Konrad Merk

“ Is it possible that these Indians and the cave-dwellers of the Kesslerloch can be the descendants of one and the same race, and has this art of drawing been transmitted from this race to all the others, or is it an original invention of different races? I most certainly am of opinion that the human race sprang not from one original pair only, but from several, and consequently I believe that a transmission of this art is in this particular case not to be thought of. ”

“ As the artist, on account of the limited space, could not quite place the drawing on the upper side of the horn, the hoofs have come on the under side, and thus lose somewhat of their significance. The parallel striæ on the neck, the breast, the back, the body, and the hinder part of the animal undoubtedly represent hairs. The well-formed head—rather long, with small ears—the upright mane, the graceful, well-formed body, the elegant and lightly-formed feet, and especially the remarkably thin tail, reaching nearly to the ground, represent without doubt a young well-bred animal. ”

“ If we compare with our specimens those found in the inhabited caves of other districts, as, for instance, the cave at Salève, at the opposite end of Switzerland, or the Belgian, French, and Swabian caves, we again find so much agreement, so much that is similar, that involuntarily we are led to the conclusion that the human race at that time in Switzerland, in Belgium, France, Swabia, England, and other countries had arrived pretty much at the same degree of civilisation, had felt the same needs, and in general existed under the same conditions of life. ”

“ There are indeed savages at the present day who poison their arrows, so as to make them more deadly in their effect on the human or animal frame. But I do not believe that they eat the flesh of the animals killed in this manner; and as the cave-dwellers of the Kesslerloch, as already mentioned, seem to have fed upon every animal they killed, it seems to me better to consider these furrows as channels for the flow of blood from the animals struck, so that they might die more quickly. ”

“ He did not at that time understand how to build huts to protect him, nor had he, in fact, the tools necessary for this purpose. A cave, therefore, with its sheltering roof, offered to him a welcome abode to secure him from storm, rain, and cold; in fact from all the hurtful influences of nature. It was very natural that the caves of the Jura formation should be inhabited before others; for no other formation has so many caves as this, besides which, in general, flint (or chert) was found in it, which was then so necessary to human existence. ”

“ Even the remaining animals, the wolf, the fox, the wild cat, the lynx, the bear, the wild goose, the wild swan, and the sea-eagle, all prefer a cold climate, or at any rate are well able to bear it. An Alpine climate is not injurious even to the deer and the horse. There can therefore be no doubt whatever that the neighbourhood of Thayngen had formerly, in the strictest sense of the word, and for a lengthened period, an arctic-alpine climate, which, however, from various causes became gradually considerably milder ”

“ But on the other hand, we find the red stag, the wild boar, and the elk, and of tame animals, the Bos taurus, the dog, the sheep, and the goat have now become regularly naturalised. These differences are evidently not merely to be ascribed to chance, but doubtless arise also from the alteration of climate. When men built their abodes in lakes and marshes, the climate was considerably milder, and the fauna consequently approached much nearer to that of our own time. ”

“ Von Mandach found a number of portions of human skeletons, some flint-flakes, a neck-ornament, and a bone implement, together with a good deal of pottery. It is therefore certain that the whole of this district was iii early times the theatre of human activity.
If we now return to the consideration of the cave-dwellers of our Kesslerloch, and picture to our imagination for a few moments their life and occupation, a very peculiar idea strikes our mind. The life led by man in those far distant times was in many respects very little better than that of the beasts which he hunted. ”

“ But climatic changes do not occur in short periods; thousands of years are required for them. The period during which our cave was inhabited cannot certainly be accurately fixed; but, at all events, many centuries must have passed before a relic-bed nearly three feet in thickness could have been formed. Now although by these reasonings as to the inhabitants of the Kesslerloch we cannot make out any determinate number of years chronologically, yet they enable us to arrive at the conclusion that many thousands of years must have elapsed since the first settlement of man in the cave of Thayngen. ”

“ It is most singular that not a single human bone has been found in the Kesslerloch, except one collar bone belonging to a young individual. It was certainly at one time given out to the world that the complete skeleton of a child had been found in the cave. This is decidedly true; but the reporter who says that he was an eye-witness when it was taken out of the ground does not appear to have noticed that this skeleton lay hardly two inches and a half below the surface of the upper covering, and consequently did not belong to the prehistoric age, but to the present. ”

“ Though an artist of the present day might have much to find fault with in this figure, yet it would be impossible not to wonder how man, thousands of years ago, should have made such progress in art as to produce these drawings with such primitive tools; in fact, it seems almost impossible. But we have similar phenomena in other quarters: there are in fact whole peoples, as well as individual men, who in certain departments of human science and knowledge have made great advances above others for centuries, nay even for thousands of years. ”

“ But if, on the other hand, the art of drawing was a common qualification of our cave-dwellers, then the drawing of the animal under consideration must have been executed by a very advanced artist. The long erect mane on the nape of the neck, the beard under the throat, and the tail (of which part only remains) indicate very decidedly the wild horse of that day. The hind legs are very stiff, while the front legs are drawn much more naturally. ”

“ From the fact that the red stag's remains are met with very sparingly in the Kesslerloch, while on the contrary they are abundant in the lake-dwellings, we may conclude that our climate had become milder during that interval of time. The only reason why the animal is not living amongst us at the present day is that it has been very severely hunted, so that it has become peculiarly shy and fearful. ”

“ If we compare the fauna of Thayngen with that of Veyrier, a glance at the foregoing table will lead us to the conclusion that there is much similarity between them. At both localities the reindeer, the horse, and the ptarmigan are the most prevailing species. The small number of Alpine hares at Veyrier is striking as well as the entire absence of the remains of the Arctic fox, the glutton, and the wild cat, while the badger and beaver are wanting at Thayngen. The essential difference between these two faunas consists in the complete absence at Veyrier of the mammoth, rhinoceros, cave-lion. ”

“ The well-known proverb, 'If men are silent the stones cry out,' finds here its most literal application.
Although the cave-dwellers were but badly provided with tools, yet on this very account their dexterity in manufacturing implements and ornaments was most remarkable. These, like the tools, show very little variety, and in fact are limited to what was most necessary. The material from which they manufactured their implements was almost exclusively reindeer-horn. No small number of horns were found in our cave heaped together with a still greater quantity of waste from the worked material. ”

“ But the antiquities found in our cave do not give the least trace or indication of the lake-dwellings. The total absence of corn, of pottery, of bored stones, and of stone celts, and also of domestic animals, and, I may add, the entirely altered fauna, are very certain evidences that the age when men lived in caves is to be sought for far beyond that of the lake-dwellings. ”

“ Very probably, also, they painted their faces, as many savages do at the present day. I was led to this opinion by finding a slab about half a square foot in size, one side of which was finely ground down and regularly covered with red paint. Near this slab were found two pieces of soft ruddle, or red oxide, which evidently had been the colouring material. It is therefore a point tolerably well decided that the ancient inhabitants of Switzerland were people clothed in reindeer-skins, who made and adorned themselves with bone or coal earrings, carried weapons of bone, and painted their faces. ”

“ But further investigation has brought to light a number of other elephant's bones, molar teeth, and tusks both of old and young animals, so that it is certain that these animals have lived here, been hunted and taken into the cave. For I see no reason why the inhabitants should have brought in and broken to pieces the useless bones of this animal, which they had found by chance; nor why so many young animals should here have met with their death, unless it had been caused intentionally by the hand of man. The Kesslerloch thus proves afresh the contemporaneity of man and the mammoth. ”

“ The two ears, the eyes, and the greater part of the horns are quite perfect; the muzzle and the nose are altogether wanting. Very strangely, one ear stands higher than the other, probably arising from the fact that the artist has made one horn broader than the other, so that he is decidedly in fault. And as the two eyes also are not at the same height, it seems as if the artist had worked on one side without referring to what he had already done on the other. The eye itself is very neatly carved. ”

“ We find the wild cat (Felis catus) , of which however only one under-jaw of a very large animal has come down to us, and yet at the present time it is nearly spread over the whole of Europe, but is not found beyond this continent. Mountain forests are its favourite haunts. Most singularly, it is not found in Norway, Sweden, or Russia.
In the countries just mentioned the wild cat is replaced by the lynx (Felis lynx) , and the remains of this animal are also met with in the Thayngen cave; three right and one left under-jaw and one upper-jaw have been found. ”

“ But again, on the other hand, the specimens from the lake-dwellings do not exhibit any drawing or sculpture, or ornamented bone implements, or any ornaments of this nature. For these reasons the lake-dwellings are not to be placed in the same age as the human abodes found in caves. Consequently the era of the cave-dwellers forms the background in the picture of prehistoric man. ”

“ Another portion of their time was occupied in preparing flint implements and hunting gear. Probably the women had to prepare the food, to keep up the fire, to sew reindeer-skins together, and to make clothes of them. Every one had his work assigned to him, and no one durst venture to give himself up to idleness, if the whole family were to be victors in the struggle for existence. The love of adornment was very marked amongst our cave-dwellers. Their ornaments consisted chiefly of necklaces and earrings. ”

“ Its appearance in the neighbourhood of the cave at Thayngen would not create a pleasant sensation in the minds of its inhabitants.
Even the bear (Ursus arctos) was not wanting amongst this mixed company. We have however found only a very few teeth, and parts of the skeleton, and one almost perfect upper-jaw. We can only trace the parts belonging to two or three individuals. The rapid advance of civilisation has very much limited the spread of this animal, so that it will soon have to be considered as an exceptional straggler in Europe. ”

“ I was informed by three men who worked for a time as labourers when the Baden Railway was made, that in the immediate neighbourhood of the Kesslerloch, when they were blasting the rock, a moderately large cave was exposed, within which a considerable number of human bones had been laid up. ”

“ We may from this conclude that in the later period of the occupation of the cave by man both kinds of lance-heads were used, while in the earlier ages only those without furrows and notches were employed. It is in general very difficult to say what each implement was formerly used for, and still more difficult to do this from any individual portion. It is well to form one's opinion from the accounts given of savages living at the present day. ”

“ If bored only on one side there was a very great risk of breaking the flint point, besides which the diameter of the eye would have been much too large for the part to be perforated. When the needles of the Kesslerloch are closely examined it may be seen very distinctly that the cave-dwellers must have used the same method of boring their needles, for the eye is always the smallest in the middle. ”

“ The horns, which are singularly broad at the base, rise quite in front and from the top of the forehead, so that this is here reduced to merely a very narrow hollow; they curve downwards at the side of the head, and seem to bend more forwards than backwards. The neck is ornamented with many lines, formed of a series of small strokes. It is difficult to say what animal this sculpture is intended to represent. Our list of horned animals comprises five species, viz.: the ibex, the chamois, the wisent, the urus, and this animal now under consideration—either the domestic ox or the musk-sheep. ”