Page:Early Man in Britain and His Place in the Tertiary Period.djvu/332

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304
EARLY MAN IN BRITAIN.
[CHAP. VIII.

1. Scotch firs.
2. Oaks.
3. Beeches.

respectively associated with articles of the Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron ages. The most common mammals are the stag, roe, and wild boar, but there are also

The beaver.
Water-rat.
Urus.
Lynx.
Wild cat.
Wolf.
Fox.

Otter.
Bear.
Seal.
Porpoise.
Hedgehog.
Dog.

This assemblage of animals, all wild, with the exception of the last, tells us that here we have to deal with man as a hunter, fowler, and fisherman; not as a farmer, or herdsman, but as master only of that domestic animal which would be useful to him under those conditions, of life. The dog, it must be remarked, not only picked, as Prof. Steenstrup has shown, the bones left by the hunter, but at times was himself used for food.

Are we to consider these remains as marking a stage in the history of mankind before the introduction of flocks and herds, and of agriculture, or, in other words, before the appearance of the Neolithic civilisation as it has been defined above? Prof. Worsaae holds that they must be so viewed, while Prof. Steenstrup brings forward evidence to connect them with the Neolithic tumuli which abound in the district. The latter argues that, although the implements in the refuse-heap are, on the whole, exceedingly rude, the flakes are admirably made, that polished stone axes occur, and that some of the implements have been made out of polished