Manners and Monuments of Prehistoric PeoplesNadaillac, Jean-François-Albert du Pouget, marquis de
History
Manners and Monuments of Prehistoric Peoples
Nadaillac, Jean-François-Albert du Pouget, marquis de
Archaeology; Prehistoric peoples
The prehistoric station of _La Muela de Chert_ in Maeztrago reminds us
of those of Portugal. It is situated on a little eminence, protected on
the north and east by the natural escarpment of the plateau, and on
other sides by a wall of some height made of stones without mortar.
Some foundations of an oval shape, on which doubtless were built the
homes of the inhabitants, can be made out in the middle of the
_enceinte_. We can, however, but repeat here what we have said so often
elsewhere, that it is impossible to fix the exact date at which these
intrenchments were made. The discovery, however, of polished flint
hatchets, diorite lance-heads, and a few bones of ruminants and cerviæ
unknown in Spain in prehistoric times, would appear to point to a very
considerable antiquity. Lastly, two young Belgian engineers24 have
lately made out between Almeria and Carthagena a considerable number of
prehistoric stations in which can be traced successively the different
Stone ages and those of Copper and of Bronze. Several of these stations
(Fig. 85) are regular fortified camps, protected by thick stone walls
cemented with a thin layer of clay. The fire which destroyed the
habitations has left behind, beneath the ashes and cinders, numerous
objects, with the aid of which we are able to form a picture of the
life led by the men who built the fortifications, and we know that they
were agriculturists, for the very stores of grain have been found
charred and agglutinated by fire. In the more recent stations flint,
which was in the earliest time the one material used, has disappeared
and is replaced by the copper, of which a plentiful supply was found in
the rich mines riddling the mountains. Excavations have even brought to
light the workshop of the metallurgist, with its moulds and vases
converted into crucibles, its essays at new forms, its scoriae, and
lastly its finished weapons, showing real skill in their production.
Although it is impossible to assign to them a definite date, we must,
to make this part of our work complete, say a few words on the
earthworks met with in Roumania. A former minister of that
principality, M. Odobesco,25 classes them as _valla, tumuli_, and
_cetati de pamentu_ or citadels.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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