Primitive Man Part 29

Industrial Skill and Agriculture during the Bronze Epoch--The Invention of Gla.s.s--Invention of Weaving.

The manufacture of pottery, which appears to have remained stationary during the Stone Age, a.s.sumed a considerable development during the bronze epoch. The clay intended for making pottery was duly puddled, and the objects when moulded were baked in properly formed furnaces. At this date also commences the art of surfacing articles of earthenware.

The specimens of pottery which have been found in the settlements of man of this period are both numerous and interesting; entire vessels have indeed been discovered. We notice indications of very marked progress beyond the objects of this kind manufactured in the preceding age. They are still fashioned by the hand and without the aid of the wheel; but the shapes are both more varied in their character and more elegant. In addition to this, although in the larger kind of vessels the clay used is still rough in its nature and full of hard lumps of quartz like the material employed in the Stone Age, that of the smaller vessels is much finer, and frequently covered with a black lead coating.

Most of these vessels are characterised by a conical base, a shape which we had before occasion to point out in the stag's-horn vessels of the Stone Age. If, therefore, it was requisite to place them upright, the lower ends of them had to be stuck into the earth, or to be placed in holders hollowed out to receive them.

Some of these supports, or holders, have been discovered. They are called _torches_, or _torcheres_, by French archaeologists.

Figs. 198 and 199 give a representation of a bronze vessel from the lacustrine habitations of Switzerland with its support or _torchere_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 198.--Earthenware Vessel with Conical Bottom, from the Lacustrine Habitations of Switzerland.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 199.--Earthen Vessel placed on its support.]

In a general way, the vessels made with conical bases have no handles; but others, on the contrary, are provided with them (fig. 200). They are nearly always ornamented with some sort of design, either mere lines parallel to the rim, triangles, chevrons, or rows of points round the handle or the neck. Even the very roughest specimens are not altogether devoid of ornamentation, and a stripe may often be observed round the neck, on which the fingers of the potter have left their traces.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 200.--Fragment of an Earthen Vessel with a Handle.]

These vessels were intended to contain beverages and substances used for food. Out of one of them M. Desor took some apples, cherries, wild plums, and a large quant.i.ty of nuts. Some of these vessels, perforated with small holes, were used in the manufacture of cheese. Dishes, porringers, &c., have also been found.

Relics of the pottery of the Stone Age are very frequently recovered from the Swiss lakes; but vessels in an entire state are seldom met with. It is, however, stated as a fact, that considerable acc.u.mulations of them once existed; but, unfortunately, the importance of them was not recognised until too late. An old fisherman of the Lake of Neuchatel told M. Desor that in his childhood he had sometimes amused himself by pushing at _these old earthen pots_ with a long pole, and that in certain parts of the lake there were _real mountains_ of them. At the present day, the "old earthen pots" are all broken, and nothing but pieces can be recovered.

These relics are, however, sufficient to afford a tolerably exact idea of the way in which the primitive Swiss used to fashion clay. They seem to denote large vessels either cylindrical (figs. 201 and 202) or bulbous-shaped with a flat bottom, moulded by the hand without the aid of a potter's wheel. The material of which they are composed is rough, and of a grey or black colour, and is always mingled with small grains of quartz; the baking of the clay is far from satisfactory.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 201.--Vessel of Baked Clay, from the Lacustrine Settlements of Switzerland.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 202.--Vessel of Baked Clay, from the Lacustrine Settlements of Switzerland.]

The ornamentation is altogether of an ordinary character. It generally consists of mere lines traced out in the soft clay, either by the finger, a pointed stick, or sometimes a string was used. There are neither curves nor arabesques of any kind; the lines are almost always straight.

A few of the vessels are, however, decorated in a somewhat better style.

Some are provided with small projections perforated with holes, through which might be pa.s.sed a string for the purpose of hanging them up; there are others which have a row of studs arranged all round them, just below the rim, and others, indeed, in which hollows take the place of the studs. Several have been met with which are pierced with holes at different heights; it is supposed that they were used in the preparation of milk-curd, the holes being made to let out the whey. The vessels of this period are entirely devoid of handles; this ornament did not appear until the bronze age.

Mill-stones, or stones for crushing grain, are not unfrequently found in the Swiss lakes.

At some date during the period we are now discussing we must place the discovery of gla.s.s. Gla.s.s beads of a blue or green colour are, in fact, found in the tombs of the bronze epoch. What was their origin? Chemistry and metallurgy combine to inform us that as soon as bronze foundries existed gla.s.s must have been discovered. What, in fact, does gla.s.s consist of? A silicate with a basis of soda and potash, combined with some particles of the silicates of iron and copper, which coloured it blue and green. As the scoria from bronze foundries is partly composed of these silicates it is indubitable that a kind of gla.s.s was formed in the earliest metal-works where this alloy was made. It const.i.tuted the slag or dross of the metal works.

Thus, the cla.s.sic tradition which attributes the invention of gla.s.s to certain Phoenician merchants, who produced a ma.s.s of gla.s.s by heating on the sand the _natron_, that is _soda_, brought from Egypt, ascribe too recent a date to the discovery of this substance. It should properly be carried back to the bronze epoch.

The working of amber was carried out to a very great extent by these peoples. Ornaments and objects of this material have been discovered in great abundance in the lacustrine settlements of Switzerland.

On the whole, if we compare the industrial skill of the bronze age with that of the preceding age, we shall find that the later is vastly superior to the earlier.

The art of weaving seems to have been invented during the stone age. We have positive and indisputable proofs that the people who lived during this epoch were acquainted with the art of manufacturing cloth.[36] All the objects which we have thus far considered do not, in fact, surpa.s.s those which might be expected from any intelligent savage; but the art of preparing and manufacturing textile fabrics marks out one of the earliest acquisitions of man's civilisation.

In the Museum of Saint-Germain we may both see and handle some specimens of woven cloth which were met with in some of the lacustrine settlements in Switzerland, and specially at Robenhausen and w.a.n.gen. This cloth, which is represented in fig. 203, taken from a specimen in the Museum of Saint-Germain, is formed of twists of interwoven flax; of rough workmanship, it is true, but none the less remarkable, considering the epoch in which it was manufactured. It is owing to the fact of their having been charred and buried in the peat that these remains of pre-historic fabrics have been kept in good preservation up to the present time.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 203.--Cloth of the Bronze Age, found in the Lacustrine Settlements of Switzerland.]

b.a.l.l.s of thread and twine have also been found; likewise ends of cord, and ropes made of bark, nets with large and moderately-sized meshes, which we have previously represented, and lastly some fragments of a basket of straw or osier.

Ribs of animals, split through and tapering off at one end, have been considered to be the teeth of the cards or combs which were used for unravelling the flax. The whole comb was formed of several of these bones joined firmly together with a band.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 204.--The First Weaver.]

There were also found in the Swiss lakes a large number of discs made of baked earth perforated with a hole in their centre, of which we here give a representation (fig. 205), taken from one of the numerous specimens in the Museum of Saint-Germain. These are ordinary spindle-whorls.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 205.--Spindle-whorls made of baked Clay, found in the Lacustrine Settlements of Switzerland.]

Also, terra cotta weights pierced with a hole through the centre were intended to support the thread of flax in the weaving loom. The thread pa.s.sed through the hole and was stopped by a knot at its extremity. We think that this interpretation of the use of these objects can hardly be called in question.

We also find in the lacustrine settlements woven fabrics, threads, strings, combs used for carding the flax, and spindle-whorls; the co-existence of all these objects proves that the invention of the art of weaving may be fixed at this date. The loom of the weaver may, therefore, be traced back to the most remote ages.

Acting upon this idea we have given a representation of _weaving in pre-historic times_.

The weaving-loom is so simple a matter that the men of the bronze age were enabled to produce it in nearly the same form as that in which it exists in the present day for the manufacture of plain kinds of cloth in various districts of the world where the art is still in a barbaric condition. The loom being upright, not horizontal as with us, the terra cotta weights just mentioned were used to keep the threads of the warp stretched. This seems to be the only difference. But, as we again repeat, the weaver's loom, on the whole, must have differed but very slightly from that of the present day. Its productions bear testimony to the fact.

Metal weapons and implements were at first obtained by means of exchange. But very soon the art of manufacturing bronze became prevalent in Switzerland, and foundries were established there. No doubt can be entertained on this point, as a mould for celts or hatchets has been found at Morges and also a bar of tin at Estavayer.

During this epoch the shape of the pottery became more advanced in character, and ornamentation was the rule and not the exception. After the indispensable comes the superfluous. Taste in ornamentation made its appearance and soon developed itself in ceramic objects of an elegant style. Articles of pottery now a.s.sumed more pleasing outlines, and were ornamented with various designs. Progress in artistic feeling was evidently manifested.

The simplicity and monotony of ornamentation during this epoch is especially remarkable. Art was then confined to the mere representation of a certain number of lines and geometrical figures. They were similar to those represented in fig. 206, and were applied to all kinds of objects--weapons, vases, utensils and trinkets. None of them attempt any delineation of nature; this idea does not seem to have entered into the head of man during the bronze epoch. In this respect they were inferior to their predecessors, the inhabitants of the caves of Perigord, the contemporaries of the mammoth and the reindeer.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 206.--Princ.i.p.al Designs for the ornamentation of Pottery during the Bronze Epoch.]

During the period we are now considering, commercial intercourse had a.s.sumed an activity of a totally different character from that manifested during the Stone Age. It became necessary to procure tin, which was indispensable for the manufacture of bronze. As no tin ore could be found in Switzerland, the inhabitants, doubtless, went to Saxony in order to obtain it. The traffic must have been carried out by means of barter, as is customary among all infant nations.

Flint, which likewise did not exist in Switzerland, was necessarily procured from the surrounding countries which were more fortunate in this respect. No country was more favoured on this point than France; commerce must, therefore, have existed between the two countries.

At Concise, in Switzerland, some pieces of white coral were found, and at Meilen, on the banks of the Lake of Zurich, some fragments of amber; from this we may conclude that during the bronze epoch the inhabitants of Switzerland traded with the inhabitants of the sh.o.r.es of the Mediterranean and the Baltic.

Among the other specimens of foreign productions, we must not omit to mention graphite, which was used to surface pottery, amber beads, and even a few gla.s.s trinkets suitable for female adornment.

We will now pa.s.s on to the system of food adopted by man during the bronze epoch.

Researches made in various lacustrine settlements have furnished us with very circ.u.mstantial information upon the system of food customary among the earliest inhabitants of Switzerland. From them we learn that these men did not live solely upon the products of fishing and hunting, but that they possessed certain ideas of agriculture, and also devoted themselves to the breeding of cattle. We shall enter into a few details as to this eminently interesting aspect of their history, taking as our guides Professors Heer and Rutimeyer, the first of whom has carefully examined the vegetable remains, and the second the animal relics which have been found in the lacustrine settlements of Switzerland.

At Meilen, Moosseedorf, and w.a.n.gen, some charred cereals have been found, viz., barley and wheat. The latter was the most abundant, and, at w.a.n.gen in particular, there were several bushels of it, either in ears or in thrashed corn collected in large heaps. These grains are almost the same shape and size as the wheat of the present time. Several ears of six-rowed barley (_Hordeum hexastichon_) were found, which differ from our common barley in having smaller grains arranged in six rows. De Candolle is of opinion that this is the species which was cultivated by the ancient Greeks, Egyptians, and Romans.

This corn was preserved in large earthen vessels, as may be gathered from the contents of some of them, still in an entire state.

What preparation did the corn undergo in order to render it fit for human food? On this subject we have tolerably exact data to go upon.

The grain was bruised by hand, either between two stone discs or mill-stones, or in a mortar by means of a round pestle. In almost all of the lacustrine villages, some of these mill-stones made of granite or sandstone have been met with, a few of which are as much as 2 feet in diameter. M. Heer is of opinion that the grain was parched before being pounded, and then placed in vessels and slightly soaked. In this state it was fit for eating.

At the time of the conquest of the Canary Islands by the Spaniards, it was remarked that the natives prepared their corn in this manner; and in the present day the inhabitants of the same regions still feed on parched grain.