The Meeting-Place of Geology and HistoryDawson, John William, Sir
Religion
The Meeting-Place of Geology and History
Dawson, John William, Sir
Deluge; Prehistoric peoples
7. The precise locality of the origin of man can be defined on probable
grounds as in a temperate region, supplied with the vegetable
productions most useful to him in a natural state, and free from
destructive animal rivals. We can scarcely suppose that this locality
can have been in any of those parts of the world in which man finds the
greatest difficulty in subsisting, or becomes most degraded, though this
paradoxical view has been held by some archæologists. It must rather
have been in some fertile and salubrious region of the northern
hemisphere; and probability as well as tradition points to those regions
in South-Western Asia which have not only been the earliest historical
abodes of man, but are also the centres of the animals and plants most
useful to him. It is interesting to note here that Hæckel, on purely
physical grounds, decides against Europe, Africa, Australia, and
America, and concludes that 'most circumstances indicate Southern Asia.'
8. It is to be observed, however, that the diluvial interlude gives a
double origin of man; but the historical accounts of the neocosmic
dispersion, as we have already seen, refer us in this case also to the
same regions of South-Western Asia. The traditions which ascribe human
origin to a 'Mountain of the North' refer to the second dispersion, and
coincide with the Ararat of Genesis and the 'Mountain of the North' on
which the ship of Hasisadra was supposed by the Chaldeans to have
grounded.
9. We are now in a position to correlate the historical Deluge with the
great geographical changes which closed the palanthropic age. This, when
regarded as an established fact, furnishes the solution of many of the
most disputed questions of anthropology. The misuse of the Deluge in the
early history of geology, in employing it to account for changes that
took place long before the advent of man, certainly should not cause us
to neglect its legitimate uses, when these arise in the progress of
investigation. It is evident that if this correlation be accepted as
probable, it must modify many views now held as to the antiquity of man.
In that case, the modern rubble spread over plateaus and in river
valleys, far above the reach of the present floods, may be accounted
for, not by the ordinary action of the existing streams, but by the
abnormal action of currents of water diluvial in their character.
Further, since the historical Deluge cannot have been of very long
duration, the physical changes separating the deposits containing the
remains of palæocosmic men from those of later date would, in like
manner, be accounted for, not by slow processes of subsidence,
elevation, and erosion, but by causes of a more abrupt and cataclysmic
character.
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