The Romance of Modern Geology: Describing in simple but exact language the making of the earth with some account of prehistoric animal lifeGrew, Edwin Sharpe
Science
The Romance of Modern Geology: Describing in simple but exact language the making of the earth with some account of prehistoric animal life
Grew, Edwin Sharpe
Geology; Paleontology
We need not enter further into these controversies, and we need only
say that flint implements of various kinds are found all over the
world, in Egypt before the Pharaohs, in Australia, in South Africa,
and indeed in every continent. They are being made even to-day by
aborigines in Australasia, and there is even a "flint knapping"
industry which survives to-day at Brandon, in Suffolk, though these
flints are not intended for use as spear-heads or arrow-heads or
anything so primitive. There is little geological evidence to show
the place where man first appeared; but what we know of his frame
and constitution induces us to believe that somewhere in the warm
climate of Southern Asia was his first habitation. From this, or
from some similar tract in that quarter of the globe, there seems to
have been four great migratory movements. These were complicated by
reverse movements, by cross migrations, and by wanderings, which we
shall probably never altogether understand; and so we can only sum up
briefly the chief features of them.
The greatest movement appears to have been north-eastward between
the great desert and mountain tract of Central Asia on the one hand,
and the Pacific on the other, attended by divergences eastward to
many islands (as they are now) of the Pacific. When the emigrants
got too far north to wish to explore further, they spread out to
east and west, forming a belt below the Arctic regions and sending
a branch down the whole length of the American Continent. This
movement embraced the Mongoloid races, and included the old American
Indians and the Malayan races. Before the disturbing influences of
man's later development, this branch had three notable centres of
civilisation: the Chinese in Asia, the Mexican in North America, and
the Peruvian in South America.
A second and much less numerous band of emigrants struck out to the
south-east, and reaching the southern hemisphere gave rise to the
Australian and New Zealand aboriginal races--all peoples who never
rose very much or developed notable power.
To a third movement to the south-west is assigned the peopling of
Africa south of the Sahara with the negro and similar races, which
have become very numerous but never very powerful or intelligent.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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