Some thirty or forty thousand years ago western Europe was inhabited
by a race of human beings now extinct, the Mousterians who differed so
much from modern men that they are classed as a distinct species. They
were cave-dwellers and flint-workers, living amid hordes of prehistoric
beasts; the Hairy Mammoth Elephant, Woolly Rhinoceros, Cave Lion, Cave
Bear, Hyena and many others.
The Mousterians were the last of the ancient Neanderthal race whose
advent in Europe may have dated to two-hundred thousand years or more
B.C. It is my interest in them that I seek to share intimately with my
patient readers and my endeavor has been to restore in these pages the
men and animal characters of those prehistoric days. Their activities
and the circumstances surrounding them are inspired by the following
discoveries, now of historic and scientific record:
_Mousterian Civilization._—First recognized in 1863 near Le Moustier,
Dordogne Dep’t, southwestern France. Beneath caves in the cliffs,
rudely fashioned flints of distinctive pattern lay buried with bones of
the Mammoth, Woolly Rhinoceros and other prehistoric animals. Similar
discoveries were made later in the Seine, Somme and Thames River Valleys
and many other localities in western Europe.
_The Neanderthal Man._—Fossil skeleton accidentally discovered in
1856 in a grotto near the River Düssel, Westphalia, western Germany.
The skull-cap with its low forehead and massive eye-ridges, caused a
sensation in Europe, it being the first evidence that a primitive species
of human being preceded modern Man in western Europe.
_The Boy of Le Moustier._—Skeleton unearthed in 1908 near one of the
Moustier caves; a young man. The low forehead, massive eye-ridges
and chinless jaw were primitive features, known by this time as
characteristics of the Neanderthal race. The skeleton lay amid remains of
prehistoric animals with head resting upon a pile of flint-flakes. A fine
flint hand-ax was near the right hand.
_The Man of La Chapelle-aux-Saintes._—Complete skeleton of an
aged man found buried in 1908 in a grotto near the village of La
Chapelle-aux-Saintes, Correze Dept., France. This fine skeleton showed
conclusively that the Mousterian differed from modern Man in almost
every bone of his body. This discovery is considered as an intentional
burial—most ancient record of man’s care for his dead and recognition
of an after life. The body lay amid Mousterian flints and bones of
prehistoric animals.
_The Maid of La Ferrassie._—Part of one skeleton—a female—exhumed from
a rock-shelter near Le Moustier in 1909 and another in 1910. Both were
Mousterians and not to be confused with other discoveries of less ancient
people of the Old Stone Age.
_Prehistoric Animals._—Remains of the Hairy Mammoth, Woolly Rhinoceros,
Cave Lion, Cave Bear, Hyena, Irish Elk, Long-horned Ox, Bison, Reindeer
and a host of others have been and are yet frequently discovered in
association with Mousterian flint and skeleton relics. Of these brutes,
none were more imposing, none more remarkable than the Mammoth and
Rhinoceros. Friends? Why, of course. Who can deny it and who would
begrudge them their fun—while it lasted?
It is my earnest endeavor to portray intimately the prehistoric life of
western Europe as it was during the “Mousterian” Period of 50000-25000
B.C. Mankind’s primitive pioneers cannot fail to win the respect of
those who choose to understand them. My characters—men and beasts—were
real individuals; their activities, my free translation of the evidence
presented by stone relics and fossil bones. Such evidence collected by
the world’s leading anthropologists, is ably summarized in Prof. Henry
Fairfield Osborn’s immortal work, “Men of the Old Stone Age” which has
been of material aid to me in the writing of this book.