The Later Cave-Men

by Katharine Elizabeth Dopp

Lesson XXXVII. Let the children bring together from various sources the materials and tools required to make needles by the processes of the Cave-men. Do not require the children to make needles, but permit them to experiment with the materials so as to understand the subject. If the children label and arrange the collection they make in an orderly way, the work itself will be of great value to them, and the collection will constitute an interesting feature in the children’s industrial museum.

Lesson XXXVIII. Such a lesson as this ought to be helpful in freeing the child from superstitions without putting him out of sympathy with people who entertain them. In their origin superstitions are unsuccessful attempts to explain the phenomena of life. In spite of the fact that many of the beliefs of mankind have been false, they have served a useful purpose in the development of the individual and in uniting individuals into social groups.

The art of the Cave-men, as illustrated in this and in other lessons, shows a belief in sympathetic magic, a belief that is universal among primitive peoples. The fear formerly entertained by the American Indians of having their photographs taken was due to a belief in sympathetic magic. The one who possessed the likeness was supposed to have some mysterious power over the person.

Help the children to distinguish between the things the Cave-men did which really helped and those which they thought helped. Notice that Flaker actually learned a great deal about the topography of the country, the location of the best hunting grounds, the movements and habits of the herds, and, because of this, was often able to give the Cave-men good advice. The magical ceremonies he practiced were of use to him in getting the people to believe in his wonderful power. (See, also, notes under [XXXIV].)

Lesson XXXIX. Although there was a great variety and abundance of fish, not all the Cave-men used fish. From the remains which have been found, however, we know that different clans used nearly all the varieties of fish which still may be found in our rivers and lakes; and we may readily believe that a salmon stream would be held as property common to all the neighboring tribes, as it is to-day among hunting and fishing peoples.

Fishing tackle of the Cave-men was very crude. Fish were sufficiently abundant, however, to be caught with the hands or by means of stones and clubs. A fish hook made of a bear’s tooth, by removing the enamel and crown and lessening the thickness by rubbing, has been found. The barbed harpoons, which were originally made for hunting, were later used in spearing fish. Harpoons with barbs on both sides were well adapted for throwing through the air, while those with barbs on one side were better adapted for use in the water. An experiment with a pencil in a glass of water will show the child that the part in the water is not where it appears to be, and from this he can readily reach the conclusion given above.

Lesson XL. If one will notice the clothing and the cradles of the North American Indians in a museum, he cannot fail to observe that care was taken in their preparation. They are comfortable and, in many cases, beautiful. We may well believe from what is known that among all primitive peoples the beauty, especially that of ornamentation, was for the sake of some supposed magical power. The representation of an animal was supposed to secure the especial protection of that animal, which was worshiped as a god. The bear’s tooth, which was pierced and strung about the neck of an infant, served a useful purpose when the child was cutting teeth, and it was supposed to be a charm which served to protect the child.

Lesson XLI. The strongest motives for coöperation were doubtless the common need of protection from dangerous beasts of prey and the need of adopting methods of hunting wild animals which required the united efforts of many people. Notice that the different batons and fragments of batons represented in this book differ in the number of holes bored through them. It is thought that the number of holes indicated the rank of the owner. Although many theories are given regarding the use of batons, the one which seems most tenable to the author is that which views them as marks of distinction and instruments used in magical ceremonies and in hunting dances.

Lesson XLII. The method of hunting herds by surrounding them is a coöperative method suitable to such regions as grassy plains, and comparatively level tracts which are sparsely wooded. The drive, on the contrary, is adapted to regions where steep cliffs are to be found. It is a natural development of the earlier method of hunting by taking advantage of the proximity of animals to steep cliffs. In that case man’s part was to lie in wait until a favorable opportunity presented itself for frightening the animals over. The lesson in The Tree-dwellers on “How the Hyenas Hunted the Big-nosed Rhinoceros,” and the one in The Early Cave-men on “Hunting the Mammoth,” illustrate early stages of this method.

Notice that there is a new principle employed in this lesson—that of the decoy—and that the method of hunting by means of the drive makes use of various ideas worked out before.