The Prehistoric World; Or, Vanished Races — John Shaqi
The Prehistoric World; Or, Vanished RacesAllen, Emory Adams
History
The Prehistoric World; Or, Vanished Races
Allen, Emory Adams
Archaeology; Indians; Prehistoric peoples
From what we have learned of the development of primitive
society, it will not surprise us to learn that the first division
of the age of stone comprises a vastly greater portion of time,
and is far more ancient, than the second. We will give an outline
showing the order of use of different materials; but it is here
necessary to remark that Bronze was the first metal that man
learned to use, and Iron the second.
ORDER IN WHICH DIFFERENT MATERIALS WERE USED FOR WEAPONS AND
IMPLEMENTS BY PRIMITIVE MAN.
Age of Stone.
Rough, or Old Stone Age
Paleolithic
Polished, or New Stone Age
Neolithic
Age of Metals.
Bronze Age. Iron Age.
In this outline the words Paleolithic and Neolithic are the
scientific terms for the two divisions of the Stone Age, and will
be so used in these pages.
The only races of men that we could expect to find in Europe
during the Glacial Age would be Paleolithic tribes, and it is
equally manifest that we must find traces of them in beds of this
age, or in association with animals that are characteristic of
this age, or else we can not assert the existence of man at this
time. The valley of the river Somme, in Northern France, has
become classical ground to the student of Archæology, since it
was there that such investigations as we have just mentioned were
first and most abundantly made. It is now well known that the
surface features of a country—that is, its hills and dales, its
uplands and lowlands—are mainly due to the erosive power of
running water. Our rivers have dug for themselves broad valleys,
undermined and carried away hills, and in general carved the
surface of a country, until the present appearance is the result.
It must be confessed that when we perceive the slow apparent
change from year to year, and from that attempt to estimate the
time required to produce the effects we see before us, we are apt
to shrink from the lapse of time demanded for its accomplishment.
Let us not forget that “Time is long,” and that causes, however
trifling, work stupendous results in the course of ages.
Paleolithic Flints.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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