CLOSE OF THE THIRD INTERGLACIAL, TEMPERATE, AND ARID CLIMATE,
ACHEULEAN INDUSTRY--ADVENT OF THE FOURTH GLACIATION, PROFOUND CHANGES
IN ANIMAL AND PLANT LIFE--THE ARCTIC TUNDRA PERIOD OF MAMMALIAN AND
PLANT LIFE--CHARACTERS OF THE NEANDERTHAL RACE, OF THEIR MOUSTERIAN
FLINT INDUSTRY--SUPPOSED CAUSES OF EXTINCTION OR DISPERSAL
We now reach a prolonged and important stage in the prehistory of Europe,
namely, the period of the fourth glaciation, of the final development of
the Neanderthal race of man, of the Mousterian industry, of the beginnings
of cave life, of the chase of the reindeer, and its use for food and
clothing.
In all Europe the Acheulean industry appears to have come to a close
during a period of arid climate, warm in some parts of western Europe and
cool or even cold in others. The seasonal variations may well have been
extreme, as on the steppes of southern Russia, where exceedingly hot
summers may be followed by intensely cold winters, with high winds and
snow-storms destructive of life.
It is this seasonal alternation, as well as the recurrence, either
seasonal or secular, of milder climate, which explains the survival or
return of the Asiatic fauna even after the close of the Acheulean industry
and when the Mousterian industry was well advanced.
From deposits found at Grimaldi, in the _Grotte des Enfants_ and in the
_Grotte du Prince_, it has long been said that men of early Mousterian
times lived contemporary with the hippopotamus, the straight-tusked
elephant, and Merck's rhinoceros in the genial climate of the
Mediterranean Riviera. More recently the same animals have been found as
far north as the Somme valley in the 'river-drifts' of
Montières-les-Amiens.(1) Here, again, we find remains of the
hippopotamus, the straight-tusked elephant, and its companion, Merck's
rhinoceros, in Mousterian deposits, a surprising discovery, because it had
always been supposed that a cold climatic period had set in all over
western Europe even before the close of the Acheulean culture. But there
is also evidence of a temperate climate still prevailing in the Thames
valley in the period of the Mousterian 'floors.'(2) Again, along the
Vézère valley, Dordogne, we find that at the station of La Micoque, where
the industry marks the transition between late Acheulean and early
Mousterian times, Merck's rhinoceros is found in the lowest layers
associated with remains of the moose (_Alces_).
There is evidence that Merck's rhinoceros and the straight-tusked elephant
lingered in western Europe during the whole period of the early
development of the Mousterian industry. As observed above, these animals
were hardier than the southern mammoth, which was the first of the Asiatic
mammals to disappear, soon to be followed by its companion, the
hippopotamus. Even after the advent of the closely associated tundra pair,
the woolly mammoth and the woolly rhinoceros, Merck's rhinoceros persists,
as, for example, in the deposits of Rixdorf, near Berlin, where this
ancient type occurs in the same deposits with the woolly mammoth, the
woolly rhinoceros, the reindeer, and the musk-ox, as well as with the
forest forms, the moose, stag, wolf, and forest horse. The extreme
northern latitude of this deposit explains the absence of the
straight-tusked elephant, which may at the time have been living farther
to the south. The same mingling of south and north Asiatic mammals is
found at Steinheim, in the valley of the Murr, some degrees to the west
and south of Rixdorf, not far from Göttingen, where we find Merck's
rhinoceros(3) and the straight-tusked elephant in association with the
woolly mammoth, the woolly rhinoceros, the giant deer, and the reindeer.
Thus the Neanderthal races were entering the Mousterian stage of culture
during the close of the Third Interglacial Stage and during the early
period of the advance of the ice-fields from the great centres in
Scandinavia and the Alps. As these ice-fields slowly approached each
other from the north and from the south a very great period of time must
have elapsed during which all the south Asiatic mammals abandoned western
Europe or became extinct, with the exception of the lions and hyænas,
which became well fitted to the very severe climate that prevailed over
Europe during the fourth glaciation, and even during the long Postglacial
Stage which ensued. The large carnivora readily become thoroughly adapted
to cold climates, as they subsist on animal life wherever it may be found;
tigers of the same stock as those of India have been found as far north as
the river Lena, in latitude 52° 25', where the climate is colder than that
of Petrograd or of Stockholm, while the lion throve in the cold atmosphere
of the upper Atlas range. Thus the cave-lion (_Felis leo spelæa_) and the
cave-hyæna (_H. crocuta spelæa_) doubtless evolved an undercoating of fur
as well as an overcoating of long hair, like the tundra mammals. In size
the lion of this period in France often equalled and sometimes surpassed
its existing relatives, the African and west Asiatic lion; it frequently
figures in the art of the Upper Palæolithic artists and survived in
western Europe to the very close of Upper Palæolithic times.
THE FOURTH GLACIATION
Penck(4) has estimated that the first maximum of the fourth glaciation in
the Alps was reached 40,000 years ago, and that after the recession period
the second maximum ended not less than 20,000 years ago. This would extend
the Mousterian industry over a very long period of time, for there can be
no doubt that the Mousterian culture was practically contemporaneous with
the fourth glaciation, even if a briefer period of time should be allotted
to this great natural event.
The fourth glaciation, like the first, is believed to have been
contemporaneous in Europe and North America,(5) a fact which is of
especial importance to American anthropologists in connection with the
question of the date of arrival of primitive man in America. In both
countries the glaciation reached an early maximum, which was followed by
a period of recession of the ice-fields, a time during which a somewhat
more temperate climate prevailed, but this in turn gave way to a second
advance of as great severity as the first.[AE]
[Illustration: FIG. 94. Europe during the extension of the ice-fields and
glaciers of the Fourth Glacial Stage. This is also supposed to have been a
period of land depression and of extension of the inland seas of southern
Europe. Britain was probably connected with France. The ice-covered areas
in western Europe and Britain were far more limited than during the Third
Glacial Stage, yet the climate appears to have been more severe than at
any previous period. For the snow-level compare Fig. 13. Drawn by C. A.
Reeds after Geikie and De Geer.]
In the north, Scandinavia and Finland were again enshrouded in ice, and a
great _mer de glace_ occupied the basin of the Baltic Sea, sending its
terminal moraines into Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein and over the
northern provinces of Germany, but this great ice-field did not again
become confluent with that of Great Britain.(7) At the commencement of the
fourth glaciation large glaciers descended over the Scottish mountain
valleys and filled many of them even to the sea; the coast subsided at
least 130 feet in this region. In southern Britain along the valley of the
Thames there spread an arctic flora, with the polar willow (_Salix
polaris_) and the dwarf birch (_Betula glandulosa_); an arctic plant bed
has also been discovered in the valley of the Lea. Thus the tundra climate
extended from the Scottish lowlands to the south of England, the land
being bleak and almost treeless.(8) This, we believe, was also the period
of the arctic flora at Hoxne, Suffolk, and of the arctic plant bed in the
valley of the Thames. At this time the valley was frequented by the
reindeer, the woolly rhinoceros, and the mammoth, whose remains are
entombed in the low-level alluvia swept down from the sides of the valley,
so that the remains of this arctic fauna may in places actually overlie
those of the more deeply buried and far more ancient warm Asiatic fauna of
Chellean times. Like the Somme, the Thames(9) was then from 10 to 25 feet
below its present level, the bottom having since silted up with alluvial
soil.
[Illustration: FIG. 95. The two large tundra mammals, the woolly
rhinoceros (upper), drawn from the work of Upper Palæolithic artists and
from the specimen discovered at Starunia, in Galicia, Austria; and the
woolly mammoth (lower). These hardy animals gradually replaced the
African-Asiatic pair, Merck's rhinoceros and the straight-tusked elephant.
Drawn by Erwin S. Christman. One-sixtieth life size.]
This was the period of the deposition of the 'upper drift' over the north
German lowlands, the Alps, and northern England, also of the early and
late _Wisconsin_, or 'upper drift,' which spreads very widely over the
Eastern States, from Wisconsin southward and eastward to the latitude of
New York. The gravels and sands of some of the 'lowest terraces' were also
deposited.
MAMMALIAN LIFE OF MOUSTERIAN TIMES
The three successive phases of climate and environment surrounding the
Neanderthal men during the period of the development of the Mousterian
industry, were in descending order as follows:
3. _Extreme Cold Climate of the Last Great Glacial Advance._ Period of
the late Mousterian industry of La Quina. Spread of all the arctic and
tundra mammals over western Europe, including the musk-ox; migrations
of the obi and banded lemming of the extreme north. Life and industry
of the Neanderthal races, chiefly in the shelters, grottos, and
entrances to the caverns.
2. _Cold Moist Climate._ Period of the middle or 'full Mousterian'
industry of the Neanderthal races. Appearance of the tundra life,
including well-protected mammals and birds from the arctic region,
also descent of the Alpine types to the foot-hills and river borders.
First forerunners of the steppe life; the full Eurasiatic forest and
field life widely spread over Europe. Life and industry chiefly in
the shelters, grottos, and entrances to the caverns. Reindeer very
abundant.
1. _Warm or Cool Arid Climate._ Transition from the Acheulean to the
early Mousterian culture, as observed in the stations of La Micoque
and of Combe-Capelle. The so-called 'warm Mousterian' fauna, including
the surviving hippopotamus, Merck's rhinoceros, and the
straight-tusked elephant in northern and southern France; herds of
bison, cattle, and wild horses in southwestern France. Tribal life,
with the industry partly in open stations, partly under sheltering
cliffs.
This is the beginning of the 'Reindeer Period,' for this migrant from
Scandinavia, with its companions of the northeastern tundras, the woolly
mammoth and the rhinoceros, wandered slowly southward before the advancing
Scandinavian ice-fields, which were greatly augmented by the increasingly
cold and moist climate. Thus these animals are found in the north with
flints of the Mousterian culture before they appear in the more genial
region of Dordogne. In the somewhat older Acheulean-Mousterian station of
La Micoque, along the Vézère, the fire-hearths contain almost exclusively
the remains of horses and relatively few remains of bison and wild cattle,
but no reindeer. A fireplace near the station of Combe-Capelle yields
numerous remains of the bison, only a few of the horse, and the first of
the reindeer. Before the appearance of the reindeer in the valley of the
Vézère we may picture the meadow-lands as covered with bison and wild
horses, the latter of the type which is now characteristic of the high
plateaus of central Asia, while the bison of the period appears to be more
similar to the American buffalo than to the surviving European form.
Gradually the tundra animals spread toward the south with the cold climate
which for the first time swept all over western Europe. The whole aspect
of the country slowly changed with the approach of the reindeer, and the
northern flora of the spruce, the fir, and the arctic willow clad the more
sheltered river-valleys and hillsides, while the plateaus and fields were
partly or wholly deforested.
[Illustration: FIG. 96. Typical tundra fauna. "Gradually the tundra
animals pressed toward the south with the cold climate which for the first
time swept all over western Europe." The wolverene, _Gulo luscus
borealis_; the barren-ground reindeer, _Rangifer tarandus_ (drawn from the
living type); the arctic fox, _Canis lagopus_; the musk-ox, _Ovibos
moschatus_; and the banded lemming, _Myodes torquatus_. One-twenty-fifth
life size. The lemming (A) is also shown one-seventh life size. Drawn by
Erwin S. Christman.]
Thus the country became adapted chiefly to the tundra types of mammals;
and in the middle Mousterian strata these herds, newly migrated from the
far north and from the northeastern steppes bordering the Obi River,
largely outnumber the steppe forms, which are limited to two or three
species. Of these the principal types are the steppe horse, related to the
Przewalski horse now living in the desert of Gobi, the steppe suslik
(_Spermophilus rufescens_), and the steppe grouse, or moor-hen. The more
characteristic forms of steppe life, such as the saiga antelope, the
jerboa, and the kiang, were all later arrivals and did not appear until
after the close of the Mousterian industry and the disappearance of the
Neanderthal race.
This was due to the fact that the climate surrounding the Neanderthal race
in Mousterian times was cold and moist, with heavy rainfalls in summer and
snow-storms in winter, a climate thoroughly suited to the arctic tundra
mammals with their heavy covering of hair acting as a rain shed and the
undercoating of wool protecting them in the most severe weather.
The mammal life during the fourth glaciation, as it spread into the middle
Rhine and Westphalian region, is fully recorded in the 'loess' deposits of
Achenheim and in the famous grotto of Sirgenstein, on the upper Danube,
lying northwest of Munich, where, together with traces of the most
primitive Mousterian industry, are found remains of the mammoth, the
bison, the reindeer, a species of wild horse, and the cave-bear. Following
these mammals there is a record in the same deposit of the arrival of the
Obi lemming, from northern Russia.
The fact that only seven Mousterian stations are known in all Germany, or
eight if we include the site of the Neanderthal burial, may be accounted
for by the relatively close proximity of the great Scandinavian glacier on
the north, which was only 350 miles distant from the great Alpine glacier
on the south. To the east were the plains of Bohemia and the vast lowland
region stretching northeastward to the tundras and eastward to the
steppes, through which came the great migrations of tundra and steppe
life.
[Illustration: FIG. 97. The seven Mousterian stations of Germany lay
between the Scandinavian glacier (IV) on the north and the Alpine glacier
(IV) on the south (dotted areas). They include the grottos of
_Sirgenstein_, _Irpfelhöhle_, and _Räuberhöhle_, along the valley of the
Danube; _Kartstein_ and _Buchenloch_, near the middle Rhine, and
_Baumannshöhle_, south of Hanover; also the open loess station of
_Mommenheim_. The Mousterian grotto of _Wildkirchli_, in Switzerland, lay
within the limits of the Alpine ice-fields; and the burial at
_Neanderthal_, near Düsseldorf, was probably of Mousterian age. After R.
R. Schmidt, modified and redrawn.]
GEOGRAPHIC AND CLIMATIC ENVIRONMENT OF THE NEANDERTHAL RACE
Let us first glance at Dordogne. Among the stations of the early
Mousterian industry we have seen that the Neanderthals in the valley of
the Vézère, at La Micoque, were in the midst of a fauna chiefly composed
of the bison and of the wild horse, the remains found in the hearths being
almost exclusively of the latter animal.[AF] In the primitive Mousterian
station of Combe-Capelle near by the fire-hearths yield remains of the
bison but only a few of the horse.
Among the earliest caves inhabited by man(10) was that of Le Moustier,
situated on the right bank of the Vézère, and about 90 feet above it. This
shelter and cave were examined as early as 1860-3 by Lartet(11) and
Christy and subsequently by de Vibraye,(12) Massénat,(13) and others.
Besides the deposits in the floor of the grotto there, a deep Mousterian
culture layer has been found under the cliff in front, and this has been
selected for our representation of the life of the men of Mousterian
times, and of the flora of the Vézère in this early period (see
frontispiece). Peyrony observes that, here as elsewhere, the older and
lower industrial camps were farther away from the shelters; indeed, in
this very region there are evidences that the Chellean and Acheulean flint
workers occasionally visited the plateaus above; but as time passed and
the weather became more severe the Neanderthals began to work nearer to
the overhanging cliffs and finally directly beneath them. At this classic
station of Le Moustier, one of the most complete skeletons of Neanderthal
man was unearthed by Hauser, in 1908. There was a continuous residence
here in middle and upper Mousterian times, extending into the lower
Aurignacian of the Upper Palæolithic. The contemporary fauna in these
deposits included the mammoth, the reindeer, the giant deer (_Megaceros_),
the horse, the bison, the woolly rhinoceros, and the cave-bear. During
the habitation of this typical station by man the climate was very cold
and damp.
In this region is found the complete record of the course of Mousterian
evolution, both in the implements and in the advent of new forms of life;
the number of reindeer gradually increases in the ascending layers with
the development of the Mousterian industry. There is a constant gradation
from the Acheulean into the Mousterian industrial types; according to
Cartailhac, this industry is all the work of the same people, with no
sharp lines of division.
[Illustration: FIG. 98. The type station of Le Moustier, on the right bank
of the Vézère, Dordogne. The culture layer is on the middle terrace,
overlooking the hamlet of Le Moustier. (Compare frontispiece, Pl. I.)
Photograph by Belvès.]
Thus at Combe-Capelle, where the début of the true Mousterian culture took
place, we find a number of large coups de poing, pointing back to the
early Acheulean implements. The gradations which are exhibited here in
these successive layers are quite in contrast to the advance of the
industry at the close of Mousterian times in the very same locality, where
there is an abrupt cultural transition toward the Aurignacian.
Southern Britain tells of a similar sequence, which we may interpret as
follows. Belonging either to the temperate climate of early Mousterian
times, or to the period of the recession of the fourth glaciation, known
in the Alps as the _Laufenschwankung_, are the Mousterian stations along
the Lea and near the mouth of the Thames at Crayford (Worthington
Smith,(14) Geikie(15)). These Palæolithic 'floors' of Mousterian times are
buried beneath 4 to 5 feet of sand and loam and rest upon the surface of
older river-gravels. Among the later river deposits several old land
surfaces have been discovered; they consist of a few inches of angular
gravel, crowded in places with unabraded implements and flakes which
obviously occur just where they were left by Palæolithic workmen. At one
point there is evidence that the flint maker squatted over his work, with
his knees slightly apart, for the chips are thrown to the right and left
in small piles. Here and there, mixed with these Mousterian implements,
are more archaic forms which may have been drifted down from the older
land surfaces above.
[Illustration: FIG. 99. Excavations of the Mousterian culture layer under
the cliff of Le Moustier. Photograph by N. C. Nelson.]
One such floor has been traced by Worthington Smith(16) through Middlesex
and on both sides of the Thames. Plant remains occur plentifully on this
old land surface, including impressions of portions of leaves, stems of
grass, rushes, and sedges. The birch, alder, pine, yew, elm, and hazel
have been recognized. The common male fern is of frequent occurrence,
while the royal fern (_Osmunda regalis_) is found in profusion. Upon the
whole, this assemblage of plants indicates a temperate climate. The flints
described and figured by Worthington Smith are either of the late
Acheulean 'Levallois flake' type or else of early Mousterian age. This
writer(17) notes the great number of instruments known as trimmed flakes,
which are found on the Palæolithic 'floor'; these are flakes of large
size, trimmed to an implement-like form on one side, while the other side
is left perfectly plain; the examples are remarkably constant to one form.
The type of implement here described resembles the flakes of Levallois or
Combe-Capelle, or even the typical 'point' from Le Moustier. Such flakes,
shaped into the Mousterian forms of racloir, or scraper, are very common
in the gravels of the Lea and of the Thames.
While the remains of the woolly mammoth are found here, there are also
indications of the presence of a well-marked temperate flora. These
high-level 'river-drifts' along the Thames(18) were certainly deposited
when the climatic conditions were temperate, but they are succeeded by
deposits indicating a renewed cold period, which may represent the cold
'full Mousterian' times of the Lower Palæolithic habitation of the Thames.
Here we find the remarkable sheets of contorted 'drift' attributable to
the movements of the frozen soil and subsoil when exposed to the heat of
the summer sun. At the same time there may have been deposited along the
Thames the alluvial loams and gravels, occasionally containing stones and
rocks, which were brought down by ice-rafts; these low-level gravels are
not to be confused with the underlying 'old river-gravels' which contain
the warm temperate hippopotamus fauna, for they were accumulated under
very cold conditions; they yield remains of the woolly rhinoceros and of
the mammoth. Thus, on the high levels of the Thames as well as on the low
levels we find evidences of the human culture and of the extinct fauna of
the period of the fourth great glaciation.
[Illustration: FIG. 100. Mousterian cavern of Wildkirchli. After Bächler.
Entrances indicated at 1, 2, and 3, in the side of the limestone cliff.
Here, at a height of 4,500 feet above sea-level, Bächler discovered proofs
of occupation by Mousterian man in the very heart of the Alpine ice-fields
of the Fourth Glacial Stage.]
The upper waters of the Rhine and Danube were also frequented by late
Acheulean and early Mousterian flint workers. At a point far distant from
southern England there is the cavern of Wildkirchli on the Santis
Mountains, near Appenzell, in Switzerland; in Mousterian times this was in
the very heart of the north Alpine ice-field. The animal life here may
indicate that this cavern was open during the period of recession between
the two great advances of the fourth glaciation. Here, at a height of
4,500 feet, Bächler(19) between 1903-6, discovered proofs of occupation by
Neanderthal man during Mousterian times; the flints are not well formed;
the presence of crude bone implements may point to late Mousterian times;
but the flints are considered by Bächler to be of the same stage as those
of Le Moustier. It is asserted that when the Neanderthals followed the
chase here the climate was more genial, because the animals found include
the stag, Alpine wolf (_Cyon alpinus fossilis_), cave-bear, cave-lion,
cave-leopard (_Felis pardus spelæa_), badger, marten, and otter, together
with the typical Alpine forms, the ibex, chamois, and marmot. But this
fauna alone can hardly be taken as proof of a temperate climate, for at
this Alpine height we should not expect to discover the tundra life of the
period; in fact, it is entirely absent.
[Illustration: FIG. 101. Entrance to the grotto of Sirgenstein. After R.
R. Schmidt. "Of all the stations along the Danube by far the most
important is that of Sirgenstein ... which was first occupied by the
Neanderthals in early Mousterian times and continued to be visited by the
Lower and Upper Palæolithic men until the very close of the Upper
Palæolithic."]
Of all the stations along the Danube, by far the most important is that of
Sirgenstein, lying between the modern cities of Nuremberg and Augsburg,
which was first occupied by the Neanderthals in early Mousterian times and
continued to be visited by the Lower and Upper Palæolithic men until the
very close of the Upper Palæolithic. The continuous section of animal
life and of human culture which this remarkable cavern yields afforded
Schmidt,(20) who began his researches here in the spring of 1906, a key to
the prehistory of all the eighteen caverns in the region of the upper
Danube and upper Rhine. In Sirgenstein the primitive Mousterian culture of
the early Neanderthals was found, together with remains of the mammoth,
bison, reindeer, a species of wild horse, and the cave-bear; this
Mousterian industry closed with a record of the arrival in this region of
the Obi lemming from northern Russia. Later on the Crô-Magnon race of
Aurignacian times left on the floor of the cavern remains of their flint
industry and of their feasts, including the bones of the woolly
rhinoceros, mammoth, stag, and reindeer. During Upper Palæolithic
Solutrean times the cavern was not occupied; but early in Magdalenian
times it was again inhabited by man, and coincident with his return is the
arrival of a great migration of the banded lemming (_Myodes torquatus_)
from the arctic tundras of the north. Finally, toward the end of the Upper
Palæolithic, in late Magdalenian times, another climatic transition is
indicated by the appearance of the pika, or tailless hare (_Lagomys
pusillus_). During the Bronze Age this favorite grotto was again entered,
and it was also inhabited during a portion of the Iron Age. The débris of
these various cultures, hearths, and deposits of cave loam reach a total
thickness of 8-1/2 feet and mark Sirgenstein as first in rank among the
Palæolithic stations of Germany.
TYPES AND MIGRATIONS OF THE MAMMALS HUNTED BY THE NEANDERTHALS
This is the life of the period of the fourth glaciation, when a very cold
and moist climate prevailed all over western Europe as far south as
northern Spain and northern Italy. While the glacial fields were not so
extensive as during the third or the second glaciation, the climate was
very severe, as indicated by the southward migration not only of the
arctic flora but of the mammals and birds of the tundra region bordering
the southern shores of the Arctic Ocean. Two or three forms from the cold
steppes of northern Russia also found their way into western Europe,
but this was distinctly not a steppe period because of the prevailing
moisture of the climate; in place of the westerly winds and great dust
clouds of closing Acheulean times, cold mists and clouds heavy with
moisture swept over the country, which during the winters was at times
buried in snow, and subject to rapid changes of temperature. These
climatic[AG] conditions appear to be demonstrated by the predominance of
the arctic tundra life, mammals which were adapted only to severe weather
and attracted by the northern flora.
[Illustration: PL. V. The Neanderthal man of La Chapelle-aux-Saints,
inhabiting the Dordogne region of central France in Mousterian times.
Antiquity estimated as between 40,000 and 25,000 years. After the
restoration modelled by J. H. McGregor. For the bodily proportions of this
hunting race compare the frontispiece, Pl. I.]
The summers were undoubtedly warm like the present Arctic summers, but
very much longer in these southerly latitudes. It is not improbable that
there were seasonal migrations, northward and southward, of the mammoths,
rhinoceroses, and reindeer, and also that the northern flint quarries
along the Somme and the Marne may have been visited chiefly during the
warm summer season. The Asiatic mammals had entirely disappeared from the
regions of France and Germany during the first maximum of the fourth
glaciation, but there are some who maintain that during the amelioration
of climate that followed, an interval in the Alpine region termed the
_Laufenschwankung_ by Penck, the straight-tusked elephant and Merck's
rhinoceros again migrated into northern France. It is true that
occasionally we find the bones of these animals in close association with
those of the woolly mammoth and the woolly rhinoceros. It is possible to
explain such intermingling either as having occurred during the advance of
the fourth glaciation, or as due to the northward and southward migration
of the respective herds of mammals in the summer and winter seasons. As
the period of the fourth glaciation continued it is certain that these
Asiatic mammals entirely disappeared.
At the same time the Neanderthals had passed through the first stage of
development of the Mousterian industry and had reached what is known as
the 'full' or 'high' Mousterian, which, with few exceptions, was carried
on under the shelter of the overhanging cliffs or within the grottos.
The mammalian life of these 'full' Mousterian times, as found along the
headwaters of the Danube, the Rhine, and the branches of the Dordogne and
Vézère, is divided among the various faunal groups as follows:
LIFE OF MIDDLE MOUSTERIAN TIMES
TUNDRA LIFE.
Woolly mammoth.
Woolly rhinoceros.
Scandinavian reindeer.
Arctic fox.
Arctic hare.
Banded lemming.
Arctic ptarmigan.
ALPINE LIFE.
Alpine marmot.
Ibex.
Alpine ptarmigan.
STEPPE LIFE.
Steppe horse.
Steppe suslik.
Moor-hen.
ASIATIC LIFE.
Cave-lion.
Cave-hyæna.
Cave-leopard.
FOREST LIFE.
Stag, lynx, wolf, fox, water-vole, brown bear, giant deer.
Cave-bear.
MEADOW LIFE.
Bison.
Wild cattle.
It would appear that the reindeer, the woolly mammoth, and the woolly
rhinoceros were already widely distributed over western Europe,
accompanied by the arctic fox (_Canis lagopus_), the arctic hare (_Lepus
variabilis_), and the banded lemming (_Myodes torquatus_). There is no
proof that the musk-ox had at this time reached its extreme southerly
distribution, and it would appear that the arrival of the second type of
northern lemming from the region of the river Obi (_Myodes obensis_) did
not occur until the close of Mousterian times,(21) because the great
migration of these animals is recorded by their abundant remains in the
so-called 'lower rodent layer' of all the stations along the Rhine and
Danube, such as Sirgenstein, Wildscheuer, and Ofnet, after the final stage
of Mousterian industry. In fact, this remarkable little rodent appears to
mark the second maximum or close of the fourth glaciation by its migration
all over western Europe, and wherever its remains are found in the grotto
deposits they furnish one of the most important and positive of
prehistoric dates, namely, that of the 'lower rodent layer.' The lemmings
surpass all other mammals in the great distances covered by their
migrations, and it would appear that this northern species swept all over
western Europe at the same time, leaving its remains not only in the
caverns along the Danube but in those of Belgium and of Thiede, near
Braunschweig. The latter station, Thiede, was not far from the southern
border of the Scandinavian glacier; it was subjected to a very severe
arctic climate, as the only associates of the Obi lemming were the banded
lemming, the arctic fox, the arctic hare, the reindeer, the mammoth, and
the musk-ox.
LIFE OF LATE MOUSTERIAN TIMES
_Second Maximum of Fourth Glaciation_
Tundra, Steppe, Alpine, Asiatic and Meadow life, as above.
Obi lemming.
Musk-ox.
Ermine.
Arctic ptarmigan.
Eversmann's weasel (Steppe weasel).
The woolly mammoth now reaches the height of its evolution and
specialization; as preserved in the frozen tundras of northern Siberia,
and as represented in very numerous drawings and engravings by the Upper
Palæolithic artists, it is the most completely known of all fossil
mammalia.(22) Its proportions, as shown in the accompanying figure, which
represents the information gathered from all sources, are entirely
different from those of either the Indian or African elephant. The head is
very high and surmounted by a great mass of hair and wool; behind this a
sharp depression separates the back of the head from the great hump on the
back; the hinder portion of the back falls away very rapidly and the tail
is short; the overcoat of long hair nearly reaches the ground, and beneath
this is a warm undercoating of wool. It is not improbable that the humps
on the head and the back were fat reservoirs. The color of the hair was a
yellowish brown, varying from light brown to pure brown; woolly hair, from
an inch to an inch and a half in length, covered the whole body
interspersed with the shorter hairs was a large number of longer and
thicker hairs, which formed mane-like patches on the cheeks, chin,
shoulders, flanks, and abdomen. A broad fringe of this long hair extended
along the sides of the body, as depicted in the work of the Upper
Palæolithic artists in the Combarelles Cave. Especially interesting to us
is the food found in the stomach and mouth of the frozen Siberian
mammoths, which consists chiefly of a meadow flora such as flourishes
during the summer in northern Siberia at the present day, including
grasses and sedges, wild thyme, beans of the wild oxytropis, also the
arctic variety of the upright crowfoot (_Ranunculus acer_). This was the
summer food. The winter food undoubtedly included the leaves and stems of
the willow, the juniper, and other winter plants.
[Illustration: FIG. 102. The woolly mammoth (_Elephas primigenius_) and
the contemporary Neanderthal hunters (_Homo neanderthalensis_), after the
drawings of Upper Palæolithic artists and the frozen mammoths found in
northern Siberia. By Charles R. Knight, 1915.]
The woolly rhinoceros was the invariable companion of the mammoth, even as
Merck's rhinoceros always associated itself with the straight-tusked
elephant. This remarkable animal is related to the northern African group
of white rhinoceroses, from which it branched off at a very remote period.
The profile of its very long, narrow head, of its enormous anterior and
lesser posterior horn, and its humped back resembles that of the existing
African form, but its protection against the arctic climate gave it a
wholly different outward appearance; the hair of the face, of a
golden-brown color, with an undercovering of wool, is preserved in the
Museum of Petrograd. Through a discovery at Starunia, in eastern Galicia,
in 1911, this animal is now completely known to us, except the tail; its
remains were found here at a depth of 30 feet, and included the head, left
fore leg, and the skin of the left side of the body. The Starunia specimen
has a broad, truncated upper lip adapted to grazing habits, small oblique
eyes, long, narrow, and pointed ears, a long anterior horn with oval base,
and a shorter posterior horn, a short neck, on the back of which is a
small, fleshy hump, quite independent of the skeleton; the legs are
comparatively short. It differs from the living African form in the
somewhat narrower muzzle, in its small, pointed ears, and in the presence
of a thick coating of hair. Like the white rhinoceros, the woolly form was
a plains dweller, living on grass and small herbs.(23) This rhinoceros
kept more closely to the borders of the great ice-sheets than did the
mammoth, arresting its migration in Germany and France; that is, it did
not migrate so far to the south as the mammoth, which wandered down into
Italy as far as Rome.
The reindeer was the herald or forerunner of all the arctic tundra fauna;
it reached the valley of the Vézère at the beginning of the period of the
true Mousterian culture and already had penetrated much farther south
during the Third Glacial Stage, probably migrating along the borders of
the ice-fields; in fact, it is found in northern Europe even during the
second glaciation. It is the true Scandinavian or barren-ground species,
which is now typified by two forms of the Old World reindeer (_R.
tarandus_, _R. spitzbergensis_), and by the existing American
barren-ground forms. The antlers are round, slender, and long in
proportion to the relatively small size of the animal; the brow tines are
palmated. There is little proof that the Neanderthals made much use of the
bones of the reindeer, but there is every reason to suppose that they used
the pelts, for the preparation of which the Mousterian scrapers and
planers were especially well fitted.
[Illustration: FIG. 103. The woolly rhinoceros (_Rhinoceros
antiquitatis_), after the drawings of Palæolithic artists and the specimen
from Starunia preserved in the museum of Lemberg, Galicia. By Charles R.
Knight, 1915.]
In the Iberian peninsula the tundra fauna did not penetrate as far south
as Portugal, although the Norwegian lemming (_Myodes lemmus_) reached the
vicinity of Lisbon. The woolly mammoth, accompanied by the woolly
rhinoceros, has been discovered in two localities on the extreme northern
coast of Spain, in the province of Santander, bordering the Bay of Biscay.
The reindeer (_Rangifer tarandus_) is found in the cavern of Seriña, south
of the Pyrenees; as early as Acheulean times it reached the region of
Altamira, near Santander. Thus Harlé(24) concludes it is certain that the
tundra fauna spread from France westward into Catalonia, along the
northern coast of Spain, flanking the Pyrenees. It is generally believed
that the cave-bear (_Ursus spelæus_) occupied many of the caverns before
their possession by man, and developed certain peculiarities of structure
in these haunts. Thus the phalanges bearing the claws are feebly
developed, indicating that the claws had partly lost their prehensile
function; the anterior grinding-teeth are very much reduced, and the cusps
of the posterior grinders are blunted in a way which is indicative of an
omnivorous diet; yet the front paws were of tremendous size, the body was
thick-set and of heavier proportions than that of the larger recent bears
(_Ursus arctos_) of Europe. Hence, it would appear that the Neanderthals
drove out from the caves a type of bear less formidable than the existing
species but nevertheless a serious opponent to men armed with the small
weapons of the Mousterian period.
CUSTOMS OF THE CHASE AND OF CAVE LIFE
We have only indirect means of knowing the courage and activity of the
Neanderthals in the chase, through the bones of animals hunted for food
which are found intermingled with the flints around their ancient hearths.
These include in the early Mousterian hearths, as we have seen, bones of
the bison, the wild cattle, and the horse, which are followed at
Combe-Capelle by the first appearance of the bones of the reindeer. The
bones of the bison and of the wild horse are both utilized in the bone
anvils of the closing Mousterian culture at La Quina. What we believe to
be the period of the great mammalian life of the region of the upper
Danube is found in the Mousterian levels of the grotto of Sirgenstein,
from which it would appear that the Neanderthals hunted the mammoth, the
rhinoceros, the wild horse, bison, and cattle, and the giant deer as well
as the reindeer. We should keep in mind, however, that when these caves
were for a time deserted, the beasts of prey returned, and so it often
happens that the succeeding layers afford proofs of alternate occupation
by man and by beasts of prey of sufficient size to bring in the larger
kinds of game, while owls may be responsible for the deposits of the
lemming, as in the 'lower rodent layer.'
Obermaier(25) has given careful study to the vicissitudes of cave life in
Mousterian times. Long before these caves were inhabited by man, they
served as lairs or refuges for the cave-bear and cave-hyæna, as well as
for many birds of prey. For example, the cave of Echenoz-la-Moline, on the
upper waters of the Saône, contained the remains of over eight hundred
skeletons of the cave-bear, and no doubt it cost the Neanderthals many a
hard-fought battle before the beasts were driven out and man possessed
himself of the grotto. Fire may have been the means employed. It has been
questioned whether the caves were not unhealthy dwelling-places, but it
must be remembered that, except in certain caverns which had natural
openings through the roof for the exit of smoke, there was no true cave
life, but rather a grotto life, which centred around the entrance of the
cave. The smallest cave, this author observes, was considerably larger and
better ventilated than the small, smoky cabins of some of the European
peasants, or the snow huts of the Eskimo. The most serious obstacle was
the prevailing dampness, which varied periodically in the caverns, so that
dry seasons were succeeded by abundant moisture seeping through the
limestone roof and down the side walls. At such times the caverns were
probably uninhabitable, and in the bones of both men and beasts many
instances have been observed of diseased swellings and of inflammation of
the vertebræ, such as are caused by extreme dampness. The compensating
advantages were the shelter offered from the rain and cold, a constant
temperature at moderate distances from the entrance, and also the fact
that the caves were very easily defensible, because the entrance was
generally small and the approach often steep and difficult; a high stone
wall across the opening would have made the defense still easier, and a
flaming firebrand would have prevented the approach of bears and other
beasts of prey. On account of this shelter from the weather and wild
beasts the grottos and the larger openings of the caverns were certainly
crowded with the Mousterian flint workers during the inclement seasons of
the year.
Yet the greater part of the life of the Neanderthals was undoubtedly
passed in the open and in the chase. Throughout Mousterian times the
commonest game consisted of the wild horse, wild ox, and reindeer. Both
flesh and pelts were utilized, and the marrow was sought by splitting all
the larger bones. Thus, frequently we find in the hearths the remains of
the mammoth, the woolly rhinoceros, the giant deer, the cave-bear, and the
brown bear. From these beasts of prey the Neanderthal hunters obtained
pelts and perhaps also fat for torches used to light the caverns; there is
no proof of the invention of the lamp at this period.
The work of the women undoubtedly consisted of preparing the meals and
making the pelts into covers and clothing. Whenever possible this would be
done in the daylight outside of the grottos, but in chilly, rainy weather,
or the bitter cold of winter, the whole tribe would seek refuge in the
grotto, gathering around the fire-hearths fed with wood; odd corners would
serve as storehouses for fuel or dried meat, preserved against the days
when extreme cold and blinding snow forbade the hunters to venture forth.
It appears that the game was dismembered where it fell and the best parts
removed. The skull was split open for the brain; the long bones were
preserved for the marrow; thus the bones of the flank and shoulder of game
occur frequently in cave deposits, while the ribs and vertebræ are rare.
The pitfall may have been part of the hunting craft known to the
Neanderthals. The chase was pursued with spears or darts fitted with flint
points, also by means of 'throwing stones,' which are found in great
numbers in the upper Mousterian levels of La Quina, in the Wolf Cave of
Yonne, Les Cottés, and various places in Spain. If one imagines, as is
quite possible, that the throwing stone was placed in a leather sling or
in the cleft end of a stick, or fastened to a long leather thong, one can
readily see it would prove a very effective weapon.
The methods of chase by the Neanderthals are, nevertheless, somewhat of a
mystery. There was a very decided disparity between the size and
effectiveness of their weapons and the strength and resistance of the
animals which they pursued. None of the very heavy implements of Acheulean
times was preserved; the dart and spear heads are not greatly improved,
certainly they could not penetrate the thick hides of the larger arctic
tundra mammals, heavily protected with hair and wool; the chase even of
the horses, wild cattle, and reindeer was apparently without the aid of
the bow and arrow and prior to the invention of the barbed arrow or lance
head.
[Illustration: FIG. 104. Geographic distribution of Pre-Neanderthaloids
and Neanderthaloids in western Europe, showing the localities where the
remains of Pre-Neanderthaloid races (Heidelberg and Piltdown) and of true
Neanderthaloids have thus far been discovered. (Compare table, p. 219.)]
DISCOVERY OF THE NEANDERTHALOID RACES
The open-air or nomadic life of all the tribes of western Europe from
Pre-Chellean nearly to the close of Acheulean times was very unfavorable
to the preservation of human remains. It is possible that the bodies of
the dead and of the aged were thrown out to the hyænas which surrounded
the stations, as among some of the tribes of Africa to-day, but it is
equally possible that they were interred in some manner. Skeletons buried
near the surface in the river sands or gravels of the 'terraces' would not
have been preserved. We have seen that the preservation of the Heidelberg
and Piltdown remains was entirely due to chance, the bones having been
washed down and mingled with those of the animals; nor has any evidence
been found in the grotto of Krapina of ceremonial burial or of respect for
the dead, but on the contrary there is some evidence of cannibalistic
customs. Even before the close of early Mousterian times all this was
changed. Perhaps the closer association enforced by the more rigorous
climate indirectly produced greater respect for the dead and led to the
custom of burial or the orderly laying out of the remains of the dead in
the floors of the partly protected grottos and caverns, to which custom we
owe our present knowledge of the structure of Neanderthal man in
Mousterian times.
[Illustration: FIG. 105. Front view of the Neanderthaloid skull found at
Gibraltar in 1848--the earliest discovery of a member of this race, now
regarded as the skull of a woman. Photograph by A. Hrdlička from the
original specimen. One-quarter life size.]
The first discovery of a Neanderthaloid was made in 1848, eight years
before the type of the Neanderthal race came to light. This was the
Gibraltar skull(26) found by Lieutenant Flint, near Forbes Quarry, on the
north face of the Rock of Gibraltar. It consists of a well-preserved
skull, with the parietal bones only missing and the face and base of the
cranium remarkably complete. In 1868 it was presented by Busk to the
Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, in London, where it lies to-day.
The exact site of the discovery can no longer be positively identified; it
was probably found in a still existing cave, and although its archæologic
age cannot be determined, yet as its anatomical features are those of the
Neanderthal race, and as all the remains of this race which can be dated
with certainty are of Mousterian age, it probably belongs to the
Mousterian period. Of recent years its great importance in the history of
man has been revealed in the studies of Sollas, Keith, and Schwalbe. Thus
it has come to be ranked among the Neanderthaloids and is considered of a
particularly primitive form, because of the extremely small size of the
brain. This feature and the slight development of the supraorbital ridges,
so characteristic of the Neanderthaloids, are explained by the theory that
the skull belonged to a female.
[Illustration: FIG. 106. Section of that part of the valley of the Düssel
known as the Neanderthal, showing the location of the limestone grotto
where the Neanderthal skeleton was discovered. Drawn by C. A. Reeds.]
Sera(27) considers the Gibraltar skull to be the most ape-like of all
human fossils and thinks it should not be classed with the Neanderthaloids
at all, but should be regarded as Pre-Neanderthaloid; this view is shared
by Keith. Boule, however, believes that this skull is of the same geologic
age as that of Spy, La Chapelle, La Ferrassie, and La Quina; everything
leads us to believe,(28) he remarks, that the skull of Gibraltar is a
female skull of Neanderthal type. He elsewhere refers to the skulls of
Gibraltar, of La Quina, and of La Ferrassie II as probably those of
female Neanderthals.
[Illustration: FIG. 107. The original type skull of Neanderthal (left
side) discovered in 1856. After Schwalbe. One-quarter life size.]
The type skull of this great extinct race of men is that of
Neanderthal--certainly the most famous and the most disputed of all
anthropologic remains--appreciated by Lyell and Huxley, but passed over by
Darwin, and finally established by Schwalbe as the most important missing
link between the existing species of man (_Homo sapiens_) and the
anthropoid apes. In 1856(29) some workmen were engaged in clearing a small
loam-covered cave about six feet in height, the so-called Feldhofner
Grotto, in the cretaceous limestone of the valley known as the
Neanderthal, on the small stream Düssel flowing between Elberfeld and
Düsseldorf. They discovered some human bones, probably a complete skeleton
representing an interment, which, unfortunately, were allowed to be
scattered and crushed. Doctor Fuhlrott rescued the parts that remained,
including the now famous skullcap, both thigh-bones, the right upper-arm
bone, portions of the lower arm, bones of both sides, the right
collar-bone, and fragments of the pelvis, shoulder-blade, and ribs. All
the bones were perfectly preserved and are now to be found in the
provincial museum of Bonn.
The discovery made a great sensation, but at first the age of these
fossils remained doubtful; some 150 paces from the grotto, in a similar
small cave were found bones of the cave-bear and rhinoceros. In 1858
Schaaffhausen's memoir(30) appeared, in which he gave the first detailed
description of these remains as belonging to a primitive original race
differing in every point from recent man, and he never wavered from this
standpoint. In 1863(31) Busk, Huxley, and Lyell also placed this skeleton
in its true intermediate position between man and the anthropoid apes. The
determined opinion of Virchow that this was not a normal type of man
exerted so great an influence that not until the classic work of
Schwalbe,(32) between 1899 and 1901, did this skeleton assume its
commanding importance for all time, and even this was subsequent to the
discovery of two other Neanderthaloid races.
At first, quite erroneously, this was associated with the so-called race
of Cannstatt, but long before Schwalbe's work it was recognized by
King,(33) in 1864, as a distinct species of man (_Homo neanderthalensis_)
'the man of the Neander valley.' Not long after the discovery of the
Neanderthaloids of Spy, in Belgium, Cope,(34) in 1893, proposed the same
specific name of _Homo neanderthalensis_. In 1897 Wilser(35) suggested the
name of _Homo primigenius_, which has been widely adopted in Germany,
while among French authors the same species of man is sometimes known
to-day as _Homo mousteriensis_. This variety of names serves at least to
record the unanimous opinion that this mid-Pleistocene man belongs to a
distinct species.
Since the race was very widely distributed, we may speak of these people
as the 'Neanderthals,' while races resembling the Neanderthal species may
be characterized as 'Neanderthaloid.' The complete series of discoveries
of members of this race is now very large indeed.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE REMAINS OF THE NEANDERTHALS
(Compare Fig. 104)
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1. OF UNKNOWN LOWER PALÆOLITHIC TIMES |
| |
|1848. Gibraltar. Forbes Quarry. Fragmentary skull. |
|1856. Neanderthal. Düsseldorf, Germany. Skullcap and skeletal |
| fragments. |
|1859. Arcy-sur-Cure. Yonne, France. 1 lower jaw. |
|1866. La Naulette. Belgium. 1 lower jaw. |
|1888. Malarnaud. Ariège, France. 1 lower jaw. |
| ? Gourdan. Hautes-Pyrénées. 1 lower jaw. |
|1906. Ochos. Moravia. 1 lower jaw. |
| |
| 2. WITH LATE MOUSTERIAN INDUSTRY |
| |
|1887. Spy I, II. Near Dinant, Belgium. Two skulls and |
| skeletons. |
|1907. Petit-Puymoyen. Charente, France. Fragments of upper and |
| lower jaws. |
|1909. Pech de l'Azé. Dordogne, France. Skull of a child. |
|1910. La Ferrassie II. Dordogne, France. 1 skeleton (female). |
|1911. La Cotte de St. Isle of Jersey. 13 human teeth. |
| Brelade. |
|1911. La Quina II. Charente, France. Skull and fragments of |
| skeleton. |
| |
| 3. WITH MIDDLE MOUSTERIAN INDUSTRY |
| |
|1882. Šipka. Moravia. Jaw of a child. |
|1908. La Chapelle- Corrèze, France. Almost complete skull |
| aux-Saints. and skeleton. |
|1909. La Ferrassie I. Dordogne, France. Portions of one |
| skeleton. |
|1910. La Quina I. Charente, France. Foot bones. |
| |
| 4. WITH EARLY MOUSTERIAN INDUSTRY |
| |
|1908. Le Moustier. Vézère Valley, Skeleton of a youth. |
| Dordogne, France. |
|1914. Ehringsdorf.(37) Near Weimar. Lower jaw. |
| |
| 5. WITH MOUSTERIAN OR ACHEULEAN INDUSTRY |
| |
|1899. Krapina. Croatia, Portions of many |
| Austria-Hungary. skeletons of adults |
| and of children. |
|1892. Taubach. Near Weimar. 1 milk tooth. |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
In the year 1887 the Belgian geologists Fraipont and Lohest(36) discovered
in a grotto near Spy, not far from Dinant on the Meuse, the remains of two
individuals which are now distinguished as Spy I and Spy II. In the same
stratum with the skeletons, beneath a layer of tufaceous limestone, flint
implements of Mousterian age were embedded, together with remains of the
woolly mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, cave-bear, and cave-hyæna. This
discovery is one of the most important in the history of anthropology,
because it definitely dated the Spy men as belonging to the period of
Mousterian industry, and also because the authors immediately recognized
these men as belonging to the race of Neanderthal and of Cannstatt,
which at the time were supposed to be the same. Here for the first time
the proportions of the cranium and the brain, the very primitive features
of the lower jaw and of the teeth, the low stature, and several ape-like
characters of the limb bones became known; here were observed the
prominent supraorbital ridges of the Neanderthal type, the receding
forehead, the cranial profile inferior to that of the lowest existing
Australian races, the narrow, dolichocephalic skull. The limbs were found
to have retained the anthropoid disproportion between the thigh-bone and
the shin-bone, and the important discovery was made that this short,
massively built, heavy-browed, dull-visaged Neanderthal man was unable to
stand absolutely erect, the structure of the knee-joint being such that
the knees were constantly slightly bent. In other words, the Spy man had
not yet fully acquired the erect position of the lower limbs.
[Illustration: FIG. 108. Skull known as Spy I, discovered in 1887, in
front of the grotto of Spy, near Namur, Belgium. After Kraemer.
One-quarter life size.]
This discovery may be said to have established the Neanderthals in all
their characters as a very distinct low race, but twenty-two years elapsed
before this was further confirmed by the finding of another and still
earlier type of Neanderthaloid at Krapina, in northern Croatia,
Austria-Hungary, as described at the close of Chapter II (p. 181 above); a
type which with its local variations was soon determined as
unquestionably belonging in the same group with the man of Neanderthal and
the men of Spy.
Many years before, namely, in 1866, the Belgian anthropologist Dupont(38)
had discovered the remains of another member of this race in a grotto on
the bank of the River Lesse, near La Naulette, not far from Furfooz, in
northern Belgium. This is now known as the La Naulette jaw and is found to
be of Neanderthal type. It was associated with bones of the woolly
mammoth, the rhinoceros, the reindeer, and a few fragments of other human
bones.
Again, in 1882, Mas̆ka(39) found in a cave near Šipka, in Moravia, south
of Sternberg, and six miles east of Neutitschein, fragments of a child's
lower jaw, extraordinarily strong, thick, and large, and showing the
incoming of the permanent teeth. From this very same region is the jaw of
Ochos, Moravia, found by Rzehak(40) about 1906. Only the alveolar part of
the jaw was found, but it served to demonstrate the very wide geographical
distribution of the Neanderthal race.
At this time the Dordogne region, long known to be an intensive centre of
Mousterian industry, from the time of Lartet's discovery of Le Moustier,
in 1863, had not yielded a single skeleton, or any anatomical evidence of
the type of man which in Mousterian times inhabited it. But beginning in
the spring of 1908 there came in succession a whole series of such
discoveries, mostly of ceremonial burials, at La Chapelle-aux-Saints, at
the type station of Le Moustier itself, at La Ferrassie, another station
on the lower Vézère, and at La Quina.
In October, 1910, was discovered the skull known as La Ferrassie II, of
late Mousterian age; it is probably that of a female, and the remains were
arranged in what was presumably a special form of ceremonial burial,
because the bones, instead of being laid out straight in a certain
direction, were in a crouching or flexed position.
The Le Moustier skeleton was found by Hauser in the lower grotto of Le
Moustier, in the Vézère valley, in the spring of 1908, and carefully
removed with the aid of Professor Klaatsch.(41) It belonged to a youth
some sixteen years of age. The most interesting feature of the discovery
was the manner in which the skeleton was laid out.(42) The head rested on
a number of flint fragments carefully piled together--a sort of stone
pillow; the dead lay in a sleeping posture, with the head resting on the
right forearm. An exceptionally fine coup de poing was close by the hand,
and numerous charred and split bones of wild cattle (_Bos primigenius_)
were placed around, indicative of a food offering. The flints were
believed to belong to the Acheulean stage, which underlies the layer of
true Mousterian industry, long known in this locality; but by French
archæologists and by Schmidt these implements are regarded as of the
earliest Mousterian age, in which it is well known that the Acheulean coup
de poing still persisted. Unfortunately, the skeleton was not very well
preserved and, while Klaatsch was entirely justified in classifying it
with the Neanderthaloids, it should be regarded not as a distinct species
(_Homo mousteriensis hauseri_) but rather as a member of the true
Neanderthal race (_Homo neanderthalensis_). It also proves to be a rather
stocky individual, robust and of low stature: the arms and legs are
relatively short, especially the forearm and the shin-bone.
[Illustration: FIG. 109. Grotto of La Chapelle-aux-Saints, Corrèze, a few
miles to the eastward of Le Moustier. After Boule.]
[Illustration: FIG. 110. Entrance to the grotto of La Chapelle-aux-Saints,
where the finest of all the Neanderthaloid fossils was discovered in 1908.
After Boule.]
At the same time that the skeleton of Le Moustier was being disinterred,
the Abbés A. and J. Bouyssonie, and L. Bardon(43) were exploring the
Mousterian culture of the grotto near La Chapelle-aux-Saints, a few miles
to the eastward of Le Moustier, and came upon a skeleton which has proved
to be by far the finest of all the Neanderthaloid fossils, including a
remarkably well-preserved skull, almost the entire back-bone, twenty ribs,
bones of the arm and of the greater part of the leg, and a number of the
bones of the hands and feet. This was also a ceremonial burial of an
individual between fifty and fifty-five years of age, most carefully laid
out in an east-and-west direction in a small, natural depression. With it
were found typical Mousterian flints, also a number of shells and remains
chiefly of the woolly rhinoceros, the horse, the reindeer, and the bison.
The finding of a mature skull with the bones of the face in position, and
in a relatively perfect state of preservation without distortion of the
entire cranium, afforded for the first time the opportunity of finally
determining not only all the skeletal characters and proportions of
Neanderthal man but also the actual size and proportions of the brain.
This superb specimen was sent to the Paris Museum, and Boule's preliminary
descriptions(44) and finally his almost faultless monograph(45) aroused
world-wide interest in the Neanderthal race.
[Illustration: FIG. 111. The Neanderthaloid skull from La
Chapelle-aux-Saints--side, front and top views. After Boule. One-quarter
life size.]
A year later a third Neanderthal skeleton was discovered in the cave of La
Ferrassie not far from Le Bugue, Dordogne, by Peyrony. The bones were
badly shattered, and the proofs of ceremonial burial were not perfectly
clear, but at a glance the skeleton was clearly recognized from the
characters of the skull, and particularly from those of the forehead, as
belonging to the Neanderthal race.
In the succeeding year, 1910, in the cavern of La Quina, Department of
Charente, to the north of the Vézère region(46) were found the foot bones
of a man precisely resembling the La Chapelle type, and again in 1911
several parts of the skeleton of another entirely typical member of the
Neanderthal race were discovered in the earliest Mousterian strata. The
skull bones were somewhat separated at the sutures. This was certainly not
a case of ceremonial burial. Like the Gibraltar skull, this is supposed to
be that of a female.
[Illustration: FIG. 112. Human teeth of Neanderthaloid type, discovered in
a cave on the Isle of Jersey. After Marett and Hrdlička.]
Of especial geographic interest is the discovery by Nicolle and Sinel(47)
of thirteen human teeth in a Mousterian cavern on St. Brelade's Bay, on
the Island of Jersey,(48) which furnishes proof of the extension of the
Neanderthal race to the Channel Islands, when these were, in all
probability, still a part of the mainland. The teeth were associated with
bones of the woolly rhinoceros, of the reindeer, and of two varieties of
the horse, as well as with evidences of Mousterian hearths and flint
implements. The distinctive features of the Neanderthal grinding-teeth are
the stout size, deep implantation, and expanded form of the roots, which,
with the heavy jaw, point to the toughness of the food and to the muscular
strength exerted in mastication. The roots, instead of tapering to a
point below, as in modern man, form a broad, stout column, supporting the
crown, adapted to a sweeping motion of the jaw. This special feature alone
would exclude the Neanderthals from the ancestry of the higher races.
Thus, through a long series of discoveries, beginning in 1848 and rapidly
multiplying during the last few years, we have found the materials for a
complete knowledge of the skeletal structure of the men, women, and
children of the Neanderthal race; we know the relative brain development
as well as the stature of the sexes; we have determined that this race,
and this only, extended over all western Europe during late Acheulean and
the entire period of Mousterian times, and we have also learned that it
was a race imbued with reverence for the dead and therefore probably
animated by the belief in some form of future existence.
CHARACTERS OF THE NEANDERTHAL RACE
The skulls and skeletons(49) of Neanderthal, Spy, Krapina, Le Moustier, La
Chapelle, La Ferrassie, and Gibraltar have so many distinctive features in
common that it is beyond question that they must be classed in a closely
related group. The distinctive features of this group are:
First, features found also in the different existing races of man, but
never in the anthropoid apes, and therefore human; second, features, all
of which have never been found combined in any race of recent man, the
group, therefore, represents a distinct species of man; third, features
outside of the limits of variation in the recent races of man, and
intermediate between them and the variation limits of the anthropoid apes.