James Harvey Robinson

“ Naked and houseless, the Tasmanians had learned to satisfy only a very few of man's needs. Yet that which they had learned had carried them a long way beyond the earliest men. They could kindle a fire, which kept them warm in cold weather, and over it they cooked their meat. ”

“ Everything had to be found out; every tool, however simple, had to be invented; and, above all, the earliest man had to discover that he could express his feelings and ideas by making sounds with his throat and mouth. ”

“ These things disclose, step after step, his slow progress and show us that man had now left the old fist-hatchet far behind and become a real craftsman. The industries of Middle Stone Age man We see him at the door of his cave, carefully chipping off the edge of his flint tools and producing such a fine cutting edge that he can use it to shape bone, ivory, and especially reindeer horn. The mammoth furnishes him with ivory, and great herds of reindeer which had come southward with the ice are grazing before the mouth of the cavern. ”

“ The common use of the ground stone ax brings in the Late Stone Age. From the forests of southern Sweden southward to Sicily and the heel of Italy, from the marshes of Ireland and the harbors of Spain eastward iCr the Early Mankind in Europe II Greek islands and the shores of the Black Sea, the villages of Late Stone Age man stretched far across Europe. ”

“ At first thought the men who began such discoveries seem to us to be mere animals. Nevertheless the earliest man possessed, among other advantages, three things which lifted him high above the animals. He had a larger and a more powerful brain than any animal; he had a pair of wonderful hands such as no other creature possessed, and with these he could make tools and implements ”

“ The driving of fifty thousand piles for the lake-village at Wangen shows that men were learning to work together in communities, but a flint arrowhead Early Mankind in Europe 13 Fig. 8. Late Stone Age Tomb in France These tombs are found in great numbers, especially along the Atlantic coast of Europe (but also in north Africa) from Gibraltar to the Norse peninsulas, where they still stand by thousands. One Danish island alone contains thirty-four hundred of them. ”

“ It was after receiving such contributions as these from the Orient, that Europe went forward to the develop- ment of a higher civilization, and in order to understand the further course of European history, we must turn to the Orient whence came these things by which the life of our European ancestors entered upon a new epoch. Let us remember as we go to the Orient that the age of man's Summary prehistoric career^ lasted some fifty thousand years,. ”

“ When did the ice withdraw for the last time ? What new treatment of his edged tools did man now discover.? Make a list of his new possessions in this age. What remains and evidences of the existence of towns and communities still survive ? Section 5. What wares did the traders bring into the Late Stone Age settlements of inland Europe? How were they brought across the Mediterranean ? What great people already had ships ? Where did high civilization first arise ? ”

“ Condition of the Tasmanians of modern times Men so completely uncivilized as this no longer exist on earth. The most savage tribes found by explorers have learned how useful fire is and they understand how to make it. The people whom the English found on the island of Tasmania a century or so ago were among the lowest savages known to us. They wore no clothing ”

“ What men have actually been found in a state almost as low as this t Describe their possessions. How long has man existed on earth? At what point can we begin to trace his progress ? Section 2. Describe man's earliest tools. How did he live, and what was Europe then like '^. What do we call this age ? ”

“ They listen with awe-struck faces and rapt attention ; and in their traffic they desire above all else the new axes and daggers of metal which take a keener edge than any they can fashion of stone. Strings of Egyptian blue-glazed beads,^ brought in by traders, wandered from hand to hand and people to people in western Europe ”

“ Such ships have many oarsmen on each side and mighty fir trunks mounted upright in the craft, carrying huge sheets of linen to catch the favoring wind which drives them swiftly, without oars, from land to land. ”

“ Before his door the women spin their flax, and the rough skin clothing of his ancestors has given way to garments of woven stuff. Up the hillside stretches the field of flax, and beside it another of wheat or of barley. The seeds which their ancestors once gath- ered from the scattered tufts of the wild grasses, these I>ate Stone Age men have slowly learned may be planted near the dwelling in ground prepared for the purpose. Thus wild grain is domes- ticated, and agriculture has been introduced. ”

“ Occasionally he may have found a dead bird or animal killed by some other creature, and thus learning the taste of flesh he would be led to pursue the less dangerous animals and to lay them low with a stone or a club. ”

“ These spears they could throw with great accuracy and thus bring down the game they needed for food, or drive away their human enemies. They could take a flat stone, and by chipping off its edges to thin them they could produce a rude knife with which to skin and cut up the game they killed. ”

“ Condition of earliest man At first man must have roamed the tropical forests without any clothing, without huts or shelter of any kind, with no tools or weapons, eating roots, fruit or berries where he found them. ”

“ The climate again grew warmer and became what it is to-day. Men were soon after mak- ing rapid advances. They had now learned that it was possible Fig. 6. Surviving Remains of a Swiss Lake- Village After an unusually dry season the Swiss lakes fell to a very low level in 1854, exposing the lake bottom with the remains of the piles which once supported the lake villages along the shores. They were thus dis- covered for the first time. On the old lake bottom, among the projecting piles, were found great quantities of implements, tools, and furniture, like those in Fig. ”

“ The work was done with the pointed and edged tools of flint shown in Fig. 2. See Ancie7it Times, Figs. 9 and 10 paintings have been found in surprising numbers in recent years. Long lines of bison, deer, or wild horses cover the walls and ceil- ings of these caves. They are startling in their lifelikeness and Early Mankind in Europe 9 vigor. Sometimes they are carved in the rock wall of the cavern (Fig. 4, 2) ; again the ancient hunter employed colored earth mixed with grease, and thus produced paintings which still survive on the cavern wall. ”