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DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMAN RACE THROUGH THE AGES

This chart falls within the [Cenozoic] (sē´no-zō´ik), or “Recent life,” Period of the Earth and should be compared with it. Estimated Age of the Cenozoic Period, 3,000,000 years.

Geological Epochs
of the Earth
Successive Upward Stages in the Development of Civilized ManEstimated Time and Duration of Periods
Quaternary (Kwä-ter´na-rĭ) or“Fourth” Sedimentary System of the Earth. Age of Man.Recent or Alluvial Epoch; called by Geologists Holocene (ho´lo-sen)Historic Period.—Rise of Civilization through the gradual organization ofmankind into social groups and nations, for the protection of life, liberty and property and the advancement of the arts, sciences andreligion.Age of Letters or Pictorial Writing
This period offersan unbroken record of eventsfrom the first dated monuments and documents down to the present day. With the discoveries of archæologists in Babylonia, Egypt,Southern Arabia, and the Ægean lands, the beginnings of historic times are constantly receding farther into the background, and tothe Mesopotamian city of Nippur is already ascribed an antiquity of about eight thousand years.
800 B.C. to Present Time.
Late Iron Age
In this age man begins to bestir himselftowards discovery and invention.He organizes into tribes, makes laws, records observations—in fact, develops into nations such as manifest themselves on theearliest monuments of Egypt and Babylonia. In Europe it is characterized by forms of implements, weapons, personal ornaments, and pottery,and also by systems of decorative design, which are altogether different from those of the Bronze Age.
In Europe, 500 B.C. to Roman times.
Early Iron Age, or Hallstatt Period
The earliest evidenceof this age was found nearHallstatt, in Upper Austria, in a famous Celtic burial-ground. The excavations here yielded swords, daggers, javelins, spears, helmets,axes, shields, and various forms of jewelry, also amber and glass beads; silver was apparently not known. Most of the weapons were ofiron, only a few being of bronze.
In Europe, 1000 to 500 B.C. In Orient 1800 to 1000 B.C.
Bronze Age
Here flint is cast aside, and gold as anornament begins to attract him.This was the stage reached by the Aztecs and the aborigines of Peru when discovered by Europeans in the early sixteenth century. Theimplements and weapons include knives, saws, sickles, awls, gouges, hammers, anvils, axes, swords, daggers, spears, arrows, shields. Theforms of each class differ in different areas, and vary with advancing time. The workmanship is always of a very high order, the shapesgraceful, and the finish fine.
In Europe, 2000 to 1000 B.C. In Orient 4000 to 1800 B.C.
Pleistocene (plis´to-sēn) orGlacial EpochNew Stone Age or Neolithic (Gr., neos, new; lithos, stone)
The Neolithicimplements occur in river-terraces, alluvial deposits, lake dwellings and caves. The weapons and tools were made of highly polished stone.With the relics of Neolithic man are found remains of the Irish elk, the reindeer, beaver, brown bear, etc. Besides these were theremains of domesticated forms such as the cat, horse, sheep, dog, and goat. The tribes were acquainted with agriculture, and were advancedin the arts of weaving and pottery-making.
In Europe, about 12,000 to 3000 B.C. Cro-Magnon, and Grimaldi Races (about 10,000B.C.)
Pre-historic Period.—Dawn of mind, industry and art. This period mergedimperceptibly into the more strictly historic period when letters were introduced.Old Stone Age or Paleolithic (Gr., palaios, ancient; lithos,stone)
Themen of this age were hunters, and the remains of successive hunting races have been found in the deposits of caves, river gravels, andother sediments. They used rude hatchets and other implements of rough, unpolished stone which occur in association with relics ofnorthern (mammoth, reindeer, cave-bear) and southern mammalia (lion, leopard, hippopotamus). The walls of their caves are covered withrough sketches of animals belonging to that period. The men who inhabited the caves of Europe in Paleolithic time were very similar tothe modern Eskimo.
In Europe, about 125,000 to 12,000 B.C. Neanderthal Man (about 25,000 B.C.) PiltdownMan (about 110,000 B.C.)
Dawn Stone Age, or Eolithic
Primitive man existed evenearlier than paleolithic man. Itis certain that, in order that man possess the necessary skill exhibited in the flint implements, he must have passed through a previousand necessarily less skillful stage. Evidences of this period have been claimed to exist in the Plateau-gravels of Kent, Belgium andEgypt.
About 525,000 to 125,000 B.C. Heidelberg Man (about 250,000 B.C.) Pithecanthropus(about 475,000 B.C.)
Tertiary (ter-shi-a-ri), or “third.” Age of mammals.Pliocene (plī´ō-sēn), or“more recent.”Period of the probable appearance of the Human Races....
Miocene (mī´ō-sēn), or“less recent.”Gradual formation of man-like types....
Geological Epochs
of the Earth
Successive Upward Stages in the Development of Civilized ManEstimated Time and Duration of Periods
Quaternary (Kwä-ter´na-rĭ) or“Fourth” Sedimentary System of the Earth. Age of Man.Recent or Alluvial Epoch; called by Geologists Holocene (ho´lo-sen)Historic Period.—Rise of Civilization through the gradual organization ofmankind into social groups and nations, for the protection of life, liberty and property and the advancement of the arts, sciences andreligion.Age of Letters or Pictorial Writing
This period offers anunbroken record of eventsfrom the first dated monuments and documents down to the present day. With the discoveries of archæologists in Babylonia, Egypt,Southern Arabia, and the Ægean lands, the beginnings of historic times are constantly receding farther into the background, and tothe Mesopotamian city of Nippur is already ascribed an antiquity of about eight thousand years.
800 B.C. to Present Time.
Late Iron Age
In this age man begins to bestir himselftowards discovery and invention.He organizes into tribes, makes laws, records observations—in fact, develops into nations such as manifest themselves on theearliest monuments of Egypt and Babylonia. In Europe it is characterized by forms of implements, weapons, personal ornaments, and pottery,and also by systems of decorative design, which are altogether different from those of the Bronze Age.
In Europe, 500 B.C. to Roman times.
Early Iron Age, or Hallstatt Period
The earliest evidenceof this age was found nearHallstatt, in Upper Austria, in a famous Celtic burial-ground. The excavations here yielded swords, daggers, javelins, spears, helmets,axes, shields, and various forms of jewelry, also amber and glass beads; silver was apparently not known. Most of the weapons were ofiron, only a few being of bronze.
In Europe, 1000 to 500 B.C. In Orient 1800 to 1000 B.C.
Bronze Age
Here flint is cast aside, and gold as anornament begins to attract him.This was the stage reached by the Aztecs and the aborigines of Peru when discovered by Europeans in the early sixteenth century. Theimplements and weapons include knives, saws, sickles, awls, gouges, hammers, anvils, axes, swords, daggers, spears, arrows, shields. Theforms of each class differ in different areas, and vary with advancing time. The workmanship is always of a very high order, the shapesgraceful, and the finish fine.
In Europe, 2000 to 1000 B.C. In Orient 4000 to 1800 B.C.
Pleistocene (plis´to-sēn) orGlacial Epoch New Stone Age or Neolithic (Gr., neos, new; lithos, stone)
The Neolithicimplements occur in river-terraces, alluvial deposits, lake dwellings and caves. The weapons and tools were made of highly polished stone.With the relics of Neolithic man are found remains of the Irish elk, the reindeer, beaver, brown bear, etc. Besides these were theremains of domesticated forms such as the cat, horse, sheep, dog, and goat. The tribes were acquainted with agriculture, and were advancedin the arts of weaving and pottery-making.
In Europe, about 12,000 to 3000 B.C. Cro-Magnon, and Grimaldi Races (about 10,000B.C.)
Pre-historic Period.—Dawn of mind, industry and art. This period mergedimperceptibly into the more strictly historic period when letters were introduced.Old Stone Age or Paleolithic (Gr., palaios, ancient; lithos, stone)
Themen of this age were hunters, and the remains of successive hunting races have been found in the deposits of caves, river gravels, andother sediments. They used rude hatchets and other implements of rough, unpolished stone which occur in association with relics ofnorthern (mammoth, reindeer, cave-bear) and southern mammalia (lion, leopard, hippopotamus). The walls of their caves are covered withrough sketches of animals belonging to that period. The men who inhabited the caves of Europe in Paleolithic time were very similar tothe modern Eskimo.
In Europe, about 125,000 to 12,000 B.C. Neanderthal Man (about 25,000 B.C.) PiltdownMan (about 110,000 B.C.)
Dawn Stone Age, or Eolithic
Primitive man existed evenearlier than paleolithic man. Itis certain that, in order that man possess the necessary skill exhibited in the flint implements, he must have passed through a previousand necessarily less skillful stage. Evidences of this period have been claimed to exist in the Plateau-gravels of Kent, Belgium andEgypt.
About 525,000 to 125,000 B.C. Heidelberg Man (about 250,000 B.C.) Pithecanthropus(about 475,000 B.C.)
Tertiary (ter-shi-a-ri), or “third.” Age of mammals.Pliocene (plī´ō-sēn), or“more recent.”Period of the probable appearance of the Human Races....
Miocene (mī´ō-sēn), or“less recent.”Gradual formation of man-like types....

From the pictorial and plastic remains recovered from these two earliest seats of the higher cultures it is now placed beyond doubt that all the great divisions of the human family had at that time already been fully developed. Even in the New Stone Age, the present European type had been thoroughly established, as shown by the remains of the “Cro-Magnon Race,” so called from the cave of that name in Perigord, France, where the first specimens were discovered. In Egypt, where a well-developed social and political organization may be traced back to the seventh century B. C., Professor Petrie discovered in 1897 the portrait statue of a prince of the fifth dynasty (3700 B. C.) showing regular Caucasic features. Still older is the portrait of the Babylonian King Sargon (3800 B. C.), also with handsome features which might be either Semitic or even Aryan. Thus the Caucasic, that is, the highest human type, had already been not only evolved but spread over a wide area (Europe, Egypt, Mesopotamia) some thousands of years before the New Era. The other chief types (Mongol, Negro, and even Negrito) are also clearly portrayed on early Egyptian monuments, so that all the primary groups had already reached maturity probably before the close of the Old Stone Age.

Early picture writing of the Chippewa (Ojibwa) Indians.