Primitive Man Part 6

This _patina_ (to use the established term) is the proof of their long-continued repose in the beds, and is, so to speak, the stamp of their antiquity.

CHAPTER III.

The Man of the Great Bear and Mammoth Epoch lived in Caverns--Bone Caverns in the Quaternary Rock during the Great Bear and Mammoth Epoch--Mode of Formation of these Caverns--Their Division into several Cla.s.ses--Implements of Flint, Bone, and Reindeer-horn found in these Caverns--The Burial-place at Aurignac--Its probable Age--Customs which it reveals--Funeral Banquets during the Great Bear and Mammoth Epoch.

Having given a description of the weapons and working implements of the men belonging to the great bear and mammoth epoch, we must now proceed to speak of the habitations.

Caverns hollowed out in the depth of the rocks formed the first dwellings of man. We must, therefore, devote some degree of attention to the simple and wild retreats of our forefathers. As the objects which have been found in these caverns are both numerous and varied in their character, they not only throw a vivid light on the manners and customs of primitive man, but also decisively prove the fact of his being contemporary with mammals of species now extinct, such as the mammoth, the great bear, and the _Rhinoceros tichorhinus_.

But before proceeding any further, it is necessary to inquire in what way these caverns could have been formed, in which we find acc.u.mulated so many relics of the existence of primitive man.

M. Desnoyers, Librarian of the Museum of Natural History at Paris, is of opinion that these caverns are crevices of the same cla.s.s as metalliferous _lodes_, only instead of containing metallic ores they must have been originally filled by the deposits of certain thermal springs.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 19.--Theoretical Section of a Vein of Clay in the Carboniferous Limestone, _before_ the hollowing out of Valleys by diluvial Waters.]

Fig. 19 represents, according to M. Desnoyers' treatise on _caverns_, one of these primordial veins in the carboniferous limestone. At the time of the diluvial inundation, these veins were opened by the impetuous action of the water. When thus cleared out and brought to the light of day, they a.s.sumed the aspect of caves, as represented in fig.

20.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 20.--Theoretical section of the same Vein of Clay converted into a Cavern, _after_ the hollowing out of Valleys by diluvial Waters.]

The European diluvial inundation was, as we know, posterior to the glacial epoch.

It is also likely that caverns were sometimes produced by the falling in of portions of some of the interior strata, or that they were formerly the natural and subterranean channels of certain watercourses; many instances of this kind being now known in different countries.

We must also add that it is not probable that all caverns originated in the same way; but that one or other of the several causes just enumerated must have contributed to their formation.

Under the general denomination of _caverns_, all kinds of subterranean cavities are comprehended; but it will be as well to introduce several distinctions in this respect. There are, in the first place, simple clefts or crevices, which are only narrow pits deviating but slightly from the vertical. Next we have grottos (or _baumes_ as they are called in the south of France), which generally have a widely opening inlet, and are but of small extent. Lastly, we must draw a distinction between these and the real bone caverns, which consist of a series of chambers, separated by extremely narrow pa.s.sages, and are often of very considerable dimensions. Some of these caverns occupy an extent of several leagues underground, with variations of level which render their exploration very difficult. They are generally very inaccessible, and it is almost always necessary to ply the pick-axe in order to clear a way from one chamber to another.

In most of these grottos and caverns the ground and sides are covered with calcareous deposits, known by the name of _stalact.i.te_ and _stalagmite_, which sometimes meet one another, forming columns and pillars which confer on some of these subterranean halls an elegance replete with a kind of mysterious charm.

These deposits are caused by the infiltrated water charged with carbonate of lime, which, oozing drop by drop through the interstices of the rock, slowly discharge the carbonic acid which held the carbonate of lime in solution, and the salts gradually precipitating form the crystalline or amorphous deposits which const.i.tute these natural columns.

The calcareous deposits which spread over the ground of the caverns are called _stalagmite_, and the name of _stalact.i.te_ is given to those which hang down from the roof, forming pendants, natural decorations, and ornaments as of alabaster or marble, producing sometimes the most magnificent effects.

Under the stalagmite the largest number of animal bones have been found.

This crust, which has been to them a preservatory grave, is so thick and hard that a pick-axe is required in order to break it. Thanks to the protecting cover, the bones have been sheltered from all the various causes of decomposition and destruction. The limestone formed a kind of cement which, uniting clay, mud, sand, flints, bones of men and animals, weapons and utensils into a compact ma.s.s, has preserved them for the study and consideration of scientific men in our own days.

The soil called _bone-earth_ is, in fact, found under the crystalline bed which covers the ground of the caverns.

Fig. 21, which represents a section of the cave of Galeinreuth, in Bavaria, will enable us clearly to understand the position occupied by the bones in most of these caverns.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 21.--The Cave of Galeinreuth, in Bavaria.]

Bone-earth consists of a reddish or yellowish clay, often mixed with pebbles, which seem to have come from some distant beds, for they cannot be attributed to the adjacent rocks. This stratum varies considerably in depth; in some spots it is very thin, in others it rises almost to the top of the cavern, to a height of forty or fifty feet. But in this case it is, in reality, composed of several strata belonging to different ages, and explorers ought to note with much attention the exact depth of any of the organic remains found in their ma.s.s.

There are, however, in several bone-caverns certain peculiarities which demand a special explanation. Caves often contain large heaps of bones, situated at heights which it would have been absolutely inaccessible to the animals which lived in these places. How, then, was it possible that these bones could have found their way to such an elevated position? It is also a very strange fact, that no cavern has ever produced an entire skeleton or even a whole limb of the skeleton of a man, and scarcely of any animal whatever. The bones, in fact, not only lie in confusion and utter disorder, but, up to the present time, it has been impossible to find all the bones which in times past formed an individual. It must, therefore, be admitted, that the acc.u.mulation of bones and human remains in most of the caves are owing to other causes than the residence of man and wild animals in these dark retreats.

It is supposed, therefore, that the bones in question were deposited in these hollows by the rushing in of the currents of diluvial water, which had drifted them along in their course. A fact which renders this hypothesis likely is that drift-pebbles are constantly found in close proximity to these bones. Now these pebbles come from localities at considerable distances from the cavern; often, indeed, terrestrial and fluviatile sh.e.l.ls accompany these bones. It may sometimes be remarked that the femurs and tibias of large mammals have their points rubbed off, and the smallest bones are reduced to rounded fragments. These are all evident indications that these bones had been carried along by rapid currents of water, which swept away everything in their course; or, in other words, by the current of the waters of the deluge which signalised the quaternary epoch.

During this period of the existence of primitive man, all these caverns were not applied to the same purpose. Some were the dens of wild beasts, others formed the habitations of man, and others again were used as burial-places.

There is no difficulty in the idea that dens of wild beasts might very readily be occupied by man, after he had killed or driven out the fierce inhabitants; no discovery, however, has as yet confirmed this supposition. It can hardly be doubted that primitive man seldom dared to take up his abode in dens which had been, for some time, the refuge of any of the formidable carnivora; if he did, it was only after having a.s.sured himself that these retreats had been altogether abandoned by their terrible inhabitants.

We shall now proceed to consider these three cla.s.ses of caverns.

Caves which, during the quaternary epoch, have served as dens for wild animals, are very numerous. Experienced _savants_ are enabled to recognise them by various indications. The bones they contain are never fractured; but it may be seen that they have been gnawed by carnivorous animals, as they still bear the marks of their teeth. Into these retreats the cave-lion (_Felis spelaea_) and the hyaena (_Hyaena spelaea_) were accustomed to drag their prey, in order there to tear it to pieces and devour it, or divide it into portions for their young ones. In fact, in these caverns, excrements of the hyaena mixed with small and undigested bones are often found. The cave bear retired into the same retreats, but he probably only came there to pa.s.s the period of his hibernal sleep. Lastly, the same dens no doubt offered a refuge to sick or dying animals, who resorted thither in order to expire in peace. We have a proof of this in the traces of wounds and caries on some of the bones of animals found by Schmerling in the caverns of the Meuse; also in the skull of a hyaena, the median ridge of which had been bitten and appeared to be half healed.

Those caverns which formed a shelter for primitive man are, like the preceding ones, to be recognised by a mere inspection of the bones contained in them. The long bones of the ox, horse, stag, rhinoceros, and other quadrupeds which formed the food of man during the quaternary epoch, are always split; and they are all broken in the same way, that is, lengthwise. The only cause for their having been split in this manner must have been the desire of extracting the marrow for the purpose of eating. Such a mode of breaking them would never have been practised by any animal.

This apparently trivial circ.u.mstance is, however, of the highest importance. In fact, it leads to the following conclusion: "That man, having eaten large mammals of species now extinct, must have been contemporary with these species."

We shall now proceed to examine the caverns which were used as burial-places for man.

To M. edouard Lartet, the celebrated palaeontologist, the honour must be ascribed of having been the first to collect any important data bearing on the fact that caverns were used for burial-places by the primitive man of the great bear and mammoth epoch. We have thus been led to discover the traces of a funeral custom belonging to the man of these remote ages; we allude to the _funeral banquet_. The source of this information was the discovery of a pre-historic burial-place at Aurignac (Haute-Garonne), of which we have given an account in the Introduction to this work, which, however, we must again here refer to.

Near the town of Aurignac rises the hill of Fajoles, which the inhabitants of the country, in their _patois_, call "_mountagno de las Hajoles_" (beech-tree mountain), a circ.u.mstance showing that it was formerly covered with beech-trees. As we have already stated, in the Introduction to this work, it was on one of the slopes of this hill that, in the year 1842, an excavator, named Bonnemaison, discovered a great slab of limestone placed in a vertical position and closing up an arched opening. In the cave closed up by this slab the excavator discovered the remains of seventeen human skeletons!

We have already told how these skeletons were removed to the village cemetery, and thus, unfortunately, for ever lost to the researches of science.

Eighteen years after, in 1860, M. Lartet, having heard of the event, repaired to the spot, accompanied by Bonnemaison; he quite understood how it had happened that, during a long course of centuries, the cave had escaped the notice of the inhabitants of the country. The entrance to it was concealed by ma.s.ses of earth which, having been brought down from the top of the hill by the action of the water, had acc.u.mulated in front of the entrance, hiding a flat terrace, on which many vestiges of pre-historic times were found. As no disturbance of the ground had taken place in this spot subsequent to the date of the burial, this _talus_ had been sufficient to protect the traces of the men who were contemporary with the mammoth, and to shield their relics from all exterior injury.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 22.--Section of the Sepulchral Cave at Aurignac.]

Fig. 22, taken from M. Lartet's article, represents a vertical section of the sepulchral cave at Aurignac.

After a rapid inspection of the cave and its surroundings, M. Lartet resolved to make complete and methodical excavations, aided by intelligent workmen labouring under his superintendence; the following are the results he obtained.

A bed of "made ground" two feet thick covered the ground of the cave. In this were found some human remains which had escaped the first investigations; also bones of mammals in good preservation, and exhibiting no fractures or teeth-marks, wrought flints, mostly of the _knife_ type (fig. 23), and carved reindeer horns, among which there was an instrument carefully tapered off and rounded, but deprived of its point (fig. 24), the other end being bevelled off, probably to receive a handle.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 23.--Flint Knife found in the Sepulchral Cave at Aurignac.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 24.--Implement made of Reindeer's or Stag's Horn, found in the Sepulchral Cave at Aurignac.]

We must here add, that at the time of his discovery Bonnemaison collected, from the midst of the bones, eighteen small discs which were pierced in the centre, and doubtless intended to be strung together in a necklace or bracelet. These discs, which were formed of a white compact substance were recognised as sea-sh.e.l.ls of a _Cardium_ species.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 25.--Series of perforated Discs of the _Cardium_ Sh.e.l.l found in the Sepulchral Cave at Aurignac.]

The cavern of Aurignac was a burial-place of the quaternary epoch, for M. Lartet found in it a quant.i.ty of the bones of the cave-bear, the bison, the reindeer, the horse, &c.

In fig. 26, we give a representation of a fragment of the lower jaw of a great bear as an example of the state of the bones found in this cavern.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 26.--Fragment of the Lower Jaw of a Cave-Bear, found in the Sepulchral Cave at Aurignac.]

The perfect state of preservation of these bones shows that they were neither broken to furnish food for man nor torn by carnivorous animals, particularly by hyaenas, as is seen in a great many caverns. We must therefore conclude from this peculiarity, that the stone which closed the entrance to the cave was moved away for every interment and carefully put back into its place immediately afterwards.