CONDITION OF MAN IN THE INTER-GLACIAL.
The Inter-Glacial period continued a great length of time, covering many
thousands of years.
Man is an improvable being, and some advancement may be expected in his
condition. His mode of life, and continued conflicts with the fierce
wild beasts, would tax his every device. Necessity compelled him to be
inventive. The limited, bestial mind which he possessed, could not
grapple with the higher problems of existence. United efforts and
fortified places were beyond his thoughts. Those old axes of flint were
great objects to his mind, and one step beyond them was a great stride
in progress. That they developed but little cannot be wondered at, not
only from their low type, but also from the knowledge that even in the
era of history there are nations whose civilization has become fixed and
stereotyped for ages; others, who, instead of advancing, have been
retrograding.
The impulse given by the rigors of glacial times acted beneficially
throughout this period. The rude axes and flints were retained, but
improvements were made in utilizing the bones and horns of animals. Out
of these, bodkins, fish-hooks, and arrow-heads were made. The teeth of
wild animals were perforated, and, along with corals and shells, were
used for ornaments. The caverns, used as dwelling-places, being
destitute of water, this necessary of life was supplied and carried
thither in rude vessels made of clay and dried in the sun. The arrows,
flint knives, and axes were used for killing and skinning the animals,
splitting the bones containing the marrow, shaping the bone implements,
felling trees, and stripping the bark, which was used at times for
clothing, after having been softened by beating. He commenced the art of
engraving, as is witnessed by a sketch of the great cave-bear wrought on
a curious stone found in the cave of Massat (Ariege), the bird's head
formed from the bone of a cave-bear, at Aurignac, and other examples.
The lower jaw-bones of the cave-bear and cave-lion, in the shape of
hoes, used for digging roots, were found in the caves of Lherm and in
Bouicheta. He made hearth-stones, and on them cooked his food. That he
paid honors to the dead, and sheltered them from the ravages of beasts
of prey, at present, must remain an open question. If he did, it might
seem to imply that he had a religious nature. But when it is considered
that he was very low in the scale of existence, it may be inferred that
this was done, if done at all, to propitiate an evil genius. Or it may
be a faint idea of a ghost state and that these feasts were made to
dissuade the ghost from molesting him. That they had a conception of a
Supreme Ruler, or a number of gods who ruled for the good of man, would
be too preposterous to believe.
Professor Denton has given a description of primeval time which, by a
little change, would represent inter-glacial times: "The seasons are
fairly established; and spring follows winter, and fall summer, as now;
though the summer is longer and warmer than we are accustomed to see in
those countries at the present time, and the winters colder. The country
is covered with dense forests, through which ramble mighty elephants in
herds, with immense curved tusks, coats of long, shaggy hair, and
flowing manes.... Shuffling along comes the great cave-bear from his
rocky den--as large as a horse: fierce, shaggy, conscious of his
strength, he fears no adversary. Crouched by a bubbling spring lies the
cave-tiger (_Felis spelaea_); and, as the wild cattle come down to drink,
he leaps upon the back of one, and a terrible combat ensues. It is as
large as an elephant, and its horns of enormous size; and even
cave-tigers could not always master such cattle as they.
"Are these the highest forms of life that the country contains? What
being is that sitting on yon fallen tree? His long arms are in front of
his hairy body, and his hands between his knees; while his long legs are
dangling down. His complexion is darker than an Indian's; his beard
short, and like the hair of his body; the unkempt hair of his head is
bushy and thick; his eyebrows are short and crisp; and with his sloping
forehead and brutal countenance, he seems like the caricature of a man,
rather than an actual human being.
"Beneath the shade of a spreading chestnut we may behold a group--one
old man ... and women and children, lounging and lying upon the ground.
How dirty! What forbidding countenances!--more like furies than women.
One young man, with a stone axe, is separating the bark from a
neighboring tree. Others, agile as monkeys, are climbing the trees, and
passing from branch to branch, as they gather the wild fruit that
abounds on every side. Some are catching fish in the shallows of the
river, and yell with triumph as they hold their captives by the gills,
dragging them to the shore."[63]
They have improved their language, and instead of the rude signs and
undistinguishable sounds of the glacial, may now be heard short, but
occasional sentences, which were the forerunners of the polished tongues
of modern Europe.