New-York tribune., 1901-07-07
BARBARISM IN EUROPE.
SOME CRUEL PRACTICES OF THE Az.
CESTORS OF THE WESTERN NATIONS.
From Galignani.


at Flomborn, on the borders of Hesse and the
Palatinate, coating of red earth was found
on one of the skulls. 1t proved to be oxide Cf
IRON, and Professor NirchoW, who was super
intending the operations, has doubt that the
face of the corpse had been painted with it; IN
tAe course OF many centuries the flesh ha; van
Shed, leaving this color, like a mask, upon the
bone. Many good people would be not only
surprised, but indignant. at the suggestion that
their forefathers adorned themselves with paint.
like the VileSt SaVageS of the present day. OF
course, they admit that the race was "b3rbar-
Gus" but only in a vague, general sense; when
particulars adduced they revolt
In the same way everybody recognizes thUt
idoiS. but 1eW care 10 reIhelhbtr thij ituH
those invaders they themselves descend. The
convenient but monstrous word Anglo -SdEon'
enables us to ignore many awkward facts. The
dOlngS OF Anglo -SaXOnS or Ancient BritpDS
not visibly connected with EngIishmen and
Welshmen of a later time. And there lies the
practical objection TO the terms-they interrupt
the story of the race, causing muItitudes of
people to fancy that the inhabitants Of this
island before the Conquest differed from those
after it. But in regard to the custom a.. paict-
ing the face or BODY we do not know that in
any other instance the material has been found
in stu; dyed bones have been turned up often
enough but it was not suggested that the color
had been applied originally to the skin Per
haps nobody thought OF that before Professor
NirChoW
But vessels containing sediment Of paint are
common and We must suppose that they w-r-
buried with the dead in order that ne m.gut
appear lin his habit as Re lived among the
heroes gone hetor" upon the happy hunting
grounds. Canon Taylor says "Kudde has been
found in 50 many deposits of the stone Age
that must assume the use of il was common.
if not universal" Cesar tells us that tho. Brit
cns stained their flesh blue with woad-perhaps
he meant tattooing The name Of the Ifcts l.
traditonallY explained by tho same I.actic'.
and If that meaning of the word toe rejected
no one has found a better. But Tacitus mem
tionS only one tribe Ot Germans who paiutsE! i
Germans they were. Tn" LoEl"nes. who dWt.-
apparently upon the Nistula blackeued them
selves all over before going on the Warpatn.
and they cunnnEy attacked at night. lookiu;
like n"nds from the pit, as they really are. SAYS
Tacitus. But it does not follow that other Ge~-
mans with whom he was acquainted did NOT
Too often ancient writer's omitted detail in
teutonally, thinking that a large ana vague
style OF treatment was agreeable to the fetch
which they called the Dignity OF History" II
IS not at all unlikely that when Tacitus speaks
Of the terrifying appearance OF certain peoples
he refers TO their warpaint.
so far as We can recall, there is no aIlus0n
To scalping in any ancient writer-that is among
the Ieutonic tribes. Herodotus Describes the
practice OF the Scythjans mtnutely-It was just
that OF the Rcd Indians of our own time. They
make a circular cut above the ears, and with L
firm grasp tear away the skin Of the head.
Then they scrapr off the flesh with 4 bone and
when the scalp is supple use il as a napkin \
warrior who has collected enough for the pur-
pose hangs them on his bride even ssWs
them together for a cloak Herodotus mem
TONS also that the same people hayed the right
hand of an enemy 20 adorn their quiverS VITA
II. Authorities incline more and more to fancy
that the SCythians OF that era were not MouCols
Vr Li'VHdhS' as We uStd To learn at school,
but Goths; they were driven back upon their
kinSmon in Europe 10y the advance OF tn Tar
tars. But perhaps, as has been said. there is
no reference 10 scalping among Germans until
We suddenly find the practice forbidden by the
NisIgothc Code nearly a thousand years after
Hcrodutus
1t is somewhat relief to observe that nobody
ace uses the Tcuton. OF, indeed. the Celt. with
cannlbalism. The earlier inhabitants IF Europe
arr proved guilty, but when those two races
come into view they have lost the habit. That
they put old people "out of their misery how
ever, can scarcely be denied. and that fathers
exposed or smothered their new born infants is
proved not only 10y stories but by codes OF law
Both practices survived among our kiusfolk Of
Scandinavia far into historic time When the
lcclanders We're coerced at length into accepting
Christianity, and passed law that every man
should be baptized. a clause the rs
one may put il, stipulated that the exposure of
children and the eating OF horseflesh should he
optional. 'as of old"
As to the slaughter of aged relatives in the
mt scum at Stockholm are preserved certain
ancient clubs. kept in churches formerly and il
is stated with all seriousness that were
taken from the sacred hti.ding when wanted
for the purpose of knocking a grandfather or
grandmother on the head. one asks in amaze
ment how long ago these things Were stored in
the churCheS-and there is no categorical re-
ply, 1t seems. But when the leading arch.rolo-
6lStS or the North agree their statements must
be accepted, however extraordinary Adam of
Bremen gives the traditional explanation of the
descent OF the Jutes and Angles upon Britain
There was famine in the land. First they
slaughtered all the old people then most Of the
cient, they drove out the two chiefs. Hengist and
Horsa, with their followers. That was the
legend. not in itself improbable. After a'I this
we may be prepared to admit that Professor