The Prehistoric World; Or, Vanished RacesAllen, Emory Adams
History
The Prehistoric World; Or, Vanished Races
Allen, Emory Adams
Archaeology; Indians; Prehistoric peoples
We have thus far been considering those arts which pertain more
directly to living. We have presented some sketches found
engraved on pieces of bone. We first noticed this among the
relics found in one of the Creswell caves in England. It was also
noticed in Belgium. It was among the Cave-men of Southern France
that this artistic trait became highly developed. Among the
reindeer hunters of the Dordogne were artists of no mean ability.
We must pause a minute and mark the bearing of this taste for
art. We have seen many reasons for supposing the men of the caves
much farther advanced in the scale of culture than those of the
Drift, but we have also seen that we can not rank them higher
than the highest grade of savages.
Sir John Lubbock thus speaks of them: “In considering the
probable condition of these ancient Cave-men, we must give them
full credit for their love of art, such as it was; while, on the
other hand, the want of metal, of polished flint implements, and
even of pottery, the ignorance of agriculture, and the apparent
absence of all domestic animals, including even the dog,
certainly imply a very low state of civilization.”26
They were certainly not as far advanced in civilization as the
next race we will describe, yet the Neolithic people had no such
skill as was possessed by the cave-men. This need not surprise
us, because “an artistic feeling is not always the offspring of
civilization, it is rather a gift of nature. It may manifest its
existence in the most barbarous ages, and may make its influence
more deeply felt in nations which are behind in respect to
general progress than in others which are more deeply advanced in
civilization.”27
Reindeer Grazing.
In regard to the objects themselves, a glance at the
illustrations show us that they are quite faithful sketches of
the animals at that time common. As might be expected, sketches
of the reindeer are numerous. This cut is regarded as the highest
example of Paleolithic art, sketched on a piece of horn and found
in Switzerland. The animal is grazing, and the grass on which it
feeds is seen below. We have on a piece of slate the outlines of
a group of reindeer, generally considered as representing a
fight, though it may mean a hunt, and that the hunter has
succeeded in killing a portion of the herd. Some, as we see, are
on the ground.
Group of Reindeers.
Man and Other Animals.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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