Primitive Man Part 21

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 144.--Group of Danish _Cromlechs_.]

Among all these various monuments the "pa.s.sage-tombs" and the _tumuli_ are the only ones which will come within the scope of this work; for these only have furnished us with any relics of pre-historic times, and have given us any information with respect to the peoples who occupied a great part of Europe at a date far anterior to any traditionary record.

These stone monuments, as we have already stated, are neither Celtic nor Druidical. The Celts--a nation which occupied a portion of Gaul at a period long before the Christian era--were altogether innocent of any megalithic construction. They found these monuments already in existence at the time of their immigration, and, doubtless, looked upon them with as much astonishment as is shown by observers of the present day.

Whenever there appeared any advantage in utilising them, the Celts did not fail to avail themselves of them. The priests of this ancient people, the Druids, who plucked from off the oak the sacred mistletoe, performed their religious ceremonies in the depths of some obscure forest. Now, no _dolmen_ was ever built in the midst of a forest; all the stone monuments which now exist stand in comparatively unwooded parts of the country. We must, therefore, renounce the ancient and poetical idea which recognised in these _dolmens_ the sacrificial altars of the religion of our ancestors.

Some _tumuli_ attain proportions which are really colossal. Among these is Silbury Hill, the largest in Great Britain, which is nearly 200 feet high. The enormous amount of labour which would be involved in constructions of this kind has led to the idea that they were not raised except in honour of chiefs and other great personages.

On consulting those records of history which extend back to the most remote antiquity, we arrive at the fact that the custom of raising colossal tombs to the ill.u.s.trious dead was one that was much in vogue in the ancient Eastern world. Traces of these monuments are found among the Hebrews, the a.s.syrians, the Greeks, the Egyptians, &c.

Thus Semiramis, Queen of Nineveh, raised a mound over the tomb of Ninus, her husband. Stones were likewise piled up over the remains of Laus, father of Oedipus. In the 'Iliad,' Homer speaks of the mounds that were raised to the memory of Hector and Patroclus. That dedicated to Patroclus--the pious work of Achilles--was more than 100 feet in diameter. Homer speaks of the _tumuli_ existing in Greece, which, even in his time, were considered very ancient, and calls them the tombs of the heroes. A _tumulus_ was raised by Alexander the Great over the ashes of his friend Hephaestio, and so great were the dimensions of this monument that it is said to have cost 1200 talents, that is about 240,000 of our money. In Roman history, too, we find instances of the same kind. Lastly, the pyramids of Egypt, those costly and colossal funeral monuments, are the still visible representations of the highest expression of posthumous homage which was rendered by the generations of antiquity to their most ill.u.s.trious and mighty men.

This, however, could not have been in every case the prevailing idea in the men of the Stone Age, in causing the construction of these _tumuli_.

The large number of bodies which have been found in some of these monuments completely does away with the notion that they were raised in honour of a single personage, or even of a single family. They were often sepulchres or burial-places common to the use of all. Among this cla.s.s we must rank the _tumuli_ of Axevalla and of Luttra, situated not far from one another in Sweden. The first, which was opened in 1805, contained twenty tombs of an almost cubical form, each containing a skeleton in a crouching or contracted att.i.tude. When the second was opened, the explorers found themselves in the presence of hundreds of skeletons placed in four rows one upon another, all in a contracted position like those at Axevalla; along with these human remains various relics of the Stone Age were also discovered.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 145.--Position of Skeletons in a Swedish Tomb of the Stone Age.]

Fig. 145 represents the position in which the skeletons were found. M.

Nilsson has propounded the opinion that the "pa.s.sage-graves" are nothing but former habitations, which had been converted into tombs after the death of those who had previously occupied them. When the master of the house had breathed his last--especially in the case of some ill.u.s.trious individual--his surviving friends used to place near him various articles of food to provide for his long journey; and also his weapons and other objects which were most precious to him when in life; then the dwelling was closed up, and was only reopened for the purpose of bearing in the remains of his spouse and of his children.

Sir J. Lubbock shares in this opinion, and brings forward facts in its favour. He recites the accounts of various travellers, according to which, the winter-dwellings of certain people in the extreme north bear a very marked resemblance to the "pa.s.sage-tombs" of the Stone Age. Of this kind are the habitations of the Siberians and the Esquimaux, which are composed of an oval or circular chamber placed a little under the surface of the ground, and completely covered with earth. Sir J. Lubbock thinks, therefore, that in many cases habitations of this kind may have been taken for _tumuli_--a mistake, he adds, all the more likely to be made because some of these mounds, although containing ashes, remains of pottery, and various implements, have not furnished any relics of human bones.

In his work on the 'Sepultures de l'Age de la Pierre chez les Parisii,'

M. Leguay, a learned architect and member of the Archaelogical Society, has called attention to the fact that the construction of these _dolmens_ betrays, as existing in the men of this epoch, a somewhat advanced degree of knowledge of the elements of architecture:--

"The interment of the dead," says M. Leguay, "took place, during the polished-stone epoch, in vaults, or a kind of tomb constructed on the spot, of stones of various thicknesses, generally flat in shape, and not elevated to any very great height, being laid without any kind of cement or mortar. These vaults, which were at first undivided, were subsequently separated into compartments by stones of a similar character, in which compartments bodies were placed in various positions. They were covered with earth or with flat stones, and sometimes we meet with a circular eminence raised over them, formed of a considerable heap of stones which had been subsequently brought thither; this fact was verified by M. Brouillet in 1862 at the _Tombelle de Brioux_ (Vienne).

"This kind of interment bears evidence of some real progress. Polished flint instruments are met with intermingled with worked stones which have been brought from a distance. Pottery of a very significant character approaches that of the epoch at which ornamentation commenced; and the _Tombelle de Brioux_ has furnished two vessels with projecting and perforated handles formed in the clay itself. I met with specimens similar to these both in shape and workmanship in the cremation-tombs at Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, which, as I have previously stated, appeared to me to be later in date than the simple interment situated below them.

"The first element in the art of construction, that is, stability, is manifested in these latter monuments. They do not come up to the fine _dolmens_, or to the monuments which followed them, but the principle on which stones should be laid together is already arrived at. The slab forming the covering is the first attempt at the lintel, the primitive base of architectural science. By insensible degrees the dimensions of the monument increased, the nature of the materials were modified, and, from the small elementary monument to the grand sepulchral _dolmen_, but one step remained to be made--a giant step, certainly, but not beyond the reach of human intelligence.

"This step, however, was not accomplished suddenly and without transitional stages. We find a proof of this in the beautiful ossuary discovered in 1863, at Chamant near Senlis (Oise), on the property of the Comte de Lavaulx. This monument does not yet come up to the most beautiful of the cla.s.s; but it possesses all the inspirations which suggested the form of its successors, of which, indeed, it is the type.

"Almost flat slabs of stone, of a greater height than those forming the vaults, and of rather considerable dimensions, are placed on edge so as to form a square chamber. A part.i.tion, formed of stones of a similar character, leaving a s.p.a.ce or pa.s.sage between them, separates the chamber into two unequal portions. Some arrangement of this kind has been observed in most of the finest _dolmens_; it is found at a spot not far from Chamant, in a covered way known under the name of the _Pierres Turquoises_, in the forest of Carnelle, near Beaumont-sur-Oise (Seine-et-Oise).

"At Chamant, however, the chamber was not more than 3 to 4 feet in height under the roof, which was formed of large flat stones, and was large enough to allow of a considerable number of bodies to be deposited within it, either in a rec.u.mbent or contracted position. Near them there were placed delicately-wrought flints, and also some fine-polished hatchets, one of which was of serpentine; another of large dimensions, sculptured after the fashion of the diluvial hatchets, appeared to me to have been prepared for polishing.

"The researches which have been made have brought to light but slight traces of pottery, and the small fragments that I have examined do not point out any very remote age for this monument. Nevertheless, the investigation of this sepulchre, in which I was guided by a somewhat different idea from that of merely studying the monument itself, was not carried out with the exact care that would be necessary for collecting all the indications which it might have furnished.

"Between the sepulchre of Chamant and the finest _dolmens_, the distinction is nothing more than a question of dimensions rather than any chronological point. The latter are formed of colossal stones, and when one examines them and seeks to realise the process which must have been employed for raising them, the mind is utterly perplexed, and the imagination finds a difficulty in conceiving how it was possible to move these immense ma.s.ses, and, especially, to place them in the positions they now occupy; for at the present day, in order to arrive at similar results, it would be necessary to employ all the means which science has at command."[27]

The megalithic constructions do not all date back to the same epoch.

Some were raised during the Stone Age, others during the Bronze Age.

There is nothing in their mode of architecture which will enable us to recognise their degree of antiquity; but the relics which they contain afford us complete information in this respect. Thus, in France, according to M. Alexandre Bertrand, the _dolmens_ and the _tumuli-dolmens_ contain, in a general way, nothing but stone and bone articles; those of bronze and gold are very rare, and iron is never met with. In the _true tumuli_, on the contrary, bronze objects predominate, and iron is very abundant; this is an evident proof that these monuments are of less ancient origin than the _dolmens_. In the same way we ascertain that the Danish _dolmens_ and the great sepulchral chambers of Scandinavia, all belong to the polished-stone epoch. When, therefore, we cla.s.s the _dolmens_ in this last-named epoch of man's history, we are deciding in full harmony with the great body of _data_ which bear upon the point.

In order to fix the period with still greater accuracy, we might add that the _dolmens_ belong to the latter portion of the polished-stone epoch and the commencement of the bronze age. But, as we before said, we do not attach any importance to these distinctions, which would only uselessly embarra.s.s the mind of the reader.

An examination of the Danish _dolmens_ has led the author of the 'Catalogue of Pre-historic Objects sent by Denmark to the Universal Exposition of 1867,' to sum up in the following words the details concerning these sepulchral monuments:--

"As regards the Danish _dolmens_, the number of skeletons contained in them varies much; in the largest, there are as many as twenty, and in the smallest there are not more than five or six; sometimes they are placed in stages one above the other.

"The bones are never found in natural order; the head lies close to the knees, and no limb is in its natural place. It follows from this, that in the course of interment the body was contracted into a crouching position.

"The bottom of the sepulchral chamber of a _dolmen_ is generally covered with a layer of flints which have been subjected to fire; this is the floor on which the body was deposited; it was then covered with a thin coating of earth, and the tomb was closed. Yet, as we have just observed, it was but very rarely that _dolmens_ contained only one skeleton. They must, therefore, have been opened afresh in order to deposit other bodies. It must have been on these occasions, in order to contend with the miasma of putrefaction, that they lighted the fires, of which numerous and evident traces are seen inside the _dolmens_. This course of action continued, as it appears, until the time when the _dolmen_ was entirely filled up: but even then, the tomb does not, in every case, seem to have been abandoned. Sometimes the most ancient skeletons have been displaced to make room for fresh bodies. This had taken place in a _dolmen_ near Copenhagen, which was opened and searched in the presence of the late King Frederick VII.

"A _dolmen_ situated near the village of Hammer, opened a few years ago by M. Boye, presented some very curious peculiarities. In addition to flint instruments, human bones were discovered, which had also been subjected to the action of fire. We are, therefore, led to suppose, that a funeral banquet had taken place in the vicinity of the tomb, and that some joints of human flesh had formed an addition to the roasted stag.

This is, however, the only discovery of the kind which has been made up to the present time, and we should by no means be justified in drawing the inference that the inhabitants of Denmark at this epoch were addicted to cannibalism.

"The dead bodies were deposited along with their weapons and implements, and also with certain vessels which must have contained the food which perhaps some religious usage induced them to leave close to the body.

For a long time it was supposed that it was the custom to place these weapons by the side of _men_ only. But in a _dolmen_ at Gieruen, a hatchet was found near a skeleton which was evidently that of a woman.

"We now give the inventory of a 'find' made in a Danish _dolmen_, that of Hielm, in the Isle of Moen, which was opened in 1853. The sepulchral chamber was 16-1/2 feet in length, 11-1/2 feet in width, and 4-1/2 feet in height.

"In it were discovered twenty-two spear-heads, the largest of which was 11 inches in length, and the smallest 5-1/2 inches; more than forty flint flakes or knives from 2 to 5 inches in length; three flat hatchets, and one rather thicker; three carpenter's chisels, the longest of which measured 8 inches; a finely-made hammer 5 inches long; three flint nuclei exactly similar to those found in the kitchen-middens; and lastly, in addition to all these flint articles, some amber beads and forty earthen vessels moulded by the hand."[28]

What were the funeral customs in use among men during the polished-stone epoch? and what were the ceremonies which took place at that period when they buried their dead? These are questions which it will not be difficult to answer after a due investigation of the _dolmens_ and _tumuli_.

In a great number of _tumuli_, animal bones have been found either broken or notched by sharp instruments. This is an indication that the funeral rites were accompanied by feasts just as in the preceding epochs.

The body which was about to be enclosed in the _tumulus_ was borne upon boughs of trees, as is the case among some savage tribes of the present day. The men and women attending wore their best attire; necklaces of amber and sh.e.l.ls adorned their necks. Men carrying torches walked in front of the procession, in order to guide the bearers into the dark recesses of the sepulchral chambers.

From these data fig. 146 has been designed, which gives a representation of _a funeral ceremony during the polished-stone epoch_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 146.--A _Tumulus_ of the Polished-stone Epoch.]

If we may judge by the calcined human bones which are rather frequently met with in tombs, there is reason to believe that sometimes victims were sacrificed over the body of the defunct, perhaps slaves, perhaps even his widow--the custom of sacrificing the widow still being in practice in certain parts of India.

Sir J. Lubbock is, besides, of opinion that when a woman died in giving birth to a child, or even whilst she was still suckling it, the child was interred alive with her. This hypothesis appears a natural one, when we take into account the great number of cases in which the skeletons of a woman and child have been found together.

M. Leguay in his 'Memoire sur les Sepultures des Parisii,' which we quoted above, expresses the opinion that after each interment, in addition to the funeral banquet, a fire was lighted on the mound above the _tumulus_, and that each attendant threw certain precious objects into the flames.

The objects which were most precious during the polished-stone epoch were flints wrought into hatchets, poniards, or knives.

"On to this burning hearth," says M. Leguay, "as numerous instances prove, those who were present were in the habit of casting stones, or more generally wrought flints, utensils and instruments, all made either of some kind of stone or of bone; also fragments of pottery, and, doubtless, other objects which the fire has destroyed.

"There are many of these objects which have not suffered any injury from the fire; some of the flints, indeed, seem so freshly cut and are so little altered by the lapse of time, that it might be readily imagined that they had been but recently wrought; these were not placed in the sepulchre, but are met with intermingled with the earth which covers or surrounds the hearth, and appear in many cases to have been cast in after the extinction of the fire as the earth was being filled in.

"Sometimes, indeed, when the archaeologist devotes especial care to his digging, he comes across a kind of layer of wrought flints which are, in fact, to be looked upon as refuse rather than wrought articles. Their position appears to indicate the surface of the soil during that epoch, a surface which has been covered up by the successive deposits of subsequent ages; and although some of these flakes may have been due to some of the objects which had been placed in the sepulchre having been chipped on the spot, there are many others which have not originated in this way, and have come from objects which have been deposited in other places.

"All these stones, which are common to three kinds of burial-places, have fulfilled, in my opinion, a votive function; that is to say, that they represent, as regards this epoch, the wreaths and coronals of _immortelles_, or the other objects which we in the present day place upon the tombs of our relations or friends; thus following out a custom the origin of which is lost in the night of time.

"And let not the reader treat with ridicule these ideas, which I hold to be not far from the truth. Men, as individuals, may pa.s.s away, and generations may disappear; but they always hand down to their progeny and those that succeed them the customs of their epoch; which customs will undergo little or no change until the causes which have produced them also disappear. Thus it is with all that concerns the ceremonies observed in bearing man to his last resting-place--a duty which can never change, and always brings with it its train of sorrow and regret.

Nowadays, a small sum of money is sufficient to give outward expression to our grief; but at these remote epochs each individual fashioned his own offering, chipped his own flint, and bore it himself to the grave of his friend.

"This idea will explain the diversity of shape in the flints placed round and in the sepulchres, and especially the uncouthness of many of the articles which, although all manufactured of the same material, betray a style of workmanship exercised by numerous hands more or less practised in the work.

"It may, however, be readily conceived that during an epoch when stones were the chief material for all useful implements, every wrought flint represented a certain value. To deprive themselves of these objects of value in order to offer them to the manes of the dead was considered a laudable action, just as was the case subsequently as regards still more precious objects; and this custom, which was observed during many long ages, although sometimes and perhaps often practised with the declining energy inherent in every religious custom, was the origin of a practice adopted by many of the nations of antiquity, that, namely, of casting a stone upon the tomb of the dead. Thus were formed those sepulchral heaps of stones called _gal-gals_, some of which still exist.

"It is, without doubt, to this votive idea that we must attribute the fact that so many beautiful objects which ornament our museums have been found deposited in these sepulchres; but we must remark that the large and roughly-hewn hatchets, and also the knives of the second epoch, are replaced, in the third epoch, by polished hatchets often even fitted with handles, and also by knives of much larger size and finer workmanship.