Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1864-05-07
= ~ q - 80 -, -
THE EVENING NEWS.
The Antiquity Of Man.

human race was in existence, during the
diluyian period. The above gentlemen
having, during the latter part Of 1853, yis-
tied the district of Sariat, in the depart
ment of the Dordogne, explored among
other places the Grotto des Eyzies, situa-
ted at thirty-fiye metres above the level OF
the small stream called the Beune. Here,
under a breccia covering the floor Of the
cavern, they found concretion Of broken
bones, ashes, cinders and vast number OF
flint implements. So far there was moth
ing very extraordinary, but on searching
further they discovered other implements
and weapons made of the antlers of the
reindeer, the animal of all others hitherto
considered, and not without reason, to
have inhabited France during the diluyian
OF drift period; that is, long before our
earliest historical ages. agE ss W
The explorers had previously ascertain
ed that there was no sign OF the soil having
been moved at later period; bones and
series of yertebre of the reindeer were
firmly imbedded in the breccia. But this
is not all. Among the implements found
there were some which testified degree
of civilization far beyond any that might
have been suspected to exist at so remotea
period, viz, needles made out of the SUBJ
stance of the reindeer's antlers, with eyes
to receive the thread; marks Of sharp in
struments in the bones, showing that the
sinews had been cut in order to make
them into threads practice existing
among the Esquimaux to this day--and,
lastly, sculptured antlers Of no me n exc
cution. Our authors especially describe
one in which the artist has shown Won
derful taste in adapting the form of an an
imal to the shape Of handle, forming
part of kind Of dagger, the blade Of
which is made out of an antler. Consid-
e, ing that the artist had nothing but sharp
hints at his command, the execution of
this piece Of art is quite astonishing; the
hind legs of the animal follow the blade,
the fore legs are bent under the belly. and
the head forms curve with the back,
which completes the handle. g, f...F ,gs
Another curious circumstance connect
ed with this piece is, that this handle is
much too small for hand of the present
day., Can it be that the primitive race
was inferior in size to the present ones
This would be contrary to the traditions
of most ancient nations, which generally
represent our forefathers as being OF q gi-
gantic stature. As to the age when the
reindeer inhabited France, our authors
admits that all is conjecture; but that none
of the Lncient authors mention or describe
the reindeer; that Caesar only speaks of it
from hearsay; that the figure Of the rein
deer is not to be met with OIL the ancient
Gallo coins that the dolmans or crom-
lechs Of the Celts have never been found
to contain any remains of this animal; and
that none have been discovered in the turf
beds of France, nor in the lacustral settle
ments of Switzerland. Hence there is
every reason to suppose that the existence
of the reindeer in France was confined to
period of which no record exists that
that period was the diluvian one; and that
man inhabited the earth many centuries
before the time usually assigned to his
first appearance. -r. y
At the same meeting N. de Vibraye sent
in paper in which he presented some
new facts: -. .........
- We have seen primitive man armed with
hints N. de Vibraye shows that although
he had no knowledge of metallurgy, he
was well aware Of the existence Of metals,
although the drift strata are not metallif-
erous. In the lower bed of the grottoes
of Arcy (Yonne,) containing the bones Of
the extinct Ursas SpeLeus, or fossil bear,
our author found fragment Of hydrated
iron. exactly similar to a specimen discoy-
cred in cromlech at La Birochire, near
Pornic (Loire-Inferieuae); the same bed
also contained piece of peroxide of man
ganese. Two similar specimens were
brought to light in the Fourneau du Dia-
BILE at Bourdeilles IA reindeer stratumG
and lastly, small mass of pure copper,
almost entirely covered with coating Of
green carbonate Of copper, and cubic crys-
tails of protoxide Of the same metal was
dug up in the drift of Laugerie, in the
drift of Laugere, in the commune of Tayae.
NJ. de Nibraye is decidedly of opinion
that some commerce existed in these re-
mote times, because the various manufac-
tured articles found in the drift often lie
together with sea shells which could only
have come from the coast, the drift being
of too modern formation to admit of any
other explanation of the circumstances.
Our author also mentions the discovery of
human atlas (the first yertebre of the
neck) amidst accumulation of bones of the
hyena and other extinct species; fact
which tend to carry mans first appearance
upon earth several thousand years further
back than any historical record in exis-
tence. Among other singular discoveries
we must not forget to mention q small
statue representing woman, and carved
out Of an elephants tusk-a wonderful
feat, considering that it could only have
been achieved with flint implements. The
drift is sometimes found to cover places
where fires have been made, and the ashes
and cinders revealing the fact lie on blocks
of limestone foreign to the district and
evidently chosen expressly on account of
their power of resisting the effects of heat.
M. de Vibraye does not hesitate to admit
the existence Of man during the geological
drift period, and considers the question
definitely set at rest.
In Chattanooga letter to the Cincin-
matt Commercial, the writer says: DyIing
the engagement at Buzzard Rcot, last
month, rode out to the advance line
while the enemy's artillery were deposit.
ing their shells in the Third Brigade Of
Johnson's division. While there, l was
struck with the eagerness of the First Wis
consin, Lieutenant Colonel Bingham, TO
participate. The Twenty-fourth Illinois
were on the skirmish line, hotly engaging
the enemy, and SO anxious were the men
of the First Wisconsin to go in, that they
,vare with difficulty restraine1 from break