Illustration of Clay Vessel and Support.—————-

During this age, the inhabitants were as much given to war and conquest as any rudely civilized people: we, therefore, meet with remains of their weapons. The principal ones were swords, daggers, spear-heads, and arrows. The swords are always more or less leaf-like in shape, double-edged, sharp-pointed, and intended more for stabbing and thrusting, rather than cutting. No hand guards were used.

Illustration of Bronze Weapons.————————-

Sometimes the handles were fastened to the swords by means of rivets; and, at other times, the handle was plaited with wood or bone. They are of different lengths, intermediate between the sword and the dagger. It is doubtful whether they made use of shields.

Bronze shields are, indeed, found; but, from the ornaments and other circumstances they are generally considered to belong to the Iron Age: for we shall subsequently learn that the introduction of iron did not prevent the continued use of bronze. The bow was well known; and this must have necessitated the use of arrows. Some bronze arrows have been found; but a flint arrow is nearly as serviceable as bronze, and much cheaper, so we may be sure they were more common. They also employed spears and javelins, and the bronze heads of these weapons are found in various places. The invading Celt found many camps and fortified places already in existence, and continued them in use after the original occupant had been driven away.

Illustration of Mold.———————-

As we have spent some time in learning the different objects manufactured out of bronze, it may be of interest to learn somewhat of their methods of working bronze. We have already stated how the amateur worker in bronze would follow on after the trader—and so the objects of bronze would be made in all the countries of Europe. Molds have been found in various places. This is a mold for casting the axes having a socket in which to put the handle. It was found in the cave at Heathbury Burn, already mentioned. None of the bronze objects were forged out, as a smith forges out objects of iron—they were cast. In the absence of steel, it would be almost impossible to cut bronze; hence it was necessary to make the casting as nearly perfect as possible. Sometimes the molds were cut out of stone, as in the figure just given. The molds themselves were, in this case, difficult to make; besides, they could scarcely be made so perfect as not to leave a little ridge, where the two halves of the mold came together, which, as just explained, owing to the absence of steel, it would be very difficult to remove. In process of time they discovered an easier way of making the molds, that employed at the present day—that is, by the use of sand. The ridge would still remain, and is to be plainly seen on specimens of ancient bronze.

To overcome the difficulty just mentioned, they invented a third method of casting, which displays great ingenuity. A model of the object desired was made of wood or wax, and inclosed in prepared earth mixed with some inflammable material, in order that, when subjected to heat, it might become porous. The whole was then heated until the wax or wood disappeared. The mold was then ready for use. The great advantage of this method was that there were no projecting lines of junction to disfigure the complete implement. This seems to have been the most common method employed. This explains the fact, that we seldom find any two bronze objects exactly similar to one another. Any impression left on the wax model would be faithfully reproduced. Marks of the spatula, with which the wax was worked, are frequently found; and, in one case, the impression of the human finger was observed.

A people as highly cultured as those of the Bronze Age must have had some system of government, and one that was a sensible advance over the government of the Neolithic people. In the Neolithic Age it was, doubtless, tribe against tribe. Confederacies, the union of several tribes for common purpose of defense, must have been more common at this age. The first Aryan tribes to arrive in Europe, as we have seen, were the Celts. In time, they had to withstand the pressure of invasion themselves. The Belgae, and other Germanic tribes, were also on the move. But war at this period would partake more of the nature of people against people, than of tribe against tribe. The civil and the military departments of government must have taken more definite shape, and we are not without evidence of fairly organized and disciplined forces. As early as two thousand eight hundred years before Christ, the sea-coast people of Europe, while yet in the Bronze Age, allied their forces for the conquest of Egypt.

We have referred to the influence of trade in shaping civilization. It is commerce that to-day is carrying civilization to remote corners of the globe. Long before the dawn of history, it was an active agent in advancing culture. It is important to note the great expanse of commerce, both inland and marine, which prevailed during the Bronze Age. An important article of trade was, of course, bronze. The people who first learned the secret of its manufacture would speedily find a demand for their wares from surrounding tribes, and we have already pointed out how this trade would quickly give rise to local manufactures. But, to produce bronze, we know tin is just as necessary as copper—and all the countries of Europe are not provided with these metals; so more or less trade would inevitably take place. In various ways the stores of the bronze merchant might be lost, and only revealed in after years by accident. One of these deposits, found in France, is evidently the store of a merchant or trader from Etruria to the tribes of the north and west, and so gives us a quite vivid idea of the trade of that early time. It consisted of over four hundred articles of bronze, "comprising knives, sickles, lance-heads, horse-bits, rings, buttons, pendants, and bracelets."

As an article of adornment, amber was highly prized, not only by the people of Europe during the Bronze Age, but also by the people of the preceding Neolithic Age. This caused a trade to spring up which certainly did its share in enlightening the people. The main supply must have been obtained from the shores of the Baltic. That the trade was of importance is evidenced by the fact that amber has been found scattered over Europe in the tombs of the Neolithic and Bronze Ages.

We have given a passing glance at the religion of each age we have examined. It must be confessed that great uncertainty hangs over the results. From a close examination of their industries, we can gather considerable as to the home life and general enlightenment of prehistoric times. A knowledge of religious belief is gathered mainly from a study of their burial customs. This is a very important part of our investigation, because a religious belief is one of the exponents of the culture of a people.

We have seen that in the Neolithic Age the dead were buried surrounded by implements, weapons, and ornaments for use in the future life. The descendants of these people throughout Europe, even in the Bronze Age, would still continue this custom. The implements buried with the body were more often of stone than bronze. We must constantly bear in mind that bronze was costly. This will explain its absence in many cases. It is interesting to note in this connection that these are "cases in which it is evident that flint implements were deposited in graves rather in deference to ancient customs than because they were still in every-day use." We also notice that during this age, often the objects placed in the graves were, from their shape, obviously not intended for daily use. This would clearly indicate that the popular mind became impressed with the fact that these votive offerings, however freely given, could be of no assistance to the departed, but they still continued the custom because it was sanctioned by usage of past years.

But the dead were not always buried during the Bronze Age, nor, indeed, as a general rule. The invading race doubtless brought with them a new religion. Many of the ornamentations on their swords, vases, and other articles, are supposed by some writers to be religious symbols. From the frequent occurrence of the circle, and combinations of circles, it has been suggested that they worshiped the sun. And the occurrence of customs observable even at a late day, in various portions of Europe, as pointed out by Prof. Nelson, show that the worship of the fire-god, or the sun, was once widely extended in Europe. On this point we are further told: "That even as late as the time of Canute the Great, there is a statute forbidding the adorement of the sun and the moon." So it is not strange that in the new faith a different method of burial would be followed. That was by cremation. "The dead were burned, were purified by being passed through the fire along with their possessions." The ashes was then gathered together and placed in urns and burial mounds and barrows. The votive offerings of flint and bronze articles in daily use were also thrown in the fire, and their burnt remains placed with the other ashes in the burial urn. The cut is that of a bell-shaped barrow of the Bronze Age.

Illustration of a Burial Mound.————————-

We have just seen what inferences have been drawn from the use of the circle as an ornament. This is not the only sign that has been thought to have some symbolical meaning. The cross was also used as an ornament, and possessed probably some religious significance. A third figure which has caused some discussion was the triangle. "It is, on the whole, very probable that all these signs, which are not connected with any known object, bear some relation to certain religious or superstitious ideas entertained by the men of the Bronze epoch, and, as a consequence of this, that their hearts must have been inspired with some degree of religious feeling."

Illustration of Avebury Restored.——————-

We have mentioned the use of stone circles in Neolithic times. During the Bronze Age they built the circle very large, sometimes twelve hundred feet in diameter, and they were sometimes made of earth. These circles are regarded by some as being simply burial places, and many of them have been proved to be such. But others regard them as temples, meaning thereby not a building, in our sense of the word, but a place of sanctity, and probably where some form of worship was held. Even if we allow that they were originally tombs in every case, it does not follow that they have not also been temples, for the religious sentiment has, in all ages, and in all places, tended to center in tombs, which ultimately have become places of worship. Many of our Christian Churches have originated in this manner, and it is a most obvious transition from the tomb to the temple. The worship of the spirits of the dead at the one would naturally grow into the worship of the Great Unknown in the other.

The preceding cut is a restoration of one of the largest of these temples. Here we see a circle twelve hundred feet in diameter, of upright stones, guarded by both a ditch and embankment. From the two openings in the embankment formerly extended two long winding avenues of stone. Between them rises Silbury Hill, the largest artificial mound in Great Britain, being one hundred and thirty feet high. The area of the large inclosure was about twenty-eight and a half acres. This was a temple of no inconsiderable size. It was, of course in ruins when the earliest account of it was written, and we can only speculate as to the lapse of time since it was venerated as a place of worship.

Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain, is a better known ruin, though not on as large a scale as at Avebury. The cut gives us a restoration of it. The outer circle of standing stones is one hundred feet in diameter, and when entire consisted of one hundred stones. These are of sandstone, and were obtained in the vicinity. A course of stone was laid along the top. We notice within a smaller circle of stone. The material of these stones is such that we know they must have come from a distance. Mr. James tells us that they are erratic—that is, bowlders brought from the North of Scotland by the glaciers—and that others of the same kind are still to be seen lying around the country. But the more common opinion is that they were brought there by the people from a distance, perhaps Cornwall or the Channel Islands. If this be true, it is evidence of a strong religious feeling, and a peculiar value must have been attached to the material, since for any ordinary monument the stones in the neighborhood would have sufficed. Still nearer the center were five groups of three great stones each, and immediately within these a horseshoe of smaller stones. Finally, near the head of the horseshoe, a great slab of sandstone is supposed to have served for an altar. The date of the two structures just described has been a matter of some dispute.

Illustration of Stonehenge Restored.————

It is worthy of notice that in the immediate neighborhood of both of them are found a great number of barrows of the Bronze Age. Over three hundred were erected in the neighborhood of the latter. In the opinion of many this fixes their date in the Bronze Age. Stonehenge, in its ruined state, has formed the subject of no little speculation. Modern explorers, in connecting it with the Bronze Age, have not dispelled from it the enchantment of mystery. We must ever wonder as to the nature of the rites there observed. Our questionings meet with but feeble response; for though we have learned somewhat of past times, it is comparatively but little. Ruined columns, crumbling burial mounds, and remains of stone and bronze will always be surrounded with more or less mystery—a striking illustration that science is able to dispel but little of the darkness which unnumbered years have thrown around the culture of the past.

Illustration of Ancient Tower, Scotland.—————-

REFERENCES

(1) The manuscript of this chapter was submitted to Prof. Chas. Rau, of the Smithsonian Institution for criticism. (2) Brace's "Races of the Old World," p. 60. (3) Brace's "Races of the Old World," p. 61. (4) Dawkins's "Early Man in Britain," p. 343. (5) "One mass estimated to weigh two hundred tons." Dana's "Manual of Mineralogy," p. 291. (6) Evans's "Ancient Bronze Implements," p. 2. (7) Rau's "Anthropological Subjects," p. 89. In his preface to this collection he asserts his belief, that "former inhabitants of North America, notwithstanding all assertions to the contrary, were unacquainted with the art of melting copper." Ibid., vii. (8) Dawkins's "Early Man in Britain," p. 401. (9) "Dawn of History," p. 367. (10) For an excellent discussion of this subject, about which there is yet much uncertainty, we would refer the reader to Evans's "Ancient Bronze Implements," chap. xxii. (11) Dawkins's "Early Man in Britain," p. 355. (12) Dawkins's "Early Man in Britain," p. 350. (13) "Prehistoric Times," p. 34. (14) "Early Man in Britain," p. 351. (15) Figuier's "Primitive Man," p. 255. (16) Rau's "Early Man in Europe," p. 135, and note. (17) Lubbock's "Prehistoric Times," p. 39. (18) Morgan's "Ancient Society," pp. 119, 120. (19) Dawkins's "Early Man in Europe," p. 449. (20) Dawkins's "Early Man in Britain," p. 383. (21) Lubbock's "Prehistoric Times," p. 157. (22) Lubbock's "Prehistoric Times," p. 74. (23) A.D., 995-1035. (24) Ferguson's "Rude Stone Monuments." (25) Dawkins's "Early Man in Britain," p. 367. (26) Figuier's "Primitive Man," p. 283. (27) Ferguson's "Rude Stone Monuments." (28) Dawkins's "Early Man in Britain," p. 377. (29) James's "Stonehenge," p. 3.



Chapter VIII

THE IRON AGE IN EUROPE.

Bronze not the best metal—Difficulties attending the discovery of Iron—Probable steps in this discovery—Where this discovery was first made—Known in ancient Egypt—How this knowledge would spread—Iron would not drive out Bronze—The primitive Iron-worker—The advance in government—Pottery and ornaments of the Iron Age,—Weapons of early Iron Age—The battle-field at Tilfenan—Trade of early Iron Age—Invention of Money—Invention of Alphabetic Writing—Invasion of the Germanic Tribes—The cause of the Dark Ages—Connection of these three Ages—Necessity of believing in an extended past—Attempts to determine the same—Tiniere Delta—Lake Bienne, British Fen-beds—Maximum and Minimum data—Argument from the widespread dispersion of the Turanian Race—Mr. Geikie's conclusions—The isolation of the Paleolithic Age.

The introduction of bronze was the harbinger of better days to the various tribes of Europe. Without metals it is doubtful if man would ever have been able to raise himself from barbarism. His advance in civilization has been in direct proportion to his ability to work metals. As long as he knew how to work bronze only he could not hope for the best results. The trouble was not in the metal itself, but in the supply; for copper and tin, the constituents of bronze, are found only in limited amounts. When we reflect on the multiplicity of purposes for which some metallic substance is needed, we at once perceive that men require a metal which can not only be worked cheaply, but must exist in great abundance, so that the needs of a rich and varied culture may be met.

The Divine Author of nature has stored away just such a metal, and in such exhaustless quantities that it forms an ingredient in nearly all soils, and flows away in the waters of many springs and rivers. It exists in abundance in nearly every country of the globe, in some forming veritable mountain masses. We refer to iron, the king of metals; and when man had learned to reduce it from its ores he had taken the first step in a new direction, the end whereof is yet far distant.

We have in the preceding chapter presented some reasons why copper would be known before iron. In the first place, how were men to learn there was such a thing as iron? Supposing its ores did occur in abundance, there was nothing to attract attention to them. They were not of great heft, like tin ore or of striking color, like the ores of copper. In the hills, and under the foot of man, nature indeed had imprisoned a genius; but there was no outward sign by which man was to divine his presence. Copper, as we have seen, occurs frequently in a native form that is ready for use, without reducing from its ores. Native iron, on the contrary, is almost the rarest of substances, though it is reported as occurring in one or two localities on the earth. Almost the only examples of native iron has been obtained from meteorites. Strange as it may seem, these wanderers in space, which occasionally flame athwart the sky, consist largely of pure iron; at least this is true of such specimens as have from time to time been found on the earth's surface. This supply is of course extremely limited, yet some Siberian tribes are said to make knives from iron obtained in this manner. Moreover the evidence of language, as used by the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, would imply the meteoric origin of the first known form of the metal. But though such accidental finds might prove the existence of another metal, they would furnish no hint how to extract it from its ores, or indeed, that it existed in the form of ores.

The prolonged schooling in metallurgy, which men received during the Bronze Age, could not fail to give them many hints, and doubtless accidental discoveries of metallic substances were made. We can conceive how, by accident or design, iron ore, treated in a similar manner to copper and tin ore, would leave behind a mass of spongy iron. The difficulty would be in working it; for, as we have seen, they were in the habit of casting their articles of bronze. But iron is very difficult of fusion. It was a long while before they learned how to do that. They had therefore to learn an entirely new art—that is, to fashion their implements of iron by hammering the heated mass.

There is no reason to suppose that iron was first discovered in Europe. Its spread has been from the east and south to the north and west. It, in all probability, was discovered, like bronze, in Asia. Although evidence, both archaeological and traditional, goes to show that bronze was in use long before iron, yet iron has been known from time immemorial. Explain it how we will, civilization and history follow close after the knowledge of iron. Wherever the light of history first falls on the nations of the Old World, we find them acquainted with iron, but such knowledge, at least on the part of the Mediterranean nations, does not long precede history, for at that early time, iron was still a most precious metal. It was not yet produced in sufficient quantities to take the place of bronze; hence the prehistoric Iron Age was there but of short duration.

Among the early Egyptians iron was known, but was probably not very common. There is on this subject some diversity of opinion; some believing that at the very earliest historical period they were skilled in working it, and employed it in all the affairs of life, but others assure us that at the most ancient period they did not really use iron, and that bronze was the metal employed for all ordinary purposes.

A wedge of iron is said to have been found in a joint between the stones of the great pyramid. Here, then, at the dawn of historic times iron seems to be making its way among a bronze-using people. The ancient Chaldeans employed iron as an ornament, but not for implements. With them it was therefore a precious metal. Among the Assyrians, iron was largely used, and at a comparatively early date. A careful study of the poems of Homer shows that the Greeks of nearly three thousand years ago had a knowledge of iron, though it was a highly prized metal. But to the north of the Mediterranean the prehistoric Iron Age was of longer duration.

We can readily see that a knowledge of iron would spread in much the same way as did bronze. When first introduced, it would be rare and costly, and so would be used sparingly. Bronze axes have been found with the edge of iron. Afterwards, as it became more abundant, it would be used altogether for cutting instruments and weapons, while bronze, being more easily worked, would still be used for ornaments, brooches, etc. At Hallstadt, in Austria, was discovered a cemetery which evidently belongs to a time when iron was taking the place of bronze. In this case, the implements of bronze are those forms which we have learned were produced near the close of the Bronze Age. The iron implements are not those forms best suited for that metal, but imitations of those of bronze. We remember when bronze was first introduced, the weapons were simply copies of those forms already made in stone.

We may suppose that a knowledge of iron would spread rapidly. The knowledge of metallurgy necessary for the production of bronze was at this time widely disseminated. It would require, therefore, but a hint to start them in experiments. In the dissemination of this knowledge, commerce, of course, played a most important part. Whenever the early Greek and Roman writers have occasion to mention the arms of the less civilized tribes of Europe, we learn they were of iron. This shows that at a very early time this knowledge had spread all over Europe.

It is scarcely necessary to remark that the use of iron would not drive out the use of bronze. That would still be used for many purposes; and even stone would continue in use, at least for some purposes. At the battle of Marathon, arrow-heads and lances of stone were largely used. We can easily understand how, by one of a number of causes, some rude tribes, yet unacquainted with the use of metal, would come to occupy the site of some settlement, the inhabitants of which had been in the Bronze or Iron Age. This actually happened at ancient Troy, where the remains of a stone-using folk have been found above those of a people using metal. This, though an exception to the general rule, need give us no surprise.

Iron manufacture at the present day, is one of our great industries. In its present form it is the final development of an industry whose first unfoldings we have now to glance at. That the first process man employed to procure iron should have been very rude, is what we would expect. Some of the partially civilized tribes of to-day may give us an insight into the process employed. We are told that in Tartary each native makes the iron he needs, just as every household would make its own bread. The furnace is a very small affair, not holding more than three pounds of ore. This is filled with ore and charcoal. The bellows are used, and after the charcoal is all burned out, the result is a small piece of spongy iron, which needs only repeated heating and hammering to be made serviceable. Primitive furnaces, on a somewhat larger scale, have been discovered in Switzerland. Here the excavation was made in the side of a hill, and a rude, dome-shaped chimney built over it.

We must not forget that our task ends where the historian's begins. The use of iron did not long precede history, so we have but little to describe as to the customs and manners of life during the prehistoric Iron Age. A general advance in all the social arts must surely have taken place. Improved tools, and more cheaply produced, could not fail to advance man very materially in culture. Some lake settlements were still in use as places of residence, but better means of protection than water was now known—walled cities were in use, especially around the Mediterranean sea.

Mr. Morgan has traced for us the evolution of government. At this early date the Greek and Roman people were engaged in substituting for ancient society the modern idea of government founded on territory. The great body of European tribes were now in the final stage of barbaric life. Their system of government was doubtless the highest known to ancient society—that of confederacies; the union of tribes speaking dialects of the same language, for offensive and defensive purposes.

Illustrations of Ornaments and Gold Ornament.—————-

As characteristic of the advance of this epoch, we may mention the appearance of pottery made on the potter's wheel, and baked in an improved kind of furnace. Previous to this epoch all the pottery had been moulded by hand and baked in an imperfect manner in the open air. This may be thought to be but a small improvement. Our civilization, however, depends upon small improvements. Only during the early part of this age, while iron was scarce, and therefore valuable, would it be used for the purpose of ornaments. Iron brooches have been found in considerable quantities in the lake settlements. Bronze would still be the principal article used for ornaments. The articles of bronze manufactured play a great deal of skill. Nor was gold entirely forgotten. The cap-shaped ornament of gold was found in Ireland. During the Bronze age, as we have seen, there was no attempt made to represent animal forms by way of ornaments; but we meet with such representations during the early part of the Iron Age. This shows how they ornamented the sheath of a sword found in one of the Swiss lakes.

Illustrations of Ornamental Sword-sheath and Swords.————

The warriors of the early Iron Age possessed leaf-shaped swords for stabbing. The hilts were of bronze. This period was a struggle for existence, on the part of the various tribes of Europe. War must have been very common, so it is not strange that a large number of relics of this age are of warlike implements. Lance-heads, javelins, and arrow-heads have been found in abundance. It appears, from experiments ordered by the Emperor Napoleon III, that the javelins could only have been used as missile weapons, and that they were thrown, not by the hand merely grasping the shaft, but by means of a cord or thong, something after the principle of a sling.

Some years ago an old battle-field was discovered at Tiefenau, in Switzerland. On it were found a great number of objects made of iron, such as fragments of chariots, bits for horses, wheels, pieces of coats of mail, and arms of various sorts, including no less than a hundred two-handed swords. All of these were made of iron. The soldiers also carried with them shields, made sometimes of bronze, as in the cut below, or of wood, studded with iron.

Illustrations of Lance-head and Javelin and Shields.——

There is evidence of considerable volume of trade at this time. The Mediterranean was the theater of an extended commerce. Phoenician sailors not only ventured to brave the Mediterranean sea, but carried their vessels out on the Atlantic at as early a date as 500 B.C. The or as it is known in modern times, Marseilles, was the seat of a thriving trade. African ivory has been found in the tombs of Hallstadt, in Austria, in connection with ornaments of amber from the Baltic, and gold from Transylvania. The inhabitants of this town possessed in their salt mines the source of a lucrative trade. The trader of the Iron Age was able to take an immense stride by reason of the invention of money. Heretofore, in Europe, we have not met with coins, and trade must have been carried on by means of barter.

Illustration of a Gallic Coin.———————

Acquainted as we are at the present day with money and the mechanism of exchange, it is difficult to see how any extended trade could be carried on without some unit of value, yet no coins are known earlier than the Iron Age. The most ancient coins known are Greek, and date back to the eighth century before Christ. This coin is one found in one of the lake settlements. It is made of bronze, and the figures are not stamped, but obtained by melting and casting. This, however, is not a Greek coin, but a Gallic one. On the battlefield of Tiefenau, mentioned above, several Greek coins, struck at Massilia, were found.

It is scarcely necessary to point out, that though iron gives its name to this age, it by no means follows that the only difference between this and the Bronze Age is the use of iron. "The pottery is different, the forms of the implements and weapons are different, the ornamentation is different, the knowledge of metallurgy was more advanced, silver and lead were in use, letters had been invented, coins had been struck." That wonderful invention, the phonetic alphabet, was made during the early part of this age. The past was no longer simply kept alive in the memory of the living, handed down by tradition and song. Inscriptions, and monuments, and books abounded, and we are no longer confined to an inspection of their handiwork, or examination of their habitations, and explanation of ancient burial mounds for our knowledge of their life and surroundings. It is no longer the archaeologists' collections, but the writings of the historian that unfolds past times and customs.

Let us cast a glance at the condition of Europe at the dawn of history. We have seen that in general terms the Bronze Age coincided with the arrival and spread of the Celts, though the earlier Celts were still Neolithic. The use of iron could scarcely have been inaugurated before the innumerable hordes of the Germanic tribes, probably driven from their Asiatic homes by the presence of invading people, were on the march. The world has, perhaps, never witnessed such a movement of people as convulsed Europe for several hundred years, beginning the second century before Christ and continuing until the fall of the Western Empire of Rome. The light of history dawns on a stormy scene in Europe. The Celts confined to the Western portion had been largely subjected by the Roman armies, but the largest portion of Europe held by the Germanic tribes was the seat from whence assault after assault was made on the Roman Empire, which at length, weakened by internal dissensions and enervated by luxury, split in twain, and the western, and most important part, fell before its barbarian foes.

The various tribes could not keep alive the civilization they had overthrown. The wandering hordes of Germanic people could not easily forget their former barbaric life, their marches of conquest, and careers of pillage. But the claims of civilization, though light and pleasant, are none the less imperative, and a people who seek her rewards must form settled communities, develop public spirit, organize government, and sink the individual in the public good. Not appreciating these claims, it is not strange that the incipient civilization nearly expired, and that the night of the Dark Ages enwrapt Europe. From out that darkness, composed of the descendants of the people whose culture we have been investigating, finally emerged the mediaeval nations of Europe.

The review has been a pleasant one, for it is a record of progress. The difference between the culture of the Neolithic and the Iron Age is great, but it is simply a development, the result of a gradual growth. Civilization and history have only hastened this growth. If we look around us to-day we can trace the elements of our civilization back through the eras of history, and though the faint beginning of some can be noticed, yet many of them come down to us from prehistoric times. We have treated of these early people in the three stages of culture known as the Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages. We have seen there is no hard and fast line dividing the different stages of culture. To borrow the words of another, these stages of progress, like the three principal colors of the rainbow, overlap, intermingle, and shade off the one into the other, and yet in the main they are well defined.

We instinctively long to set bounds to the past, to measure it by the unit of years. It affords us satisfaction to give dates for events long since gone by. For any event in the domain of history, it is natural and appropriate to gratify this desire. It gives precision to our thoughts, and more firmly fixes the march of events. But the historical portion of human life on the globe is but a small part of the grand whole. When we pass beyond history, or into prehistoric times, we find ourselves utterly at a loss as to dates.

We have referred in the preceding pages to the commonly accepted belief of a few years ago, that, at most, a few thousand years express the whole period of human life on the globe. This was supposed to be the teaching of the Scriptures, but Infinite Wisdom left not only his word, but he left an imperishable record of the past in rocky strata and excavated valley, in dripping caves and mountain masses. When it was seen that the claims of geology for a greatly extended past, one transcending the powers of the human mind to conceive its length, could no longer be successfully denied, then it was that earnest investigators in the field of human antiquity could no longer shut their eyes to the fact that if geological evidence were worth any thing, man must have existed in the world for a far longer time than one covered by the brief period hitherto relied on.

This truth is so patent and plain that it has received the unqualified indorsement of the most learned scholars. Distinguished divines have been amongst its able expounders, and instead of being in opposition to the Bible, as already stated, the earnest reader finds in the periods of the geologists unexpected confirmation of its truths. The evidence of an extended past for man is not, however, wholly of a geological nature, though these have been the ones principally relied on. The archaeologist to-day summons to his aid the science of language, studies into the origin of civilization and the comparison of the different races of men, and derives from each and all of these concurrent testimony as to a vast, shadowy, and profound antiquity for man, one stretching way beyond the dawn of history, far into the very night of time.

As we have now spent some time in tracing out the culture of these early ages, it may be well to see if there are any means at our command to determine the absolute chronology of the various ages. At the very outset of our inquiry, we shall perceive that we have no such class of facts as guided our investigations into the age of the Paleolithic remains. We have but to recall the situation in which the implements of that age were found, always under such circumstances, that we see at once that a great lapse of time has passed since they became imbedded where found, and then the bones of the various extinct animals, found so associated with the implements, that we are justified, even compelled, to admit they occupied the same section of country, and then, from a variety of causes, we are satisfied that they occupied Europe at the close of the Glacial Age, if not for long ages before. All this gave us a point of departure, and we have showed with what care scholars have studied all questions relating to the date of the Glacial Age.

But aside from the fact that geology points out that a long time went by after the close of the Glacial Age before Neolithic man arrived on the scene, we are largely deprived of its aid in our investigations; for all the various implements and specimens of the household industries, from which we derive our knowledge of these latter ages, are found only in surface deposits; that is, in the modern alluvia and silt of river bottoms, in superficial deposits, in caves, and in peat-bogs; and even in other instances where apparently deeply buried, as in the submerged forest deposits of the British coasts, we know that, geologically speaking, their age is recent.

But in spite of these difficulties, attempts have been made from time to time to determine the absolute chronology of these ages. The results, however, can only be considered as approximations of the truth. We will call attention to some of these calculations. Their value to us consists in showing us the methods by which this problem has been attacked, and not in the results obtained. M. Morlot, of Switzerland, has sought to determine this question by a study of the delta of the Tiniere, which is a small river flowing into the lake of Geneva. Like all mountain streams, it brings down considerable quantities of sediment, with which it has formed a conical shaped delta. Cuttings for a railroad exposed a fine section of this cone, and showed that at three different times layers of vegetable soil, which must once have been its old surface were found.

The lowest surface was some twenty feet beneath the present surface, and here were found relics of the Stone Age. The second layer was at the depth of ten feet, and contained relics of the Bronze Age. Finally the first buried layer, three feet beneath the present surface, was found to contain relics of the Roman Age. Obtaining from other data the time that has elapsed since the deposits of the Roman layer, he readily calculates the age of the Stone and Bronze layers. By this means he obtains for the Bronze Age an antiquity of between three and four thousand years, and for the Neolithic Age from five to seven thousand years. M. Morlot does not claim for his calculation more than approximate accuracy. But if we were to allow it a greater accuracy than its author claims, it would still only show us that from a period of from five to seven thousand years ago, tribes of stone using folks lived in Switzerland. It tells us nothing as to their first appearance, or the total length of this age.

Other calculations of a similar nature have been made. The Lake of Bienne, in Switzerland, has been gradually silting up along its margins from time immemorial. About seven hundred and fifty years ago there was an abbey built at one place on the then existing shore of the lake. Since that time the gain of land has been about twelve hundred feet. A considerable distance further up the valley are found the remains of a lake settlement of the Stone Age. If the gain of land has been uniform, it has not been far from seven thousand years since the lake washed round the ancient settlement. Of course the land may have gained faster at one time than at another, but from the general configuration of the valley it is considered that its gain was regular.

Mr. Skertchly, of the Geological Survey of England, has furnished still another estimate, based on the growth of the Fen-beds on the east coast of England. It is sufficient to state that he also arrives at an estimate of about seven thousand years for the Neolithic period. Now these results are interesting, and their substantial agreement is, to say the least, striking. We must remember, however, that none of them are free from error. They may serve to clear up our thoughts on this subject, but we notice they tell us nothing as to the beginning of the Neolithic Age.

Abandoning the effort to obtain dates for the various ages, attempts have been made to calculate the entire interval that has elapsed since the close of the Glacial times, and thus set bounds to the first appearance of Neolithic man. We briefly touched on this question in determining the antiquity of the Paleolithic Age, and we say, as far as this country was concerned, it was comparatively a recent thing, but as for Europe, it must be at a very remote time. M. Quatrefages has called our attention to two investigations in Europe, which, in order to understand this question, we will now glance at. The waters of the Rhone carry into Lake Geneva every year quantities of sediment. In other words, from this and other sources, the lake is gradually being filled up. Carefully calculating the amount carried into the lake in a year, estimates have been made of the length of time it has taken the river to fill up the lake as much as it has.

But in making this calculation the date arrived at was a maximum one—that is, a point beyond which it is not reasonable to suppose the time extended. These calculations gave as a result one hundred thousand years. The meaning of this is that the time elapsed since the close of the Glacial Age was something less than the number just stated. On the other hand, a minimum date for this time has been obtained by estimating the amount of erosion in the valley of the River Saone, in France. From this we know that the time can not be less than seven thousand years.

It is, perhaps, doubtful whether we shall ever be able to obtain satisfactory answers to these questions. From what we have repeatedly seen of the slowness of development of primitive man, we do not doubt but what the antiquity of Neolithic Man goes much farther back than seven thousand years. When a naturalist finds in widely separated parts of the world animals belonging to a common order, he is justified in concluding that the order is a very ancient one. To illustrate, the opossum belongs to an order of animals of which the only other representatives are found in Australia and the neighboring islands. We are not surprised, therefore, to learn that this order was the first to appear in geological time. We think the rule is equally applicable to races of men. We are told that the Turanian race, or, as it is often named, the Mongoloid race, is a very widely scattered one. Its representatives are found over the larger portion of Asia, in Northern Europe, the islands of the Pacific; and they were the only inhabitants of the New World at the time of the conquest. This wide dispersion would imply that they were one of the ancient races of the world, and as such their antiquity must be far greater than the above named number of years.



This point grows clearer when we see what light is afforded on this subject by historical research. The Turanian people were in full possession of Europe while yet the ancestors of the Hindoos and the various European nations dwelt together as one people in Asia. As a race they had grown old when the Celts commenced their wanderings. Egypt comes before us as a powerful people, at a time at least as early as six thousand years ago. Even at that time they had attained civilization. But we need not doubt that there is a long series of years lying back of that, during which this people were slowly advancing from a previous condition of barbarism. The Egyptian people themselves are, in part at least, descendants of a Turanian people that probably in former times occupied the valley of the Nile and North Africa.

Mr. Geikie has lately gone over the entire ground from the point of view of a geologist. He ranges over a wide field, and appeals in support to writers of acknowledged ability in all branches of learning. Yet the impression we gather from his writings is that of ill-defined, but far-reaching antiquity, one necessary to account for the great climatic and geographical changes which he shows us have taken place since the Glacial Age. But he tells us that any term of years he could suggest would be a mere guess. We can not do better than leave the matter here. Perhaps as a result of the research of our present scholars, we may soon have more precise results.

These closing essays have impressed on us clearly and distinctly the isolation of the Paleolithic Age. When we reflect on its prolonged duration, its remoteness in time, and its complete severance from the Neolithic and succeeding ages, we are almost ready to wonder whether they were indeed human beings. But beginning with the Neolithic Age, we come to our own era. This primitive culture seems to have been the commencement of our own culture, and so the industries, household implements, and weapons of these ages possess a greater interest to us. We have now completed our inquiry into prehistoric life in Europe, and are ready to turn our attention to other parts of the field. What we have thus far learned shows us how true it is that the past of human life on the globe is full of mystery. We trust that what has been written will enable our readers to form clearer conceptions of life in Europe during these far away times.

REFERENCES

(1) Dana's "Manual of Mineralogy," p. 230. (2) "Primitive Man," p. 298. (3) Evans's "Ancient Stone Implements," p. 5. (4) Evans's "Ancient Bronze Implements," p. 8. (5) "Ancient Bronze Implements," p. 3. (6) Ibid., p. 40. (7) Ibid., p. 19. (8) Figuier's "Primitive Man," p. 300. (9) "Ancient Society," p. 216. (10) Figuier's "Primitive Man," p. 325. (11) "Prehistoric Times," p. 7. (12) M. Desor, in "Smithsonian Reports," 1865, tells us that small brass rings were probably used by people of the Swiss lake villages of the Bronze Age epoch as money. (13) Figuier's "Primitive Man," p. 310. (14) Lubbock's "Prehistoric Times," p. 7. (15) Lubbock's "Prehistoric Times," p. 17. (16) Evans's "Ancient Bronze Implements," p. 1. (17) "Smithsonian Report," 1860, p. 342. (18) Ibid. (19) Mr. Southall, in "Recent Origin of Man," p. 475, quotes, from Dr. Andrews, of Chicago, to the effect that these calculations are very erroneous, as he thinks that M. Morlot forgot that the size of the cone would increase more and more slowly. On the contrary, M. Morlot says as follows: "Only this growth must have gone on at a gradually diminishing rate, because the volume of a cone increases as the cube of its radius. Taking this fact into consideration, etc." (Smithsonian Report, 1860, p. 341.) There are, however, several objections to this calculation, for which see Lubbock's "Prehistoric Times," p. 400; also Quatrefages's "Human Species," p. 138. (20) Lubbock's "Prehistoric Times," p. 402. For criticisms on this calculation see Southall's "Recent Origin of Man." (21) British Assoc. Rep., 1879. (22) Quatrefages's "Human Species," p. 139, et seq. (23) Nicholson's "Manual of Zoology," p. 535. (24) Dana's "Manual of Geology," p. 416, note. (25) Keary's "Dawn of History," p. 382; Morgan's "Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity." (26) Dawkins's "Early Man in Britain," p. 324. (27) "Prehistoric Europe," chap. xvi to xxii.



Chapter IX

EARLY MAN IN AMERICA.

Conflicting accounts of the American Aborigines—Recent discoveries—Climate of California in Tertiary Times—Geological changes near its close—Description of Table Mountain—Results of the discoveries there—The Calaveras skull—Other relics—Discussion of the question—Early Californians Neolithic—Explanation of this—Date of the Pliocene Age—Other discoveries bearing on the Antiquity of man—Dr. Koch's discovery—Discoveries in the Loess of Nebraska—In Greene County, Ill.—In Georgia—Difficulties in detecting a Paleolithic Age in this country—Dr. Abbott's discoveries—Paleolithic Implements of the Delaware—Age of the deposits—The race of Paleolithic man—Ancestors of the Eskimos—Comparison of Paleolithic Age in this country with that in Europe—Eskimos one of the oldest races in the World.

When the energy and skill of Columbus were crowned with success, and the storm-tossed Atlantic was found to lave the shores of a western continent, reflecting minds in Europe were much interested in the strange stories they heard of the inhabitants of the New World. On the one hand Spanish adventurers told scarcely credited stories of populous cities, temples glittering with gold and silver ornaments, and nations possessed of a barbaric civilization scarcely inferior to their own. On the other hand were accounts of morose savages, cruel and vindictive in nature, depending on fishing and the chase for a livelihood. Nearly four centuries have elapsed since that time. The aboriginal inhabitants have nearly disappeared, leaving their origin and prehistoric life almost as great a riddle to us as it was to the early colonists.

But in endeavoring to unroll the pages of their history, we have chanced upon some strange discoveries. The Aztecs, that people whose culture is to-day such an enigma to our scholars, are known to be a late arrival in the valley of Anahuac. They were preceded in that section by a mysterious people, the Toltecs, whose remains excite our liveliest curiosity, but of which we have yet learned but little. Yucatan is shown to have been for many centuries the home of a people whose advancement equated that of the Aztecs at their palmiest day. Like important discoveries attended the labors of explorers in the North. The entire valley of its great river is known to have been the home of a numerous population, that, from the nature of their remains, we call the Mound-builders. Who these people were, when and whence they came, and whither they went, are questions whose solution is by no means accomplished. Nor are such discoveries the only results. A study of their institutions has done much in revealing the constructions of ancient society, and thereby throwing light on some mysterious chapters of man's existence.

Of late years interest in the antiquity of man in America has been reawaked by the discoveries of human remains in Pliocene deposits in California, and the Glacial gravel of the Delaware at Trenton, New Jersey. Before this it was supposed that we had no authentic instance of human remains in America found under such circumstances that it was necessary to assign to them a profound antiquity. If these latter day discoveries be true, we can not escape the conclusion that man lived in America at as early a date as that indicated by any of the European explorations. Some hold that the proof of his existence here in Pliocene times is far more satisfactory than any evidence of his presence in Europe during this time. There is something fascinating in this belief. If some of the most eminent scientists of America are not mistaken, man lived on our Pacific coast before the great ice-sheets that pulverized the surface of the earth and dispersed life before them came down from the north. He ranged along the western rivers before the volcanic peaks of the Sierras were uplifted, and his old hunting-grounds are to-day buried underneath the greet lava flow which desolated ancient California and Oregon. But this assertion has not been allowed to pass undisputed, nor has it received the assent of all scientists.

We can easily understand why scholars subject all questions relating to the first appearance of man to very careful scrutiny. If a competent geologist should assert that he had found, in undoubted Pliocene formations, bones of some species of animals not hitherto suspected of living at that date, his statement would be accepted as proof of the same. But in the case of man, every circumstance is inquired into. It is but right that the utmost care should be exercised in this direction. But, on the other hand, we are not justified in demanding mathematical demonstration in every case of the accuracy of a reported discovery. Yet such seems to be the position of a portion of the scientific world. For, although they willingly admit that man has lived on the earth for a very long time indeed, they urge all sorts of objections to extending that time into a past geological age.

Accordingly, when Professor Whitney states as the result of many years spent in the investigation of the Tertiary formation of California, that he finds evidence of the existence of man in the Pliocene Age, it is not strange that one part of the scientific world listens incredulously to his statements, and are at once ready to explain away the facts on which he relies. He may, of course, be mistaken, for it is human to err, but his proofs are sufficiently strong to convince some of the best scholars in America. We can do no more than to lay the facts before the reader and let him judge for himself.

We have seen what a genial climate prevailed in Europe during the Tertiary Age. This must also have been true of California. A rich and varied vegetation decked the land. The great trees of California of our day then flourished in Greenland, Iceland, and Western Europe. The cypress of the Southern States was then growing in Alaska and other high northern latitudes. The climate probably passed from a tropical one, in early Tertiary times, to a milder or temperate one in Pliocene times. Amongst the animals inhabiting America were three species of camels. Rhinoceroses, mastodons, and elephants trooped over the land. Tigers and other carnivore prowled in the forests. Herds of horse-like animals, one scarcely distinguishable from our common horse, grazed in the valleys, along with several species of deer. From the presence of the old drainage beds, we know that majestic rivers rolled their watery burden through the land. Such a country might well afford a home for man if he were present.

To understand fully the course of events which now took place we must venture on geological ground. The great Pacific Ocean, lying to the west of America, is constantly exerting a lateral pressure, which during Tertiary times showed its effect in the uplifting of the great mountain ranges of the western coast. During late Tertiary times, as a counterpart to the upward movement, a great subsidence commenced in the Pacific region. Doubtless many islands, some think an entire continent even, disappeared beneath the waves. The completion of the various mountain ranges left the coast firm and unyielding; hence, as it could not bend before the fiery flood forced upward from below by the downward motion just mentioned, it broke, and the torrent of molten rock leaped out as a lava flow. In consequence of this, near the close of Pliocene times, the surface of California and Oregon, especially the north of California, became buried under the lava and ashes of the most desolating volcanic outbreak that the earth has ever known.

Let us now see what bearing this has on the question of the antiquity of man. Scattered here and there throughout California are numerous masses of basaltic lava, which appear as elevated ridges, the softer strata around having been denuded away. They have received the general name of Table Mountains. They have not only been noted for their picturesque beauty, but miners long since found that the gravels underneath the lava covering were rich in gold. In Tuolumne County the Table Mountain is a flow of lava which originated in lofty volcanoes several miles away.

It extends along the north side of the Stanilaus, which is a small river flowing in a south-westerly course through the county. The mountain is in the form of a ridge about two thousand feet above the present level of the river. At one point the river breaks through this ridge, which has been worn away for a considerable distance. From this point the ridge appears as a continuous mountain, stretching away to the south for a distance of twenty miles, from where it crosses the river. "As seen from a distance the Table Mountain reveals its origin at once, in the contrast between the long, straight line of its upper edge and the broken and curving ones which the eroded hills of the auriferous strata everywhere exhibit. Its dark color and comparative absence of trees and shrubs on its top and sides also indicate very clearly that the materials of which it is composed are very different from that of the surrounding hills."

This is the celebrated Table Mountain of Tuolumne County. It is simply a vast flow of lava. It must have been a grand sight when this river of fire came rolling down from its volcanic fount. Its present position on top of an elevated ridge is a very singular one. In explanation of that we arrive at some very important conclusions, and we can not fail to be impressed with the fact that countless ages have rolled away since that lava flood poured down the mountain side. "No one can deny that a stream of melted lava, running for forty miles down the slope of the Sierra, must have sought and found a depression or valley in which to flow; for it is impossible that it should have maintained for any distance its position on the crest of a ridge." Lava is about as thick as molten iron, and would as surely seek some valley in which to flow as would so much water. "The valley of the Stanilaus, now two thousand feet deep, could not then have existed; for this flow of lava is clearly seen to have crossed it at one point."

"The whole face of the country must, therefore, have undergone an entire change since the eruption took place, during which this mass of lava was poured out. The valley of the Stanilaus must have then been occupied by a range of mountains. The same is true of the other side, where now is the valley of Wood's Creek; for such ranges must have existed in order to form and wall in the valley in which the current of lava flowed. There has been, therefore, an amount of denudation during the period since this volcanic mass took its position of not less than three or four thousand feet of perpendicular depth, and this surprising series of changes is not peculiar to one locality, but the whole slope of the Sierras, through the gold region, is the scene of similar volcanic outflows and subsequent remodeling of the surface into a new series of reliefs and depressions."

Illustration of Imaginary Section of Table Mountain.———-

In order to fully realize the change here spoken of, an imaginary section of Table Mountains is here presented. Here we see the two valleys on the sides, and the mass of lava covering the top of the mountain. The dotted lines represent the position of the old line of hills, which must once have inclosed the valley down which coursed the fiery torrent.

We require to dwell on this, fact before we can fully understand its meaning. The "eternal hills," two and three thousand feet in height, have been completely washed away, and where they stood is now a deep valley. But the old valley, protected by its stony covering, is now a mountain ridge; and this, we are told, is not a solitary instance, but the entire surface of the country has been thus denuded. We stand in awe before the stupendous results, which nature, working through vast cycles of time, has accomplished.

But if this lava flow took place in a pre-existing valley, we ought to find under the rocky covering beds of gravel, rolled stones, and other debris peculiar to a river bed. Such, in fact, we do find extended along directly underneath the lava, about fifteen hundred feet above the general level of the country. These old river gravels are found to be very rich in gold, and miners have tunneled into them in numerous places in search of the valuable metal. In order to determine the geological age of these gravels, and subsequent lava flow, a careful examination of portions of plants and bones of animals found therein has been made. The plants are pronounced by competent authority to be Pliocene, totally distinct from any specimens now growing in California. The animal remains are rhinoceroses, camels, and an extinct species of horse. The age of these gravels is, therefore, pronounced to be Pliocene. We would say in this connection that the auriferous gravels of California have been the object of a very careful research by Prof. Whitney. He adds to his conclusions that of another of the State geologists. We need not give in detail his arguments, but he reaches the conclusion that the auriferous gravels of the Pacific slope represent the whole of the Tertiary Age.

We have seen that in the ancient gravels of European rivers archaeologists have found the materials wherewith to build a fascinating story of man's appearance in Quaternary times. We have underneath the lava flow of California the gravel beds of rivers far antedating the gravels of the Somme. It is therefore not a little interesting to learn from Prof. Whitney that he finds many proofs of the existence of man in the gravels of the Pliocene Age in California. Under the solid basalt of Table Mountain have been found many works of men's hands, as well as the celebrated "Calaveras Skull."

Illustration of Calaveras Skull.—————-

This skull was taken from a mining shaft at Altaville, at a depth of one hundred and thirty feet from the surface, beneath seven different strata of lava and gravel. Prof. Whitney was not present when it was found. He, however, made it his business to examine into the facts of the case, and he thus speaks of it: "That the skull was found in these old, intact, cemented gravels has been abundantly proved by evidence that can not be gainsaid." And again: "So far as human and geological testimony can at present be relied on, there is no question but that the skull was found under Table Mountain, and is of the Pliocene Age."

This would seem to be pretty explicit, but, as we have said before, Prof. Whitney, in his formal report as the State geologist of California, reaches the conclusion that the auriferous gravels of the Pacific are all of the Tertiary Age. It is therefore not a little interesting to learn that numerous instances are recorded of the finding of human remains or the works of man in these gravels. Prof. Whitney mentions twenty such instances. Mr. Bancroft furnishes us a list of such discoveries, giving as his authority Mr. C. D. Voy, of the California Geological Survey, of Oakland, California. He states that Mr. Voy personally visited most of the localities where the discoveries were made, and took all possible pains to verify their authenticity, and in many cases obtaining sworn statements from the parties who made them.

Two stone mortars and spear-heads, six and eight inches long, were found in the gravel under Table Mountain, just mentioned. These relics were found about three hundred feet from the surface. A hundred feet and more of this depth was of solid lava. At another place a stone bead was found three hundred feet from the mouth of the tunnel, under a thick layer of lava. Many other instances might be given of such discoveries, not always under lava coverings, but always in such instances that we are compelled to assign to them an immense antiquity. As, for instance, at San Andreas, according to a sworn statement in Mr. Voy's possession, large stone mortars were taken from a layer of cemented gravel, overlain by one hundred and twenty-five feet of volcanic and gravel materials. Many similar instances are on record, but enough have been mentioned to serve the purpose of the chapter.

As we have briefly gone over the ground on which the antiquity of man in America is, by some, referred to the Pliocene Age, it is but fair to notice some of the objections that have been raised. It is not necessary to point out that the only questions worthy to be considered are of a scientific nature.

We must deny either the age of the gravels themselves or that the objects of human handiwork were found as claimed, or else that they are of the same age as the gravels. Prof. LeConte thinks, from the nature of the gravels and the peculiar circumstances which surround them, that they are not older than the close of the Pliocene Age. He thinks they, in fact, belong to the transitory period between that age and the Quaternary. But as we are considering the question of Pliocene man, it makes but little difference if the gravels do belong to the very close of that period. They may still be called Pliocene.

One great trouble with those remains is that they were not discovered by professed geologists. We have to depend upon the statements of miners. But if their statements can be believed (and why should they not?), there is no doubt about their genuineness. The testimony, as Mr. Whitney says, "all points in one direction, and there has never been any attempt made to pass off on any member of the survey any thing out of keeping, or—so to speak—out of harmony with what has been already found, or might be expected to be found. It has always been the same kind of implements which have been exhibited to us, namely, the coarsest and the least finished, which one would suppose could be made, and still be implements at all." This result would hardly be possible, where so many parties are concerned in furnishing the evidence, if the objects were not genuine.

In opposition to this conclusion it has been urged that the stone mortars, pestles, etc., have become imbedded in the gravel by the action of streams, or slips from the mountain side in modern times, or are the results of interments or mining operations. As an illustration of how they might become buried by the action of streams, reference is made to somewhat similar discoveries in the tin-bearing streams of Cornwall (Wales). We know with considerable certainty that at a very early date the Phoenicians worked in the gravels of these streams for tin ores. Implements made use of by them and others—such, for instance, as shovels, mortars, pick-axes, stone bowls, and various dishes—have been found at all depths in this gravel, by more modern miners.

This may explain the presence, in some instances, of similar remains in California, but it utterly fails to do so, where the remains have been buried underneath a lava flow or a bed of volcanic materials, as is the case in many of the instances we have cited. Manifestly no water has disturbed their strata since the volcanic materials were laid down. Neither can we think of a land-slide carrying these remains into the heart of a mountain, or burying them underneath a hundred feet of lava. The peculiar position in which they were often found is surely lost sight of by those who think they might have been placed there by interment. We can not think of a savage people digging a grave in such a position.

It has been urged with considerable force that these relics have been left behind by ancient miners when they mined for gold. Dr. Wilson is cited as authority for the statement that the Mexicans obtained "silver, lead, and tin from the mines of Tasco and copper was wrought in the mountains of Zacotollan by means of galleries and shafts, opened with persevering toil where the metallic veins were imbedded in the solid rock." Prescott, the historian, also testifies to the same fact.

We need only add to this, that wherever these ancient galleries were opened in the solid rock, they still exist. Schoolcraft mentions finding one two hundred and ten feet deep. The chances are not worth considering, that these old mines would be overlooked. If, for instance, the Calaveras skull is that of a prehistoric miner, killed in an old mining gallery only a thousand years or so ago, it is inconceivable that all evidence of this mine should have disappeared. Or, if in one case it should have done so, it would surely have been detected in other instances. The variety and explicitness of the testimony brought forward makes all such supposition improbable.

It is best, in this matter, to hold the judgment in suspense. We have stated Mr. Whitney's position, and the objections that have been raised to it. The amount of thought bestowed on the antiquity of man will doubtless soon clear up the whole matter. We can not do better than to consider his surroundings, supposing that he was really present. The country must have been very different from the California of to-day. Dr. Cooper says, "The country consisted of peninsulas and islands, like those of the present East Indies; resembling them also in climate and productions." The probabilities are that to the west and southwest of California, instead of watery expanse of the Pacific, only broken here and there by an ever-verdant islet, there was either a continental expanse of land or, at any rate, a vast archipelago. We know that over a large part of the Northern Pacific area the land has sunk not less than six thousand feet since late Tertiary times.

We are certain the ocean area must have presented a vastly different aspect before that depression commenced. It is not unreasonable to suppose that communication between North America and Asia was much easier than in subsequent epochs. It might have been an easy matter for man to pass back and forth without losing sight of land. It is therefore reasonable to suppose that if Pliocene man was in existence, he would have occupied both sides of the Pacific at this early time. These last conclusions are very important ones to reach, and as there is reasonable foundation for them, we must bear them in mind in the subsequent pages.

It will be remembered that the races of men who inhabited Europe in the Paleolithic Age had only very rudely formed, unpolished implements. It is not until we arrive at the Neolithic stage of culture that we meet with specimens of polished stone implements. To judge from the specimens of early Californian art, the beautifully polished pestles, beads, plummets or sinkers, spear-heads, etc., Pliocene man in California must have been in the Neolithic stage of culture. Though they were not acquainted with the potter's art, yet from their skill in working vessels of stone, they had undoubtedly passed entirely through Savagism, and had entered the confines of Barbarism, as far advanced, in fact, as many of the Indian tribes the Spaniards found in possession of the country.

It must be confessed this seems very singular. It is this statement that causes many to shut their eyes to what would be otherwise at once admitted and refuse to believe the genuineness of the discovery. If the implements brought to light had been of the rude River Drift type—celts but little removed from nodules of flint—scholars would not be so cautious about accepting them. But when we learn they are Neolithic, we at once see why they hesitate, and ask for more conclusive proofs; yet this is no reason to disregard the discoveries. They may be a great surprise, they may be an unwelcome discovery to the holder of some theories, yet the only question is, whether they are true or not, and if true, theories must be modified to fit the facts. Prof. Putnam thus speaks, in reference to them: "As the archaeologist has no right to be governed by any pre-conceived theories, but must take the facts as he finds them, it is impossible for him to do otherwise than accept the deductions of so careful and eminent a geologist as Prof. Whitney, and draw his conclusions accordingly, notwithstanding the fact that this Pliocene man was, to judge by his works in stone and shell, as far advanced as his descendants were at the time of the discovery of California by the Spaniards."

Perhaps a partial explanation of this matter may be found when we consider all the circumstances of the case. The origin of man is generally assigned to some tropical country. Sir John Lubbock thus speaks of it: "Our nearest relatives in the animal kingdom are confined to hot, almost tropical climates; and it is in such countries that we are, perhaps, most likely to find the earliest traces of the human race." This is also the opinion of other eminent scholars. M. Quatrefages thinks that man probably originated in Asia. He points out, however, that, during Tertiary times, the climate was much milder, and man might have originated in Northern Asia. Now, if it be true that a great mass of land has disappeared beneath the waves of the Pacific, why may we not suppose that, if this sunken land was not the original home of man, it was at a very early time inhabited by him; that here he passed through his experience in savagism? We know how suited the islands of the Pacific are to the needs of a savage people; and we must not lose sight of the probable ease with which they could reach the coast of California—and also of what Dr. Cooper has told us of the climate and geographical surroundings of California at that early time. So it may not be unreasonable to suppose that man reached California long ages before he wandered into Europe, and so reached the Neolithic stage of culture much earlier than he did in other parts of the world.

It might be objected, that if a people in the Neolithic stage of culture lived in California in the Pliocene Age, they ought to have reached a very high stage of culture indeed when the Spaniards invaded the country. This is what we would expect had they been left to develop themselves. The great geographical changes that took place near the close of the Pliocene would cut off the primitive Californians from the Asiatics. Not only was the land connection—if it indeed existed—now destroyed, but causes were changing the climate. Ice and snow drove from the north life of both animals and plants, and for an entire geological period communications with Asia by way of the north must have been very difficult, if not cut off altogether. Who can tell what changes now came to the Asiatic branch of these people? We are but too familiar with the fact that nations and races sicken and die: many examples could be given. The natives of the Sandwich Islands seem doomed to extinction. In a few centuries, the Indians of America will live only in tradition and song.

Such may have been the fate of the early inhabitants of the Pacific continent: certainly it would not be surprising, if the immense climatic and geographical changes which then took place would produce that result. Or it may be that but a scanty remnant lived on, absorbed by more vigorous, though less highly cultivated stocks of the same people, whose homes had been on the main-land of Asia—and the remnant left along the Pacific coast must have lived on under vastly different circumstance. The interior of North America was largely a dreary expanse of ice and snow down to the 39th parallel of latitude. It is quite true, this great glacier did not reach the Pacific Slope; but it must have exerted a powerful influence on the climate: and the evidence points, that the Sierra Nevada were occupied by local glaciers which reached down into the fertile expanse of the plains.

This was certainly a far different climate, and a far different country, than that which sustained a vegetation of a tropical growth. It may well be that the people should, as a result of their changed conditions, have deteriorated in culture; or, at any rate, their progress toward civilization may have been stopped, and many thousands of years may have passed with no perceptible improvement. It may be objected, that man will improve under any state of existence, give him time enough. This is, doubtless, in the main true. But a race may early reach its limit of culture; in which case, as a race, it will not improve: we may do much with the individual, but nothing, or but very little, for the race.

In these considerations which have been advanced we may find some reason for the early appearance of Neolithic man, as well as the fact that he advanced no farther in culture. But whether man first arrived in California in Pliocene times or not, he continued to inhabit the land to the present day. He would, however, be exposed to assault after assault from invading tribes. We do not wish to examine the question of the origin of the native Americans. It is held, by the best authorities, that at least a portion of them came from Asia, using the Kurile Islands as a stepping stone. Reaching the main-land of America, and passing down the coast, they would, sooner or later, reach the Valley of the Columbia—which has been characterized as the most extraordinary region on the face of the earth in the variety and amount of subsistence it afforded to tribes destitute of a knowledge of agriculture. At certain seasons of the year the rivers are crowded with fish, and they are then caught with the greatest ease. As a mixture of forest and prairie, the country is an excellent one for game. A species of bread-root grew on the prairies; and, in the Summer, there was a profusion of berries. To these advantages must be added that of a mild and equable climate.

These combined advantages would make this valley one of the centers of population, from whence would issue successive bands of invading people. A portion of these, passing over into California, would come in contact with the descendants of Pliocene man. The result would be, that the primitive inhabitants, unable to escape to the west, would come in contact with wave after wave of invading tribes. This is not altogether theory. All inquirers into the customs, arts, and languages of the primitive Californians have been struck with the remarkable commingling of the same. We are driven to the conclusion that here has been the meeting ground of many distinct tribes and nations. "From such a mixture, and over-population of the most desirable portions of the country, would naturally result the formation of the hundreds of petty tribes that existed in both Upper and Lower California when first known to the Spaniards."

In view of these facts, it is not strange that no advance in culture is noticeable; and the grounds just mentioned may go far to explain why we catch sight, here and there, of bits of customs, habits, and manners of life which strangely remind us of widely distant people—though it will not explain the presence of words of Malay or Chinese origin which are claimed to exist. What is known as the Eskimo trace is quite marked in the physical characters and in the arts of the Californians. It is, probably, the continuance of the type of the primitive American race.

It would naturally be interesting to know whether any date can be given for the Pliocene Age, and so give us some ideas as to the antiquity of man, if he were really here during that epoch. This, however, is one of the most difficult questions to answer, and in the present state of our knowledge incapable of solution. Approximations have, of course, been made, and, as might be expected, vary greatly in results. When it was acknowledged on all hands that on geological grounds the age of the earth was certainly very great, many times the few thousand years hitherto relied on, it is not strange that popular thought swung to the other extreme, and hundreds of millions of years were thought necessary to explain the series of changes which the geologists unfolded. This demand for a greatly extended time was strengthened when the law of the gradual evolution of life was expounded by the modern school of naturalists, and as great a lapse of time as five hundred millions of years was not deemed an extravagant estimate. Sir William Thompson has, however, demonstrated that the time that has elapsed since the crust of the earth became solidified can not be far from one hundred millions of years, and consequently we know the time since the appearance of life must be greatly less than that number of years.

Attempts have been made to estimate the length of time required to form the sedimentary crust of the earth. The results are so divergent on this point that it is best not to adopt any standard at present. Our views on this matter are also dependent on the time that has elapsed since the close of the Glacial Age, which, as we have seen, is not yet a settled point. If it be true that the islands of the Pacific commenced to sink during late Tertiary times, then we have a measure of that time in the growth of coral, which has required at least four hundred thousand years to form reefs the thickness of some that are known to exist.

But here, again, it seems we are not certain when this depression commenced. In a previous chapter we have gone over the Glacial Age, and have seen when, according to Mr. Croll's theory, it commenced. This was probably not far from the close of the Pliocene Age. We might as well leave the matter here. There are so many elements of uncertainty that it is doubtful if we will ever be able to assign satisfactory dates to the epoch.

In bringing to a conclusion this somewhat extended notice of early man in California we have to admit that much of it is speculative; still it is an endeavor to explain known facts. The main statement is that man lived in California in the Pliocene Age, in the Neolithic stage of culture. Whether the arguments adduced in support of this statement are sufficient to prove its accuracy must be left to the mature judgment of the scientific world. There is no question but that the climate and geography, the fauna and the flora, were then greatly different from those of the present. Starting with these known facts, so strange and fascinating, it need occasion no surprise, if the pen of the enthusiastic explorer depict a scene wherein facts and fancy are united.

In this case truth is certainly stranger than fiction, and when, in imagination, we see the great Pacific archipelago emerge from the waves, and, in place of the long swell of the ocean, we picture the pleasing scenes of tropic lands, the strange floral growth of a past geological age, the animal forms which have since disappeared, with man already well advanced in culture: when we recall all this, and picture forth the surprising changes which then took place, the slowly subsiding land, the encroaching waters, and the resultant watery waste, with here and there a coral-girt island, the great volcanic uplift on the main-land, the flaming rivers of molten lava, which come pouring forth, followed by the night of cold, ice, and snow: when we consider these, and the great lapse of time necessary for their accomplishment, how powerless are mere words to set forth the grandeur and the resistless sweep of nature's laws, and to paint the insignificance and trifling nature of man and his works!

The discoveries in California are not the only instances of the relics of man and his works found under such circumstances that they are relied on by some to prove the great age of man in America. But on account of the rarity of these finds, and the contradictory statements and opinions respecting them, the scientific world has until lately regarded with some distrust the assertion of a great antiquity for man on this continent; but a review of the evidence on this point, and especially of Dr. Abbott's discoveries in New Jersey, must impress on all the conclusion that tribes of men were living here at the close of the Glacial Age, and probably long before that time.

It need occasion no surprise to learn that several of the discoveries of former years, relied on in this connection, have since been shown to be unreliable. They have not been able to stand a careful examination at the hands of later scholars. They were made when European savants were first communicating to the world the results of the explorations of the river gravels and caves of that country. The antiquity of man being amply proven there, may afford some explanation why more discriminating care was not employed. Of this nature were some of the discoveries in the valley of the Mississippi; such, for instance, as the portion of the human skeleton found mingled with the bones of extinct animals a few miles below Natchez, and the deeply buried skeleton at New Orleans, in both of which cases a simple explanation is at hand without the necessity of supposing a great flight of years.

Some of these discoveries yet remain an unsettled point. Such is the discovery of flint arrow-heads in connection with the bones of a mastodon found in Missouri. Dr. Koch, who made the discovery, draws from the facts of the case such a suggestive picture that we will give his own words. After describing where found, he says: "The greater portion of these bones had been more or less burned by fire. The fire had extended but a few feet beyond the space occupied by the animal before its destruction, and there was more than sufficient evidence that the fire had not been an accidental one, but, on the contrary, that it had been kindled by human agency, and, according to all appearance, with the design of killing the huge creature which had been found mired in the mud, and in an entirely helpless condition. All the bones which had not been burned by the fire had kept their original position, standing upright and apparently quite undisturbed in the clay, whereas those portions which had been extended above the surface had been partially consumed by the fire, and the surface of the clay was covered, as far as fire had extended, by a layer of wood ashes, mingled with larger or smaller pieces of charred wood and burnt bones, together with bones belonging to the spine, ribs, and other parts of the body, which had been more or less injured by the fire. It seemed that the burning of the victim and the hurling of rocks at it had not satisfied the destroyers, for I found also, among the ashes, bones, and rocks, several arrow-heads, a stone spear-head, and some stone axes."

Such is Dr. Koch's very interesting statement of this find. "It was received by the scientific world," says Foster, "with a sneer of contempt," and, it seems to us, for very insufficient reasons. It is admitted that his knowledge of geology was not as accurate as it should have been. He made some mistakes of this nature, which have been clearly shown. Still, he is known to have been a diligent collector, and we are told "no one who knew him will question but that he was a competent observer." It seems to us useless to deny the truth of his statements. There is, however, nothing to necessitate us believing in an immense age for these remains. This is not to be considered a point against them, for there is no reason for supposing that the mastodon may not have lingered on to comparatively recent times, and that comparatively recent men may not have intercepted and destroyed helpless individuals. Indeed, we are told there are traditions still extant among the Indians of these monsters.

We have other facts showing that, in this country as in Europe, man was certainly living not far from the time when the land was covered with the ice of the Glacial Age, whatever may be true of still earlier periods. We are told that, when the time came for the final breaking up of the great glaciers, and while they still lingered at the head waters of the Platte, the Missouri, and the Yellowstone rivers, a mighty lake—or, rather, a succession of lakes—occupied the greater portion of the Missouri Valley. The rivers flowing into them were of great size, and heavily freighted with sediment, which was deposited in the still waters of the lakes, and thus was formed the rich loess deposits of Nebraska.

From several places in this loess have been taken rude stone arrows, buried at such depths and under such circumstances, that we must conclude they were deposited there when the loess was forming. But this requires us to carry them back to a time when elephants and mastodons roamed over the land, for bones of these huge creatures are quite frequently found. This arrow-point—or, it may be, spear-head—was found twenty feet from the surface; and almost directly above it, and distant only thirteen inches, was a vertebra of an elephant. It appears, then, that some old races lived around the shores of this lake, and, paddling over it, accidentally dropped their arrows, or let them fly at a passing water-fowl;" and, from the near presence of the elephant's bone, it is shown that "man here, as well as in Europe, was the contemporary of the elephant, in at least a portion of the Missouri Valley.

Illustration of Implement found in Loess.—————-

Other examples are on record. In Greene County, Illinois, parties digging a well found, at the depth of seventy-two feet, a stone hatchet. Mr. McAdams carefully examined the well, to see if it could have dropped from near the surface. He tells us the well was dug through loess deposits; and from the top down was as smooth, and almost as hard, as a cemented cistern. The loess was, as in Nebraska, deposited in the still waters of the lake which once occupied the Valley of the Illinois. And we need not doubt but that it dates from the breaking up of the glacial ice. The position of this hatchet, then, found at the very bottom of the loess deposits, shows that, while yet the glaciers lingered in the north, and the flooded rivers spread out in great lakes, some tribes of stone-using folks hunted along the banks of the lakes, whose bottoms were to form the rich prairies of the West.

Previous to this discovery, Mr. Foster had recorded the finding in this same formation, distant but a few miles, a rude hatchet. There was in this case a possibility that the stone could have been shaped by natural means, and so he did not affirm this to be a work of man; but he says, "had it been recovered from a plowed field, I should have unhesitatingly said it was an Indian's hatchet." We think it but another instance of relics found under such circumstances, that it points to the presence of man at the close of the Glacial Age.

No doubt many similar discoveries have been made, but the specimens were regarded as the work of Indians; and though the position in which they wore found may have excited some surprise, they were not brought to the attention of the scholars. Nor is it only in the prairie regions of the West where such discoveries have been made. Col. C. C. Jones has recorded the finding of some flint implements in the drift of the Chattahooche River, which we think as conclusively proves the presence of man in a far away time as do any of the discoveries in the river gravels of Europe. It seems that gold exists in the sands of this river, and the early settlers were quick to take advantage of it. They dug canals in places to turn the river from its present channel—and others, to reach some buried channel of former times. These sections passed down to the hard slate rock, passing through the surface, and the underlying drift, composed of sand, gravel, and bowlders. "During one of these excavations, at a depth of nine feet below the surface, commingled with the gravels and bowlders of the drift, and just above the rocky substratum upon which the deposit rested, were found three [Paleolithic] flint implements."

He adds that, "in materials, manners of construction, and in general appearance, so nearly do they resemble some of the rough, so-called flint hatchets, belonging to the drift type, as described by M. Boucher De Perthes, that they might very readily be mistaken, the one for the other." "They are as emphatically drift implements, as any that have appeared in the diluvial matrix of France." On the surface soil, above the flints, are found the ordinary relics of the Indians. The works of the Mound Builders are also to be seen. Judging from their position, the Paleolithics must be greatly older than any of the surface remains. Many centuries must go by to account for the formation of the vegetable soil above them.