Men of the Old Stone Age: Their Environment, Life and ArtOsborn, Henry Fairfield
History
Men of the Old Stone Age: Their Environment, Life and Art
Osborn, Henry Fairfield
Art, Primitive; Prehistoric peoples; Stone age
During the Third Glacial Stage certain of the 'middle terraces' along the
Rhine and other rivers flowing from the Alps were formed. In Britain,(39)
whereas during the second glaciation the ice-fields extended as far south
as the Thames, during the third glaciation they did not extend beyond the
midlands; yet an arctic climate prevailed over southern England, with
tundra conditions and temperature, as indicated by the plant deposits at
Hoxne(40) in Suffolk. Even before the third glaciation began in Europe a
great ice-cap had formed over Labrador, on the eastern coast of North
America, and the ice-sheets flowing to the south and southwest extended as
far as Illinois, depositing the great Illinoian 'drifts.'
[Illustration: _EUROPE DURING THE THIRD GLACIAL EPOCH. (RISS) (AFTER JAMES
GEIKIE) A-B Line of Profile_
FIG. 51. The ice-fields and glaciers of the Third Glacial Stage are seen
to be much less extensive than those of the Second Glacial Stage, shown in
Fig. 25, p. 65. The continental depression and invasion of the sea is also
believed to have been less extensive. At this stage there are broad areas
free from ice between the Scandinavian, the Alpine, and the Pyrenean
ice-caps. Drawn by C. A. Reeds, after James Geikie. (Compare Fig. 13.)]
Along the borders of these great ice-fields in both countries a cold and
moist climate prevailed, for a prime condition of glaciation is the heavy
precipitation of snow. In northern Europe, between the great Alpine and
Scandinavian ice-fields of the third glaciation a cold climate undoubtedly
prevailed; in the region of the Neckar River, near Cannstatt, is found a
deposit known as 'mammoth loam,' which Koken believed to be
contemporaneous with the period of the third glaciation, although the
evidence is certainly not convincing.(41) Here are found fossil remains of
the Scandinavian reindeer, also of two very important new arrivals in
Europe from the tundra regions of the far northeast, animals which had
wandered along the southern borders of the Scandinavian ice-sheet from the
tundras of northern Russia and Siberia. This is the first appearance in
western Europe of the woolly mammoth (_E. primigenius_) and the woolly
rhinoceros (_D. antiquitatis_). In this 'mammoth loam' there also occur
two species of horse, the giant deer (_Megaceros_), the stag, the wisent,
and the Aurochs. If the woolly mammoth and the woolly rhinoceros actually
entered eastern Germany at this time, they certainly retreated to the
north with the approach of the warm temperate climate of the Third
Interglacial Stage, because no trace of these animals has been found again
in Europe until the advent of the fourth glaciation.
(=1=) Gaudry, 1890.1.
(=2=) Smith, G. E., 1912.1, p. 582.
(=3=) _Op. cit._
(=4=) Munro, 1893.1.
(=5=) Osborn, 1910.1, pp. 306, 307.
(=6=) Geikie, J., 1894.1, pp. 329-336; 1914.1, p. 227.
(=7=) Dawkins, 1883.1, pp. 576-579.
(=8=) Geikie, J., 1914.1, p. 248.
(=9=) Reid, C., 1908.1.
(=10=) Desnoyers, 1863.1.
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