The Prehistoric World; Or, Vanished RacesAllen, Emory Adams
History
The Prehistoric World; Or, Vanished Races
Allen, Emory Adams
Archaeology; Indians; Prehistoric peoples
Trade between different tribes must have been greatly facilitated
by means of canoes, which Neolithic man knew well how to make.
The art of navigation was probably well advanced. The canoes were
formed of the trunks of large trees. In most cases they were
hollowed out by means of the ax and fire combined. Sometimes the
ends were partially rounded or pointed, but often cut nearly
square across—rather a difficult shape to propel fast or to guide
properly. These ancient boats have been found in nearly all the
principal rivers of Europe, and in many cases, no doubt, come
down to much later date than the Neolithic Age. From the remains
of fish found in their refuse heaps we are confident that in some
such a shaped boat as this they trusted themselves far out at
sea. They served to transport them from the shores of Europe to
England, and at a later date to Ireland.
Neolithic Cloth.
The clothing of the men of the Neolithic Age doubtless consisted
largely of the prepared skins of the animals, and some fragments
of leather have been found in the lake settlements. But a very
important step in advance was the invention of spinning and
weaving, both of which processes were known at this time. The
cloth which is here represented is formed of twists of interwoven
flax, of rough workmanship, it is true, but none the less
remarkable, considering the epoch in which it was manufactured.
Balls of thread and twine have also been found.30 This cut is a
spindle-whorl. These have been discovered very often. They were
made sometimes of stone and at other times of pottery and bone.
The threads were made of flax, and the combs which were used for
pushing the threads of the warp into the weft show that it was
woven into linen on some kind of a loom. Several figures of the
loom have been given, but we have no certainty of their
correctness.31
Spindle-whorl, and Weaver’s Comb.
Let us now see if we can gather anything as to the religious
belief of Neolithic man. On this point we can at best only
indulge in vague conjectures. Yet some light seems thrown on this
difficult subject by examination of the burial mounds. This
introduces us to a subject of much interest which, in our hurried
review, we can but glance at.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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