A Manual of the Antiquity of Man

by J. P. MacLean

If the miocene be the earliest point in his history, and Central Asia the place of his nativity, then he was ushered upon the scene of life during the period of, and surrounded by, the numerous fauna of India, At this time her mammalia included, besides the quadrumana, elephant (seven species), mastodon (three species), rhinoceros (five species), horse (three species), hippopotamus (four to seven species), hog (three species), camel, giraffe, sivatherium (an elephantine stag, having four horns and supposed to have had the bulk of an elephant and greater height), antelope, musk-deer, sheep, ox (several species), dinotherium, porcupine, species of hyena, lion, and many others.

It cannot be presumed that man's intellectual faculties were ordinarily developed, as it would not be natural to suppose he was superior to that of later times. Judging from the remains of later times, man could have been but very little removed from the brute. It is natural to suppose that at first he had no fire, no weapons of offence or defence. His food must have been the herbs, roots, and the fruits of the tree, possibly with an occasional morsel of raw meat. His pillow was a stone, his retreat a cave or the boughs of a wide-spreading tree, and his clothing a natural coat of hair.

In the presence of the fierce beasts, man's domain might seem to be of short duration. Providence has ordered all things wisely. Placed low in the scale of life—brutal, selfish, prowling, yet cautious—man, by the very force of circumstances, was to develop gradually the powers of his mind. With the elephant and the mastodon he could not cope nor would they molest him. To the fierce carnivora he might fall a prey. From these he could flee, and find a shelter in the tops of the trees or some secure fastness of the earth. Learning his own strength by experience, he would venture forth on excursions, and meet face to face his deadly foe. For self-defence he discovered, probably by accident, that a club was a powerful weapon with which to beat back his fierce opponent. Gradually he came to learn that a sharp flint driven into the end of a club was a safer and more deadly weapon. With this he could withstand an unequal contest.

The mode of life, together with the trials of his strength, developed his muscular system. His muscles became large and tough, and his bones thick and heavy. The earliest type of man is generally supposed to be dolichocephalic, or long-headed. The walls of the skull were thick, and the crown low. He was of ordinary stature, but built for action, and of great power. His make-up was the result of his surroundings.

His advancement was very slow. Throughout the entire length of the miocene and pliocene epochs it is not traceable. There was no revolution in his mind; one step in advance would have been a mighty leap. Nor could it be expected that there should be rapid progress. The mind was brutal; and all the instincts sensual. But there was pending a mighty change. The tropical climate should change into a winter of snow and ice. Man should feel it, and be benefited by the new danger. His sluggish mind should be quickened, and the inventive genius should be called into action. The sun no longer could give its heat. The forests grew cold, the chilling winds swept over the plains, and the retreat in the cave was damp and forbidding. The wild beasts were either dying of cold, or else becoming clothed with thick, long hair, and retreating before the accumulating snow. Man earnestly looked about him. He suffered greatly, and his numbers grew less. Fire had been produced. How, no one can tell; possibly by accident. He now became more careful of the fire, and with brand in hand he went from place to place kindling the fires at the various resting-places. Nor was this sufficient. His ingenuity was taxed to its greatest extent. Colder and colder grew the winds. The snow, coming in great flakes, was soon consolidated, and became as ice. The body could not be kept warm. Clothing must be had, and this must be furnished by the wild beasts. Their hides must assist in protecting the life of man. The stiffened, frozen animals would not alone furnish sufficient covering. Knives must be invented. From the flint rude knives were fashioned, by means of which the skins were removed and transferred to the bodies of men. But the long winter continuing, the lives of the living animals must be forfeited, both for the flesh and and the skins. Rude, almost shapeless arrow-heads were produced. Wood must be had with which to warm and cook, and rude rafts formed, by means of which the swelling rivers might be crossed. Then those stone hatchets of the Somme were shaped, and answered the purpose.

Man was at last prepared to face the rigors of winter, the perils of ice, and secure himself against starvation. Not content with his conflicts with nature, his brutal passion is aroused against his fellows. Death-dealing blows fall rapidly upon each other, the blood flows freely, the bones give way, and the weaker one has succumbed. There are fierce contentions over the common prey, and the strong impose upon the weak. True to his instinct, he is gregarious. He lives in communities; and the more daring—the hunters—having their common places of meeting, fashion their weapons, and vie with each other in feats of prowess.

During the glacial epoch the condition of man must have remained unchanged, after he had supplied himself with rude stone weapons. His time was spent, for the most part, in self-preservation. He was retreating before, yet bounding over, the frozen flood in pursuit of game. This experience must ultimately tell for good. When the glaciers began to recede, man followed closely, and forgot not the value of those stone weapons which had secured food for himself. They served against the cave-bear, cave-hyena, cave-lion, and would be of great service in the ages yet to come. By a little remodelling they could be used to greater advantage; and this change of shape was accomplished, and other uses of flint were made known.

Man's form, aspect, and true position are comprehended by the relics of the glacial age. The human bones tell a tale which any anatomist may read, and even one not well skilled in the art. The primitive type is no mystery, and those fossil bones tell of the terrific strifes of by-gone times.

The Neanderthal man has already been described. Its structure is animal. Its history agrees with the generally received idea of primitive man as conceived by the geologist. The illustration (frontispiece) presents him bestial and ape-like. A powerful organization, and well adapted to those times. His bones tell of fearful conflicts. He lived to an old age, as the traces of every suture are effaced. His skull was very thick. The strong, prominent superciliary arches denote large perceptives, making him watchful and always on the alert. Those bones tell of a terrible conflict. The left arm was broken; who knows but in a contest with the great cave-bear. He survived the contest and lived to see that arm dwindle and become almost useless. Over the right eye he received a blow, from some source, so great as to carry away a portion of the bone. The claw of a cave-bear, or a flint weapon in the hand of one of his race, may have produced that fracture. Still he lived, and the wound healed. All this tells of his strength and hardihood. It gives an inside view of the wonderful hardships and vicissitudes of primeval man.

The Engis skull belongs to the same type, though less bestial. Possibly this individual did not enter upon the chase, and engage in the manly pursuits of those times. He may have been an adviser or a dandy; or, his ingenuity may have led him to the vocation of fashioning weapons and implements from the flint.