The Later Cave-Men

by Katharine Elizabeth Dopp

Lesson XXIV. Instances of stags meeting death by having their horns interlocked are well known.

Lesson XXV. Encourage the children to notice the difference between those animals which live in herds and those which lead a solitary life. Although the dog has changed greatly since it was domesticated, a study of the dog will be helpful in understanding the habits of packs of wolves. Jack London’s Call of the Wild, and Ernest Thompson Seton’s stories will be helpful in this connection. The cat, having changed less than the dog, will furnish the child with a good type of carnivorous animals that lead a solitary life.

Lesson XXVI. From an examination of the skeletons which have been referred to the late Pleistocene period, it is evident that the Cave-men were able to treat wounds and to set bones. “No one could have survived such wounds as we have described,” writes Mr. Nadaillac, “but for the care and nursing of those around him, such as the other members of his tribe. The wounded one must have been fed by the others for months; nay more, he must have been carried in migrations, and his food and resting place must have been prepared for him.”

Lesson XXVII. There was little difference between weapons and tools until the period of the later Cave-men. A piece of chipped stone served as a tool and a weapon. The children learned when they read The Tree-dwellers how people used the tools in their bodies and how they supplemented these by the use of natural tools, such as sticks, stones, shells, bones, and horns. In reading The Early Cave-men they learned how people chipped flint and bound strong handles to heavy spear points and axes. At this time they can learn how people came to make use of new materials—materials which require the use of tools in shaping into weapons. Tools had been used by women from a very early time. The digging-stick, the hammer-stone, the chopper, the knife, and the bone awl are tools which every woman used. Men, on the contrary, were more interested in weapons than in tools, and it is quite likely that the first steps which led to the differentiation of tools from weapons was made by a man who had been wounded and thus disabled for the hunt.

The incident of Bighorn making fun of the bone dagger is introduced to illustrate the conservative tendency which is still present in society, a tendency less powerful now than in early times, yet strong enough to keep many people out of sympathy with the forces which work for progress.

Let the children examine a real antler, if possible, and notice its fitness for being made into a variety of tools and weapons. If no antler can be found let them examine the picture of one, so as to determine what part of it is used in making a dagger, a hammer, a baton, a tent peg, and an awl.

Lesson XXVIII. The invention of the flint saw marks an important step in the evolution of both tools and weapons. Without the saw it would have been impossible to use such material as bone, horn, and ivory. It is interesting to notice that the saw was at first not clearly differentiated from the file and the knife, the three tools being united in one piece of flint.

Lesson XXIX. In representing the action of a story by means of pantomime, let the children choose a leader who shall take charge of the action. Where this has been tried the results have been very satisfactory. The children, because they feel the responsibility, are stimulated to their best thought. The pleasure they take in the play leads them to a far more careful study of the book than they would make without this stimulus. In addition to this, it leads them to be alert in making use of various sources of knowledge.

Lesson XXX. Hunting peoples, because they live a hand-to-mouth life, have either a feast or a famine. Game was so plentiful during the late Pleistocene period that we may suppose that the Cave-men usually had plenty of food. The time when a famine was most likely to occur was early spring, before the grass furnished food for the herds which came a little later. When food supplies begin to fail, the clan breaks up into smaller groups, and, in case of great scarcity, each of these groups subdivides so that food may be found.

The worship of the bear and other large animals can be traced back to a very ancient period. It undoubtedly originated in the Pleistocene period when man first stood in fear of these animals and tried to win their favor by offering gifts.