Prehistoric manDuckworth, W. L. H. (Wynfrid Laurence Henry)
History
Prehistoric man
Duckworth, W. L. H. (Wynfrid Laurence Henry)
Prehistoric peoples
(1) The case of the opponents rests mainly on a fourfold basis of
argument. Thus the nature of the splintering or chipping is called in
question. Some writers appeal to weathering, others to movements in the
deposits ('earth-creep,' and 'foundering of drifts,' Warren[35] 1905. and
Breuil, 1910), and others again to the concussions experienced by flints
in a torrential rush of water. The last explanation is supported by
observations on the forms of flints removed from certain rotary
machines used in cement-factories (Boule[36], 1905).
(2) A second line of opposition impugns the association of the flints
with the strata wherein they were found, or the geological age of those
strata may be called in question as having been assigned to too early a
period.
(3) Then (in the third place) comes the objection that the eoliths carry
Man's existence too far back; having regard to the general development of
the larger mammals, Pliocene Man might be accepted, but 'Oligocene' Man
is considered incredible. Moreover the period of time which has elapsed
since the Oligocene period must be of enormous length.
(4) In the last place will be mentioned criticism of the distribution of
the eolithic type (Obermaier[37], 1908).
(1) Having regard to the first of these arguments, the balance of
evidence appears so even and level that it is hardly possible to enter
judgment on this alone. But experiments recently carried out by Mr Moir,
and in Belgium by Munck and Ghilain (1907; cf. Grist[38], 1910) should
do much to settle this point.
Moreover the 'wash-tub' observations in cement-factories (Boule, 1905)
prove too much, for it is alleged that among the flint-refuse, fragments
resembling Magdalenian or even Neolithic implements were found. Yet such
forms are not recorded in association with the comparatively shapeless
eoliths. Further experiments are desirable, but so far they support
Professor Rutot and his school rather than their opponents.
(2) The position of the eoliths and the accuracy with which their
immediate surroundings are determined may be impugned in some instances,
but this does not apply to Mr Moir's finds at Ipswich, nor to the
Pliocene eoliths found by Mr Grist[38] at Dewlish (1910).
(3) While the general evidence of palaeontology may be admitted as
adverse to the existence of so highly-evolved a mammal as Man in the
earlier Tertiary epochs, yet the objection is of the negative order and
for this reason it must be discounted to some extent. If the lapse of
time be objected to, Dr Sturge[39] (1909) is ready to adduce evidence of
glacial action upon even Neolithic flints, and to propose a base-line for
the commencement of the Neolithic phase no less than 300,000 years ago.
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