REINDEER EPOCH.
The glaciers, to a limited extent, have again advanced. The gigantic
animals of the past age have either disappeared or are fast becoming
extinct. The great cave-bear, cave-lion, cave-hyena, mammoth, and
woolly-haired rhinoceros have almost become extinct. They have given way
to a less fierce and less gigantic fauna. The advance of the glaciers is
announced by the numerous herds of reindeer which are overrunning the
forests of Western Europe, and extending as far south as the Pyrenees.
In the forests there now existed the horse, bison, wild bull (_Bos
primigenius_), musk-ox, elk, deer, chamois, ibex, beaver, hamster-rat,
lemming, and many others. These animals were capable of withstanding and
flourishing in a rigorous climate. When the glaciers were again broken
up and the climate became warmer, the reindeer, musk-ox, elk, chamois,
wild-goat, hamster-rat, and lemming retired to the high northern
latitudes in close proximity to the snow, or else to the lofty summits
of great mountain-chains.
The evidences of the antiquity of the reindeer epoch, and that it
immediately followed the inter-glacial, are numerous. The vast number of
the reindeer bones and horns attest to a distinct epoch, and by the
remains of arctic animals, as well as the traces of glaciers, the
climate must have been unlike that of the present time. The remains of
the mammoth, cave-bear, and cave-lion, would not only connect this
period with the inter-glacial, but also prove that a few stragglers
continued to exist, at least for a short period, after the reindeer
epoch had begun. That this epoch was earlier than the Swiss
lake-villages, or Danish shell mounds, may be shown by the weapons or
implements which point to a more primitive people, the absence of the
remains of the dog, and, also, by the absence of the remains of the
reindeer in the shell-mounds.
There are no means, yet discovered, by which it can be told how long
this epoch lasted. It lasted a sufficient length of time to permit the
reindeer to increase greatly its species.
_Evidences of the Existence of Man._--M. Christy and M. Lartet examined
in conjunction the caves of Central and Southern France. Those which
have been most carefully examined are ten in number, and belong to the
Department of Dordogne. At Perigord there seems to have been quite a
settlement, judging by the number of caves and stations, the principal
ones being Les Eyzies, La Madeleine, Laugerie-Haute, and Laugerie-Basse.
At Les Eyzies there were found a flint bodkin and a bone needle used for
sewing, a barbed arrow made of reindeer horn and still fixed in a bone,
a flint whistle made from the first joint of the foot of the reindeer,
and two slabs of schist, on both of which were scratched animal forms,
but deficient in any special characteristic.
At La Madeleine there were found a geode very large and very thick,
which, it is supposed, was used for a cooking vessel, as one side of it
had been subjected to fire; an engraving of a reindeer on the horn of
that animal; on another horn the carved outlines of two fishes, one on
either side; a representation of an ibex on the palm of a horn; on
another, a very curious group, consisting of an eel, a human figure, and
two horses' heads. A slab of ivory, broken into five pieces, had an
outline sketch of the mammoth (Fig. 13). This was so accurately drawn
that the small eye, curved tusks, huge trunk, and the abundant mane,
could readily be distinguished. There was also found, on an arrow-head,
the figure of a tadpole.
There were workshops at Laugerie-Haute and Laugerie-Basse, where
weapons and utensils were manufactured; and they are noted for the
abundance of instruments made of reindeer horn. Among the works of art
found at the latter station may be mentioned, the stiletto, needle,
spoon made in the shape of rods tapering off at one end and hollow in
the middle, staff of authority, whistle, and harpoon, all from the horn
of the reindeer. On the head of a staff of authority is carved a
mammoth's head; there is a representation of the hind-quarters of some
herbivorous animal, sketched out with a bold and practiced touch; an
animal's head, with ears laid back, and of considerable length, is
carved on a round shaft of reindeer horn. It cannot be determined for
what purpose this shaft was intended, but as the other end was pointed,
and provided with a lateral hook, it may have been the harpoon of some
chief. On a slab of slate was drawn, in outline, a reindeer fight. On a
fragment of a spear-head there is a series of human hands, provided with
four fingers only, and represented in demi-relief. The delineations of
fish are principally on wands of authority--on one of which is a series
following one another.
[Illustration: FIG. 13. SKETCH OF A MAMMOTH, GRAVEN ON A SLAB OF IVORY
FROM LA MADELEINE.]
The cave and _rock shelters_ of Bruniquel (Tarn-et-Garonne) have been
carefully examined by competent explorers. These relics are so numerous
that M. de Lastic, the proprietor of the cavern, sold to the agent of
the British Museum fifteen hundred specimens, of every description,
which had been found on his property. In the cave there were found,
engraved on a bone, a perfectly recognizable horse's head and the head
of a reindeer, and daggers made of ivory and bone, on which were
representations of the above-mentioned animals. The engravings are
mostly on the horn of the reindeer. The cave has also furnished two
almost perfect human skulls, and two half-jaw bones which resemble the
Moulin-Quignon.
The _rock-shelters_ are overhanging rocks, under the projections of
which man found a shelter and built his rude dwellings of boughs and
sticks. In these shelters have been found fire-hearths, fish-hooks made
of splinters of bone, saws made of flint, a complete sketch of the
mammoth engraved on reindeer horn, the hilt of a dagger carved in the
shape of a reindeer, the cave-lion, engraved with great clearness, on a
fragment of a staff of authority, and two daggers made of ivory.
In the excavations which were made in the rock-shelters, was found a
quantity of human bones, including two skulls--one of an old man, the
other that of an adult.
The cave of Gourdan (Haute-Garonne) contained the largest collection of
implements of bone and horn ever discovered. The stones and reindeer
horns are carved with great care, and indicate a high degree of artistic
taste. There are sketches made of the reindeer, stag, chamois, goat,
bison, horse, wolf, boar, monkey, badger, antelope, fishes, and birds,
and also the representations of some plants. In the lowest layer of the
soil the most perfect works occur, and they grow less as the surface is
approached. Several of those implements called "batons of command"
occurred, ornamented with animals' heads. On the rib of a horse was
carved an antelope, and on the bone of a bird various figures--plants,
reindeer, and a fish. This cave was made the subject of a report by M.
Piette before the Paris Anthropological Society.
[Illustration: FIG. 14. THE FOSSIL MAN OF MENTONE.]
The fossil man of Mentone, found in a grotto of Mentone, a village near
Nice, for some time past has produced much comment among scientists. The
skeleton was discovered in undisturbed earth; at a depth of twenty-one
feet. The cause of the discussion is that the skeleton is accompanied by
a multiplicity of bone-tools, needles, chisels, a baton of command, a
necklace, various species of the deer, indicating the reindeer epoch,
but surrounded also by the remains of the cave-bear, cave-hyena, and
woolly-haired rhinoceros. Dr. Garrigou arrives at the conclusion that
this cave was first inhabited by men of the preceding epoch, or
inter-glacial, and during the reindeer epoch was used as a place of
burial.[64] The attitude of the skeleton was that of repose (see Fig.
14). It was stained by oxide of iron. The tibiae, or shin-bones, present
a noticeable feature by being more flattened than in the European of the
present time.
In the same neighborhood there have more recently been discovered, in
different caves, four other human skeletons. They were all stained with
oxide of iron, and two of them surrounded with pierced sea-shells, teeth
of the stag, constituting the remains of necklaces and bracelets. With
one skeleton, which belonged to a large individual, were discovered
implements of stone and bone, tooth of a cave-bear, bones of other
animals, and shells of edible marine mollusks. The other two skeletons
were those of children, and not accompanied by either implements or
ornaments.
The other bone caves of France, which have afforded much valuable
information, and belonging to this epoch, are: La Gorge d'Enfer,
Liveyre, Pey de l'Aze, Combe-Granal, Le Moustier and Badegoule
(Dordogne), cave of Bize (Aude), cave of La Vache (Ariege), cave of
Savigne (Vienne), grottos of La Balme and Bethenas, in Dauphine, the
settlement of Solutre, the cave of Lourdes (Hautes-Pyrenees), and the
cave of Espalungue (Basses-Pyrenees)--the last two date back to the most
ancient period of the reindeer epoch.
The principal objects found in these caves, and the rock-shelters are
worked flakes, scrapers, cores, awls, lance-heads, cutters, hammers, and
mortar-stones. These works, though unpolished, are but little ruder than
those of the Esquimaux or the North American Indian.
_Belgian Caverns._--Under the auspices of the Belgian government M.
Edward Dupont examined more than twenty caves on the banks of the Lesse,
in the province of Namur. Among these were four, in which occurred
numerous traces of the reindeer-man, namely, Trou du Frontal, Trou
Rosette, Trou des Nutons, and Trou de Chaleux.
The cavern Trou de Frontal was a place of burial, and similar to the
cave of Aurignac. The mouth of the cave was closed by a slab of
sandstone, and within were the remains of fourteen human beings
belonging to persons of various ages, and some of them to infants
scarcely a year old. In front of the cave was an esplanade, where were
celebrated the funeral feasts, and which was marked by hearth-stone,
traces of fire, flint-knives, bones of animals, shells, etc. The human
bones were intermixed with a considerable number of the bones of the
reindeer and other animals, as well as the different kinds of
implements. Among the remains were two perfect human skulls, in a good
state of preservation. The bones were discovered in a state of great
confusion, which M. Dupont thinks was caused by the disturbance of
water. Sir John Lubbock regards the disturbance of the bones as due to
foxes and badgers.[65]
Immediately above this cave is the Trou Rosette, in which the bones of
three persons were found, mingled with those of the reindeer and beaver.
It also contained fragments of a blackish kind of pottery, which were
hollowed out in rough grooves and hardened by fire. Dupont is of opinion
that the three men were crushed to death by masses of rock at the time
of the inundation of the valley of the Lesse.
In the Trou des Nutons, situated one hundred and sixty-four feet above
the Lesse, were found a great many bones of the reindeer, wild bull, and
many other species. In the cave, indiscriminately mixed up with these
bones, were one hundred and fifty worked reindeer horns, knuckle-bones
of the goat, polished on both sides, a whistle made from the tibia of a
goat, fragments of very coarse pottery, and fire-hearths.
[Illustration: FIG. 15. EARTHEN VASE, FOUND IN THE CAVE OF FURFOOZ,
BELGIUM.]
The cave of Chaleux was buried by a mass of rubbish caused by the
falling in of the roof, consequently preserving all its implements.
There were found the split bones of mammals and the bones of birds and
fishes. There was an immense number of objects, chiefly manufactured
from reindeer horn, such as needles, arrow-heads, daggers, and hooks.
Besides these, there were ornaments made of shells, pieces of slate with
engraved figure, mathematical lines, remains of very coarse pottery,
hearth-stones, ashes, charcoal, and last but not least, thirty thousand
worked flints mingled with the broken bones. In the hearth, placed in
the centre of the cave, was discovered a stone, with certain but
unintelligible signs engraved upon it. M. Dupont also found about twenty
pounds of the bones of the water-rat, either scorched or roasted.
In a cave at Furfooz, Dupont found an urn, or specimen of rough pottery
(Fig. 15) intermingled with human bones. It was partly broken; by the
care of M. Hauzeur it has been put together again.
France and Belgium are not alone in their monuments of the reindeer
epoch, for settlements of this epoch have been discovered in Germany,
Switzerland, and Poland.
In the cave of Thayngen, near Schaffhausen, Switzerland, have been
discovered a few remains of the mammoth, rhinoceros, and cave-lion; the
remains of two hundred and fifty reindeer, four hundred and thirty
Alpine hares; also the remains of the brown bear, stag, elk, auroch,
glutton, wolf, and several kinds of fox. The large bones invariably
appeared in fragments, and the pebbles used for breaking them were found
in the refuse. Among birds, the bones of the swan, grouse, and duck
predominate. The implements consisted chiefly of needles, piercers, and
arrow-heads made of the antlers of the reindeer. The art of engraving
and carving was carried to quite a degree of perfection. The most
notable of these objects is the delineation of a reindeer in the act of
browsing, drawn on a piece of the horn of that animal.
Not far from Cracow (Poland), a cavern has been recently discovered and
examined by Count Zawisza. In the upper part of the floor (four feet in
depth), consisting of vegetable earth, mould, and _debris_, occurred
ashes, flint implements, and the split bones of the cave-bear, reindeer,
horse, elk, and other animals. Beneath this layer appeared the broken
bones of the mammoth, an ornament of ivory, and the perforated teeth of
the cave-bear, stag, elk, wolf, and fox. Two thousand flint implements
were obtained; and from the frequent occurrence of flint the cave was
used by the troglodytes, or cave-men, as a dwelling; and by the remains
of the fauna, it must have been occupied during the inter-glacial, and
at the beginning of the reindeer epoch.