obstinately refused to share it with the other 
 animals. So they held a general council, when it was 
 decided that the fire must be obtained from the bandicoot 
 either by force or strategy. The hawk and pigeon were 
 deputed to carry out this resolution; and after vainly 
 trying to induce the fire-owner to share its blessings with 
 his neighbours, the pigeon, seizing as he thought an 
 unguarded moment, made a dash to obtain the prize. The 
 bandicoot saw that affairs had come to a crisis, and, in 
 desperation, threw the fire towards the river, there to 
 quench it for ever. But, fortunately for the black man, 
 the sharp-eyed hawk was hovering near, and seeing the 
 fire falling into the water, with a stroke of his wing he 
 knocked the brand far over the stream into the long dry 
 grass of the opposite bank, which immediately ignited, 
 and the flames spread over the face of the country. The 
 black man then felt the fire, and said it was good.' 
 
 Was prehistoric man in possession of fire ? According 
 to the Abbe Bourgeois, man was acquainted with the 
 use of fire from the meiocene epoch. This assertion is 
 founded upon his discovery in the sand beds near Orleans 
 
196 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 of a stony fragment of an artificial composite intermixed 
 with carbon, and lying among bones of the mastodon and 
 dinotherium. It is further supported by the cracked 
 flints found by the same savant in the neighbourhood of 
 Thenay, not far from the shores of the lake of Beauce. 
 These flints bear, it seems, unmistakeable traces of the 
 action of fire, but this may have been the effect of light- 
 ning. If it were not so, where are the ashes and the 
 cinders which would naturally accompany these flints if 
 they had really been exposed to the action of the fire of 
 a hearth ? Where is the hearth itself ? The hypothesis 
 of the Abbe Bourgeois may be correct, but, in my opinion 
 at least, it is anything but proved. 
 
 But if the existence of fire as early as the meiocene 
 epoch is open to doubt, it cannot be denied that the use 
 of this element was known to the earliest quaternary 
 man. Numerous hearths, ashes, cinders, bones partly or 
 entirely carbonised, fragments of rude pottery blackened 
 by smoke, &c., have been found ia caves belonging to the 
 age of the care bear, the reindeer, and of polished stone, 
 and they thereby show that the inhabitants of these 
 caverns were accustomed to cook their food, and thus to 
 render digestion easier and more complete. 
 
 With fire prehistoric man burnt the bodies of the dead, 
 hollowed his canoes, and preserved from a too rapid decay 
 the stakes which formed the platform on which he built 
 his lake dwellings. Not only did the inhabitant of the 
 caves and lake dwellings know how to cook his food and 
 warm his dwelling, but he was also acquainted with several 
 methods of lighting it at night. A. piece of charred resin- 
 ous wood, which was probably used for this purpose, was 
 found in Lake Fimon. In the same way that the modem 
 Esquimaux lights his snow hut by means of lamps fed 
 with the oil of the seal or the whale, the Danes of the 
 kitchen middens employed a wick of moss, one end of 
 which was buried in the stomach of a great penguin (alca 
 itnpennis), which is laden with fat. 
 
 In the age of the lake dwellings, silex or quartz and 
 iron pyrites were used to procure fire by striking one of 
 
PIRE IN THE QUATERNARY EPOCH. 197 
 
 these two substances against the other ; this fact is at- 
 tested by discoveries made in the Swiss lakes at Meilen, 
 Mooseedorf, Wangen, and Eobenhausen of pieces of tinder 
 from the bark of the touchwood tree. Moreover, MM. 
 Ed. Lartet and Christy hold that the circular or quad- 
 rangular blocks of granite with a hollow in the middle, 
 which they found in the bone caves of Perigord, were used 
 as a means of procuring fire by making a wooden stick 
 revolve rapidly in the central cavity after the manner of 
 the priests of Brahma. 
 
 We are firmly convinced, we repeat once more, that fire 
 was very early known to man, since it is almost impossible 
 to conceive how he can have existed without it. Hence 
 ' who can imagine the joy, the delight, the radiant exulta- 
 tion of that man among our unknown ancestors who first 
 presented in triumph to the astonished eyes of the be- 
 wildered tribe the smoking staff from which he had suc- 
 ceeded in producing a flame ? ' (Albert Eeville, ' Kevue 
 des Deux Mondes,' 1862.) 
 
 Fire presided at the birth of nearly every art, or 
 quickened its progress. The working in metals, archi- 
 tecture, keramic art, agriculture,, navigation, commerce, 
 industry, are all carried on by means of its life-giving 
 flame. It has played and still plays an important part in 
 the religious ceremonies and funereal rites of all peoples, 
 savage or civilised. But on the other hand, as though 
 fate ordained that evil must always accompany good, fire 
 destroys more rapidly than it creates by forging those 
 terrible engines, those instruments of death, by whose 
 means the flower of nations is laid low on the battle-field. 
 
 But let us forget the ills it causes, and remember only 
 its benefits. These have been enumerated by Wilson in 
 an eloquent page, which will serve as an apt and natural 
 conclusion to this chapter on the history of fire : — 
 
 ' The iron ore lay a dark, unsightly, and inert mass ; 
 and alongside of it, in contemporaneous strata, the fire 
 heat of centuries, buried in forgotten eras of geological 
 time, had been compacted into vegetable coal. And now 
 fire was to accomplish its triumphs, and make the great 
 
198 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION-. 
 
 levels and grand river-courses of the New World the 
 scenes of a revolution unequalled since time itself was 
 born. Coal and iron are wedded together. The new 
 forgers of the thunderbolts toil in the roaring forges of 
 Birmingham, Grlasgow, Wolverhampton, and Woolwich. 
 Watt, Arkwright, Brunei, Stephenson, are the Tubal- 
 Cains and Wayland Smiths of our modern age. The 
 Atlantic is bridged by their ocean steamers ; and, where 
 the genius of Europe's solitary believer in a Far West 
 guided the caravels of Spain through the dread mysteries 
 of the ocean to another worldj the merchant navies of 
 the nations speed, defiant of wind and waves, propelled 
 by new powers that slumbered, abiding their waking time, 
 in that tiny spark lit by the forest-Prometheus. Tended 
 by this willing slave, mechanical skill plies unwearied its 
 great task. The work of old centuries is outsped in single 
 years. Everywhere, and in all shapes, the new develop- 
 ments of this primitive element of science startle us with 
 their novel and exhaustless powers. Northward, south- 
 ward, and far into the wilds on the western horizon of 
 civilisation, run the new iron highways, rush the iron 
 horses, snorting and shrieking as they hasten onward to 
 the Pacific, and pant till, with the ocean steamships of 
 commerce, they shall engirdle the world.' 
 
 II. FOOD AJVD COOKING. 
 
 Exposed to the hardships of an inclement climate, es- 
 pecially at the epoch of the great extension of the glaciers 
 which at one time covered all our mountains, a prey to all 
 the privations of a rude and precarious life, forced to de- 
 fend himself against wild beasts, often of gigantic size, 
 which surrounded him on all sides, the first preoccupation 
 of quaternary man was to provide himself with food and 
 clothing by means of fishing and hunting, and to manu- 
 facture weapons and tools to assure his existence, and that 
 of his family. 
 
 Frugivorous by instinct,^ that is by reason of the con- 
 
 ' Such is the opinion held by Flourens, SohaafEhausen, and Milne- 
 Edwards, and it is also our own. 
 
FOOD or PEEHISTOEIC MAN. 199 
 
 formation of his digestive organs and his dental system, 
 in which respect he is nearly allied to the apes, which are 
 nearly all fruit-eating animals in their natural state,' man 
 soon became omnivorous from necessity, and his stomach 
 readily adapted itself to every kind of food. Now, how- 
 ever, our delicacy revolts at the idea that the Austra- 
 lians think nothing more delicious than to gorge them- 
 selves with huge morsels of putrefying whale's flesh. We 
 can hardly believe, and yet it is true, that the Esquimaux 
 drink the oil of tiie seal and the cachalot, that the Chinese 
 take pleasure in eating dogs, cats, rats, toads, the larvae and 
 chrysalides of silkworms, &c. Lastly, we are ready to rise 
 in revolt when philanthropists, exempt from prejudice, 
 propose to establish in our large towns slaughter-houses 
 where horseflesh should be sold cheap, to the great advan- 
 tage of public alimentation. 
 
 The Gauls and Franks were certainly more reasonable 
 and less dainty than we are in this respect. Without 
 going back so far into the past, we are told that not only 
 the flesh of the horse but even that of the beaver appeared 
 in the tenth and the beginning of the eleventh centuries 
 on the table of the monks of Saint Grail. It is not sur- 
 prising that the flesh of the noblest of mammalia was used 
 as food by the men of Aurignac and Solutre, to mention 
 only two examples among many. The flesh of the bear, 
 the mammoth, and the rhinoceros figure also with honour 
 in the bill of fare of our earliest ancestors. 
 
 The urus, the aurochs, bos primigenius, cervus mega- 
 ceros, the reindeer, and at a later period the wild goat, 
 the sheep, the wild boar, and the pig served them as daily 
 food. They did not disdain to eat the flesh of the dog, 
 nor even of the fox, in spite of its disgusting smell. On 
 the other hand, like the followers of Zoroaster, the ancient 
 Scandinavians, the Britons of Csesar, the Jews, Eussians, 
 
 ' Savage tells us the chimpanzees reared in captivity refuse meat at 
 first, hut soon take to it. I myself saw in a travelling menagerie a 
 macaco which had become almost exclusively carnivorous. However, 
 there is nothing more astonishing in this fact than that captive eagles 
 will eat bread, pigeons meat, rabbits coagulated blood, and that Icelandic 
 cows feed upon dried salt fish. 
 
200 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 and Lapps, actuated probably by motives of superstition, 
 abstained from the flesh of hare. Such at least is the 
 opinion of M. Ed. Lartet.* 
 
 We now know with certainty that marrow was at this 
 same epoch a much prized dainty, as it is at the present 
 day among the Esquimaux, the Greenlanders, and the 
 Lapps. In this fact lies the explanation of the fragmentary 
 condition of the bones of animals and even of the human 
 species, which occur in the bone caves, the tumuli, the 
 kitchen middens, &c. &c. Various species of aquatic and 
 land birds ; in Denmark the blackcock, which has long been 
 extinct in that country ; the wild swan, the great penguin, 
 now restricted to Greenland, fish (herrings, dabs, &c.), 
 several molluscs, especially oysters in abundance, m^ussels, 
 queens, whelks, and snails, were also considerable items in 
 the diet of quaternary man. Lastly, the milk of the flocks, 
 and cheese were added, especially among the inhabitants 
 of the lake cities, to the diet obtained from the animal and 
 vegetable kingdoms. 
 
 At first the flesh of animals was eaten raw, but once 
 possessed of fire man could cook his food and thus render 
 it easier of digestion, and even make use of a number of 
 animal and vegetable substances unsuited for food unless 
 cooked. Besides, everywhere and at a very early date 
 primitive man was forced to obey the laws of custom and 
 of climate, and to content himself with such nourishment 
 as nature provided for him ; thus we know of lotos-eating, 
 fish-eating, earth-eating tribes. Often even he was obliged 
 to destroy his fellow-men and feed upon their quivering 
 flesh, a custom which still prevails among the aborigines 
 of New Zealand, Australia, &c. 
 
 ' In one of the caves of Thayngen, that of Kesserloch, near Sohaff- 
 hausen, besides a quantity of the bones of the reindeer and of other 
 animals, a number of those of the hare were found (^Lepiis timidus, 
 Linnaeus). Now the bones of this animal are so rare in the ossiferous 
 caves explored by M. Ed. Lartet, that the eminent palseontologist had 
 been led to believe that the early inhabitants of Europe abstained, 
 either out of superstition or from an invincible repugnance, from eating 
 the flesh of this rodent. The discovery made in the cave of Kesserloch 
 throws a doubt upon this theory. 
 
EARLIEST USE OF BREAD. 201 
 
 The dwellers in eaves, the Danes of the kitchen mid- 
 dens, and even the inhabitants of the earliest lake cities 
 of the age of the mammoth and the cave bear, were not 
 acquainted with any of the cereals nor with the mode of 
 cultivating them. 
 
 But Eobenhausen and Wangen have furnished not only 
 the cereals of which a list has been already given, but also 
 a number of specimens of the bread which was made from 
 them. This bread, which was baked between two red-hot 
 stones, is found in the form of little circular cakes, four or 
 five inches in diameter by an inch or an inch and a quarter 
 thick. A whole cake made from the seeds of the garden 
 poppy, reduced to a cinder, has also been found. . The 
 bread of the lake cities was unleavened, and often contains 
 grains entire or hardly bruised by the handmill in which 
 they were ground or rather crushed, exactly as in the days 
 of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, when unhappy female slaves 
 crushed the wheat destined for the food of the chaste 
 Penelope and her fifty suitors. A complete handmill of the 
 neolithic age was shown at the Paris Exhibition of 1867. 
 We reproduce here a specimen from the same period (fig. 
 72) as rudimentary as possible. It is in the form of a 
 trough, and still contains the cylindrical pestle destined to 
 crush the grain. Lastly, M. Devals discovered some acorns 
 mixed with chestnuts in the dwellings of the troglodytes 
 of Noulet, near Montauban. 
 
 M. Ed. Dupont had suggested that some small tribes 
 among the primitive populations of Belgium lived ex- 
 clusively upon moles and shrewmice, or at least that these 
 animals formed their principal diet. But M. Steenstrup 
 has proved that the immense quantity of the bones of 
 these rodents found in certain caves of Belgium are the 
 remains of the food of nocturnal birds of prey, notably of 
 the bam owl {Strixflammea).^ 
 
 Lund was the first to observe similar phenomena in 
 
 ' See in the VldeiisTtdbelige Mcddeleher fra den imturTi. Foreiiing i 
 KjSbenhavn, 1 872, Steeustrup's paper, entitled, ' On the marks upon the 
 bones contained in the pellets rejected by birds of prey, and on the im- 
 portance of these marks to geology and archasology.' 
 
202 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATIOK. 
 
 several Brazilian caves, and he had also attributed them to 
 their true cause, that is, the residue of their food thrown 
 up in the form of pellets by birds of prey. 
 
 It is probable, not to say certain, that the use of sea 
 salt- as a seasoning was very early known amongst primitive 
 races. This custom is moreover founded upon a law of 
 nature so imperious, that even animals, at least domestic 
 cattle, cannot be completely deprived of it with impunity. 
 The use of salt, on the other hand, favours their growth, 
 renders the secretion of milk more copious, the milk itself 
 
 Fig. 72. Neolithic mill, in the form of a trough, found with its 
 PESTLE AT Ty-Mawk (Holyhead). (After Sir John Evans.) 
 
 more nourishing, the flesh better and easier of digestion, 
 and the wool of the sheep finer and more fleecy. Sea salt 
 appears to be also necessary to man. In countries where 
 it is rare, it is used instead of coin as a medium of ex- 
 change. Among the Gallas and the savages of the Gold 
 Coast, Liebig asserts that one and even two slaves were 
 given in exchange for a handful of salt. 
 
 Primitive nian was thus enabled to obtain this season- 
 ing by barter, as he obtained Mediterranean and ocean 
 shells for the adornment of his headdress, his person, or 
 his clothing. It appears that the ancient inhabitants of 
 
ORIGIN OF COOKERY. 203 
 
 Denmark procured this substance by burning the Zostera 
 marina, which abounds upon the coasts of the Baltic, and 
 sprinkling sea water upon the ashes. 
 
 MM. Lartet and Christy found in the caves of Perigord 
 a kind of spatula or spoon, made of reindeer horn, with a 
 conical handle elegantly carved, and widened and hollowed 
 at the other end for the purpose of extracting the marrow 
 from bones (fig. V3). There is but a step from this in- 
 strument to the use of spoons properly so called. As far 
 as I know, howevgr, none of the latter have ever been 
 discovered in the bone caves of the stone ages.' 
 
 We have already said that frequently meat and other 
 aliments were eaten without having been previously cooked, 
 but often also they were roasted upon red-hot coals. The 
 numerous hearths found in the caves and the half-charred 
 
 Fi&. 73. Maueow spoon Of the caves of Peuigoku (After Ed. Lartet 
 and Christy.) 
 
 bones bear witness to the fact. But it is an open question 
 whether or no mankind during the ages previous to the 
 invention of pottery knew how to obtain boiling water for 
 culinary purposes. 
 
 Before coming into contact with Europeans the in- 
 habitants of Tahiti had no conception of boiling water, or 
 of water in the condition of steam. If we may rely upon 
 the accounts of the most trustworthy travellers, among 
 others. Cook and Kotzebue, who all attest that the means 
 used by us for obtaining boiling water are now or were 
 
 ' The inhabitants of the island of Timor make spoons out of frag- 
 ments of the shell of a species of nautilus (the nautilus pompilivs of 
 Linnasus). I have in my possession one of these spoons brought from 
 New Caledonia, and which is simply a division of the polythalamous 
 shell of this animal. I have also in my collection a valve of the 
 mytilui margaritifei'us, perforated near the hinge to allow of the 
 passage of a string made from vegetable fibre. The New Caledonians 
 are said to carry this shell suspended from the girdle, and to use it as a 
 plate. 
 
204 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 until lately unknown to a number of tribes in all parts of 
 the globe, we have good grounds for returning a negative 
 answer to the above question. Moreover, the complete 
 absence of earthenware vessels throughout the earlier 
 stone period seems to confirm this opinion. It is averred, 
 however, that many savage tribes, and even some in a fairly 
 advanced state of civilisation, procured boiling water by 
 dropping red-hot stones into water contained in vessels of 
 potstone, wood, bark, or leather. 
 
 The flints blackened by the action of fire found beside 
 the hearths in the bone caves have perhaps served this 
 purpose. Everything tends to show that this custom was 
 commonly practised before the invention of clay pottery. 
 The art of boiling water in earthenware vessels exposed 
 directly to the action of fire is a real advance on the 
 employment of red-hot stones for this purpose.' The 
 discovery of pottery necessarily put an end to this most 
 inconvenient process. 
 
 Before the discovery of the use of metals, knives were 
 
 ' The process known as ' stone-boiling,' which consists in obtaining 
 boiling water by means of siones heated directly in the iire and then 
 dropped in the water. Is still in use in our own day among a few tribes 
 which Tylor describes in his interesting chapter, entitled ' Fire, Cook ■ 
 ing, and Vessels.' See Researches into the Early History of Marihind, 
 3rd edition, p. 263. We will mention on his authority : — 
 
 1. North American tribe, the Assiniboines, ' stone boilers' who merely 
 dig a hole in the ground, take a piece of the animal's raw hide, and 
 press it down with their hands close to the sides of the hole, which 
 thus becomes a sort of pot or basin. This they fill with water, and 
 they make a number of stones red hot in a fire close by. The meat is 
 put into the water, and the stones dropped in till the meat is boiled. 
 
 2. The Snake Indians, those of the tribe of Slaves, Dog-ribs, &c., 
 still make, or lately made, their pots of roots plaited or rather twineil 
 so closely that they will hold water, boiling their food in them with 
 hot stones. 
 
 3. The Ostyaks of Siberia employ for the same purpose Tossels of 
 bark sewn together, and the practice has been observed of using the 
 paunch of the slaughtered beast as a vessel for cooking the blood over 
 the fire, which recalls a similar method used by the ancient Scyths 
 when other more convenient vessels failed them. The Esquimaux, the 
 Kamtschatkans, the Australians, the New Zealanders, several Polynesian 
 tribes, and, in JSurope, the Irish of the seventeenth century, and even 
 the modem Finns, may also be ranked among the ' stone boilers,' that 
 is among those tribes which are in the habit of boiling their water by 
 means of red-hot stones. 
 
BEVERAGES. 205 
 
 merely splinters of flint, of which a remarkable specimen 
 was shown in the Paris Exhibition of 1867, the knife of 
 Pauilhac (Gers), about a foot long by three inches wide. 
 
 As regards the mode of eating, the incisors of the 
 primitive inhabitants of Switzerland, Aquitaine, Belgium, 
 and Denmark prove that these people chewed their food in 
 a manner completely different to ours. Their incisors, in- 
 stead of being shaped like a chisel, present a flat surface 
 like the molars. The explanation of this peculiarity is 
 perhaps to be found in the fact that roots and coarse 
 bread formed the staple diet of primitive man in the 
 neolithic age. 
 
 In the action of mastication the two jaws were placed 
 one above the other in such a way that the incisors of the 
 upper and lower jaws corresponded exactly and did not 
 cross. It appears that the ancient Egyptians ate in this 
 manner, as the modern Esquimaux and the Greenlanders 
 still do. 
 
 The primitive European races shared an advantage still 
 possessed by savage American tribes in that their teeth 
 were sometimes worn away even to the root without de- 
 caying. At least this has been observed to be the case 
 in a great number of human jawbones discovered in the 
 caves of France and Belgium. However, there are many 
 exceptions to this rule. 
 
 We must devote a few lines to the subject of fermented 
 drinks. The dogwood berries found in the lake of Fimon, 
 near Varese, by M. Lioy led this naturalist to believe that 
 this fruit may have been employed in the manufacture of 
 some fermented liquor. M. Gabriel de Mortillet supposes 
 that raspberries and blackberries may have served the same 
 purpose. If it is true that grapes have been discovered in 
 the terremares of Parmesan, the vine, and consequently 
 wine, were known to us at a far earlier date than the time 
 of the patriarch Noah. The fruit of the blackthorn may 
 have been used to make a kind of sour wine similar to that 
 still drunk in Lorraine. We know that the taste of man 
 for fermented liquors dates from the remotest ages. 
 
 The divine drink of the Hindus, called soma, was ob- 
 10 
 
206 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 tained by extracting the sap of the Sarcostemma vvminale, 
 or the Asdepias acida. The Greeks had their ambrosia, 
 the Scandinavians their adhroeir, the Celtiberians their 
 hydromel, the Germans their cervoise (the beer of modern 
 times). Lastly, the nomadic Tartar tribes drink the 
 koumis, an intoxicating liquor extracted from mare's 
 milk. The Indian tribes of South America have the 
 chicha, a species of beer made from maize. The inhabi- 
 tants of the isles of Tonga, or of the Friendly Isles, 
 delight in the Icava, the sap of a kind of pepper (Pvper 
 methysticum), mixed with the saliva of those who prepare 
 it. And we ourselves, the most civilised of nations, we 
 burn our stomachs by introducing into them those liquors 
 which at once inflame and stupefy our brains, and which 
 bear the names of absinthe and brandy, more aptly termed 
 by the peasants of Languedoc, aigue arden, or burning 
 water, and by the Eed India.ns, firewater. 
 
 III. CLOTHiira. 
 
 In hot countries the need of clothing yields to the 
 desire of ornament : in cold climates, on the other 
 hand, this need is real and imperious. Certain modem 
 savage tribes go completely naked ; the chiefs alone wear 
 a scrap of matting, or a belt coloured with bright and 
 varied hues. Others, such as the inhabitants of the Mar- 
 quesas Isles, content themselves with tattooing the body ; 
 others again, the Andaman islanders, cover themselves 
 with a coating of mud ; others, like the Hottentots, make 
 belts and boots out of the uncleaned intestines of the ox 
 and the sheep. The Lapps, the Samoyeds, and the Es- 
 quimaux of to-day are wrapped in thick furs. This must 
 have been the dress of the early inhabitants of Europe 
 during the glacial period. The dwellers in caves, and 
 even the inhabitants of the lake cities, used the skins of 
 wild beasts, or the wool of sheep and goats, as a protection 
 from cold, for the builders of the lake dwellings espe- 
 cially had certainly learnt the art of domesticating these 
 animals. 
 
 The skins were fastened by pins or by buttons of baked 
 
CLOTHING AND ORNAMENTS. 207 
 
 clay or bone, and sewn, at least in the reindeer age, by 
 needles, whose workmanship is truly marvellous when we 
 remember that they were manufactured solely with flint 
 knives and drills. Tendons split into filaments more or 
 less fine, or thread made from the fibres of flax or from 
 the bark of trees, were employed in sewing. Fragments 
 of coarse tissues found at Wangen and Robenhausen pro- 
 bably formed part of some garment. 
 
 Among the articles found in the above-mentioned 
 places was a piec« of leather perfectly preserved, which 
 proves that the primitive inhabitants of Eastern Switzer- 
 land were acquainted with the first principles of tanning. 
 But their mode of preparing the skins, and the ingredients 
 they used in tanning, are unknown to us, nor are we likely 
 at present to be better informed on the subject. 
 
 We are bound to say, in praise of the good sense of our 
 ancestresses of the caves and lake dwellings, that nowhere 
 has any trace been found of the sta,ys ' adopted by the 
 civilised woman of modem times, which interfere with 
 and prevent the free play of the most important organs in 
 the body ; and of which the young Eoman girls already 
 endeavoured to justify the use by the end they desired to 
 attain, that is, the slender grace of reeds. 
 
 IV. OBWAMElfTS AND JB'WELS. 
 
 Theophile Gautier says somewhere : ' The ideal tor- 
 ments even the rudest natures. The savage who tattoos 
 his body, or plasters it with red or blue paint, who passes 
 a fishbone through his nostrils, is acting in obedience to 
 a confused sense of beauty. He seeks something beyond 
 what actually is ; guided by an obscure notion of art, he 
 endeavours to perfect his type. The taste for ornament 
 distinguishes man from the brute more clearly than any 
 other peculiarity ; no dog ever thought of putting rings 
 into his ears, while the stupid Papuans, who eat clay and 
 earthworms, manufacture these ornaments from shells 
 and coloured berries.' From the stone age onwards, and 
 more especially from the age of polished stone, the list of 
 ornaments is almost complete, so natural to man is the 
 
208 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 taste for adornment, still more so perhaps to womari, to 
 whom coquetry often lends a further charm. But to be 
 just, it must be owned that many men are women in this 
 respect, as our modern dandies sufficiently show ; also the 
 ornaments of feathers, coral, shells, glass, stone, wood, 
 and bone worn by savage tribes, and even by self-styled 
 civilised nations. 
 
 In the caves, the dolmens, and the tumuli, and in the 
 lake dwellings of the ante-metallic period, we find neck- 
 
 FiQS. 74, 75. Jet beads found in two Yorkshire bakrows. 
 (After Evans.) 
 
 laces made from the teeth of the dog, the wolf, the 
 chamois, the reindeer, and even of the ox and the horse. 
 Others made of discs of the shell of the queen (Gardium 
 edule),^ of various kinds of sea shells (natica, cyprcea, litto- 
 rina, &c.), some of which belong to species still living at the 
 time when they were perforated for the passage of the cord 
 on which they were strung. Others, such as those found 
 
 ' It is a fact wortliy of note that the practice of making necklaces of 
 discs of the cardium was continued without interruption from the 
 palEeolithic age down to the age of bronze, and perhaps even later. In 
 our day the savage tribes of New Caledonia make themselves bracelets 
 with perforated discs, arranged in several rows, taken from the thick 
 shell of various salt-water moUuscs. 
 
EARLY TRINKETS. 209 
 
 in Perigord, had long been more or less fossilised, tut 
 were still very solid, and had been carried from the shell 
 deposits of Touraine to the districts where they now lie 
 (Gyprcea pyrum, pectunculus ; glydmeris, area). But 
 the finest necklaces are made of jet alone, or of jet and 
 ivory (figs. 74 and 75). 
 
 Lastly, the Coscinospora globularis, cut into discs 
 in every respect similar to those found in the ruins of 
 Khorsabad in Nineveh, entered also into the manu- 
 facture of necklacoe. The terebratulce and the ammonites 
 of the secondary beds have been also used as ornaments. 
 Amber, jet, callais,^ flint, slate, marble, hardened clay, 
 bone, wood, &c., were adopted to make pendants both be- 
 fore and after the discovery of bronze. Bracelets, rings, 
 bangles,'' a.nd buttons, of varied and graceful forms and 
 different materials, pins and hair pins almost exactly 
 similar to those now used, pendants of elegant shapes, and 
 lastly, combs made of yew-wood, complete the list of orna- 
 ments. It is extremely probable, if not certain, that 
 flint arrow heads of very delicate workmanship, which 
 MM. Cazalis and Cartailhac dug out of the dolmens of the 
 departments of Gard and Aveyron, were only used as 
 amulets or ornaments. 
 
 As to the shells of living or fossil species, they were 
 employed not only in the manufacture of necklaces, brace- 
 lets, and rings, but also to adorn bands for the head, or 
 even the clothes themselves, as we saw was the case among 
 the cave-dwellers of Mentone and Laugerie Basse. 
 
 If space allowed us to speak of the various ornaments 
 in use in Europe during the ages of bronze and iron, we 
 should find that they offer the most varied forms, the 
 most graceful types, and possess the most perfect finish 
 and delicacy. At the last Prehistoric Congress held at 
 Bologna we were fiUed with surprise and admiration by 
 the rich collection of the ChevaHer Aria. Modern art 
 
 ' A kind of light green turquoise found occasionally in the dolmens 
 of Morbiljan, and even in those of Provence. 
 
 '' Modern art has been inspired from some of these models, as a 
 glance at the windows of the jewellers of to-day will sufiiciently show. 
 
210 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 would doubtless find in it more than one model worthy of 
 imitation : as also among the ornaments excavated from 
 the lakes of Switzerland, Italy, Savoy, and even from those 
 of Gamboge.' 
 
 ' In a recently published paper, ' I! age de la pierre polie et du 
 hron'.e au Cavibodge, Dr. Noulet has represented among the stone 
 ornaments, large rings with wide flat edges which were nsed as bracelets. 
 Thpse rings both in shape and measurements, resemble those described 
 by Dr. Marchant which were found in sinking a well near Dijon. The 
 same remark applies to several smaller rings used as bracelets or ear- 
 rings by the primitive inhabitants of Gamboge. Still smaller rings 
 were often used with sea shells to make ornaments for the ears, belts, 
 and necklaces. 
 
211 
 
 CHAPTEK II. 
 
 INDUSTRY. 
 
 I. METHODS EMPLOYED IM" THE MAITXTFACTUBE 
 OF STOKTE IMPLEMENTS. 
 
 The instincts common to all humanity necessarily producis 
 a similarity of results when men are subjected to the 
 same needs and placed in the same circumstances. We 
 must therefore have recourse to the methods actually 
 employed by modern savages in the production of their 
 tools, in order to form a correct idea of the manner in 
 which primitive man was accustomed to carve flints or 
 other stones.' We give the account of the process em- 
 ployed by the Eed Indians of California in the manufacture 
 of their stone arrow heads as observed by an eye-witness, 
 M. Cabot, and quoted by Sir Charles Lyell. 
 
 Seated on the ground and holding a stone anvil on his 
 knees, the workman begins by breaking in two a pebble 
 obsidian by a blow with his agate chisel. Then with a 
 second blow he detaches from one of the halves a fragment 
 about an inch in thickness. Holding this splinter on the 
 anvil between the thumb and first finger of the left hand, 
 he strikes a series of blows, each of which breaks off smaller 
 and smaller fragments until the weapon is reduced to the 
 
 ' Although flint in its natural condition is extremely hard, it some- 
 times, if it lies long enough in a permeable soil, undergoes so great a 
 change as to permit of its being cut with a steel knife. This change in 
 the hardness of certain flints is due, according to M. Miiller, of Poictiers, 
 to their chemical composition. They contain two kinds of silica, 
 one white and insoluble by water, the other transparent like horn, and 
 easily dissolved. This latter naturally disappears in consequence of the 
 infiltration of water, and the white silica persists in a much divided 
 state, and the molecules which enter into its composition are separated 
 with ease. — Evans. 
 
212 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 desired form. Such is the skill of the workman that 
 about an hour is sufiScient for the manufacture of an 
 obsidian arrow-head. 
 
 According to Captain Belcher, the modern Esquimaux 
 employ a process different to that described above, but 
 which leads to the same result. It seems that strong and 
 well-directed pressure appUed to the stone is sufiScient to 
 detach splinters from it and give it the desired shape. 
 It appears from the account of the historian Torquemada, 
 that the ancient Aztecs employed a similar process. Sir 
 John Evans tells us that the Mexican Indians, in order to 
 make their obsidian razors, which are nearly as sharp as 
 our steel ones, fix a piece of the above-mentioned rock 
 between their feet, and press it forcibly by means of a 
 hard wooden stake applied against the chest, and thus 
 break from it fragments suited to their purpose. 
 
 On the other hand, M. Courtes, member of the French 
 Scientific Commission of Mexico, and M. Chabot, maintain 
 that the Aztecs, in making their obsidian razors, begin by 
 shaping the rock near the quarry whence it was taken. 
 Then after having given to it the form of a prism termi- 
 nated at one extremity by a blunt point, at the other a 
 flat surface, the workman takes this prism in the left hand, 
 and pressing it against some resisting surface, strikes it 
 at first with light blows, gradually increasing them in force 
 until at last he obtains splinters as sharp as razors, and 
 destined to serve the same purpose. 
 
 For the rest, there is nothing to show that both me- 
 thods, pressure and percussion, were not employed by the 
 Aztecs, and even by the European workmen of the ear- 
 liest stone age. Everything, however, leads us to believe 
 that it was principally by means of the hammer that 
 the artificers of Abbeville, Perigord, and other places 
 fashioned their rude instruments. It is certain that by 
 striking a nucleus of flint with a pebble, splinters similar 
 to those found in the diluvium may be obtained with a 
 little skill. Moreover, by means of a piece of elk's horn, 
 or of hard wood fastened to a stick. Sir John Evans has 
 
ESQUIMAUX IMPLEMENTS. 
 
 213 
 
 succeeded in carving these splinters, just as the North 
 American Indians shape their flint arrow heads. 
 
 The instrument employed at the present day by the 
 Esquimaux in the manufacture of flint weapons has received 
 the name of arrow-flaker. It consists of a piece of rein- 
 deer horn, dovetailed into a handle of wood or fossil ivory, 
 and kept in place by means of leathern thongs or plaited 
 tendons (figs. 76 and 77), still fresh when they are bound 
 on, that as they shrink in process of drying the fastening 
 may be rendered* the more secure.' 
 
 I quote this description, although I must confess to 
 being unable to form from it a very clear idea of the 
 
 Fio9. 76, 77. Esquimaux arkow-flakke (half natdrat. size), ra the 
 COLLECTION OF Mk. Chkisty. Back and front views. (After Evans.) 
 
 exact manner in which the Esquimaux workman arrived at 
 the desired result. I might say the same of most of the 
 accounts given by travellers who have made a longer or 
 shorter stay among the half-civilised or savage tribes 
 
 ' The bench on which the arrow heads are made is said to consist 
 of a log of wood, in which a spoon-shaped cavity is cut ; over this the 
 flake of chert is placed, and then, by pressing the ' arrow-flaker ' gently 
 along the margin vertically, first on one side and then on the other, as 
 one would set a saw, alternate fragments are splintered oflE, until the 
 object thus properly outlined presents the spear or arrow head form, 
 with two cutting serrated sides.— Evans, The Ancient^ Stone Jmj>lenieiUs, 
 Weapons, and Ornaments of Great Britain, p. 35, 1872. 
 
214 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 whose manners and customs they describe. Hence a want 
 of precision in our ideas ; hence that uncertainty to which 
 Sir John Evans himself honestly owns, although he has 
 made a special study of the subject which now occupies 
 our attention. If in spite of personal experience he is 
 still in doubt as to many of the processes employed by 
 tribes who are still in an almost savage condition, how 
 much greater is the difficulty both to him and to us when 
 we endeavour to form an accurate idea of the manner in 
 which primitive man carved, sawed, and perforated flints 
 or any other hard stone. 
 
 How, for instance, did the ancient inhabitants of Den- 
 mark obtain the beautiful and delicately- worked daggers 
 which excite the admiration of those who have had the good 
 fortune to see them in the rich museum of Copenhagen ? 
 How did the workmen of these primitive ages detach 
 from the flint nucleus, solely with the aid of a stone 
 hammer, the long knives of Pauflhac, or the daggers of 
 the cave of Duruthy ? Above aU, how were they enabled 
 to perforate, unaided by iron or bronze, the stone axes 
 and hammers of which the hole for the handle is a 
 hitherto almost unexplained enigma. We shall endeavour 
 to give the clue presently. 
 
 As to the polish, it is easy to understand and by no 
 means difficult of execution. A slab or fixed grindstone 
 of more or less close-grained sandstone, water, and coarse 
 sand, were all that was needed for this operation. These 
 polishing stones always present grooves or circular hollows 
 in which could be polished the convex surface of axes 
 or gouges, and sometimes also rounded protuberances, 
 which were doubtless used for the concave surface of the 
 latter. 
 
 The flint saw, whose action was quickened and ren- 
 dered more energetic by some mechanical process hitherto 
 little known to us, detached pieces of rock used for the 
 manufacture of hammers or axes. Sand moistened with 
 water was often used to render the operation more rapid. 
 But the comparatively small size and fragility of the saws 
 which have come down to us, render it diflBcult to under- 
 
MECHANICAL PROCESSES EMTLOYED. 215 
 
 stand their real efficacy. We pass on to consider the 
 boring of flint and bone. 
 
 The holes destined to receive the handle of the stone 
 hammers and axes, those perforated in the ivory discs, in 
 wands of office made of reindeer horn, in bone needles, 
 in teeth and shells for necklaces, and even in the skulls 
 of the dead and living subject, naturally excite enquiry 
 into the means employed by man to pierce them when 
 he was still unprovided with any implements but those 
 of flint. • 
 
 This problem has been more than once propounded, 
 but has not hitherto been satisfactorily resolved, as I pro- 
 pose to show by the following details. 
 
 The perforation of the eyes in bone needles presents 
 no serious difficulty, Mons. Ed. Lartet succeeding in 
 piercing with a flint drill, found in one of the caves of 
 Perigord, a hole exactly resembling those of the bone 
 needles of the reindeer age. By the same process, ren- 
 dered easier by the addition of a little water. Sir John 
 Evans obtained round and regular holes in stag's horn and 
 wood. 
 
 By boring alternately the two opposite surfaces of 
 an axe of hard stone, such as diorite, jade, serpentine, 
 with a drill to which a turn of the wrist imparts a 
 circular movement, two conical holes may be obtained 
 of which the apices meet. This form frequently occurs 
 upon the polished axes, but two cylindrical plugs, still 
 adhering to the bottom of the hole and surrounded by a 
 circular groove, are not uncommonly observed on the 
 axes of which the perforation remains unfinished. It is 
 difficult to explain the presence of these plugs without 
 supposing the use of a m^etal point or tube moved round 
 them in a circle. In this case the axes in question were 
 necessarily pierced during the age of bronze, and do not 
 enter into the scope of this work. They would, however, 
 belong to the list of instruments of the neolithic age, if, 
 as Dr. Keller and Sir John Evans maintain and have 
 proved, the same result is obtainable by giving a circular 
 motion to a fragment of cow's horn or a piece of elder 
 
216 PfilMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 wood, and sprinkling at intervals the stone which it is de- 
 sired to perforate with iine sand and water. 
 
 However, Sir John Evans owns that in his experiments 
 with the stick of elder wood he has seen the sand accumu- 
 late in the hollow of the stem and scratch the summit of 
 the central plug. We cannot therefore be said to have 
 yet arrived at a completely satisfactory explanation of the 
 central plug or nut often found upon those polished axes 
 of which the boring has never been completed. 
 
 A fact which surprises even the most superficial ob- 
 server is the almost perfect resemblance presented by the 
 various types of stone weapons and tools, whatever be the 
 locality in which they occur, and to whatever period of 
 the stone age they belong. Moreover, these weapons and 
 tools, of such widely different epochs and districts, offer the 
 closest analogies with those of certain modern nations, such 
 as the Esquimaux, the Australians, the New Zealanders, 
 the New Caledonians, &c., which still remain in a savage 
 condition not far removed from that of our ancestors. 
 This is an evident proof that, impelled by the same needs, 
 guided by the same instincts, surrounded by the same 
 circumstances, man acts in the same manner in all times 
 and in every place, and employs very similar methods. 
 
 A glance, however cursory, at the products of the in- 
 dustry of the stone age, is sufficient to discover a marked 
 progress from the beginning of this period to its termination. 
 In the earliest periods flints and other hard rocks were ex- 
 clusively employed in the manufacture of weapons of war, 
 hunting implements, and tools ; the axes were never pierced 
 for the introduction of a handle. During the reindeer age 
 the various articles show more care in the workmanship, 
 but the axes still remain unperforated ; bone especially is 
 skilfully wrought, and bears the marks of a further pro- 
 gress. The arts of design are born, and from the very 
 first betray, a firmness of hand which excites our wonder 
 and even our admiration. With the neolithic period 
 polish begins ; the work in stone and wood becomes ever 
 more perfect. The hole which is still rare in the axes of 
 this epoch occurs frequently in those of the age of bronze, 
 
RELIGIOUS USES OF FLINTS. 217 
 
 whose graceful shapes resemble those of iron axes, to which 
 they long served as models. Industrial progress is still 
 more apparent in the iron age. Here we arrive at the 
 threshold of history, but the nature and purpose of this 
 work forbid us to cross it. ' However imperfect they may 
 appear when compared with the great works of modern 
 artists, we must not despise the first attempts of our 
 fathers. If they had not made them, or if they had not 
 persevered in their efforts, we should have neither our 
 towns, nor our palaces, nor the works of art which we 
 admire therein. He who struck one pebble against 
 another to give it a regular form, gave the first blow of 
 the chisel which made the Minerva and the friezes of the 
 Parthenon.' (Boucher de Perthes.) 
 
 II. KELIGIOUS AND SUPERSTITIOTTS USES OP THE 
 FLINTS. 
 
 Styled Kspavvia, ceraunice or lightning stones, by 
 Greek and Roman antiquity, and still known under similar 
 names to various modern peoples, the carved flints are 
 called in Picardy langue d'fda or cats' tongues, on account 
 of a real or supposed resemblance between the flints and 
 the tongue of that animal. 
 
 In certain provinces of Italy (the Abruzzi) they are 
 called saette, arrows, or lingue di 8cm Paolo, tongues of 
 St. Paul, and the peasants regard them with such venera^ 
 tion, that when they happen to find one they fall on their 
 knees before it and touch it with the tongue. Some 
 families hand down these miraculous stones from father to 
 son as a precious legacy, and mothers hang them on their 
 children's necks with medals of saints and madonnas, 
 gifted with yet greater virtue than the stones from 
 heaven.' 
 
 Aldrovarde gives to the flint arrow-heads the name of 
 glossopetra, from their resemblance to a human tongue. 
 Pliny believed that they fell from heaven during the 
 eclipses of the moon, and he says that ' sorcerers believe 
 that they are of great service to those who pay court to 
 ' Cappellini, L'et& dellapietra nolle valle della Vibrata. 
 
218 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATIOK. 
 
 fair ladies.' ' The Japanese call them sometimes axes of 
 the fox, that animal being to them the symbol of the evil 
 spirit, or else axes of Tengu, the guardian of heaven. 
 Arrows of the Elfs or Erles (in Gaelic sciat hee) is another 
 name for these flint weapons, recalling the labours of the 
 Scotch elves and the German gnomes, whose king inspired 
 Goethe with one of his best known ballads (Erlenkonig). 
 Lastly, the purgatory hayn/mers are, according to a legend 
 still popular at the end of the last century, the very ham- 
 mers used by the dead for knocking at the gates of 
 Purgatory. 
 
 In our own day, and not only in Italy but also in the 
 heart of our most civilised provinces, the flint axes and 
 arrow-heads are considered as a sure protection against 
 lightning, also against epidemics and cattle disease. 
 
 The tongues of sheep bells are made from them, and 
 amulets which are highly prized. They are built into the 
 walls, placed on the threshold of stables, in children's 
 cradles, in the beds of women in travail, &c. &c. All the ar- 
 guments in the world would not shake the belief of a Breton 
 peasant, that the moensourars, or lightning stones, when 
 thrown into a well, purify the water, or that boiled in the 
 drink of diseased sheep they render the cure infallible. 
 In Cornwall they are a sovereign remedy for rheumatism, 
 elsewhere for ophthalmia, pain in the side, hernia, scurf of 
 the head, &c. Ground to powder and swallowed in that 
 form, they render the believer invulnerable, so deeply is 
 superstition implanted in the human heart, and so hard it 
 is to extirpate it. 
 
 And these superstitions are of the greatest antiquity. 
 The Hebrews of the time of Moses, and probably also 
 their remotest ancestors, are said to have employed them 
 in the ceremony of circumcision, and often even to 
 slaughter the animals destined for food. We know the 
 absurd and abominable use which the priests of Cybele 
 made on their own persons of the religiosa silex, sacred 
 to the goddess. Among the Greeks and Eomans, the 
 stone arrow-heads sometimes adorned the diadems of their 
 ' Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvii. cap. x. 
 
RELIGIOUS USES OF FLINTS. 219 
 
 gods. Jupiter himself was worshipped under the form of 
 a stone and the name of Jupiter Lapis. In the Capitol 
 he was represented holding in his hand a flint, the symbol . 
 of the lightning {Lapis Capitolinus). M. de Longperrier 
 informs us that Jupiter Labrandeus and Bacchus were 
 worshipped in the form of an axe, iriXeKvs. On the coins 
 struck at Cyprus, the Venus of Paphos herself is repre- 
 sented by the figure of a stone in the form of a cone. 
 Sacred stones, intended to be used in the sacrifices, were 
 religiously presejved in the temple of Jupiter Feretrius, 
 and the feciales carried them to strike the victims 
 solemnly offered up to ratify the treaties concluded be- 
 tween the conquerors and the conquered. A similar 
 custom is still practised, according to Klemm, on the 
 "West Coast of Africa, when the god Gimawond, splitting 
 the clouds with a trumpet sound, deigns once a year to 
 visit the temple consecrated to him. The ox which is 
 offered up to him is killed with a blow from a sharp 
 stone and not with a metal knife. Even at the time 
 of the conquest of Mexico, that is when they were at the 
 height of their civilisation, the priests of that country 
 disembowelled the victim immolated to their fierce divini- 
 ties with sharp fragments of obsidian. 
 
 M. Em. Cartailhac cites the accoimt of Olaus Magnus 
 of the custom practised by the ancient Groths at marriage 
 ceremonies. They used to strike flint and steel together 
 over the heads of the bride and bridegroom to symbolise 
 the manner in which the life which lies hidden in the two 
 sexes is manifested and multiplied by love, just as the 
 latent fire of flint is produced by percussion. 
 
 The Catholic Church herself, at least in certain coun- 
 tries which are faithful to ancient customs, has recourse 
 to flint and steel to kindle a new fire on Easter Eve. 
 ' Ignis de lapide excutitur et cwm eo aocenduntur car- 
 bones,' are the words of the liturgy. 
 
 The Japanese preserve the carved flints religiously in 
 their temples, and regard them as the primitive weapons 
 of the kumis, unbodied spirits who were the earliest in- 
 habitants of the country. 
 
220 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 These stones figure also in the funeral ceremonies of 
 many nations. The Egyptians employed them to dis- 
 embowel the dead previous to embalming the body. 
 They are found in the ancient Peruvian tombs, in those 
 of the Mississippi Valley,' and also in the sepulchres of 
 Egypt and Etruria. They occur likewise in the burial 
 caves of prehistoric ages, in the dolmens, the tumuli, and 
 even in the tombs belonging to a more recent epoch. 
 They are sometimes found alone, sometimes in company 
 with metal objects, and with other offerings to the dead 
 whose remains are enclosed in the tomb. 
 
 Lastly, the practice of opening the bodies of the chiefs 
 with an obsidian knife prevailed among the Gruanchos of 
 the Canary Isles, as among the Egyptians. 
 
 In antiquity and in the middle ages, the formation of 
 flint axes, knives, and arrow heads was generally attributed 
 to thunder. Towards the middle of the seventh century 
 an equally irrational theory was propounded. Some authors 
 declared that the supposed ceraunice were iron instruments 
 turned to stone by the lapse of time ; but, says Boethius, 
 ' the fable that these are lightning darts is so firmly 
 established and accredited by so many people, that he 
 who would gainsay this opinion would be looked upon as a 
 madman.' ^ 
 
 Such was, and such is still, the opinion generally pre- 
 vailing. Formed by lightning in the midst of the clouds, 
 the lapides fulminis fall rea!dy made upon the earth, in 
 which they bury themselves more or less profoundly 
 from the force of their fall — six feet say the peasants of 
 Aveyron, sixteen eUs according to those of Calabria. But 
 every year they rise a foot or an ell towards the surface, 
 especially when it thunders, and appear at last above 
 ground, usually after about seven years, according to 
 some, at the end of eighteen years, neither more nor less, 
 
 • M. Francois Lenormant found in two of the Cyolades, Milo and 
 Santorin, and Mr. Koss in the very early tombs of Amorgos and 
 Anaphg, some fragments of obsidian which bear the most striking 
 resemblance to those of Mexico. 
 
 ' Quoted by Em. Cartailhao, L'Age de la Pierre dam Us souvenirs 
 et les superstitions populaAres, Tp. 11. 
 
FLINTS USED AS AMULETS. 221 
 
 according to others. Then these cuogni di truoni, or 
 coins of the thunder, are religiously collected and pre- 
 served as a precious talisman against lightning. If when 
 they are suspended over the hearth by means of a blue 
 thread, the latter does not catch fire, it is a sure proof 
 that they possess this preservative power in an extra- 
 ordinary degree. 
 
 We refer to the paper of M. Em. Cartailhac those of 
 our readers who desire to become acquainted with the 
 curious theories »by which the learned contemporaries of 
 Boethius of Bort sought to explain the formation of the 
 ceraunicE in the bosom of the clouds. 
 
 It was towards the end of the sixteenth century that 
 correct theories as to the nature of the so-called thunder- 
 bolts were propounded by Mercati, who considered them 
 to be the weapons of a primitive people to whom the use 
 of bronze and iron was completely unknown.' A little 
 later (1734) Mahudel declared himself an adherent of this 
 belief. WiUiam Dugdale, in his ' History of Warwickshire,' 
 and Bishop Lyttleton in his ' Observations upon the Stone 
 Axes,' also owned to opinions similar to those of Mercati. 
 
 A few axes of polished stone, bearing Greek or Eunic 
 inscriptions, were evidently worn as amulets by warriors, 
 who, in order to ensure their victory, hung them round 
 their necks during the battle. Arrow heads, mounted in 
 gold or silver, figure also as amulets in the richest neck- 
 laces of ancient Etruria. M. Cartailhac has given illus- 
 trations of some magnificent specimens in his recent work 
 on ' The Age of Stone ' (see figs. 31, 32, 33). 
 
 Finally we may remark that the numerous flints found 
 under the circumstances and in the places we have men- 
 tioned prove that the age of stone has been universal, and 
 nearly everywhere prehistoric. They also bear witness to 
 that instinctive tendency which leads every people to 
 revere the memory of its ancestors, to render some kind 
 of worship to the articles they have employed, to attribute 
 
 ' The Emperor Augustus had at least suspected the original use of 
 the flint weapons, for he styles arma heroum the supposed cerauniis 
 whioh he found in the bcne-caves of Capri. 
 
222 . PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 to them a divine origin and a number of marvellous quali- 
 ties, and even sometimes to look upon them as gods. 
 
 This feeling, in itself as praiseworthy as it is natural, 
 engenders superstition, which, according to Tylor, ' is only 
 the continuation of old customs in the midst of a new and 
 completely modified condition of society, the persistence 
 of ancient religious practices long after those practices 
 have disappeared from the ordinary acts of life.' ' 
 
 III. WEAPONS OP TWAB AND OF THE CHASE. 
 
 When we compare the arms of primitive man with the 
 formidable engines of destruction which the demon of war 
 has latterly invented, we are tempted to smile at the sight 
 of these stone axes, these arrow heads of flint or bone, in 
 appearance so little terrible ; or rather we are saddened at 
 seeing in some sort the verification of the infamous saying, 
 ' Homo homini inf ensue nascitur." What energy, trouble, 
 and weariness, what money, thought, and blood, does he 
 willingly spend in destruction, who can create nothing ! 
 
 The passions of hatred, ambition, and revenge were the 
 original causes of war ; hunger, perhaps even the satanic 
 pleasure of killing, gave rise to hunting. Our first offen- 
 sive or defensive weapons were the bow, the arrow, the 
 javelin, the lance, the sling, the hunting-knife, the dagger, 
 the club, and the battle-axe. 
 
 The bow has existed in all times and among all peoples.' 
 A branch of flexible wood, a string made of tendons, vege- 
 table fibre, or a leathern thong, are the only materials 
 necessary to its manufacture. A fragment of hard stone 
 sharpened to a point, a pointed bone, the bone or tooth of 
 a fish, forms the essential part of an arrow, which is com- 
 
 ' Tylor, Early Biatory of Warikind, p. 221. 
 
 ' At least this is the general opinion. But Evans and some other 
 writers maintain that the use of the bow is unknown to completely 
 savage peoples, such as the Australians and the Maoris, and that this 
 weapon seems to belong to a fairly advanced stage of civilisation. But 
 he adds that the use of the bow in Europe dates fi'om an extremely 
 remote epoch, since flint and bone arrow heads are very common from 
 the beginning of the reindeer age. Remains of yew-bows have been 
 found in the lake city of Cjairvaux, which belongs to the neolithic age. 
 
EARLY ■WEAPONS. 
 
 223 
 
 pleted by a shaft of wood, cane, or reed. The lance, the 
 javelin, and the sling, the knife, the dagger, and the club, 
 are equally simple in character ; all these weapons were 
 first manufactured from hard stone 
 or bone. 
 
 Flint is the stone most com- 
 monly employed in the countries 
 where it abounds ; but where it 
 is rare or completely absent man 
 has supplied its place by similar 
 substances suitable to his pur- 
 pose. Thus the primitive in- 
 habitants of the isle of Elba 
 employed for the manufacture of 
 their missile weapons, instead of 
 flint, which is wanting in their 
 country, common quartz, jasper, 
 hyalin quartz, diorite, carnelian, 
 eurite, hard chalk, and serpen- 
 tine, which they found ready to 
 hand. They borrowed fromFrance, 
 from Naples, and perhaps from 
 Sardinia, the fire-bearing silica, 
 and various kinds of chalcedonian 
 silica, and of jasper, and even the 
 black obsidian, which is very com- 
 mon in Sardinia, as M. Marmora 
 has shown. Other tribes employed 
 hornblende, jade, and its varieties, 
 porphyry, black basalt, &c. 
 
 Starting from the mere splin- 
 tered fragment (fig. 78), the flint 
 weapons have received the most 
 varied forms. Hence, as regards Fig. 78. Dakish splintered 
 the arrow heads, for instance, the flint. (After Lubbock.) 
 numerous (perhaps too numerous) 
 
 types into which they are divided by men of science. 
 Thus they distinguish those which have the form of an 
 almond, of a laurel or olive leaf (fig. 79); others are trian- 
 
224 
 
 PKIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 ffular or lozenge shaped, others are more or less barbed at 
 the base (figs. 80, 81, 82, 83). Some are furnished with 
 a peduncle or stalk, with one or two auricles, wings, or 
 
 Tigs. 79, 80, 81. Irish arrow heads. (After LBbbocb.) 
 
 barhs (figs. 80 and 81) ; others have only the wings with- 
 out the peduncle (fig. 84). Some arrows ar^ delicately 
 carved, with serrated edges, and the workmanship is so 
 
 Fig. 82. Prehistoric 
 
 flint arrow head. 
 
 (France.) 
 
 Fig. 83. Modern 
 
 flint arrow hkad. 
 
 (Tierra del Fuego.) 
 
 Fig. 84. Arrow head, 
 
 WITH WINGS and WITH- 
 OUT peduncle. 
 
 perfect that it is difficult to understand how they were made 
 without the aid of metal tools. These graceful arrow heads 
 belong principally to the neolithic age, and they are found 
 
FLINT WEAPONS. 
 
 225 
 
 for the most part in the dolmens and burial caves, in com- 
 pany with beautifully wrought lance heads and javelins. 
 
 This grace of form and finished workmanship, and the 
 considerable time which it must have taken to make them, 
 give rise to the supposition that they had another use than 
 that of projectiles, which are usually destined to serve but 
 once. Were they not rather trinkets, amulets, ornaments, 
 anything in fact but weapons for hunting or fighting ? 
 
 The dimensions of some of those found by Eaffaelli 
 
 Fio. 85. Axe op the St. 
 
 ACHEUL TYPE, CAKVED ON 
 BOTH SIDES. 
 
 Fio. 86. Lance head op 
 
 THE MOUSTIEB TYPE. 
 
 Foresi in the caves of Elba, and which were only seven lines 
 long by four wide, confirm any doubts that may arise 
 respecting the real use to which these tiny arrow heads 
 were put. For the rest we know that flints cut into the 
 form of axes and projectile weapons figure later on in 
 popular superstitions and religious rites, and that they 
 even adorned the diadems of kings. 
 
 Other lance and arrow heads, such as those of Solutre 
 
226 
 
 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 (fig. 18), much larger than the preceding, are also dis- 
 tinguished by their elegance of form and finish of 
 workmanship, which is the more remarkable that they 
 succeed immediately to the comparatively coarse work in 
 a completely different style, of which the flints of St. 
 Acheul and Moustier have left numerous types (figs. 85 
 and 86). 
 
 In a few peat mosses only of Switzerland and Ireland 
 
 Fias. 87, 88. Arkow 
 
 HEAD WITH SHAFT, 
 FOUND IN A PEAT 
 
 MARSH IN Switzer- 
 land. Seen in 
 profile: and from 
 the front. (After 
 Evans.) 
 
 Fig. 89. Ar- Fig. 90. Arrow 
 row head with trans- 
 
 and shaft 
 OF South 
 America. 
 (After Lub- 
 bock.) 
 
 VERSE EDGE, 
 FOUND WITH 
 
 SHAFT. (After 
 Evans.) 
 
 Fig. 91. Arrow 
 head, with bi- 
 tumen, from 
 the lake city 
 OF St. Auein, 
 Switzerland. 
 (After . de Mor- 
 tillet.) 
 
 some flint arrow heads have been found still attached to 
 the shaft (figs. 87 and 88). Examination shows that these 
 had been inserted by their peduncle into the stem, and 
 were fixed there by tendons or string steeped in bitumen. 
 As this same bitumen is also found on some arrow heads of 
 the lake dwellings of Switzerland (fig. 91), we may conclude 
 
FLINT WEAPONS. 
 
 227 
 
 that these also were fastened to the shaft after the manner 
 adopted in the more recent epoch of the peat mosses. 
 
 -"« 
 
 'IW 
 
 pel 
 
 m 
 
 Fig. 92. Flint lance 
 HEAD. (After Lub- 
 bock.) 
 
 Fig. 93. Flint 
 DAGGER. (After 
 Lubbock.) 
 
 Fig. 94. Flint dagger 
 with broken point. 
 
 It seems probable that the heads of the lances and 
 javelins were attached to the shaft in the same manner, 
 
228 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 and a glance at the methods employed by modern savages 
 to fasten the handles of their missiles renders it almost 
 certain (see fig. 89). 
 
 The purpose the arrows with a transverse edge were 
 intended to serve has been disputed. Some suppose that 
 they were employed for shooting at birds, so as to kill 
 them with a shock, and avoid staining the plumage with 
 their blood. But a proof that they were also used in war 
 is furnished by the presence of one of these arrows in a 
 
 Fig. 95. Wooden harpoon, baebed on one side. (After Bioca.) 
 
 human vertebra, taken by M. de Baye from a cave belong- 
 ing to the neolithic age. 
 
 We need only say a word or two about the flint dag- 
 gers, which in size and shape are so similar to the lances 
 (figs. 92, 93, 94), and to the larger knives, that they have 
 often been confounded with them. In the reindeer age the 
 bone daggers were very carefully wrought and ornamented 
 with carvings, of which we shall presently give a detailed 
 description. In the neolithic age, and even a little 
 earlier, this weapon was still further improved. Towards 
 
 Fig. 96. Barbed bone arrow. (France, after Lutbook.) 
 
 the end of this period the flint carving attained a degree 
 of finish which we could hardly equal in our day with all 
 our metal implements. Among the most remarkable of 
 these daggers we may mention that found by M. Louis 
 Lartet in the cave of Sordes, which offers a striking 
 resemblance to a fine Egyptian dagger with a wooden 
 handle in the Haig collection of the British Museum. 
 
 The reindeer hunters made long harpoons and barbed 
 arrows (fig. 95), in the barbs of which a little channel was 
 
HUNTING IMPLEMENTS. 
 
 229 
 
 iU 
 
 sometimes hollowed, destined it is supposed to hold the 
 venom to poison the wound (figs. 96 and 97). It is worthy 
 of note that the barbed arrows were only employed for 
 killing the reindeer or other large animals ; 
 little bone arrows in the form of a pointed 
 cone, and without barbs, sufficed for the 
 destruction of birds and the smaller mam- 
 malia (see fig. 98). The dagger gave the 
 death blow to the dying animal. Lastly, 
 the hunting marker and the whistle for 
 giving orders or for rallying the troop, 
 completed the equipment of the hunter 
 of the stone age. 
 
 The maces or clubs were made of 
 angular stones, dove-tailed into wooden 
 handles or bound to them by leathern 
 thongs. Clubs made entirely of wood and 
 in a fair state of preservation have been 
 found under water. One was found at 
 Glasgow in a primitive canoe. The battle 
 axe was made like the hatchet in ordinary 
 use, which often did duty for the former. 
 The method, or rather methods, of fasten- 
 ing the head to the handle were the same 
 for both. 
 
 Great doubt still prevails as to the use 
 of some bone implements of the reindeer 
 age which MM. Christy and Lartet have re- 
 presented in their 'Eeliquise Aquitanicee,' 
 and which they style sceptres or wands of 
 office (figs. 99 and 100). These instru- 
 ments were perhaps only trophies of the 
 chase, like the carved horns of the urus 
 among the Germans of the time of Caesar. 
 But a comparison of these supposed tro- 
 phies or marks of distinction with the pack- 
 a-mogan (fig. 101), the club of the Cana- 
 dian Indians, inclines us to believe that they were 
 weapons of the chase or of war. Like the sceptres of 
 11 
 
 / 
 
 U 
 
230 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 Perigord, the pack-a-mogan or pogamogan of the Indians 
 of the Mackenzie Eiver is made of reindeer horn, from 
 which all but the first branch has been previously re- 
 moved. 
 
 Pigorini has recently suggested that the supposed 
 wands of office are allied to the pieces of stag's horn which 
 
 Fig. 98. Unbaebed arrow of reindeer horn. (After Broca.) 
 
 the modem Sardinians use in the manufacture of the hinges 
 of their harness (fig. 102). But a careful perusal of his 
 description and of the arguments he brings forward in 
 support of his opinion, has hitherto failed to convince me. 
 Among projectile weapons we must also reckon the stones 
 for slinging which were employed in the chase and in 
 
 Fig. 99. Wand of office, with a single hole. (Eeduced to one-third 
 of its size.) 
 
 war from the earliest stone period down to the beginning 
 of the iron age. Often confounded with the sinkers of 
 fishing nets, the sling stones were in all epochs merely 
 pebbles more or less polished and waterwom by rivers or 
 torrents. It is the general opinion, however, that flint 
 pebbles rudely carved into somewhat the form of a burning 
 glass, found in the Danish kitchen middens, in England, 
 
WANDS or OPFICE. 
 
 231 
 
 Fig. 100. Wand of office with fouk holes. 
 
 Fio. 101. The pogamogajst of the Esquimaux (reduced to one-fourth ita 
 natural size.) (After Broca.) 
 
 Fig. 102. Sakdiotan stag's horn hinge. (After Pigorini). 
 
 tf a', Pieces of stag's horn eight inches Jong. & y, Iron rin^s through which tha thong 
 passes. C, Metal chain, uniting the two pieces of horn which are placed horizontally 
 along the sides of the horse's head, ct d', Holes thi'ough which the bridle is passed. 
 
232 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 Scotland, and elsewhere, were also stones for slinging.' 
 With regard to the slings themselves, they were probably 
 made of a long and narrow leathern thong, or consisted, 
 like those of the New Zealanders and New Caledonians, 
 of a plaited cord made of bark fibre and wider in the 
 middle than at the ends ; or, finally, they were simply a 
 stick split at one end, or bored with a hole for the recep- 
 tion of the stone, like those which children play with. 
 Our conjectures regarding the existence of slings duriag 
 the neolithic age, and perhaps in the earlier stone period, 
 are founded upon a discovery which relates to a more recent 
 epoch. A sUng, or rather the pocket of a sling, beauti- 
 fully plaited, and knitted on to the portion of the hempen 
 cord which still remained attached to it, was found at 
 Cortaillod, in Switzerland ; and although it probably dates 
 from the age of bronze, and perhaps even from a yet 
 more recent period, we feel called upon to notice it here 
 as one of the most curious discoveries which have been 
 made in the lakes of ancient Helvetia. 
 
 Neither must we leave unmentioned the fire balls 
 found in the Swiss lakes. These consisted of a mixture of 
 coal and clay, which, after being made red hot in the fire, 
 were thrown at the dwellings of the enemy. In this 
 manner the Nonii are said to have set fire to Caesar's 
 camp ; and it is thus that, long before his time, a number 
 of lake cities were several times destroyed. 
 
 It is difficult to understand how, with weapons ap- 
 parently so ineffectual, the still savage inhabitants of Scan- 
 dinavia, Belgium, France, and Italy were enabled to hold 
 their own against the elephant and rhinoceros, not to 
 speak of the cave bear and lion. However, we learn from 
 Herodotus that the Ethiopians of Xerxes' army destroyed 
 elephants, and in modern times Bruce asserts that the 
 Schangallas bring down the rhinoceros with weapons as 
 slight as those of primitive tribes. Besides, these tribes 
 
 > In our day, however, the slinging stones are polished with the 
 greatest care by the barbarous tribes of New Zealand, New Caledonia, 
 &c. 
 
PISHING IMPLEMENTS. 
 
 233 
 
 probably had recourse in their adventurous chase to snares 
 or pits covered with branches, similar to those described 
 by Cffisar, into which they drove the hunted animals, and 
 then despatched them with blows from a club, or by 
 setting fire to the branches. The hunting markers and 
 
 Fig. 103. Hunting marker. (After Broca.) 
 
 counting sticks, of which we give illustrations (figs. 103 
 and 104), deserve a passing mention. 
 
 IV. PiaHIWa IMPLEMENTS. 
 
 Primitive man was either hunter or fisher, and often 
 both at once. As hunger and the need of means of defence 
 had inspired him with the idea of the bow, the arrow, the 
 lance, the axe, and the sling, so they led him to the inven- 
 tion of fish-hooks, harpoons, and lastly nets. For in 
 
 Fig. 104. Counting stick. (After Broca.) 
 
 certain of the Swiss lake dwellings of Switzerland, notably 
 at Wangen, on the Lake of Constance, nets made with 
 considerable skill have been found, with clay weights to 
 sink them in the water, and even wooden floats. In the 
 Swiss lakes also osier baskets are frequently found, and 
 fish-hooks and harpoons of flint, bone, or shell, are still 
 more common ; others which might have been manufac- 
 tured by the modern inhabitants of the Kurile Islands 
 
234 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 or of Greenland (fig. 105), have been discovered in various 
 parts of Scandinavia, France, and Italy. 
 
 From the earliest times these fishing implements were 
 admirably suited to the pmrpose for which they were in- 
 tended — that is to say, they were furnished like those 
 of modern times with barbs destined to ret-ain the hook 
 in the palate of the fish, Sven Nilsson has figured some 
 flint sinkers, with a single or double circular groove, very 
 finely polished. (' The Primitive Inhabitants of Scandi- 
 navia,' Plate II., figs. 31—35). 
 
 The harpoon is as useful in fishing as the hook ; often 
 even it is used in hunting birds and amphibious mamma- 
 lia, to impede them at least in their flight, if the vigor- 
 ous blow which buries the weapon in their flesh fails to 
 
 Fig. 106. Fish-hook of the Southern Seas. (After Lubbock.) 
 
 strike a vital part. The bone harpoons of the troglodytes 
 of Vezere are always furnished laterally with a single row 
 of teeth or curved barbs, which distinguishes them from 
 the barbed bone arrows with a double row of lateral teeth, 
 and with which they were for a long time confoimded 
 (fig. 96). The end of a cord was fastened to the harpoon 
 round a small protuberance made at the base for that 
 purpose, so that the harpooner could detain it after the 
 throw.' 
 
 ' The bone harpoons of the inhabitants of the Kurile Islands closely 
 resemble those of the troglodytes of Dordogne. The head is sometimes 
 moveable, sometimes fixed, and they are provided with a wooden shaft 
 in which a bole is pierced for the passage of a leathern thong or of a 
 cord attached at one end to the shaft, at the other to the point which 
 separates itself naturally when the animal is struck. Lastly, a bladder 
 fastened to the free end of the cord and floating on the surface of the 
 water indicates the direction taken by the animal in its flight. 
 
TOOLS. 235 
 
 The caves situated on the banks of the Vez^re contain 
 an immense quantity of the hones of the salmon, a clear 
 proof that the inhabitants of the caves hooked, or rather 
 harpooned, this fish in the river near their dwellings and 
 in the other streams of Perigord. There is no sufficient 
 proof that they were acquainted with the use of the net. 
 
 V. TOOLS. 
 
 Tools are the supplementary organs of man, the instru- 
 ments necessary to ihe development of his genius, or what 
 is nearly equivalent, his artistic and industrial instincts. 
 For without tools man would be reduced to inaction and 
 condemned to a perpetual infancy. With their aid he be- 
 comes capable of all things. With his teeth and nails 
 man would try in vain to cut down a tree with the rapidity 
 and skill of the beaver. But what animal can cut wood 
 as easily and as cleanly as man once possessed of the saw ? 
 What animal, without excepting the woodpecker or the 
 teredo, could drill a hole so perfectly circular as that 
 which we can bore with the auger or the gimlet ? And 
 so man early sought to multiply his means of action, and 
 provide his hands, his eyes, his ears, with supplementary 
 organs invented by the working-s of his intelUgence. 
 Hence arose tools and all those marvellous instruments 
 known to-day under the names of telescopes, microscopes, 
 telephones, phonographs, &c. &c. 
 
 Time was when man was ignorant of the art of 
 polishing one stone by means of another. His tools were 
 then rude and few in number ; he already possessed, how- 
 ever, the most indispensable implements — the knife, the 
 axe, the hammer, the chisel, the saw (fig. 33), the gouge, 
 the scraper or grater, and the hone. The polishing stone 
 is of far more recent date. 
 
 From the reindeer age, and even earlier, he knew how 
 to make drills of wood and bone (figs. 106 and 107), awls 
 for punching holes in leather, and needles and pins of 
 bone. To this list may be added pickaxes, handles and 
 sockets of axes, and lastly, hammers of stag's horn. 
 
 As soon as he knew how to polish his hammers and 
 
236 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 axes, man conceived the idea of drilling a hole for the 
 handle ; but this idea was of late birth, and during the 
 whole of the neolithic age it was seldom put in practice. 
 On the other hand, the boring of stone became common 
 in the age of bronze, the habitual use of the metal drill 
 rendering the operation easier. 
 
 We will begin by describing those tools in most con- 
 
 FiG. 106. Stone drill from the Danish kitchen middens. (After 
 Lubbock.) 
 
 stant use, the striker and the polishing stone, the former 
 during both the stone periods, the latter during the neo- 
 lithic and following ages. 
 
 The striker was formed of a very hard stone, quartz or 
 granite, never of gneiss or flint. As a rule, these tools 
 are more or less circular in outline, and more or less 
 flattened on their lateral surfaces, slightly hollowed 
 
 i'lG. 107. Bone drill from Scotland. (After Lubbock.) 
 
 to give a firmer hold to the fingers. Upon their blunt 
 edge, traces of the blows to which they have been sub- 
 jected may be distinctly seen. The circumference of 
 others, sometimes perforated laterally, is grooved. Nilsson 
 believes this channel to have been intended for the pas- 
 sage of a cord by which the stone was suspended from the 
 belt, so that it might be always at hand for the hunter or 
 
STRIKEES AND POLISHING STONES. 237 
 
 workman to put a new edge to his weapons or tools. The 
 hole observed upon certain of these strikers, which are not 
 grooved, probably served the same purpose. Lastly, mere 
 hard flat pebbles, easily held between the fingers, may 
 have been used as strikers. 
 
 All archaeologists will not allow that the use which we 
 with Nilsson have attributed to these stones is proved 
 beyond dispute. Troyon believes that .these disc-shaped 
 stones were employed in a game similar to the chungke of 
 the American Indians, which consists in setting the stones 
 rolling and in running after them, throwing poles adorned 
 with ribands, on one of which the stone's course is arrested. 
 The position of the disc- upon the riband determines the 
 victory or defeat of the player. Sir John Evans on his 
 side affirms that prehistoric peoples principally employed 
 the hammer in the manufacture of their instruments of 
 war, of the chase, of fishing, or of daily work. But with- 
 out gainsaying the very early use of the hammer, what 
 prevents us from admitting at the same time that of the 
 striker, inscribed so to speak on the implement itself? 
 Certain archaeologists, however, have considered the discs 
 in question as weaver's shuttles, as weights for fishing 
 nets, puUeys, and even maces ; various uses for which they 
 may doubtless have been occasionally employed. 
 
 Towards the period of the formation of the great rub- 
 bish heaps on the shores of the Baltic, known as kitchen 
 middens, the primitive inhabitants of Europe conceived 
 the idea of polishing their weapons and tools, and of 
 sharpening their edge by means of a stone similar to those 
 which we now employ for grinding our metal tools (sand- 
 stone, quartz, flinty schist, &c.) 
 
 The form of these stones is usually an oblong poly- 
 hedron, narrowed towards the middle and broader at the 
 extremities. One surface — concave, convex, or flat — is 
 usually furrowed into grooves which indicate the wear oc- 
 casioned by the continual friction of a small instrument 
 such as the gouge or chisel. The larger polishing stones, 
 those whose considerable weight prevented their transport, 
 or at any rate rendered it difficult, remain in the place 
 
238 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 they originally occupied. Such is the notched atone of 
 Chauvigny, which still bears the marks of twenty-five 
 notches or grooves clearly indicating the purpose it served. 
 Such again is the polishing stone found at Cerilly, in the 
 department of the Yonne, whose surface presents eleven 
 grooves as distinctly marked as those of the notched stone. 
 The edge of the hatchets, knives, chisels, &c., was applied 
 to these grooves, and constant friction, produced by a con- 
 tinual backward and forward motion, gave to the instru- 
 ment the desired graining and polish. Other polishers, 
 smaller and easily portable, were often ornamented with 
 scolloped edges, and perforated for suspension. These 
 latter bear the most perfect resemblance to those em- 
 ployed by the Greenland women to sharpen and polish their 
 
 Fig. 108. Esquimaux knife, with handle. (After Lubbock.) 
 
 bone needles. Others, lastly, are similar to those used 
 in the present day for sharpening our scythes and sickles. 
 
 The knife is certainly one of the most ancient tools. 
 We could, if necessary, enter into the fullest details re- 
 specting the form and dimensions of this implement, 
 whose nature and use were so long misunderstood, though 
 they figured from the earliest historic ages in the reli- 
 gious ceremonies of the Hebrews, the Egyptians, the 
 Greeks, the Eomans, and perhaps even of the Scandi- 
 navians. 
 
 The form of the flint knives is very various; some- 
 times the cutting edge was straight (fig. 108) ; sometimes, 
 but much more seldom, it was curved (fig. 109). Some 
 had a round or prismatic stone handle, a continuation of the 
 blade itself; others were provided with a wooden handle, 
 to which the blade was probably attached by means of a 
 
FLINT KNIVES. 239 
 
 black cement, similar to that used, as we have seen, by 
 the savages of Scandinavia for their arrows, lances, and 
 javelins, and to that still in use among the New Zealanders. 
 The blade of some of these knives was no longer or wider 
 than that of a penknife ; sometimes, again, it was of 
 considerable length, like a hunting-knife. MM. Noulet 
 and Bischoff have described two of the latter, the one in 
 the ' Memoires de I'Academie des Sciences, Inscriptions, et 
 Belles Lettres de Toulouse ; ' the other in the ' Eevue de 
 Gascogne,' edited fey the Abbe Caneto (August 25, 1865). 
 The blade of the first of these knives, found at Venerque, 
 in the department of Haute-Garonne, by Professor Noulet, 
 is imperfect ; and it nevertheless measures six inches long 
 by two wide. That of the knife of fire-bearing flint, dis- 
 
 FiG. 109. Carved pkehistokic stone knife. 
 
 covered at Pauilhac, in the department of Gers, by M. 
 Bischoff, was longer still. Unfortunately it was broken 
 into three pieces ; but the fragments fit perfectly, and all 
 three together measure fourteen inches long. The two speci- 
 mens, the finest known, have the form of a much flattened 
 triangular prism ; one surface is slightly concave, the 
 other has two oblique faces, separated by another central 
 one which becomes gradually narrower and finally dis- 
 appears as it approaches the upper or rounded extremity 
 of the knife. 
 
 It is difficult to understand how these great pieces of 
 flint were shaped merely by the aid of a stone striker. 
 The thing was nevertheless possible, and we have the 
 proof of it under our eyes. Moreover, Sir John Evans 
 affirms and proves ipso facto that it is possible to carve 
 
240 
 
 PEIMITIVB CIVILISATION. 
 
 flint with another pebble as well as with the most solid 
 steel hammer. 
 
 Polished or not, employed in war, in hunting, and in 
 the ordinary uses of daily life, the axes of the stone age 
 take various forms, of which several closely resemble our 
 modern hatchets. The earliest in date have usually the 
 form of a wedge or much flattened pear, with slightly 
 convex surfaces ; the edge is wide and equally sloped on 
 
 Fig. 110. New Zealand stone axb 
 (After Lubbock.) 
 
 Fig. hi. Polished stone a: 
 FKOM THE Swiss lakes. 
 
 both sides, the summit is narrower and sometimes ends 
 in a point. Those of Saint Acheul, in the department of 
 the Somme, present a well-known type. 
 
 The axes are very varied in size. Some of them,, 
 beautifully polished, which were found in Sweden and 
 Denmark, are thirteen inches long by an average width 
 of thirty-five or thirty-six inches, and a thickness of 
 fourteen or sixteen inches. Those of France and Swit- 
 
STONE AXES. 241 
 
 zerland, are generally not so large. M. Bischoff, however, 
 has lately called attention to one of old green jade, 
 which he found in the valley of the Gers, nearly ten 
 inches in length. The inhabitants of New Zealand and 
 of New Caledonia make similar axes of this jade, which 
 is very hard, and will take so iine a polish and so 
 sharp an edge that we were ourselves able to cut great 
 notches with it in a log of hard oak. These wedge- 
 shaped axes have different kinds of handles. Sometimes, 
 like those of several modern savage tribes, they were 
 inserted in a notch or groove made in the shorter end of 
 a naturally-bent piece of wood, and were kept in place 
 either by crossed thongs or by a cord wound several times 
 round the upper part of the axe and handle. Sometimes 
 the whole was rendered more solid by bitiunen, and occa- 
 sionally a single stick, pierced, forked or split, served for 
 the handle. In his work entitled 'De V Homme AntS- 
 diluvien et de ses (Euvres,' M. Boucher de Perthes has 
 represented several different kinds of handles used for the 
 unpolished axes. Sir John Evans has also given some 
 curious illustrations of those of the polished axes. We 
 must say a word or two respecting the manner in which 
 the inhabitants of our caves of the reindeer age, and those 
 of the lake cities of Switzerland, commonly attached their 
 axes to the handles. 
 
 After having separated a piece of reindeer or stag's 
 horn with the flint saw, they hollowed a groove in this 
 fragment, into which they introduced the upper end of 
 the axe. The piece of horn which served as a socket or 
 protecting sheath was itself fixed in a hole made in the 
 larger end of a club-shaped piece of wood. A sort of 
 ledge or shoulder on the under side of the socket pre- 
 vented the axe from being driven back into the handle 
 so as to split it. In other cases they contented them- 
 selves with inserting the polished axe directly in the hole 
 of the key-shaped handle, keeping it in place by means 
 of cords and a suitable glue (fig. 112). Another method 
 consisted in placing the axe in a socket of stag's horn 
 pierced transversely by a hole, into which a wooden handle 
 
242 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 was fitted. Sometimes a stem of hazel with its root 
 attached, and forming a right angle with the former, was 
 chosen for the purpose. The root was split and the axe 
 introduced into it and fixed by means of cords and bitu- 
 men (figs. 113 and 114).' 
 
 It is worthy of remark that these various methods of 
 attaching the axe to the handle are still employed by the 
 savages of New Caledonia, of the Fiji Isles, and of various 
 parts of America. 
 
 Some of these handles, of ash, hazel, or fir wood, have 
 been preserved. Such, for instance, is that of a hatchet 
 
 Fio. 112. AxB, WITH stag's-horn hasdle, Lake city op Cokcise. 
 (After de MortiUet.) 
 
 found at Eobenhausen, of which M. Keller has given an 
 illustration ; that of an axe found in county Monaghan, 
 and preserved in the Museum of the Royal Academy of 
 Ireland ; the hatchet of Solway Moss, now in the British 
 Museum, and several more. Unfortunately, these handles, 
 as soon as they are taken out of the water of the lakes, 
 or from the damp earth, lose their form and split or break 
 in drying, so that their preservation in the glass cases of 
 our museums is a matter of considerable difficulty.^ 
 
 ' See Sir John Evans, The Ancient Stone Implements, Weapons, and 
 Ornaments of Great Britain, p. 145, figs. 100 and 101. 
 
 ^ In order to preserve the handles of axes or hammers, or other 
 
STONE AXES. 
 
 243 
 
 As we have already said, perforated axes (figs. 115 and 
 116) are rather rare in the neolithic period, but very 
 
 Fig. 113. Axe, with handlb 
 (Tahiti). (After Lubbock.) 
 
 Fig. 114. Polished stone axe, 
 with handle (solway moss). 
 (After Evans). 
 
 wooden articles extracted from the mud of the lakes or from the peat 
 mosses, M. Englehardt has employed a process which appears to have 
 been successful. His method consists in plunging or even boiling the 
 articles in a strong solution of alum, and allowing them to dry slowl.7, 
 and they then preserve their original form. 
 
244 
 
 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 common in the age of bronze, A few of the latter, single 
 or double edged, are very elegant forms, resembling those 
 
 Figs. 115, 116. Peeforated, polished, pouble-edged axe (Yorkshire.) 
 (After Evans.) 
 
 of our metal axes.' It is sufficient to notice here, in 
 
 ' See Sir John Evans, The Ancient Stone Im2}lemevts, Weajions, and 
 Ornaments of Great Britain, figs. 91, 93, 9i, 95, 98, and 100. 
 
THE HAMMER AXE. 245 
 
 passing, those which are generally known as the Amazon 
 axes, of which the narrower side, hoUowed into a double 
 crescent, was perforated for the reception of the handle, 
 and of which the two extremities were terminated in a 
 doubly-sloped and nearly half-circular edge. We need 
 also only mention the hammer axes (fig. 117), of which 
 the name sufficiently indicates the form and purpose. 
 
 Axes of smaller size, and especially those made from 
 rocks foreign to the district where they are found, were 
 merely inserted perpendicularly in the piece of stag's horn 
 which served as a handle, and are rather knives than axes 
 properly so called. Others, without a handle, were held in 
 the hand like a cold chisel, and were marked by a circular 
 groove that they might be grasped more easily and firmly. 
 
 Fig. 117. Diokite hammkr axe. (After Evans.) 
 
 Hitherto we have only spoken of axes for war or for 
 useful purposes ; the edge of all of these is parallel to the 
 handle. There are others of which the edge is perpen- 
 dicular to the shaft ; these are the chip axes, whose form 
 and general use recall the adzes of our carpenters. Other 
 somewhat massive tools, of which one surface is markedly 
 convex, the other slightly concave and the edge rounded, 
 are considered to be primitive hoes employed in agricul- 
 ture. Among the implements with a transverse edge we 
 may also mention the supposed throwing axes, which 
 appear to be nothing but wedges with slender handles, 
 which were held in the left hand and struck with blows 
 from the mallet (Nilsson). 
 
246 
 
 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 We need likewise only mention — _ 
 
 1 Stone chisels, with or without handles, similar in 
 
 every respect to those in use among the inhabitants of 
 
 Tahiti and New Zealand. 
 
 2. Gouges or chisels, with a semicircular edge and 
 
 more or less wide, intended for hoUowing wood, similar to 
 
 
 Figs. 118, 119. Flint scrapek. (After Lubbock.) 
 
 those still employed by the North American Indians to 
 hollow the tree trunks for their canoes. 
 
 3. The scrapers and smoothers in flint or bone for 
 removing the hair from skins or to smooth leather (figs. 
 118 and 119), very similar to those employed for like 
 purposes by the Grreenlanders and the Esquimaux (figs. 
 120 and 121). 
 
SCEAPEES AND SAWS. 247 
 
 4. The drills with a transverse edge like that of a 
 chisel, a species of auger in basalt, diorite or serpentine, 
 rarely in flint, since this rock would be too liable to break 
 in the operation of drilling. 
 
 5. Lastly, I shall mention, to prevent mistakes in date, 
 those polished tools transformed into other rough hewn 
 tools ; for example, a polished axe changed into a chisel, 
 a knife become a saw or a lance head. For we shall not 
 know in what epoch to class these ambiguous tools if the 
 metamorphosis whick they have undergone is overlooked. 
 
 FlOS. 120, 121. ESQCIMAUX SCRAPER, SEEN IN FRONT AND IN PROFILE. 
 
 (After Evans.) 
 
 6. Among the most useful tools we must not forget to 
 mention the hand saw, so often used in the manufacture of 
 bone implements. This flint saw, usually very small, was 
 inserted, we have said, in a handle of stag's horn longitu- 
 dinally grooved, in which it was retained by a viscous 
 substance resembling cobbler's wax. It must have been 
 often broken, and yet it must have cost infinite skill and 
 patience to obtain those fine teeth which we admire on 
 the specimens in the museums of Switzerland, St. Grermain- 
 en-Laye, Toulouse, Montauban, &c. (See above, fig. 33). 
 
248 
 
 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 Like many other stone implements, the saws have been 
 found in considerable numbers in certain caves of the 
 reindeer age ; in that of Bruniquel, for instance, and more 
 rarely in other caves of Dordogne. They occur in the burial 
 places of the neolithic age in France, in the dolmens of 
 Poitou, but they are generally rare in the latter, and in 
 those of Great Britain and Ireland. 
 
 Among the instruments in domestic use during the 
 age of polished stone, we milst reckon the mortars for 
 bruising grains, and especially cereals. The primitive 
 mortars are very similar to those of modern times. They 
 
 Fig. 122. Stone moktab asd pestle, found at Ty-Mawk (Holyhead). 
 (After Evans.) 
 
 are made of hard rock, such as granite, diorite, gneiss, and 
 their upper surface is more or less hollow. The pestle 
 was also of stone, spherical or oval in form, or else club 
 shaped. Shallow depressions were made in the spherical 
 pestles to render them more easily grasped. If the age 
 of several of these mortars is sometimes doubtful, this is 
 not the case with regard to the hand mills found in the 
 Swiss lakes ; they belong incontestably to the most ancient 
 lake dwellings. "We have said that they were used for 
 grinding the corn which served to make the circular loaves 
 or cakes found at Robenhausen. The grain which was in- 
 
WEAVING AND SEWING. 249 
 
 tended for this purpose was sometimes previously boiled, 
 probably in order to facilitate the operation of crushing it. 
 
 VL "WEAVIWG AND SEWING. 
 
 After food comes clothing ; hence spinning and weaving 
 are of the most remote antiquity (figs. 123, 124). Wooden 
 spindles and tissues of Unen and bark have been found in 
 the Swiss lake dwellings. Perforated discs of stone or 
 clay, used as spindle weights, are extremely common (fig. 
 125). One of them%as still attached to the spindle at the 
 
 Fig. 123. Piece of tissue found at Eobenhausen. (After Lubbock.) 
 
 time it was discovered. Linen thread or bark fibre was 
 
 used to sew the garments of woven stuffs or of skins in 
 
 which the inhabitants of the lake cities clothed themselves. 
 
 Those of the caves used a thread made from split tendons, 
 
 perhaps even strings of gut. There is no doubt that the 
 
 art of sewing was very early known, since needles have 
 
 been found in the caves of France and Great Britain, as 
 
 well as in the Swiss lakes, belonging to the archaeolithic 
 
 or reindeer age.' Some of the latter, pointed at both 
 
 ' Bone needles occur in nearly all the caves of Dordogne, at Massat 
 (department of Arifege), at Lourdes (Hautes-Pyr^nfies), at Veyrier, at 
 the foot of Mount Sal^ve, as well as in various districts of Switzerland, 
 and even in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem, the latter bearing an 
 exact resemblance to those of our stations of the reindeer age. 
 
250 
 
 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 ends, were perforated in the middle where the needle is 
 thickest, similar in this respect to some bronze needles 
 which were doubtless copied exactly from the former. 
 Other bone needles have the eye pierced at the larger end. 
 A few of these found at Bruniquet are so fine, that they 
 
 Fig. 124. Weaver's shuttle of 
 the age op polished stohe. 
 (After Lubbock.) 
 
 Fig. 125. Spindle weight in red 
 sandstone, found at holt- 
 HEAD. (After Evans.) 
 
 must have been employed in more delicate work than the 
 sewing of skins. 
 
 The bone needles of Perigord (figs. 126 and 127) are 
 remarkable for the delicacy and finish displayed ia their 
 workmanship. In both respects they are superior to those 
 
 C 
 
 Figs. 126, 127. Bone needles from the caves of Pekigoed. 
 (After Broca.) 
 
 of the ancient G-auls, and to the ivory needles of the 
 modern Esquimaux, and still more so to those of the 
 Kamtskatchans, which are merely fish bones. In any case 
 that which is especially admirable in the bone needles of 
 Languedoc and Perigord, is the skill with which the boring 
 of the eyes with a flint drill was accomplished ; but with 
 
PEIMITIVE NEEDLES. 251 
 
 skill and patience M. Ed. Lartet perfectly succeeded in 
 this operation.' Like the hand-mills and spindles, the 
 needles indicate occupations already essentially domestic — 
 the chimney comer, a special part for the woman to fill, 
 family life, and consequently an established polity already 
 in the path of civilization. 
 
 Fish-hooks, awls, bone pins for fastening the dress or 
 the hair, or even for ornament, are also of frequent occur- 
 rence in the caves and among the earliest lake dwellings. 
 These are certainly very unpretending implements, Uke 
 the needles which accompany them, and of whose useful- 
 ness long habit has rendered us unobservant. But we 
 shall better understand their importance when we consider 
 the essential part they played in primitive societies, and 
 that which they still hold in our modern industry. Ee- 
 member the millions of hands which are employed in their 
 manufacture and use, and how the needles with which she 
 had provided herself to distribute on occasion protected 
 the renowned and courageous traveller, Ida Pfeiffer, from 
 the cannibals of the Malay Archipelago. 
 
 ' See in the Reliquice AquitanioeB the interesting details which 
 MM. Ed. Lartet and Cnristy have given lespecting the making of these 
 needles. 
 
252 PKIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 AGSICULTUBK 
 
 I. PKIMITIVE AGEIOTJLTUKE. 
 
 If we belonged to that happy time when the lively imagi- 
 nation of men took delight in poetical symbols, we 
 might represent civilization under the form of a strong, 
 fair woman, bearing in one hand an ear of corn, in the 
 other a book, the ear providing man with food for main- 
 taining and strengthening the body, the book furnishing 
 him with intellectual and moral nourishment which com- 
 pletes and ennobles his nature, ever hungering for know- 
 ledge and progress. 
 
 Not without reason, then, were Ceres and Triptolemus, 
 the reputed inventors of the plough and of agriculture, 
 ranked with Orpheus and Amphion as the first instructors 
 of the human race. 
 
 When we think of the many and various blessings 
 which result from the tillage of the fields, we easily under- 
 stand how the ancient Scythians believed, as Herodotus 
 avers, in the divine origin of the plough. Among the 
 primitive inhabitants of Germany the belief was current 
 that the ploughshare fell from heaven, and a temple was 
 raised on the spot where it touched the earth. An old 
 and simple German legend tells us how the daughter of a 
 giant, filled with wonder at the strange sight of a man 
 engaged in ploughing his field, bore away in one of the 
 folds of her dress the pigmy labourer, his plough, and his 
 oxen. The father of the girl was angry with her, and 
 bade her put the earth worm, where she had found it, 
 foreseeing that the race of giants must soon die out before 
 the efforts of man's intelligence. 
 
MYTHOLOGY. 253 
 
 The period of the giants, a race of nomadic shepherds, 
 preceded that of the dwarfs — that is, those who practised 
 agriculture and worked in metals. 
 
 The former represent brute force and savage instincts ; 
 these belong to the stone age. The dwarfs, on the other 
 hand, their adversaries according to the Germanic legend, 
 are the living symbol of the strife between mind and 
 matter, the earliest pioneers of civilization ; they belong 
 to the age of bronze. I need not name the divine la- 
 boiKer of the Chinesq, amongst whom agriculture is held 
 in such high honour that the Emperor himself traces each 
 year the first furrow. 
 
 There is no tradition, no written history, to tell us at 
 what epoch men began to till the land. Like the child 
 who retains no remembrance of his earliest years, nations 
 have lost the memory of the successive stages through 
 which they passed before casting off the swaddling clothes 
 of ignorance and barbarism. None of them can tell us the 
 origin of the simplest form of plough, still less the name 
 of its inventor. But where history is silent mythology 
 raises her gentle voice, and infuses into the mind of man 
 those poetic fictions which have come down to us through 
 the ages in place of truth. 
 
 In the fulness of time science was bom ; she penetrates 
 into the virgin forest of the New World, which is perhaps 
 the most ancient, and finds there, among the gigantic 
 ruins of Uxmal or of Palenque, monuments which recall 
 to mind Egypt and its gloomy splendours. She questions 
 the tumuli of the Ohio, the dolmens of Brittany, the long 
 barrows of Scotland, and the ashes of the dead make 
 answer. She searches the cave dwellings of primitive 
 man, she sounds the lakes at the bottom of which he 
 built his early habitations, and she reconstructs from the 
 often mutilated remains which she finds therein a whole 
 world, with its character, its customs, its arts, industry, 
 and agriculture. 
 
 In order to discover the first distinct traces of the 
 culture of the fields, we must go back to the time of the 
 builders of the lake cities of the neolithic age. Neither 
 12 
 
254 PKIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 the dwellers in the caves of the period of the bear 
 or of the reindeer, nor the constructors of the Danish 
 kitchen middens, knew anything of agriculture. In Swit- 
 zerland, on the other hand, and perhaps in Italy, most 
 of our cereals were already in cultivation before the 
 age of bronze, maize always excepted. Several bushels 
 of barley and wheat were found at Wangen ; and Eoben- 
 hausen has also furnished ears of the same grains, car- 
 bonised at the time of the burning of the lake cities, a 
 circumstance to which they owe their preservation. A 
 fact which is especially calculated to excite wonder is that 
 at this remote epoch several varieties of barley and wheat 
 already existed. Thus Professor Heer has distinguished 
 the Trlticum vulgare, T. dicoccum and T. monococcum. 
 He recognised also the Hordeum distichum, or double- 
 ranked barley, which is, however, rarer in Switzerland 
 than the Hordeum hexastichum, a variety which is com- 
 mon in the ancient tombs of Greece and Egypt. Among 
 the cereals we must likewise reckon two species of millet, 
 Setaria italica and Panicum miliaceum, which are still 
 used for food in some countries. 
 
 Among leguminous plants we find peas, lentils, and 
 the little March bean, Faba vulgaris celtica. The fruit of 
 the wild and cultivated apple trees, pears, plums, sloes, 
 cherries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, hazel 
 nuts, beech nuts, acorns, &e., preserved in rude hand- 
 turned vessels, formed part of the vegetable food of the 
 earliest inhabitants of Switzerland. We may add to the 
 list the fruit of a species of plum of the Scotch and 
 marsh firs, of the service tree, of the water chestnut, and 
 even of the yellow water lily. 
 
 It has been remarked that the apples and pears were 
 cut in quarters to allow of their being more easily dried. 
 We have not mentioned the walnut in our list of edible 
 fruits : it is probable that this tree was already no longer 
 indigenous in Europe, as it was during the epoch of the 
 great mammalia, but had disappeared with the thuya and 
 the liquidambar. 
 
 We must not conclude this chapter on agriculture and 
 
AGRICULTURR. 256 
 
 its products without saying a few words about the textile 
 plants. 
 
 Hemp was unknown, but flax was cultivated by the 
 inhabitants of the lake dwellings. The seed has been 
 found in abundance, and also the nets and woven or 
 plaited tissues manufactured from it. The weaver's loom 
 and shuttle, the spinner's spindle and accessories, such as 
 weights to stretch the thread, &c., already existed. Eopes 
 and cordage were made from twisted linen thread and 
 bark fibre ; straw anal osiers were used, the former for 
 plaiting, the latter for making baskets and bird-nets for 
 fishing. Agricultural implements, as may be supposed, 
 were of the simplest, resembUng those in use among 
 some of the islanders of Polynesia. 
 
 MM. Boucher de Perthes, Garrigon, and Filhol have 
 suggested that stags' antlers, deprived of all their branches 
 but one, the lower jawbone of Ursu8 spelceus, branches of 
 trees forming a more or less open angle, &c., might have 
 served as pickaxes and hoes at a time when the yet 
 virgin soil must have been extremely fertile without the 
 need of deep ploughing. 
 
 It is certain that several savage and even cannibal 
 tribes still employ for tilling the soil tools quite as primi- 
 tive as those used by the earliest inhabitaiits of Central 
 Europe. The ribs of the whale, or billets of wood shaped 
 like gouges, are used as spades. The clods raised by the 
 piece of wood are broken up with a small roller. Their 
 hoe is an oyster or tortoise shell firmly fixed to the end of 
 a stick ; a sharp shell serves as a pruning knife. Non- 
 metallic agricultural tools similar to the spade or shovel 
 have not yet been found in Europe. Sir John Evans has 
 only found in England some flint hoes. But in North 
 America, to the south of the Illinois, and on the banks 
 of the Mississippi, some carved flints of a large size and 
 of unknown date were discovered, which it is surmised 
 were used as spades by the primitive inhabitants. These 
 implements are oval or elliptical in form, flat on one side, 
 slightly convex on the other, with sharp and regularly 
 toothed edges, and measuring more than a foot in length 
 
256 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION, 
 
 by five or six inches wide and three-quarters of an inch 
 thick in the middle. Professor Ran has given illustrations 
 and descriptions of similar hoes and shovels also found in 
 North America (' Archaeological Collection of the United 
 States' National Museum,' by Charles Rau. Washington, 
 1876. Figs. 54 and 55). 
 
 These rude implements are far removed indeed from 
 the reaping machines and steam ploughs of to-day ; but 
 this is only an additional proof of the vast progress of 
 humanity. 
 
 II. THE DOMESTICATION OP AITIMALS. 
 
 When we consider the immense difficulties which 
 primitive man must have encountered in the task of sub- 
 duing an animal so powerful as the wild bull, so swift as 
 the horse, so fierce as the dog in its natural state, we may 
 well wonder how he could tame these wild creatiures, and 
 not only render them useful allies and devoted servants, 
 but also make them trusted friends. 
 
 Any conclusion upon questions relating to the domeb- 
 tication of animals is rendered especially difficult on ac- 
 count of the imcertainty under which we labour with 
 regard to the traces of modifications observed upon fossil 
 bones; we cannot tell whether these modifications are 
 natural or due to the intervention of man, since either 
 cause would produce the same effect. Grreat discrimina- 
 tion is required to divine the real agent ; and doubt, 
 error, and uncertainty still reign with regard to many of 
 the questions which we are about to consider. 
 
 It has been well said that ' animals could exist, and 
 have existed, without man, whereas man could not exist 
 without animals.' 
 
 But people are too apt to forget the innumerable diffi- 
 culties which may have long interfered with the entire 
 subjugation of the animals we now call domestic. Now 
 that the work is accomplished nothing seems to us more 
 simple than domestication, that association between the 
 beast and man, his master, and too often his tyrant. 
 
 It is true that there is nothing voluntary in this asso- 
 
DOMESTICATION OF ANIMALS. 257 
 
 ciation on the part of the animal, and as M. Bouley says, 
 with as much wit as justice, the lamb did not come of its 
 own accord a submissive victim to bow its innocent head, 
 like Iphigenia beneath the steel of Calchas, nor did the 
 bull voluntarily submit its neck to the yoke, nor the horse 
 open its mouth to receive the bit. Even now, these ser- 
 vants, whom we believe to be completely enslaved to our 
 will, retain their inborn instinct of independence, and it 
 is only by ceaseless effort that man succeeds in rendering 
 dormant in some of them that love of liberty which exists 
 in all. 
 
 But man has discovered and turned to account in most 
 of the animals he has subjected to his rule an instinct 
 of sociability, exi"sting together with the love of inde- 
 pendence and predisposing them to domestication. Here 
 once more his intelligence created him king ; his absolute 
 authority was accepted in place of that of the chief natu- 
 rally chosen by the herd when still possessed of liberty. 
 
 This same intelligence enabled him to discern among 
 the beasts of the forest those which would be most useful 
 to him by furnishing him with flesh, milk, muscular 
 strength, soft warm fur — all the resources of their in- 
 stinctive and sagacious faculties. In this respect the 
 work of our earliest ancestors is so complete, that the 
 lapse of many centuries has added but little to the riches 
 acquired by them. 
 
 What species of wild animal was first chosen for domes- 
 tication, and at what epoch it was first tamed, is a question 
 which has been often discussed, and which has nevertheless 
 received hitherto no satisfactory answer. Palaeontology, 
 however, has lately added another argument in favour of 
 the opinion of those who hold that the dog was the first 
 animal subjected to the dominion of man. Professor 
 Steenstrup, of Copenhagen, has proved in a most original 
 way that the dog hunhed with man and shared his repasts 
 at that remote epoch when the savage inhabitants of Den- 
 mark heaped up along the coast of the Baltic the enormous 
 kitchen middens. 
 
 M. Ed. Dupont, for his part, has met with the cania 
 
258 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 familiaris in the palaeolithic caves of Belgiiom — that is, in 
 settlements still older than the kitchen middens. It is 
 true that the learned director of the Natural History Mu- 
 seum of Brussels does not assert as a positive fact, but 
 merely supposes, that this animal was very early domesti- 
 cated. For it is easy to conceive the useful and indispen- 
 sable aid the dog must have afforded to man armed only 
 ■with the axe, the mace, or the arrow of stone, with which 
 to strike the prey that he pursued in its flight or attacked 
 in a hand-to-hand combat. The eminently sociable dispo- 
 sition of the dog, the innumerable varieties which the 
 species present, and its valuable qualities, natural or ac- 
 quired, all tend to prove that it was one of the earliest 
 companions of man, whom it has never since abandoned, 
 whom it has everywhere followed, and of whom it consti- 
 tutes the better part, if we are to believe the witty author 
 of ' L'Esprit des Betes ' (Townsend). 
 
 It is also Townsend who said : ' The dog is the greatest 
 conquest man ever made, if M. Buffon will allow me to 
 say so. The dog is the first element in human progress. 
 Without the dog man would have been condemned to 
 vegetate eternally in the swaddling clothes of savagery. 
 It was the dog which effected the passage of human 
 society from the savage to the patriarchal state, in making 
 possible the guardianship of the flock. Without the dog 
 there could be no flocks and herds ; without the flock 
 there is no assured livelihood, no leg of mutton, no roast 
 beef, no wool, no blanket, no time to spare ; and, conse- 
 quently, no astronomical observations, no science, no in- 
 dustry. It is to the dog that man owes his hours of 
 leisure ' (' L'Esprit des Betes,' p. 149, Paris, 1868). 
 
 There is a great deal of truth in this ingenious trifling. 
 Once subjected to the all-powerful influence of man, aided 
 by the dog, and transported by him into all climates, our 
 animals, slaves at first, and at last domestic, have under- 
 gone in the successive ages a series of modifications in 
 outward form; size, and the proportions of their limbs, in 
 their fur and skin, in their interior organs and their func- 
 tions, in their instincts and intelligence. 
 
POWER OF MAN OVER NATURE. 259 
 
 The history of these wonderful and almost infinite 
 varieties has been treated by a master hand in a book 
 which soon became classic, and was translated into 
 several languages, and in which we do not know whether 
 to admire most the profound science, the accurate ob- 
 servation, the great number of facts on which it is 
 based, or the logic of its deductions and breadth of its 
 views, though hypotheses sometimes border on rashness. 
 I need hardly say that I allude to Darwin's important 
 work, ' Animals and ^^Plants under Domestication,' To 
 this book, crammed with facts and ideas, I refer those of 
 my readers who may be desirous of knowing how far the 
 power of man over animated nature can extend, without 
 prejudicing, of course, the immense influence he exercises 
 over inorganic nature. It is enough to mention here the 
 infinite variety of breeds of dogs, horses, oxen, sheep, pigs, 
 fowls, pigeons, &c., which man has created, and still 
 creates, either for use or to gratify his caprice. Compare 
 the Newfoundland dog with the King Charles spaniel, of 
 which the breed is dying out ; the Tiurkish hairless dog 
 with the fleecy Maltese breed ; the long-limbed, sharp- 
 nosed greyhound with the bow-legged bulldog with the 
 short broad muzzle ; compare the Arab horse, so swift in 
 its course, with the heavy, but powerful dray horse ; the 
 bison of America, with its monstrous head, with our Breton 
 or Alderney cow ; the ancona sheep of Massachusetts with 
 the Leicester or merino breed, and say whether man is 
 not also a creator, A great number of analogous exam- 
 ples might be cited from our gallinaceous breeds, from our 
 geese and pigeons, if I had the space or the wish to pass 
 them all in review. The list would be endless if we came 
 to consider the instincts acquired or lost, the fecundity 
 increased or diminished, the diet completely changed, the 
 acclimatisation and naturalisation of exotic species, &c. 
 
 I know that some savants, few in number, it is true, 
 still maintain, in spite of the most significant facts, that 
 each one of our domestic breeds was created in its present 
 form and on purpose for man, from the beginning ; and . 
 that it has since remained absolutely unchanged. This 
 
260 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 remarkable theory does not even deserve a serious reflec- 
 tion. 
 
 We may therefore conclude : first, that taking into 
 consideration the effects obtained by domestication, the 
 power of man is immense. But however great it may be, 
 he must, in order to obtain new varieties, call to his aid the 
 no less powerful influence of surrounding circumstances ; 
 secondly, that all domestic animals owe to a naturally 
 social instinct their condition of servitude, to which they 
 were reduced by accepting man as their master. 
 
 III. OBIGIN AND HOME OF OITR PEINCIPAL 
 DOMESTIC ABTIMALS. 
 
 We owe to M. Pictet the important remark that m 
 Switzerland as elsewhere the diluvian fauna passes gradu- 
 ally into the modern. Thus the urus {Bos primigenius) 
 is associated in the leaf-impressed coal of Diirnten, in the 
 canton of Zurich, with the Rhinoceros leptorhinus and 
 the Elephas antiquus. Later it lived in company with 
 the mammoth in the Ehine valley; still later with the 
 reindeer and the marmozet ; lastly, at Eobenhausen, we 
 find it with the aurochs, when it became the object of the 
 attacks of man, who finally extinguished the species. ' At 
 the time of Cassar, the urus, the elk, the aurochs, stiU 
 roamed through the Hercynian forest. In the course of 
 the seven following centuries the two latter were exiled to 
 the north. The change was doubtless brought about by 
 other causes than any modification in climate; but we must 
 look to some change in temperature to account for the fact 
 that the two species which formerly existed side by side in 
 the Swiss valleys, the reindeer and the elephant, are to-day 
 separated from each other by half the meridian of the 
 globe.' ' 
 
 ' Universal Library of Geneva, Archives, vol. xii. 1861, p. 299. It 
 is true that Africa and even America may claim the honour of having 
 furnished several of onr domestic species. Marsh goes even further, 
 and affirms that all the species reduced by man to a state of domesti- 
 cation came originally from the New World. Carl Vogt, on the other 
 hand, pronounces in favour of Africa. The question is then still open, 
 but we have no doubt that future palseontological discoveries will 
 sooner or later throw light upon the matter 
 
ORIGIN OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 261 
 
 This gradual passage from the diluvian fauna to that 
 of the present day shows us several important facts. In 
 the first place it allows us to attribute certain specific 
 types to more remote epochs than is generally admitted. 
 Moreover, it authorises us to seek in these same types the 
 original stocks of most if not of all of our domestic breeds. 
 Now, as every genus from which the latter are descended 
 exists in a fossil state, either in the tertiary beds or in the 
 diluvian strata of Europe as well as in those of Asia, there 
 is already a strong presumption in favour of the European 
 origin of our modern breeds. 
 
 Hence it is only natural and logical to conclude that 
 the diluvian species above mentioned survived the great 
 inundation which overwhelmed a great part of Europe at 
 the beginning of the fourth epoch, and produced the 
 domestic animals of the period of polished stone, which 
 themselves are the ancestors of our modem breeds. 
 
 Besides, how can we reasonably attribute an Asiatic 
 origin to those animals under domestication as early as 
 the period of the most ancient lake dwellings, and even, 
 as we shall prove, during the palaeolithic age, that is to 
 say, long before the first Aryan migrations of which 
 history makes menticm ? The most ancient monuments, 
 moreover, bear witness to the existence at the time of 
 their construction, more than sixty centuries before Christ, 
 of several of our modern breeds, or at any rate of very 
 similar ones. There can be no doubt of this fact when we 
 see, for instance, on the Egyptian monuments hunting-dogs 
 with short nose and hanging ears, and greyhounds with 
 upright ears, which closely resemble in general build those 
 employed in the chase by modern Egyptians. 
 
 M. Saint-Hilaire himself, although an avowed partisan 
 and zealous promoter of the opinion which attributes an 
 Eastern origin to most of our domestic mammalia, con- 
 siders the different varieties of dogs above mentioned as 
 breeds already considerably modified by culture ; ' so much 
 so,' he says, ' that it is impossible not to fix the date of 
 their domestication at a very early epoch, even compared 
 with that remote period when we see them in company 
 
262 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 with the Egyptian hunters.' (' Acclimatation et Domesti- 
 cation des Animaux Utiles,' p. 214.) 
 
 And what is that remote period, when compared with 
 that of the stone age, during which we find the dog of the 
 kitchen middens in Denmark ; the horse at Solutre (rein- 
 deer age) ; and a hound resembling our spaniel, as well as 
 several oxen, bearing the unmistakable character of a 
 domesticated condition, in Switzerland ? 
 
 Besides, if the dog, the ox, the horse, &c., were im- 
 ported from Asia by the Aryan emigrants, it is hardly 
 probable that they would not have been accompanied by 
 the Indian elephant and the Bactrian camel ; we ought, 
 therefore, to find the bones of these two species mixed 
 with those of the dogs, the oxen, the goats, the sheep and 
 pigs which they are said to have brought with them. 
 Now no such discovery has hitherto been made in Europe, 
 and no European legend makes mention either of the 
 camel or the elephant, which figure largely in Hindu 
 mythology. Our domestic animals may therefore have an 
 European origin, and this origin, like that of man him- 
 sel f, is far more remote than was at first supposed. 
 
 De Blainville tells us in his ' Osteographie ' that none 
 of the modern wjld species produced the domestic dog, 
 but that its original stock is a species which existed dur- 
 ing the diluvian period, and which is known to palaeonto- 
 logists as canis familiaris fossilis. The remains of this 
 species are found in more or less abundance in the caves 
 of France, Belgium, and Germany, It is not unreason- 
 able to suppose that this dog was tamed by the first in- 
 habitants of our continent, and that it passed from their 
 hands into those of the builders of the lake cities and 
 of the dolmens, precisely as the reindeer of the period of 
 the caves became domesticated among the Lapps. M. de 
 Mortillet also admits that the canis familiaris fossilis 
 may have been the ancestor of our domestic dog. We 
 have already said that the earliest traces of the domesti- 
 cation of the dog were found by Professor Steenstrup in 
 the kitchen middens, and the same savant believes that 
 
DOMESTICATION OF THE DOG. 263 
 
 this animal was domesticated in Belgium in the age of 
 the mammoth. 
 
 Having observed that all the bones of birds mixed 
 with the other remains only retained their diaphysus or 
 shaft, which is the hardest part, while the heads or ex- 
 tremities had as a rule completely disappeared, Steen- 
 strup gave similar bones to domestic dogs to gnaw : they 
 only left the shaft, on which their teeth made marks pre- 
 cisely similar to those observed on the bones taken from 
 the kitchen middens. Hence Steenstrup concluded that 
 the dog was already the companion of the primitive Dane 
 in the chase, and the sharer of his meals. It might be 
 objected, certainly, that the bones of birds which form 
 part of the kitchen refuse might have been gnawed by 
 wild dogs, wolves, or foxes ; but the fact is too general, 
 and tallies too exactly with the experiment undertaken in 
 ■ proof of the Professor's theory, to allow of our refusing to 
 attach any faith to the latter. 
 
 If this conclusion were proved to be strictly correct, 
 the domestication of the dog took place at a very early 
 epoch — at the period of the oldest lake dwellings of the 
 neolithic age, and perhaps even earlier. Now in the lake 
 cities two distinct species of dogs were found, as we have 
 seen : the one intermediate in size between the watch- 
 dog and the pointer ; the other, more recent than the 
 preceding, resembling our sheep-dog. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that the dog is not mentioned 
 in the earlier books of the Bible. Moses does not speak 
 of it, and there is no mention of it in the book of Joshua 
 or in that of Judges. ' "We may assume, therefore, that 
 before the time of the kings the Hebrews did not possess 
 the dog, although they must have known this animal in 
 Egypt, where it was domesticated long before the days 
 of Abraham. The name of the dog occurs first in the Bible 
 in the Second Book of Samuel, which tells us no more 
 than that the expression, " head of a dog," was an insult 
 in the time of David ; then the author of the Second 
 Book of Kings mentions dogs, but only to relate that 
 they devoured the body of Jezebel. It would seem that 
 
264 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 the Hebrews had not learnt to appreciate the good quali- 
 ties of this animal, a circumstance by no means to their 
 credit.'' 
 
 The dog is, as we have said, faithfully represented on 
 the most ancient Egyptian tombs. It is even figured in 
 a leash and with a collar round the neck. It is therefore 
 certain that the Egyptians domesticated this animal, and 
 had obtained several breeds distinct from the original 
 stock, whatever that might be.* 
 
 We say original stock and not stocks, for while we 
 admit that all the canine breeds may have sprung from 
 several different varieties, ■ we believe that all European 
 dogs are descended from the single canis fawAliaris 
 fossilis, and not from any species of Eastern origin. 
 Moreover, with respect to the greater number of our 
 European domestic species, unity of ancestral savage type 
 is the rule, multiplicity the exception.' 
 
 ' It is to be presumed,' says M. H. Milne-Edwards, 
 ' that the domestication of each species of the horse 
 family took place in the country to which it is indigenous 
 in a wild state, and, consequently, that the ass was tamed 
 in Africa, and the horse in the regions occupied by the 
 Aryan race.' But he is careful to add, ' the horse seems 
 to have been originally a native of Central Asia and of a 
 part of Europe ' (Gom'ptes-rendus de Vlnstitut, Dec. 
 13, 1869). 
 
 M. Milne-Edwards admits, then, that the horse had an 
 European as well as an Asiatic origin.^ How can the 
 
 ' Universal Library of Geneva, vol. 36, p. 568. 
 
 2 According to M. Toussaint the breeds represented on the most 
 ancient monuments of Egypt are a greyhound with narrow ears, a 
 mastiff, a poodle, and a dog with hanging ears. (See B, Toussaint, 
 Etude sur VOrigine du Chien domestiqve.) 
 
 ' We do not understand how, after having laid down this principle, 
 which appears to be the expression of the truth, Hasckel could say 
 almost immediately afterwards that 'a domestic breed is never de- 
 scended from a single corresponding wild species.' (^History of Creation.) 
 
 ■■ We must also attribute an African origin to the horse, if it is true 
 that a type with five lumbar vertebrse exists, which Sanson says is 
 peculiar to Africa, while the Asiatic type has six. Finally, Mr. Marsh 
 says boldly : ' It is now generally admitted that the horse is indigenous 
 in America.' (^Itevue Soientijiqiie, 1878, p. 1,071.) 
 
DOMESTICATION OF THE HORSE. 265 
 
 former be denied when we see the horse so often repre- 
 sented on reindeer horn, carved or engraved by the artist 
 hunters of Languedoc and Perigord ? Is not the faithful 
 representation not only of the reindeer, but also of the 
 mammoth, the ox, the saiga, the horse, the pig, &c,, proof 
 positive that the artists had these animals under their 
 eyes and almost close to their hand, since they fed upon 
 their flesh and hunted them continually ? These horses of 
 the fourth epoch, at first wild, probably became domestic 
 a little later, that is^part of the human society, and were 
 sheltered, cared for, made use of by the latter as it gradu- 
 ally advanced towards a condition of life less rude, less pre- 
 carious, less adventurous. Is it likely that the aborigines 
 of Europe, impelled by the same necessities, gifted with 
 the same instincts, and guided by the same feelings as the 
 peoples of Asia, waited until the precise moment of the 
 invasion of the latter before thinking of taming an animal 
 whose intelligence, strength, grace and rapidity of motion, 
 not to speak of its thick hide and delicate flesh, they must 
 have known equally well how to appreciate ? 
 
 M, Toussaint for his part believes he has discovered 
 traces of the domestication of the horse at the epoch of 
 Solutre (reindeer age) ; ' and long before Marcel de Serres 
 had pointed out, in speaking of the bones of the same 
 animal found in the caves of Bize and Lunel-Viel, modifi- 
 cations which led him to the same conclusions respecting 
 an earlier epoch than that of Solutre. The cave of Lunel- 
 
 ' In support of his conjectures M. Toussaint draws attention to the 
 almost complete similarity of the bones of Solutrfe with those of the 
 modern animal. The only difference consists in the absence, in the im- 
 mense majority of adult specimens found in the Cros Charnier, of the 
 union between the metacarpal and metatarsal rudimentary or lateral 
 bones (stylets), and the principal metacarpal and metatarsal bones 
 (the oarwns of veterinary surgeons). These bones are always united in 
 the equus eaballus of to-day. The great number of the bones, their 
 age of four, five, or six years, the assemblage in one place of all the 
 parts of the skeleton, are, according to M. Toussaint, indications that 
 the horses of Solutrfe were killed, cut up, and eaten on the same spot as 
 domestic animals, and not hunted in a wild state, and carried from a 
 distance, and piecemeal, as was the case in the earliest caves of the 
 archaeolithic age. (Toussaint and I'Abbfi Ducrost, Du C.KVal dans la 
 station prehistorique de Solutre.') 
 
266 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 Viel belongs to the epocli of the cave bear and hyaena, and 
 probably that of Bize also ; but some archseologistp attri- 
 bute it to the reindeer age. 
 
 Professor Gervais dates the domestication of the horse 
 from the glacial period. Lastly, in a recent work (' Das 
 Europaische Wildpferd und dessen Beziehungen zum do- 
 mesticirten Pferde '), which we regret to say we only know 
 from the brief analysis which M. Vignier has made of it, 
 Ecker propounded theories very similar to our own upon 
 the origin of the domestic horse. He says that the Euro- 
 pean horse of the fourth epoch probably gave birth to the 
 small stunted breed, with the large head, rounded forehead, 
 and short neck, which is found in fossil at Solutre, and 
 which is still represented by the wild horses of the Ehone 
 delta, and of the steppes of Russia. But he adds that this 
 primitive breed was almost entirely supplanted by an 
 Asiatic breed, larger and more robust, and that our 
 domestic horse is the result of the mixture of the two 
 races ; this seems probable, if not absolutely proved. 
 
 We may add, moreover, that as M. Pictet himself 
 admits, the most trustworthy anatomists recognise that 
 the great majority of the fossil remains of the horse found 
 in Europe resemble so closely the bones of the Equus 
 caballws of modern days, that it is almost impossible to 
 distinguish them from each other. It is needless to draw 
 the conclusion. This theory distances the opinion of some 
 naturalists, and still more that of the Emir Abd-el-Kader, 
 who maintained that Abraham was the tamer of the first 
 Arab horse, from which the whole race is descended. So 
 easily does national pride, joined to ignorance of fact, alter 
 ihe history of nature ! 
 
 I do not know on what precise documents M. Petermost 
 founds his assertion, that the Aryans were in possession 
 of the horse from the year 19,350 B.C. ; what appears cer- 
 tain is that it existed in China 2,350 years before our era. 
 
 "We have already mentioned that M. Milne-Edwaids 
 believes that the ass is of African origin, and M. F. Lenor- 
 mant shares his opinion. Philology furnishes a proof in 
 support of this theory, as the ass has a name of Semitic 
 
AGE OF DOMESTICATED HOUSE. 267 
 
 origin, aton (plural atnot) the slow animal, while the 
 Latin name of the horse is allied to the Sanscrit a^a, the 
 swift.' 
 
 To the data furnished by philology we may add those 
 gathered from the representations on the ancient Egyp- 
 tian monuments, and from the texts of the Bible, which 
 all tend to confirm the opinion that the horse and the ass 
 were originally natives of totally different countries. The 
 horse was first domesticated on the high grounds of Central 
 Asia, and the Aryan emigrations were the principal agent 
 in its diffusion over the globe ; it was tamed at a later 
 date by the Semitic races, and only appeared in Egypt 
 about 2,500 years before the Christian era. The ass is an 
 African species, which was probably first domesticated on 
 the banks of the Nile. From Egypt it early passed into 
 the hands of Semitic tribes, who afterwards introduced 
 it among the Aryans of Persia and Greece. This animal, 
 which finalljf became universally used, took a direction 
 exactly contrary to that of the horse. Starting from 
 opposite points, they ended by meeting and by being 
 almost everywhere employed together.' (^Gomptes-rendus 
 de 1'Instihi.t, Feb. 7, 1870, p. 279.) 
 
 But etymologies, however learned, are by no means 
 always valuable as proofs in questions of natural history ; 
 and, moreover, we should call attention to a fact concern- 
 ing the ass similar to that observed with respect to the 
 horse. The fossil remains of the former animal occur in 
 the cave of Aurignac, in Belgium, and elsewhere. Why, 
 then, may we not assume that it was domesticated by 
 European man of the fourth epoch ? 
 
 The Ox, — After a careful examination of the bones of 
 the horse, the ox, the goat, the sheep, and the pig, found 
 in the Belgian caves of the reindeer age, Professor Steen- 
 strup thought he was justified in concluding that the 
 
 ' From the plural atnot we have the primitive Greek form Htpos, 
 which was succeeded by Sircos, whence were derived asinus, asellns, 
 asilm (Gothic), asel (Old English), edl (Old High German), end (Modern 
 German), and, lastly, 6vos. M. Lenormant tells us, moreover, that 
 attwt is from atuna, to walk slowly. 
 
268 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 animals to which these bones had belonged were com- 
 pletely, or at any rate partly, domesticated. He, there- 
 fore, attributed to all of them a purely European origin, 
 and this also is the opinion professed by Cuvier in his 
 later works. 
 
 Besides the urus which the inhabitants of the lake 
 cities of the neolithic age hunted in their forests, and 
 which were still to be found there in the time of Caesar, 
 the lakes have preserved the remains of several bovine 
 species from which Professor Eiitimeyer, weU known by 
 his excellent works on the ancient fauna of Helvetia, 
 Owen, and Darwin believe that several of our modern 
 breeds are descended. Carl Vogt and Cuvier also attribute 
 an European origin to the ox. AU our domestic breeds of 
 cattle, excepting those with a hump, are descended, ac- 
 cording to Darwin, from three species, of which the fossil 
 remains are to be found, but which no longer exist in a 
 wild state ; these are : — 
 
 1. Bos primigenius, domesticated in Switzerland 
 from the epoch of polished stone, and resembling the 
 modem Frisian breed of cattle. 
 
 2. Bos longifrons {B. brachyceros, Owen), contem- 
 porary in Switzerland with the preceding, and still domes- 
 tic in England during the Eoman occupation ; this species 
 is considered by Professor Owen to be the original stock 
 from which the black cattle of Wales and the Scotch 
 Highlands are descended. 
 
 3. Lastly the Bos frontosus (Nilsson) of Scandinavia, 
 the companion of Bos longifrons in the fourth epoch, 
 and afterwards reduced with the latter to a state of do- 
 mestication.' 
 
 The paintings of the sepulchres of Ancient Egypt 
 (paintings which go back nearly to the age of polished 
 stone) represent several breeds of the bovine race already ■ 
 bearing the yoke and harnessed to the plough. Some 
 even figure cows without horns, whose legs have been 
 
 ' Carl Vogt considers ios frontostii and ios longifrons to be merely 
 varieties of ios primigeniut. 
 
ORIGIN OF THE GOAT AND SHEEP. 269 
 
 tied so that they might be milked in the presence of the 
 calf, which is allowed to remain beside them. 
 
 Ooat. — The same arguments which are urged in favour 
 of attributing an European origin to our domestic dogs, 
 horses, and oxen, apply also to the various kinds of goats, 
 sheep, pigs, cats, and rabbits. Eare in the caves of the 
 palaeolithic age, common in the lake dwellings of the neo- 
 lithic period, represented in the paintings of the fourth 
 Egyptian dynasty with hanging ears like those of the 
 modem breed in that» country, mentioned by the primi- 
 tive Aryans, in Genesis, Homer and Greek mythology 
 ( Amalthsea, the nurse of Zeus), the goat was domesticated 
 from the earliest times. There is, therefore, no reason why 
 we should not admit several primitive stocks from which, 
 as in the case of the dog, the horse, and the ox, our 
 modern breeds of goats are sprung. The principal appear 
 to have been the wild goat of our mountains, perhaps the 
 Capra Hispanica, discovered by Schimper ; the wild goat 
 of the mountains of Asia, or the paseng of the Persians ; 
 lastly the Capra Falconeri, native of India. 
 
 Sheep. — More recent than the goat, the sheep is 
 nevertheless found with it in the lake dwellings, but it is 
 rarer than the latter in those which date from the palaeo- 
 lithic age. In the lake cities of the age of bronze it only 
 differs from our modern sheep in the form of its horns, 
 which resemble those of the Capra hircus. According to 
 M. Eoger de Guimps, the sheep is not represented in the 
 Egyptian paintings of the fourth dynasty, where, as we have 
 seen, the figure of the goat frequently occurs. Domesti- 
 cated under the name of ovi (whence ovis, ois) among the 
 primitive Aryans, the sheep was well known to the Hebrews 
 and to the Greeks of the time of the siege of Troy. Homer 
 makes frequent mention of them. 
 
 Opinions differ with respect to the original stock of 
 our modern breeds of domestic sheep. It was long be- 
 lieved, and some naturalists still hold to this theory, that 
 the modern mouflon of Sardinia and Northern Africa was 
 the parent stock. Professor Gervais and M. Fitzinger 
 believe that our modern breeds are descended from one or 
 
270 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATIOK. 
 
 more diluvian species now completely extinct ; and this is 
 also my opinion. 
 
 The Pig. — It seems little doubtful that the many dif- 
 ferent breeds of pigs are descended from several distinct 
 species. Besides the wild boar, which is found in the 
 caves, and which was easily tamed, we find in the earliest 
 lake dwellings : — 
 
 1 . A smaller species, known as the marsh pig [Sus 
 scrofa palustris), and which appears to be the type of the 
 porcine family in the Canton of the Grisons. 
 
 2. The leirge species found at Concise, very similar to 
 our modern breed. Both species, supposing them not to 
 be merely varieties of Sus scrofa ferus, are indigenous to 
 Europe. Eeckoned unclean by the Egyptians, the pig 
 occurs nowhere in the paintings on the tombs. I need 
 hardly say that it is also regarded as unfit for food by the 
 Jews. It formed, on the contrary, a considerable item in 
 the diet of the Greeks and of the Gauls. The primitive 
 Aryans had domesticated this animal and used its flesh 
 for food. 
 
 According to Nathusius all the breeds of pigs may be 
 reduced to two principal types, which are osteologically 
 different — the Siis Indica formerly diffused over all coun- 
 tries, from the extreme east of Asia, where it still exists 
 in Siam, China, and Japan, to "Western Europe ; to this 
 type belongs the Sus scrofa palustris. The other is the 
 Sus scrofa ferus, or wild boar, whose habitat extends from 
 the west of Europe eastward as far as India, and from 
 which, in our own opinion, although some naturalists 
 maintain the contrary, our modern domestic breed is 
 sprung. We are assured, and M. de Guimps repeats, that 
 when crossed these two species are extremely prolific, and 
 that all the most improved English breeds are the result 
 of the mixture of the two races. 
 
 Nearly all modern naturalists are agreed in considering 
 the wild boar of the forests as the source of our domestic 
 breeds. M. Sanson alone maintains the contrary opinion, 
 based upon the fact that the wild boar has only five lumbar 
 vertebrae, whereas the domestic pig has always, according 
 
ORIGIN OF THE PIG AND CAT. 271 
 
 to him, six. The Chinese pig has only four. Can domes- 
 tication, he asks, increase or diminish the number of 
 vertebrte ? Why not, since it has produced an extra toe 
 upon the feet of some of our canine breeds, since it has 
 completely modified the dental system of certain varieties 
 of the same species — the greyhound and bulldog, for ex- 
 ample ; since it has completely removed the horns from 
 a quite modern breed of cattle ; since some of our domes- 
 tic sheep have two and even four pairs of horns ; since, 
 finally, domestication bas so completely altered the 
 skeleton. of some of our modern breeds of pigeons, that, 
 were they found in a wild state, they would probably be 
 considered as so many distinct genera ? Moreover, it is 
 well known that any organs in the form of a series, and 
 the vertebrae more than any others, are subject to frequent 
 numerical variations. The arguments urged byM. Sanson 
 do not, therefore, seem to me to be sufficiently strong to 
 change the generally received opinion as to the origin of 
 the European domestic pig. 
 
 Cat. — The wild instincts of the cat prevented its early 
 domestication. Its flesh, moreover, is unpalatable and its 
 use inconsiderable. Hence we find it for the first time in 
 Egypt, forming part of a group of bronze statuettes, which 
 represents three divinities, at whose feet lies a cat suckling 
 its young. Now this group, according to M. Eoger de 
 Guimps, is not earlier than 650 B.C. 
 
 The same author says that the mummies of cats of the 
 ancient Egyptian tombs all belong to species then wild in 
 that country, and of which at least two, the Felis caligulata 
 and the Felis huhastis, retain their independence. 
 
 It was only in the middle ages that the domestic cat, 
 unknown to the Aryans, to Moses, to Homer, Aristotle 
 and Pliny, was introduced into Europe. On the other 
 hand, M. Saint-Hilaire maintains that it was domesticated 
 in Egypt from the earliest antiquity. Its original habitat 
 was, he says, the north-east of Africa and the east of 
 Asia, and all our feline breeds are descended firom the 
 gloved ca.t {Felis Tnaniculata) of Nubia and Abyssinia, and 
 perhaps also from an Asiatic species hitherto undetermined. 
 
272 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 But why should we go so far to seek that which ia 
 perhaps to be found close at hand ? Why should we not 
 regard the Catus ferua of the quaternary beds as the 
 ancestor of the Catus ferus of our forests, and the latter 
 as the stock from which our domestic breed is sprung? 
 Since the reindeer, the contemporary of the mammoth 
 and cave-bear, has come down to us without losing its 
 specific identity, why should it not be the same in the 
 case of the cat and many animals of which man has made 
 conquest, and with whose typical representants, since 
 modified, his bones, or the products of his primitive in- 
 dustry, are mingled ? 
 
 Rabbit — Hare. — Among our domestic animals there is 
 one in particular to which it is impossible to attribute an 
 Asiatic origin, namely, the rabbit, the Lepus cuniculus of 
 Linnaeus. Unknown to Aristotle, who makes no mention 
 of it, and even to Xenophon, whatever Cuvier may say, 
 the rabbit was still uncommon in Greece and Italy to- 
 wards the beginning of the second century before the 
 Christian era. In the present geographical period it 
 seems to have been first domesticated in Spain, and later 
 in France ; but it soon multiplied there to such a degree, 
 especially in the south, that ' this pernicious animal,' says 
 Strabo, extended its ravages from Spain to Marseilles. In 
 the time of Pliny the breed had become so numerous that 
 the inhabitants of the Balearic Isles were constrained to 
 seek military aid against the rabbits : Auxilium militare 
 a divo Augusto petitum. 
 
 The remains of the hare and of the rabbit are abundant 
 in the diluvian beds of France ; there is no reason, there- 
 fore, to prevent our considering the rabbit found in a fossil 
 condition in Central Europe {Lepus priscus, Piette) as the 
 source of our domestic breeds. But this domestication 
 took place late probably, if it is true that primitive Euro- 
 pean man long rejected as unclean the flesh of Lepus 
 timidus.^ It is certain that Ed. Lartet discovered none 
 
 ■ It is well known that the Jews also considered the flesh of the 
 hare and rabbit unclean. The Romans were far from sharing this 
 repugnance ; for Martial does homage to the hare in the verse : — 
 Inter qttadtiipedes fflm-ia prima lepjis. 
 
THE EEINDEEE. 273 
 
 of the bones of the hare in those of the Pyrenean caves 
 which were inhabited exclusively by man, neither have 
 any been found in the Danish kitchen middens. In our 
 own day the Lapps and a few other European tribes still 
 hold the flesh of the hare and rabbit in abhorrence. 
 
 Reindeer. — The question as to whether or no this 
 animal was domesticated by quaternary man is still an 
 open one. But who would dream of looking for its 
 original home on the banks of the Oxus or of the Ganges ? 
 Is it not more natural .to suppose that it was at least 
 partly domesticated towards the end of the period which 
 bears its name, and in those districts where its bones are 
 now found ? Such at least is the opinion of Virchow and 
 of Fraas, who date the domestication of the reindeer in 
 Grermany from about the time of the cave of La Madelaine,' 
 MM. Grervais and Piette also admit the domestication of 
 the reindeer in the latter half of the palaeolithic age. Dr. 
 Noulet seems disposed to think that from the beginning 
 of the fourth epoch the reindeer filled an important posi- 
 tion in the life of those families who had made them- 
 selves masters of it ; but this subject, like so many others 
 under our consideration, requires renewed and more ac- 
 curate investigation. 
 
 According to Eiitimeyer the cave of Kesslerloch has 
 furnished no proof that its inhabitants were in possession 
 of domestic animals. The almost complete absence of 
 dogs makes this supposition highly probable. However, 
 the repose of the attitude of the horse, the truth of that 
 of the pig in the drawings they have, made of those 
 animals, are an argument in favour of the contrary 
 opinion. However this may be, we have under our eyes 
 
 • M. Fraas adduces philological grounds whose strict accuracy we 
 cannot warrant in support of his opinion. Rindvieh iu German, he 
 says, means large Cattle. Now the root of this word is rennen, to run, 
 whence Sennthwr, the swift animal par excellence. Hence he con- 
 cludes that the domestication of the reindeer preceded that of the ox 
 which replaced it, and of which the wild stock has retained the name 
 of Urochs. Even after the ox had begim to share the labour of man 
 the herds of large cattle were still known as Rindvieh, that is to say, 
 reindeer herds. 
 
274 PBIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 the remains of an ancient fauna uniting in a single spot 
 animals now scattered over every part of the earth, and 
 whose simultaneous existence, as Mile. J. Mestorf justly 
 remarks, was not formerly even suspected. 
 
 Birds. — We will say nothing of the birds, reptiles, or 
 fishes found in the caves, in the kitchen middens, or be- 
 neath the lake dwellings, since it is agreed by all the 
 authors who have written upon this subject, that no 
 species of any of these three classes was domesticated by 
 the primitive Europeans, or, more properly speaking, by 
 the Europeans anterior to the Aryans. 
 
 Invertebrate Aniimals. — There is nothing to show 
 that quaternary European man tmned any of these to 
 account. He might perhaps have gathered the honey of 
 the bee, which has been since domesticated ; but it is 
 clear that he knew nothing of the silkworm, cultivated 
 by the Chinese, who knew how to spin its silk 2,700 years 
 before our era. 
 
 Conclusions. — To sum up : the greater number of our 
 domestic animals, commonly regarded as originally natives 
 of Central Asia, are on the contrary of European origin. 
 Their primitive stock, whether single or multiple, it 
 matters little which, goes back in the case of many of 
 them to a remote geological antiquity, that is to say, at 
 least as far as the fourth epoch. 
 
 ' It is very unlikely,' says M. de Quatrefages, * that 
 previous to our epoch man always lived alone^ without 
 any of those allies in which he has trusted from all an- 
 tiquity. It is not more probable that his earliest com- 
 panions perished completely at the time of the last great 
 upheaval, while their master alone survived it. It is 
 therefore very possible that some at least of our domestic 
 animals are directly descended from species contemporary 
 with the first men, and have their origin consequently in 
 a geological period anterior to that in which we live.' 
 (Revue des Gours Scientifiques, July 1868.) 
 
 It is understood, of course, that this same original 
 stock may exist no longer, except in a fossil state. That 
 of the dog, of the horse, of the ox, &c., are cases in point. 
 
ORIGIN OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 2'? 5 
 
 We are so accustomed to look to the East for the solution 
 of sinjilar problems to those under consideration, that we 
 forget what lies near at hand, and may furnish a simpler 
 explanation. We do not, however, deny that several species 
 or varieties, very similar to our own domestic ones, may 
 have to come to us from the East, and have formed half- 
 breeds and dififerent varieties by mingling with the 
 breeds already existing in Europe. The Eastern origin of 
 certain species now domesticated among us is open to no 
 manner of doubt* Such are, for example, the peacock, a 
 native of India, the common pheasant, brought from the 
 banks of the Phasis after the expedition of the Argonauts; 
 the cock perhaps, and the silkworm, cultivated in China 
 for nearly three thousand years. 
 
 A few animals only come to us from Africa. The 
 guinea fowl, the canary, and perhaps also the ferret, are 
 instances. Others, lastly, have been imported fromAmerica 
 at a comparatively recent epoch. These are the guinea 
 pig, the turkey, the musk duck, improperly termed the 
 Barbary duck, the Canada goose, and the cochineal from 
 Nepal. To Europe belong, in our opinion, the dog, the 
 cat, the horse, the ass, the pig, the ox, the goat, the 
 sheep, the rabbit ; among birds the pigeon, the common 
 fowl,' the duck, the common goose, the swan, and among 
 insects, the bee (Apis mellifica, Linnaeus). 
 
 We must not conclude this chapter without referring 
 to a fact of great importance lately revealed to us by 
 palaeontology. I mean the discovery of the remains of 
 the horse, and even of several species or varieties of the 
 horse {Equus neogceus, irnajor, &c.) in the post-pHocene 
 or quaternary beds of South Carolina, Buenos Ayres, 
 Brazil,^ Chili, &c. Now it is well known that, previous to 
 the Conquest, horses were unknown in America, and 
 that those of the conquerors inspired them with astonish- 
 
 ' M. Piette says he found in the cave of Gourdan, of the paleolithic 
 period, some bones of birds which he attribares to a variety of the 
 dotDestio fowl. 
 
 ' According to Lund the horses of the Brazilian caves are in every 
 respect sitoilar to our modern horses. See Sibliotheque Universelle of 
 Geneva, Archives, vol. v. p. 37, 1859. 
 
276 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 ment, not unmingled with fear. In the same districts 
 were found bones of dogs, pigs, oxen, and sheep, which so 
 closely resemble those of our modern breeds as to be mis- 
 taken for the latter. Had these also an Eastern origin, or 
 must we suppose, with Professor Agassiz, that they belong 
 to a special and completely.independent centre of creation ? 
 Must we believe that these species, apparently identical 
 with ours, lived simultaneously in the Old and New Con- 
 tinents at the beginning of the fourth epoch, but that 
 they became extinct in America without having been 
 domesticated there, while the domestication of these same 
 species took place in Europe and Asia, and that they here 
 survived their American brethren until our own day? 
 Did the latter disappear from their country long before 
 the time when we transported thither our breeds of dogs, 
 horses, oxen, sheep, goats, pigs, &c., which have since 
 multiplied almost to excess, and become so wonderfully 
 modified? Or, finally, must we suppose, as the Abbe 
 Brasseur de Eourbourg is inclined to believe, that the 
 New World civilized the Old, especially Egypt and Libya, 
 transporting thither its domestic animals, its industry, its 
 hieroglyphic characters, and even its religion so deeply 
 tinged with zoomorphism and anthropomorphism? So 
 profound is still the obscurity, and so impenetrable are the 
 veils which still envelop these questions, all important to 
 the history of humanity. 
 
 IV. OBiaiN OF OITE CTTLTIVATED PLANTS. 
 
 It would be a great mistake to attribute a foreign or 
 Eastern origin to all our plants at present under culti- 
 vation. Indeed, one of the most eminent botanists of 
 modern times, Oswald Heer, declares it to be established 
 beyond all dispute, that the plants which floiu-ish to-day 
 in the canton of Zurich in a wild state are the continu- 
 ation of the diluvian flora. He holds the same opinion 
 with regard to half the Alpine plants, those, that is to say, 
 which grow upon the peaks of the Swiss mountains. The 
 other half belong to types brought from Scandinavia by 
 the immense erratic blocks which the diluvian glaciers 
 
ORIGIN OF PLANTS. 277 
 
 carried from the mountains of Germany to the Alps, then 
 recently upheaved, and as far as the Vosges and the Jura. 
 
 As to the cultivated plants which, with those of the 
 valleys and the Alpine species properly so called, form the 
 three elements which constitute the modem Swiss flora, 
 the following are Heer's words with respect to them : — 'The 
 ancestors of many of our modern cultivated vegetables 
 were originally indigenous to our soil. The great revo- 
 lutions which overwhelmed their country, and changed 
 its configuration, drove them from it, and it was not until 
 a later period that their descendants returned to it, them- 
 selves unchanged. They now seem to be foreigners 
 amongst us, yet they are descended from the true natives, 
 which thus show what great modification plants undergo.' 
 {Ann. 8c. Nat. vol. iii. 1865, p. 183.) 
 
 We give some examples borrowed from the author of 
 this remarkable work on antediluvian botany. 
 
 Our hazel is probably sprung from an allied species 
 {Corylus Mac-Quarrii, Forb.) which flourished in the 
 miocene period. The Fagus deucalionis (linger), very 
 common in Switzerland during the same epoch, but still 
 unknown in Denmark and even in Normandy during the 
 age of stone, is considered to be the primitive type of our 
 modern beech. A plantain tree hardly to be distinguished 
 from that of America ; a species of Cyprus, and the liquid- 
 ambar also grew formerly in the Helvetian forests. A 
 walnut closely resembling ours, which disappeared from 
 Switzerland after the formation of the tertiary miocene 
 strata, was preserved in Persia and on the mountains of 
 Asia by means of an allied species. At a later period it 
 was reintroduced, first into Greece, then at Eome, in the 
 time of the kings, and reappeared in the Alpine valleys. 
 
 M. Gaston de Laporta, well known by his valuable 
 works on vegetable palaeontology, also reports numerous 
 examples which prove the possibility of deriving from 
 indigenous antediluvian types a large number of cultivated 
 vegetables, which are commonly supposed to be of exotic 
 and compaxatively recent origin. I need only mention a 
 few instances, 
 13 
 
278 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 I shall not dispute the story that Noah planted the 
 vine in Judea ; but it is certain that this plant is far more 
 ancient than Noah, since to find its original stock m e must 
 go back to the oldest tertiary strata. 
 
 Our bay laurel {Nerium Oleander, Linnseus) dates 
 through its ancestors {Nerium Rohlii) from the epoch of 
 the formation of the upper chalk beds, and before attain- 
 ing its present form it passed successively through those 
 of the N. Parisiense (eocene beds of the Seine basin), of 
 the N. Sarthacense (mean eocene sandstone of the 
 Sarthe), of the N. repertuTn (upper eocene, gypsum of 
 Ats), of the iV. Gaudryanum (lower miocene), of the 
 N. Oleander pliocenicum of Provence (lower pliocene) ; 
 all of which forms differ but little from each other, and 
 of which the last, JV^. Oleander pliocenicurn) so closely 
 resembles our modern bay laurel as to be specifically 
 confounded with it. 
 
 Similar modifications hare taken place in the palseocene 
 stock {Laurus Omalii) of the noble or poet's laurel {Lau- 
 rus nobilia), of which the successive stages, beginning 
 with the most recent types, are as follows : the L. Gana- 
 riensis of the lower pliocene strata of the Meximieux, a 
 species which still exists in the Canary Isles ; the L. 
 princeps of the upper miocene beds ; the L. prvmigenia 
 of the gypsum of the upper eocene beds near Aix ; the 
 L. Decaisneana (mean eocene) ; lastly, the L. Omalii, 
 the earliest form (palseocene). 
 
 Our European ivy {Hedera helix) also dates back 
 beyond the tertiary epoch to the H. primorddalis of the 
 chalk beds, which, before producing our common ivy, has 
 passed through the forms of Hedera prisca of Sezanne ; 
 H. Philiberti of the gypsum of Aix; H. Kargii of 
 OEnigen ; H. acutelobata of Dernbach ; H. Mac-Quarrid 
 of Greenland ; H. Strozzi of Tuscany. 
 
 We must not forget to say that many vegetable types 
 which now occupy the warm or temperate regions of 
 Europe are sprung from Arctic types which were distributed 
 all over the continent during the whole of the miocene 
 period. Several sequoia, the liquidambars, the beech, the 
 
EEMOfENESS OF ORIGIN. 279 
 
 lime, willows, alders, birches, elms, maples, ashes, and 
 walnuts, &c., may be cited as examples. 
 
 It does not enter into the plan of this book to en- 
 deavour to determine the origin of all the plants now 
 under cultivation, and to trace all their varieties. I have 
 said enough to prove that this origin must be sought in a 
 more distant time, and in a nearer place than it was 
 formerly supposed, indeed than many still imagine. 
 
280 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 CHAPTER IV, 
 NAVIGATION AND COMMERCE. 
 
 I. ITAViaATIOlJ-. 
 
 His breast must have been bound with, a triple circle of 
 bronze, as Horace says, who first ventured to trust himself 
 to the mercy of the waves on a tree trunk hollowed 
 with the axe and with fire, or in a frail craft made of 
 birch, bark, reeds, or the skin of sea-cows. 
 
 The canoe, formed of a single trunk, was the first type 
 of the great three-masted ship and of the ironclad. Some- 
 times pointed at both ends, sometimes with sharp bows 
 and square stern,' the canoes were doubtless used by the 
 Danes of the age of stone to seek their food in the open 
 sea, to which practice the numerous molluscs and sea-fish 
 whose remains still lie in heaps on the shores of the 
 Baltic bear witness. The inhabitants of the earliest Swiss 
 lake dwellings used them for the same purpose. 
 
 Moreover, it is impossible to doubt that the first 
 attempts at navigation date from the archeeolithic age, 
 when we find, buried twenty or thirty yards below the 
 beds of rivers in Scotland, England, France, and Italy, 
 canoes still containing the stone axe with which they were 
 hollowed, and lying beside bones of men and of the Elephas 
 primigenius or mammoth, with whom they were con- 
 temporary. 
 
 Some of these canoes, belonging to the age of polished 
 stone, are of considerable dimensions. Such were, for 
 example, those found at Eobenhausen, Glasgow, Saint- 
 
 ' In spite of their great antiquity the canoes of the Swiss lake 
 dwellings resemble in every respect those of the islanders of the Pacific. 
 
BEGINNING OF NAVIGATION. 281 
 
 Valery, in the Valley of the Somme, which were no less 
 than ten to fifty feet long by two to four wide. They 
 were all of oak, formed of a single trunk, and shaped out- 
 side and in with more or less sHll. It is almost unneces- 
 sary to say that they were all propelled by oars and not 
 by sails. The use of the latter was long unknown to 
 European man as to the inhabitants of the New World, 
 always excepting the ancient Peruvians. 
 
 Several canoes not less than twelve feet long by three 
 wide have been 'dug up in the British Isles ; they were 
 furnished at both ends with a species of handle, which 
 seems to indicate that they were carried like the bark 
 canoes used by the inhabitants of the shores of the 
 North American lakes. 
 
 The Phoenicians can, therefore, no longer be regarded 
 as the earliest navigators in our seas, although they had 
 touched the shores of Spain and settled in that country 
 before the time of Homer. At a far more remote epoch 
 men acquainted with at least the rudiments of navigation 
 brought from Sardinia to Elba and the neighbouring 
 Island of Pianosa, pieces of black obsidian rock, foreign to 
 these islands, from which the inhabitants made knives as 
 sharp as those of Mexico. The numerous flint implements 
 found in the same islands were brought thither from the 
 country since known as France. 
 
 It is easy to understand that with such craft long 
 voyages undertaken for trading purposes were impossible. 
 But it is perhaps a mistake to suppose that the sea formed 
 an impassable barrier to these early navigators. Authen- 
 ticated facts, quoted by trustworthy authors — Humboldt, 
 Kane, and Wilson, for example — prove that this assertion 
 is too sweeping. Thus the kayak of an Eskimio fisher- 
 man, who was found living on the shores of Scotland, is 
 preserved in the museum at Aberdeen. Other Eskimos 
 of Greenland and Labrador have been more than once 
 carried by ocean currents from the New to the Old World. 
 Lastly, Wilson cites the recent example of a Japanese 
 junk which was shipwrecked in Oregon, and whose crew 
 
282 PKIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 was found captive among the Indians of the Hudson's Bay 
 Territory (' Prehistoric Man,' p. 100). 
 
 Nothing, therefore, is opposed to the belief that our 
 ancestors of the stone age were acquainted with a very 
 simple form of navigation, dangerous and necessarily very 
 limited in extent. 
 
 Even in our own day, however, the Clalam Indians of 
 the Straits of Fuca hollow out of cedar trunks with their 
 stone axes, canoes fifty feet long, capable of containing a 
 crew of thirty men. With these canoes they brave the 
 tempests of the Pacific, and venture even to harpoon the 
 whale, which they prevent from diving by floats of seals' 
 skins filled with air and attached to the harpoon by long 
 cords. More simple canoes made from the stem of a palm 
 tree are used by the Yucucari Indians in travelUng with 
 their children and goods. They put both into the canoe, 
 and the husband and wife swimming one on either side, 
 they thus make between thirty and forty miles a day. 
 Our primitive barks may have served the same purpose, 
 and may often have been propelled in Uke manner. 
 
 The inhabitants of those vast districts intersected by 
 lakes and rivers, which extend from the Gulf of Saint 
 Lawrence to the Pacific construct light and elegant boats 
 from thin planks of cedar wood covered with birch-bark, 
 which they carry from one lake to another just as a Eu- 
 ropean traveller sometimes carries his portmanteau from 
 one railway station to another.' Lastly, we know the 
 balsas or rafts, which cannot sink, of the ancient Peru- 
 vians, constructed from beams of a light porous wood 
 covered with a flooring of reeds. They were provided 
 with two masts supporting a large woollen or cotton sail, 
 
 ' The name portage is given to tliose parts of the mainland traversed 
 by travellers when obliged to bear on their shoulders the canoe and its 
 contents. Some of these barks, which are at least four yards long, 
 weigh barely thirty pounds. Those caUed master canoes are longer and 
 wider, and consequently heavier. ' The Egyptians of the time of 
 Juvenal, and even those of our own day, launch on the Nile rafts made 
 of earthenware vases bound together by cords, covered with canes, and 
 moved along the current by oars. Arrived at their destination, they 
 break the raft and sell the vessels at the bazaar.' (Wilson, Prehistoric 
 Man, p. 98.) 
 
ANCIENT AND MODERN NAVIGATION. 283 
 
 ■with a tiller and a movable keel. Simpler balsas now 
 used upon the Lake of Chiquito in Bolivia are merely 
 formed of two thick bundles of reeds five or six yards long. 
 They are propelled by means of a sail also made of plaited 
 reeds, or by oars. The canoes natiu-ally recall to mind 
 the coracles of the ancient Britons, the baydars of the 
 Aleutian Isles, and still more the kayaks in which the 
 Eskimos brave the winds and waves in perfect safety.' 
 
 But what an immense distance separates the primitive 
 canoes, the coraicles, the baydars, the kayaks, and the 
 balsas, from our sailing vessels, and above all from those 
 formidable ships moved by steam with a power which 
 modern science strengthens or moderates at will ! 
 
 It was only by a strong reinforcement of men, by 
 means of a treble rank of rowers, even in the time of 
 Darius and Xerxes that the galleys cut their way through 
 the waves of the Hellespont. 
 
 ' Our ships of war,' says M. Michel Chevalier, ' are 
 furnished with engines nominally of fourteen thousand 
 horse-power ; but as their possible force, only employed 
 in case of necessity, is five times as great, they are really 
 engines of seventy thousand horse-power. As the horse 
 of steam is twice as strong as the animal of flesh and 
 blood, and as the engine works night and day, whereas 
 the hack or the plough horse can seldom go more than 
 eight hours, a steam horse does the work of six of these 
 animals, which we nevertheless consider such useful and 
 convenient servants. Here, then, is a machine which alone 
 represents four hundred and twenty thousand horses at 
 work. With the exception of the unparalleled army 
 which Napoleon led across the Niemen, en route for 
 Moscow in the summer of 1812, I do not think there has 
 ever been in modern times a single army containing so 
 great a number of horses.' 
 
 ' The hiyalts are barks made of a light wooden framework, covered 
 on the outside with the skins of seals filled with air, strongly sewn and 
 wrapped closely round the waist of the single and almost amphibious 
 occupant of the boat. The haydars are also canoes made of a single 
 skin, or of several sewn together, and they are used by the inhabitants 
 of the Aleutian Islands to cross the Pacific. 
 
284 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 II. COMMEBCE. 
 
 How far the commercial relations of the primitive 
 people of Europe extended, and what routes they followed, 
 is a question of which the solution, like that of so many 
 others, is as yet merely guessed at. However, the 
 presence of amber from the Baltic, and of white Mediter- 
 ranean coral in Switzerland, Italy, and elsewhere; of 
 carved flints in abundance in the Isle of Elba, where this 
 rock does not exist in a natural state ; arrows made of the 
 black obsidian of Sardinia, found in the same island and 
 in that of Pianosa; the jade axe found at Pauilhac, in the 
 department of Gers ; those of augite of Auvergne found 
 in Brittany ; the green turquoise of Brittany discovered in 
 several dolmens in the south of France : all these articles, 
 of which the rough material is foreign to the country where 
 they are found, prove that from the earliest ages, more or 
 less extended, commercial relations existed among the 
 most ancient inhabitants of Europe. Indeed, there is 
 nothing more natural than this exchange between two 
 neighbouring tribes. The jade axes found in many parts 
 of the European continents— at Concise andMeilen,for ex- 
 ample — have even led to the belief that exchanges were 
 made between this continent and the eastern regions of 
 Asia, a trade which could only be carried on by means of 
 long and dangerous voyages, hardly to be reconciled in 
 our opinion with the infancy of navigation. 
 
 But before admitting this hypothesis, it is as well to 
 be certain that these axes come from the East, and that 
 they are made of Oriental jade. M. de Mortillet strongly 
 maintains the contrary opinion. He thinks that this sup- 
 posed Oriental jade is simply a serpentine stone, more or 
 less impregnated with silica, and formerly rather common 
 in the Swiss Alps and in the Apennines. The prioaitive 
 Europeans could pass from hand to hand by means of ex- 
 change and by land journeys, or at least journeys along 
 the great rivers, the axes of supposed Oriental jade really 
 manufactured from some indigenous quartzo-serpentine 
 rock. 
 
PREHISTOBIC TRADE. 285 
 
 Moreover, the researches of M. Damour ' show that the 
 most different matters have been classed together under the 
 name of nephritus, such as agate, jasper, diorite, serpen- 
 tine, petro-silica, &c., and generally all hard, tenacious, and 
 dense rock, whose mineralogic nature was not well known. 
 Perhaps this supposed Oriental jade comes into this 
 category. M. de Quatrefages is among the number of 
 those who think that these nephritus or jade axes, found 
 in France and elsewhere, have been conveyed thither from 
 Asia by means of barter. It is not absolutely impossible 
 that this is the case, but there are no valid proofs in 
 support of an opinion as little certain as the contrary one. 
 
 M. Nicolucci denies in so many words the assertions 
 of M. Gr. de Mortillet. He said in 1871, speaking at the 
 Prehistoric Congress of Bologna: 'Among the polished 
 implements of the Neapolitan provinces, we possess several 
 made of a greenish stone, known since the last studies of 
 M. Damour as jadeite. This stone has not hitherto been 
 found in Calabria, in the Apennines, nor in the Alps, while 
 on the other hand it abounds in Central Asia, and could 
 therefore only make its way into Italy by means of a pre- 
 historic trade existing between Europe and Asia.' But 
 if nephritus is of Eastern origin and indicates a continued 
 trade with the East, why did not those who brought it 
 into Europe import also bronze and iron, then in almost 
 daily use among them? Chemistry, consulted in its 
 turn, furnishes also its contingent of proofs. After sub- 
 jecting the axes found at Concise, Meilen, and Mooseedorf 
 to a series of analyses, and comparing the results with 
 those obtained by M. Scherer from a study of the true 
 Oriental jade, M. de Fellenburg adopts the opinion of M. 
 Desor, and says that the hypothesis of the Eastern origin 
 of the Swiss stone appears to him to be nearest the truth. 
 But this solution, as the author of it owns himself, remains 
 a pure hypothesis, since direct and conclusive proofs are 
 wanting. 
 
 It is impossible to come to a decision among these 
 
 ' Comptes-rendws de Vlnstitnt, vol. Ixi., p. 337. 
 
286 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 conflicting and even completely contradictory opinions. 
 M. de Mortillet's first view appears to me to be the most 
 plausible one. But he now owns himself, in spite of his 
 former contrary assertions, whose value he thereby singu- 
 larly diminishes, that no veins of jade which might have 
 served to make the axes in question have hitherto been 
 found in Europe. Satisfactory proofs of the identity of 
 the Oriental jade with that of the axes found in Europe, 
 and of the absence of this stone in this continent, can 
 alone settle the question. We should stiU, however, have 
 to dispose of the difficulty of accounting for such extended 
 commercial relations at a time of necessarily elementary 
 navigation. The same difficulty does not exist with re- 
 gard to the dissemination of the various kinds of sheUs 
 used for adorning garments and for personal ornament, 
 which are found in the caves, tombs, and dolmens. The 
 shells bear witness to a trade far less extensive, and there- 
 fore possible among the primitive European populations. 
 Thus, Gyprea pyruifrh and C. lurida, found at Laugerie 
 Basse, indicate the existence of a trade by barter between 
 the inhabitants of the banks of the Vez^re and those of 
 the shores of the Mediterranean, in the same way that the 
 Littorina littorea, picked up at Cro-Magnon, and the shells 
 of the faluns of Touraine, found in other caves, are proofs 
 of commercial relations with the dwellers on the shores of 
 the Atlantic. 
 
 Lastly, the flints of Grrand Pressigny, found in Belgium, 
 and the articles of green obsidian, collected in the valley 
 of Vibrata by Nicolucci, lead us to conclude that there was 
 a trade between France and the Low Countries, between 
 Italy and Bohemia. But those who attribute extended 
 commercial relations to the tribes of the stone age found 
 their belief on mere conjecture contradicted by all the 
 facts. 
 
287 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 , THE FINE ARTS. 
 
 I. THE AKTS OP DESIGIT IH" THE CAVES. 
 
 In their excellent work upon the relics of Aquitaine 
 (' Reliquife Aquitaniese '), profane relics indeed, but per- 
 fectly authentic, MM. Lartet and Christy have described 
 to us the carved or engraved articles which they collected 
 from the bone caves of P&igord.' 
 
 Glancing at the illustrations contained in the work, 
 and recalling to mind the originals collected together in 
 the glass cases of the Exhibition of 1867, and those which 
 were exposed in one of the rooms of the Trocadero in 
 1878, the observer feels no small surprise at the compara- 
 tive degree of perfection reached by the arts of design 
 among a still savage people, living in caves and ignorant 
 of the use of metals. We will look at some of these 
 articles, of very doubtful value in the eyes of the vulgar, 
 priceless to the man of science or of taste, and, above all, 
 to the true artist.^ 
 
 Here is first a slab of fossil ivory found in the cave of 
 La Madelaine by MM. Lartet and Christy ; upon it (fig. 
 128) the antediluvian artist has engraved a picture of the 
 mammoth {Elephas primigenius), easily to be recognised 
 by its wide protruding forehead, its small shaggy ears, its 
 
 ' It must not, however, be forgotten that the first attempts at 
 carving and engraving in bone were found in the caves of Aurignac, 
 Savign6, and Massat. 
 
 ' According to M. G. de Mortillet, a lover of antiquities offered in 
 1869 to buy for a million of francs (40,0002.) the contents of the case 
 containing the <ifty-one specimens relating to the history of art in the 
 reindeer age. 
 
288 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATIOK. 
 
 "- A/ V:'_3y A 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^- 
 
 /' 
 
 / 
 
 K 
 
 H 
 O 
 
 a 
 ^ 
 
 \ 
 
 \. 
 
 
 / 
 
ANTEDILUVIAN ART. 289 
 
 long tusks with an upward curve ; bj the long hairs 
 which cover its head and body, and, lastly by the heavy 
 brown mane along its neck and back, and which seems to 
 have resembled that of the bison. There can be no 
 doubt that the engraver had seen the animal whose image 
 he reproduced. His representation is even more accm-ate 
 than that drawn after nature by a modem artist, a mere 
 trader, certainly, of the elephant found in 1806, with its 
 skin, flesh, and bones near the mouth of the Lena, on the 
 Frozen Ocean. » After comparing the two drawings repro- 
 duced together in the ' Bulletin of the Imperial Academy 
 of St. Petersburg,' and after reading the accurate criticism 
 on the latter by Professor Brandt, we are easily convinced 
 of the superiority of the artist of the stone age over the 
 contemporary Eussian trader, at least as far as accuracy 
 of morphological detail is concerned.' 
 
 To this portrait of the mammoth, produced by the 
 graving tool of a reindeer hunter, we must add a second 
 to which, found among his father's collection, M. Louis 
 Lartet has lately drawn attention. The exact spot from 
 which this curious specimen was taken is unknown, but 
 all evidence tends to .show that it came from Perigord. 
 It represents the Elephas primigenius, engraved with a 
 flint style by an artist who seems to have been impeded 
 in his work by the movements of the animal before him. 
 This appears to be the explanation of the several doubtful 
 
 ' In a series of papers published in German by the Imperial Academy 
 of St. Petersburg, vol. x. 1866, Professor Brandt has made a complete 
 and instructive study of the mammoth, and gives a picture of it (p. 115), 
 which he honestly owns is somewhat idealised. The tail in the drawing 
 is too long, the mane does not extend far enough along the back, and 
 the hairs are not sufficiently long, since they really hung as low as the 
 knees of the animal ; lastly, this mane was not black as in the picture, 
 but reddish-brown. The hair upon the head was soft to the touch, 
 reddish-brown also, and six feet in length. Besides these long outer 
 hairs the mammoth was provided with a thick, curly woollen fleece. 
 All these corrections made by Brandt were suggested to him by the 
 documents he collected relating to the mammoth preserved at Moscow, 
 or to the remains of the specimen found in 1864, not near the bay of 
 Tas as was at first announced, but in the neighbourhood of the bay of 
 Jenissei. Brandt also confidently drew information fiom the drawing 
 of the unknown artist of the Dordogne. 
 
290 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATIOK. 
 
 lines made by the draughtsman before he clearly decided 
 the outlines of his first drawing. This he soon abandoned, 
 and traced two drawings, fairly accurate this time, of the 
 colossal beast whose trunk is lowered towards the earth in 
 the one, curved inwards towards the body in the other. 
 Both are engraved upon the two surfaces of a piece of bone, 
 polished on both sides, and they represent almost the en- 
 tire profile outline of the animal.* 
 
 Another passably-executed drawing probably repre- 
 sents the glutton, a migrated animal, whose presence in 
 
 Fig. 129. Fight between two keindeer, engkaved upon a 
 schistose bock. 
 
 the caves of Perigord is a fact worthy of note. We come 
 next to a schistose rock on which the draughtsman has 
 represented a fight between two reindeer bucks (fig. 129). 
 The one raises his head proudly to solicit the favour of the 
 female as the prize of the victory which he has just won. 
 ' This complicated composition,' says M. Gr. de Mortillet, 
 ' rendered with a true feeling of the situation, is never- 
 
 • See in the Matmcmx of 1874 a note by M. Louis Lartet, entitled 
 Gravures inedites de Vd^/e du renne j'araisaant representer le mammouth et 
 le ghuton. 
 
DRAWINGS OF ANIMALS. 291 
 
 theless fexecuted with extreme nmveU. Each animal is 
 drawn as though the others did not exist. Thus the fore 
 legs of the conquered deer, which should be properly 
 hidden by the body of the female, are distinctly repre- 
 sented notwithstanding.' The reindeer is the animal most 
 frequently drawn or carved on the weapons or ornaments 
 of the hunters of Perigord. The horse, in repose or gal- 
 loping, is also often represented ; but the picture is not 
 always a success. The aurochs, the wild goat, the chamois, 
 the stag, the 03e, the fox, the hippopotamus, and the rhi- 
 noceros occur also on several sculptured bones. The saiga 
 antelope, now confined to Tartary and the Ural Mountains, 
 is likewise occasionally represented. 
 
 The Pyrenean caves also bring their contingent of 
 materials for the history of primitive art ; that of Bruni- 
 quel, whose inestimable riches now no longer belong to 
 France, furnished M. Brun, the zealous director of the 
 Natural History Museum of Montauban, with a piece of 
 reindeer horn fashioned into the form of a wand of office. 
 The hole for suspending it is pierced in part of the 
 circumference. But whatever may have been the purpose 
 for which this implement was intended, the figure of an 
 animal is represented upon it; but unfortunately the 
 drawing, inferior in execution to those of Perigord, is not 
 sufficiently good to enable us to be certain what mammal 
 it is intended to represent. We may also mention the 
 drawing of a cave-bear, easily recognised by its protruding 
 forehead, which Dr. Grarrigou observed upon a pebble 
 which he found in the lower cave of Massat (' Bulletin of 
 the Geological Society of France, 1867,' p. 143). 
 
 This drawing, engraved in outline like that of the 
 mammoth of the Madelaine, represents an animal of a 
 long extinct species. The artist of Ari^ge, who drew this 
 accurate portrait, therefore saw the living animal ; he was 
 contemporary with it, as the artist of Perigord was with 
 the mammoth whose picture he has left us. 
 
 Lastly, M. Ed. Lartet observed the head of the modern 
 Pyrenean bear very accurately drawn upon the extremity 
 of a stag's antler, broken across at the joint where a hole 
 
292 
 
 PKIMITIVE eiVIIilSATION. 
 
 had been pierced in it. Firm hatched lines indicate the 
 shadows; a distinct step in advance of the preceding 
 
 figures, which were 
 merely outlined. 
 
 The cave of Du- 
 ruthy, first inhabited 
 in the reindeer age, 
 o and during its artistic 
 S period, was used as a 
 place of burial at a 
 time very near the 
 neolithic age. More 
 than thirty skeletons 
 have been discovered 
 in the upper and dis- 
 turbed part of the 
 cave. Beneath the 
 hearth which lies be- 
 low these graves, a 
 human skull and 
 bones were found in 
 company with carved 
 and engraved teeth 
 of the lion and bear. 
 One of the teeth 
 bears on one side the 
 image of a fish, and 
 on the other, orna- 
 mental lines and a 
 barbed arrow. 
 
 Here we again 
 meet with the skill, 
 the methods, and 
 even the details of 
 ornament of the pri- 
 mitive artists of Perigord. The engravings, executed by 
 Basque or Bearnese artists, nevertheless bear their distinc- 
 tive marks, and the barbed arrows serve them for a sig- 
 nature. Instead of being drawn upon reindeer bones, as 
 
EARLY ENGRAVINGS. 293 
 
 at Aurignac, the figures are cut upon bears' teeth. Barbed 
 arrows, symmetrically disposed, and furnished with a 
 varying number of barbs, which constitute their principal 
 ornament, have not, to my knowledge, hitherto been 
 observed upon the figured articles of Perigord and the 
 Pyrenees.' 
 
 The artists who engraved these drawings were bear 
 hunters, as at Aurignac, and not reindeer hunters. Tlie 
 seal engraved upon a bear's tooth seems to show that one 
 of these artists^ before settling in the neighbourhood of 
 Gave, had dwelt upon or had visited the sea-coast, for he 
 had certainly seen seals. 
 
 Sculpture itself has a very remote origin ; it was born 
 along with the arts of design proper, in the age of carved 
 flint instruments ; for to fashion rude matter into an in- 
 strument of daily use is as truly sculpture as the carving 
 of a priceless work of art. 
 
 Switzerland, as well as France, can boast of antedi- 
 luvian artists, some of whom give proofs of great skill. 
 Such, for example, was the man who drew with a flint 
 style upon a piece of reindeer horn the picture of a rein- 
 deer grazing, which was certainly under his eyes (fig. 130). 
 M. Hain has justly called attention to the accuracy and 
 even the boldness of this prehistoric drawing. It is 
 evident, he says, that this was not the artist's first attempt, 
 and his work will bear comparison with that of his rivals 
 of Languedoc and Perigord. Professor Hain, however, is 
 of opinion that the head of the animal is too large and 
 the ears too small. He is inclined to think that these 
 two peculiarities are due to the poverty of the pasturage 
 in the districts inhabited by the animal, and, indeed, the 
 theory of the learned professor of Zurich is further con- 
 firmed by the hollow belly of the poor brute, which shows 
 that the cravings of its appetite were not always satis- 
 fied, &c. 
 
 This remarkable specimen found in the cave of Thayn- 
 
 ' Louis Lartet and Chatelain Dupaie, Uiie sSjmltwe des anciens 
 troglodytes des PyrSnies, superposee a un foyer contencmt des debris 
 hmnaim assoeih ci des dents sculpties de lion et d!ows. Paris, 1864. 
 
294 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 gen, near Schaffhausen, proves two facts; first, the certainty 
 of the long-disputed existence of the reindeer in Switzer- 
 land in prehistoric times ; secondly, the flourishing con- 
 dition of the arts of design in the same country and at 
 the same epoch. Besides the representation of the rein- 
 deer found in the cave of Kesslerloch, a number of not less 
 successful drawings and carvings were likewise discovered 
 there, proving that these Swiss artists were possessed of a 
 talent in no way inferior to that of the reindeer hunters 
 of Perigord and the Pyrenees. Among the carvings we 
 will only cite a head of a horse, and a head of the ovihos 
 (fig. 131), impossible to be mistaken, and among the en- 
 gravings on bone, the horse (fig. 132), the pig, the bear, 
 and the fox, whose form and attitudes are given with a 
 
 Fig. 131. Head of Ovibos moschatus fkom the cave of Thayngen. 
 
 fidelity which leaves little to be desired.' Yet the in- 
 habitants of the cave of Kesslerloch lived at a far earlier 
 period than that in which the lake cities were built, and 
 no trace of pottery or of tissues have been found among 
 them. Domestic animals, including the dog, are also 
 entirely absent. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that the bone caves of England 
 are completely destitute of any specimens of drawing or 
 carving, although fish-hooks, pins, and even needles skil- 
 fully wrought in bone have been found in several of those 
 of the reindeer age. The same artistic inferiority exists 
 among the Belgian troglodytes, without even excepting 
 those of the cave of Chaleux, emphatically styled a little 
 
 ' See in the Math-iaux, vol.xi. 1876, p. 102, and the following figures, 
 40, 43, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, and 58, of which we here reproduce the most 
 important. 
 
SPECIMENS OF EAELY CAEVING. 295 
 
 quaternary Pompeii. It is to them, however, that we 
 owe one of the most ancient specimens of the plastic art. 
 This is a small wooden figure,' very rudely carved, a sort 
 
 FiQ. 132. Horse engraved in outline urois reindeer horn. 
 (Wand of office.) 
 
 of rough sketch, which denotes the infancy of art, and 
 
 ' A drawing engraved npon reindeer horn, but hard to decipher, 
 was found with this specimen at Font-4-Lesse. 
 
296 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 which dates from its very earliest dawn, since the stratum 
 where it was found is one of the upper layers of the 
 mammoth.' 
 
 I am only acquainted with one specimen of Scandina- 
 vian art in prehistoric time, a drawing representing a doe, 
 engraved with a flint style upon a carved piece of stag's 
 horn.^ 
 
 It is yet an open question whether the strange carvings 
 of ships with their crews, which are to be seen on the 
 rocks of Sweden and Norway, should be attributed to the 
 neolithic period or to the age of bronze. M. Gr. Brunius, 
 who has given special attention to this subject, is of the 
 former opinion, while others, on the other hand, deny 
 them any antiquity. 
 
 Fig. 133. Figure of a naked man between two hokses' heads. 
 (After Ed. Lartet and Christy.) 
 
 It is a singular fact that while these prehistoric artists 
 render with delightful simplicity, and at the same time 
 with perfect truth, the natural scenes they had before their 
 eyes, such as a reindeer fight or the chase of the aurochs ; 
 while they represented in outline, with a skill unattainable 
 by those of us who have not learnt to draw, the figure of 
 the animals which lived at that remote epoch, they are 
 embarrassed, constrained, and unskilful in their efforts to 
 reproduce the human form. These primitive drawings 
 resemble those of the pretended ' Book of the Savages,' 
 which really are the work of clever scholars, destined 
 perhaps to become great masters at some future time. 
 
 ' The fossil fauna of this stratum belongs to the transition period 
 between the ages of the mammoth and reindeer. 
 
 ' Nilsson's Primitive Inhahitants of Soa/ndinavia, plate xv. fig's 258 
 and 259. 
 
EARLY DEAWINGS OF MAN. 297 
 
 MM. Ed. Lartet and Christy discovered at the cave 
 of La Madelaine, upon a wand of office, the first repre- 
 sentation of the human form, drawn in outline between 
 two horses' heads, and a fish apparently nearly allied to 
 the eels (fig. 133). But in this sketch the face is with- 
 out expression, and the limbs, although fairly distinct, 
 remain unfinished, the artist having omitted the feet and 
 hands. An arm and hand, perhaps tattooed, at any rate 
 marked with oblique zigzag lines and possessed only of 
 four fingers, tke thumb being omitted, is traced upon 
 both sides of a spear-head found in the same place as the 
 above-mentioned drawing (' Reliquiae Aquitanicse,' pi. ii. 
 fig. 86, pi. xviii. figs. 1 and 10). It was also in Laugerie 
 Basse that M. Elie Massenat discovered two antedi- 
 luvian engravings, the one representing the head of an 
 elephant, the other an aurochs hunt, in which the animal 
 is represented fleeing before a man who appears to be 
 throwing darts. According to M. Massenat, 'it is the 
 finest and most perfect drawing of the human form of the 
 epoch of the caves that has been hitherto discovered,' 
 without even admitting an exception in favour of the 
 fisherman armed with the barbed harpoon, with which 
 M. Broca made us acquainted in his remarkable lecture 
 at Bordeaux in 1872. 
 
 We give M. Massenat's description of this speci- 
 men : — 
 
 ' The figure is nude. . . . The form of the head is 
 brachycephalous ; the hair stiff and growing in tufts on 
 the top of the head ; the chin is furnished with a very 
 apparent beard ; the neck rather long ; the upper arm 
 comparatively short ; the hands badly drawn ; the right 
 arm thrown backwards seems to be about to lance the 
 javelin with which it is armed, while the left is stretched 
 forward as if to seize the aurochs by the tail. The chest 
 is protruding ; the belly well drawn ; the sexual parts 
 large and strongly developed ; the vertebral column rather 
 long and resembling in its arched form that of the ape 
 when walking upright ; the thighs are well drawn, but 
 the femur is very short ; the lower part of the leg and the 
 
298 
 
 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 foot are regular and well formed ; the head is slightly 
 thrown backwards, and the face has a joyful expression 
 which attracts notice at the first glance.' (' Materiaux,' 
 1869, p. 333). 
 
 Lastly, at Laugerie Basse the Abbe Landesque found 
 
 Fig. 134. Fragment or A soapitla, focnd at Laugeeie Basse, oh which 
 
 IS EHGKAVED THE TIGCRE OF A PREGNANT WOMAN. 
 
 the fragment of a scapula on which the artist had engraved 
 in outline the body of a woman apparently in an advanced 
 stage of pregnancy (fig. 134). This woman wears bracelets, 
 and her throat is adorned with a necklace of large beads. 
 On the same piece of bone may be seen the two hind legs of 
 
RUDE AET SPECIMENS. 299 
 
 a reindeer, of which the rest of the body has disappeared 
 with the piece broken off. 
 
 The reader may have seen in the glass cases of the 
 gallery devoted to anthropology in the Exhibition some 
 rude drawings found by M. Eivi^re on the rocks of the 
 Val d'Enfer, not far from the Lake of Wonders. These 
 drawings are said to bear a close resemblance to those 
 which the Gruanchos, the ancient inhabitants of the 
 Canary Isles, engraved upon the rocks there before the 
 formation of tUe Straits of Gibraltar, when Africa was 
 still united to Spain and to the Canary Isles, from which 
 it is not now far distant. At this same epoch, it is 
 further said, the Guanchos may have occupied, indeed 
 occupied in point of fact, the south-west of Europe, as 
 their skulls have precisely the same characteristics as 
 those of Cro-Magnon, and as a close resemblance exists 
 between their ornaments and those found at the last- 
 named spot ; hence it is supposed that the drawings ot 
 the Val d'Enfer were engraved by the Guanchos. These 
 conclusions appear to me to be somewhat rashly drawn, 
 especially if, as some archaeologists' now suspect, the skulls 
 of Cro-Magnon are more recent than it was originally 
 believed. This would completely dispose of their pre- 
 tended identity with the primitive inhabitants of the 
 Canaries. 
 
 More authentic and far more perfect di'awings also 
 figure in the collections of the Colony of the Cape of Good 
 Hope. These drawings, representing both the men and 
 animals of the country, are, at least as far as the modelling 
 and attitude of the human form is concerned, far superior 
 to those of the caves of Perigord, which leads us to think 
 that they are of more recent date. But they are notwith- 
 standing very remarkable, inasmuch as they are the 
 products of the pictorial art of the Bosjesmen, one of the 
 lowest of human races. 
 
 We have seen that the human form, in its primitive 
 nudity, is represented in outline on the reindeer bones 
 discovered in the caves" of Perigord, by the artist who 
 lived in this district at a period to which it is impossible 
 
300 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 to assign a date, but which was certainly very remote. 
 We are now to see the same human form represented in 
 relief by these same unknown artists, in whom we ought 
 perhaps to recognise our first ancestors. 
 
 Antediluvian statuary presents, in fact, to our somewhat 
 scandalised vision a species of immodest Venus, found in 
 Laugerie Basse by M. de Vibraye. ' This,' says M. de 
 Mortillet, ' is a tall, thin female body, of which the repro- 
 ductive members are strongly developed and the buttocks 
 extremely prominent. The head and legs are wanting, 
 having been long since broken off. The arms never 
 existed.' The Abbe Landesque also discovered in Laugerie 
 Basse a small figure, rudely carved in reindeer horn, in 
 which, with the help of a little imagination, may be dis- 
 tinguished a naked human being, crouching in a suppliant 
 position ('Materiaux, 1874,' p. 276). 
 
 Among other precious treasures, Laugerie Basse has 
 also furnished M. de Vibraye with a mammoth's head 
 skilfully carved upon a wand of office, which is unfortu- 
 nately broken, and of which the lost half probably repre- 
 sented the body of the animal. The mammoth has also 
 been represented in relief, but very roughly, on a fragment 
 of reindeer horn found at Montastruc by M. Peccadeau de 
 L'Isle, to whom we are also indebted for the discovery of 
 the handles of two daggers, on which the artist had figured 
 the reindeer from the horn of which these remarkable 
 specimens were carved. In their ' Eeliquise Aquitanicae,' 
 MM. Ed. Lartet and Christy have likewise given an illus- 
 tration of the carved handle of a dagger, which represents 
 a reindeer with its muzzle raised so that the antlers lie 
 along the shoulders, while the fore feet, bent back under 
 the belly, form the handle. The hind legs stretched out 
 towards the blade connect it with the handle of the dagger 
 (fig. 135). Although this carving is merely indicated, it 
 is notwithstanding the work of an artist, proved worthy 
 of the name by the skill he has shown in adapting the 
 position of the animal to the necessities of his plan with- 
 out rendering it forced. ' 
 
 Man and mammalia have furnished the carvers or 
 
OBJECTS DEAWN OR CARVED. 301 
 
 draughtsmen of the reindeer age with their most numerous 
 subjects of composition. Yet they have sometimes repre- 
 sented birds (the blackcock, the swan, and the goose) ; 
 reptiles (snakes) ; batrachians (tadpoles of frogs) ; and 
 fish (eel, carp, barbel, and trout). It seems that, owing to 
 their usually small size, the invertebrate animals did not 
 attract the attention of the troglodyte artists, for no repre- 
 sentation, either drawn or carved, has hitherto been found 
 of any one of them. 
 
 Plants even^-in spite of the size and stately appearance 
 of some of them, and the grace and beauty of the foliage 
 and flowers of others, are likewise very rarely represented 
 in drawing, never, as far I know, in sculpture. Three 
 flowers only were shown in the Exhibition of 1867. A 
 
 Fig. 135. Carved reindeek-hobn handle. (After Ed. Lartet and Christy.) 
 
 frond of fern engraved upon a staff of office, found in the 
 station of Mont Sal6ve by MM, Favre and Thioly, has been 
 lately added to the number. Lastly, M. Cazalis de Fon- 
 douce saw at La Salpetri^re, in the department of Gard, 
 the drawing of a pine {Abies excelsior of Linnseus) scratched 
 with a flint style upon an antler of Cervus tarandus. We 
 may mention, by the way, that this fact, in conjunction 
 with others observed by the same author, proves that man 
 hunted the reindeer in Lower Languedoc, on the borders 
 of Provence, and only a few leagues from the Mediter- 
 ranean. 
 
 It was formerly believed that the arts of design com- 
 pletely disappeared in France during the neolithic period. 
 This was a mistake. In the caves which he discovered in 
 Champagne, and which belong to this period, M. de Baye 
 14 
 
302 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 found traces of sculpture; but, far from showing any 
 progress, the art appears to be decaying. It is worthy of 
 mention, nevertheless, that a rudely-carved figure may be 
 seen in one of the artificial caves hollowed out of the 
 chalk with an axe of polished flint. The nose is of exag- 
 gerated size, the eyes are indicated by two holes filled 
 with a black substance, the face resembles a bird. A 
 necklace lies upon the breast of the figure, and the locket 
 which hangs from the middle of it is painted yellow, 
 probably with hydrated iron diluted in water. The breasts, 
 which are very prominent, have been modelled in an un- 
 natural position by the sculptor of Champagne, evidently 
 little versed in the science of anatomy. As to the rest of 
 the body, neither the arms nor the legs are distinctly, 
 modelled. This same form, which is repeated upon the 
 walls of several caves, perhaps represents a god in human 
 form, a female divinity, as M. de Baye thinks. If this 
 were the case, it would furnish a hint as to the religious 
 ideas, even as to the mode of worship of these ancient 
 tribes of Champagne. We shall recur to this subject 
 presently.' 
 
 In spite of their obvious imperfections, these drawings 
 and carvings of our primitive ancestors are, notwithstand- 
 ing, without the stiffness of those of the Egyptians of the 
 earlier dynasties. 
 
 The race to which the artists of the Vezere belonged 
 is considered by MM. Quatrefages and Hamy to be a 
 type to which they have given the name of Cro-Magnon, 
 and they regard the Guanchos of the Canary Isles, and 
 certain Kabyles of the Beni Masser and of the Djurjura as 
 the best preserved representatives of this ancient race, 
 endowed with such a remarkable gift for the arts of 
 design. In France they regard the modern Basques of 
 Zaraus as their descendants, as also the Parisians of the 
 
 ' We are involuntarily struck with the resemblance between the 
 statuettes of the Marne with the image of Minerva with the owl's eyes 
 (■yhavKaitts 'ASfjvi)) and prominent breasts, represented on a great number 
 of the earthenware vessels taken by Dr. Schliemann from the ruins of 
 Troy. 
 
MUSIC AND PAINTING. 303 
 
 fifth century, and even certain Parisian women of modern 
 times. 
 
 II. PAINTIWa AND MTTSIC. 
 
 There is nothing to show that the men of the reindeer 
 age cultivated painting to the same extent as drawing, 
 properly so called. They were nevertheless acquainted 
 with certain colouring matters ; it appears even that they 
 painted their bodies with a mixture of grease and red 
 haematite or oxide of manganese, a custom practised later 
 by the Picts of <Great Britain, and in modern times by the 
 savage tribes of America, by whom similar colouring 
 matters are frequently employed for this purpose. 
 
 Haematite, or red chalk, reduced to powder and per- 
 fectly preserved in a cardium shell, was discovered at 
 Bruniquel, by M. Brun, director of the Natural History 
 Museum of Montauban. Lying beside this colouring 
 matter was a bone implement which may have been used 
 for tattooing, the most favourite species of ornamentation 
 among modern savage tribes. Pulverised haemal ite was 
 also found at Montastruc by M. Peccadeau de L'Isle, in 
 Dordogne by MM. Lartet and Christy, in Belgium by 
 M.. Ed. Dupont. Lastly, M. Cazalis de Fondouce found in 
 a cave on the banks of the Garden, that of the Salpetri^re, 
 belonging to the reindeer age, a sea-shell full of haematite. 
 Close to the shell lay the mortar which had been used to 
 grind the colouring matter to a fine powder, and to mix 
 it with grease, so as to make a pomatum destined to 
 colour the body red, and to protect the skin against 
 atmospherical influences ('L'Homme du Garden,' p. 44, 
 Paris, 1872). 
 
 We hesitate to name whistles among musical instru- 
 ments, because of their piercing and usually disagreeable 
 sound. But because of this very shrillness the notes of 
 the whistle may have been used as a call by the hunters. 
 
 It is certain that in the caves of Perigord and else- 
 where several instruments have been discovered made 
 from the phalanges of the reindeer, with a hole pierced in 
 them, which are true whistles, and will still give forth 
 more or less sound. Moreover, M. Piette has lately found. 
 
304 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 in the caves of the Pyrenees, tubes made of the bones of 
 birds, which once he thinks formed part of a flute like 
 that which tradition attributes to the god Pan, which, 
 consisted of several reeds of unequal length, bound to- 
 gether by cords, or slips of wood placed cross-wise. Other 
 tubes, like those of the Pyrenees found at Laugerie Basse 
 by the Abbe Landesque, and at Eochebertier, in Charente, 
 by M. Fermond, seem to corroborate M. Piette's theory. 
 The invention of compound flutes, if these really merit 
 the name, dates therefore from the reindeer age. 
 
 III. POTTEBY. 
 
 The print of a horse's hoof in the wet earth, a piece of 
 clay hardened among the cinders on the hearth, or merely 
 dried in the rays of the sun, may have suggested the idea 
 of employing earth to make vessels for holding water, 
 fruits, or any kind of provision. This idea, however 
 natural, yet appears to have occurred to the mind of our 
 prehistoric ancestors at a comparatively late epoch. Flint 
 carving had long been practised ; the wooden vessel was 
 probably invented ; the horns of the Bos primigenius or of 
 the aurochs were doubtless already used as drinking cups 
 by primitive man, when first he thought of using wet 
 clay, kneaded by his hands, to create a new manufacture. 
 This manufacture became one of the most useful, and 
 developed into an art whose productions, perfected and 
 beautified by science, furnishes models to many others, 
 and rival in beauty of form, wealth of ornament, and 
 brilliancy of colour, the most valued works of sculpture, 
 painting, and architecture. 
 
 A number of natural objects may have originally taken 
 the place of pottery, and are even now used in its stead. 
 Such are certain vegetable forms — cocoa-nuts, the spathes 
 of palm trees, the stems of the bamboo ; such are also the 
 horns and hoofs of cattle, the skulls of man, and other 
 animals. The modern inhabitants of Madagascar use the 
 eggs of the AJpyornis maxiTnus for saucepans. 
 
 According to Tylor, the wooden vessel, or the basket 
 of cane or osier, was properly speaking the first foundation 
 
ORIGIN 01? POTTEEY. 305 
 
 of the keramic ' or potter's art. Covered either inside or 
 out with a layer of clay, for the better protection of the 
 vessel or its contents, then purposely consumed, or burned 
 by accident, the destruction of the wood left intact the 
 covering of clay. From this process to that of making 
 vases of clay used alone and hardened by fire, there is 
 but one step : the step was made, and the potter's art was 
 born. The method indicated by Tylor appears to have 
 been employed from time immemorial by the savages of 
 America. ^ 
 
 Modelling in clay, according to M. Alexandre Brong- 
 niart, dates from the very earliest times. It was first 
 applied to fruits, which in decaying left intact the clay 
 moulded round them. The modern Fiji Islanders still 
 mould their earthenware vases round fruits with a more 
 or less firm rind. Undoubted traces of this process are 
 found in gourd-shaped earthen vases, which still contain 
 remains of the rind of this fruit, and which are common 
 in the ancient tumuli of the Ohio river. These same 
 Aiherican tombs contain also fragments of pottery bearing 
 the imprint of bags of coarse tissue or plaited bark, in 
 which they had been cast or moulded, and the weft of 
 which was faithfully reproduced on their outer surface. A 
 basket destined to contain liquids was even found in a 
 Peruvian tomb, and which, at the time of its discovery, 
 was still capable of being employed for that purpose. 
 Lastly, baskets of plaited straw are used by the modern 
 Chinocks to contain the water in which they cook, by 
 means of red-hot stones, the salmon which forms their 
 staple food. 
 
 Clay naturally attracted attention by its plasticity, 
 by the ease with which it retains the forms into which 
 it is moulded, lending itself to any kind of ornament. 
 Another precious property is the power of becoming 
 
 ' The etymology of the word keramic is sufficiently curiotis to deserve 
 a passing mention. The Greek word itepas, whence keramic, originally 
 meant the horns of animals used for drinking-oups ; the word signifies 
 not, therefore, the substance used in making them, but the original shape 
 and nature of drinking-cups. 
 
306 PEIMITIYE CIVILISATION. 
 
 almost as hard as stone, especially when exposed to the 
 action of fire, in spite of its great plasticity, a property to 
 which we owe the important records furnished by this 
 substance to the history of art and of civilisation. There- 
 fore M. Brongniart does not exaggerate when he says, 
 ' Pottery, as it became more abundant, was the source 
 of benefits in times of obscurity, similar to those ren- 
 dered by printing in more enlightened ages.' Consi- 
 dered from that point of view which specially concerns 
 us here, pottery is, at least in a great number of cases, 
 ' the geognostic equivalent of human remains ' (de 
 Christol), provided always that the beds in which the 
 vessels occur are accurately known, and present no trace 
 of any disturbance more recent than the time of burial of 
 the objects in question. 
 
 Undoubted traces of productions of the keramic art 
 were discovered at Cagliari, in Sicily, in a post-pleiocene 
 stratum containing remains of extinct animals, and having 
 evidently formed part of the bottom of some ancient sea, 
 although now situated nearly 300 feet above the level of 
 the Mediterranean. Homer asserts that he discovered in 
 the sediment of the Nile, at a great depth below the 
 surface of the soil, some earthenware and bricks, to 
 which he assigns an age of twelve or thirteen centuries. 
 M. Eaynaud, a mining engineer, mentions fragments of 
 pottery found in company with river shells buried in a 
 deposit of calcareous sand, which covers the granite hills 
 of the Isle of Brehat, separated from the coast of Brittany, 
 which is also granite, by a channel rather more than 
 2,000 yards in width. Now this fluviatile deposit must 
 clearly have been formed at an epoch previous to the 
 opening of the channel between the island and the main- 
 land, that is, at an epoch when man had already betrayed 
 his existence in these regions by the products of keramic 
 art. Eude pottery also occurs, but rarely, in the earliest 
 caves ; those of Nabrigas (Lozere), of Aurignac (Haute- 
 Garonne), of I'Herm (Ariege), of Bize (Herault), of Souvig- 
 nargues (Grard), of Eochebertier (Charente), of Chiampo 
 and Luglio, near Vicenza. 
 
FBAGMENTS Of POTTKEY. 307 
 
 M. Ed. Dapont has collected fragments from all the 
 Belgian stations, which he has examined with the greatest 
 care. M, Eoujou discovered rough-hewn flints and some 
 almost shapeless pottery in the yellow sediment of the 
 Seine, near Choisy-le-Koi, a deposit which he believes to 
 be anterior to the age of polished stone (' Congress of 
 Bologna,' 1871, p. 83). Very rude earthenware has also 
 been found in the cave of Hohefels, near Ulm, with a 
 quantity of bones of the reindeer, bear, and mammoth. 
 Lastly, the Abbe Spano considers that the fragments of 
 pottery which he found in the neighbourhood of the 
 most ancient Nuraghi, belong to the archseolithic age. 
 (See p. 127.) But doubts have been thrown upon the 
 contemporaneity of some of these keramic productions 
 with the bones of extinct animals in the midst of which 
 they were discovered.' Pottery becomes somewhat less 
 rare in the reindeer age ; it is common in the neolithic 
 period. 
 
 M.M. Cartailhac and de Fondouce have even asserted 
 that all the pottery found in the caves and in a number 
 of dolmens belongs exclusively to the age of polished 
 stone. They make no exception in favour of the 
 curious fragments found in the cave of Nabrigas, of 
 whose great age MM. Ed. Lartet and Christy had so 
 little doubt that the latter had casts made of them for 
 the English museums.'' M. de Quatrefages agrees with 
 us in rejecting the opinion of MM. Cartailhac and 
 
 • Among others by MM. de Mortillet and Cartailhac, who do not 
 believe that pottery existed in the palseolithio age. M. Hamy is 
 a partisan of the contrary opinion, which we are also inclined to 
 share. Lastly, M. Flouest found in the camp of Chassey, in the depart- 
 ment of Sa&ne-et-Loire, a fragment of rude pottery, of which the inner 
 lining, black in colour and almost friable, contains particles of silica 
 which serve to bind it. The author of this discovery thinks he has 
 reason to attribute this pottery to the earliest stone age. 
 
 ^ A specimen of this casting has been placed in the Natural History 
 Museum of Toulouse. The original, in my possession, forms the bottom 
 of a flat-bottomed vessel, irregularly circular, evidently hand-made, as 
 the print of the fingers which moulded the clay and ornamented the 
 outer surfaces with deep parallel furrows, is clearly distinguishable both 
 outside and in. This fragment was found in an ossiferous sediment 
 containing a quantity of bones of the Umis speUeus. 
 
308 
 
 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATIOK. 
 
 de Fondouce, especially with regard to the prehistoric 
 pottery of Belgium, notably that of the trou du frontal. 
 ' It would,' he says, ' be placing the age of polished stone 
 far too early to attribute it to an epoch when the chamois, 
 the wild goat, and the saiga antelope lived in Belgium 
 
 Figs. 136, 137, 138, 139. Pieces of pottery foitnd in the bareow of 
 West Kennet. (After Lubbock.) 
 
 with the Norway rat and the ptarmigan. This is perhaps 
 a subject for consideration ; but the presence of these 
 species in the neighbourhood of Dinant is to us a proof 
 that we are still in the fourth epoch ' (De Quatrefagea' 
 ' L'Espece Humaine,' p. 253, Paris, 1877). 
 
ORNAMENTATION OF POTTJEEY. 309 
 
 The most ancient vessels, nearly always reduced to 
 mere fragments, and even those of a more recent epoch, 
 are made of coarse clay mixed with sand, with carbonate 
 of lime, quartz, or mica,' imperfectly baked with fire or 
 sun-dried, but not thrown on the wheel, an invention of 
 comparatively recent date. Yet these vases are often 
 elegant in shape, of which the reader may readily assure 
 himself by glancing at the vessels discovered more or 
 less intact in certain tumuli, and in the earliest lake 
 dwellings of Switzerland and Italy. (See above, figs. 52 
 and 53.) 
 
 They are ornamented in the simplest and most uniform 
 way, with designs in relief or depressions made with the 
 nail or the top of the finger, with pieces of wood, pointed 
 bones, or string pressed more or less deeply into the soft 
 clay. On the more recent vessels these are in the form 
 of straight or zigzag lines, dots, or parallel Unes, squares, 
 triangles, or rarely circles (figs. 136, 137, 138, 139). 
 These combinations recall to mind the figures carved or 
 engraved by the modern Kabyles on the blade or wooden 
 sheath of their yataghans. Ornaments of twisted clay 
 applied with the hand, occasionally handles, and some- 
 times, near the brim, knobs pierced with holes for the 
 passage of a suspending string, never a spout ; such are 
 the distinguishing features of the pottery of prehistoric 
 time. 
 
 Neither plants nor animals are ever represented on 
 any of the vessels found in France, to whatever epoch 
 they may belong.^ This absence of ornament is one of 
 the characteristics of primitive pottery. Yet from the 
 reindeer age — that is to say, the epoch of the dawn of 
 keramic art — the arts of design were already sufficiently 
 
 ' MM. G. de Mortillet and Ed. Dupont assert that the pottery of 
 the neolithic age only contains carbonate of lime mixed with the clay ; 
 while in those of the aichseolithic age sand, mica, and carbonate of lime 
 are all found. I do not know that large pieces of mica have hitherto 
 been found in European pottery, as in American earthenware of the 
 epoch of the moand builders. 
 
 ' The stem and veins of a leaf are figured upon a vase found at 
 Wangen, in Switzerland. 
 
310 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 developed ; we see the proof in the drawings and carvings 
 executed on bone, ivory, and stone by the artists of Lan- 
 guedoc and Perigord. This presents a new problem to 
 be resolved ; unfortunately all the elements necessary to 
 its solution are not yet forthcoming. 
 
 It is worthy of note that the instinct of imitation, so 
 little .developed among the primitive European potters, 
 is on the contrary very strong among the various peoples 
 of the New World. Their earliest vessels are a more or 
 less faithful reproduction of the form of the fruits (that 
 of the gourd is of most common occurrence), and of the 
 animals of the country (see p. 165). The modem pottery 
 of certain American tribes has retained the same character 
 in spite of contact with Europeans. 
 
 A great similarity is observed in the pottery of the 
 archseolithic and neolithic ages. This likeness is sometimes 
 so great as to occasion a real diflBculty in deciding to which 
 epoch any given vessel should be attributed. Hence the 
 numerous errors which have been made on this point, 
 and which are still of daily occurrence. It cannot be 
 denied, however, that vases with a curved bottom are more 
 ancient than flat-bottomed ones. The latter mark a real 
 progress in keramic art. Others, still more recent, termi- 
 nate in a point, and require, in order to maintain an 
 upright position, a clay ring or support which is fre- 
 quently found with them. But this conical form is proper 
 to the age of bronze, and therefore does not concern us 
 here. 
 
 The potter's wheel, known in China from all time, is 
 clearly represented on the wall paintings of Thebes and 
 on the walls of the tomb of Beni-Assan, of which the date 
 is nineteen or twenty centuries before Christ. But it was 
 only generally employed in Europe at a much later date. 
 
 An observation which applies to almost all the products 
 of primitive industry has been made upon the subject of 
 pottery; it is that the vessels resemble each other the 
 more closely among all peoples in proportion as the degree 
 of civilisation attained has been less advanced. They 
 differ, on the other hand, more and more widely in form. 
 
VARIETIES OF POTTERY. 311 
 
 ornamentation, and finish of workmanship, as soon as the 
 artistic and intellectual culture of these same peoples at- 
 tains a superior stage of- development, and the individual 
 genius of each of them, released from the fetters of in- 
 stinctive imitation, can freely follow its peculiar bent. 
 
 The most ancient pottery, like that of oiu: own day, 
 was employed for the most various purposes. Drinking 
 cups, cooking vessels of cylindrical or very expanded 
 shapes, offering a large surface to the action of the heat, 
 provision vessels, amphorae, vessels for draining the whey 
 from cheese, almost identical with those now employed for 
 the same purpose in the south of France ; lamps, some- 
 times taken for vessels for containing cream ; funeral urns 
 even — nothing is wanting to the pottery of those remote 
 times if it be not the foolish luxury and the wasteful use- 
 lessness of these days. It is even rare to see prehistoric 
 pottery covered with any species of glaze, even with that 
 black glaze obtained so easily from graphite and sea salt. 
 
312 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 CHAPTEK VI. 
 
 LANGUAQH AND W BITING. 
 
 I. THE OEIGIIT OF SPEECH. 
 
 Had primiti\e man an articulate language or no ? Had 
 lie at least the power of creating it ? It is, in my opinion, 
 an error to assert that primitive man was destitute of 
 speech, as Eussell Wallace maintains (Pithecanthropus 
 alalus), and as certain Darwinists still think.^ ' Language 
 must have appeared on earth simultaneously with man,' 
 as M. Emile Burnouf admirably says, ' and it was not pre- 
 ceded by a long silence ; for the cause which prdduced 
 this silence would have prevented it from being broken, 
 and nothing short of a miracle could have put an end to 
 it.' Now, as we have more than once said, we put no faith 
 in such miracles ; but we believe in the admirable laws 
 which modern science has revealed to us, and which preside 
 at the birth and organisation of languages as at those of 
 societies. We believe that languages themselves are 
 organisms which have their life in embryo, their infancy, 
 their ripe age, their changes, their distant and repeated 
 migrations, their decadence and death. We are firmly 
 convinced that speech is a natural attribute of our intel- 
 lectual being, a faculty inherent in our nature, a necessity 
 at once psychological and physiological. We speak, not 
 
 ' From the fact that microcephalous human beings do not speak, 
 Carl Vogt concludes that they present an instance of atavism, a return 
 towards the Simian stock whence the entire human race is sprung. 
 Microcephaly is an abnormal phenomenon which may be rudely ex- 
 plained by the theory of arrested development, without the necessity of 
 seeking to account for it by atavism, still less by a return to the 
 supposed Simio-human type. 
 
LANGUAGE. 313 
 
 merely because we possess all the organs adapted to the 
 emission of articulate sounds, but still more, and princi- 
 pally, because we feel the need of speaking. We see a 
 proof of this in the child who talks to her dolls, the boy to 
 his tin soldiers in battle array, the mother to her new-born 
 child. The need of communication with our fellow- 
 creatures is so important an element in the origin of 
 language, that the child brought up in complete solitude 
 remains dumb. The savage of Aveyron was an instance of 
 this fact. > 
 
 We speak as the nightingale sings in the spring, as 
 the horse neighs, with this difference, that their language 
 is purely instinctive, and can be transmitted by physio- 
 logical heredity, while ours is partly the product of instinct, 
 but still more that of our intelligence, and is only trans- 
 mitted by the teaching imparted by one generation to the 
 next.' In a word, as Sir John Lubbock justly observes, 
 ' Languages are human in the sense that they are the work 
 of man ; divine in the sense that man in creating them 
 made use of a faculty with which Providence had endowed 
 him.' Another profound and essential difference is that 
 the natural language of animals is only understood, with 
 few exceptions, by the single species to which they belong. 
 We, on our part, are possessed of universal languages — 
 music, painting, sculpture, for instance. Besides, our lan- 
 guages are almost infinite in variety and complexity (the 
 Basque and American tongues, &c.''), six hundred dialects 
 
 ' The learned worts of Daiwin, Taine, Perez, &c., tend to show that 
 the origin and development of language should be studied in the child 
 and not in the adult man. 
 
 ' Carl Vogt's theory is well known. It explains the differences in 
 languages by the forms of the skull, and consequently of the brain 
 itself. Abstract terms, the fruit of a great reflective power, belong to 
 those races with an upright forehead, which indicates a considerable 
 development in the anterior cerebral lobes. The idioms of races with 
 a rounded occiput, which indicates a great development of the cer- 
 vicle, an organ which regulates the movements, are distinguished by 
 their variety of intonation and richness in concrete terms. The idea 
 of the learned Swiss naturahst is certainly original ; its truth remains 
 to be proved, and I, for my part, much doubt whether the Greek 
 language has a greater variety of intonation than the Hottentot. The 
 cervicle has been endowed by physiologists with so many attributes 
 
3M PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 are reckoned in Europe alone, more than 1,200 in America 
 (Wilson), and we are faj from being acquainted with all 
 the idioms of Asia, Africa, and Polynesia. Lastly, the 
 same language undergoes infinite modifications according 
 to time and place. The song of the Thracian nightingales, 
 although somewhat improved, says the legend, by the lyre 
 of Orpheus, was probably similar in every respect to that 
 of the nightingEde of our thickets. The language of 
 Marot, on the other hand, is not that of Konsard, stiU less 
 that of Lamartine. 
 
 Besides cries, modulations of the voice (song without 
 articulate words), gestures, motions, and attitudes of the 
 body, prosopose (movement of the facial muscles), which 
 express om: emotions, our desires, our passions, our ideas, 
 we have in addition to these forms of expression, which 
 we possess in common with animals, the laugh, expressive 
 of joy,' the unspoken yet moving language of the fine 
 arts, music, painting, sculpture, and architecture. We 
 speak by means of stone, marble, bronze, colours, musical 
 sounds ; of hieroglyphics, writing, ribbons (the quipua 
 of Peru), flowers, cyphers, algebraical signs, and even by 
 means of electric wires, which bear our thoughts in an 
 instant of time across the solitude of the desert and vast 
 expanse of the ocean. Lately we have learnt to do yet 
 more ; we can send our words to a distance, no longer 
 by representing them to the sight by alphabetic or other 
 conventional signs, but with all the intonations of the 
 voice, its variations, tenderness, and whisperings. Yet 
 further, a new wonder of science enables us to reproduce 
 at will, not only the sounds of our own voice, but also 
 those of the voice of others. What anthropomorphic ape 
 ever conceived the idea of such inventions ? 
 
 While recognising that articulate language is a spe- 
 cial faculty of man, Darwin believes it not impossible 
 
 that it seems hardly necessary to give it yet another which is anything 
 but proved. 
 
 ' If a Simian ancestor has really transmitted to ns the germ of the 
 faculties which we now possess, how could he endow us with that which 
 he had not himself — the laugh, articulate language, the gift for the 
 fine arts, &o. ? ♦ 
 
ANCIENT LANGUAGES. 3iO 
 
 that it may have been transmitted to him by a Simian 
 ancestor. But he gives very insufiBcient proof in sup- 
 port of so bold an assertion. ' Monkeys,' he says, ' cer- 
 tainly understand much of what is said to them by man, 
 and as in a natural condition they are able to utter cries 
 to warn their companions of danger, it does not appear 
 to me incredible that some more sagacious ape may have 
 conceived the idea of imitating the howling of a wild 
 beast in order to warn his fellows of the species of danger 
 which threatened them, A fact of this kind would indi- 
 cate the first step towards the formation of a language ' 
 (' Descent of Man,' p. 59). This is all very well, but 
 what has become of this ancestor, our clever precursor, 
 and why does no anthropomorphic ape of our own day 
 still make use of an articulate language ? 
 
 II. StTPPOBED CHABACTEHISTICS OS" PRIMITIVE 
 TONGUES. 
 
 Hebrew is no longer believed to be the most ancient of 
 human languages. Sanskrit itself has been dethroned by 
 the 'Zend Avesta,' the sacred book of the Magi. As 
 regards Europe, the tongues of the Finns and the Basques 
 long enjoyed great favour in the eyes of the most learned 
 philologists as the primitive Eiuropean languages. Hum- 
 boldt even asserted that Basque was strictly speaking the 
 only European tongue, that which has undergone the 
 least modification, and has retained the most of its original 
 structure, a clear proof in his eyes of the great antiquity 
 of the Iberian people by whom it is spoken. The opinion 
 of the famous German philosopher has been widely 
 adopted. Whitney himself considers the Basque language 
 as ' the sole surviving rehc and witness of an aboriginal 
 western European population, dispossessed by the intru- 
 sive Indo-European tribes. It stands entirely alone, no 
 kindred having yet been found for it in any part of the 
 world (' Life and Growth of Language,' p. 212). 
 
 Now M. Blade has shown that the Basques were not 
 an Iberian people, since this word is a purely geographical 
 and not ethnological term, applicable only to that part of 
 
316 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 the population of the Spanish peninsula which had settled 
 on the banks of the Iberus or Ebro. Moreover, M. Blade 
 has proved that, contrary to the assertions of Humboldt, 
 the Basque tongue has changed since the fifteenth cen- 
 tury to such a degree that it is impossible to explain the 
 text of that time. Now this text is the earliest literary 
 monument of that language, which is doubtless far more 
 ancient, but, nevertheless, recent enough, since it is only 
 known beyond the Pyrenees from the twelfth century, 
 and on this side from the thirteenth. 
 
 M. Broca, however, agrees with Humboldt in con- 
 sidering Basque to be the only truly indigenous European 
 language ; and he believes it to be the most ancient of all 
 those now spoken in our continent. The Finnish language, 
 allied to the Basque in the opinion of some philologists, 
 has in his opinion no analogy with it, unless it be in the 
 well-kuown negative character of being an uninflected 
 tongue. "Whatever may have been said to the contrary, 
 Basque offers also no analogy with the American dialects, 
 nor with the Berber of Northern Africa. M. Broca con- 
 siders the Basque language to be an Iberian idiom 
 formerly spoken with dialects of the same family in 
 Aquitaine, in the whole of the Spanish peninsula, and 
 even throughout western Europe. The introduction of 
 the Aryan tongues of Asia with the people who spoke 
 them caused these Iberian dialects to disappear in succes- 
 sion ; the Basque alone persisted, and hence it still forms 
 an isolated spot in the midst of the domain occupied in 
 Europe by Aryan or Turanian languages of an undoubtedly 
 Asiatic origin. 
 
 M. Virchow, on the other hand, is disposed to conclude, 
 from the likeness he sees between the skulls of the 
 Guanchos of the Canary Isles and those of the modern 
 Basques, that the latter and their language belong to the 
 race proper to those ancient islands of which the Canaries 
 are the last remains. But besides the fact that identity 
 of language cannot be logically concluded from the simi- 
 liarity of the skulls, and conversely, the Prussian savant 
 himself observes that the time is not ripe for a well estab- 
 
CENTRES OF LANGUAGES. 317 
 
 lished decision among so many conflicting opinions. The 
 problem is yet to be resolved, and I fear that the solution 
 may be long deferred. 
 
 With regard to the question whether there has been 
 at any time, either in Europe, or in the other quarters of 
 the Old "World, a single parent language whence all others 
 are derived, we have no hesitation in returning a negative 
 answer with MM. Burnouf, Eenan, and Whitney. ' No 
 fact, scientifically analysed, proves that all languages are 
 derived from a, single stock ; hundreds of facts indicate 
 that certain centres of languages, probably in considerable 
 number, were formed in Asia, in Europe, and elsewhere, 
 from which ramified the languages and dialects of later 
 times.' Burnouf, Schleicher, and Miiller hold the same 
 opinion. 
 
 Indeed, it is easy to conceive that, even before the 
 formation of our most distinctly characterised modern 
 races, migrations took place in difierent directions and 
 owing to the changed conditions of life, that new races 
 and new idioms arose of which the more and more marked 
 divergences produced that variety of languages which 
 justly excites our wonder at the present day, and is one 
 of the finest privileges of humanity. Here, however, we 
 must notice the remarkable fact that there is not always 
 agreement between the linguistic type and the ethnic 
 character of the race to which it belongs. Thus the 
 Berbers, for instance, who undoubtedly belong to the 
 Caucasian race, nevertheless speak a Semitic tongue, Arab, 
 which, as is well known, it is impossible to connect with 
 any of the Indo-European idioms. The Esthonians and 
 the Lettons ' speak an Aryan language, and are never- 
 theless, according to M. de Quatrefages, of Finnish origin. 
 The Iroquois, the Dacotas, and the Algonquins appear to 
 belong to the same race, yet their languages have nothing 
 
 > Letton appears to be the earliest Indo-Germanic language spoken 
 in Europe. It resembles Sanskrit, the sacred language of ancient India, 
 more closely than any other European idiom. It was therefore the 
 precursor of the Greek,- Latin, Keltic, German, and even Slav languages, 
 which latter, nevertheless, offers a number of analogies with the tongue 
 of the Vedas. 
 
318 PKIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 in common, at least as far as their vocabulary is con- 
 cerned.' 
 
 But if identity of language has not always a great 
 ethnic value, it is not the same with the irreducibility, 
 that is, the impossibility of tracing them all back to a 
 single common source. This quality seems the most con- 
 vincing proof of the multiplicity of the centres of language. 
 No one, for instance, would dream of deriving Chinese 
 from Hebrew or from Sanskrit; these tongues have no- 
 thing in common. Therfe existed therefore not one, but 
 several primitive languages, the work of man obedient 
 to one of the most imperious laws of his nature — the need 
 of communication with his fellow-men. 
 
 It is easy to understand the impossibility of reviving 
 their grammar or vocabulary, since they are all long since 
 extinct. But it is a generally received opinion that all 
 languages were originally monosyllabic, as Chinese remains 
 to this day. The monosyllabic languages were succeeded 
 by the agglutinative, which are characterised by the 
 simple juxtaposition of the often numerous elements 
 which form their words equivalent to a whole sentence ; 
 thence the names polysynthetic, holophrastic, agglutina- 
 tive, by which they are variously known. The great 
 majority of the American idioms belong to this class, the 
 Otomi being an exception. Lastly, we have the inflected 
 or classic languages. Such are the three successive 
 stages of language before it attains its complete develop- 
 ment.* 
 
 ' This is a principle upon which Whitney insists, when he says that 
 'the incompetence of the science of language to pass any decisiye 
 judgment as to the unity or the diversity, of the human race appears to 
 be completely and irrevocably demonstrated ; ' and again, ' Wholly dis- 
 cordant languages are spoken by peoples whom the ethnologist would 
 not separate in race from one another, and related languages are spoken 
 by men of apparently different race.' (Whitney, Zife and Growth of 
 Language, p. 222.) 
 
 ^ The classification of languages into monosyllabic, agglutinative, and 
 inflected, has hitherto enjoyed a great reputation ; but Whitney, who 
 is so great an authorityonthe subject, considers this classification as in- 
 accurate and unnatural. 'The three degrees lie in a certain line of 
 progress, but, as in all such cases, pass into one another. To lay any 
 stress upon this as a basis of classification is like making the character 
 
GEOWTH OF LANGUAGE. 319 
 
 We have already said, and we cannot repeat it too 
 often, that man creates the words of the idiom he speaks, 
 in virtue of the incessant activity of his mind, of the 
 necessity of a new word to express a new idea, and of the 
 faculty he possesses of reasoning, of adapting his means 
 to his ends, and thereby attaining them. But language 
 as a whole is not, of course, the work of an individual, 
 often almost an unconscious though a voluntary agent ; 
 it is the collective work of the entire society by whom 
 this language is employed as an instrument. We make 
 words as we make tools, at the demand of our needs or 
 our convenience ; the idea precedes the word, just as the 
 conception of the tool preceded its manufacture. ' It is 
 as impossible to doubt that the idea precedes the word 
 as that the child exists before it is named, although the 
 evidence is less palpable ' (Whitney). Nothing is more 
 true, and it is difficult to understand how the contrary 
 theory was ever maintained. 
 
 Without pretending in the smallest degree to furnish 
 the solution of the enigma which still puzzles the wisdom 
 of our most learned linguists, we may, with some show 
 of reason, imagine quaternary man expressing his feelings 
 by cries resembling interjections, his most vivid percep- 
 tions by onomatopoeia. His vocabulary was poor in words,' 
 and almost entirely destitute of abstract terms ; but his 
 
 of the hair or the colour of the skin the basis of classification in physical 
 ethnology, or the number of stamens or the combination of leaves in 
 botany. (Whitney, lAfe and Growth of Language, p. 227.) 
 
 ' One of our most distinguished Orientalists, M. de Dumast, of the 
 Institute, says : ' The older and more primitive a language is, whether 
 savage or no matters little, the richer and more beautiful it is with 
 intrinsic wealth and beauty.' — Quoted by Fee, in his Philosophical 
 Studies on the Instinct and Intelligence of Animals, p. 131. This 
 assertion does not tally with the numerous examples of very imperfect 
 languages of modern savages cited by Sir John Lubbock. Chinese 
 itself, the most unchangeable and the earliest crystallised of all known 
 tongues, is far from being remarkable for the richness of its vocabulary, 
 or of grammatical forms. The language of the Bosjesman, of the 
 Botooudos, and of the Australian is far more imperfect still. Captain 
 Burton says even that certain Indian tribes of North America, the 
 Arapahoes for instance, have so poor a vocabulary that they cannot talk 
 1 each other in the dark, since they are then deprived of the resource of 
 gesture language, which is indispensable to eke out their scanty words. 
 
320 PKIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 speech was rich in metaphors, teeming with images, and 
 reflecting like a mirror or a faithful echo the lively 
 emotions of his soul in the midst of a still virgin nature. 
 A profuse employment of gesture accompanied the yet 
 imperfect expression of thought and feeling. But if we 
 can attain to a more or less exact idea of the early processes 
 of speech, we have hitherto, unfortunately, no means of 
 ascertaining what was the language or languages long 
 since extinct of our first ancestors ; so true is the saying 
 that the human mind is to itself an eternal and yet ever- 
 new problem. 
 
 We may mention, however, with a certain pride, that 
 the palaeontology of language, joined to comparative 
 philology, has already led such men as Jacob Grimm, 
 Max Miiller, Schlegel, Schleicher, Pictet, Whitney, Hove- 
 lacque, Burnouf, &c., to very curious discoveries, and 
 the future has probably many unexpected revelations in 
 store for us. We need not, therefore, interpret too lite- 
 rally the discouraging words of M. Caro : ' The question of 
 origin cannot be treated by experiment ; we can advance 
 nothing on these great subjects which can be thus verified.' ' 
 However this may be, man never was, in my opinion, this 
 Pithecanthropus alaltis whose portrait Hseckel has drawn 
 as if he had seen and known him, whose singular and 
 completely hypothetical genealogy he has even given, 
 from the mere mass of living protoplasm to the man 
 endowed with speech and a civilisation analogous to that 
 of the Australians and Papuans, whose origin is attributed 
 to the beginning of the diluvian period by the Prussian 
 savant. 
 
 III. OBIGIir OP TJ^miTIITG. 
 
 Man is born a draughtsman or a sculptor, just as he is 
 born a poet or a musician. An instinct of imitation leads 
 him to reproduce the forms of the surrounding objects, 
 and is strongly developed even in the child. The rude 
 figures which he traces on the walls, on the sand, or on 
 paper, as soon as he can hold a pen or a pencil, bear 
 
 • Caro, Comptei-rcndus de VAcademie des Sciences Morales, 1868. 
 
INVENTION OF WEITINia. 321 
 
 witness to this inborn impulse, common to all mankind. 
 If the drawings intended by the savage tribes of North 
 America to represent men, animals, and plants, be com- 
 pared with our own productions when we were seven or 
 eight years old, we shall be struck by the resemblance, so 
 great that even men of a certain erudition have been 
 deceived by it. 
 
 Every one knows the story of the famous ' Book of the 
 Savages,' which the Abbe Domenech, who had passed 
 several yearSj, among the red-skins, regarded as the 
 authentic work of the latter, as a record of great import- 
 ance to the science of ethnology, whereas it, is now proved 
 that this supposed ' Book of the Savages ' is nothing but a 
 lot of rude figures drawn by the unskilled hand of the son 
 of a Grerman settler. 
 
 This likeness, among all the productions of the first 
 efforts of the human mind, has been already noticed with 
 regard to the flint weapons and tools collected from the 
 most widely separated districts. It is no less astonishing 
 when we come to study the writing of savage peoples, and 
 even of those who have attained to some degree of civili- 
 sation. All of them, in inventing the graphic art, have 
 aimed at giving substance to their thought, have en- 
 deavoured to materialise it, and if possible to perpetuate 
 it ; all have thereby wished to supply the want of absent 
 words, and even to paint them to the sight for the present, 
 and still more for future time. From identity of purpose 
 naturally arose identity of means, and writing, multiplied 
 by the genius of Gutenberg, has become one of the most 
 powerful instruments of progress and civilisation.' 
 
 At first ideographic and entirely pictorial, as it still 
 remains among several Indian tribes of North America, 
 writing became phonetic, then syllabic, and lastly alpha- 
 betical, which is the apogee of Scriptural progress. But 
 alphabetical characters themselves, those of which Cadmus 
 the Phoenician is the traditional inventor, had a distinctly 
 
 ' Bacon compares writing to a ship which crosses the vast ocean of 
 time, and makes all ages share in the lights, the wisdom, and inventions 
 of past times. 
 
*-■ 9* •" ra 
 
 .2 tJ 5 a -3 
 
 "■a-gs 
 
 1 "111° 
 
 15 5 ss-e 
 
 .1s?1 
 
 
 3 « i. -I, 
 
 ^ ■ilo.bo 
 g S.O'-f'S'S 
 
 +;<M ID qs 
 
 
 
 o '3 S -g fl S 
 
 ■* i-'.El e8 m aJ 
 
 tu <M a o m 3 
 
PICTURE WKITING. 323 
 
 pictorial origin. Aleph, and beth, whicli are joined to 
 make the word alphabet, had, the one, the form of an ox's 
 head, the other, that of a tent or house; gimel, the 
 gamma of the Greeks, represented a camel, daleth or 
 delta a door.' 
 
 The first form of picture writing is merely the re- 
 presentation of the living creatures or inanimate objects, 
 a tree, a stream, a lion. This is picture-writing proper, 
 of which we here reproduce two specimens. The one is a 
 contemporary !^dian petition (fig. 140); the other an 
 Indian love song, for which we are indebted to School- 
 
 Fio. 141. Example of picture writing. — Love sono. 
 
 1. The lover standing. 2. The same seated, playing on the magic drum. 3. The lover 
 shut into a secret hut by his magic art. 4. The pair holding hands. 5. The woman 
 represented in an island. 6. She lies asleep, her lover addresses her, and his magic 
 power touches her heart. 7. His heart. 8. Represents her maidenhood. A line cor- 
 responds to each figure except the last. Here is the translation : my artistic talent 
 makes me a god ; listen to the sound of my voice, oC my song, it is indeed my voice ; 
 I hide my head when seated near her ; I can make her blush since I hear all she says 
 of me : were she in a far distant isle I could reach her by swimming, even if she 
 were in another hemisphere. 1 speak to your heart. 
 
 craft (fig. 141). This species of writing is naturally 
 followed by pure symbolism, which consists in expressing 
 abstract ideas by figures which suggest them in the mind 
 of another — a bird signifying rapidity ; a fox, cunning ; a 
 serpent holding its tail in its mouth, eternity ; a sceptre, 
 power. From this to phonetic writing there is but a 
 step, but it is a long one. Here the image or symbol be- 
 
 ' In astronomy we still use hieroglyphics to indicate the signs of 
 the zodiac : r ^the Ram, a =the Bull, n =the Twins, / =the Archer, 
 ii = the Scales, sa = Aquarius. Horizontal undulating lines are the 
 sign which represents water in the Egyptian hierogljphics. 
 
324 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 comes a sound. This is the rebus, which is really only a 
 transition by the ideographic and phonetic forms. 
 
 The savages of America furnish a number of examples 
 of these different kinds of writing, and Tylor cites some 
 very striking ones in his ' Early History of Mankind.' The 
 development of writing was arrested in China at the 
 syllabic form ; it has not reached the alphabetical. The 
 characters, considerably modified by time and the use of 
 the pencil, of which this writing is composed, are divided 
 into two classes : (1) the phonetic, which give the sound ; 
 (2) the determinative, which indicate the sense. Thus 
 the sign door, accompanied by the determinative ear, 
 means to listen. The same sign door, joined to the deter- 
 minative heart, expresses the word sorrow. The Chinese 
 characters, which are purely syllabic, may be used with 
 equal facility in Cochin China, Japan, and the peninsula 
 of Corea, and to each it is possible to attach words which 
 express the same idea, but which are mutually unintel- 
 ligible to the people who employ them. Arab and Roman 
 figures give an idea of this kand of writing ; they resemble 
 it inasmuch as the notions they represent are the same 
 throughout the civilised world, but the word by which 
 they are expressed varies with the nationality. The signs 
 X and 10, for instance, represent everywhere the number 
 which we call ten, but the enunciation of this number 
 difi'ers sensibly in different countries : Zsku (Grreek), decern 
 (Latin), zehn (Grerman), dieci (Italian), dix (French). 
 
 The hieroglyphic writing of the Egyptians is much 
 more learned but less complicated than that of the Aztecs, 
 as is proved by a comparison of the tablets of Palenque 
 with the inscriptions at Eosetta or on the Obelisks. The 
 characters employed in the Mexican inscriptions appear 
 to have been formed of an assemblage of portions of 
 symbols originally used in their integrity. The people 
 who made use of this writing appear to have been in- 
 spired with the poly synthetic principle, the distinctive 
 character of the American tongues, agglutination, com- 
 pound or bunch-words as the Americans say. But it 
 is doubtful if the hieroglyphs of Palenque, of which the 
 
HEIEOGLYPHIC WRITING. 325 
 
 signification is as yet unknown, ever had a phonetic value 
 like those of the Egyptians and of the Chinese.' 
 
 It will be seen that hieroglyphic writing in general 
 use among peoples widely separated by time and space, 
 the Egyptians, Chinese, and American Indians, has every- 
 where an essentially pictorial character. No remains of 
 writing have up to the present time been found in the 
 places where the bones of quaternary man are found 
 buried. Dr. Garrigou nevertheless says that he ob- 
 served a specie of hieroglyphic signs on several frag- 
 ments of reindeer horn, which he collected in the caves 
 of La Vache and of Massat, in Ari^ge. The author of this 
 discovery is perhaps too ready to see in these the first 
 traces of writing in our hands. It is also extremely doubt- 
 ful whether the signs traced upon the slabs of sandstone 
 found at Chaleux, mentioned by Professor van Beneden, 
 should be regarded as graphic characters. Admitting that 
 in the two above-mentioned cases we are really deaHng 
 with hieroglyphs, what is their signification ? It inay 
 perhaps "be found at some future time. 'When Grote- 
 fend, the first to undertake to decipher the signs found 
 upon the Assyrian monuments, began his task, it was un- 
 known whether they reaUy constituted a written character, 
 of if they were merely ornaments; not a word of the 
 language to which they presumably belonged was known ; 
 we were ignorant from what epoch they dated. Neither 
 was it known whether the alphabet was phonetic, syllabic, 
 or hieroglyphic. Now at the present day we are acquainted 
 with the cuneiform inscriptions of Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes, 
 Artaxerxes I., &c. We are provided with translations, 
 grammars, and dictionaries of them,' (F. Garrigou, 
 ' L'Age du Eenne dans la Grotte de la Vache, pres de 
 Tarascon [Ari^ge],' p. 5.) 
 
 ' A few examples are however cited, which tend to prove that, at 
 the time of the conquest, the Mexicans were in process of giving a 
 phonetic value to their hieroglyphs. The name of ItzU-coatl, for 
 instance, the fourih king of Mexico, is represented hy a serpent {eoatV), 
 from the spine of which ob.sidian knives XitzW) protrude ; whence Itzli- 
 coatl, like onr reius. (See Tyloi, &rly History of Matihind, and Evans, 
 lUvue Scientifiqtie, 1873, p. 657.) 
 
 15 
 
326 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 Archseology has not said its last word on the subject of 
 records of prehistoric ages. According to Grrote, writing 
 was unknown in the time of Homer and Hesiod (850-776 
 B.C.) Now the excavations made at great expense by 
 Schliemann on the site of ancient Troy have brought to 
 light an earthenware vessel, made without the help of the 
 potter's wheel, and bearing an inscription probably in 
 Trojan characters. Homer sang of the fall of Troy about 
 seven hundred years after the taking of the town. We 
 must therefore conclude, in spite of Grote's assertion to the 
 contrary, that writing existed in Hlyria long before Homer. 
 We must not forget, however, that Sir John Evans, a most 
 competent authority, affirms that writing was unknown in 
 the age of stone, and that no well-established fact has yet 
 been discovered in support of the contrary opinion. 
 
327 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 S.ELIGION. 
 
 m 
 I. BELiaiOUS IDEAS OF PBIMITIVE MAW. 
 
 I MUST begin by declaring, to avoid any misunder- 
 standing, that I leave entirely on one side all revealed 
 religion. Kevealed religion commands our faith and sub- 
 jugates our reason; science requires freedom of search 
 and appeals to facts. Now positive facts, in all that con- 
 cerns the religious ideas and ceremonies of our earliest 
 ancestors, are as yet very few in number, so few indeed 
 that there is not, to my knowledge, a single one from 
 which any certain conclusion can be drawn. "We are 
 therefore reduced to induction and analogy, and both of 
 these means of proof are often deceptive. Yet it cannot 
 be denied that God has always revealed himself to man in 
 his works, and whatever Statins may say, the gods are not 
 merely the creation of fear. The mind has an equal 
 share with' the heart in the conception of a divine 
 Being, of a Supreme Cause ; but this idea was of slow pro- 
 gressive development in primitive man, advancing almost 
 imperceptibly by an instinctive and spontaneous move- 
 ment. 'Just as the knowledge of our ego and of the 
 exterior world was not acquired spontaneously, without 
 effort, reflection, or experience, so the idea of the existence 
 of God, at first embryonic, so to speak, has need, in order 
 to attain its complete development, of slow and successive 
 efforts of the human mind which has conceived it. Here 
 we have not, as yet, direct intuition ; there is only slow 
 and painful labour, which, from induction to induction, 
 reflection to reflection, leads us at length to this supreme 
 affirmation : God is.' (Compayre.) 
 
328 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 M. Ampere has given us an interesting account of a 
 young American girl named Laura Bridgman, deaf and 
 dumb from her birth, and shortly afterwards deprived of 
 her sight by an iUness. She was consequently reduced 
 to the senses of touch, taste, and smell. Dr. Howe and 
 his wife undertook the education of this child. By their 
 united efforts, and their wonderful patience and humanity, 
 they succeeded in teaching Laura to read and write, and 
 even the two simplest rules of arithmetic, addition and 
 subtraction. She even acquired the notion of a God, in 
 the same way as philosophers, by the idea of causality. 
 ' There are things which men cannot produce,' she said ; 
 ' the rain, for instance.' Here M. Ampere justly remarks, 
 ' It was not the spectacle of nature speaking to her under- 
 standing ; nature was veiled, and the thunder was dumb 
 to her ; the sensation produced by the fall of a drop of 
 water was sufficient to give rise in her mind to this 
 question as to the cause, which man asks of necessity, 
 and to which there is but one answer : God.' 
 
 Primitive man followed no other method. The 
 modern savage thinks but little, but he feels readily and 
 keenly. The great scenes of nature which are ever before 
 his eyes, the unceasing peril which threatens his life, 
 poor and uncultivated as it is, the conviction so often im- 
 pressed by his own weakness, the pressing need of some 
 support, that inborn yearning for the unknown,' that love 
 of mystery so deeply rooted in the human heart : here are 
 more than enough reasons to lead man to the conception 
 of a Supreme Cause, to the notion of a divine Being. 
 
 The idea of God is at first individual, infinitesimal, 
 sometimes strange and childish ; it grows purer and larger 
 with the growth of the natural intelligence and acquired 
 instruction of him who conceives it. Then from being in- 
 dividual it becomes collective ; and finally, passed from 
 one to the other, it progresses gradually until it attains to 
 this formula, of which the abstraction borders on the incom- 
 
 ' ' Yes the God we must believe in is a hidden God,' say the Eoman 
 Catholics themselves. 
 
FIRST CONCEPTION OF DEITY. 329 
 
 prehensible : ' Power, love, and wisdom, united yet divided, 
 compose His being,' 
 
 Man, then, as he came from nature's hands, was en- 
 dowed with too weak an understanding to enable him to 
 attain at once to a clear and precise knowledge of the 
 divinity ; still less was he capable of understanding the 
 reiined and almost mystic dogma of the higher religions, 
 for dogma is the work of science and religion, the ex- 
 pression of their results. But in the beginning it was 
 nothing but tljp expression of the thought of the in- 
 dividual, a thought soon submitted by others to an ex- 
 amination more or less severe, then adopted by the 
 majority of the tribe, and passing afterwards into a collec- 
 tive belief. It is easy to understand that there may have 
 existed, that people still exist in a savage condition, with- 
 out a generally recognised dogma, and consequently with- 
 out religion, using the word in its most commonly accepted 
 meaning. On this essential point we think we may place 
 great confidence in the evidence of Livingstone, Sir 
 Samuel Baker, Dr. Monnat, Dalton, Lichtenstein, and 
 many other travellers as learned as they are trustworthy. 
 Now these travellers assure us that in the interior of 
 Africa, in America, and elsewhere there are entire tribes 
 who have no idea of the divinity, no notion of a future 
 life ; we may even go so far as to say no idea of morals. 
 Dr. Monnat says, speaking of the Mincopies, or inhabitants 
 of the Andaman Isles : 'They cover themselves with mud 
 and tattooing, but they wear no clothes ; they seem indeed 
 to be deprived of any sense of shame, and many of their 
 customs are Uke those of the brute. They have no idea 
 of a Supreme Being, nor religion, nor any belief in a 
 future life. . . . They possess no dogs nor domestic animals 
 of any kind.' Another modem traveller. Sir Samuel 
 Baker, affirms that the negro of Central Africa has not 
 the remotest idea of a Supreme Being, or First Cause of 
 the universe, and his understanding is incapable of such a 
 conception. The feeling of adoration is unknown to him. 
 He possesses no representation of any deity whatever. 
 For him, immortality is purely genealogical; the indi- 
 
330 PEIMITIVE .CIVILISATION. 
 
 vidual survives only in his descendants. If he performs 
 any superstitious ceremony, if he sacrifices birds, it is 
 only to seek in their convulsive motions prognostications 
 relating to the ordinary interests of life ; but no essentially 
 religious idea is connected with the practice, invented by 
 the imagination of a magician, and maintained by bUnd 
 tradition. Livingstone afiirms that ' among the Beehuanas 
 and all Central African tribes there is a total absence of 
 worship, idols, and of aU religious ideas.'' Still, more 
 recently Sir Massinger Bradley spoke of an Australian 
 tribe which lived on the shores of the lake in a district 
 situated in 35° lat. south, and 139° 30' east long. Their 
 language is monosyllabic, ' consisting,' he says, ' of cries 
 more or less resembUng those of animals. . , . They have 
 no superstitions of any kind, and have not the least notion 
 of a future life.^ 
 
 Lastly, we are informed by the scientific commission 
 of Mexico that the Indians in the neighbourhood of 
 Santiago, whose physical character resembles that of the 
 Chinese and the Mongols, had no religious ideas before the 
 coming of the Conquerors. ' Many writers who are author- 
 ities on this matter,' says. Sir John Lubbock, ' are of opinion 
 that no people is destitute of some sort of religion. This 
 theory, however, does not agree with the statements of 
 many trustworthy observers. Sailors, merchants, and 
 philosophers. Catholic priests and Protestant missionaries, 
 in ancient and modem times, and in every quarter of the 
 globe, concur in affirming that there are races without 
 any species of rehgion. Their testimony has the more 
 weight that in many cases this fact has greatly smrprised 
 the observer, and was in complete opposition to all his 
 preconceived ideas. On the other hand, it must be owned 
 that travellers have denied the existence of a religion, 
 because the creed it professed was entirely contrary to our 
 own. The question as to the universal existence of re- 
 ligion among men is after all, in great measure, a matter 
 of definition. If to constitute a religion a mere feeling 
 
 ' Report of the Anthropological Society of Paris, p. 227, 1864. 
 ' Mevwe Soientifique, Nov. 15, 1873, p. 173. 
 
INSTINCTIVE RELIGIOUS IDEAS. 331 
 
 of fear, the single idea in man that there are very likely 
 beings more powerful than himself, be sufficient, it may, 
 I think, be admitted that the entire human race is in 
 possession of religion.' 
 
 Professor Broca, on his part, in a paper remarkable for 
 its good sound sense and scientific loyalty, agrees with 
 several of the most distinguished members of the Anthro- 
 pological Society of Paris in declaring that he has no doubt 
 whatever ' that there are among the inferior races peoples 
 without worshij), dogma, metaphysical ideas, or collective 
 belief, and consequently without religion.' ' It is needless 
 to say that after such an assertion, M. Broca, far from con- 
 sidering the religious instinct as universal and inseparable 
 from human nature, sees in it where it exists merely one 
 form of submission to a higher authority, an effect of 
 the teaching received in childhood, but not an original 
 characteristic faculty. 
 
 This opinion found, as we have said, a number of 
 adherents in the Anthropological Society of Paris. M. de 
 Quatrefages continues nevertheless to believe that the 
 religious instinct is one of the original and essential 
 characteristics of humanity, and he reckons in the list 
 of theistic and even religious people, the Australians, 
 the Melanesians, the Hottentots, the Kaffirs, the Be- 
 chuanas, the Yebous, the Mincopies, in fine, aU the races 
 among whom the authors we have quoted deny the exist- 
 ence of all religious ideas. (' The Human Eace,' page 
 349.) 
 
 If we accept the Abbe Lamennais' definition of religion, 
 as the ' assemblage of all the necessary laws of creation,' 
 it is evident that, under this acceptation, religion is only 
 accessible to philosophers who have long studied these 
 laws ; but if we accept this other definition of the same 
 author, 'the union of man with God and of man with 
 man,' it is not less evident that religion may be under- 
 stood, felt, and practised as well by the savage as by men 
 who have attained to an advanced state of civilisation. 
 
 ' Report of the Anthropological Society of Paris, 1866, p. 63. 
 
332 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 In order to be properly qualified to discuss the 
 question at issue, M. de Quatrefages wisely recommends 
 a thorough and close study of the inferior religions ; for 
 in all of them the observer will find in a state of embryo, 
 so to speak, the two following general formulas, which, in 
 fact, sum up all the doctrines and all the dogmas of the 
 great religions which are now spread over the surface of 
 the globe (Brahminism, Buddhism, Judaism, Mahomet- 
 anism, Christianity): — 
 
 1. Belief in beings superior to man, with power over 
 his destiny for good or for evil, 
 
 2. Belief in an after life, a future beyond the grave. 
 
 ' Every people, every man who believes in these two 
 things is religious, and observation is ever increasing the 
 number of proofs of the universality of this character.' 
 (' The Human Eace,' p. 356.) 
 
 M.Emile Burnouf,on his part, justly points out that if 
 man, however savage we may consider him, ' had not cast 
 a thoughtful glance at Nature, who brings him his joy and 
 his sorrow, if he had not thought that he perceived in her 
 invisible and sovereign forces, he would not have con- 
 ceived the idea of condensing in some sort the powers of 
 the universe in a piece of wood, a stone, in some remains 
 of a coarse tissue.' This is fetichism, it will be objected. 
 It is so, I readily confess, but fetichism is precisely the 
 lowest and most rudimentary natural expression of religion ; 
 it is the worship of tribes belonging to the lowest degree 
 of the social scale. From fetichism to the worship of 
 idols made in the image of man, to the worship of man 
 himself, there is but a step. There is a manifest tendency 
 to_ anthropomorphism in all the religions which are 
 rightly styled inferior. It even recurs more or less ob- 
 viously, or more or less disguised in the great modem 
 religions. Suffice it to mention here the Grand Lama, 
 the object of worship of a whole people, for we need not 
 name all the heroes and gods of Olympus, so like in 
 many respects to the most ordinary mortals. There is a 
 foundation of truth in the jest that if God made man in 
 his own image, it must be owned that man does as much 
 
ANTHEOPOMOEPHISM. 333 
 
 by him. Jehovah himself is frequently represented in 
 Eoman Catholic churches under the form of a venerable 
 and majestic old man. According to Lubbock, the Tartars 
 of the Altai Mountains picture God also as a white-bearded 
 old man, but at the same time they dress him in the uni- 
 form of a Eussian officer of dragoons. (' Origin of Civilisa- 
 tion,' p. 227.) 
 
 Led astray by the fear or horror inspired by certain 
 animals, by the services which others render him, or 
 by the erroneoys ideas he has conceived respecting them, 
 man has often rendered them a religious homage. This 
 animal worship, so extensive in India and in ancient 
 Egypt (the ox, apis, anubis, the sacred ibis), has left 
 traces, in a completely symbolic form it is true, even in 
 Christianity itself (the Paschal Lamb, the White Dove, 
 symbol of the Holy Grhost) : so true it is that man is one 
 in spite of apparent diversities. 
 
 If man is morally one, if the entire human race is now 
 in sympathy with respect- to certain ideas, certain feel- 
 ings, certain tendencies which recur equally in every part 
 of the globe, it is exceedingly probable that from the 
 earliest quaternary times, and therefore all the more in 
 the following age, we shall be able to find traces of a 
 collective belief in superior beings, good or evil, and in a 
 future life. From the natural impulse to be rendered 
 acceptable to the one, to endeavour to withdraw from the 
 hurtful power of the other, arise prayer, adoration, wor- 
 ship, sacrifice, offerings, and superstitious practices of every 
 kind. But as soon as the idea of a God is clearly con- 
 ceived, the great monotheistical religions follow as surely 
 as the conclusion follows the premisses. Jn all, the funda- 
 mental principle, that is the dogma, is at bottom the 
 same ; the ceremony, the form of worship, the religious 
 paraphernalia, the outer and accessory forms alone vary 
 (Judaism, Mahometanism, Christianity). 
 
 II. "WOBSHIP AND AMULETS. 
 
 "We will now enter into some details more especially 
 relating to prehistoric man. M. Piette found in the cave 
 
334 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 of Gourdan (reindeer age) a species of amulet worthy of 
 serious consideration. This is a disc pierced with a hole 
 in the centre, from the circumference of which start 
 diverging lines. The author of this discovery observed 
 the same sign engraved three times upon a wand of office, 
 and he considers it to be the image of the Sun God, 
 worshipped, as he thinks, by the troglodytes of the 
 Pyrenees. This interpretation seems plausible, but it 
 needs more numerous and more decisive proofs to be 
 universally adopted. 
 
 The crescents of the Swiss lake dwellings, which were 
 at first regarded as religious symbols indicating the worship 
 of the moon, appear to have been merely rests for the 
 head during sleep, or destined perhaps to preserve the 
 construction of an elaborate head-dress. The inhabitants 
 of the Fiji Isles still use wooden pillars for a similar pur- 
 pose, and also to render the occiput round and protrud- 
 ing. M. de Quatrefages is inclined to regard a mammoth 
 bone found by M. Ed. Dupont in the hole of Chaleux, in 
 Belgium, as a species of fetich worshipped by the inhabit- 
 ants of the district. The mammoth had at that epoch 
 been long extinct, and it is probable that they mistook 
 one of its bones for that of a giant, and were thereby led 
 to worship it. 
 
 However this may be, the wearing of amulets, a custom 
 which became almost universal at the end of the reindeer 
 age, and during the whole of the neoHthie period, shows 
 at least the existence of superstitions very similar to 
 those which still reign in our country districts, and even 
 in the heart of our so-called civilised towns : the tradi- 
 tions of old times handed down to us, which perpetuate 
 the memory of one of the earliest stages in the life of 
 humanity. 
 
 In his interesting work upon the Nuraghi of Sardinia, 
 the Abbe Spano regards the monoliths (a species of 
 menhir or stela) which are placed in front of the dwel- 
 lings, as representing the sun, the creator and life-giver 
 of all being, otherwise the Baal or Melarth of the Sidon- 
 ians. Some of these monoliths, smaller than the preced- 
 
WORSHIP AND AMULETS. 335 
 
 ing, and carved with the representation of two breasts 
 towards the summit, are probably figures of Astarte, the 
 moon, the inseparable companion of Baal, who, by the 
 humidity which she diffuses over the whole earth, encour- 
 ages the increase of all living creatures (fig. 57). If we 
 were to believe the Abbe Spano, this worship of Baal 
 and of Astarte was imported into Sardinia by the first 
 emigrants from the plains of Sennaar. According to the 
 Sardinian peasants, on the other hand, these monohths are 
 human beings, who left the true religion to worship the 
 sun and moon, and whom God punished by changing 
 them to stone after having deprived them of their feet 
 and hands. Probably neither peasant nor savant is right, 
 since the men of the archaeolithic and even of the neolithic 
 age are far anterior to the Chaldean emigrations. 
 
 If, as M. de Baye supposes, the female figures rudely 
 carved upon the chalk walls of the artificial caves of the 
 Mame really represent a divinity, we must conclude that 
 the inhabitants of Champagne practised likewise, in the 
 later stone epoch, the rites of a religion akin to fetichism 
 or anthropomorphism. 
 
 Cranial Amulets, and the Immortality of the Soul. — 
 We have already given from M. Broca's description an 
 account of the processes employed in trepanning the 
 skulls of infants and of adults in the neolithic age. 
 This operation was sometimes practised upon the living 
 subject, especially upon children and young people (sur- 
 gical trepanning'), and sometimes upon the dead body 
 before burial (posthumous trepanning). 
 
 In all time, and even in modern days, superstition, 
 the faithful companion of ignorance, has been alhed to 
 medicine and surgery. In every epoch certain nervous 
 diseases, such as convulsions, delirium, epilepsy, and 
 madness, have been considered either as sacred, or as the 
 indication of the possession of body and soul by demons 
 
 ' M. Brooa remarks that the term ' suigical trepanning ' is not strictly 
 correct, since the hole made in the bone of the sknll was not obtained 
 by means of a pointed instrument moved In a circle, but by merely 
 scraping the surface with a sharp flint blade 
 
336 
 
 PKIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 or other evil spirits. Hence the idea naturally arose of 
 opening a door through which to expel them. Hence also 
 the mystic origin of trepanning practised upon the living 
 subject. 
 
 And as convulsions and epilepsy (a supposed sacred 
 disease) are commoner in children than adults, we find 
 a large number of perforated or trepanned skulls among 
 young people. The subject himself was considered to be 
 beloved of the gods if he survived the operation^ and was 
 
 Fig. 142. Skull trepanited dueing life and after death, taken from 
 one of the dolmens called clbournios, or tombs of the poulackes. 
 Presented to the Anthropological Institute of Paris by M.Pruniferes. 
 
 A B, Healed edge of the surgical trepanning. B G, A l>, Edees cut or sawn after death. 
 This same skull is shown on page 354, seen from al}ore. 
 
 cured of the disease. The bones of his skull were reputed 
 to possess wonderful therapeutic properties ; they counter- 
 acted witchcraft, and preserved from disease. This was 
 more than enough to cause our neolithic ancestors to pro- 
 cure the trepanned fragments which were the object of 
 their veneration, and to wear them as amulets and precious 
 talismans. 
 
CRANIAL AMULETS. 
 
 337 
 
 After the death of persons who had while living under- 
 gone surgical trepanning, a sort of posthumous trepanning 
 was practised upon them, which consisted in taking from 
 the skull circular pieces and fragments of various forms, 
 taking care always to preserve on one of the edges of each 
 piece of bone a part of the cicatrised edge of the original 
 opening (fig. 142). That was in some sort the authentic 
 signature, the trade-mark of the coveted talisman, which 
 was thereby rendered so precious to the fortunate posses- 
 sor. The healed edge does in fact exist upon nearly all 
 
 Fig. 143. Cranial amulet, with Fig. 144. Irkegulae cranial amdlet, 
 
 GROOVE FOR passing A CORD. 
 
 Taken from the dolmen caUed 
 Cave of the Fairies, in Lozfere. 
 Collection of M. Pruniferes. 
 (Natural size). 
 
 WITH A HOLE IN THE MIDDLE FOR 
 
 THE PASSAGE OF A CORD. Collection 
 of M. Piimieres. (Natural size). 
 
 the posthumous amulets : which proves beyond a doubt 
 that the subject trepanned while Uving had long sur- 
 vived the operation. This edge is smooth ; but it is dis-. 
 tinguished from the remaining edges of the amulet, in 
 that the newly-formed bony substance covers the cells of 
 the diploe, whereas the cells are visible in the other parts 
 from the very efifect of the polishing (figs. 143, 144). 
 
 The discs with polished edges were, it appears, fancy 
 amulets, and are much rarer than the unpolished ones. 
 
338 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 Both were, however, cut from the bone of the skull with 
 a flint knife or saw, at the celebration of the funeral. 
 
 We have said that the most skilfully wrought discs, 
 those which were of most value, were found in skulls from 
 which a great part of the outer bone had been removed 
 by posthumous trepanning. They had evidently been 
 purposely placed there. But M. Broca naturally asks 
 what end these intra-cranial amulets were intended to 
 serve. 'Were they a symbol, a representation of the 
 great portion of the skull removed by the operation of 
 trepanning ? It is hardly likely, since any fragment of a 
 skull might have been employed for this purpose ; and 
 the precious amulet would not have been so lightly 
 sacrificed. The intra-cranial amulet meant much more 
 than that. It was a viaticum, a talisman which the 
 deceased carried away with him into another life to bring 
 him luck, and to protect him from the influence of the evil 
 spirits who had tormented his childhood. But, even if we 
 admit the first hypothesis, it none the less indicates the 
 belief that a new life awaited the dead ; for otherwise there 
 would have been no motive whatever for the ceremony of 
 restitution. The study of prehistoric trepanning and the 
 attendant ceremonies prove, therefore, incontrovertibly, 
 that the men of the neolithic age believed in a future 
 life, in which the dead retained their individuality. It 
 is, I think, the earliest epoch to which we can attribute 
 this belief.' 
 
 We remark, finally, that prehistoric trepanning was 
 practised in the land afterwards known as France during 
 the whole of the neolithic age. Undoubted traces of the 
 same custom are also found in the dolmens of Africa, and 
 even, although it is true with a different purpose, in 
 Mexico, Peru, and the Mounds of Michigan. 
 
 Worship of the Dead. — We come now to consider the 
 signification of those female figures with pointed nose 
 and prominent breasts, found in the artificial caves of 
 Champagne, and which recall to a certain extent the 
 figures of Minerva, with the owl's face, yXav/coiins 'AOrjvrj, 
 which unknown artists have modelled on the great clay 
 
SIGN OF THE CllOSa 339 
 
 vases dug up from the ruins of ancient Troy by Dr. 
 Schliemann.' 
 
 How are we to interpret these facts ? What correla- 
 tion exists among them ? 
 
 If it be true, as Herbert Spencer supposes, that the 
 worship of ancestors and of the dead is the first origin of 
 all religions, the burial caves of the Marne, and of a great 
 
 ' According to M. Em. Burnouf and Sohliemann himself, the vases 
 in question represent the goddess Minerva, and testify to her primitive 
 worship in Greeofc With regard to the swastikas, which nearly always 
 accompany them, they are, in the opinion of the authors we have just 
 cited, true religious symbols, similar, but far anterior to the cross of 
 the Christians. On the other hand, the Abb6 Brasseur de Bourbourg 
 tells us that the Mexican Indians adored the cross long before the con- 
 quest, and invoked its aid in praying for rain after a long drought. 
 According to Wilson, the Maltese cross often adorns the antique pottery 
 of Peru, and it is also found in the carvings of Mi'tla and Falenqn^, a 
 circumstance which has given rise to the most extravagant deductions 
 and the most absurd explanations on the part of archaeologists, who, 
 not wishing to go back earlier than the time of Christ, regard the 
 crosses figured upon non-Christian monuments as a religious symbol 
 formed by the reunion of four Greek gammas (7). Now we know at 
 the present day beyond all doubt that these supposed gammas are 
 nothing but the swastika p^ of the Brahmans of India, that is, the 
 representation of the wooden instrument of the same name employed 
 with the pramanthd, or fire-stick, to produce the sacred fire, agni. This 
 sign is figured in the Eamayana on the prow of King Kama's ship, who 
 certainly knew no Greek ; and it appears also on a number of Buddhist 
 monuments. Lastly, we know that the followers of Vishnu make this 
 sign upon their forehead, as did the Christians of the early Church. 
 M. Gabriel de Mortillet has proved that the sign of the cross, used as a 
 sacred emblem, preceded by a thousand years the introduction of 
 Christianity into Gaul. It may be seen on the pottery found at Aix, in 
 Savoy, on more than half the vases taken from the terrama/ii, of Emilia 
 (age of bronze), lastly, upon all the tombs of the cemeteries of Golascua, 
 near Lago Maggiore, and of Villanova, near Bologna (age of iron). The 
 cross then occurs everywhere, as M. Em. Burnouf justly observes; but 
 is he right in adding solely in the Aryan race ? The earrings of Mitla 
 and Palenqufi, the black earthenware of Peru, mentioned above, justify 
 oiir doubting this assertion. But, it is now established by undoubted 
 proofs that the sign of the cross was known and employed as a religious 
 symbol long before the birth of Christ. With regard to the meaning 
 of the sign resembling a St. Andrew's cross, which MM. Lartet and 
 Christy observed upon an arrow head of reindeer-hom (Rel. Aquit. 
 pi. X. fig. 6) found by them in one of the bone caves of P§rigord, we 
 shall not try to see therein the sign of the cross dating from the age of 
 mammoth and cave-bear, and many will be inclined to imitate oux 
 reserve. 
 
340 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 many other places, the dolmens and monoliths of Sar- 
 dinia would have an important bearing upon the question. 
 Nothing prevents us from considering, indeed everything 
 leads us to regard, these monolithic monuments as the 
 expression of a religious idea, a worship of the dead, 
 based upon the notion, more or less distinct, or more or 
 less vague, of a future life. What, moreover, could be 
 the meaning of these weapons, these provision vessels, 
 these funeral urns, found in the gigantic tombs in the 
 burial caves and grottos, if not an affectionate respect 
 for the dead, the idea still completely material and rude 
 of a future life, similar in most respects to the present, 
 and subject to the same necessities ? 
 
 The famous cave of Aurignae (Haute-Garonne) seemed 
 to have furnished an invincible proof in favour of the 
 existence of religious ideas and practices, and of a wor- 
 ship of the dead at an epoch as early as the cave bear. 
 At sight of the human bones found buried therein, people 
 talked of funeral ceremonies and feasts, of well-defined 
 religious beliefs in times far anterior to all history and all 
 tradition. The only mistake was one of date, for the 
 most recent researches of MM. Cartailhac and Trutat 
 have proved that all these practices must be attributed 
 only to the neolithic age. 
 
 Dr. Noulet arrived at the same result in exploring with 
 the care and wisdom which characterise him the burial 
 place of the Herm, reputed to be much more ancient than 
 it really is. On the other hand, the human bodies lying 
 above the ancient hearths of Solutre prove that, as early 
 as the reindeer age, the tribe which had settled in this 
 district near Macon rendered funeral honours to their 
 dead, and that they possessed notions of a future life 
 nearly similar to those which are revealed to us in the 
 age of polished stone. 
 
 From -the above facts and considerations, it results 
 that we possess but very few proofs and positive facts 
 testifying in favour of the existence of religion among our 
 ancestors previous to the neolithic age. But if it be true 
 that, as f amennais says, every being tends towards God, 
 
CANNIBALISM. 341 
 
 tends to unite itself to him as far as its nature allows ; if 
 religion itself is but this union realised by heart and 
 mind, if the idea of a future life is only a spontaneous 
 aspiration after the Infinite, primitive man himself can- 
 not have been exempted from tbjs impulse of all human 
 nature. 
 
 III. CANNIBALISM AND HUMAN SACBIPICE. 
 
 It is extremely probable that the primitive peoples ol 
 Europe were g,ddicted to cannibalism, though we have 
 hitherto no certain proof of the fact. Yet, when we con- 
 sider that this barbarous custom is still widely diffused in 
 Polynesia, in New Zealand, in Australia, in the islands 
 of Sunda and Sumatra, in Central and Southern Africa, 
 and among some of the tribes of Hindostan and of Ame- 
 rica ; when Strabo and Pliny assure us that in their time 
 the Germans and Kelts were cannibals ; lastly, when 
 Caesar says that the Vascons were still anthropophagous, 
 we should have no reason to be surprised if later re- 
 searches placed it beyond a doubt that quaternary Euro- 
 pean man resembled the Vascons in this respect. 
 
 Even now there are indications which seem to con- 
 firm this hideous resemblance. In certain caves human 
 bones have been discovered, more or less charred or split 
 like those of animals, probably for the purpose of extract- 
 • ing the marrow, which was considered as a great delicacy. 
 Some of these bones are marked with scratches, rare, but 
 quite visible at their spongy extremities, and even the 
 print of teeth, which certain palaeontologists believe to be 
 human. 
 
 At the station of Saint Marc (reindeer age), near Aix, 
 in Provence, M. Marion found among the remains upon 
 the hearths some calcined human bones, broken and 
 split to allow of the extraction of the marrow. He un- 
 hesitatingly concludes from this fact that the tribes of 
 the archaeolithic age occasionally fed upon human flesh. 
 It is worthy of note that all these carbonised bones split 
 lengthways belong to young people, and that the station 
 of Aix shows no sign of having been used as a place of 
 
342 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 biirial. M. Capellini also says that he has recently found 
 traces of cannibalism in Italy. 
 
 Observations similar to the preceding had already 
 been made in Scotland upon the bones of women and 
 children, by Eichard Owen ; in Belgium, by Spring ; and 
 those two savants had suspected them to be proofs of the 
 practice of cannibalism. M. Worsae likewise believes in 
 the existence of anthropophagy and human sacrifice 
 among the ancient inhabitants of Denmark. 
 
 It is, nevertheless, possible that the scratches or marks 
 in question are merely the work of certain rodents — mice 
 and rats for instance. It is to these animals that Dr. 
 Noulet attributes very similar marks observed upon three 
 portions of a human humerus taken by him from a 
 sepulchre, dating from the age of polished stone, and 
 wrongly attributed, it seems, to the epoch of the cave bear 
 (cave of the Herm).' 
 
 Whether we adopt this opinion or no, it is not un- 
 reasonable to imagine that the hunger of the first inhabi- 
 tants of European soil was not always satisfied, and that 
 their savage passions led them to feed, at least accident- 
 ally and locally, upon the flesh of their fellow-creatures. 
 The same causes produce everywhere the same effects. 
 M. Schaffhausen, therefore, does not hesitate to say, ' We 
 are no longer astonished at the description of a people 
 addicted to cannibal practices. We find among all peoples 
 the traces of this primitive barbarism : it is in some sort 
 a necessity to which they were all at one time subject.' ^ 
 
 Carl Vogt is even more explicit upon this important 
 point. ' There is not,' he says, ' a single race, a people of 
 importance, or any important geographical group of men, 
 among whom cannibalism and human sacrifice did not 
 formerly exist. Black, brown, yellow, and white-skinned 
 races, woolly-haired and smooth-haired men ; Europeans, 
 
 ' See in the Mdmoires de VAcad.emie des Sciences, Tngcriptitms et Belles 
 Lettres de Toulouse, 1874, Dr. Noulefs work entitled, JEtude sur la 
 Caveme de VHerm, i>a/Hiculierement au point de vue de I'dge des restes 
 liwmains qui en ont He retirh, 
 
 2 Revue Scievtifique, 1872, p. 1064. 
 
CAUSES OF CANNIBALISM. 343 
 
 Asiatics, Africans, Americans, Australians, and Polynesians, 
 Semites and Hamites, all without exception have sacrificed 
 and devoured their fellows ; and, where historical docu- 
 ments and writings are wanting, the broken and gnawed 
 bones bear witness to the fact.' ' 
 
 Far from subscribing to the paradox of Eousseau, that 
 all things are perfect when they leave the hands of Nature, 
 M. H. Bouley ^ sees in primitive cannibalism the proof of 
 a considerable imperfection. ' Man,' says he, ' when he 
 left the handjj of Nature,' to quote Eousseau, 'was not 
 absolutely scrupulous in his strife for existence, and if he 
 fed upon the flesh of the brutes he procured by the chase, 
 a morsel of that of his fellows was not revolting to him. 
 Hunger was his justification ; but, if this means of nourish- 
 ment may be explained, and even excused by the necessity 
 of the time when it was commonly practised, it should not 
 be invoked as a Yery convincing proof of the perfection of 
 primitive humanity. On the contrary, a great progress 
 was soon realised, and humanity made a step towards a 
 better state of things, when the conquest of domestic 
 animals assured to man his subsistence for the morrow. 
 This point of view magnifies considerably the services for 
 which we are indebted to our inferior brethren, as Saint- 
 Franf ois de Sales calls them, who saved man from himself, 
 that is from the fury of his unsatisfied appetite, which 
 drove him to prey upon his fellows.' 
 
 In truth, as soon as man begins to cultivate the land, 
 as soon as he is in possession of domestic animals, it is 
 very rare that he does not renounce the practice of feed- 
 ing upon human flesh, supposing that he had formerly 
 been accustomed to do so. The natives of the Society 
 Islands are an instance in point, for their admirable cli- 
 mate and luxuriant vegetation favoured the transformation 
 wonderfully ; as also are a number of wandering and savage 
 tribes in the New "World, who have left a condition of 
 extreme barbarism, and are now attached to the soil — 
 thanks to those who gave to them, with words of peace, 
 
 ' Pi-ehistoriB Congress of Sologna, 1871, Report, p, 328. 
 ' Ilevxie Scientijlgue, 1875, p. 31. 
 
344 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 the first domestic animals, and the first notions of agricul- 
 ture. These tribes, formerly cannibal, have gradually 
 become more civUised ; the life of their neighbours has 
 become sacred, as it should be, to all the members of 
 that great 'family which is called humanity. 
 
 The legends of the fabulous times of Greece and Egyi)t 
 are not myths created at will by the fertile imagination of 
 these ancient peoples. Ceres and Triptolemus, by the in- 
 vention of the plough, really gave birth to civilisation.. 
 
 But, unfortunately, hunger is not the only motive which 
 leads or has led certain peoples to the practice of canni- 
 balism, and has even induced them to make it a national 
 institution. The abuse of absolute power, vengeance, 
 superstition, and prejudice claim also a large share in 
 this barbarous custom, a crime of high treason against 
 humanity. Thus, for example, in the Viti Islands, in 
 an admirable climate, among a people cultivating the 
 yam, skilled in weaving and the making of earthenware 
 vessels, cannibalism was, in 1854, a national institution 
 at Mbau, the capital of the island and the residence of 
 the King Cakombau ; human flesh was publicly sold ; 
 the vessels and ovens in which it was cooked were 
 never cold ; and there were slaughter-houses in different 
 parts of the island, where human victims were daily 
 sacrificed, and in greater numbers at the celebration 
 of certain solemnities. Messrs. Seaman and Pritchard, 
 eye-witnesses of the scene, give a graphic account of the 
 massacre of hundreds of prisoners and criminals, in honour 
 of the king's son, who, having arrived at the age of man- 
 hood, was about to put on the dress of the iniaro. 
 
 ' The corpses were piled together in an enormous heap, 
 on the top of which a living slave was thrown. The 
 initiated youth, naked until that day (for only the men 
 wear a rag of clothing), separated himself from the com- 
 panions of bis childhood, climbed up the frightful scaffold 
 of corpses, and, standing upon the breast of the living 
 slave, he waved a sword and mace, while the priests invoked 
 upon him the protection of the genii, and prayed them 
 to laake him conqueror in every battle. The assembled 
 
HUMAN SACEIFICES. 345 
 
 crowd was accustomed to mingle their applause with these 
 horrible imprecations. Then two uncles of the prince 
 mounted in their turn the heap of victims : it was their 
 office to gird him with the maro, a belt of tapa, a texture 
 worn in the country, white as snow, and only six or eight 
 inches in width, but two hundred yards in length, so that 
 he was completely enveloped in it.' 
 
 ' Quite recently (June 1878), one of the best informed 
 superior officers in the French navy, M. Henri Jouan, who 
 has long resided in Oceania, addressed the Linnaean Society 
 of Normandy upon this subject. We regret the impossi- 
 bility of reproducing the whole of this interesting paper 
 which he has been kind enough to communicate to us, 
 and which brings new proofs in confirmation of the theories 
 which we have already made known in the Revue Scien- 
 tijique of Sept. 1877. As an eye-witness of the facts, 
 M. Henri Jouan speaks with undoubted authority. Now 
 it results from his observations that all the peoples of 
 Oceania formerly practised, or still practise, cannibalism 
 to a degree which tends to diminish, and even to dis- 
 appear, at the present day, but which reveals a sort of 
 primitive and unconscious instinct, which even now at 
 times amounts to ferocity. Nothing, not even the horrible 
 tortures inflicted by the savage tribes of America upon 
 their captives, can equal the refinement of cruelty to 
 which the unhappy victims of the vengeance, prejudice, or 
 superstition of the Maoris of New Zealand or the natives 
 of the Fiji Isles are exposed. 
 
 We mentioned just now the ceremony of the maro, 
 and the bloody sacrifices which accompany it; but it is 
 impossible to form an idea of the brutal despotism and 
 cold-blooded cruelty of the Fijian chiefs in certain cir- 
 cumstances, the horrible details of which are told us by 
 the sailor Jackson, of the English navy. Can it be believed 
 that living men were used as rollers to facilitate the 
 launching of a large and heavy canoe? These wretches 
 were wrapped in plantain stems which made them look 
 like round beams of wood, and their thickness was so 
 calculated that they might be slowly crushed during 
 
346 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 the operation. 'Another time,' says M. Jouan, 'in 
 building the house of a chief, living slaves were thrown 
 beneath each of the pillars ; they were supposed to sup- 
 port the roof of the houses over the head of the chief.' 
 What, when compared with these horrors, is the rape of 
 women and children intended to be merely killed and 
 eaten upon the occasion of some national fete or any other 
 event of importance ? 
 
 The influence of cannibal customs and the prejudices 
 attendant on them is so great, that in 1861, during the 
 war made upon the English by the Maoris to recover 
 their independence, the barbarous inhabitants of the south 
 of New Zealand tore out and devoured the hearts of English 
 soldiers killed in battle, imagining that they would thereby 
 inherit the courage of their enemies, whose superiority 
 in every respect they fully recognised. Yet M. Jouan adds, 
 from whom we also borrow this characteristic detail, these 
 same Maoris were Christians, ardent Protestants, who, 
 some short time previously, had bitterly complained that 
 the English had broken the Sabbath in attacking them by 
 surprise one Sunday in service-time. 
 
 Besides those already mentioned there is yet another 
 cause for that craving for human flesh which is often 
 overpowering. Once formed, this taste, depraved in the 
 civilised state, but partly natural and almost universal, it 
 seems, in the savage or half-barbarous state, may some- 
 times become really irresistible. In nearly the whole of 
 Oceania the wars are nearly always undertaken merely for 
 the avowed and premeditated purpose of feasting upon 
 the flesh of the vanquished. 
 
 In the Marquesas Isles women and children alone 
 figure in the feast of the cannibals. And why ? Because 
 the flesh is more tender and delicate than that of men. 
 The latter, according to a gourmet well qualified to judge 
 (a chief of the tribe of the Naiikis of Noukahiva), is even 
 much inferior to pork. The New Caledonians find the 
 flesh of white men bad and terribly salt ; neither do they 
 value that of the tribes who dwell upon the coast, because 
 it has a very disagreeable taste of bad fish. A number 
 
HUMAN SACEIPICES. 347 
 
 of observations made by M. Jouan upon the tribes of 
 Oceania whom he has been able to study at leisure and at 
 first hand, lead him to conclude by analogy and induction 
 that our prehistoric ancestors practised, like them, canni- 
 balism and human sacrifice. 
 
 Even in our own day the sacrifice of human victims is 
 carried out upon a large scale in Dahomey, and the king 
 himself does not scruple to stain his royal hands with the 
 blood of his subjects, or of prisoners taken in his wars 
 with hostile trifces. Is it possible to carry to greater length 
 the abuse of absolute authority, cold-blooded cruelty, or 
 contempt for human life ? 
 
 Among savage tribes, to kill an enemy, or to expose 
 him to horrible torture, and then to devour his quiver- 
 ing fiesh, is an almost universal custom ; to offer him to 
 the gods is a homage which they claim, a most efficacious 
 means for obtaining their favour or appeasing their wrath. 
 It is also the surest method of inoculating the donor with 
 the courage, strength, and all the moral and intellectual 
 qualities of the victim ; in a word, of assimilating his soul, 
 as the Maoris of New Zealand believe. This is precisely 
 the explanation of the cannibal practices and bloody sacri- 
 fices which still obtain in modern days, not only among the 
 barbarous Polynesians, but also among nations who have 
 long emerged from a state of barbarism, and who are, 
 moreover, in daily contact with the advanced civilisation 
 of the English in India, or of the French in the Marquesas 
 Isles, and even in Algeria.' 
 
 Voltaire had good reason for his surprise at the wide 
 diffusion of the atrocious customs found even among tribes 
 remarkable for their refined and hospitable manners. How 
 is it, he said, that men so widely separated should be 
 unanimous in such a horrible practice ? Must we believe 
 
 ' A quite recent event (1873), the assassination of Captain Hart 
 and his wife, who were both eaten by the inhabitants of the Marquesas 
 Isles, leaves no doubt of the persistence of certain practices which, have 
 almost become hereditary instincts. We still remember with horror 
 the cannibalism which only a few years ago was revealed to us by our 
 tribunals in Algeria. 
 
348 PEmiTIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 that it IS not so absolutely contrary to human nature as it 
 appears ? Howevei painful this avowal may be, it must 
 be confessed, in face of the proofs furnished by palaeonto- 
 logy, that the horrible custom alluded to by Voltaire was 
 formerly, and still remains, more widely spread than he 
 believed. We read in the Journal des Savants (August 
 1867), in a remarkable paper by M. Saint-Hilaire upon 
 human sacrifice in India, an account of the Khonds 
 settled among the mountains of Orissa, one of the most 
 fertile districts of the peninsula, a people who cultivate 
 the soil and gather in rich harvests, and who yet cut to 
 pieces, as it were with delight, their meriaha, and dis- 
 tribute pieces of the flesh among the assembly, and offer 
 to Bera, goddess of the earth, human hecatombs, un- 
 equalled except by those of the ancient Mexicans.' 
 
 ' What, then,' exclaims M. Saint-Hilaire — ' what are 
 these races where horrors so great and so enduring are 
 possible ? What especially are these Khonds, among whom 
 human beings are slaughtered more lightly and in greater 
 numbers than animals iu Greek and Eoman paganism? 
 Here even the word hecatomb, strictly used, is insuf- 
 ficient ; it does not express the whole truth. In pagan 
 antiquity, the hundred oxen were rarely sacrificed; in 
 Orissa several hundreds of human beings are slaughtered 
 at once in several villages united for this single purpose, 
 while on all other occasions they are ever at odds. The 
 Eoman people in their holidays put to death, to satisfy 
 the thirst for such bloody spectacles, thousands of gladia- 
 tors in a single day ; occasionally even they offered human 
 sacrifice. Other ■ peoples, indeed most peoples, formerly 
 disgraced themselves by such crimes. The Spanish In- 
 quisition burnt thousands at the stake as late as the 
 eighteenth century. But where shall we find such 
 
 ' The number of human victims sacrificed to the gods amounted 
 annually to more than 20,000 in the single town of Mexico. Human 
 sacrifice appears to have been practised by the mound builders of the 
 Ohio and the Mississippi, with respect to whom there is still so much 
 uncertainty. Wilson tells us that upon one of their altars, covered 
 with spangles of silvered mica, some carbonised human bones were 
 found in sufficient numbers to form together a complete skeleton. 
 
CANNIBALISM. 349 
 
 vast sacrifices organised for a purpose so selfish and so 
 absurd ? Where, above all, shall we find these crimes 
 committed in cold blood in modem times, and by tribes 
 in contact with our civilisation ? Cannibals are more ex- 
 cusable, since they at least can plead the pangs of hunger 
 and the near approach of death, only to be avoided by 
 these bloody repasts. In what grade of humanity must 
 we place the Khonds ? who could be ranked below them ? 
 Can there be anything more mournful, more unheard of 
 among the surprises which the history of humanity has 
 in store for us ? These are problems for the philosophy 
 of history. What is man, considered in this sink of filth 
 and blood ? ' 
 
 Thanks to the energy and courage of Major Campbell 
 and Lieut. Macpherson, the fierce inhabitants of the 
 mountains of Orissa have at length been induced, not 
 without extreme diflSculty, to renounce their bloody sacri- 
 fices. But the deep root which this custom had taken 
 from long habit, and the strength it had gained from 
 superstition, are proved by the almost naive complaints 
 which they made to the English ambassadors, and the re- 
 sponsibility which they laid upon the new masters, should 
 the displeasure of the goddess Bera lead her to withdraw 
 from the tribes of Khondistan the protection she had 
 until then accorded them. These complaints show how 
 readily the human conscience is quieted and perverted by 
 the persuasive voices of superstition and ignorance. In 
 presence of these facts, unfortunately but too well authen- 
 ticated, and of the half-charred bones of women and 
 children found at Chauvaux in Belgium, at Sourdes 
 Arbas, Bruniquel, and elsewhere, of the human bones 
 split in the same way as those of animals, is it unreason- 
 able to admit that the tribes who dwelt in Europe in the 
 stone age were sometimes at least cannibals, and that 
 they sacrificed human victims on the tombs of their chiefs 
 or of their gods ? 
 
 16 
 
350 PKIMITIYE CIVILISATION. 
 
 IV. TBAWSrOBMATIOH" OF HTJMAlf SACKIFICE INTO 
 MODEKW BELIGIOtrS DOGMA. 
 
 We must not conclude our remarks upon cannibalism 
 and human sacrifice without mentioning the theories put 
 forward upon this subject at the Prehistoric Congress 
 of Bologna by one of the most famous representatives of 
 modem science. M. Carl Vogt starts, it is true, from the 
 doubtful principle that all religion is the daughter of fear 
 and ignorance, and consists in the adoration of the un- 
 known ; this unknown, that is God himself, being nothing 
 but a superlative of which the positive is man. He con- 
 siders cannibalism and human sacrifice, which is its 
 logical consequence, to be a universal fact, a necessary 
 phase in the development of civilisation ; nay, far more, 
 the indication of a comparatively advanced stage in this 
 civilisation. 
 
 Cannibalism, he says, unknown to our prehistoric an- 
 cestors of the age of the mammoth and reindeer, becomes 
 frequent towards the end of the neolithic period. From 
 that time forward we everywhere find incontestable proofs 
 of it, and also of human sacrifice, then at least as common 
 as it was later among the more civilised nations (Jews, 
 Egyptians, Greeks, Eomans, Gauls, &c.), and in our own 
 day among tribes who still remain in a barbarous 
 state. But what were the causes and the purpose of 
 these atrocious customs ? Fruit-eating by nature, like 
 the anthropomorphic apes, and even insectivorous like 
 the inferior Quadrumana, man only became omnivorous 
 at a comparatively advanced stage in his development. 
 Still less was he originally cannibal. Hunger, the desire 
 of vengeance, superstition abcve all, are the real sources 
 of this custom. The cannibal savage imagines that the 
 human body and soul form an inseparable whole after, as 
 well as during, life. Every part of the body of man, and 
 even of animals, has its proper function and special 
 qualities. Thus the heart is the seat of courage and war- 
 like valour. In the eye reside wisdom and perspicacity,' 
 
 ' Queen PomarS, before holding the sceptre, bore the name of Almata, 
 or Eye-eater. 
 
CANNIBALISM AND RELIGIOUS DOGMA. 351 
 
 as manliness in the reproductive organs, and life in the 
 blood. The flesh of the stag gives agility, that of the 
 bison extraordinary strength. These inherent qualities 
 of certain organs may then pass into the body and mind 
 of him who feeds upon them, who absorbs and incorporates 
 them. Moreover, by devouring the object of his revenge, 
 by eating the enemy killed in the battle-field, the con- 
 queror assimilates completely the body and soul of the 
 conquered. 
 
 The right of feeding upon human flesh thus naturally 
 became the privilege of the bravest of the conquerors, of 
 the chief of the tribe. Now, as among savages the gods 
 are merely the highest chiefs, they came gradually and 
 logically to offering the divinity, whatever he may be, 
 all that they believed most proper to win his favour or 
 appease his wrath. Hence arose human sacrifices, the 
 immolation of virgins, slaves, children, prisoners of war ; 
 and as the idea of expiation is often allied to that of 
 sacrifice, the chosen victim must be the more perfect; 
 and the more precious, the greater the fault to be ex- 
 piated. 
 
 Little by little the religious idea becomes purer, and 
 from real the sacrifice becomes merely symbolic. Such 
 is, for instance, the Sacrament of the Christians, whose 
 parallel M. Vogt and Prof. Fritz, of Marbourg, find in 
 certain sacrifices in use among the ancient Mexicans 
 at the feast of their god Huitzilipochtli. The words of 
 Jesus himself are, ' He who eats my flesh and drinks 
 my blood lives in me, and I in him.' ' We see,' says M. 
 C. Vogt, 'these words are entirely based upon the idea, 
 which is still in favour among the Jews, that the life is 
 in the blood, and that by absorbing the flesh and blood of 
 any one the life of the person passes into the feeder. 
 We must then absolutely feed upon the flesh and blood of 
 the Son of Man, that his innocence may pass inio us, 
 and our sin into him. But this is but one view of the 
 Sacrament.' We leave our readers to judge of these 
 theories ; though we doubt whether many will agree with 
 them, especially Catholic theologians. 
 
3.'52 PEIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE PORTMAIT OF QUATERNARY MAN. 
 
 We share the opinion of MM. de Quatrefages, Ed. Lartet, 
 &c., that man of the diluvium, of the valleys, or of the 
 ossiferous caves is prehistoric, but not primitive man. In 
 spite of the numerous fancy sketches which have been 
 made of him, primitive man, in the true sense of the 
 words, remains hitherto absolutely unknown to us. As 
 to the carver of the axes of Saint Aeheul and the knives 
 of Aurignac, the records concerning him are still unfor- 
 tunately very incomplete. A few skulls more or less 
 broken and crushed, a few bones more or less perfect, 
 are the only data upon which, in the present state of 
 science, we can found a description worthy of any con- 
 fidence whatever. 
 
 Physical Type. — We are a little better informed with 
 regard to the anatomical character of man of the rein- 
 deer and neolithic ages ; but m^any important data are 
 still wanting, and many errors have been committed, even 
 by those who are best informed. Thus it was at first 
 asserted that the dwellers in caves were of short, or, at 
 most, of medium stature ; that they were brachycephalous, 
 and that their low and retreating foreheads were furnished 
 with prominent overhanging brows ; that their face was 
 markedly prognathous and almost deprived of chin, &c. 
 But it is quite possible that all these characters were in- 
 dividual, mere varieties of an unknown specific type. It 
 appears to be now proved, as we have mentioned before, that 
 the dolichocephalous type preceded the brachycephalous, 
 or at least predominated at first — if, however, it is allow- 
 able or prudent to draw conclusions from such insufficient 
 
ANATOMY OF QUATERNARY MAN. 
 
 353 
 
 data. For the rest, the skull of the Olmo may be advan- 
 tageously compared with those of Eguisheim and Nean- 
 derthal, with which it is nearly contemporary. ' It is a 
 fine skull,' says Vogt himself. Still finer were the skulls 
 of the reindeer hunters of Perigord (fig. 148), who were 
 of great height, athletic, with a strongly-built skeleton, 
 with pillared femurs, platycnemic tibias, channelled fibulas 
 (fig. 145, 146, 147) and humerus, of which the olecra- 
 nian cavity is often perforated; anatomical peculiarities 
 
 Figs. 145, 146, 147.-0. Flattened tibia of an oW man of Cro Magnon. 
 D. Femur of the same, seen In profile. E. FibuJa of the same. 
 
 which recur both before and after the reindeer age, until 
 towards the end of the neolithic period, and even in our own 
 days. With regard to the colour of the hair, while Haeckel 
 says it was black and woolly, M. de Quatrefages believes 
 he has good reason for thinking it was red, and that the 
 skin, instead of being black or brown, as the German author 
 supposes, was very similar in colour to that of the present 
 Mongol races. But how is it possible, in the absence of 
 the hair and skin, to judge of the shade of complexion, so 
 
354 
 
 PKIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 variable, moreover, in one and the same race ? The Hindu 
 women, who undoubtedly belong to the so-called white 
 race, are brown-skinned. How can we tell, having never 
 seen them, that the transverse section of the hairs of so- 
 called primitive man was round or elUptical, their colour 
 red or black ? 
 
 Manners and Customs. — The above details prove that 
 European man formerly, and for a considerable period. 
 
 Fig. 148.— Skull of an old man of Cro-Magnon. 
 
 dwelt in caves, or even in mere sheltered places among the 
 rocks, such as la Madelaine, Bruniquel, and Cro-Magnon. 
 This was his miserable home ; here he took his meals, and 
 allowed the remains of his food, uninviting to our fas- 
 tidious palates, to collect. The flesh of the mammoth, 
 of the great cave bear, of the amphibious rhinoceros, of 
 the horse, the aurochs, the reindeer, the fox, and, doubtless, 
 also wild fruits and roots, formed his staple diet. Usually 
 the flesh of the animals was eaten raw ; but fire had long 
 been known, and even pottery had been invented, and was 
 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 355 
 
 used for culinary purposes. Hunting was his principal 
 occupation. Armed with the stone axe, or mace, with 
 the flint-headed lance, javelin, or arrow, he boldly attacked 
 the animals, often of colossal size, which then peopled our 
 lands, and of which many have long since disappeared. 
 He clothed himself in their skins, which he had early 
 learnt to smooth with the scraper, to soften and prepare 
 with fat or marrow, and later by means of a stone polisher. 
 During the reindeer age the booty obtained by fishing with 
 a barbed harpoon (for the net was not then invented) 
 added its contingent to his daily food. The shooting of 
 birds was likewise no longer neglected. The bones and 
 teeth of the reindeer and of contemporary animals were 
 used in the manufacture of weapons and tools of every 
 kind, and even articles of^luxury and ornament. The arts 
 of design were bom ; and the reindeer hunters of Perigord 
 and the bear hunters of the Pyrenees employed their 
 leisure hours, now become less rare, in carving their 
 weapons, and in drawing or engraving on wood, bone, and 
 ivory the figures of the animals they had before their eyes, 
 and even their own image. 
 
 However, the horrors of war already raged among 
 them ; might oppressed right and crushed the weak. We 
 see the proof in the serious wounds observed upon the 
 weapons of the Danish warriors of the age of stone, and, 
 perhaps, even upon the skulls of defenceless women. 
 (Skull of Cro-Magnon.) 
 
 We gather from several indications that in certain 
 cases, at least, they practised cannibalism. Some authors 
 maintain that this custom, and that of human sacrifice, 
 were widely spread among the troglodytes of the stone age. 
 Others, on the contrary, endeavour to absolve our ances- 
 tors from the crime of which the proofs appear to us in 
 many cases overwhelming. 
 
 The bone needle was invented, and the curious speci- 
 mens found in the caves of Dordogne, of England, and 
 of Belgium, prove that, from this remote epoch, the 
 women, and probably the men also, knew how to sew the 
 clothing they wore. Tendons split into fine filaments, 
 
356 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 bark fibre, and later textile plants furnished the sewing 
 thread. 
 
 All these customs, cannibalism and human sacrifice 
 excepted, resemble those of the Eskimos, of the Green- 
 landers, and especially of the Siberian Tshouktschis, who, 
 hardly a century ago, still dwelt in caves, whose entrance 
 they closed with reindeer skins, ignoring the use of metals, 
 and employing sharp stones, bone fish-hooks, pikes armed 
 with pointed bones, and utensils of wood or leather.' The 
 women used the split tendons of quadrupeds and needles 
 of fish-bone to sew their clothing of skins. We have seen 
 that the troglodytes of Perigord employed delicate per- 
 forated bone needles for the same purpose. The family 
 and the society were also organised among the latter, even 
 in the reindeer age. If we accept the explanation given 
 by Edward Lartet, of the ornamented and perforated 
 instruments which he calls wands of ofifice, and if we 
 consider with him that the number of holes indicates the 
 various degrees of authority, there were already chiefs and 
 subjects. 
 
 After having sheltered the living, the caves became 
 the last resting-place of the dead. With them were 
 buried the weapons, the ornaments, the articles of every 
 kind which they had used during their life on earth, and 
 which they were to employ in that other life of which 
 even the dweller in the caves seems to have had a vague 
 presentiment. For the rest, he had a barely rudimentary 
 notion of the divinity, a rude fetichism, some absurd 
 superstitions; but no religion worthy of the name, no 
 idiom, of which any remains, however mutilated, have 
 come down to us. 
 
 With regard to the troglodytes who, during the age of 
 polished stone, dwelt in the Pyrenean caves of Ari6ge, 
 thej' undoubtedly had attained to a degree of civilisation 
 far more advanced than that at which the inhabitants 
 of the caves, of the age of the mammoth and reindeer, 
 came to a stand. 
 
 ' See the interesting details upon this suhject given by M. L. Lartet 
 in his paper upon Une Sepulture des Animava; Troglodytes des Pyrinles. 
 
SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LITE. 357 
 
 Their stone tools and weapons are polished with great 
 care, but work in bone had made no great progress ; it 
 may even be said to have retrograded,, since we no longer 
 find those engraved drawings, those carvings whose com- 
 parative perfection is a subject for surprise in the second 
 half of the reindeer age. Pottery exists, but the wheel is 
 not yet invented. Like the inhabitants of the Swiss lake 
 dwellings, with whom they were contemporary, the trog- 
 lodytes of Ari^ge had domesticated the dog, the pig, 
 the ox, the gotyt, and the sheep. These ruminants not 
 only furnished them with meat, but also an abundance 
 of milk, and probably also butter and milk. 
 
 A favourite food was the Helix nemoralis, of which 
 the shells are found in heaps at Niaux, Bedeillac, and 
 elsewhere. Shooting with the bow and arrow procmred 
 them abundance of game (the wild goat and blackcock) ; 
 nuts, sloes, and wild cherries were part of their diet, with 
 strawberries, raspberries, and chestnuts. They drank 
 nothing but pure spring water from cups of ox or aurochs 
 horn, or the hollow antlers of the stag. 
 
 Like their predecessors of the epoch of the bear and 
 reindeer, they clothed themselves in the skins of animals 
 killed in the chase, or kept in a domestic condition. 
 Weights for stretching the weaver's loom, and spindles 
 found at Ussat and at Niaux, seem to show that the arts 
 of weaving and spinning were not unknown to them. In 
 brief, their simple customs offer a close resemblance to 
 those of the earHest lake dwellers. 
 
 No cereals or wheaten bread have been found among 
 them. Nevertheless, MM. Garrigou and Filhol are in- 
 clined to think that they knew something of agriculture, 
 since they have discovered millstones of granite, syenite, 
 and other hard rocks ; "but they had nothing but stone 
 hoes or picks of stag's bom for ploughing the soil. MM. 
 Garrigou and Filhol avow complete ignorance with regard 
 to the burial rites and religious ceremonies of the pre- 
 historic tribes of the Tarascon valley. 
 
 The man who has left incontestable traces of his 
 existence in the most ancient quaternary beds (and a 
 
358 PRIMITIVE CIVILISATION. 
 
 fortiori in those of the reindeer age), although inferior in 
 many respects to the man of our ovra. day, nevertheless 
 resembled him in all essential points. In spite of his 
 savage manners, and the barbarity of some of his customs 
 (cannibalism and human sacrifice), he was vnan in all 
 senses of the word — anatomically, intellectually, aud 
 morally. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 ABB 
 
 ABBEVILLE, the splintered 
 
 ^^ fliuts of, 35 ; ridicules and 
 conjectures concerning, 37 ; 
 congress of savants at, 46 
 
 Agriculture, primitive, 252 
 
 Alcohol, early use of, 205 
 
 America, antiquity of human 
 race in, 162 ; primitive art of, 
 163 ; pottery of tombs in, 305 
 
 Amulets, discovery of, 334; 
 cranial, 335 
 
 Andaman Islanders, religious 
 ideas of, 329 
 
 Animals, domestication of, 256 ; 
 invertebrate, non-domestica- 
 tion of, 274; geological anti- 
 quity of, 274 ; origin of do- 
 mestic, 275; drawings of, 291; 
 religious homage to, 333 
 
 Anthropomorphism, 332 
 
 Antiquity of human race, proofs 
 of, 182 
 
 Arani, Aryan religious symbols, 
 190 
 
 Arcadians, the boasted antiquity 
 of, 181 
 
 Ari^ge, human chronology in 
 valley of, 60 
 
 Arrow-flakers, 213 
 
 Arrow heads, stone. Red Indians' 
 mode of making, 211 ; as a 
 protection against lightning, 
 218;L.-ish, 224 
 
 Arts oi design in caves, 287 ; list 
 of, 301 ; to whom they belong, 
 302 
 
 BON 
 
 Ass, origin of the, 266 
 Aurignac, burial cave of, 134 ; 
 
 worship of dead in, 340 
 Australian legend of origin of 
 
 fire, 195 
 Australians, their persistent use 
 
 of stone tools, 23 
 Auvernier, burial cave of, 117 
 Axes, stone, 24 ; perforated, 243 ; 
 
 hammer, 245 ; chip, 245 ; 
 
 throwing, 245 
 Aymard, his discoveries at La 
 
 Denise, 175 
 Aztecs, their method of making 
 
 obsidian razors, 212 
 
 "DAREOWS, description of 
 
 -'-' the, 148 
 
 Basque tongue, age and use of 
 the, 316 
 
 Baume-des-Morts, burial cave of, 
 139 
 
 Beverages of primitive man, 205 
 
 Bible and science, Lenormant on, 
 185 
 
 Biblical chronology, non-exist- 
 ence of, 3, 185 
 
 Birds, recently extinct, 73 ; non- 
 domestication of primitive, 274 
 
 Bize, the cave of, human remains 
 in, 48 ; the date of, 49 ; cited 
 in support of great antiquity 
 of man, 49 
 
 Bolivia, chnlpas of, 165 
 
 Bone caves, description of the. 
 
360 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 BOtJ 
 
 53 ; the various contents of 
 the, 55 ; suppositions as to 
 how they were filled, 56 ; 
 accidental disturbances in, 57 ; 
 age of the, 59 ; divided into 
 five groups, 65 ; inhabitants 
 of, 71 ; mammalia of French, 
 76 ; bones of wounded animals 
 in, 78 ; entire human skeletons 
 in, 81 ; arts of design in, 287 
 
 Boucher de Perthes, his re- 
 searches as to the flints, 36 ; 
 indifference concerning his 
 ■works, 40; his discovery of 
 the jawbone, 42 
 
 Bourgeois, Abb6, discovery of 
 carved flints by, 177 ; on meio- 
 cene man, 186 ; on early use 
 of fire, 195 
 
 Brahmins, their mode of kindling 
 the sacred fire, 192 
 
 Brasseur de Bourbourg, Abbf, 
 on antiquity of New World, 
 186 
 
 Bread, earliest use of, 201 
 
 Bridgman, Laura, 328 
 
 Brixham, cave of, commission to 
 explore the, 52; refuse heaps 
 in, 104 
 
 Broca, prehistoric chronology by, 
 28 ; division of quaternary 
 epoch by, 68 
 
 Bronze age, 22 ; duration of, 25 ; 
 and the Danish peat mosses, 93 
 
 Buckland, Dr., opinion of, that 
 man was not contemporary 
 with extinct species, 52 
 
 Buffon's theory of flints, 35 
 
 Burgh of Moussa, 128 
 
 Burial, various modes of, ''iO 
 grounds, age of the, 135 
 caves, 134; contents of, 140 
 errors as to age of, 142 
 
 pALUMET pipes, 172 
 
 ^ Cannibalism, primitive, 200, 
 341; causes of, 343; in the 
 Viti Islands, 344 ; Yoltaire on, 
 348 ; theories of, 350 ; and 
 religious dogma, 351 
 
 Canoes, primitive, 28 
 
 Cat, origin of, 271 
 
 Catholic Church, recognition of 
 
 science by, 4, 186; and ancient 
 
 customs as to flints, 219 
 Cave of the Fairies, successive 
 
 ages in, 60 
 Caves. See Bone Cares 
 Cavillon, entire skeleton found 
 
 in cave of, 83 
 CeramiicB, superstitious uses of, 
 
 217 
 Cereals, primitive cultivation 
 
 of, 254 
 Chinese writing, 324 
 Chisels, stone, 246 
 Christol, M. de, his researches in 
 
 the bone caves at Gard, 49 
 Chronology, and the Bible, 3, 
 
 185 ; of the epochs, 15, 30 
 Chnlpas of Peru and Bolivia, 
 
 165; formation of, 166 
 Clothing, manufacture of, 206, 
 
 249 
 Coal, leaf-marked, 96 ; plauts 
 
 found in, 96; animals found 
 
 in, 97 
 Colouring matter, hematite as, 
 
 303 
 Commerce, primitive, 284 
 Conyers, early discovery of stone 
 
 weapons by, 42 
 Cookery of quaternary man, 198 
 Corpse, various positions of the, 
 . 132 
 
 Counting sticks, 233 
 Cranial amulets, 335 
 Crannoges, lake dwellings re- 
 semble Irish, 124 
 Cremation practised, 131 
 Cromlechs, 150 
 
 "T) AGGERS, Dint, 228 
 
 ■^-^ Danish, peat mosses, 91 , 
 
 shell mounds, 98 
 Darwin and domestication of 
 
 animals, 259 
 Deity, first conception of a, 329 
 Desnoyers, discovery of bones 
 
 by, 176 
 
INDEX, 
 
 361 
 
 Diluviau or quaternary rocks, 
 composition of the, 11 ; de- 
 posits in, 15; chronological 
 table of, 16 ; fauna of, 71 ; man 
 contemporary with extinct 
 species of, 184 
 
 Diluvium of the valleys, 14 
 
 Diseases, sacred, 355 
 
 Divinity, ideas of, 329 
 
 Dog, early domestication of, 257 ; 
 original stock of, 262 ; biblical 
 mention of, 26^ 
 
 Dolmens, position of corpse in, 
 133, 151 ; other names for, 
 145 ; varieties of, 147 ; position 
 of the, 150 ; contents of, 152 ; 
 builders of the, 154 
 
 Domestic animals, origin and 
 home of, 260 
 
 Drift, composition of, 14 
 
 Drills, fire, 191; thong, 193; 
 bow, 194; pump, 194; stone, 
 230 ; bone, 236 ; transverse- 
 edged, 247 
 
 Dupont, classification of bone 
 caves by, 59 
 
 Duruthy, burial cave of, 29, 138 ; 
 contents of, 139 
 
 Tp AKTH, geologists' opinion of 
 -'— ' original condition of the, 9 ; 
 
 successive phases of life on 
 
 the, 10 
 Egyptian, monuments, antiquity 
 
 of^man proved by, 30; art, 31 
 England, fauna of caves of, 76 
 Engraving, prehistoric, 293 
 Esquimaux implements, 213 
 Evans, on carved implements,213 
 
 FABEE, Abbfi, and primitive 
 man, 186 
 Fauna, quaternary, 71 ; resembles 
 modern, 75 ; of the French 
 naves, 76 ; of the English caves, 
 76 ; of the cave of Kessler- 
 loch, 78 ; of Swiss lake dwell- 
 ings, 119 
 Fetichism, 332 
 
 HAM 
 
 Fiji Islanders, modern pottery 
 of, 305 
 
 Fire, origin of the use of, 188 
 Promethean fable of, 189 
 methods of obtaining, 191 
 balls, 232 ; Australia,n legend 
 of origin of, 195 
 
 Fishes, non-domestication of, 274 
 
 Fish-hooks, 234 
 
 Fishing nets, 238 
 
 Flints, Buffion's theory of, 35 ; 
 religious uses of, 217 ; various 
 names given to, 6, 217 ; super- 
 stitions as to, 218 ; of Abbe- 
 ville, ridicules and conjectures 
 concerning the, 37 
 
 Floraof Swiss lake dwellings, 120 
 
 Flutes of reindeer age, 304 
 
 Food of prehistoric man, 198; 
 modes of cooking, 203 
 
 Fort of Staigiie, 129 
 
 Fossil, meaning of the word as 
 applied to man, 16; as applied 
 to other organised beings, 17 ; 
 bones, chemical composition 
 of, 89 
 
 France, fauna of caves of, 76 
 
 Frere, John, discovery of flint 
 tools by, 42 
 
 Fruits, primitive edible, 254 
 
 /::LiKRIGOU, classification of 
 ^-^ bone caves by, 63 
 Gandry, opinion of, as to man in 
 
 meiocene epoch, 179 
 Gautier, on ornaments and 
 
 jewels, 207 
 Gavr' Innis, burial vault of, 148 
 Giant tombs of Sardinia, 159 
 Glacial period, formation of, 12 ; 
 
 erratic phenomena in, 13; man 
 
 contemporary with, 98 
 Goat, early domestication of, 269 
 Gouges, 246 
 Greek and Roman reverence for 
 
 stone arrow heads, 218 
 
 TIT-iEMATITE, early use of, 303 
 -'--*- Hammer, early use of the, 
 237 
 
362 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 HAM 
 
 Hamy, classification of bone 
 caves by, 65 
 
 Handmills of neolithic age, 201 ; 
 of Swiss lakes, 248 
 
 Harpoons, wooden, 228; bone, 
 234 
 
 Heer, plants found by, in peat 
 bogs, 97 ; list of flora in Swiss 
 lakes by, 120; and origin of 
 cultivated plants, 277 
 
 Hieroglyphic writing, 325 
 
 His, lake dwellers classified by, 
 118 
 
 Hohefels, cave of, 62 
 
 Horse, origin of the, 264 ; domes- 
 tication of, 365 ; discovery of 
 remains of, 275 
 
 Human, race, antiquity of, in 
 America, 162; proofs of an- 
 tiquity, 182 ; remains, earliest 
 discovery of, 48 ; skeletons 
 found in caves, 81 ; in volcano 
 of La Denise, 175 ; sacrifices, 
 modern, 344, 347 
 
 Hunting markers, 233 
 
 XMMOETALITY of the soul, 
 -^ 335 
 
 Implements, method in making 
 stone, 211 ; resemblance of, 
 of various ages, 216; hunting, 
 229 ; fishing, 233 ; agricultural, 
 255 
 
 Indian mode of making stone 
 arrow heads, 211 
 
 Irish, bogs, remains fonnd in, 
 94; tinkers, their recent use of 
 stone tools, 24; arrow heads, 
 224 
 
 Iron age, 22 ; duration of, 25 ; 
 epoch of the beech belongs to, 
 93 
 
 Isle of Eoses, 125 
 
 TAWBONB of Moulin-Qaignon, 
 
 42 
 
 Jewels, use of, 207 
 
 Joly, his first endeavour to claim 
 
 L HE 
 
 man as contemporary with the 
 cave bears, 50 
 
 'TT'ENT'S cavern, 52; inhabited 
 -"-^ at difEerent epochs, 61 
 Keramic, etymology of word, 305 
 Kesslerloch, fauna of the cave of, 
 78 ; early caivings found in, 
 294 
 Khonds, the, and human sacri- 
 fices, 348 
 Kitchen middens, skulls of stags 
 in, SO ; composition of, 98 ; 
 zoological value of, 99 ; the 
 age of the, 101 ; axe of the, 
 102 ; refuse heaps of other 
 parts of the world, 104 
 Knives, flint, 238 
 
 T A Denise, human remains in 
 
 -'— ' volcano of, 175 
 
 Lake dwellings, of Switzerland, 
 105 ; contents of, 106 ; con- 
 struction of the, 107 ; motive 
 of building, 108; age of the, 
 108; inhabitants of the, 110, 
 117 ; of other countries, 115 ; 
 fauna of, 119; flora of, 120; 
 description of ancient, 122 ; 
 modern constructions similar 
 to, 123 
 
 La Mame, burial caves of, 141 
 
 Lance-heads, 225 
 
 Language, Vogt's theory of , 313 ; 
 ancient, 315 ; centres of, 317 ; 
 stages of, 318 ; growth of, 319 
 
 Lartet and biblical chronology, 
 4 ; the value of his works on 
 bone caves, 52 ; palseontologic 
 chronology of bone caves, 59 ; 
 on cave of Aurignac, 135 ; on 
 antiquity of man, 187 ; on 
 flesh of hare as food, 200 
 
 La Vache, age of cave of, 60 
 
 Lenormant on the Bible and 
 science, 184 
 
 L'Herm, burial cave of, 135 ; 
 comparatively recent date of, 
 144 ; religious use of, 340 
 
INDEX, 
 
 363 
 
 LON 
 
 Long Hole, Glamorganshire, dis- 
 
 eoveries in the cave of, 62 
 Lourdes, cave of, age of the, 60 
 Lyell, division by, of the tertiary 
 period, 9 ; convinced of man 
 being contemporary with ex- 
 tinct animals, 50 
 
 TV/TALTESB cross, the, 339 
 
 •^'-'- Manetho and his lists, 30 
 
 Mammalia of th* quaternary 
 epoch, 71 
 
 Marcel de Serres, his essays on 
 the bone caves, 51 
 
 Mariette, his exhibition of 
 Egyptian excavations, 31 
 
 Maro, ceremony of the, 3i4 
 
 Mas-d'Azil, age of cave of, 60 
 
 Massfinat, description of an early 
 engraving by, 297 
 
 Mazoyer, imposition of, 181 
 
 Meiocene, flints, 177 j man, Abbfi 
 Bourgeois on, 186 
 
 Menhirs, description of, 145; 
 where found, 146 
 
 Mentone, skeletons found at, 83 
 
 Miueralogic chronology of pre- 
 historic ages, 26 
 
 Monoliths, position of the, 161 
 
 Mortars, stone, 248 
 
 Mortillet, chronology of the pre- 
 historic ages by, 26 ; classifi- 
 cation of cave implements by, 
 63 ; dolmen builders disputed 
 by, 157; opinion as to flints 
 of Thenay by, 178 
 
 Moulin-Qnignon, discovery of 
 the jawbone at, 42 ; decision 
 of congress at, respecting the 
 axes and jawbone, 44 ; dis- 
 covery of more human bones 
 at, 46 
 
 Mounds, 166 ; purposes of, 167 ; 
 dimensions of, 167 ; contents 
 of, 168; symbolical, 168; 
 funeral, 169 ; sacrificial, 170 ; 
 builders of uncertain, 173 
 
 Music, prehistoric, 303 
 
 Myth and the original inhabit- 
 ants of the earth, 19 
 
 PIC 
 
 Myth and modem facts, agree- 
 ment of, 19 
 
 ■jSTAVIGATION, earliest at- 
 ^ tempts at, 280 ; ancient 
 and modem, 283 
 
 Necklaces, 208 
 
 Needles, primitive, 250 
 
 Neolithic age, handmills of, 201 
 
 New, Caledonians, use of iron 
 implements by, 23 ; World, 
 age of the, 163 ; Abbfi Bras- 
 seur de Bourbourg on, 186 
 
 Nilssou and fishing implements, 
 234 
 
 Noulet, Dr., and the cave of 
 I'Herm, 135, 142 
 
 Nuraghi of Sardinia, 125; con- 
 tents of, 127 ; builders of the, 
 128 ; religious uses of, 334 
 
 /~\ENAMENTS and jewels, 207 
 
 ^-^ Osseous breccia, compo- 
 sition of, 15 
 
 Ossiferous sediment, implements 
 found in, 77 
 
 Ox, European origin of the, 268 
 
 TDAINTING and men of rein- 
 
 -*-• deer age, 303 
 
 PalEeolithio and neolithic ages, 
 question as to interval be- 
 tween, 29 
 
 Paris, peat mosses near, 95 
 
 Peat, preserving property of, 
 114 ; mosses, the Danish, 91 ; 
 remains found in, 93 ; beads 
 and earrings found in, 94 ; of 
 the Somme, 94 ; near Paris, 
 95 ; of Switzerland, 96 
 
 Peoples, primitive customs of 
 modern, 23 
 
 Perforation, methods of, 215 
 
 Peru, chulpas of, 165 
 
 Picardy, conclusion as to flints 
 of, 40 
 
364 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Picture wtiting, 323 
 
 Pig, origin of, 270 
 
 Pipes, stone, found in mounds, 
 171; calumet, 172; portrait, 
 172 
 
 Plants found in ancient peat 
 bogs, 96 ; origin of cultivated, 
 276 
 
 Plough, divine origin of the, 252 
 
 Plutonic rooks, 10 
 
 Polishing stones, 214, 237 
 
 Potter's wheel, date of the, 310 
 
 Pottery, manufacture of, 304 ; 
 of American tombs, 305 ; frag- 
 ments of, 306; age of, 307; 
 ornamentation of, 309 ; vari- 
 eties of, 311 
 
 Pramantb^, description of the, 
 189 
 
 Pre-Adamites, traces of, 186 
 
 Prometheus, origin of the name, 
 189 
 
 Purgatory hammers, 218 
 
 QUATERNARY epoch, pre- 
 historic chronology of, 28 ; 
 division of by Broca, 68 ; fire 
 known in, 196 ; food of man 
 of, 200 ; anatomy of man of, 
 352 ; manners and customs 
 of man of, 354 
 Quaternary rocks. See Diluvian 
 Quatrefages and domestication 
 of animals, 274 ; on religious 
 ideas of humanity, 331 
 
 "DAB BIT and hare, origin of, 
 
 ■^-^ 272; considered unclean, 
 272 
 
 Razors, Aztec mode of making 
 obsidian, 212 
 
 Reindeer, domestication of, 273 ; 
 an early inhabitant of Switzer- 
 land, 294 
 
 Religious ideas of primitive man, 
 327 ; of Andaman Islanders, 
 329 ; in other parts of the 
 world, 330 
 
 STC 
 
 Reptiles, not domesticated in 
 
 primitive ages, 274 
 RigoUot, Dr., and the Saint- 
 
 Acheul flints, 41 
 Rocks, determination of relative 
 
 age of, 10 
 
 SAINT-JEAN-D'ALCAS,burial 
 cave of, 139 
 
 Saint Prest, striated bones of 
 elephant of, 176 
 
 Salt, uses and value of, 202 
 
 Sardinia, giant tombs of, 159 ; 
 description of the, 160 
 
 Saws, flint, 214 ; hand, 247 
 
 Scandinavian art, prehistoric, 
 296 
 
 Scheuchzer, fraud of, 181 
 
 Schmerling, Dr., his-explorations 
 of the caves of Belgium, 50 
 
 Scrapers, 246 
 
 Sculpture, early origin of, 293 
 
 Secondary epoch, birds and mam- 
 malia rare in beds of, 10 
 
 Sepulture, various modes of, ISO 
 
 Sesi, 128 
 
 Sewing, early knowledge of, 249 
 
 Sheep, origin of, 269 
 
 Shell mounds, the Danish, 98 
 
 Skeletons, human, only speci- 
 mens found of, 82 
 
 Skulls, trepanned human, 87 ; 
 of quaternary man, 353 
 
 Slinging stones, 230 
 
 Sologne, age of the caves of, 60 
 
 Solutrfe, burial cave of, 136 ; mode 
 of sepulture in, 137 
 
 Somme, peat mosses of the, 94 
 
 Soul, immortality of the, 338 
 
 Speech, origin of, 312 
 
 Spoons, 203 
 
 Steenstrup, study of Danish peat 
 mosses by, 91 
 
 Stone age, the first stage of civil- 
 isation, 20 ; animals of the, 
 21 ; duration of, 22, 25 ; termi- 
 nation of, 93 ; pines contempo- 
 rary with, 94 ; implements of, 
 in Swiss lakes, 111 
 
INDEX. 
 
 365 
 
 STO 
 
 Stone and metal, their simul- 
 taneous use, 24 
 
 Stone-boiling, process of, 204 
 
 Stone, implements, methods in 
 making, 211; of any age Ihe 
 same, 216; burning, 229; 
 tools, unequal advance of man 
 in abandonment of, 23 
 
 Stones, superstitions respecting, 
 217 ; slinging, 230 ; polishing, 
 237 
 
 Strikers, 230 • 
 
 S wastika, fire-creating apparatus, 
 190 ; as religious symbols, 339 
 
 Swiss lake dwellings. See Lalte 
 
 rnALATOTI, 128 
 
 -'- Tasmanians, ignorance of 
 
 origin of lire of, 194 
 Teeth of primitive man, 205 
 Tertiary period, division of, by 
 
 Lyell, 9 ; man, problem of, 179 
 Thayngen, cave of, 62 ; engraved 
 
 horn found in, 293 
 Thenay, meiooene ilin's of, 177 
 Thrace and Switzerland, analogy 
 
 of lake dwellings Of, 121 
 Tools, 236 
 
 Toulouse once a lake city, 115 
 Tournal of Narbonne, discovery 
 
 of human remains by, 48 
 Townsend on domestication of 
 
 dog, 258 
 
 WEI 
 
 Trepanned skulls, 86 ; method 
 of, 87 ; veneration for, 336 ; 
 period of the, 338 
 Trepanning, smrgical, 335 
 Tylor and invention of fire, 191 ; 
 OQ stone-boilers, 204 
 
 YAL d'Enfer, drawings found 
 in the, 299 
 Valleys, diluvium of the, 14 
 V^zfere, race of the artists of, 302 
 Vibraye, Marquis de, observa- 
 tions of, in bone caves, 60 
 Vine, antiquity of the, 278 
 Viti Islands, cannibalism in, 341 
 Voltaire and cannibalism, 348 
 
 WANDS of office, 230; en- 
 gravings on, 295 
 
 Weapons of war, 222 
 
 Weaving and sewing, 249 
 
 Whistles, piimitive, 303 
 
 Wilson, laenefits of fixe enume- 
 rated by, 197 
 
 Witchcraft, bones o£ skull a 
 counteract for, 336 
 
 Worship of religious symbols, 
 334 ; of the dead, 338 
 
 Wounded animals, bones of, in 
 oaves, 78 ; human bones, 85 
 
 Writing, origin of, 320 ; picture, 
 323 ; Chinese, 324 ; biero- 
 glyphic, 325 ; age of, 326 
 
A LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE MOST IMPORTANT 
 
 STANDARD WORKS ON EVOLUTION. 
 
 Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preser- 
 vation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life. By Charles Dae- 
 wiN, LL. D., F. R. S. New and revised edition, with Additions. 
 12mo. Cloth, $2.00. 
 
 "Personally and practically exercised in zoSlogy, in minute anatomy, in 
 geology, a student of geographical distribution, not in maps and in mu- 
 seums, but by long voyages and laborious collection ; havmg largely ad- 
 vanced each of these branches of science, and having spent many years in 
 gathering and sifting materials for his present work; flie store of accurately- 
 registered facts upon which the author of the ' Origin of Species ' is able to 
 draw at will is prodigious." — Professor T. H. HwXey, 
 
 II. 
 
 Tariation of Animals and Plants nnder Domestication. By 
 
 Charles Darwin, LL. D., F. R. S. With Illustrations. Revised edi- 
 tion. 2 vols., 12mo. Cloth, $5.00. 
 
 " "Wo shall learn something of the laws of inheritance, of the effects of 
 crossing different breeds, and on that sterility which often supervenes when 
 organic beings are removed from their natural conditions of life, and like- 
 wise when they are too closely interbred." — From the Introduction. 
 
 III. 
 Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. By Chables 
 Darwin, LL. D., F. R. S. With many Illustrations. A new edition. 
 12mo. Cloth, $3.00. 
 
 " In these volumes Mr. Darmn has brought forward all the facts and 
 arguments which science has to offer in favor of the doctrine that man has 
 arisen by gradual development from the lowest point of animal life. Aside 
 from the logical purpose which Mr. Darwm had in view, his work is an 
 original and fascinating contribution to the most interesting portion of nat- 
 ural history." 
 
 rv. 
 
 On the Origin of Species ; or, The Causes of the Phenomena of Or- 
 ganic Nature. ByProfessorT.H. Huxley, F.R.S. 12mo. Cloth, $1.00. 
 " Those who disencumber Darwinism of its difficulties, simplify its state- 
 ments, relieve it of technicalities, and bring it so distinctly within the hori- 
 zon of ordinary apprehension that persons of common sense may judge for 
 themselves, perform an invaluable service. Such is the character of the 
 present volume." — M-om the Prtface to the American edition. 
 
 V. 
 
 Dartrinlana. Essays and Reviews pertainin<; to Darwinism. By Asa 
 Gray, Fisher Professor of Natural History (Botany) in Harvard Uni- 
 versity. 12mo. Cloth, $2.00. 
 " Although Professor Gray is widely known in the world of science for 
 
 his botanical researches, but few are aware that he is a pronounced and un- 
 
A STANDARD EVOLUTION LIBRARY. 
 
 flinohing Darwinian. His contributions to the discussion are varied and 
 valuable, and as collected in the present volume they will be seen to estab- 
 lish a claim upon the thinking world, which will be extensively felt and 
 cordially acknowledged. These papers not only illustrate the history of 
 the controversy, and the progress of the discussion, but they foi-m perhaps 
 the fullest and most trustworthy exposition of what is to be properly under- 
 i-tood by 'Darwinism' that is to be found in our langu^e. To all those 
 timid souls who arc worried about the progress of science, and the danger 
 that it will subvert the foundations of their faith, we recommend the dis- 
 passionate perusal of this volume." — The Popular Science Monthly. 
 
 TI. 
 Heredity : A Psychological Study of its Phenomena, Laws, Causes, and 
 
 Consequences. From the French of Th. Eibot. 12mo. Cloth, $2.00. 
 
 " Heredity is that biological law by which all beings endowed with life 
 tend to repeat themselves in their descendants : it is for the species what 
 personal identity is for the indi vidual. The physiological side orthis subject 
 has been diligently studied, but not so its psychological side. We propose 
 to supply this deficiency in the present work." — From the Iniroduetion. 
 
 YII. 
 
 Hereditary Genins: An Inquiry into its Laws and Consequences. 
 
 By Francis Galton, F. E. S., etc. New and revised edition, with an 
 
 American Preface. 12mo. Cloth, $2.00. 
 " The following pages embody the result of the first vigorous and me- 
 thodical efibrt to treat the question in the true scientific spirit, and place 
 it upon the proper inductive basis. Mr. Galton proves, by overwhelming 
 evidence, that genius, talent, or whatever we term great mental capacity, 
 follows the law of organic transmission — ^runs in famuies, and is an affair of 
 blood and breed ; and that a sphere of phenomena hitherto deemed capri- 
 cious and defiant of rule is, nevertheless, within the operation of ascertain- 
 able law." — From the American Preface. 
 
 Till. 
 The Evolution of Man. A Popular Exposition of the Principal 
 Points of Human Ontogeny and Phylogeny. From the German of 
 Ernst Haeckel, Professor in the University of Jena. With numer- 
 ous Illustrations. 2 vols., 12mo. Cloth, $6.00. 
 "In this excellent translation of Professor Haeokel's work, the English 
 reader has access to the latest doctrines of the Continental school of evolu- 
 tion, in its application to the history of man." 
 
 IX. 
 
 The History of Creation ; or, the Development of the Earth and its 
 Inhabitants by the Action of Natural Causes. A Popular Exposition 
 of the Doctrine of Evolution in General, and of that of Darwin, Goe- 
 the, and Lamarck in Particular. By Ernst Haeckel, Professor in 
 the University of Jena. The translation revised by Professor E. Rat 
 Lankester. Illustrated with Lithographic Plates. 2 vols., 12mo 
 Cloth, $5.00. 
 
 " The book has been translated into several languages. I hope that it 
 may also find sympathy in the fatherland of Darwin, the more so since it 
 contains special morphological evidence in favor of many of the most impor- 
 tant doctrines with which this greatest naturalist of our century has enrimed 
 science." — From the Preface. 
 
A STANDARD EVOLUTION LIBRARY. 
 
 X. 
 Beligion and Science. A Series of Sunday Lectures on the Rlationo 
 of Natural and Revealed Religion, or the Truths revealed in Nature 
 and Scripture. By Joseph Le Conte, LL. D. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50. 
 XI. 
 Prehistoric Times, as illustrated by Ancient Remains and 
 the Manners and Customs of Modern Savages. By Sir John 
 Lubbock, Bart. Illustrated. Entirely new revised edition. 8yo. 
 Cloth, $5.00. 
 
 The hook ranks among the noblest works of the interesting and impor- 
 tant clasa to which it bolongs. As a remtme of our present knowledge of 
 prehistoric man, it IShves nothing to be desired. It is not only a good Dook 
 of reference, but the best on the subject. 
 
 XII. 
 Winners in Life's Race ; or, The Great Backboned Family. By Ara- 
 bella B. BtJOKLEY, author of " The Fairy-Land of Science " and 
 " Life and her Children." With numerous Illustrations. 12mo. 
 Cloth, gilt side and back, $1.50. 
 
 XIII. 
 Physics and Politics ; or, Thoughts on the Application of the Prin- 
 ciples of " Natural Selection " and " Inheritance " to Political Society. 
 By Walter Baqehot. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50. 
 
 XIV. 
 The Theory of Descent and Darwinism. By Professor Oscar 
 
 Schmidt. With 26 Woodcuts. 12mo. $1.50. 
 
 " The facts upon which the Darwinian theory is based are presented in 
 an effective manner, conclusions are ably defended, and the question is 
 treated in more compact and available style than in any other work on the 
 same topic that has yet appeared. It is a valuable addition to the ' Interna- 
 tional Scientific Series.' " — Boston, Fbst. 
 
 XY. 
 
 Outline of the Evolution Philosophy. By Dr. M. E. Gazelles. 
 
 Translated from the French, by the Rev. 0. B. Frothingham ; with an 
 Appendix, by E. L. Youmans, M. D. 12mo. Cloth, $1.00. 
 " This unpretentious little work will, no doubt, be used by thousands to 
 whom the publications of Mr. Herbert Spencer are inaccessible and those of 
 Auguste Comte repellent, by reason of their prolixity and vagueness. In a 
 short space Dr. Gazelles has managed to compress the whole outline and 
 scope of Mr. Spencer's system, with his views of the doctrine of progress 
 and law of evolution, and a clear view of the principles of positivism." — 
 Nature (London). 
 
 XVI. 
 
 Principles of Geology ; or. The Modern Changes of the Earth and 
 its Inhabitants, considered as illustrative of Geology. By Sir Charles 
 Lyell, Bart. Illustrated with Maps, Plates, and Woodcuts. A new 
 and entirely revised edition. 2 vols. Royal 8vo. Cloth, $8.00. 
 The " Principles of Geology" may be looked upon with pride, not only 
 as a representative of English science, but as without a rival of its kind 
 anywhere. Growing in fullness and accuracy with the growth of experi- 
 
A STASTDAED EVOLUTION LIBRARY. 
 
 enoe and observation in every region of the world, tlie work has incorporated 
 with itself each established discovery, and has been modified by every hy- 
 pothesis of value which has been brought to bear upon, or been evolved 
 from, the most recent body of facts. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 Elements of Geology. A Text-Book for Colleges and for the General 
 
 Header. By Joseph Lb Conte, LL. D., Professor of Geology and 
 
 Natural History in the University of California. Revised and en- 
 
 larged edition. 12mo. With upward of 900 Illustrations. Cloth, $4.00. 
 
 XVin. 
 Animal Life, as afTected by tlie Natural Conditions of Exist- 
 ence. By Karl Semper, Professor of the University of Wttrzburg. 
 With Maps and 100 Woodcuts. 12mo. Cloth, |2.00. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 Crayfish : An Introduction to the Study of Zoology. By Professor T. H. 
 
 Huxley, F. E. S. With 82 Illustrations. I2mo. Cloth, %1.15. 
 
 XX. 
 Anthropology : An Introduction to the Study of Man and Civilization. 
 By Edward B. Tylor, F. K. S. With 78 Illustrations. 12mo. Cloth, 
 
 $2.00. 
 
 " The students who read Mr. Tyler's hook may congratulate themselves 
 upon having obtained so easy, pleasant, and workman-like an introduction 
 to a fascinating and delightfid science." — London Athe?iwum, 
 
 XXI. 
 First Principles. By Herbert Spencer. Part I. The Unknowable. 
 Part II. The Knowable. 1 vol., 12mo. $2.00. 
 
 XXII. 
 The Principles of Biology. By Herbert Spencer. 2 vols., 12mo. 
 $4.00. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 The Principles of Psychology. By Herbert Spencer. 2 vols., 
 12mo. $4.00. 
 
 XXTV. 
 The Principles of Sociology. By Herbert Spencer. 12mo. 
 2 vols. $4.00. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 The Data of Ethics. Bv Herbert Spencer. Being Part I, Vol. I, 
 of " The Principles of Morality." 12mo. Cloth, $1.25. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 Illustrations of Universal Progress. By Herbert Spencer. 
 
 12mo. Cloth, $2.00. 
 
 For sale hj all bookseUers ; or, sent hy mail, post-paid, on receipt of price. 
 New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond Street. 
 
The Concepts and Theories 
 OF Modern Physics. 
 
 By J. B. STALLO. 
 
 12mo, cloth $1.75. 
 
 " Judge Stallo's work is an inquiry into the validity of those mechanical 
 conceptions of the universe which are now held as fundamental in physical 
 science. He takes ]jp the leading modern doctrines which are based upon 
 this mechanical conception, such as the atomic constitution of matter, the 
 kinetic theory of gases, the conservation of energy, the nebular hypothesis, 
 and other views, to find how much stands upon solid empirical ground, and 
 how much rests upon metaphysical speculation. Since the appearance of 
 Dr. Draper's ' Keligion and Science,' no book has been published in the 
 country calculated to make so deep an impression on thoughtful and edu- 
 cated readers as this volume. . . . The range and minuteness of the au- 
 thor's learning, the aoateness of his reasoning, and the singular precision 
 and clearness of his siyle, are qualities which very seldom have been jointly 
 exhibited in a scientihc treatise." — JVew York dun. 
 
 " Judge J. B. Stallo, of Cincinnati, is a German by birth, and came to 
 this country at about the age of seventeen. He was early familiar with 
 science, and he lectured for some years in an Eastern college : but at length 
 he adopted the profession of law. He is also remembered by many as an 
 author, having a number of years ago written a metaphysical treatise of 
 marked ability for one of his youthful years. His present book must be 
 read deliberately, must be studied to be appreciated ; but the students of 
 science, as well as those of metaphysics, are certain to be deeply interested 
 in its logical developments. It is a timely and telling contribution to the 
 philosophy of science, imperatively callecl for by the present exigencies in 
 the progress of knowledge. It is to be commended equally for the solid 
 value of its contents and the scholarly finish of its execution." — Tfte I'op- 
 ular Sdence MoiitUy. 
 
 " The book is of vital interest to a much larger class than specialists — 
 to all, in fact, who value clear thinking or are interested in the accuracy 
 more than the progress of scientific thought. It deals with the results and 
 theories of physics science, and in no sense with the processes of the labo- 
 ratory. It is written with a clearness that is uncommon in philosophic 
 works and with a desire to find truth, conscious of the fact that a prime 
 prerequisite of finding it is to clear the way of accumulated and fast-settling 
 untrutns. It is a scientific rebuke, as severe as it is lucid, of the scientists 
 who leave their apparatus and go star-gazing : here is the pit into which 
 they have fallen." — New York World. 
 
 " The volume is an important contribution to scientific discussion, and 
 is marked by closeness of reasoning, and clearness and cogency of state- 
 ment." — Boaton, Journal. 
 
 For sale by all booksellers; or sent by mail, post paid, on receipt of price. 
 
 New York : D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 8, & 5 Bond St. 
 
Ants, Bees, and AA^asps. 
 
 A Record of Observations on the Habits of the Social Hymenoptera. 
 
 By Sir JOHN LUBBOCK, Bart., M. P., F. E. S., etc., 
 
 Author of " Origin of Civilization, and tlie Primitive Condition of Mim," etc., etc. 
 
 "WiTU Colored Plateb. 12mo. Clotli, S2.00. 
 
 " This volume contains the record of various experiments made with ants, beoa, and 
 wasps during the last ten years, with a view to test their mental condition and powers 
 of sense. The principal point in which Sir John''s mode of experiment differs from 
 those of Huber, Forel, McCook, and others, is that he has carefully watched and 
 marked particular insects, and has had their nests under observation for long periods 
 — one of his ants' nests having been under constant inspection ever since 1874. His 
 observations are made principally upon ants because they show more power and flexi- 
 bility of mind; and the value of his studies is that they belong to the department of 
 original research." 
 
 " We have no hesitation in saying that the author has presented us with the most 
 valuable series of observations on a special subject that has ever been produced, charm- 
 ingly written, ftill of logical deductions, and, when we consider his multitudinous en- 
 gagements, a remarkable illustration of economy of time. As a contribution to insect 
 psychology, it will be long before this book finds a parallel." — Lon0j(m AthencBum, 
 
 '* These studies, when handled by such a master as Sir John Lubbock, rise far above 
 the ordinary dry treatment of such topics. The work is an effort made to discover 
 what are the general, not the special, laws which govern communties of insects com- 
 posed ofinhabitants as numerous as the human beings living in London and Peking, and 
 who labor together in the utmost harmony for the common good. That there are re- 
 markable analogies between societies of ants and human beings no one can doubt. If, 
 according to Mr. Grote, 'positive morahty under some form or other has existed in 
 every society of which the world has ever had experience,' the present volume is an 
 effort to show whether this passage be correct or not." — New York Times. 
 
 "In this work the reader will find the record of a series of experiments and obser- 
 vations more thorough and ingenious than those instituted byany of the accomplished 
 author's predecessors. . . . Sir John has been a close observer of the habits of ants for 
 many years, generally having from thirty to forty communities under his notice, and 
 not only watching each of these in its carefully isolated glass house, but, by the use of 
 paint-marks, following the fortunes of iadividuals. . . . One notable result of this sys- 
 tem has been the correcting of previous theories as to the age to which ants attain : in- 
 stead of living merely a year, as the popular belief has been, some of Sir John's queens 
 and workers are thriving alter being under observation since 1874 and 1875."— JVflW 
 York World. 
 
 " Sir John Lubbock's book on ' Ants, Bees, and "Wasps ' is mainly devoted to the 
 crawlers, and not the fliers, though he has some observations upon honey-bees and 
 more interesting ones upon the unpopular wasp, which he fondly deems to be capable 
 of gratitude. Darwin made a strong case for the monkeys, but Lubbock may yet 
 make us out to be, as Irishmen sa^, ' The sons of our ants.*" For he begins his enter- 
 taining book thus : ' The anthropoid apes no doubt approach nearer to man in bodily 
 structure than do any other animals, but, when we consider the habits of ants, their 
 large communities and elaborate habitations, their roadways, their possession of do- 
 mestic animals, and, even in some cases, of slaves, it must be admitted that they have 
 a &ir claim to rank next to man in the scale of inteUigence.' "—Sprincjield Republican, 
 
 For sale by all booksellers ; or sent by mail, post-paid^ on receipt of price. 
 
 Now York : D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 8, & 5 Bond Street. 
 
'■'''i<>***"^V«?»«'*»™k»1jj.^S»(I^ 
 
 SCIENTIFIC vSERlES 
 
 rrrr 
 
 » m tmttmmmfmnMmmmmm^mm*mm w m* »iM m : i ni ^ttmmmmmm 
 
 
 " ' ffti:" ' "^^ " " ' % 
 
 w*»niwft wwf irwiniinrfwuwmi—ia