The Prehistoric World; Or, Vanished RacesAllen, Emory Adams
History
The Prehistoric World; Or, Vanished Races
Allen, Emory Adams
Archaeology; Indians; Prehistoric peoples
It would be exceedingly interesting could we but find well
executed sketches of the men of this period, but, unfortunately,
with one or two exceptions, no representations, however rude,
have yet been discovered of the human form. Perhaps an
explanation of this fact may be found in the well-known
reluctance of savage tribes to have any engravings taken of
themselves, and we can well imagine that if any one was known to
make drawings of human beings he would be regarded with
suspicious distrust, and it would hardly be a safe accomplishment
to possess. One very curious group represents a man, long and
lean, standing between two horses’ heads, and by the side of a
long serpent or fish, having the appearance of an eel. On the
reverse side of this piece of horn were represented the heads of
two aurochs or bisons. Mr. Dawkins thinks this also represents a
hunting sketch, and that the man is in the act of striking one of
the horses with a spear.
Fish, Incised on Bear’s Tooth and Ibex.
On, a fragment of spear-head found in France several human hands
were engraved, but having only four fingers each. On this point
Mr. Lartet assures us that some savage tribes still depict the
hand without the thumb.28 Representations of birds and reptiles
are very rare; fishes are more common. On a piece of reindeer’s
horn was found this representation of the head and chest of an
ibex. Of special interest to us is a representation of a mammoth
found engraved on a piece of mammoth tusk in one of the Dordogne
caves. We have no doubt that the artist who engraved it was
perfectly familiar with the animal itself.
Mammoth—La Madeline Cave, France.
Their artistic skill was not confined to the execution of
drawings. They frequently carved pieces of reindeer horn into
various animal forms. Our next cut shows us a dagger, the handle
of which is carved to imitate a reindeer. It will be seen how the
artist has adapted the position of the animal to the necessities
of the case. Flowers are very seldom represented; but one
implement from France has a very nice representation of some
flowering plant engraved on it.
Take it all in all, the possession of this artistic instinct is
certainly remarkable—the more so when we remember the rudeness of
his surroundings, and the few and simple means at his command for
work. “A splinter of flint was his sole graving tool; a piece of
reindeer horn, or a flake of slate or ivory, was the only plate
on which primitive man could stamp his reproduction of animated
nature.”29
Reindeer Carved on Dagger Handle.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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