Katharine Elizabeth Dopp

“ And Flaker arose, and turning his eyes toward the heavens, he raised his baton, whereupon all the young men were silent. Then he turned to the young men and said, “The gods will surely provide food for the hungry Cave-men.”
“But the people need food and game is scarce,” said one of the brave young men. “How can we prevent the famine? How can we make the gods understand?”
“Remember the Big Bear,” said Flaker. “He heard our prayer when we made his likeness on stone. Let us make likenesses of the animals. The gods will then understand our prayers and send many herds to our hunting grounds.” ”

“ Nobody noticed the boys steal out of the cave. Nobody noticed them run to the pitfall.
But soon after she started, Antler saw the tracks of their bare feet. She guessed at once where the boys had gone. And it was then that she thought of making them clothing.
While the children slept that night, Antler talked with the women. And when morning came, the women took skins and made the children warm clothes and moccasins.
When the children put on their wolf-skin suits, they looked like a pack of wolves. Sometimes they played they were wolves. Then they chased make-believe wild horses. ”

“ Man’s fear, which with the conquest of fire gave way to courage, has resulted in his mastery of many mechanical appliances and in the development of social coöperation, which so increases his power as to make him an object of fear to the wild animals. Since the wild animals now try to escape from man’s presence, there is a greater demand made upon man’s ingenuity than ever before in supplying his daily food. The way in which man’s cunning finds expression in traps, pitfalls, and in throwing devices, and finally in a remarkable manifestation of art, is made evident in these pages. ”

“ Lesson XX. The invention of traps requires more forethought than the invention of weapons and was at a later date. The accidental catching of animals in natural traps, such as vines, pot-holes, soft places in the marshes and cliffs, offered a suggestion; and the tediousness of lying in wait, on the one hand, and the danger of a direct conflict with large animals, on the other, offered a strong motive for the use of nature’s suggestions in the way of traps. Undoubtedly women made a large use of traps in catching the smaller animals before men gave much attention to this mode of hunting. ”

“ Wild hogs and bears had begun to harvest the nuts before the Cave-men returned. Each day they went to the trees and ate the nuts that had fallen. When Eagle-eye saw what they were doing, she said, “Bring your bags and baskets and come. If we do not look out the hogs will get the best of the nuts this year.”
Then all the women and children went nutting. They gathered the nuts that lay upon the ground and put them in their baskets. Some climbed trees and shook the branches until they got a shower of nuts; others took their digging sticks and beat the heavily laden branches. ”

“ In spite of the fact that many of the beliefs of mankind have been false, they have served a useful purpose in the development of the individual and in uniting individuals into social groups.
The art of the Cave-men, as illustrated in this and in other lessons, shows a belief in sympathetic magic, a belief that is universal among primitive peoples. The fear formerly entertained by the American Indians of having their photographs taken was due to a belief in sympathetic magic. The one who possessed the likeness was supposed to have some mysterious power over the person. ”

“ No doubt all the Cave-men had eaten dried meat many times before. Often the Cave-men left strips of meat hanging from the trees.
Anybody could leave meat which he did not care to eat. Anybody could eat meat which had been dried in the sun. But not every one was bright enough to think of drying meat.
Harpoons of reindeer antler used for fishing.
Chew-chew had never dried meat, nor had any of the women. It was enough for them to prepare the meat which they needed day by day. Few of the people ever thought of laying up stores for the morrow. They lived a “hand-to-mouth” life. ”

“ Why were the Cave-men careful to make no mistake in the dance?
The Reindeer Dance
Fleetfoot did not hunt with the men, but he learned many things from them. In early winter, he heard them tell stories of dangerous encounters with ugly stags. When the old stags shed their antlers, he saw the men dance the reindeer dance.
Fleetfoot mimicked the reindeer’s movements and the grunting sounds they made. But he was not allowed to join with the men in dancing the reindeer dance. Only brave men were allowed to join in the dance. Only the bravest men were allowed to lead. ”

“ Flaker knew that the reindeer dance was a prayer of the Cave-men to their gods. He knew each movement in the dance was to help the gods understand. He felt sure that the gods would help Fleetfoot if he could make them understand. And so he determined to make a prayer which Fleetfoot could carry with him.
The engraving of a cave-bear on a pebble.
Perhaps you will think that the prayer Flaker made was a very strange prayer. But many people in all parts of the world have made such prayers. It was a prayer to the Big Bear of the mountains. ”

“ The incident of Bighorn making fun of the bone dagger is introduced to illustrate the conservative tendency which is still present in society, a tendency less powerful now than in early times, yet strong enough to keep many people out of sympathy with the forces which work for progress.
Let the children examine a real antler, if possible, and notice its fitness for being made into a variety of tools and weapons. If no antler can be found let them examine the picture of one, so as to determine what part of it is used in making a dagger, a hammer, a baton, a tent peg, and an awl. ”

“ Then it was that Fleetfoot learned that Greybeard was Nimble-finger.
After that Fleetfoot took great pains to learn how to flake flint points. He watched Greybeard as he worked and he listened to all he said.
Before many years had passed, the boys could make good weapons. They knew every spot on their own hunting ground. They knew the wild animals that lived there and what they liked to do. They knew each animal by its track. Each sound of the woods, each patch of light, they learned to read as you read a book.
THINGS TO DO
Name things you will have to learn before you are full-grown. ”

“ Lesson XXX. Hunting peoples, because they live a hand-to-mouth life, have either a feast or a famine. Game was so plentiful during the late Pleistocene period that we may suppose that the Cave-men usually had plenty of food. The time when a famine was most likely to occur was early spring, before the grass furnished food for the herds which came a little later. When food supplies begin to fail, the clan breaks up into smaller groups, and, in case of great scarcity, each of these groups subdivides so that food may be found. ”

“ The need of practical activity, which for long ages constituted the entire education of mankind, is at last recognized by the elementary school. It has been introduced in many places and already results have been attained which demonstrate that it is possible to introduce practical activity in such a way as to afford the child a sound development—physically, intellectually, and morally—and at the same time equip him for efficient social service. ”

“ The Cave-men knew nothing about such things as stoves. It would have done them no good if they had, for their boiling-pots could not stand the heat. So instead of putting the boiling-pot over the fire, the Cave-men brought the fire to the boiling-pot by means of hot stones.
In times of famine, Pigeon learned to boil all sorts of roots and leaves. Many bitter plants, when boiled, were changed so that they tasted very well. Some plants which were poison when eaten raw were changed to good foods by being boiled. ”

“ Sometimes they partly surrounded a herd and drove the animals over a cliff, but unless the herd was near the cliff, there were not enough men to drive them.
And so the men tried to coax the animals to the edge of the cliff. Sometimes they did it by imitating the cries the animals made. Sometimes they did it by dressing so as to look like the animals themselves. But even then they often failed to get the animals into their trap.
It was when Fleetfoot saw a bison frightened by a feather that he thought of making things do the work of live men. ”

“ Think of as many tools as you can that the women used.
How Flaker Learned to Make Weapons of Bone
Before Flaker was hurt he and Fleetfoot had planned to do many things. But now Flaker was lame, and all the Cave-men knew he would never be able to hunt.
When Flaker first knew it, he was very sad. And so Fleetfoot tried to comfort him. Each day he brought him a bird or a rabbit, and he told him all that had happened.
For a while Flaker thought that if a man could not hunt, there was nothing else for him to do. But soon he found there were many things to do besides going out to hunt. ”

“ As long as the ice streams follow the torrent-channels, they act in something like the fashions of the flowing waters—to gouge out the rocks and deepen the valleys; but as the glacial period advances and the ice sheet spreads beyond the mountains enveloping the plains as well, when the glacier attains the thickness of thousands of feet, it disregards the valleys in its movements and sweeps on in majestic march across the surface of the country. As long as the continental glaciers remain the tendency is to destroy the river valleys. ”

“ Each day the Cave-men watched for signs of the coming of the great herd. Each night they danced the bison dance and tried to make the bison come.
One morning Straightshaft climbed the cliff and looked far up and down the valley. Looking north he could see the River of Stones with high cliffs on one or both banks. He could see dense forests of evergreen that grew on the low banks. He could see hills and valleys beyond the cliffs where many wild animals lived. ”

“ Watch animals, and see if they give signs to one another.
What weapons do you think the Cave-men would take when they went to hunt the bison? How could the Cave-men help one another in hunting? How might one man hinder the others? ”

“ Three women could carry the flesh of one bison without the skin. When the skins were good they were carried to the cave. In addition to the skin and the flesh the Cave-men prized the head as a trophy and also as a means of gaining control over the animals by sympathetic magic. All the skulls were broken, probably for the sake of removing the brains, which are usually considered a delicacy among primitive peoples.
Lesson II. Help the children to see that when people had no books, the person who knew most was of great service to the clan. ”

“ In reading The Early Cave-men they learned how people chipped flint and bound strong handles to heavy spear points and axes. At this time they can learn how people came to make use of new materials—materials which require the use of tools in shaping into weapons. Tools had been used by women from a very early time. The digging-stick, the hammer-stone, the chopper, the knife, and the bone awl are tools which every woman used. ”

“ None of the clans could make better weapons than the men of the Bison clan. Since boyhood, Greybeard had been known for his delicate spear points and knives. No workshop in all the valley was better known than his. But even Greybeard’s weapons sometimes were known to fail. Even his spear points sometimes were lost in the chase.
For several days the men were at home making new weapons. They never made spears and javelins with sharper and finer points. They never made straighter and smoother shafts. When they started out to hunt, they were proud of their new weapons. ”

“ If you have ever seen a cat hunt, tell how she does it. Can you think why cats do not hunt together?
Do dogs hunt alone, or with one another? How do wolves hunt?
In what ways can animals help one another in hunting? What animals do wolves hunt to-day? What animals did the wolves hunt in the time of the Cave-men?
[Pg 111]
What Happened when Fleetfoot and Flaker Hunted the Bison
When summer came, Fleetfoot and Flaker watched the bison from day to day. The wolves, too, watched the bison. One day the boys saw two wolves hunt a bison that had strayed from the herd. ”

“ But never before had so many animals escaped with so many precious weapons.
Of course there was nothing for the Cave-men to do but to make new weapons. But it took a long time to season the sticks for straight and smooth shafts. It took patience and skill for the Cave-men to make delicate flint points. Perhaps this was why the Cave-men learned to retrieve the weapons they threw.
Ever since the Cave-men had learned to make spears, they had lashed the head to the shaft. They thought that this was the only way to make a good spear. Chipper was the first Cave-man who invented a new way. ”

“ Protection from the cold winters, which characterize the age described, is sought first in caves; but fire is a necessity in defending the caves. The serious condition to which the cave-men are reduced by the loss of fire during a flood is shown to be the motive which prompts them to hold a council; to send men to the fire country; to make improvements in clothing, in devices for carrying, and in tools and weapons ”

“ To select from the monotony of the ages that which is most vital, to so present it as to enable the child to participate in the process by which the race has advanced, is a work more in keeping with the spirit of the age. ”

“ None of the animals feared man before he had fire. And for a long time afterward none of them feared him without a torch. But the early Cave-men made strong weapons after they had fire. They struck hard blows with their stone axes, which the animals learned to fear.
Grass-eating animals feared beasts of prey long before the Tree-dwellers lived. Wild horses learned to run fast by trying to escape from packs of wolves. They learned to keep sentinels to watch while the herd fed. All the grass-eating animals learned to do this. The sentinels signaled at a sign of danger, and then the herd ran ”

“ Every day the Cave-men recited the brave deeds of the clan. They watched every one carefully, so as to know who the brave men were. Those who were found most useful to the clan were given special honors. And when a man did a very brave deed he was given a hole in his baton.
Brave hunters, besides keeping trophies, engraved a record of their brave deeds. Sometimes they kept a hunter’s tally, and sometimes they engraved the animal they killed. ”

“ What kind of rules and laws do you think the Cave-men made?
What laws do you think they would make about hunting animals?
What laws would they make about the use of plants?
What people did the Cave-men honor most? What must any one do to be honored? What were some of the signs that a man was honored?
When dangerous work needs to be done, what kind of men and women are needed? ”

“ How Antler made Snares
While Fleetfoot and Flaker were little boys, they learned a few lessons in trapping. The men seldom trapped at that time, but the women trapped in several ways.
[Pg 93] Antler was only a little girl when she learned to catch birds with a seed on a string. She was called Snowflake then and she lived in another cave.
Snowflake’s mother taught her to do all the things that little girls needed to know. She learned to hunt for roots and berries, to catch birds, and to make traps, besides learning to make tents, to prepare skins, and to make them into garments. ”

“ The children will be helped to get a conception of the great number of reindeer in a herd partly through the story, partly through illustrations, and partly through tearing reindeer from paper and mounting them so as to represent great herds. The child’s experiences in seeing processions or large numbers of people assembled can also be used in forming a picture of the large number of reindeer that met at the ford. ”