IX. Finally the race of Cro-Magnon was not wanting in either beauty or intelligence. Taking its intelligence as a whole, it seems to me to present striking points of resemblance with the Algonquin race, as represented by the earliest travellers, and more especially by missionaries who have spent much time amongst these Red-Skins. It had undoubtedly both its good and bad qualities. Scenes of violence took place upon the banks of the Vézère, as is proved by the hatchet-cut in the skull of the Cro-Magnon woman. On the other hand, the burial places of Solutré, though containing many indented male and female heads, seem to show that old age received particular attention, and was, therefore, honoured among these tribes. This race believed in another life; and the contents of tombs upon the banks of the Vézère and the Somme, seem to prove that a happy prairie-land was looked forward to here, as upon the banks of the Mississippi.
The man of Périgord, like the Algonquin, did not rise above the very lowest stage in the social scale; he remained a hunter, at least till towards the close of that age, during which he appeared among the mountains of France. It is, then, an error to employ the term civilization in speaking of this race. Yet he was endowed with an intelligence both pliable and capable of improvement. We have seen that he made progress and changes by himself, a fact, of which no trace is to be observed in his American representative, so that, in this respect, he was undoubtedly his superior. And lastly, his artistic instincts, and the remarkable productions which he has left, gain for him a special place among the savage races of all times.
X. During all the first part of the reindeer age, the Cro-Magnon race supported itself in the state, of which I have just been pointing out the principal features. But from the commencement of the second half of the same age, during the deposition of the red diluvium and the upper loess, we observe an unmistakable decline, which becomes more and more striking as we proceed. The working of bone and reindeer antlers diminishes and returns to its former rudeness; flint cutting, on the contrary, gains in favour, and in some places, as in the grotto discovered at Saint Martin d’Excideuil by M. Parrot, acquires a most remarkable finish. But this very perfection seems to herald the approach of a new age, and to betray the influence of a strange element.
The fact is, that during this period an amelioration in the general conditions of life was taking place. Europe had at length risen above the waves; a continental climate was succeeding to the maritime climate: the weather was more settled; warm summers followed winters more severe, but less rainy; the glaciers consequently retreated and became confined within their present limits; and consequently again, the fauna became divided. Animals fond of cold, and organised for a mountain life, such as the chamois and bouquetin, were content to emigrate in altitude, and followed the glaciers in their retreat to our highest mountain summits. The reindeer, in no way adapted for climbing, was forced to emigrate in latitude and go further north. Its herds became more and more rare, and at length disappeared from our countries, where, even if domesticated, it could not have continued for long. The human population, who had, doubtless, for centuries lived upon this animal, and obtained from it their clothing, arms, and implements, must have felt the change intensely, losing with the reindeer, what we may call their staff of life.
What happened now? According to MM. Cartailhac, Forel, and de Mortillet, man disappeared or emigrated with the animal which had become necessary to him, and the valleys of Périgord, Mâconnais, and the Pyrenees became uninhabited. They hold that, after the close of the reindeer age, there is an immense space, a great gap, during which the fauna was renewed, and after which a new race of men suddenly made their appearance, who polished stone instead of cutting it, and surrounded themselves with domestic animals.
In spite of the incontestable authority of the savants whom I have just named, their opinion has, I believe, gained but very few partisans, and has been hotly contested. It is indeed possible, and even probable, that a certain number of stations were abandoned during the period in question, and that the inhabitants moved northwards to seek those conditions of climate and facilities for the chase to which they had been accustomed. But other tribes remained where they were, yielding to the new necessities, adopting the arms and customs of the immigrating populations, and becoming amalgamated with them. I cannot here enter into the geological, zoological and archæological considerations by which this view is justified. I shall confine myself to mentioning some facts which belong especially to anthropology.
MM. Louis Lartet and Chapelain Duparc discovered near Sorde, in the department of the Basses-Pyrénées, a shelter in the lower bed of which, after methodical excavations, a human skull and bones were found, together with a necklace of the teeth of the lion and bear. Immediately above, and mixed with the latter, was a thick layer of charcoal from which the explorers obtained barbed arrows of the Magdalénean type, and numerous instruments and implements of the same age. Bones of the horse and ox were mixed with these products of human industry. The reindeer was not wanting among this cooking débris, but this species was more rare than the others. Lastly, above the charcoal, and partly confounded with its upper portion, they discovered a layer which was, so to speak, composed of human bones. The learned explorers here obtained several cut flints similar to the preceding, but they also found a narrow, thin blade, as well as a triangular dagger, which, from its form and the nature of the work, is closely connected with the finest productions of the art of polished stone.
The upper burial-place contained the remains of more than thirty individuals. These bones have been taken to the museum, and M. Hamy has not hesitated in referring them to the Cro-Magnon race. I had only to confirm this opinion, as there could be no possible ground for doubt. Upon the bones of the limbs as well as upon the skulls, all those characters were observed which have become classic since the great works of MM. Broca and Pruner Bey.
Thus, in this curious grotto at Sorde, we find the superposition of two archæological types, the cut stone (Palæolithic), and the polished stone (Neolithic); but there is only one human race, that of Cro-Magnon. Is it not evident that this race must have known both the latest times of the reindeer age, and the earliest of the present epoch?
Whilst accommodating itself to the new conditions of existence, and accepting the industries of strangers more advanced than itself, the little tribe of Sorde seems to have preserved intact the purity of its blood. This could not, however, be universally the case, for the invasion must necessarily have occasioned crossing. Here, again, facts fully justify all that is indicated by the theory.