Primitive Man

by Louis Figuier

At the top was a very ancient burial-place, evidently belonging to the iron age; for the skeleton it contained was accompanied by an object made of rusty iron and several earthenware articles. It was buried in loose earth.

Underneath this, and half way down the tumulus, there were some small enclosures composed of uncemented walls, each one containing a sepulchral urn filled with calcined bones, as well as necklaces, hair-pins, and a bronze knife.

Lastly, at the base of the tumulus, there was a tomb belonging to the Stone Age. It was formed of large rough blocks of stone, and contained, in addition to the bones, some coarse specimens of pottery, with flint hatchets.

It is evident that the first inhabitants of the country began by building a tomb on the bare ground, according to the customs of the age, and then covered it up with earth. During the bronze epoch another burial-place was made on this foundation, and a fresh heap of earth doubled the height of the mound. Lastly, during the iron age, a dead body was buried in a grave hollowed out on the top of the same mound. Here, then, we have a clear delineation of the three different modes of interment belonging to the three pre-historic periods.

In short, during the bronze epoch, the dead were generally buried in sepulchral chambers, and sometimes, exceptionally, they were burned. The custom of funeral feasts still remained in full force. The pious practice of placing by the side of the dead body the instruments or weapons which the individual had been fond of during his lifetime, was likewise still kept up; and it is, moreover, owing to this circumstance that archæological science is now enabled to collect numerous vestiges of the ancient customs of these remote ages.

But we must call attention to the fact that, at the end of and after this epoch, the hatchets and instruments which were placed in the tombs were often of much smaller dimensions than those employed for every-day use. They were small and delicately-made hatchets, intended as votive offerings. Some might, perhaps, conclude from this that the heirs, animated by a feeling of economy, had contented themselves with depositing very diminutive offerings in the tombs of the dead. The human race was already becoming degenerate, since it curtailed its homage and its offerings to the dead!

In order to bring to a conclusion all the details which concern the bronze epoch, the question will naturally arise, what was the human type at this epoch, and did it differ from that of the preceding age? Unfortunately, the positive information which is required for the elucidation of this question is entirely wanting; this deficiency is owing to the extreme rarity of human bones, both in the lacustrine settlements of Switzerland, and also in the tombs belonging to that epoch which have been searched in different European countries. The whole of the lacustrine settlements of Switzerland have furnished no more than some seven skeletons, one of which was found at Meilen, two at Nidau, one at Sutz, one in the settlement of Bienne, and two at Auvernier. The first, that is the skeleton found at Meilen, near lake Zurich, is the only one which belongs to the Stone Age; the six others are all of the Bronze or Iron Ages.

The skeleton found at Meilen is that of a child; the skull, which is in a tolerable state of preservation, although incomplete, occupies, according to the observations of MM. His and Rütimeyer, a middle place between the long and short heads.

Figs. 229 and 230, representing this skull, are taken from M. Desor's work, entitled 'Mémoire sur les Palafittes.' From the mere fact that it is a child's skull, it is almost impossible to make any use of it in ascertaining the characteristic features of the race to which it belongs; for these features are not sufficiently marked at such an early age. The skull is of a very elongated shape, that is to say, it belongs to the dolichocephalous type. The upper part of the skull is flattened, and it has an enormous occipital development; but, on the other hand, there is scarcely any forehead. If these special features might be generally applied, they would not prove much in favour of the intellectual capacity of the Helvetic nation, or of its superiority over the races of anterior ages; it represents, in fact, a very low type of conformation, which, however, harmonises perfectly with the rough manners and cruel practices of the Gallic tribes.