SUMMARY OF RESULTS
It may be well, in conclusion, to sum up the general truths we
have arrived at in relation to the place of man in the great and
long-continued drama of the earth's geological history.
1. We have found no link of derivation connecting man with the lower
animals which preceded him. He appears before us as a new departure in
creation, without any direct relation to the instinctive life of the
lower animals. The earliest men are no less men than their descendants,
and up to the extent of their means, inventors, innovators, and
introducers of new modes of life, just as much as they. We have not even
been able as yet to trace man back to the harmless golden age. As we
find him in the caves and gravels he is already a fallen man, out of
harmony with his environment and the foe of his fellow creatures,
contriving against them instruments of destruction more fatal than those
furnished by nature to the carnivorous wild beasts. Yet we would fain
believe in an Edenic age of innocence; and physiological probability, as
well as the old story in Genesis, demands that we should suppose a
primitive condition in which man, careless and happy, should subsist on
the spontaneous bounty of nature in some favoured 'garden of the Lord.'
_Scheme of possible Correlation of the Geological and Historical
Records as to Early Man, as the Facts appear in the present Stage
of Investigation, May 1894._
{ Semitic
{ Truchère or Prot-Iberian Race { Turanian
{ { Aryan
Primitive {
Man { Mixed Races, Cro-magnon, &c. }
{ } Submergence
{ Canstadt Race }
{ Sethites { Shem
{ { Ham
Adam { Mixed Races, Nephelim, &c. } Noah { Japhet
{ }
{ Cainites } Deluge
2. If we inquire as to the nature of the interval which separates man
from the lower animals, we find that it exists with reference both to
his rational and physical nature. With respect to the first we may
affirm in man the existence of a lower (psychical) intelligence, similar
to that of the inferior animals, and of a spiritual nature allying him
with higher intelligences, and with God Himself. Rightly considered,
this places the doctrine of creation in a very firm position. Those who
deny it must adopt one of two alternatives. Either they must refuse to
admit the evidence in man of any nature higher than that of brutes--a
conclusion which common sense, as well as mental science, must always
refuse to admit--or they must attempt to bridge over the 'chasm,' as it
has been called, which separates the instinctive nature of the animal
from the rational and moral nature of man--an effort confessedly futile.
3. As to the body of man, the case is different, but still perfectly in
harmony with the idea of his higher nature. Man, as to his body, is
confessedly an animal, of the earth earthy. He is also a member of the
province _vertebrata_, and the class _mammalia_; but in that class he
constitutes not only a distinct species and genus, but even a distinct
family, or order. In other words, he is the sole species of his genus,
and of his family, or order. He is thus separated, by a great gap, from
all the animals nearest to him; and even if we admit the doctrine, as
yet unproved, of the derivation of one species from another in the case
of the lower animals, we are unable to supply the 'missing links' which
would be required to connect man with any group of inferior animals.
This physical distinctness has also a special significance, inasmuch as
it depends on certain negative peculiarities such as the absence of
clothing, of natural weapons of attack and defence, as well as on the
positive properties of the erect posture, the hands adapted to various
kinds of manipulation, and the special sensory gifts. Thus viewed in
relation to his environment, his wants as well as his possessions in
regard to structures and powers, would be fatal to any creature not
possessed of his intelligence, and we cannot conceive how such
privations or such gifts could spontaneously arise in nature.
4. No fact of science is more certainly established than the recency of
man in geological time. Not only do we find no trace of his remains in
the older geological formations, but we find no remains even of the
animals nearest to him; and the conditions of the world in those periods
seem to unfit it for the residence of man. If, following the usual
geological system, we divide the whole history of the earth into four
great periods, extending from the oldest rocks known to us, the eozoic,
or archæan, up to the modern, we find remains of man, or his works,
only in the latest of the four, and in the later part of this. In point
of fact, there is no indisputable proof of the presence of man until we
reach the early modern period. This is, no doubt, what was to have been
expected on the supposition of the orderly development of the chain of
animal life in the long geologic eons; but it is not by any means the
only hypothesis that was possible when, for example, the Book of Genesis
was written. A more fanciful cosmologist might at that time have given
precedence to man, and might have supposed that the other animals were
produced later, and for his benefit, or his injury. This is the view of
the sacred writer himself with respect to the local group of animals
intended to be in immediate association with the first man. Restricted
in this way, the statement of a group of animals created with man in his
earliest abode is not contradictory to the order in Genesis first, nor
scientifically improbable. We have seen that in any case the deductions
from geology are in harmony with the earliest revelations made to the
human mind on the subject, and in accordance with all the later facts of
actual history.
5. The absolute date of the first appearance of man cannot perhaps be
fixed within a few years or centuries, either by human chronology or by
the science of the earth. It would seem, however, that the Bible
history, as well as such hints as we can gather from the history of
other nations, limits us to two or three thousand years before the
Deluge of Noah, while some estimates of the antiquity of man, based on
physical changes or ancient history, or on philology, greatly exceed
this limit. If the earliest men were those of the river gravels and
caves, men of the 'mammoth age,' or of the 'palæolithic' or palæocosmic
period, we can form some definite ideas as to their possible antiquity.
They colonised the continents immediately after the elevation of the
land from the great subsidence which closed the pleistocene or glacial
period, in what has been called the 'continental' period of the
post-glacial age, because the new lands then raised out of the sea
exceeded in extent those which we have now. We have, as stated in a
previous chapter, some measures of the date of this great continental
elevation, and know that its distance from our time must fall within
about eight thousand years. Many indications, both in Europe and
America, lead to the belief that it is physically impossible that man
could have colonised the northern hemisphere at an earlier date than
this geologically recent continental period.
6. There is but one species of man, though many races and varieties; and
these races or varieties seem to have developed themselves at a very
early time and have shown a remarkable fixity in their later history.
There is reason to believe, however, from various physiological facts,
that this is a very general law of varietal forms, which are observed to
appear rapidly or suddenly, and then in favourable circumstances to be
propagated continuously. It would seem also to apply to the introduction
of forms regarded as species, since it is not unusual to find a genus at
or near its origin represented by its maximum number of specific forms.
7. The precise locality of the origin of man can be defined on probable
grounds as in a temperate region, supplied with the vegetable
productions most useful to him in a natural state, and free from
destructive animal rivals. We can scarcely suppose that this locality
can have been in any of those parts of the world in which man finds the
greatest difficulty in subsisting, or becomes most degraded, though this
paradoxical view has been held by some archæologists. It must rather
have been in some fertile and salubrious region of the northern
hemisphere; and probability as well as tradition points to those regions
in South-Western Asia which have not only been the earliest historical
abodes of man, but are also the centres of the animals and plants most
useful to him. It is interesting to note here that Hæckel, on purely
physical grounds, decides against Europe, Africa, Australia, and
America, and concludes that 'most circumstances indicate Southern Asia.'
8. It is to be observed, however, that the diluvial interlude gives a
double origin of man; but the historical accounts of the neocosmic
dispersion, as we have already seen, refer us in this case also to the
same regions of South-Western Asia. The traditions which ascribe human
origin to a 'Mountain of the North' refer to the second dispersion, and
coincide with the Ararat of Genesis and the 'Mountain of the North' on
which the ship of Hasisadra was supposed by the Chaldeans to have
grounded.
9. We are now in a position to correlate the historical Deluge with the
great geographical changes which closed the palanthropic age. This, when
regarded as an established fact, furnishes the solution of many of the
most disputed questions of anthropology. The misuse of the Deluge in the
early history of geology, in employing it to account for changes that
took place long before the advent of man, certainly should not cause us
to neglect its legitimate uses, when these arise in the progress of
investigation. It is evident that if this correlation be accepted as
probable, it must modify many views now held as to the antiquity of man.
In that case, the modern rubble spread over plateaus and in river
valleys, far above the reach of the present floods, may be accounted
for, not by the ordinary action of the existing streams, but by the
abnormal action of currents of water diluvial in their character.
Further, since the historical Deluge cannot have been of very long
duration, the physical changes separating the deposits containing the
remains of palæocosmic men from those of later date would, in like
manner, be accounted for, not by slow processes of subsidence,
elevation, and erosion, but by causes of a more abrupt and cataclysmic
character.
Finally, it has been the tendency of modern geological and
archæological discovery to attach more and more value and importance to
the ancient records of the human race, and especially to those precious
documents which have been preserved to our time in the Book of Genesis.
We have merely glanced cursorily at a few of the salient points of the
relation of the primitive history of man in Genesis to modern scientific
discovery. Many other details might have been adduced as tending to show
similar coincidences of these two distinct lines of evidence. Enough
has, however, been said to indicate the remarkable manner in which the
history in Genesis has anticipated modern discovery, and to show that
this ancient book is in every way trustworthy, and as remote as possible
from the myths and legends of ancient heathenism, while it shows the
historical origin of beliefs which in more or less corrupted forms lie
at the foundations of the oldest religions of the Gentiles, and find
their true significance in that of the Hebrews. To the Christian the
record in Genesis has a still higher value, as constituting those
historical groundworks of the plan of salvation to which our Lord
Himself so often referred, and on which He founded so much of His
teaching.
INDEX
A
Adam, description of, 64
Adon, the name, 180
Akkadian kingdom, foundation of, 108
Alphabets, early, 108
Amunoph III., 177
Amunoph IV., 177
Anakim, the, 65
Animals, remains of, 23, 30, 38, 43, 45, 46, 48, 50, 74, 96, 98
Antediluvians, identification of, 125
Anthropic age, definition of, 17;
events of, 39
Anthropology, 16
Archæan age, the, 19
Ark, the, description of, 135
Arrow-headed characters, use of, 108
Artemis, 160
Aten, worship of, 177
Atlantis, fable of, 156
Auriferous gravel, finds in, 34
B
Bears, cave, 46
Beni Elohim, 132
Beni ha Adam, 132
Bones, human, gnawed, 47
Boule, on deposits at Schweizersbild, 87
Britain, early inhabitants of, 103
Broca, on skulls, 61
Burials, discoveries of, 56
C
Cain, the race of, 131
Canaan, migration of, 193
Canstadt race, the, 51, 80;
age of, 70;
condition of, 75;
interments of, 77;
skulls of, 81
Carthaillac on palanthropic age, 70;
on the mortuary customs of, 77
Carving, specimens of, 49
Castelnedolo, skeleton at, 29
Cave dwellers, 48;
their food, 49
Caverns, various, 42
Celtæ, the, description of, 104
Cenozoic age, the, 20;
changes of, 24;
events of, 39;
relations of, 84
Chaldean version of the Deluge, 137;
creation tablets, 107;
Genesis quoted, 113
Cheth, children of, 167
Chipped Stone age, the, 69
Chronometers, geological, 89
Civilisation, early postdiluvian, 118
Clichy skull, the, 60
Climate of the pliocene, 25;
of the eocene, 27;
changes of, 35, 36;
of the post-glacial age, 36;
of the palanthropic age, 38, 40, 171
Creation, the, order of, in Genesis, 106, 112, 114;
Chaldean account of, 112
Cresswell caves, description of, 95
Cro-magnon cave, the, 51
Cro-magnon race, the, 51;
skeletons of, 53;
skulls of, 61, 81;
age of, 70;
condition of, 75;
appearance of, 76;
belief of, 76;
interments of, 77
Curse, the, 120
Cushite kingdom, foundation of, 108
Cushite migration, the, 192
D
Dawkins on palæolithic and neolithic periods, 93
Days of creation, the, 14, 18
Delta, the, age of, 174
Deluge, the, accounts of, 107;
story of, 121;
Lenormant on, 123;
conclusions as to, 126;
prevalence of story of, 127;
physical aspects of, 135;
Chaldean version of, 136;
history of, 137;
was it miraculous? 140;
was it universal? 147, 151
Diana, 160
Dispersion of man, the, 108
Druses, the, 198
Dupont on cave of Goyet, 46;
on primitive man, 73;
on plain dwellers, 74;
on Frontal caves, 98
E
Earth, the stages of its history, 15, 18;
age of, 18
Eber, children of, 179
Eden, site of, 114
Edwards, Miss, criticism of, 171
Egypt, history of, 168;
first colonists of, 174
Elephant in Europe, the, 38
Elevation of land in post-glacial age, 36
Elohim, use of the name, 112
Embalming, early practice of, 78
Engis skull, the, 60
Eocene age, the, 23;
changes of, 24
Eozoic age, the, 19
Euphrates, the, 114
Eve, story of, 160
Evolution of man, the, 22;
vagaries of, 118
Exodus, the, Pharaoh of, 179
F
Fall of man, the, 116
Fauna of palanthropic age, changes of, 86
Flints, worked, 28
Food of cave dwellers, 49
Furfooz caves, description of, 98
G
Generations of Noah, the, 184
Genesis, order of creation in, 106
Geologist, the, method of, 12
Giants, a race of, 63
Gibraltar skull, the, 60
Glacial age, the, 25
Globe, incandescent, picture of, 18
Goyet, cave of, description of, 46
Greenwell on men of Britain, 103
Grenelle, skull of, 60;
deposit at, 94
H
Hale on importance of language, 206
Hamites, migrations of, 188
Hasisadra, the Chaldean Noah, 118
Hebrew annals, truth of, 106
Heth, 167
Higher criticism, Sayce on, 109
Historian, the, method of, 12
Hittites, the, inroad of, 198
Holmes on worked flints, 31
Homeric heroes, reality of, 166
Horus, sons of, 159
Hyksos, the, 181
I
Idinu, or Eden, 114
Ightham, worked flints of, 31
Interments, discoveries of, 56;
mode of, 77
Isha, story of, 160
Ivory, ornaments of, 58;
engraving on, 74
J
Jahveh, 133
Japhet, migrations of, 189, 190
Jebel Assart, flint chips at, 171
Jehovah Elohim, use of the name, 112, 132
Jerusalem, ancient state of, 179
K
Karun, a river of Eden, 114, 116
Kerkhat, the, 114
Kheta, or Khatti, 167
Kneeling posture in interments, 77
L
Laugerie Basse, cave at, 51;
skeleton at, 58
Lebanon caves, human remains in, 43, 45;
visit to, 202
Lenormant on the Deluge, 123;
on the Ark, 136
Lion, the cave, 46
Lyell, on Falls of Niagara, 124
M
Mammals in palanthropic age, species of, 37
Mammoth age, cave of, 50
Mammoth, the, in Europe, 38;
extinction of, 74
Man, date of his appearance, 21, 213;
his earliest remains still human, 22;
antecedents of, 23;
his remains overlaid, 35;
in Europe, 35;
in palanthropic age, 40;
how distinguished, 41;
his remains at Nahr-el-Kelb, 45;
at Goyet, 46;
gnawed bones of, 47;
a cave dweller, 48;
his ornaments, 48, 58;
carving of, 49;
food of, 49;
his physical characters, 51;
his remains at Cro-magnon, 51;
skeleton of, at Mentone, 58;
varieties in skull of, 60;
gigantic size of, 62;
a feebler race, 63;
conditions of, 71;
Dupont on primitive, 73;
unprogressive character of men of mammoth age, 75;
beliefs of, 76;
mortuary customs of palanthropic, 77;
change of, from palæocosmic to neocosmic, 91;
neolithic, 101;
of Britain, 103;
in Eden, 115;
condition of palanthropic, 116;
recency of, 213;
locality of his origin, 216
Meeting-place of geology and history, 13
Mentone skeleton, the, 58
Mesozoic age, the, 19
Metals, the knowledge of, 118
Miocene age, the, 23;
changes of, 24;
monkeys of, 27
Mitanni, 181
Mizraim, 193
Monkeys, miocene, 27
Mortillet on the stone age, 69
Moses: his knowledge of Divine name, 180
Mourlon on pleistocene remains, 30
Musical instruments, invention of, 118
N
Nahr-el-Kelb, caverns of, 44;
people of, 203
Neanderthal skull, the, 60
Neanthropic age, definition of, 17;
events of, 39;
men of, 95
Nebula, picture of, 18
Necklace, a shell, 48
Neocosmic age, appearance of, men of, 91, 102
Neolithic age, men of, 101
Niagara, Lyell's use of, 124
Nile valley, limestones of, 168, 201;
appearance of, 174
Nimrod, kingdom of, 190
Noah, story of, 121
Nuesch on deposits at Schweizersbild, 87
O
Old man of Cro-magnon, 53;
supposed history of, 65
Ornaments, remains of, 48, 58
P
Palæolithic implements, discoveries of, 31
Palæozoic age, the, 19
Palanthropic age, definition of, 17;
number of species of mammals in, 37;
climate of, 38;
land of, 40;
caves of, 46;
animals of, 50;
man of, 51;
conditions of, 69;
divisions of, 70;
tragic end of, 85;
changes in fauna of, 80;
subsidence of, 88
Palestine, people of, 197;
history of, 201
Paviland skull, the, 60
Petrie: his photographic portraits, 180
Pharaoh of the Exodus, the, 179
Phœnicians, the, 193
Pictet on number of species in palanthropic age, 37
Pinches on Chaldean Genesis, 113
Plain dwellers, 51;
conditions of, 74
Pleistocene age, definition of, 17;
history of, 23;
human remains of, 30;
events of, 39
Pliocene age, 23;
changes of, 24;
human remains of, 29;
events of, 39
Polished Stone age, the, 69;
men of, 101
Post-glacial age, 26;
elevation of, 36
Punites, 193
Q
Quaternary period, the, 20
Quatrefages on Castelnedolo skeleton, 29;
on Truchère skull, 84
R
Ra, worship of, 177
Recency of man, 213
Reclus, romance of, 208
Reindeer age, the, 38, 50
Rhinoceros in Europe, the, 38
Rivière on Mentone skeleton, 58, 62
S
Sayce on the higher criticism, 109
Scale of earth's history, a, 22
Schliemann, discoveries of, 166
Schweizersbild, deposits at, 87
Semites, migrations, 189
Seth, the race of, 131
Shell ornaments, remains of, 48, 58
Sickle, wooden, 172
Silures, the, 103
Skeleton of Castelnedolo, 29;
Mentone, 58;
of Laugerie Basse, 58
Skull from Val d'Arno, 29;
of Cro-magnon, 53, 82;
of Clichy, Grenelle, Gibraltar, Paviland, Neanderthal, Engis, 60;
of Canstadt, 81;
of Truchère, 83
Species, number of palanthropic, 37
Sphinx, the, history of, 176
Spy, interments at, 56
Stone ages, the, 69
Submergence, records of, 148
Subsidence of palanthropic age, 88;
date of, 90
T
Tammuz, story of, 161
Taylor on early men of Britain, 103
Teeth, human, condition of, 63
Tel-el-Amarna tablets, 165, 177
Tigris, the, 114
Trenton, flints of, 32
Tristram on cave shelters, 44
V
Vezère, rock shelters of, 51
W
Whistle, bone, 116
Woman of Cro-magnon, 55
Woolly rhinoceros in Europe, the, 38
Z
Zittel on number of species of mammals, 37
* * * * *
Transcriber's note:
All obvious typographical errors were corrected. Minor changes
were made to standardize the text to match the most prevalent
form used.
To make it easier to locate the Index entries, a line with each
alpha group's first letter was added.