Page:Early Man in Britain and His Place in the Tertiary Period.djvu/337

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CHAP. IX.]
THE NEOLITHIC RACE IN BRITAIN.
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CHAPTER IX.

THE NEOLITHIC INHABITANTS OF BRITAIN OF IBERIAN RACE.

Physique.—Range over British Isles.—Range on the Continent.—Identification with the Iberian Race.—Celtic Invasion of Gaul and Spain in the Neolithic Age.—Historic Evidence as to Iberic and Celtic Races in Spain and Gaul.—The Iberic Race in Retreat.—The Iberic Race the Older.—Historic Evidence as to Iberic and Celtic Races in Britain.—Relation of Iberians to Ligures and Etruskans.—Iberic Element in the Present Population of Spain.—Iberic, Celtic, and other Elements in the Population of France.—Iberic Element in the British Isles.—The Witness of Language.—Traces of Neolithic Culture in Basque Dialects.—Survivals from the Neolithic Age.—Neolithic Superstitions still current in Europe.—General Conclusions.

We have now to discuss the difficult questions as to the relation of the Neolithic inhabitants of Britain to those of the Continent, as well as to races of men still living in the same area. Are they now banished from Europe in the same manner as the Cave-men, or are they still represented in the present population? These problems may be solved by combining the results of osteological enquiry with those of ethnology, history, and geography.

Physique of Neolithic Population in Britain and Ireland.

The researches of Thurnam and Davis, Wilson,