Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-05-06

The glaciers are appealed to for testimony on
this subject. 1t is reckoned that the first ice
invasion Of the Pleistocene, which spread a
frozen sheet over this continent as far south as
New York city, occurred about 200 600 wears
ago. subsequently there we're animals in
North America wholly different from any that
are found here now. The mammoth and the
mastodon roamed through the forests in herds.
There were camels, elk of enormous size, musk
oxen and giant beavers six feet long. This
ancient fauna has entirely passed away; the
strange beasts mentioned are extinct species
Ii when thew existed man had lived on the
earth the rocky strata inclosing their fossil
remains would almost certainly Weld some
human bones or relics. As matter of fact
none such have ever been found thus asso-
ciated
EVIDENCE OF THE NILE.
On this continent human bones and imple-
ments have only been found associated with the
remains Of modern animals, such as have ex-
listed here since the last ice sheet was with
drawn, 200 or 5000 years ago. But, on look
ing across to the old world evidence of a diff
ferent sort is discovered pointing in the same
direction. The valley Of the Nile was one of
the earliest regions the earth to be inhab-
tied by man. Every year the flood of that
river leaves thin deposit of mud covering the
land. By digging a hole ip the ground the
successive annual overhows can be clearly
| layers superimposed one upon another. Thus
at depth of 1000 layers is the surface level Of
| 1000 years ago. Now. excavations made at
great expense for scientific purposes have not
| disclosed any human relics at a greater depth
| than Il, 900 layers, or years. Below that point
| the strata are barren.
Until recently it has been supposed that peo-
| pie in the stone age devoted infinite labor to
the production Of their implements A stone ak
was imagined to be the result of the toll Of gen
erations. If man began to make such tool
In early youth and lived to see it finished by
his grandson he might die happy. This no
ton is now exploded. Not long ago J. D.. Nc
CURE set up little workshop in the National
Museum and proceeded to manufacture print
tive tools of flint and other kinds of stone with
no other means than such the earliest
savages had at hand. He proved that he could
turn out first-rate stone ak in two hours
though he might have done better if he had
had as much practice as the toolmakers of the
stone age. The latter did not pick up frag-
ments of rock at random for their purposes.
They selected from the nearest stream pebbles
which were not far from the shane they wan ted,
and pecked at each one with another pebble
| until it assumed the required contour finally
grinding the edge on piece of sandstone, if
desired. and perhaps contributing final poi
ish by rubbing with sand and water.
THE ANCIENT CAVE DwEIhERs.
The scientists who hold the belief that man
is very ancient animal on the earth have re-
ferred for evidence to numerous caves in south
ern Europe and elsewhere. which were doubt
less inhabited by many generations Of human
beings for the sake Of shelter and security.
These caverns contain great numbers of human
bones and primitive tools, which. it is alleged,
have been found in numerous instances mixed
with fragments of skeletons Of the huge cave
bear, the saber-toothed tiger. the wooiy
rhinoceros, the giant beaver and even the
elephas antiquus, which was the ancestor of
the mammoth and the elephants of today. The
flooring of ashes from ancient household fires
in these caverns Is sometimes much 20
feet thick. representing the accumulation Of
hundreds il not thousands of years. Scattered
about the ancient hearths are ever SO many
bones Of men, women and children, which
bear not only traces Of fire, but marks of In
| struments employed to split them lengthwise
| for the purpose Of getting at the marrow. Thus
| it would seem that these savages Of antiquity
were cannlbais.
| IN these caves testimony is found Of many
| murders committed thousands of years ago.
| Skulls Of women cleft by sharp weapons prove
| that they often were victims of savage vio-
| lence. One such Uranium of female bears
| the marks of three penetrating wounds. The
| fact that two Of them exhibit signs of having
| healed shows that she recovered, only to sue
| cumb to a third assault. The ncient occu-
! pants Of the caverns appear to have depended
| for food chiefly on the meat of reindeer, which
| in their time were plentiful in the south of
| Europe as sheep are now. Reindeer horn was
| their earliest raw material. employed for man
| ufactuing purposes. They fished with hooks
made of splinters of bone pointed at both ends
| Twenty pounds of the bones of water rats, half
/ roasted, were dug up in a single cave at
| Chaleux. from which it is inferred That these
animals contributed to the food supply in
times of scarcity. 1t has been alleged that
the dwelers in the caverns used the lower jaw
| bone of the cave bear q weapon, the great
| canine tooth serving as n point with which
deadly blows could be struck.
| PRIMITIVE TOOL FACTORIES
Some of the caves were regular factories for
making tools and weapons. From the one at
Chaleux 10000 flint hatchets, daggers and
knives have been obtained by digging. A
workshop of this kind in Perigord was devoted
| to the making of spear heads. while another
| confined itself to fabricatinG tools of reindeer
| horn. Curious whistles were turned ont from
! the first joint of the reindeer foot Many OF
! the implements and weapons discovered were
rudey decorated with representations of fishes
| of reindeer and even of mammoths. There
| we're hunting scenes carved in bone and horn.
| i'll which men were shown in pursuit of game
| or in conflict with beasts. One carving is a
landscape, with reindeer browsing. in admra-
| BILE perspective. The British Museum owns a
| supposed paleollthic pouiard of reindeer horn.
| with handle carved in the form of a reindeer
which would not be unworthy of modern art.
| The trouble with these works of art is that
! they are entirely too admirable 1t is now be-
lieved that they all of them frauds. Scien-
| fists are often creduous in proportion to their
| enthusiasm. but the limit of credulitv is passed
| by paieolIthc carvings in perspective No
modern savages have the slightest idea of per-
| spectiye. 1t represents the very latest
! development of artistic culture Even
the Chinese and Japanese possess
| no notion of it worth mentioning. I'M
| doubtedly the objects described we're fabricated
by ingenious persons for the purpose of sup
| plying urgent and profitable demand For
| a small collection of them, which included the
| poinard referred to, the British Museum paid
| 81 600 not many years ago. The testimony as
! to the discovery of them in the caves was us
| readily manufactured the things themselves.
! Thus does the whole fabric of theory built
! upon these alleged finds fall to the ground.
| The carvings OF the mammoth and the cave bear
| being frauds. there is no reason for surprising
| that the dwellers in the caverns ever saw either
| of those beasts. As for the finding of human
/ bones mixed up with the skeletons Of the cave
/ bear and saber-toothed tiger, the evidence does
/ not endure sitting. Doubtless those formid-
! able animals-the former much bigger and
more powerful than a grizzly, and the latter
| twice as big and strong tiger of Bengal
/ made use of the caves dens when they
! lived and left their bones behind them. Prim-
/ isive man would have found it difficult to con-
tl l. Il