Part 8 (1/2)

Ill.u.s.tration of Whale and Seal, Incised on Bone.------------

The Cave-men were not afraid to attack animals greatly superior to them in strength. In the Hohlefels Cave in Germany were found great quant.i.ties of the broken and split bones of cave bears, an animal very similar to the grizzly, and probably its equal in strength. The reindeer was the main reliance of these tribes. Its bones are found in great abundance, and it doubtless was to them all it is to the Lapps of Europe to-day, except, of course, that it was not domesticated.

Though fire would naturally suggest some rude method of cooking, we can scarcely find a trace of such operations, and it has been a matter of conjecture how they proceeded. Sir John Lubbock thinks they boiled their food, and in the absence of pottery used wooden or skin vessels, bringing the water to a boiling point by means of stones heated red hot and thrown into the water. He points out the presence of peculiarly shaped stones found in some caves, which he thinks were used for this purpose.<19> It is not supposed they had any articles of pottery during this epoch. This is quite an important point, because a knowledge of pottery marks an important epoch in the culture of a people.

Ill.u.s.tration of Cave Bear, Incised on Slate.-----------------

A people possessed of this knowledge have pa.s.sed from Savagism into the lower status of Barbarism.<20> A piece of pottery is as little liable to destruction as a piece of bone, and so, had those people possessed pottery, there is no reason why pieces of it should not be found in every refuse heap, and amongst the _debris_ of all caves. But such is not the case; no fragments of pottery have yet been found which can be referred with confidence to the epoch of the Cave-men.<21>

Some speculations have been indulged in as to whether the men of this age were cannibals or not. It need occasion no surprise if they were, since ancient writers a.s.sert that even during historical times this practice prevailed in Europe.<22> Though not definitely proven there are many facts difficult of explanation, except on this supposition.

However, it may well be that this, after all, only amounted to the custom of eating parts of an enemy killed in battle, as certain modern savages do that we would not call cannibals.<23>

It is not necessary to speak at much length of the methods of hunting.

They had bows and arrows, daggers of reindeer horn, spears tipped with flint or bone, and harpoons. Besides, they made a formidable club of the lower jaw-bone of the cave-bear with its canine tooth still left in its place. Fis.h.i.+ng with nets is not supposed to have been known, Harpooning was probably their favorite way. M. G. DeMortillet thinks they fished as follows: They fastened a cord to the middle of a small splinter of bone.

This was then baited, and when swallowed by the fish, was very certain to get caught in the body.<24>

We know that rude tribes of to-day have many means of snaring animals.

Doubtless similar scenes were enacted on their primeval hunting-grounds.

French books contain ill.u.s.trations of the men of this period driving game over precipitous sides. They had no dogs to a.s.sist them in the hunt, and though reindeer were around them in great abundance, it is not supposed that they thought of domesticating them.

Man is the only animal which seeks to protect his body from the Summer's heat or the cold of Winter by the use of clothing. We are, unfortunately, not able to present many details of the dress of man during the early Stone Age. We are, however, quite certain that when the climate was severe enough to permit such animals as the musk-sheep and the reindeer to inhabit South-western Europe, man must have been provided with an abundance of warm clothing, though doubtless rudely made and fas.h.i.+oned. Many reindeer horns found in France are cut and hacked at the base in such a way as to indicate that it was done when removing the skins. We also know that the rudest of savage tribes are never at a loss for some process of tanning hides and rendering them fit for use. From the immense number and variety of sc.r.a.pers found among the cave _debris._ we are sure the preparation of clothing occupied no inconsiderable portion of their time. We also find numerous awls and splinters of flint and bone, which they doubtless used in exactly the same manner as similar tools are used by the Lapps to-day in Europe, that is, to pierce holes in the hides, through which to pa.s.s their rude needle and thread. The needles are made of reindeer horn, and they were not only smoothly polished, but the eyes are of such a minute size, and withal so regularly made, that many at first could not believe they were drilled by the use of flint alone. This, however, has been shown to be the case by actual experiments. The thread employed was reindeer tendons, for bones of these animals are found cut just where they would he cut in removing these tendons. This cut shows that they protected their hands by means of long gloves of three or four fingers.<25>

Ill.u.s.tration of Glove, Incised on Bear's Tooth.-----------

We have thus far been considering those arts which pertain more directly to living. We have presented some sketches found engraved on pieces of bone. We first noticed this among the relics found in one of the Creswell caves in England. It was also noticed in Belgium. It was among the Cave-men of Southern France that this artistic trait became highly developed. Among the reindeer hunters of the Dordogne were artists of no mean ability. We must pause a minute and mark the bearing of this taste for art. We have seen many reasons for supposing the men of the caves much farther advanced in the scale of culture than those of the Drift, but we have also seen that we can not rank them higher than the highest grade of savages.

Sir John Lubbock thus speaks of them: ”In considering the probable condition of these ancient Cave-men, we must give them full credit for their love of art, such as it was; while, on the other hand, the want of metal, of polished flint implements, and even of pottery, the ignorance of agriculture, and the apparent absence of all domestic animals, including even the dog, certainly imply a very low state of civilization.”<26>

They were certainly not as far advanced in civilization as the next race we will describe, yet the Neolithic people had no such skill as was possessed by the cave-men. This need not surprise us, because ”an artistic feeling is not always the offspring of civilization, it is rather a gift of nature. It may manifest its existence in the most barbarous ages, and may make its influence more deeply felt in nations which are behind in respect to general progress than in others which are more deeply advanced in civilization.”<27>

Ill.u.s.tration of Reindeer Grazing.-------------

In regard to the objects themselves, a glance at the ill.u.s.trations show us that they are quite faithful sketches of the animals at that time common. As might be expected, sketches of the reindeer are numerous.

This cut is regarded as the highest example of Paleolithic art, sketched on a piece of horn and found in Switzerland. The animal is grazing, and the gra.s.s on which it feeds is seen below. We have on a piece of slate the outlines of a group of reindeer, generally considered as representing a fight, though it may mean a hunt, and that the hunter has succeeded in killing a portion of the herd. Some, as we see, are on the ground.

Ill.u.s.tration of a Group of Reindeers.---------