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
_Clothing._--Clothing also varied according to locality. Where the wild
animals were numerous their skins were used--there being no incentive to
substitute other material. Coarse material made of fibrous plants had
come into use. The lake-dwellers clothed themselves with this material,
and completely protected their bodies. They also used sandals for their
feet, as these have been found with the usual indications of usage.
_Food._--Where wild animals could be obtained they were used, and the
marrow of the long bones extracted. To this, fish and birds were added.
In Denmark the principal food was the different species of the edible
mollusk. In Switzerland a higher order and greater variety of food was
used. The meat of the wild animals, birds, and fish was varied with
bread made of barley and wheat, and fruit and berries. The meat was not
only obtained from the wild animal, but they provided against the
uncertainty of the chase by domesticating the boar, ox, sheep, and goat.
The horse and dog were domesticated to assist in the chase, but
sometimes served for food, probably during a famine.
If these people were cannibals, the evidence must rest solely on the
human bones discovered at a dolmen near the village of Hammer, Denmark,
which had been subjected to the action of fire. They were found together
with some flint implements. But this evidence is not sufficient to lead
to the conclusion that at the funeral banquets human flesh was used
along with the roasted stag.
_Arts and Manufactures._--The flint hatchets of the refuse-heaps are
generally of an imperfect type; the long knives indicate a considerable
amount of skill; the bodkins, spear-heads, and scrapers are but little
improved. In the latter part of this epoch, the various kinds of
implements, especially in Switzerland, attained to a surprising degree
of perfection, in so much so, it is difficult to understand how this was
achieved without the use of metal. They were made into various shapes,
and with the design of pleasing the eye.
Besides the various types of implements common to the different
countries, the tribes of Denmark manufactured a drilled hatchet, which
is combined in various ways with the hammer. A specimen of this type is
represented in Fig. 16, now in the Museum of Copenhagen. It is pierced
with a round hole, in which the handle was fixed. The cutting edge
describes an arc of a circle, and the other end is wrought into sharp
angular edges.
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