Mode of Interment and Burial-places of the Bronze Epoch--
Characteristics of the Human Race during the same Period.
The question naturally arises--what was the mode of interment, and what
was the nature of the burial-places employed by man during the bronze
epoch?
In the early part of this period the dead were still buried in those
sepulchral chambers which are now called by the name of _dolmens_;
Nilsson and Lubbock have drawn somewhat confused and arbitrary
distinctions in discussing these burial-places; but it may be positively
asserted that towards the conclusion of this period the practice of
burning dead bodies was commenced.
In a work, published in 1869, and entitled 'Le Danemark à l'Exposition
Universelle,' being a sort of catalogue of the objects which were
exhibited in the galleries devoted to the _History of Labour_, in the
Exhibition in the Champ de Mars, in 1867, we find several pages which we
shall quote, as they seem to recapitulate pretty clearly the ideas which
are now current among scientific men concerning the burial-places and
funeral customs of the bronze epoch:--
"The study which, during the last few years, has been devoted by M.
Worsaae to the tombs belonging to the bronze epoch, has thrown much
light," says M. Valdemar Schmidt, "on the commencement of the bronze age
in Denmark. It appears that at the first beginning of the bronze epoch
the dead were buried in a manner similar to that practised during the
stone age, that is to say, the bodies of the defunct were deposited in
sepulchral chambers made of stone, and covered by _tumuli_; the only
difference is, these chambers are rather small, and generally contain
but one skeleton. But to make up for this, several of these small
sepulchral chambers, or rather stone coffins, are sometimes found in the
same _tumulus_.
"These chambers present, however, in some respects, great similarities
with those of the Stone Age; thus, beds of flint which have been
subjected to the action of fire are often found spread over the ground,
and on these beds skeletons are met with which appear to have been
placed in a contracted position before they were buried, exactly
following the practice of the Stone Age.
"After this class of tombs, we have another, in which the sepulchral
chamber, though always made of stone, is not covered with a stone slab
but with a _wooden roof_. Elsewhere, skeletons have been found along
with bronze weapons deposited in a sort of _wooden framework_, which has
in many cases entirely perished except a few minute fragments. These
cases were covered with small stones, which now seem to lie immediately
upon the skeleton.
"Lastly, in all the Danish provinces large oak coffins are found, formed
of hollowed-out trunks of trees; these also contain human bodies, which
seem to have been buried in woollen garments.
"With regard to the funeral rites observed, these tombs do not appear to
have differed much. The bodies were deposited in them with their
implements, weapons, and utensils, either of bronze or stone; but, in
addition, at the bottom of the tomb, animal skins, generally those of
oxen, were often spread.
"Next, a new period succeeded, when the bodies were burned, and the
remains collected together. All the ancient customs were not, however,
at once given up. Thus, as the dead were formerly buried in woollen
garments, the _débris_ of the bones were now wrapped in pieces of cloaks
made of the same material. Subsequently, however, this custom also
disappeared, and the ashes and remains of bones were simply collected
together in urns. This custom was observed until the bronze epoch, and
characterises, so to speak, its second and last period--which was,
however, the longest of that age.
"There were, then, in short, two distinct epochs in the bronze age;
firstly, that _in which the dead were quite simply interred_, either in
small sepulchral chambers or wooden coffins, and, secondly, that _in
which the bodies of the dead were incinerated_.
"One of the most remarkable 'finds,' as regards the first period of the
bronze epoch, was made in 1861, in the two mounds known by the names of
Treenhöi and Kengehöi, and situated near Kongeaa, in Jutland. In each of
these _tumuli_ two people had been buried, both having a double coffin,
made of magnificent trunks of oak-trees. The skeletons had been almost
entirely destroyed by the damp which, on the contrary, had preserved the
garments. These individuals seem to have been dressed almost like the
Scotch; at least they must have worn a sort of woollen petticoat, and
bands by way of trousers, very like those worn by the warriors depicted
in the Carlovingian miniatures, and, in addition, a cloak, a cap, and
also perhaps a shawl. With these garments were found some bronze swords
in wooden sheaths; also some bronze knives, a comb, some boxes, cups,
small wooden coffers, a tin ball, and, lastly, in one of the coffins, a
small flint arrow-head. A fragment of the cloak was to be seen in the
Palace of the Champ de Mars (No. 596).
"Another 'find' made a few miles from this _tumulus_, at Höimp, in North
Schleswig, has also brought to light skeletons in oak coffins together
with bronze implements.
"Discoveries of no less interest have been made in Zealand. Thus, in
1845, in a _tumulus_ at Höidegaard, near Copenhagen, a tomb belonging to
the first period of the bronze epoch was found; it was searched in the
presence of some of the principal Danish archæologists. The tomb was
placed at a distance of more than 10 feet below the summit of the
_tumulus_, and was built of stones; it was more than 6 feet in length,
and its width on the eastern side was about 2 feet, and on the western
side 19 inches. The bottom was lined with a layer of small flint stones,
on which was found, in the first place, a skin, doubtless that of an ox,
and above it, besides a piece of tissue containing remains of human
bones, a bronze sword with a wooden sheath, covered with leather, and in
a perfect state of preservation; lastly, a box containing the following
articles:--1st, a fragment of an amber bead; 2nd, a piece of reddish
stone; 3rd, a small shell, which can be none other than the _Conus
mediterraneus_; it is perforated so as to be worn as a pendant for the
neck; 4th, a fragment of a flint point, doubtless an amulet; 5th, the
tail of a serpent (_Coluber lævis_); 6th, a small cube of pine or
fir-wood, and 7th, a bronze knife with a convex blade and ornamented
handle.
"According to the investigations of various savants, these bones belong
to a man, who, to judge from the objects placed by his side in his tomb,
must have been some distinguished personage, and perhaps combined the
functions of a warrior and a sorcerer. The cube of pine-wood leads us
to conjecture that that tree had not then completely disappeared, and
from this fact we may infer that the period at which the sorcerer in
question lived was very remote. It is, however, possible that this piece
of pine-wood, as well as the shell, were introduced from some other
country. The existence of the _Conus mediterraneus_ seems to establish
the fact that Denmark had already formed some kind of connection with
the Mediterranean.
"_The second period of the bronze epoch_ is characterised by the custom
of the cremation of the dead, which generally took place in the
following way: the body of the defunct was usually placed, together with
his weapons and ornaments, on the funeral pile, which was built on the
exact spot which was destined to form the centre of the _tumulus_; the
fire was then lighted, and, after the body was consumed, the remains of
the bones were collected together in an urn. The rubbish that resulted
was left on the spot, surrounded with stones, and covered with earth
till the _tumulus_ was complete. The urn which contained the ashes was
then placed in another part of the _tumulus_. This course of procedure
was not the only one employed; in some cases the weapons and other
articles of adornment were not placed upon the funeral-pile, but were
afterwards brought and placed round the urn.
"The number of tombs of the bronze epoch which have been discovered in
Denmark is very considerable. There are thousands of _tumuli_, and many
of them contain a large number of funeral urns. A great many of these
_tumuli_ have been searched at various times and have produced a number
of different bronze articles. The Museum of Copenhagen possesses no less
than 600 swords dating back to the bronze epoch."[38]
Twenty years ago, however, a very curious discovery was made at Lübeck
(Pomerania), for it exhibited, so to speak, in the same tomb, the three
modes of interment belonging to the pre-historic epochs of the stone,
bronze, and iron ages.
At Waldhausen, near Lübeck, a _tumulus_ was found, which was 13 feet 9
inches in height. This _tumulus_ was pulled down in horizontal layers,
and the following details were successively brought to light.
At the top was a very ancient burial-place, evidently belonging to the
iron age; for the skeleton it contained was accompanied by an object
made of rusty iron and several earthenware articles. It was buried in
loose earth.
Underneath this, and half way down the _tumulus_, there were some small
enclosures composed of uncemented walls, each one containing a
sepulchral urn filled with calcined bones, as well as necklaces,
hair-pins, and a bronze knife.
Lastly, at the base of the _tumulus_, there was a tomb belonging to the
Stone Age. It was formed of large rough blocks of stone, and contained,
in addition to the bones, some coarse specimens of pottery, with flint
hatchets.
It is evident that the first inhabitants of the country began by
building a tomb on the bare ground, according to the customs of the age,
and then covered it up with earth. During the bronze epoch another
burial-place was made on this foundation, and a fresh heap of earth
doubled the height of the mound. Lastly, during the iron age, a dead
body was buried in a grave hollowed out on the top of the same mound.
Here, then, we have a clear delineation of the three different modes of
interment belonging to the three pre-historic periods.
In short, during the bronze epoch, the dead were generally buried in
sepulchral chambers, and sometimes, exceptionally, they were burned. The
custom of funeral feasts still remained in full force. The pious
practice of placing by the side of the dead body the instruments or
weapons which the individual had been fond of during his lifetime, was
likewise still kept up; and it is, moreover, owing to this circumstance
that archæological science is now enabled to collect numerous vestiges
of the ancient customs of these remote ages.
But we must call attention to the fact that, at the end of and after
this epoch, the hatchets and instruments which were placed in the tombs
were often of much smaller dimensions than those employed for every-day
use. They were small and delicately-made hatchets, intended as _votive_
offerings. Some might, perhaps, conclude from this that the heirs,
animated by a feeling of economy, had contented themselves with
depositing very diminutive offerings in the tombs of the dead. The human
race was already becoming degenerate, since it curtailed its homage and
its offerings to the dead!
In order to bring to a conclusion all the details which concern the
bronze epoch, the question will naturally arise, what was the human type
at this epoch, and did it differ from that of the preceding age?
Unfortunately, the positive information which is required for the
elucidation of this question is entirely wanting; this deficiency is
owing to the extreme rarity of human bones, both in the lacustrine
settlements of Switzerland, and also in the tombs belonging to that
epoch which have been searched in different European countries. The
whole of the lacustrine settlements of Switzerland have furnished no
more than some seven skeletons, one of which was found at Meilen, two at
Nidau, one at Sutz, one in the settlement of Bienne, and two at
Auvernier. The first, that is the skeleton found at Meilen, near lake
Zurich, is the only one which belongs to the Stone Age; the six others
are all of the Bronze or Iron Ages.
The skeleton found at Meilen is that of a child; the skull, which is in
a tolerable state of preservation, although incomplete, occupies,
according to the observations of MM. His and Rütimeyer, a middle place
between the long and short heads.
Figs. 229 and 230, representing this skull, are taken from M. Desor's
work, entitled 'Mémoire sur les Palafittes.' From the mere fact that it
is a child's skull, it is almost impossible to make any use of it in
ascertaining the characteristic features of the race to which it
belongs; for these features are not sufficiently marked at such an early
age. The skull is of a very elongated shape, that is to say, it belongs
to the _dolichocephalous_ type. The upper part of the skull is
flattened, and it has an enormous occipital development; but, on the
other hand, there is scarcely any forehead. If these special features
might be generally applied, they would not prove much in favour of the
intellectual capacity of the Helvetic nation, or of its superiority over
the races of anterior ages; it represents, in fact, a very low type of
conformation, which, however, harmonises perfectly with the rough
manners and cruel practices of the Gallic tribes.
[Illustration: Fig. 229.--Skull found at Meilen, front view.]
[Illustration: Fig. 230.--Skull found at Meilen, profile view.]
At the time of the discovery, this skull was accompanied by various
bones belonging to the body and limbs, which show by their extraordinary
bulk that their owners were men of very large size. We have already
remarked upon the large size of the men existing in the Stone Age, that
is to say, at the time of the first appearance of mankind. Thus, the
human type had changed but little since its first appearance on the
globe.
The settlement of Auvernier, in the lake of Neuchâtel has, as we have
before said, contributed two skulls. One belonged to a child about eight
years of age, and the other to an adult. The child's skull differs very
slightly from the one found at Meilen. It is small, elongated, and has a
low and narrow forehead. That of the adult presents the same
characteristics, and, in addition, an extraordinary development of the
occiput, a feature which is not observable in the former, probably, on
account of the youth of the subject. These two skulls seem, therefore,
to show that the population of the lacustrine settlements had not at all
changed at the beginning of the bronze epoch.
A discovery made in the neighbourhood of Sion has confirmed these first
ideas. At this spot, in tombs of rough stone, there were found some
bodies bent into a contracted position, and accompanied by certain
bronze objects. According to MM. His and Carl Vogt, the skulls found at
Sion agree tolerably well with those discovered at Meilen and Auvernier;
and, in addition to this, the same shape is perpetuated down to our own
days in German Switzerland, where it strongly predominates, and
constitutes what is called the Helvetic type.
The _data_ which have been collected up to the present time are not
sufficient to enable us to make any positive assertion respecting the
development of the intelligence of man during the bronze epoch. The few
skulls which have been recovered are always in an incomplete state, and
do not justify us in forming any exact opinion on this matter. But when
we are considering the degree of intelligence possessed by our ancestors
at this period of man's development, there are things which will
enlighten us far better than any fragments of bones or any remains of
skeletons; these are the works which have been executed by their hands.
The fine arts had already begun to throw out promising germs, industrial
skill had become an established fact, agriculture was in full practice,
and bronze was made to adapt itself to all the caprices and all the
boldest ideas of the imagination. What more can be necessary to prove
that man, at this epoch, was already comparatively far advanced in
intellectual culture?
In concluding our account of the bronze epoch, the question naturally
arises whether it is possible to form any estimate of the exact space of
time embraced by this period of man's history. We shall endeavour here
to give, not the solution of the problem, but merely an idea of the way
in which scientific men have entered on the question.
Morlot, the Swiss archæologist and naturalist, who has written a great
deal upon the subject of the lacustrine settlements, was the first to
endeavour to estimate the duration of the Stone Age, as well as that of
the Bronze Epoch, and the following is the way in which he set about it.
In the neighbourhood of Villeneuve there is a cone or hillock formed of
gravel and _alluvium_, slowly deposited there by the stream of the
Tinière which falls at this spot into the lake of Geneva. This cone was
cut in two, to lay down the railway which runs along the side of the
lake. Its interior structure was thus laid bare, and appeared to be
perfectly regular, a proof that it had been gradually formed during a
long course of ages. There were three layers of vegetable earth placed
at different depths between the deposits of _alluvium_, each of which
double layers had in its turn formed the outer surface of the cone.
The first layer was found at a depth of 3 feet 6 inches from the top,
and was 4 to 6 inches thick. In it were found some relics of the Roman
epoch.
The second, situated 5 feet 3 inches lower, measured 6 inches in depth,
and was recognised as belonging to the bronze age; it contained a pair
of bronze pincers and some fragments of unglazed earthenware.
The lower bed lay at a depth of 18 feet from the top, and varied in
thickness from 6 to 7 inches. It contained some rough earthenware,
charcoal, and animal bones, all pointing to the Stone Age, but to the
latest times of that period.
After having carefully examined these different beds and ascertained the
regular structure of the cone, Morlot fancied that he could calculate
approximately the age of each of them. He took for his base of
operations two historical dates; that of the entrance of the Romans into
Helvetia, fifty-eight years before Christ, and that of their decisive
expulsion towards the end of the fifth century of the Christian era. By
comparing these two dates, he came to the conclusion that the Roman
layer was at the most eighteen and at the least thirteen centuries old.
Then remarking that since that epoch the cone had increased 3 feet 6
inches, and always going upon the hypothesis that the increase was the
same as in subsequent ages, he came to the conclusion that the bed
corresponding with the bronze epoch was at least 2900 and at the most
4200 years old; and that the layer belonging to the Stone Age, forming
the entire remainder of the cone, was from 4700 to 10,000 years old.
Another calculation, the conclusions of which agree tolerably well with
these, was made by M. Gilliéron, professor at the college of Neuveville.
We have already said that the remains of a pile-work belonging to the
Stone Age was discovered near the bridge of Thièle, between the lakes of
Bienne and Neuchâtel. It is evident that the valley, the narrowest part
of which was occupied by the lacustrine settlement, was formerly almost
entirely under water, for below this point it suddenly widens out and
retains these proportions as far as the lake of Bienne. The lake must,
therefore, have retired slowly and regularly, as may be ascertained from
an examination of the mud deposited by it. If, therefore, we know its
annual coefficient of retreat, that is to say, how much it retired every
year, we should be able to estimate with a sufficient degree of
approximation the age of the settlement of the bridge of Thièle.
Now there is, not far from the lake, at about 1230 feet from the present
shore, an old abbey, that of Saint-Jean, which is known to have been
built about the year 1100. A document of that time mentions that the
cloister had the right of fishing in a certain part of the lake; and
there is some likelihood that it was built on the edge of the lake; a
supposition which naturally presents itself to the mind. The lake,
then, must have retired 1230 feet in 750 years. This granted, M.
Gilliéron easily calculated the time which would be taken for a retreat
of 11,072 feet, this number representing the distance from the present
shore to the entrance of the defile which contains the settlement of the
bridge of Thièle. He found by this means that the settlement is at least
6750 years old, a figure which confirms those of Morlot.
The preceding calculations assign to the Stone Age in Switzerland an
antiquity of 6000 to 7000 years before the Christian era, and to the
bronze epoch an antiquity of 4000 years before the same era. There is
still much uncertainty in the figures thus given to satisfy public
curiosity; but there is at least one fact which is altogether
unquestionable--that these calculations have dealt a fatal blow to
recognised chronology.
FOOTNOTE:
[38] 'Le Danemark à l'Exposition Universelle de 1867, by Valdemar
Schmidt,' vol. i. pp. 60-64. Paris, 1868.
II.
THE IRON EPOCH.
CHAPTER I.
Essential Characteristics of the Iron Epoch--Preparation of Iron in
Pre-historic Times--Discovery of Silver and Lead--Earthenware made
on the Potter's Wheel--Invention of Coined Money.
Without metals, as we have said in one of the preceding chapters, man
must have remained for ever in a state of barbarism. To this we must
add, that the civilisation of man has made progress just in proportion
to the degree of perfection he has arrived at in the working of the
metals and alloys which he has had at his disposal. The knowledge and
use of bronze communicated a strong impulse to nascent civilisation, and
was the means of founding the first human communities. But bronze is far
from possessing all the qualities which ought to belong to metals when
applied to various industrial purposes. This alloy is neither hard nor
elastic enough to make good tools; and, in addition to this, it is
composed of metals which in a natural state are very scarce. Man
requires a metal which is cheap, hard, easy to work, and adapted to all
the requirements which are exacted by industrial skill, which is so
manifold in its works and wants.
A metal of this sort was at length discovered, and a new era opened for
the future of men. They learned how to extract from its ore iron--the
true king of metals, as it may well be called--on account of its
inestimable qualities. From the day when iron was first placed at man's
disposal civilisation began to make its longest strides, and as the
working of this metal improved, so the dominion of man--his faculties
and his intellectual activity--likewise enlarged in the same proportion.
It is, therefore, with good reason that the name of _Iron Epoch_ has
been given to the latest period of the development of primitive man,
and it is not surprising that the last portion of the iron epoch formed
the commencement of historical times. After this period, in fact, man
ceased to live in that half-savage state, the most striking features of
which we have endeavoured to portray.
As the use of iron essentially characterises this epoch in the history
of mankind, we ought to give an account of the processes of manufacture
employed by the primitive metallurgists, that is to say, we should
inquire how they proceeded at this epoch to extract iron from its native
ore.
The art of metallurgy had made great progress during the bronze epoch.
There were at that time considerable workshops for the preparation of
bronze, and small foundries for melting and casting this alloy. When
once formed into weapons, instruments, and tools, bronze objects were
fashioned by artisans of various professions. The moulder's art had
already attained to a high degree of perfection, a fact which is proved
by the gigantic bronze objects which we have already mentioned, as well
as the castings, so many of which have been represented in the preceding
pages. The phenomenon of _tempering_ was well known, that is the
principal modifications which are experienced by bronze in its cooling,
whether slow or sudden. It was well known how to vary the proportions of
the tin and copper so as to obtain bronze of different degrees of
hardness. All the means of soldering were also familiarly known.
Damascening was introduced in order to diversify the appearance of
wrought metallic objects. The cutting qualities of instruments were
increased by forging them and consolidating them by hammering. They had
even gone so far as to discover the utility of the addition of certain
mineral salts in the founder's crucible in order to facilitate the
fusion of the bronze.
Thus at the end of the bronze epoch the knowledge of metals had attained
to a comparatively considerable development. Hence we may conclude that
the substitution of iron for bronze took place without any great
difficulty. Owing to the natural progress and successive improvements
made in metallurgic art, the blacksmith made his appearance on the scene
and took the place of the bronze-moulder.
What, however, was the process which enabled our earliest metallurgists
to extract iron from its native ore?
Native iron, that is metallic iron in a natural state, is eminently
rare; except in aërolites it is scarcely ever found. According to
Pallas, the Russian naturalist, certain Siberian tribes have succeeded,
with a great amount of labour, in obtaining from the aërolites which
have been met with in their country small quantities of iron, which they
have made into knives. The same practice existed among the Laplanders.
Lastly, we are told by Amerigo Vespucci that in the fifteenth century
the Indians at the mouth of the La Plata river were in the habit of
making arrow-heads and other instruments with iron extracted from
aërolites.[39]
But, as we hardly need observe, stones of this kind do not often drop
down from the skies, and their employment is of too accidental a
character ever to have suggested to men the right mode of the extraction
of iron. It is, therefore, almost certain that the first iron used was
extracted from its ore just like copper and tin, that is, by the
reduction of its oxide under the influence of heat and charcoal. In
opposition to this explanation, some bring forward as an objection the
prodigiously high temperature which is required for the fusion of iron,
or, in fact, the almost impossibility of melting iron in the primitive
furnaces. But the fusion of iron was in no way necessary for the
extraction of this metal; and if it had been requisite to procure liquid
iron, primitive industrial skill would never have succeeded in doing it.
All that was necessary was so to reduce the oxide of iron as to obtain
the metal in a spongy state without any fusion. The hammering of this
spongy mass when in a red-hot state soon converted it into a real bar of
iron.
If we cast a glance on the metallurgic industry of some of the
semi-barbarous nations of ancient times, we shall find, as regards the
extraction of iron, a process in use among them which will fully justify
the idea we have formed of the way in which iron must have been obtained
in primitive times. Gmelin, the naturalist, during his travels in
Tartary, was a witness of the elementary process which was employed by
these northern tribes in procuring iron. There, every one prepares his
own iron just as every household might make its own bread. The furnace
for the extraction of iron is placed in the kitchen, and is nothing but
a mere cavity, 9 inches cube, which is filled up with iron-ore; the
furnace is surmounted by an earthen chimney, and there is a door in
front of the furnace for introducing the ore, this door being kept
closed during the smelting process. In an orifice at the side the nozzle
of a pair of bellows is inserted, which are blown by one man whilst
another introduces the ore and charcoal in successive layers. The
furnace never holds more than 3-1/2 lbs. of ore for each operation. When
this quantity has been placed in the furnace, in small pieces one after
the other, all that is done is keeping up the action of the bellows for
some minutes. Lastly, the door of the furnace is opened, and the ashes
and other products of combustion having been drawn out, a small mass of
spongy iron is found, which proceeds from the reduction of the oxide of
iron by means of the charcoal, without the metal being in a state of
fusion, properly so called. This small lump of iron was cleaned with a
piece of wood, and was put on one side to be subsequently welded to
others, and hammered several times when in a red-hot state; and by means
of several forgings the whole mass was converted into a single bar.
This same process for the extraction of iron from its natural oxide,
without fusion, is practised by the negroes of Fouta-Djallon, in
Senegal.
After having become acquainted with the elementary process which is
practised by the semi-barbarous tribes of the present day, we shall find
but little difficulty in understanding all that Morlot, the Swiss
naturalist, has said as to the iron-furnaces of pre-historic man, and
shall probably agree in his opinions on the subject. Morlot, in his
'Mémoires sur l'Archéologie de la Suisse,' has described the vestiges of
the pre-historic furnaces intended for the preparation of iron, which
were found by him in Carinthia (Austria).
According to M. Morlot, the plan adopted for extracting iron from its
oxide in pre-historic times was as follows:--On the side of a slope
exposed to the wind, a hole was hollowed out. The bottom of this hole
was filled up with a heap of wood, on which was placed a layer of ore.
This layer of ore was covered by a second heap of wood; then, taking
advantage of a strong breeze rising, which had to perform the functions
of the bellows, the lowest pile of wood was kindled at its base. The
wood by its combustion was converted into charcoal, and this charcoal,
under the influence of heat, soon reduced the iron oxide to a metallic
state. When the combustion had come to an end, a few pieces of iron were
found among the ashes.
By increasing the size of the apparatus used, far more considerable
results were of course obtained. In Dalecarlia (Sweden), M. Morlot found
smelting-houses, so to speak, in which the original hole, of which we
have just been speaking, is surrounded with stones so as to form a sort
of circular receptacle. In this rough stone crucible layers of charcoal
and iron-ore were placed in succession. After having burnt for some
hours, the heap was searched over and the spongy iron was found mixed
with the ashes at the bottom of the furnace.
The slowness of the operation and the inconsiderable metallic result
induced them to increase the size of the stone receptacle. They first
gave to it a depth of 7 feet and then of 13 feet, and, at the same time,
coated the walls of it with clay. They thus had at their disposal a kind
of vast circular crucible, in which they placed successive layers of
iron-ore and wood or charcoal.
In this altogether elementary arrangement no use was made, as it seems,
of the bellows. This amounts to stating that the primitive method of
smelting iron was not, as is commonly thought, an adaptation of the
_Catalan furnace_. This latter process, which, even in the present time,
is made use of in the Pyrenean smelting works, does not date back
further than the times of the Roman empire. It is based on the continual
action of the bellows; whilst in the pre-historic furnaces this
instrument, we will again repeat, was never employed.
These primitive furnaces applied to the reduction of iron-ore, traces of
which had been recognised by Morlot, the naturalist, in Austria and
Sweden, have lately been discovered in considerable numbers in the
canton of Berne by M. Quiquerez, a scientific mining engineer. They
consist of cylindrical excavations, of no great depth, dug out on the
side of a hill and surmounted by a clay funnel of conical form.
Wood-charcoal was the fuel employed for charging the furnaces, for
stores of this combustible are always found lying round the ancient
smelting works.
In an extremely curious memoir, which was published in 1866 by the Jura
Society of Emulation, under the title of 'Recherches sur les anciennes
Forges du Jura Bernois,' M. Quiquerez summed up the results of his
protracted and minute investigations. A few extracts from this valuable
work will bring to our knowledge the real construction of the furnaces
used by pre-historic man; 400 of these furnaces having been discovered
by M. Quiquerez in the district of the Bernese Jura.
We will, however, previously mention that M. Quiquerez had represented,
or materialised, as it were, the results of his interesting labours, by
constructing a model in miniature of a siderurgical establishment
belonging to the earliest iron epoch. This curious specimen of
workmanship showed the clay-furnace placed against the side of a hill,
the heaps of charcoal, the scoriæ, the hut used as a dwelling by the
workmen, the furnace-implements--in short, all the details which formed
the result of the patient researches of the learned Swiss engineer.
M. Quiquerez had prepared this interesting model of the ancient
industrial pursuits of man with a view of exhibiting it in the
_Exposition Universelle_ of 1867, together with the very substances,
productions, and implements which he had found in his explorations in
the Jura. But the commission appointed for selecting objects for
admission refused to grant him the modest square yard of area which he
required for placing his model. How ridiculous it seems! In the immense
Champ de Mars in which so many useless and absurd objects perfectly
swarmed, one square yard of space was refused for one of the most
curious productions which was ever turned out by the skilful hands of
any _savant_!
The result of this unintelligent refusal was that M. Quiquerez' model
did not make its appearance in the _Exposition Universelle_ in the Champ
de Mars, and that it was missing from the curious Gallery of the History
of Labour, which called forth so much of the attention of the public.
For our readers, however, it will not be altogether lost. M. Quiquerez
has been good enough to forward to us from Bellerive, where he resides
(near Délémont, canton of Basle, Switzerland) a photograph of his
curious model of a pre-historic workshop for the preparation of iron.
From this photograph we have designed the annexed plate, representing a
_primitive furnace for the extraction of iron_.
[Illustration: Fig. 231.--Primitive Furnace for Smelting Iron.]
This composition reproduces with tolerable accuracy the model in relief
constructed by the author. The furnace is shown; it is nothing but a
simple cavity surmounted by a conical chimney-funnel, and placed against
the side of a hill. Steps made of rough stone, placed on each side of
the mound, enable the workmen to mount to the summit. The height of the
funnel is about 9 feet. At the side of the furnace stands the hut for
the labourers, constructed of a number of round poles placed side by
side; for centuries past huts of this kind have been erected in almost
every country.
On the right, in the foreground, we may notice a heap of charcoal
intended to be placed in the furnace in order to reduce the ore; on the
left, there is the store of ore called in the ironworks the _ore-pen_.
The provision of iron-ore is enclosed between four wooden slabs, forming
a quadrangular space. In the centre are the scoriæ which result from the
operations carried on. A workman is extracting the cake of spongy iron
from the ashes of the furnace; another is hammering on the anvil a piece
of iron drawn from the furnace in order to forge it into a bar. Round
the furnace various implements are scattered about, such as the anvil,
the pincers, the hammer, &c. All the instruments are designed from
various specimens found by the author.
After these explanations, we may now give some extracts from M.
Quiquerez' work, and we trust our readers will find no difficulty in
comprehending the details given by the learned engineer, describing the
primitive furnaces for the extraction of iron which he discovered in the
Bernese Jura.
M. Quiquerez has remarked two kinds of primitive furnaces for the
fabrication of iron, or, rather, two stages of improvement in their
construction. The first sort, that which the author considers as dating
back to the most remote antiquity, is not so numerous as the others; the
second kind form the largest number of those which he has explored.
"Furnaces of the first kind," says M. Quiquerez, "consisted of nothing
but a small cylindrical excavation of no great regularity in shape, with
a cup-shaped bottom, hollowed out in the side of a hill so as to give
more natural height on one side; the front of the furnace was closed up
by fire-proof clay, supported with stones. This cavity was plastered
over with 4 to 6 inches of clay, generally of a whitish colour, which
became red after coming in contact with the fire. These
smelting-furnaces were not more than 12 to 18 inches in depth, as seemed
to be shown by the upper edges being rounded and more or less scoriated.
The front, which was always more or less broken, had an opening at its
base to admit a current of air, and to allow the workmen to deal with
the melted material; but this opening seems to show that the piece of
metal which had been formed during the operation must have been
extracted by breaking in the front.
"The second kind of furnace, which is by far the most numerously found
and widely distributed, is, in fact, nothing but an improvement of that
which preceded it, the edges of the furnace or crucible being
considerably raised in height. They vary in depth from 7-1/2 to 8 feet,
with a diameter of most irregular dimensions, from 18 inches upwards,
and a thickness of 12 inches to 7 feet. They are likewise formed of
fire-proof clay, and their average capacity is about 25 gallons.
"The constructor, having dug out in the side of the hill an opening
circular, or rather semi-circular, at the base, with a diameter nearly
three times as wide as the future furnace, arranged in the centre of
this hole a kind of furnace-bed made of plastic clay at bottom, and
covered with a layer of fire-proof clay on the top of it. The bed of the
furnace, which lies on the natural and hardly levelled earth, is,
generally speaking, not so thick as the side walls, which are formed of
sandy or siliceous clay, always fire-proof on the inside, but sometimes
of a more plastic nature on the exterior; the empty space left between
the walls of the furnace and the solid ground round it was filled up
with earth and other material. In front the furnace was enclosed by a
rough wall, sometimes straight and sometimes curving, built, without
mortar, of rough limestone, and dressed with earth to fill up the gaps.
In front of the furnace an opening was made in this wall, taking its
rise a few inches above the bottom of the furnace, and increasing in
size in an outward direction, so as to enable the workmen to see into,
and work in, the furnace.
"The work thus commenced was carried up to the requisite height; and
when the excavation in the side of the hill was not lofty enough, the
dome of the furnace was raised by placing buttresses against the
fire-clay, so as to prevent the earth falling in. When these furnaces
were established on almost level ground, as is sometimes the case, they
form a truncated cone, with a base varying in size according to the
height of the apparatus.
"The furnace was not always built upright; it often deviated from the
perpendicular, leaning to one side or the other to an extent as
considerable as its own diameter, but no constant rule as to this can be
recognised. The internal shape was just as irregular, changing from
circular to oval, without any apparent motive beyond want of care in the
workman. The crucibles or furnaces are sometimes larger at the top than
at the bottom, and sometimes these proportions are reversed, but always
with extreme irregularity. We have noticed some which at a point 10 or
12 inches above the crucible were perceptibly contracted on three sides,
thus representing the first rudiments of the appearance of our modern
furnaces. But this, perhaps, was nothing but a caprice on the part of
the builder.
"The furnace thus being established, the wood was withdrawn which had
formed the cone, if, indeed, any had been used, and at the hole made at
the base of the crucible a clod of fire-clay some inches in height was
placed, so as to form a dam, and to confine in the crucible the molten
or soft metal; the scoriæ, being of a lighter nature and floating at the
top, made their escape over the top of the dam. As the latter were not
very liquid, their issue was promoted by means of pokers or wooden
poles, perhaps damped, with which also the metal was stirred in the
crucible.
"In neither of these two kinds of furnaces do we find any trace of
bellows, and a more or less strong draught must have been procured
through the opening made for the escape of the scoriæ, according to the
elevation of the dome of the furnace. The limestones which have been
found in certain furnaces were probably employed with a view of
increasing the draught; they doubtless belonged to the upper part of the
furnace, where they had been fixed so as to add height to the orifice.
This rudimentary plan must have been likewise used in the earliest
crucibles. The mode of obtaining a draught which we have just pointed
out is indicated most plainly by the scorification of the walls of the
furnace on the side opposite to the air-passage; this side has evidently
experienced a more intense heat, whilst on the other the walls are much
less affected by the fire, and in some cases pieces of the mineral still
remain in a pasty or semi-molten state, just as they were when the work
of the furnace ceased....
"The absence of any machine in the shape of bellows in the ancient metal
works of the Jura appears all the more remarkable as these implements
were known both to the Greeks and Romans; hence we may at least infer,
not only that these nations did not introduce the art of iron-working
into the Jura, but that it must have existed at a much earlier period.
It must also be remarked that the openings in the furnaces are not
placed in the direction of the winds prevailing in the country--a plan
which might have increased the draught--but are made quite at hazard,
just as the nature of the spot rendered the construction of the furnace
more easy.
"... In respect to fuel it must be remarked that in all the
siderurgical establishments which we have discovered, certain features
indicate that wood carbonised in a stack was exclusively used as fuel.
The furnaces are too small for the employment of rough wood; added to
this, charcoal stores are placed near the furnaces; and charcoal burnt
in a stack is constantly met with all round the sites, in the scoriæ,
and all the _débris_. We must, besides, mention the discovery, at
Bellelay, of a charcoal store 8 feet in diameter, situated under a
compact bed of peat 20 feet in thickness. It was established on the
solid earth, anterior to the formation of the peat. Now from this very
peat a parcel of coins belonging to the fifteenth century was recovered,
over which only 2 feet of peat had grown in a period of 400 years.
There, too, at a depth of 9 feet, were found the scattered bones of a
horse, with the foot still shod with those undulating edged shoes with
elongated and strongly punched holes, in which were fitted the ends of
nails of the shape of a T, the heads of which were conical. This kind of
shoe is found in the Celtic settlements, the villages, habitations, and
ironworks, also in the pasturages and forests of the country, but rarely
in the Roman camps; in the latter they are always in less number than
the wider metallic shoes, which are larger, and furnished with a groove
indicating the line in which the nail-holes were punched. The
calculations which have been made from the discovery of the coins of the
fifteenth century (A.D. 1478) would give an antiquity of at least twenty
to twenty-four centuries to the horse-shoe we have just mentioned, for
the animal must have died and been devoured on the then existing surface
of the ground, and could not have been buried in the peat, as the bones,
instead of lying grouped together, were dispersed in every direction.
These same calculations would carry back the date of the charcoal-store
to an era 4000 years ago.
"Owing to the imperfection of the furnaces, the quantity of charcoal
used must have been quadruple the present consumption for the same
results. The metal, as it was extracted from the ore, fell down into the
bottom of the crucible. In proportion as the mass of metal increased, a
workman, with a poker made of damp green wood, brought out the scoriæ
which floated on the top, and stirred the metal so as to fine it. It is
proved that these wooden pokers or poles were made use of in all the
furnace-works. A quantity of morsels of scoriæ is found which, having
been in a soft state when extracted, have retained the imprint of the
piece of wood, the end of which was evidently charred. M. Morlot, in his
article on the Roman ironworks at Wocheim, in Upper Carniola, has also
noticed the existence, in the scoriæ, of frequent traces of pokers,
sometimes round and sometimes three-cornered in shape, but all of them
must have been made of iron, whilst throughout the whole of the Jura we
have never recognised the traces of any but wooden implements of this
kind.
"Owing to the imperfection of the furnaces, and especially, the
deficiency in the draught caused by the want of bellows, the metal
contained in the ore could be but very imperfectly extracted; the scoriæ
are therefore still so very rich in iron that, about twenty years ago,
the manager of the ironworks at Untervelier tried to use them over again
as ore. Accumulations of this dross, measuring from 100 to 200 yards
square, may be seen near certain furnaces-a fact which would infer a
somewhat considerable production of iron. The examination of these
scoriæ proves that iron was then made by one single operation, and not
liquid pigs fit for casting, or to be converted into iron by a second
series of operations.
"The iron produced was introduced into commerce in large blocks, shaped
like two quadrangular pyramids joined at the base, weighing from 12 to
16 lbs. One of these pieces was found near a furnace which had been
demolished in order to establish a charcoal furnace, in the commune of
Untervelier, and another in one of the furnaces of Boécourt.
"All round the furnaces there have been found numerous remains of rough
pottery; it is badly baked, and made without the help of the wheel, from
clay which is mingled with grains of quartz--the pottery, in fact, which
is called Celtic. Pieces of stag's horn have also been discovered, which
must have been used for the handles of tools; also iron hatchets. One of
them has a socket at the end made in a line with the length of the
implement; it is an instrument belonging to the most remote period of
the iron age. The others have transversal sockets like our present
hatchets. One of the latter was made of steel so hard that it could not
be touched with the file. With regard to coins, both Gallic and Roman
were found, and some of the latter were of as late a date as that of
the Constantines. The persistence in practising the routine of all the
most ancient processes may be explained by the monopoly of the
iron-working trade being retained in the same families. We have the less
need to be surprised at this, because we may notice that the
wood-cutters and charcoal-burners of our own days, when they have to
take up their abode in a locality for any length of time, and to carry
on their trade there, always make certain arrangements which have
doubtless been handed down from the most primitive times. In order to
protect their beds from the damp, they make a kind of shelf of fir-poles
which is used as a bedstead. Some of them have two stories; the
under-one intended for the children, and the one above for the parents.
Moss, ferns, and dried grass form the mattress. Coverlets impossible to
describe were made good use of, and some were even made of branches of
fir-trees. These bedsteads take the place both of benches and chairs. A
stone fire-place, roughly arranged in the centre of the hut, fills the
double function of warming in winter and cooking the food all the year
round. We may also add, that the fire, which is almost always kept
lighted, and the ashes spread over the floor all round, preserve the hut
from certain troublesome insects, which lose their lives by jumping
imprudently into this unknown trap. The smoke finds no other issue but
through a hole made in the roof."[40]
Such is the description given by M. Quiquerez of the iron furnaces of a
really pre-historic character, those, namely, which are characterised by
the absence of bellows. We think, however, that there must have been
holes below the hearth which afforded access to currents of air, and, by
being alternately open or closed, served either to increase or diminish
the intensity of the draught. But bellows, properly so called, intended
to promote the combustion and chemical reaction between the oxide of
iron and the charcoal did not then exist.
The addition of the bellows to iron-furnaces brought an essential
improvement to the art of the manufacture of iron.
Another improvement consisted in making, at the bottom of the stone
receptacle where the fuel and the ore were burnt together, a door
composed of several bricks which could be readily moved. At the
completion of each operation they drew out, through this door, the cake
of iron, which could not be so conveniently extracted at the upper part
of the furnace, on account of its height. The hammering, assisted by
several heatings, finally cleared the iron, in the usual way, from all
extraneous matter, consolidated it, and converted it into the state of
bar-iron fit for the blacksmith's use, and for the fabrication of
utensils and tools.
These improved primitive furnaces are well-known to German miners under
the name of _Stucköfen_ ("fragment-furnaces"). They are modified in
different ways in different countries; and according to the arrangement
of the furnace, and especially according to the nature of the
ferruginous ores, certain methods or manipulations of the iron have been
introduced, which are nowadays known under the names of the Swedish,
German, Styrian, Carinthian, Corsican, and Catalan methods.
The ancient furnaces for the extraction of iron may be combined under
the name of _smelting-forges_ or _bloomeries_.
The invention of siliceous fluxes as applied to the extraction of iron,
and facilitating the production of a liquid scoria which could flow out
in the form of a stream of fire, put the finishing stroke to the
preparation of iron. The constructors next considerably increased the
height of the stone crucible in which the fuel and the ore, now mingled
with a siliceous flux, were placed, and the _blast furnace_, that is,
the present system of the preparation of iron, soon came into existence.
But, there may be reason to think, neither of these two kinds of
furnaces belongs to the primitive ages of mankind which are the object
of this work. In the iron epoch--that we are considering--the furnace
without bellows was possibly the only one known; the iron was prepared
in very small quantities at a time, and the meagre metallic cake, the
result from each operation, had to be picked out from among the ashes
drawn from the stone receptacle.
Gold, as we have already said, was known to the men of the bronze epoch.
Silver, on the contrary, did not come into use until the iron epoch.
Another characteristic of the epoch we are now studying is the
appearance of pottery made on the potter's wheel, and baked in an
improved kind of furnace. Up to that time, pottery had been moulded by
the hand, and merely burnt in the open air. In the iron epoch, the
potter's wheel came into use, and articles of earthenware were
manufactured on this wheel, and baked in an unexceptionable way in an
oven especially constructed for the purpose.
There is another fact which likewise characterises the iron epoch; this
was the appearance of coined money. The earliest known coins belong to
this period; they are made of bronze, and bear a figure or effigy not
stamped, but obtained by melting and casting.
The most ancient coins that are known are Greek, and date back to the
eighth century before Christ. These are the coins of Ægina, Athens, and
Cyzicum, such as were found many years ago in the duchy of Posen. In the
lacustrine settlement of Neuchâtel, coins of a remote antiquity have
also been found. We here represent in its natural size (fig. 232), taken
from M. Desor's work, a bronze coin found in the settlement of La Tène
in the lake of Neuchâtel. But these coins are not more ancient than the
Greek specimens that we have before named. They are shown to be Gallic
by the horned horse, which is a Gallic emblem.
[Illustration: Fig. 232.--Bronze Coin, from the Lake of Neuchâtel.]
At Tiefenau, near Berne, coins have been found of a nearly similar
character associated with others having on them the effigy of Apollo,
and bearing an imprint of _Massilia_ (Marseilles). As the foundation of
this Phocæan colony dates back to the sixth century before Christ, these
coins may be said to be among the most ancient which exist.
Glass became known, as we have before stated, in the bronze epoch.
In short, the essential features which distinguish the iron epoch are,
iron instruments, and implements combining with those of bronze to
replace stone in all the uses for which it was anciently employed--the
knowledge of silver and lead, the improvement of pottery, and the
introduction of coined money. With regard to its chronological date we
should adopt that of about 2000 years before the Christian era, thus
agreeing with the generality of authors--the date of the bronze epoch
being fixed about 4000 years before Christ.
After these general considerations, we shall pass on to give some
account of the manners and customs of man during the iron epoch, or, at
least, during the earlier portion of this period, which ere long became
blended with historic ages.
When we have completed our study of man in the earlier period of the
iron epoch, we shall have terminated the rapid sketch which we have
intended to trace out of primitive man and his labours. This period
commenced, as we have just stated, about 2000 years before Christ, and
ultimately merged into the earliest glimmer of historical records. Our
task now is to describe all we know about man at this date of nascent
civilisation. Afterwards, the earliest historians--and among them,
Herodotus, the father of history--are the authorities whom we must
consult for an account of the actions and exploits of the human race in
Europe.
FOOTNOTES:
[39] Details as to the relation of the Stone Age to the Bronze and Iron
Ages may be found in 'Researches into the Early History of Mankind,' by
Edward B. Tylor. Chap. VIII., 'Pre-Historic Times,' by Sir J. Lubbock,
Chaps. I. and II.
[40] 'De l'Age du Fer, Recherches sur les anciennes Forges du Jura
Bernois,' by A. Quiquerez, Engineer of the Jura Mines. Porrentruy, 1866;
pp. 35-39, 77-80. Also, 'Matériaux pour l'Histoire positif de l'Homme,'
by G. de Mortillet, vol. ii. pp. 505-510.
CHAPTER II.
Weapons--Tools, Instruments, Utensils, and Pottery--The Tombs of
Hallstadt and the Plateau of La Somma--The Lake-Settlements of
Switzerland--Human Sacrifices--Type of Man during the Iron
Epoch--Commencement of the Historic Era.
The most valuable traces of the manners and customs of man during the
earlier period of the iron epoch have been furnished by the vast
burial-ground discovered recently at Hallstadt, near Salzburg in
Austria. M. Ramsauer, Director of the salt-mines of Salzburg, has
explored more than 1000 tombs in this locality, and has described them
in a work full of interest, a manuscript copy of which we have consulted
in the Archæological Museum of Saint-Germain.
As the tombs at Hallstadt belong to the earlier period of the iron
epoch, they represent to us the natural transition from the epoch of
bronze to that of iron. In fact, in a great number of objects contained
in these tombs--such as daggers, swords and various ornaments--bronze
and iron are combined. One sword, for instance, is formed of a bronze
hilt and an iron blade. This is represented in figures 233, 234, 235 and
236, drawn from the sketches in M. Ramsauer's manuscript work entitled
'Les Tombes de Hallstadt,' in which this combination of the two metals
is remarked upon; the sword-hilts being formed of one metal and the
blades of another.
[Illustration: Fig. 233.--Sword, from the Tombs of Hallstadt (with a
Bronze Hilt and Iron Blade).]
[Illustration: Fig. 234.--Sword, from the Tombs of Hallstadt (with a
Bronze Hilt and Iron Blade).]
[Illustration: Fig. 235.--Dagger, from the Tombs of Hallstadt (Bronze
Handle and Iron Blade).]
[Illustration: Fig. 236.--Dagger, from the Tombs of Hallstadt (Bronze
Handle and Iron Blade).]
By taking a rapid survey of the objects found in the tombs of Hallstadt,
we can form a somewhat accurate idea of the first outset of the iron
age.
The first point which strikes us in this period, is the utter change
which had taken place in the interment of the dead.
During the Stone Age, the dead were placed in small subterranean crypts,
that is in _dolmens_ or _tumuli_. During the Bronze Age it became to a
great extent customary for men to burn the dead bodies of their friends.
This custom was destined to become more and more prevalent century after
century, and during historic times it became universal among a great
many nations.
In fact, in the tombs of Hallstadt, several little earthen vessels
containing ashes may be seen. Sometimes only part of the body was burnt,
so that a portion of a skeleton was found in these tombs, and near it
the ashes of the parts which the fire had consumed.
The remains found in the tombs of Hallstadt are almost equally divided
between these two modes of inhumation. About half of the tombs contain
nothing but ashes; in the other half, corpses are laid extended,
according to the custom which was most prevalent in the iron age.
Lastly, as we have just stated, some of them contained skeletons which
were partially burnt. Sometimes it was the head, sometimes the whole
bust, or sometimes the lower limbs which were consumed, the ashes being
deposited by the side of the intact portions of the skeleton. Fig. 238,
which is designed from one of the illustrations in M. Ramsauer's
manuscript work 'Les Tombes de Hallstadt,' in the Museum of
Saint-Germain, represents a skeleton, part of which (the chest) has been
consumed. The ashes are contained in small earthen vessels which are
seen near the corpse.
[Illustration: Fig. 237.--Funeral Ceremonies during the Iron Epoch.]
[Illustration: Fig. 238.--A Skeleton, portions of which have been burnt,
from the Tombs of Hallstadt.]
From the _data_ which we have acquired as to this custom of burning
dead bodies during the iron epoch, we have been able to represent _the
funeral ceremonies of the iron epoch_ in the preceding figure.
The corpse is placed on a funeral pile, and the stone door of the
tumulus is raised in order to deposit in it the cinerary urn. The
relations of the deceased accompany the procession clothed in their
handsomest garments and adorned with the bronze and iron ornaments which
were then in vogue. One of those present may be seen throwing some
precious objects into the flames of the funeral pile in honour of the
deceased.
The tombs of Hallstadt are the locality in which the largest number of
objects, such as weapons, instruments and implements, have been met
with, which have tended to throw a light upon the history of the
transition from the bronze to the iron epoch. All these objects are
either of bronze or iron; but in the weapons the latter predominates.
Swords, spear-heads, daggers, knives, socketed hatchets and winged
hatchets form the catalogue of the sharp instruments. In the preceding
pages (figs. 233, 234, 235 and 236) we have given representations of
swords and daggers designed from the specimens in the Museum of
Saint-Germain. In all these weapons the handle is made of bronze and the
blade of iron. Warriors' sword-belts are frequently formed of plates of
bronze, and are embellished with a _repoussé_ ornamentation executed by
the hammer.
In fig. 239 we give a representation of a necklace with pendants which
is most remarkable in its workmanship. It may be readily seen that art
had now attained some degree of maturity. This necklace was a prelude to
the marvellous works of art which were about to be brought to light
under the skies of Greece.
[Illustration: Fig. 239.--A Necklace with Pendants, from the Tombs of
Hallstadt.]
The bracelets which have been met with by hundreds, hair pins and
bronze fibulæ are all wrought with taste, and are often adorned with
very elegant pendants. In figs. 240 and 241 we show two bracelets, the
sketches for which were taken from the designs in the manuscript of the
'Tombes de Hallstadt.'
[Illustration: Fig. 240.--Bracelet, from the Tombs of Hallstadt.]
[Illustration: Fig. 241.--Bracelet, from the Tombs of Hallstadt.]
We may add a few amber necklace-beads and some of enamel, and we have
then concluded the series of personal ornaments.
In the tombs of Hallstadt, nearly 200 bronze vessels have been
discovered, some of which are as much as 36 inches in height. These
bronze vessels were composed of several pieces skilfully riveted but not
soldered. Plates 242 and 243 are reproduced from the same beautiful
manuscript.
[Illustration: Fig. 242.--Bronze Vase, from the Tombs of Hallstadt.]
[Illustration: Fig. 243.--Bronze Vase, from the Tombs of Hallstadt.]
In the tombs of Hallstadt some small glass vessels have also been
discovered.
Remains of pottery are very plentiful, and a decided improvement is
shown in their workmanship. Some gold trinkets were also met with in
these tombs. The gold was, doubtless, obtained from the mines of
Transylvania.
African ivory abounds in these graves--a fact which indicates commercial
intercourse with very distant countries. This product, as well as the
glass, was introduced into Europe by the Phoenicians. The inhabitants of
central Europe obtained ivory from Tyre and Sidon by means of barter.
The ivory objects which were found at Hallstadt consisted of the heads
of hair-pins and the pommels of swords.
There were no traces whatever of money, the use of it not being then
established in that part of Europe.
The population which lived in the vicinity of the Salzburg mines were in
reality rich; for the salt-mines were a source of great wealth to them
at a period when the deposits of rock-salt in Poland, being still buried
in the depths of the earth, were as yet unknown or inaccessible. In this
way, we may account for the general opulence of these commercial
nations, and for the elegance and taste displayed in the objects which
have been found in the tombs of Hallstadt.
Guided by these various remains, it is not difficult to reproduce an
ideal picture of _the warriors of the iron epoch_, a representation of
which we have endeavoured to give in fig. 244. The different pieces of
the ornaments observed on the horseman, on the foot-soldier, and also on
the horse, are drawn from specimens exhibited in the Museum of
Saint-Germain which were modelled at Hallstadt. The helmet is in perfect
preservation and resembles those which, shortly after, were worn by the
Gallic soldiers. The bosses, also, on the horse's harness, ere long came
into use both among the Gauls and also the Romans.
[Illustration: Fig. 244.--Warriors of the Iron Epoch.]
Next to the tombs of Hallstadt, we must mention the tombs discovered on
the plateau of La Somma, in Lombardy, which have contributed a valuable
addition to the history of the earliest period of the iron epoch.
On this plateau there were discovered certain tombs, composed of rough
stones of a rectangular form. In the interior there were some vases of a
shape suited to the purpose, containing ashes. The material of which
they were made was fine clay; they had been wrought by means of the
potter's wheel, were ornamented with various designs, and also provided
with encircling projections. On some of them, representations of
animals may be seen which indicate a considerable progress in the
province of art. The historic date of these urns is pointed out by
_fibulæ_ (clasps for cloaks), iron rings and bracelets, sword-belts
partly bronze and partly iron, and small bronze chains. The tombs of La
Somma belong, therefore, to a period of transition between the bronze
and iron epochs. According to M. Mortillet, they date back to the
seventh century before Christ.
Under the same head we will class the tombs of Saint-Jean de Belleville,
in Savoy. At this spot several tombs belonging to the commencement of
the iron epoch have been explored by MM. Borel and Costa de Beauregard.
The latter, in a splendid work published in Savoy, has given a detailed
description of these tombs.[41]
Some of the skeletons are extended on their backs, others have been
consumed, but only partially, like those which we have already mentioned
in the tombs of Hallstadt. Various objects, consisting chiefly of
trinkets and ornaments, have been met with in these tombs. We will
mention in particular the _fibulæ_, bracelets and necklaces made of
amber, enamelled glass, &c.
In figs. 245 and 246 we give a representation of two skeleton arms,
which are encircled with several bracelets just as they were found in
these tombs.
[Illustration: Figs. 245, 246.--Fore-arm, encircled with Bracelets,
found in the Tombs of Belleville (Savoy).]
The lacustrine settlements of Switzerland have contributed a valuable
element towards the historic reconstruction of the iron epoch.
In different parts of the lakes of Bienne and Neuchâtel there are
pile-works which contain iron objects intermingled with the remains of
preceding ages. But there is only one lacustrine settlement in
Switzerland which belongs exclusively to the earliest period of the Iron
Age--that of La Tène on the Lake of Neuchâtel.
Most of the objects which have been met with in this lacustrine
settlement have been recovered from the mud in which they had been so
remarkably preserved, being sheltered from any contact with the outer
air. There are, however, many spots in which piles may be seen, where
objects of this kind have not been found; but if subsequent researches
are attended with any results, we shall be forced to attribute to the
settlement of La Tène a considerable degree of importance, for the piles
there extend over an area of 37 acres.
The remains of all kinds which have been found in this settlement are
evidently of Gallic origin. It is an easy matter to prove this by
comparing the weapons found in this settlement with those which were
discovered in the trenches of Alise-Sainte-Reine, the ancient _Alesia_,
where, in its last contest against Cæsar, the independence of ancient
Gaul came to an end.
M. de Rougemont has called attention to the fact that these weapons
correspond very exactly to the description given by Diodorus Siculus of
the Gallic weapons. Switzerland thus seems to have been inhabited in the
earliest iron epoch by Gallic tribes, that is to say, by a different
race from that which occupied it during the stone and bronze epochs; and
it was this race which introduced into Switzerland the use of iron.
Among the objects collected in the lake settlement of La Tène, weapons
are the most numerous; they consist of swords and the heads of spears
and javelins. Most of them have been kept from oxidation by the peaty
mud which entirely covered them, and they are, consequently, in a state
of perfect preservation.
The swords are all straight, of no very great thickness, and perfectly
flat. The blade is from 31 to 35 inches in length, and is terminated by
a handle about 6 inches long. They have neither guards nor crosspieces.
Several of them were still in their sheaths, from which many of them
have been drawn out in a state of perfect preservation, and even
tolerably sharp.
Fig. 247 represents one of the iron swords from the Swiss lakes, which
are depicted in M. Desor's memoir.
[Illustration: Fig. 247.--Iron Sword, found in one of the Swiss Lakes.]
On another sword, of which we also give a representation (fig. 248), a
sort of damascening work extends over almost the whole surface, leaving
the edges alone entirely smooth.
[Illustration: Fig. 248.--Sword with Damascened Blade, found in one of
the Swiss Lakes.]
M. de Reffye, the archæologist, accounts for this fact in the following
way:--He is of opinion that the body of the blade is made of very hard
unyielding iron, whilst the edges are made of small strips of mellower
iron which have been subsequently welded and wrought by the hammer. This
mode of manufacture enabled the soldier, when his sword was notched, to
repair it by means of hammering. This was a most valuable resource
during an epoch in which armies did not convey stores along with them,
and when the soldier's baggage was reduced to very little more than he
could personally carry. Several of these damascened blades have been
found in the trenches of Alise.
The sheaths, the existence of which now for the first time comes under
our notice, are of great importance on account of the designs with which
they are ornamented. Most of these designs are engraved with a tool,
others are executed in _repoussé_ work. All of them show great
originality and peculiar characteristics, which prevent them from being
confounded with works of Roman art. One of these sheaths (fig. 249),
which belongs to M. Desor's collection and is depicted in his memoir,
represents the "horned horse," the emblem of Gaul, which is sufficient
proof of the Gallic origin of the weapons found in the Lake of La Tène.
Below this emblem, there is a kind of granulated surface which bears
some resemblance to shagreen.
[Illustration: Fig 249.--Sheath of a Sword, found in one of the Swiss
Lakes.]
This sheath is composed of two very thin plates of wrought iron laid one
upon the other, except at the base, where they are united by means of a
cleverly-wrought band of iron. At its upper extremity there is a plate,
on one side of which may be seen the designs which we have already
described, and on the other a ring, intended to suspend the weapon to
the belt.
The lance-heads are very remarkable on account of their extraordinary
shape and large size. They measure as much as 16 inches long, by 2 to 4
inches wide, and are double-edged and twisted into very diversified
shapes. Some are winged, and others are irregularly indented. Some have
perforations in the shape of a half-moon (fig. 250). The halberd of the
middle ages was, very probably, nothing but an improvement on, or a
deviation from, these singular blades.
[Illustration: Fig. 250.--Lance-head, found in one of the Swiss Lakes.]
Fragments of wooden staves have been met with which had been fitted into
these spear-heads; they are slender, and shod with iron at one end.
The care with which these instruments are wrought proves that they are
lance-heads, and not mere darts or javelins intended to be thrown to a
distance and consequently lost. They certainly would not have taken so
much pains with the manufacture of a weapon which would be used only
once.
It is altogether a different matter with respect to the javelins, a
tolerably large number of which have been found in the lacustrine
settlements of La Tène. They are simple socketed heads (fig. 251),
terminating in a laurel-leaf shape, about 4 to 5 inches in length.
[Illustration: Fig. 251.--Head of a Javelin, found in the Lacustrine
Settlement of La Tène (Neuchâtel).]
It appears from experiments ordered by the Emperor of the French, that
these javelins could only have been used as missile weapons, and that
they were thrown, not by the hand merely grasping the shaft (which would
be impossible to do effectually on account of their light weight), but
by means of a cord or thong, which was designated among the Romans by
the name of _amentum_. These experiments have shown that a dart which
could be thrown only 65 feet with the hand, might be cast four times
that distance by the aid of the _amentum_. There probably existed among
the Gauls certain military corps who practised the use of the _amentum_,
that is to say, the management of _thonged javelins_, and threw this
javelin in the same way as other warriors threw stones by means of a
sling. This conclusion, which has been drawn by M. Desor, seems to us a
very just one.
Javelins of the preceding type are very common in the trenches of Alise.
In this neighbourhood a large number of iron arrows have also been
found which have never been met with in the lacustrine settlement of La
Tène.
War was not the only purpose for which these javelins were used by the
men of the iron epoch. Hunting, too, was carried on by means of these
missile weapons. The bow and the thonged javelin constituted the hunting
weapons of this epoch. We have depicted this in the accompanying plate,
which represents _the chase during the iron epoch_.
[Illustration: Fig. 252.--The Chase during the Iron Epoch.]
Next to the weapons come the implements. We will, in the first place,
mention the hatchets (fig. 253). They are larger, more solid, and have a
wider cutting edge than those used in the bronze epoch; wings were no
longer in use, only a square-shaped socket into which was fitted a
wooden handle, probably made with an elbow.
[Illustration: Fig. 253.--Square-socketed Iron Hatchet, found in one of
the Lakes of Switzerland.]
The sickles (fig. 254) are likewise larger and also more simple than
those of the bronze epoch; there are neither designs nor ornaments of
any kind on them.
[Illustration: Fig. 254.--Sickle.]
With the pruning-bills or sickles we must class the regular scythes
(fig. 255) with stems for handling, two specimens of which have been
discovered in the lake settlement of the Tène. Their length is about 14
inches, that is, about one-third as large as the scythes used by the
Swiss harvest-men of the present day. One important inference is drawn
from the existence of these scythes; it is, that at the commencement of
the iron epoch men were in the habit of storing up a provision of hay,
and must consequently have reared cattle.
[Illustration: Fig. 255.--Scythe, from the Lacustrine Settlements of
Switzerland.]
The iron fittings at the ends of the boat-hooks used by the boatmen on
the lake are frequently found at La Tène; they terminate in a
quadrangular pyramid or in a cone (fig. 256). Some still contain the end
of the wooden pole, which was attached to it by means of a nail.
[Illustration: Fig. 256.--Iron Point of Boat-hook, used by the Swiss
Boatmen during the Iron Epoch.]
Next in order to these objects, we must mention the horses' bits and
shoes; the first being very simply constructed so as to last for a very
long period of time. They were composed of a short piece of iron chain
(fig. 257), which was placed in the horse's mouth, and terminated at
each end in a ring to which the reins were attached.
[Illustration: Fig. 257.--Horse's Bit, found in the Lake of Neuchâtel.]
The _fibulæ_ (fig. 258), or clasps for cloaks, are especially calculated
to attract attention in the class of ornamental objects; they are very
elegant and diversified in their shapes, their dimensions varying from
2-1/2 to 5 inches. They are all formed of a pin in communication with a
twisted spring bent in various ways. They are provided with a sheath to
hold the end of the brooch pin, so as to avoid any danger of pricking. A
large number of them are in an excellent state of preservation, and
might well be used at the present day.
[Illustration: Fig. 258.--_Fibula_, or Iron Brooch, found in the Lake of
Neuchâtel.]
These brooches, which we have already called attention to when speaking
of the tombs of Hallstadt, were also used by the Etruscans and the
Romans; their existence in the pre-historic tombs tends to prove that,
like the above-named nations, the Swiss and Germans wore the toga or
mantle. These _fibulæ_ have a peculiar character, and it is impossible
to confuse them with the Roman _fibulæ_. They are, however, similar in
every way to those which have been found at Alise.
There have also been found in the Swiss lakes, along with the _fibulæ_,
a number of rings, the use of which is still problematical. Some are
flat and others chiselled in various ways. It is thought that some of
them must have been used as buckles for soldiers' sword-belts (fig.
259); but there are others which do not afford any countenance to this
explanation. Neither can they be looked on as bracelets; for most of
them are too small for any such purpose. Some show numerous cuts at
regular intervals all round their circumference; this fact has given
rise to the supposition that they might perhaps have served as a kind of
money.
[Illustration: Fig. 259.--Iron Buckle for a Sword-belt, found in the
Lake of Neuchâtel.]
In the lake-settlement of La Tène (Lake of Neuchâtel), iron pincers have
also been found (fig. 260), which were doubtless used for pulling out
hair, and are of very perfect workmanship; also scissors with a spring
(fig. 261), the two legs being made in one piece, and some very thin
blades (fig. 262), which must have been razors.
[Illustration: Fig. 260.--Iron Pincers, found in the Lake of Neuchâtel.]
[Illustration: Fig. 261.--Iron Spring-Scissors, found in the Lake of
Neuchâtel.]
[Illustration: Fig. 262.--Razor.]
The specimens of pottery belonging to this date do not testify to any
real progress having been made beyond the workmanship of the bronze
epoch; the clay is still badly baked, and of a darkish colour. It
certainly is the case, that along with these remains a quantity of
fragments of vessels have been picked up, and even entire vessels, which
have been made by the help of the potter's wheel and baked in an oven,
and consequently present the red colour usual in modern earthenware. But
archæologists are of opinion that this class of pottery does not date
back beyond the Roman epoch; and this opinion would seem to be confirmed
by the existence, in the midst of the piles at the settlement of La
Tène, of a mass of tiles, evidently of Roman origin. The conclusion to
be drawn from these facts is, that many of the pile-works in the Swiss
lakes continued to be occupied when the country was under the Roman
rule.
One of the characteristics of the iron epoch is, as we have before
stated, the appearance of coin or money. In 1864, M. Desor recovered
from the Lake of La Tène five coins of unquestionable Gallic origin.
They are of bronze, and bear on one side the figure of the horned horse,
and on the other a human profile. In fig. 232, we gave a representation
of these curious specimens of coin found by M. Desor in the lacustrine
settlements of the Lake of Neuchâtel. The marks of the mould still
existing on each side show that these coins were cast in a series, and
that after the casting the coins were separated from one another by
means of the file.
Coins of a similar character have been discovered, as we before
observed, at Tiefenau, near Berne, with others bearing the effigy of
Diana and Apollo, and the imprint of _Massilia_, The latter date from
the foundation of Marseilles, and could not, therefore, be anterior to
the sixth century before the Christian era; it is probable that those
discovered along with them must be referred to nearly the same epoch.
Such are the relics of instruments, tools, weapons, &c., made of iron
and recovered from the lacustrine settlement of La Tène, that is, from
the Lake of Neuchâtel. We must add that, near Berne, at a spot which is
designated by the name of the "Battle-field of Tiefenau," because it
appears to have been the theatre of a great conflict between the
Helvetians and the Gauls, a hundred swords and spear-heads have been
picked up, similar to those found at La Tène; also fragments of coats of
mail, rings, _fibulæ_, the tires of chariot-wheels, horses' bits, and
lastly, Gallic and Marseillaise coins in gold, silver, and bronze. This
field of battle appears, therefore, to have been contemporary with the
settlement at La Tène.
In addition to these valuable sources of information--La Tène and
Tiefenau--Switzerland also possesses _tumuli_ and simple tombs, both
constituting records useful to consult in respect to the iron epoch. But
on this point, it must be remarked that it is often difficult, with any
degree of security, to connect them with the two preceding sites; and
that considerable reserve is recommended in attempting any kind of
identification.
Upon the whole, the Iron Age, looking even only to its earliest period,
is the date of the beginning of real civilisation among European
nations.
Their industrial skill, exercised on the earliest-used materials, such
as iron and textile products, furnished all that was required by the
usages of life. Commerce was already in a flourishing state, for it was
no longer carried on by the process of barter only. Money, in the shape
of coin, the conventional symbol of wealth, came into use during this
epoch, and must have singularly facilitated the operations of trade.
Agriculture, too, had advanced as much as it could at this earliest dawn
of civilisation. The remains of cereals found in the lake-settlements of
Switzerland, added to the iron instruments intended to secure the
products of the cultivation of the ground, such as the scythes and
sickles which we have previously depicted (figs. 254 and 255), are
sufficient to show us that agriculture constituted at that time the
chief wealth of nations. The horse, the ass, the dog, the ox, and the
pig, had for long time back been devoted to the service of man,
either as auxiliaries in his field-labours, or as additions to his
resources in the article of food. Fruit-trees, too, were cultivated in
great numbers.
[Illustration: Fig. 263.--Agriculture during the Iron Epoch.]
As a matter of fact, we have no acquaintance with any of the iron and
bronze instruments which were used by men of the iron epoch in
cultivation of the ground. Scythes and sickles are the only agricultural
implements which have been discovered. But even these instruments, added
to a quantity of remains of the bones of cattle which have been found in
the lacustrine and palustrine settlements, are sufficient to prove that
the art of cultivating the earth and of extracting produce from its
bosom, rendered fertile by practices sanctioned by experience, existed
in full vigour among the men who lived during the period immediately
preceding historic times.
The plate which accompanies this page is intended to represent in a
material form the state of agriculture during the iron epoch. We may
notice the corn-harvest being carried on by means of sickles, like those
found in the lacustrine settlements of Switzerland. A man is engaged in
beating out, with a mere stick, the wheatsheaves in order to thrash out
the grain. The grain is then ground in a circular mill, worked by a
horizontal handle. This mill is composed of two stones revolving one
above the other, and was the substitute for the rough primitive
corn-mill; it subsequently became the mill used by the Romans--the
_pistrinum_--at which the slaves were condemned to work.
Indications of an unequivocal character have enabled us to recognise as
a fact, that human sacrifices took place among the Helvetians during
this period. It is, however, well known, from the accounts of ancient
historians, that this barbarous custom existed among the Gauls and
various nations in the north of Europe. In a _tumulus_ situated near
Lausanne, which contained four cinerary urns, there were also found the
skeletons of four young females. Their broken bones testified but too
surely to the tortures which had terminated their existence. The remains
of their ornaments lay scattered about in every direction, and
everything was calculated to lead to the belief that they had been
crushed under the mass of stones which formed the _tumulus_--unhappy
victims of a cruel superstition. Not far from this spot, another
_tumulus_ contained twelve skeletons lying in all kinds of unusual
postures. It is but too probable that these were the remains of
individuals who had all been immolated together on the altar of some
supposed implacable divinity.
What was the character of the type of the human race during the iron
epoch? It must evidently have been that of the present era. Both the
skulls and the bodies of the skeletons found in the tombs of this epoch
point to a race of men entirely identical with that of our own days.
We shall not carry on our study of pre-historic mankind to any later
date. We have now arrived at an epoch upon which sufficient light has
been thrown by oral tradition combined with historical records. The task
of the historian begins at the point where the naturalist's
investigations come to an end.
FOOTNOTE:
[41] 'Les Sépultures de Saint-Jean de Belleville,' with lithographed
plates.
PRIMITIVE MAN IN AMERICA.
PRIMITIVE MAN IN AMERICA.
The development of mankind has, doubtless, been of much the same
character in all parts of the world, so that, in whatever quarter of the
world man may come under our consideration, he must have passed through
the same phases of progress ere he arrived at his present state.
Everywhere, man must have had his Stone Age, his Bronze Epoch, and his
Iron Epoch, succeeding one another in the same order which we have
ascertained to have existed in Europe. In the sketch which we have drawn
of primitive man we have devoted our attention almost entirely to
Europe; but the cause simply is, that this part of the world has, up to
the present day, been the principal subject of special and attentive
studies in this respect. Asia, Africa, and America can scarcely be said
to have been explored in reference to the antiquity of our species; but
it is probable that the facts which have been brought to light in
Europe, would be almost identically reproduced in other parts of the
world.
This is a fact which, as regards _dolmens_, has been already verified.
The sepulchral monuments of the Stone Age, which were at first believed
to be peculiar to France, and, indeed, to one province of France, namely
Brittany, have since been met with in almost every part of the world.
Not only have they been discovered all over Europe, but even the coasts
of Africa bring to our notice numerous relics of them; also, through the
whole extent of Asia, and even in the interior of India, this same form
of sepulchre, bearing witness to a well determined epoch in man's
history, have been pointed out and described by recent travellers.
Thus, the information which we possess on these points as regards
Europe, may well be generalised and applied to the other quarters of the
world--to Asia, Africa, America, and Oceania.
America, however, has been the scene of certain investigations
concerning primitive man which have not been without fertile results; we
shall, therefore, devote the last few pages of our work to a
consideration of the pre-historic remains of America, and to giving an
account of the probable conditions of man's existence there, as they
have been revealed to us by these relics.
The information which has been made public on these points concerns
North America only.
It would be useless to dwell on the stone and bone instruments of the
New World; in their shape they differ but little from those of Europe.
They were applied to the same uses, and the only perceptible difference
in them is in the substance of which they were made. We find there
hatchets, knives, arrow-heads, &c., but these instruments are not so
almost universally made from flint, which is to a considerable extent
replaced by obsidian and other hard stones.
In the history of primitive man in North America, we shall have to
invent another age of a special character; this is the _Age of Copper_.
In America, the use of copper seems to have preceded the use of bronze;
native metallic copper having been largely in use among certain races.
On the shores of Lake Superior there are some very important mines of
native copper, which must have been worked by the Indians at a very
early date; in fact, the traces of the ancient workings have been
distinctly recognised by various travellers.
Mr. Knapp, the agent of the Minnesota Mining Company, was the first to
point out these pre-historic mines. In 1847, his researches having led
him into a cavern much frequented by porcupines, he discovered, under an
accumulation of heaped-up earth, a vein of native copper, containing a
great number of stone hammers. A short time afterwards, some other
excavations 25 to 35 feet in depth, and stretching over an extent of
several miles, came under his notice. The earth dug out had been thrown
on each side of the excavations; and mighty forest-trees had taken root
and grown there. In the trunk of a hemlock-tree growing in this "made
ground," Mr. Knapp counted 395 rings of growth, and this tree had
probably been preceded by other forest-giants no less venerable. In the
trenches themselves, which had been gradually filled up by vegetable
_débris_, trees had formerly grown which, after having lived for
hundreds of years, had succumbed and decayed; being then replaced by
other generations of vegetation, the duration of which had been quite as
long. When, therefore, we consider these workings of the native
copper-mines of Lake Superior, we are compelled to ascribe the
above-named excavations to a considerable antiquity.
In many of these ancient diggings stone hammers have been found,
sometimes in large quantities. One of the diggings contained some great
diorite hatchets which were worked by the aid of a handle, and also
large cylindrical masses of the same substance hollowed out to receive a
handle. These sledges, which are too heavy to be lifted by one man
alone, were doubtless used for breaking off lumps of copper, and then
reducing them to fragments of a size which could easily be carried away.
If we may put faith in Professor Mather, who explored these ancient
mines, some of the rocks still bore the mark of the blow they had
received from these granite rollers.
The work employed in adapting the native copper was of the most simple
character. The Indians hammered it cold, and, taking into account its
malleable character, they were enabled with tolerable facility to give
it any shape that they wished.
In America, just as in Europe, a great number of specimens of
pre-historic pottery have been collected. They are, it must be
confessed, superior to most of those found in the ancient world. The
material of which they were made is very fine, excepting in the case of
the vessels of every-day use, in which the clay is mixed with quartz
reduced to powder; the shapes of the vessels are of the purest
character, and the utmost care has been devoted to the workmanship. They
do not appear to have been constructed by the aid of the potter's wheel;
but Messrs. Squier and Davis, very competent American archæologists, are
of opinion that the Indians, in doing this kind of work, made use of a
stick held in the middle. The workman turned this stick round and round
inside the mass of clay, which an assistant kept on adding to all round
the circumference.
In regard to pottery, the most interesting specimens are the pipes,
which we should, indeed, expect to meet with in the native country of
the tobacco plant and the classic calumet. Many of these pipes are
carved in the shape of animals, which are very faithfully represented.
These figures are very various in character, including quadrupeds and
birds of all kinds. Indeed, in the state of Ohio seven pipes were found
on each of which the manatee was so plainly depicted that it is
impossible to mistake the sculptor's intention. This discovery is a
curious one, from the fact that at the present day the manatee is not
met with except in localities 300 or 400 leagues distant, as in Florida.
The pre-historic ornaments and trinkets found in North America consist
of bracelets, necklaces, earrings, &c. The bracelets are copper rings
bent by hammering, so that the two ends meet. The necklaces are composed
of shell beads (of which considerable quantities have been collected)
shells, animals' teeth, and small flakes of mica, all perforated by a
hole so as to be strung on a thread. The earrings also are made of the
same material.
All these objects--weapons, implements, pottery, and ornaments--have
been derived from certain gigantic works which exhibit some similarity,
and occasionally even a striking resemblance, to the great earthwork
constructions of the Old World. American archæologists have arranged
these works in various classes according to the probable purpose for
which they were intended; we shall now dwell for a short time on these
divisions.
In the first place, we have the _sepulchral mounds_ or _tumuli_, the
numbers of which may be reckoned by tens of thousands. They vary in
height from 6 feet to 80 feet, and are generally of a circular form;
being found either separately or in groups. Most frequently only one
skeleton is found in them, either reduced almost to ashes, or--which is
more rare--in its ordinary condition, and in a crouching posture. By the
side of the corpse are deposited trinkets, and, in a few cases, weapons.
A practice the very contrary to this now obtains in America; and from
this we may conclude that a profound modification of their ideas has
taken place among the Indians since the pre-historic epochs.
It is now almost a certain fact that some of the small _tumuli_ are
nothing but the remains of mud-huts, especially as they do not contain
either ashes or bones. Others, on the contrary, and some of the largest,
contain a quantity of bones; the latter must be allied with the
_ossuaries_ or bone-pits, some of which contain the remains of several
thousand individuals.
It would be difficult to explain the existence of accumulations of this
kind if we did not know from the accounts of ancient authors that the
Indians were in the habit of assembling every eight or ten years in some
appointed spot to inter all together in one mass the bones of their dead
friends, which had been previously exhumed. This singular ceremony was
called "the feast of the dead."
We shall not say much here as to the _sacrificial mounds_, because no
very precise agreement has yet been arrived at as to their exact
signification. Their chief characteristics are, that, in the first
place, they are nearly always found within certain sacred enclosures of
which we shall have more to say further on, and also that they cover a
sort of altar placed on the surface of the ground, and made of stone or
baked clay. In the opinion of certain archæologists, this supposed altar
is nothing but the site of a former fire-hearth, and the mound itself a
habitation converted into a tomb after the death of its proprietor. It
will therefore be best to reserve our judgment as to the existence of
the human sacrifices of which these places might have been the scene,
until we obtain some more complete knowledge of the matter.
The _Temple-Mounds_ are hillocks in the shape of a truncated pyramid,
with paths or steps leading to the summit, and sometimes with terraces
at different heights. They invariably terminate in a platform of varying
extent, but sometimes reaching very considerable dimensions. That of
Cahokia, in Illinois, is about 100 feet in height, and at the base is
700 feet long and 500 feet wide. There is no doubt that these mounds
were not exclusively used as temples, and, adopting as our authority
several instances taken from Indian history, we may be permitted to
think that on this upper terrace they were in the habit of building the
dwelling of their chief.
The most curious of these earthworks are, beyond question, those which
the American archæologists have designated by the name of
_animal-mounds_. They consist of gigantic bas-reliefs formed on the
surface of the ground, and representing men, mammals, birds, reptiles,
and even inanimate objects, such as crosses, pipes, &c. They exist in
thousands in Wisconsin, being chiefly found between the Mississippi and
Lake Michigan, and along the war-path of the Indians. Their height is
never very considerable, and it is but seldom that they reach so much as
6 feet; but their length and breadth is sometimes enormously developed.
Many of these figures are copied very exactly from Nature; but there
are, on the other hand, some the meaning of which it is very difficult
to discover, because they have been injured by the influence of
atmospheric action during a long course of ages.
In Dale county there is an interesting group composed of a man with
extended arms, six quadrupeds, a simple _tumulus_, and seven mounds
without any artistic pretensions. The man measured 125 feet long, and
nearly 140 feet from the end of one arm to the other. The quadrupeds are
from 100 to 120 feet long.
The representation of lizards and tortoises are frequently recognised in
these monstrous figures. A group of mounds, situate near the village of
Pewaukee, included when it was discovered two lizards and seven
tortoises. One of these tortoises measured 470 feet. At Waukesha there
was found a monstrous "turtle" admirably executed, the tail of which
stretched over an extent of 250 feet.
On a high hill near Granville, in the state of Ohio, a representation is
sculptured of the reptile which is now known under the name of
alligator. Its paws are 40 feet long, and its total length exceeds 250
feet. In the same state there exists the figure of a vast serpent, the
most remarkable work of its kind; its head occupies the summit of a
hill, round which the body extends for about 800 feet, forming graceful
coils and undulations; the mouth is opened wide, as if the monster was
swallowing its prey. The prey is represented by an oval-shaped mass of
earth, part of which lies in the creature's jaws. This mass of earth is
about 160 feet long and 80 feet wide, and its height is about 4 feet. In
some localities excavations are substituted for these raised figures;
that is to say, that the delineations of the animals are sunk instead of
being in relief-a strange variety in these strange works.
The mind may readily be perplexed when endeavouring to trace out the
origin and purpose of works of this kind. They do not, in a general way,
contain any human remains, and consequently could not have been intended
to be used as sepulchres. Up to the present time, therefore, the
circumstances which have accompanied the construction of these eminently
remarkable pre-historic monuments are veiled in the darkest mystery.
We now have to speak of those enclosures which are divided by American
archæologists into the classes of _defensive_ and _sacred_. This
distinction is, however, based on very uncertain data, and it is
probable that a large portion of the so-called _sacred_ enclosures were
in the first place constructed for a simply _defensive_ purpose. They
were, in general, composed of a wall made of stones, and an internal or
external ditch. They often assumed the form of a parallelogram, and even
of a perfect square or circle, from which it has been inferred that the
ancient Indians must have possessed an unit of measurement, and some
means of determining angles. These walls sometimes embraced a
considerable area, and not unfrequently inside the principal enclosure
there were other smaller enclosures, flanked with defensive mounds
performing the service of bastions. In some cases enclosures of
different shapes are grouped side by side, either joined by avenues or
entirely independent of one another.
The most important of these groups is that at Newark, in the Valley of
Scioto; it covers an area of 4 square miles, and is composed of an
octagon, a square, and two large circles. The external wall of one of
these circles is even at the present day 50 feet in width at the base,
and 13 feet high; there are several doorways in it, near which the
height of the wall is increased about 3 feet. Inside there is a ditch 6
feet in depth, and 13 feet in the vicinity of the doors, its width being
about 40 feet. The whole enclosure is now covered by gigantic trees,
perhaps 500 or 600 years old--a fact which points to a considerable
antiquity for the date of its construction.
When we reflect on the almost countless multitude, and the magnificent
proportions of the monuments we have just described, we are compelled to
recognise the fact that the American valleys must at some early date
have been much more densely populated than at the time when Europeans
first made their way thither. These peoples must have formed
considerable communities, and have attained to a somewhat high state of
civilisation--at all events a state very superior to that which is at
present the attribute of the Indian tribes.
Tribes which were compelled to seek in hunting their means of every-day
existence, could never have succeeded in raising constructions of this
kind. They must therefore necessarily have found other resources in
agricultural pursuits.
This inference is moreover confirmed by facts. In several localities in
the United States the ground is covered with small elevations known
under the name of _Indian corn-hills_; they take their rise from the
fact that the maize, having been planted every year in the same spot,
has ultimately, after a long course of time, formed rising grounds. The
traces of ancient corn-patches have also been discovered symmetrically
arranged in regular beds and parallel rows.
Can any date be assigned to this period of semi-civilisation which,
instead of improving more and more like civilisation in Europe, became
suddenly eclipsed, owing to causes which are unknown to us? This
question must be answered in the negative, if we are called upon to fix
any settled and definite date. Nevertheless, the conclusion to which
American archæologists have arrived is, that the history of the New
World must be divided into four definite periods.
The first period includes the rise of agriculture and industrial skill;
the second, the construction of mounds and inclosures; the third, the
formation of the "garden beds." In the last period, the American nation
again relapsed into savage life and to the free occupation of the spots
which had been devoted to agriculture.
In his work on 'Pre-historic Times' Sir John Lubbock, who has furnished
us with most of these details, estimates that this course of events
would not necessarily have required a duration of time of more than 3000
years, although he confesses that this figure might be much more
considerable. But Dr. Douler, another _savant_, regards this subject in
a very different way. Near New Orleans he discovered a human skeleton
and the remains of a fire, to which, basing his calculations on more or
less admissible _data_, he attributes an antiquity of 500 centuries!
Young America would thus be very ancient indeed!
By this instance we may see how much uncertainty surrounds the history
of primitive man in America; and it may be readily understood why we
have thought it necessary to adhere closely to scientific ideas and to
limit ourselves to those facts which are peculiar to Europe. To apply to
the whole world the results which have been verified in Europe is a much
surer course of procedure than describing local and imperfectly studied
phenomena, which, in their interpretation, lead to differences in the
estimate of time, such as that between 3000 and 50,000 years!
CONCLUSION.
Before bringing our work to a close we may be permitted to retrace the
path we have trod, and to embrace in one rapid glance the immense space
we have traversed.
We have now arrived at a point of time very far removed from that of the
dweller in caves, the man who was contemporary with the great bear and
the mammoth! Scarcely, perhaps, have we preserved a reminiscence of
those mighty quadrupeds whose broad shadows seem to flit indistinctly
across the dim light of the quaternary epoch. Face to face with these
gigantic creatures, which have definitively disappeared from the surface
of our globe, there were, as we have seen, beings of a human aspect who,
dwelling in caves and hollows of the earth, clothed themselves in the
skins of beasts and cleft flakes of stone in order to form their weapons
and implements. We can hardly have failed to feel a certain interest in
and sympathy with them, when tracing out the dim vestiges of their
progress; for, in spite of their rude appearance, in spite of their
coarse customs and their rough mode of life, they were our brethren, our
ancestors, and the far-distant precursors of modern civilisation.
We have given due commendation to their efforts and to their progress.
After a protracted use of weapons and implements simply chipped out of
the rough flint, we have seen them adopt weapons and instruments of
polished stone, that is, objects which had undergone that material
preparation which is the germ of the industrial skill of primitive
nations.
Aided by these polished-stone instruments, added to those of bone and
reindeer's or stag's horn, they did not fear to enter into a
conflict--which every day became more and more successful--with all the
external forces which menaced them. As we have seen, they brought under
the yoke of servitude various kinds of animals; they made the dog and
the horse the companion and the auxiliary of their labour. The sheep,
the ox, and other ruminants were converted into domesticated cattle,
capable of insuring a constant supply of food.
After the lapse of ages metals made their appearance!--metals, the most
precious acquisition of all, the pledge of the advent of a new era,
replete with power and activity, to primitive man. Instruments made of
stone, bone, reindeer or stag's horn, were replaced by those composed of
metal. In all the communities of man civilisation and metals seem to be
constant companions. Though bronze may have served for the forging of
swords and spears, it also provides the material for implements of
peaceful labour. Owing to the efforts of continuous toil, owing also to
the development of intelligence which is its natural consequence, the
empire of man over the world of nature is still increasing, and man's
moral improvement follows the same law of progression. But who shall
enumerate the ages which have elapsed whilst these achievements have
been realised?
But thy task is not yet terminated! Onward, and still onward, brave
pioneer of progress! The path is a long one and the goal is not yet
attained! Once thou wert contented with bronze, now thou hast
iron--iron, that terrible power, whose function is to mangle and to
kill--the cause of so much blood and so many bitter tears; but also the
beneficent metal which fertilises and gives life, affording nutriment to
the body as well as to the mind. The Romans applied the name of _ferrum_
to the blade of their swords; but in after times _ferrum_ was also the
term for the peaceful ploughshare. The metal which had brought with it
terror, devastation, and death, erelong introduced among nations peace,
wealth and happiness.
And now, O man, thy work is nearly done! The mighty conflicts against
nature are consummated, and thy universal empire is for ever sure!
Animals are subject to thy will and even to thy fancies. At thy command,
the obedient earth opens its bosom and unfolds the riches it contains.
Thou hast turned the course of rivers, cleared the mountain sides of the
forests which covered them, and cultivated the plains and valleys; by
thy culture the earth has become a verdant and fruitful garden. Thou
hast changed the whole aspect of the globe, and mayst well call thyself
the lord of creation!
Doubtless the expanding circle of thy peaceful conquests will not stop
here, and who can tell how far thy sway may extend? Onward then! still
onward! proud and unfettered in thy vigilant and active course towards
new and unknown destinies!
But look to it, lest thy pride lead thee to forget thy origin. However
great may be thy moral grandeur, and however complete thy empire over a
docile nature, confess and acknowledge every hour the Almighty Power of
the great Creator. Submit thyself before thy Lord and Master, the God of
goodness and of love, the Author of thy existence, who has reserved for
thee still higher destinies in another life. Learn to show thyself
worthy of the supreme blessing--the happy immortality which awaits thee
in a world above, if thou hast merited it by a worship conceived in
spirit and in truth, and by the fulfilment of thy duty both towards God
and towards thy neighbour!
ALPHABETICAL INDEX
TO
AUTHORS' NAMES CITED IN THIS VOLUME.
Alberti, 228
Arcelin, 120
Austen (Godwin), 9
Baudot, 178
Bertrand, 187, 197
Bocchi, 82
Bonstetten, 187
Borel, 319
Boucher de Perthes, 8, 9, 16, 17, 18, 45, 82, 161, 162, 163, 164,
165, 166
Boué (Aimé), 6
Bourgeois (Abbé), 3, 16, 17, 73, 149
Boutin, 74
Broca, 114, 181
Brun (V.), 88, 98, 106, 115, 119
Buckland, 6
Busk, 36, 81, 182
Camper, 5
Cazalis de Fondouce, 128
Chantre, 120
Chevalier (Abbé), 147
Christel (de), 7, 74
Christy, 73, 86, 90, 95, 106, 108, 109, 110, 111, 118
Clément, 225
Cochet (Abbé), 177
Costa de Beauregard, 91, 319
Cuvier, 6, 7
Dampier, 132, 219
Darwin, 132
Davis (Dr. Barnard), 36, 81, 337
Delaunay, 73
Desnoyers, 9, 20, 57
Desor, 175, 217 _note_, 220, 221, 227, 242, 244, 251, 252, 257, 260,
271, 289, 310, 321, 324, 329
Dolomieu, 156, 157
Dumont d'Urville, 219, 225
Dupont (Édouard), 82, 94, 95, 104, 112, 113, 114, 116, 120
Edwards (Milne), 12, 120, 127
Esper, 6
Evans, 11, 12, 51, 131, 149
Falconer, 10, 11, 76
Faudel, 82
Ferry (de), 73, 91, 120
Filhol, 15, 75, 127, 169, 181
Flower, 11
Fontan, 11, 74, 119
Forchhammer, 131
Forel, 176
Foresi (Raffaello), 181
Forgeais, 178, 202
Foulon-Menard, 169
Fournet, 158
Fraas, 104
Franchet, 73
Frere, 6, 12
Fuhlrott, 80
Garrigou, 15, 16, 75, 110, 119, 127, 169, 181
Gastaldi and Moro, 227
Gaudry (Albert), 11
Gervais (Paul), 74, 128
Gilliéron, 267, 292, 293
Gmelin, 299
Gosse, 11, 12
Gratiolet and Alix, 31, 33, 34
Guérin, 72
Hannour and Himelette, 179
Hauzeur, 104
Hébert, 11
Heer, 265
Hernandez, 160
His, 290
Hochstetter, 229
Husson, 72
Huxley, 26, 80
Issel, 91
Jeitteler, 239
Joly, 8
Joly-Leterme, 120
Keller, 135, 175, 216, 220, 225, 227, 280, 282
Kemp, 6
Knapp, 336
Kosterlitz, 228
Lambert (l'Abbé), 3
Lartet, 1, 2, 13, 14, 15, 18, 20, 61, 62, 63, 64, 66, 67, 71, 101, 102,
106, 108, 109, 110, 111, 118, 120, 180
Lawrence, 31
Leguay, 150, 153, 195, 200
Léveillé, 147
Lewis (Cornewall), 208
Lioy (Paolo), 228
Löhle, 223
Lubbock (Sir John), 97, 131, 189, 190, 195, 200, 219, 230, 275, 342
Lund, 9, 77
Lyell (Sir Charles), 11, 20, 36, 132, 224
Marcel de Serres, 3, 7
Martin, 12
Morlot, 94, 217 _note_, 249, 291, 300, 301
Mortillet, de, 89, 131 _note_, 172, 227, 245, 283, 308 _note_
Mudge, 231
Mylne, 11
Naegeli, 239
Nilsson, 116, 189, 195, 208, 209
Noulet, 10
Osculati, 239
Otz, 226
Owen, 91, 119
Peccadeau de l'Isle, 90, 106, 107, 119
Peigné Delacour, 12
Penguelly, 10
Penguilly l'Haridon, 149
Pereira de Costa, 132
Pigorini, 232, 235, 236, 238
Place, 160
Pommerol, 171
Prestwich, 11, 46, 131
Pruner-Bey, 18, 32, 33, 35, 37, 81, 113, 114, 181
Quatrefages, de, 18, 30, 31, 38
Quiquerez, 301, 302, 303, 308
Rabut, 229
Rames, 15
Ramsauer, 312, 314
Rauchet, 227
Reboux, 12
Reffye, 321
Rigollot, 10, 54
Robert (Eugène), 12, 149
Rochebrune, 157
Rougemont (de), 320
Rütimeyer, 265, 268
Saussure, de, 160
Sauvage and Hamy, 131
Schaaffhausen, 37, 81
Scheuchzer, 5
Schild, 226
Schmerling, 7, 77
Schmidt, 284, 287 _note_
Schwab, 248, 250
Silber, 228
Squier, 337
Steenstrup, 130, 131, 133
Steinhauer, 66
Stopani (l'Abbé), 227
Strobel, 132, 232, 235, 236, 238, 239
Thioly, 226
Tournal, 7
Troyon, 175, 217 _note_, 225, 253
Uhlmann, 134
Vallier, 229
Van Beneden, 112, 113
Vibraye (Marquis de), 11, 73, 94, 98
Vicq-d'Azyr, 31
Vogt, 26, 80, 181, 280, 281, 282
Welker, 32
Wilde (Sir W. R.), 230
Wood, 76
Worsaae, 131, 175, 276
Wyatt, 12
LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING
CROSS.
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| Transcriber's Note: |
| |
| * Obvious punctuation and spelling errors repaired. |
| Word combinations that appeared with and without hyphens |
| were changed to the predominant hyphenated form. |
| Original spelling and its variations were not standardized. |
| |
| * Corrections in the spelling of names were made when those |
| could be verified. Otherwise the variations were left as they |
| were. |
| |
| * Footnotes were moved to the ends of the chapters in which |
| they belonged and numbered in one continuous sequence. |
| The pagination in index entries which referred to these |
| footnotes was not changed to match their new locations |
| and is therefore incorrect. |
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