CONDITION OF MAN IN THE EARLIEST TIMES.
Of the first appearance of man on the globe there is no precise
knowledge. His origin is a mystery. The place of his birth is generally
supposed to be in Central Asia. There the geologist looks with a longing
eye, and hopes ultimately to unravel, not only the hidden mystery of the
birth-place of his race, but also, how or through what natural process
he sprang into existence.
If the miocene be the earliest point in his history, and Central Asia
the place of his nativity, then he was ushered upon the scene of life
during the period of, and surrounded by, the numerous fauna of India, At
this time her mammalia included, besides the quadrumana, elephant (seven
species), mastodon (three species), rhinoceros (five species), horse
(three species), hippopotamus (four to seven species), hog (three
species), camel, giraffe, sivatherium (an elephantine stag, having four
horns and supposed to have had the bulk of an elephant and greater
height), antelope, musk-deer, sheep, ox (several species), dinotherium,
porcupine, species of hyena, lion, and many others.
It cannot be presumed that man's intellectual faculties were ordinarily
developed, as it would not be natural to suppose he was superior to that
of later times. Judging from the remains of later times, man could have
been but very little removed from the brute. It is natural to suppose
that at first he had no fire, no weapons of offence or defence. His food
must have been the herbs, roots, and the fruits of the tree, possibly
with an occasional morsel of raw meat. His pillow was a stone, his
retreat a cave or the boughs of a wide-spreading tree, and his clothing
a natural coat of hair.
In the presence of the fierce beasts, man's domain might seem to be of
short duration. Providence has ordered all things wisely. Placed low in
the scale of life--brutal, selfish, prowling, yet cautious--man, by the
very force of circumstances, was to develop gradually the powers of his
mind. With the elephant and the mastodon he could not cope nor would
they molest him. To the fierce carnivora he might fall a prey. From
these he could flee, and find a shelter in the tops of the trees or some
secure fastness of the earth. Learning his own strength by experience,
he would venture forth on excursions, and meet face to face his deadly
foe. For self-defence he discovered, probably by accident, that a club
was a powerful weapon with which to beat back his fierce opponent.
Gradually he came to learn that a sharp flint driven into the end of a
club was a safer and more deadly weapon. With this he could withstand an
unequal contest.
The mode of life, together with the trials of his strength, developed
his muscular system. His muscles became large and tough, and his bones
thick and heavy. The earliest type of man is generally supposed to be
_dolichocephalic_, or long-headed. The walls of the skull were thick,
and the crown low. He was of ordinary stature, but built for action, and
of great power. His make-up was the result of his surroundings.
His advancement was very slow. Throughout the entire length of the
miocene and pliocene epochs it is not traceable. There was no revolution
in his mind; one step in advance would have been a mighty leap. Nor
could it be expected that there should be rapid progress. The mind was
brutal; and all the instincts sensual. But there was pending a mighty
change. The tropical climate should change into a winter of snow and
ice. Man should feel it, and be benefited by the new danger. His
sluggish mind should be quickened, and the inventive genius should be
called into action. The sun no longer could give its heat. The forests
grew cold, the chilling winds swept over the plains, and the retreat in
the cave was damp and forbidding. The wild beasts were either dying of
cold, or else becoming clothed with thick, long hair, and retreating
before the accumulating snow. Man earnestly looked about him. He
suffered greatly, and his numbers grew less. Fire had been produced.
How, no one can tell; possibly by accident. He now became more careful
of the fire, and with brand in hand he went from place to place kindling
the fires at the various resting-places. Nor was this sufficient. His
ingenuity was taxed to its greatest extent. Colder and colder grew the
winds. The snow, coming in great flakes, was soon consolidated, and
became as ice. The body could not be kept warm. Clothing must be had,
and this must be furnished by the wild beasts. Their hides must assist
in protecting the life of man. The stiffened, frozen animals would not
alone furnish sufficient covering. Knives must be invented. From the
flint rude knives were fashioned, by means of which the skins were
removed and transferred to the bodies of men. But the long winter
continuing, the lives of the living animals must be forfeited, both for
the flesh and and the skins. Rude, almost shapeless arrow-heads were
produced. Wood must be had with which to warm and cook, and rude rafts
formed, by means of which the swelling rivers might be crossed. Then
those stone hatchets of the Somme were shaped, and answered the purpose.
Man was at last prepared to face the rigors of winter, the perils of
ice, and secure himself against starvation. Not content with his
conflicts with nature, his brutal passion is aroused against his
fellows. Death-dealing blows fall rapidly upon each other, the blood
flows freely, the bones give way, and the weaker one has succumbed.
There are fierce contentions over the common prey, and the strong impose
upon the weak. True to his instinct, he is gregarious. He lives in
communities; and the more daring--the hunters--having their common
places of meeting, fashion their weapons, and vie with each other in
feats of prowess.
During the glacial epoch the condition of man must have remained
unchanged, after he had supplied himself with rude stone weapons. His
time was spent, for the most part, in self-preservation. He was
retreating before, yet bounding over, the frozen flood in pursuit of
game. This experience must ultimately tell for good. When the glaciers
began to recede, man followed closely, and forgot not the value of those
stone weapons which had secured food for himself. They served against
the cave-bear, cave-hyena, cave-lion, and would be of great service in
the ages yet to come. By a little remodelling they could be used to
greater advantage; and this change of shape was accomplished, and other
uses of flint were made known.
Man's form, aspect, and true position are comprehended by the relics of
the glacial age. The human bones tell a tale which any anatomist may
read, and even one not well skilled in the art. The primitive type is no
mystery, and those fossil bones tell of the terrific strifes of by-gone
times.
The Neanderthal man has already been described. Its structure is animal.
Its history agrees with the generally received idea of primitive man as
conceived by the geologist. The illustration (frontispiece) presents him
bestial and ape-like. A powerful organization, and well adapted to those
times. His bones tell of fearful conflicts. He lived to an old age, as
the traces of every suture are effaced. His skull was very thick. The
strong, prominent superciliary arches denote large perceptives, making
him watchful and always on the alert. Those bones tell of a terrible
conflict. The left arm was broken; who knows but in a contest with the
great cave-bear. He survived the contest and lived to see that arm
dwindle and become almost useless. Over the right eye he received a
blow, from some source, so great as to carry away a portion of the bone.
The claw of a cave-bear, or a flint weapon in the hand of one of his
race, may have produced that fracture. Still he lived, and the wound
healed. All this tells of his strength and hardihood. It gives an inside
view of the wonderful hardships and vicissitudes of primeval man.
The Engis skull belongs to the same type, though less bestial. Possibly
this individual did not enter upon the chase, and engage in the manly
pursuits of those times. He may have been an adviser or a dandy; or, his
ingenuity may have led him to the vocation of fashioning weapons and
implements from the flint.
In the time of the Engis man there were large as well as short,
heavy-set men. In the same cavern there was found a clavicle belonging
to a young person who must have been of great stature.
The jaws of La Naulette and Moulin-Quignon display a great tendency to
animal structure, and confirm the impressions as given of the primitive
condition of man during the glacial and pre-glacial ages.