70. Subdivisions of the Palæolithic
The places at which the men of the Stone Age lived and where their debris accumulated are known as “stations.” The word was first employed in this sense in French, but has been taken over into other languages. A “station” then is simply a spot at which prehistoric remains of human occupation are found. At least a thousand of these have been discovered in western Europe. In general they divide into two classes. One kind is in the open, mostly in the gravels laid down by streams. These are therefore known as “River Drift” or simply “Drift” stations. The other kind is found in caves or under sheltering rocks. The majority of Drift stations have proved to be from the earlier or Lower Palæolithic, whereas the Cave stations date mostly from the later or Upper Palæolithic. The Drift and the Cave periods are therefore often distinguished within the Old Stone Age, especially by English archæologists. French, German, and American students generally use the terms “Lower Palæolithic” and “Upper Palæolithic,” whose reference is to periods of cultural development rather than type of locality inhabited, and which carry more significance. French archæologists also speak of the Upper Palæolithic as the Reindeer Age.
The Later Glacial Fauna of Western Europe
(Read upward)
- Postglacial and Recent:
- Bison, Bison priscus.
- Wild cattle, Bos primigenius.
- Red deer or stag, Cervus elaphus.
- Roe-deer, Capreolus.
- Reindeer, Rangifer tarandus.
- Wild boar, Sus scrofa.
- Fourth Glacial and Postglacial fauna: typically Mousterian to Magdalenian:
- Woolly mammoth, Elephas primigenius.
- Woolly or Siberian rhinoceros, Rhinoceros antiquitatis.
- Cave lion, Felis leo spelaea.
- Cave hyaena, Hyaena crocuta spelaea.
- Cave bear, Ursus spelaeus.
- Horse, Equus caballus.
- Ibex.
- Banded lemming, Myodes torquatus.
- Third Interglacial fauna: typically Chellean and Acheulean:
- Straight-tusked elephant, Elephas antiquus.
- Broad-nosed rhinoceros, Rhinoceros Merckii.
- Lion, Felis leo antiqua.
- Spotted hyaena, Hyaena crocuta.
- Brown bear, Ursus arctos.
- Horses, probably several varieties.
- Second Interglacial Fauna: typically Pre-Palæolithic, but in part surviving into the Chellean in favored localities:
- Southern mammoth, Elephas meridionalis.
- Etruscan rhinoceros, Rhinoceros etruscus.
- Hippopotamus major.
- Saber-tooth tigers, Machaerodus.
- Striped hyaena, Hyaena striata.
- Steno’s horse, Equus stenonis.
- Bison antiquus.
- Mastodon, tapir, anthropoids, and all primates but man and the macaque monkey already extinct in Western Europe.
The student who perhaps contributed most to the foundation of knowledge of the Palæolithic period was Gabriel de Mortillet. He first recognized four distinct sub-periods of the Palæolithic, each possessing its distinctive kinds of implements. These four periods, each named after one particular “station,” are the Chellean or earliest; the Mousterian; the Solutrean; and the Magdalenian or latest. These derived their designations from the four stations of Chelles in northern France, and of Le Moustier, Solutré, and La Madeleine in southern France ([Fig. 16]). De Mortillet did not endeavor to relate the culture of each of these four periods wholly to the particular locality for which he named it. He chose the stations as typical and included others as belonging to the same eras.
Fig. 16. Type stations of the Palæolithic periods. (After Osborn.)
As more implements were found and studied, it was recognized, in part by de Mortillet himself, that while his original classification was sound, it was also incomplete. Two other periods had to be admitted. One of these, the Acheulean, falls before the Mousterian, and the second, the Aurignacian, after it. This makes six periods within the Old Stone Age; and these have been adopted by all students of the prehistory of man in Europe. The first three, the Chellean, Acheulean, and Mousterian, make up the Lower Palæolithic; the last three, the Aurignacian, Solutrean, and Magdalenian, constitute the Upper Palæolithic or Reindeer Age. These six divisions of the Old Stone Age are so essential to an understanding of the prehistory of man, that the serious student finds it necessary to know their names and sequence automatically.