Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-05-28
ABOUT THE ANCIENTS
INTERESTING NOTES OF TSvEsTI-
CATION AND DISCOVERY.
Finding of N Roman Bath In LON
don-EarIy writing I'm Centrni
Asia-Trephinins Among the Men
of the stone AGE.
New York Times.)
of the stone AGE.


| We never will know but vaguely to
what extent Middle and Southern Eng
land bore the impress OF Roman ci'ili1a-
ton. Certainly for LOO years no neea
was taken OF Roman remains, ana theS
were destroyed. II Is always strange 70
read how many are the finds made IN Eng
! land and reported by archaeological socle.
ties. In London, N the most unconseniai
OF grounds. Threadneedle street, the tank
NJ a. Roman bath, has been found WITHIN
a month. Near silchester fairly-iarge
hoard Of silver denarii OF the timeS VI
Marc Antony and septimus severius mas
come to light. Then. too. on the Slope
~ n hill not far from Winchombe' the
sround-plan of a large Roman villa has
/ beer uncovered. Remnants of plastered
walls, painted q Pompelian red, sun re-
| main. and a few fragments or Samian
ware have been dug up.
with the utmost respect for the I'M
| meuse learning and continuous laoors Oh
| AZ. Terrier de Lacouper1e, the SUBJECT ne
! treats Of 1.-THE Beginnings OF Writing 10
Central and Eastern ASIA must remain
a matter subjected 70 doubt His theme
Is that Egyptian, Babylonian, Chinese, all.
\ find their origin in the same prehistoric
| source. To begin at the beginning who
| can Interpret the notches found In the
| horns OF deer, which have been scored
| there by primitive MANI AS some one
asks, do they mean anything Or are
| they not simply grooves cut on the antler'
so that as an implement they might be
| better grasped by the hand? The Athe-
naeum presents the amusing discussion
| al tha mn y found
| famous lion in Venice. Some one read
them declaring that there was a Runic
| Inscription OF Harold Hardrada while
/ others insisted that the markings were
| due to the rough usage the lion underwent
when IL was transported from the Pr
raeus. Maybe many OF the "grafiu,' so
ingeniously Interpreted, are meaningless.
| II we study special cases. we do hnd.
as NJ. Delacouperie shows, that In writing
| there may have been degeneration. From
pictures came phonetics, then an attempt
| TO form letters; but in time the making
| of letters for the formation Of words
was beyond the capabilities of the race
| or an accident, unknown to-day. crushed
out the effort-and there was retrogres-
sion. In showing what is symbolic writ
| ing. NJ. Delacouperie presents many anus
ing examples. On the frontiers OF Thioet
and China the receipt OF chicken liver,
I
wrapped up in crimson paper, means,
| "Be prepared TO fight al once various
| combinations of straw and cowrie shells
| on the African coast have many Inherent
] significances.
Psychologists have always been curious
in regard to the resting-place OF queen
Hatshepsu-or. as she was better known,
| Queen Chnemtamun. She was the great
/ A,,fif cnlh
ments, and sent ships to Punt Now, we
know that men have quarrelled with their
mothers-in-law from time immemorial, but
| rarely have shown spite TO their aunts.
| Thotmes III. was Queen Chnemtamuns
nephew, and he behaved In the meanest
way to his aunt He tried his best 10 de-
stroy all the records Of the Queen, and
even annihilated her poor "Ka," or. her
double. Mr. Naville believes that he may
have found Queen Chnemtamuns mortal
remains near the shrine Of Hathor lying
there quite unrecorded. If. through the
zeal OF the explorer, this much-abused
! Queen should grace the case OF mu-
scum, at least some slight reverence would
be paid her after so many thousand years
OF neglect.
| The work OF the Egypt Exploration
Fund Is mainly devoted to clearing the
|
| the third year devoted to this temple.
The copts having lived so long in the
! immediate neighborhood, have demolished
| many OF the sculptures. According to the
! inscriptions around the temple, there were
I restam lakes-artiaclal ones-and Mr.. Il.
| Nayiile has been trying 10 find traces OF
! them. As Il is a desolate country to-day.
the question arises, Whence came the
water for irrigation? Pits have been
found full of dried Nile mud, with the
stumps of old palms. Mr.. Navile writes
in the Academy that IL Is not impossible
, that "in the Cd times" the Sphinxes
| couched under the shade OF palm trees
/ and tamarisks. like the rams In front
! of the Pylons of the temples OF karnak.
! One sculpture on great block, whlcn
excitss curiosity. has cut on II an obelisk
| transported on a vessel y good hnd mas
been made OF a number OF agricultural
implements, such as hoes, hatehets'
| knives. and AIDES with bronze blades.
| A variety OF small baskets was also dis
covered, which Mr.. Nsville believes were
mouds used by bakers for shaping bread.
| -
Some eighteen years have elapsed since
DR.. Broca made known the curious fact
that trephining was pracuced by men
1 in the stone age. Since thai time the IN
quiry for the reasons for this special
/ prehistoric surgery has apparently ceased.
| The question seems TO be. DID primitive
| man trephine in order TO prevent epllepuc
COMMISSIONS or TO relieve pressure on
i the brain when the skull had been frac-
tured. or did early man trephine, in ac-
cordance with some mystic rites? DR..
Rroca, with others, cites the cases where
these skulls thus tephined were preserved
! and there is the certainty that the in
! cised portions were used as amulets. Inc
I reasons for this trephining. we are in
/ clined to believe, was in order TO create
| epilepsy in the individuals. III doZen
| men or women were operated upon, some
might have suffered little Inconvenience
! others might have died. but then one
might have lived With a confused brain.
we know the high esteem In which semi
/ demented persons are held among savage
| races Imperfect utterances, DISTORTED
phrases. primitive men believed TO be en-
! dured with the spirit Of prophecy-in fact
| they manufactured their oracle. or sooih-
saver. II was natural for savage man,
| with his superstition. 70 preserve ire
skull, or a portion Of il. If IL had belonged
TO such an epileptic-and so he made an
/ amulet cutting out the portion OF the
skull after the death Of the individual
The subject is so curious that 1t Is fully
worthy Of future discussion
Recent discoveries OF crannoges or lake
| dwellings in ireland bring once more the
topic OF mans primltiye dwellings before
us Traces OF such hill dwellings have
! been found in London. The Irish cram
| noges show considerable skill in building
| A space in the lake was surrounded with
piles and within the circle stones were
piled. An artificial island was constructed.
Somestimes. but not always. communica-
ton with the nearest shore Is still dis
coverable. But the probability is that
| canoe or dug-out was used. These early
people knew how a mortise was made.
and were expert in basketry. There Is
! evidence that these crannoges were In
i habited during many successive periods,
! for. II at the beginning stone implements
were alone ia use, In time followed both
the Bronze and Iron periods. There must
have been. as with the Swiss lake
dwellers. an overlapping as TO the mate
rails In use. Occasionally large quanti-
/ ties Of bones--thhs is. in proportion to the
size OF the LAKE dwelling-have been
| found. In one instance. In typical
| Irish crannoge, $50 cart-oads OF old bones
were carried OF which. when ground.
were used as e. fertilizer on the Irish
fields The early people must have been
! devoted to the raising Of animals in the
immediate neIghborhood Of their dwell
1 troe Thav may have heQn Deaceful