Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-10-28
Amazing Stone Age Village Found

at that time, for there is no period Of
darkness then.
The ancient Picts who came thither
were a hardy set of Celts, living largely
by fishing; yet, bringing with them the
civilization of the stone age from the
continent, they were content not to adj
vance beyond 1t. Flint knives served
their purposes eXcellently, and they
found an abundance of flint on the
rocky islands to supply all the tools that
they required. But they were no longer
the troglodytes, or cave jewellers, of the
continent, they knew how to build stone
houses to keep them cool in Summer
and warm during the long, severe
Winters.
During these long Winters came the
opportunity for further culture, as Is
demonstrated by the carvings which
have been found, and especially by the
invention of writing. For Prof. Childe
has uncovered stone carved with
geometrical pattern and what he deems
an inscription in characters which pre-
ceded the runeS, the earliest form hith-
erto known of Celtic inscriptions There
has been as yet no leisurely study OF
these letters, but it is possible that in
them lies the earliest type OF writing
known to stone age man, antedatlng
runic writing by many centuries.
That these ancient Picts were not
content merely with stone houses, but
formed towns with streets between the
rows of houses, shows a considerable
advance over the old cave dwellings
Of other men of the stone age.
Being fishermen for a large part, they
found it to their interest to live in COM
munlties and to cooperate in building
and working their boats and going out
after cod, whale and other fish which
teemed about these islands. Here the
men and women developed a communal
life far higher than that of other races
belonging to the stone age. While stone
tools and implements Suff1ced for all
necessities and they had not yet adj
vanced to the use of metals, they had
learned to make pottery and to weave
clothing from whatever f1bers they could
gather as well, as they had fashioned
rude coverings at first from the skins
of the wild bears and deer that they
killed in the hunt.
AS communities grew up and inter-
ests clashed came battles between the
men of neighboring islands. Each party
was armed with stone-tipped spears and
arrows, with which they attacked or
defended Often 1t was matter of
hand-to-h:n conflict. with savage glee
for the victors and dire results for the
weaker group.
Yet life was far better than it had
been for the earlier generations OF
these men of stone and bone. They
had fixed abodeS, homes in which they
reared their children, where a door
could be shut against wild animals
or more savage enemy, and long Win
ter days and nights might be spent
around roaring fires on their own
hearths. These homes we're decorated
with drawings, rude at first but more
artistic in later times, and the men
and women adorned themselves with
beads, pierced shells and teeth of the
animals they had slain
Not only did they dedicate the walls
of their homes with human sacrifice,
but they also built great tumuli, mounds
| they buried their dead. There was the
beginning Of the religion which after
ward became the Druidism of the early
Britons and Irish. For it was the
great Celtic strain which proved its
power and intellect and organization
all through Europe as we'll as upon
| these remote islands.
! Apart from the rest of the world.
| they did not know anything of gold,
silver, copper or iron. Neither the
gods of Greece and Rome, nor even
| the God Of the Christians, meant any
| thing to them until centuries later.s
| Here was the arrested development Of
| the stone age carrying on down to
| the year 500 of the Christian era that
the twentieth century might read the
secrets Of their life at last.