Man and the Glacial PeriodWright, G. Frederick (George Frederick)
History
Man and the Glacial Period
Wright, G. Frederick (George Frederick)
Glacial epoch; Prehistoric peoples
Two radically different theories are presented to account for the
deposits variously known as the Columbia gravel and the Philadelphia
brick-clay. Mr. McGee, in the monograph above referred to, supposes them
to have been deposited during a period of a general subsidence of the
coast-line; so that they took place at about tide-level. Mr. Upham, on
the other hand, supposes them to have been deposited during the period
of general elevation to whose influence he mainly attributes the Glacial
period itself. In his view much of the shallow sea-bottom adjoining
the present shore off from Delaware and Chesapeake Bays was then a
land-surface, and the Hudson, the Delaware, and the Susquehanna Rivers,
coming down from the still higher elevations of the north, flowed through
extensive plains so related to the northern areas of elevation that
deposition was occurring in their valleys, owing in part to the flooded
condition of the streams, in part to the differential elevation, and in
part to the superabundance of silt and other _débris_ furnished by the
melting ice-sheet in the head-waters of these streams.
The deposits of Trenton gravel occurred much later, at a time when the
ice had melted far back towards the head-waters of the Delaware, and
after the land had nearly resumed its present relations of level, if
indeed it had not risen northward to a still greater relative height.
As would be expected from the climatic conditions accompanying the
Glacial epoch, man's companions in the animal world were very different
during the period when the high-level river gravels of America were
forming from those with which he is now associated. From the remains
actually discovered, either in these gravels or in close proximity to
them, we infer that, while the mastodon was the most frequent of the
extinct quadrupeds with which man then had to contend in that region, he
must have been familiar also with the walrus, the Greenland reindeer, the
caribou, the bison, the moose, and the musk ox.
_In the Glacial Terraces of Europe._
The existence of glacial man in Europe was first determined in connection
with the high-level river gravels already described in the valley of the
Somme, situated in Picardy in the northern part of France. Here in 1841
Boucher de Perthes began to discover rudely fashioned stone implements
in undisturbed strata of the gravel terraces, whose connection with
the Glacial period we have already made clear. But for nearly twenty
years his discoveries were ignored by scientific men, although he made
persistent efforts to get the facts before them, and published a full
account of them with illustrations as early as 1847. Some suggested fraud
on the part of the workmen; others without examination declared that the
gravel must have been disturbed; while others, still, denied altogether
the artificial character of the implements.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account