A Manual of the Antiquity of ManMacLean, J. P. (John Patterson)
History
A Manual of the Antiquity of Man
MacLean, J. P. (John Patterson)
Human beings -- Origin
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.
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