Prehistoric Europe; a geological sketch

Front matter

j'H 4-VwAvv

BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

THE GREAT ICE AGE,

Preface

The object of these pages is to give an outline of what appear to have been the most considerable physical changes experienced in our continent since the beginning of the Pleistocene or Quaternary Period. Several general works, by some of our most accomplished geologists and archaeologists, have already dealt with the subject in part, and it is impossible, therefore, that a new essay in Post-tertiary geology can avoid discussing certain evidence which is perhaps sufficiently familiar even to non¬ specialists. But none of the treatises referred to quite covers the ground I have endeavoured to occupy. While some of my predecessors have examined the evidence principally from the point of view of the archaeologist, and others from that of the palaeontologist, my aim has been to describe in a more system¬ atic manner than has hitherto been attempted that succession of changes, climatic and geographical, which, taken together, constitute the Historical Geology of Pleistocene, Postglacial, and Eecent times.

In a former work ( The Great Ice Age) I have already dis¬ cussed some of the questions which form the subject-matter of the present volume, and to a certain extent, therefore, the latter may be considered as supplementary to its predecessor. The two works, however, are quite independent. The Great Ice

VI

PREFA CE.

Age is for tlie most part occupied with a somewhat detailed description of the Glacial deposits, and an exposition of the prin¬ ciples upon which these are interpreted. It gives only a meagre account of the cave- and river-accumulations which have yielded traces of man and the Pleistocene mammals, while the more recent deposits, with the exception of those of Scotland, are passed over with merely a few general remarks. This mode of treatment was necessitated by the object I had in view, which was to point out to English geologists that in their endeavours to arrange chronologically the ossiferous and Palaeolithic accu¬ mulations sufficient attention had not been paid to the results which had accrued from a study of Glacial and Interglacial formations. And I sought by a rigid analysis of the evidence to show that the Palaeolithic deposits, which had hitherto been classed by them as of Postglacial age, could not possibly belong to so late a period, but ought to be referred to Inter¬ glacial, and probably in part also to Preglacial, times. The plan of my former work, however, did not allow of so full a treat¬ ment of this part of the subject as its importance demanded, and the preparation of the present book was forthwith commenced, with the view of supplying such deficiency, and of still further illustrating and substantiating my general argument.

Many questions, which hardly came within the scope of my previous essay, are here discussed at some length. Chief among these are the physical changes that characterised the Postglacial and Eecent Period. Since the appearance of Edward Eorbes’s well-known paper on the Geological Relations of the Fauna and Flora of the British Islands, great advances have been made in our knowledge of the later chapters of the geological record ; and I have taken advantage of this fuller information to reconsider some of those questions of geographical and climatic change which the genius of Forbes suggested. The subject is extremely

PREFA CE.

vii

fascinating, and deserving of more attention than it has of late years received. But Mr. Wallace’s important and interesting work (. Island Life), which has just appeared while I pen these lines, will doubtless give a fresh impulse to the study among naturalists, and should the present volume assist in the same direction, I shall feel well repaid for my labour.

The reader will not, I hope, have any difficulty in under¬ standing the precise signification I attach to such terms as “ Prehistoric,” “ Pleistocene,” “ Preglacial,” “ Glacial,” “ Inter¬ glacial,” “ Postglacial,” etc. But it may be as well to state here that I employ the term “Prehistoric” in the same extended sense as Professor D. Wilson, by whom “it was purposely coined to express the whole period disclosed to us by means of archaeological evidence, as distinguished from what is known through written records.” In the classification adopted by me, “ Pleistocene ” or “ Quaternary ” includes the Preglacial, Glacial, and Interglacial deposits ; while “ Postglacial ” is restricted to those accumulations which belong to a later date than the last great extension of glacier-ice in Europe — a sense in which it has long been employed in Scotland, Scandinavia, Switzerland, and the Continent generally. This differs somewhat from the classification advanced by certain English geologists, who would include under the term “ Postglacial ” many accumulations of Pleistocene age, which it is the object of these pages to show are of Interglacial, and not Postglacial, date.

To the many friends and correspondents at home and abroad, who have kindly satisfied my inquiries and favoured me with copies of their papers, I would here express my grateful thanks. I have also to acknowledge my indebtedness to Dr. J. Evans, who has courteously allowed me to copy from his great work on Ancient Stone Implements the illustrations which are given in Plate C. And to Professor T. Paipert Jones similar acknow-

Vlll

PREFACE.

leclgments are due for permission to reproduce tliose illustra¬ tions of Palaeolithic Implements which are taken from Reliquiae Aquitanicce , and which appear in Plate B. I have further to thank my friend Dr. Buchanan White for many important suggestions and much assistance while my work was in pre¬ paration. I have enjoyed the great advantage of discussing with him many of the questions which form the chief subject-matter of this volume, and his wide and accurate knowledge of the geographical distribution of plants and animals, which he generously placed at my disposal, has been of most essential service.

Perth, October 1880.

Chapter I

INTRODUCTORY ..... Pages 1-4

Chapter II. Archaeological Periods

Classification of Human Relics — Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age — Phases of Civilisation — Gradual transition from Stone Age into Bronze Age, and Bronze Age into Iron Age — Palaeolithic and Neolithic Periods — Palaeolithic Implements — Classification of Palaeolithic Cave-relics — Conditions of life in Palaeolithic Period — Human Remains — Break in Succession between Palaeolithic and Neolithic Periods.

5-24

Chapter III. Climate Of Pleistocene Period — Testimony Of Mammalia

Geographical distribution of Mammals — Southern, Northern, and Tem¬ perate Group — Evidence of Mammalia as to Climate — Present climatic conditions in Europe, Northern Asia, and boreal regions of North America — Region of Tundras and Barrens — Arctic Forest Zone — Annual Migrations in Siberia — Similar migrations cannot take place in Europe — Influence of the Gulf Stream on European Climate — Probable effect of its withdrawal — Alternations of Climate during Palaeolithic Period . . . . 25-43

X

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV. CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD, continued — TESTIMONY OF

PLANTS AND MOLLUSCS.

Preservation of land-plants exceptional — Plants in tlie Travertine of Massa Marittima in Tuscany — Plants in tufas of Provence ; in tufas of Montpellier, etc. ; in tufa of La Celle near Paris — Views of Count Saporta — Plants in tufa of Canstadt — Pleistocene lignite of Jarville near Nancy ; its plant and insect remains — Mr. Natkorst on Arctic flora in peat of Switzerland, Germany, etc. ; M. Tournouer on sliells in tufa of La Celle — M. Bourguignat on shells in “ diluvium gris ” of Paris — Sliells in tufas of Canstadt ; in English Pleistocene deposits — Dr. Sandberger on shells and mammalian remains in loss of Wurzburg — M. Locard on shells in Corsican breccias — Summary of evidence ..... Pages 44-68

Chapter V. Cave-deposits Of The Pleistocene Period

Caves of different kinds — Mode of their formation — Absence of Pliocene organic remains in European caves — General character of cave- accu¬ mulations — Commingling of human relics with remains of extinct mammalia — “Break” between Palaeolithic and Neolithic times — Stalagmite ; its formation and rate of growth — Mr. Pengelly’s obser¬ vations on stalagmitic accretion in Kent’s Cavern — Stalagmitic growth not continuous — Calcified earth, sand, and gravel in caves — Angular blocks, debris, and breccia in caves — Succession of deposits in Brixham Cave — Professor Prestwick on the geological history of that cave — Contemporaneity of man and the old mammalia — Ex¬ treme antiquity of Pleistocene Period . . . 69-89

CHAPTER VI. CAVE-DEPOSITS OF THE PLEISTOCENE PERIOD — Continued

Succession of deposits in Kent’s Cavern — Conditions during their accumu¬ lation — Evidence for prolonged duration of Palaeolithic Period — Hyaena dens in England — Ivirkdale Cave and Wookey Hole — Bone-

CONTENTS.

xi caves never tenanted by man or wild beasts — Victoria Cave, near Settle in Yorkshire — Succession of deposits in that cave — Glacial bed associated with Pleistocene deposits — Bone-caves of Belgium — General succession of deposits in these — Trou du Sureau — Belative position of Neolithic relics . . . Pages 90-104

Chapter VII

cave-deposits of the pleistocene period — Continued.

Bone-caves of Belgium — The Trou Magrite — Contrast between lower and upper deposits — Trou de la Naulette — Human bones associated with remains of extinct animals — The Cavern of Goyet — The Trou du Frontal — Age of sepulchral cavity — Caves of Germany and France — General conclusions as to caves — Evidence of progress during Pakeolithic Period — Reindeer period in Belgium and France — Cold climatic conditions during the closing stage of Palaeolithic Period — Alternations of genial and cold climates in earlier stages of same period — Break between Palaeolithic and Neolithic Ages 105-120

Chapter VIII. River-deposits Of The Pleistocene Period

M. Boucher de Perthes’ discoveries — Professor Prestwich on origin of the ossiferous and implement-bearing “ drifts ” — Fluviatile origin of the so-called “ drift ” — Erosion of river valleys during Pleistocene times — Time required for excavation of valleys — Professor A. Geikie on modern denudation — Flooded condition of Pleistocene rivers — Pro¬ fessor Prestwich on relation between ancient river-gravels and loams — Absence of well-marked river-terraces accounted for — River-ice and ice-floated erratics — Professor Prestwich on climatic conditions im¬ plied by Pleistocene river-deposits — Commingling of different groups of mammals — Sir C. Lyell’s views — Mr. Darwin on angular gravels of Southern England . . . . . 121-142

CHAPTEE IX.

LOAMY DEPOSITS OF THE PLEISTOCENE PERIOD.

Loss of German geologists — Its distribution throughout Europe — Organic remains of the loss — Dr. Neliring on loamy deposits of Tliiede and

Xll

CONTENTS.

Westeregeln — Mammalian and human remains in loss — Changes in composition of loss — River-gravels and lignite underlying loss — Loss of Northern France — Its relation to Diluvium gris and Diluvium rouge — Terre a briques and Limon grossier — Fossils of French loss — Belgian loss — Its organic remains — M. Dupont on Belgian loss and associated deposits — Tchernozem, or black-earth of Russia — Theories of the origin of loss — Views of Bennigsen-Forder, Hibbert, Gumbel, Lyell, Prestwich, Tylor, A. Geikie, Belt — Murchison on origin of black-earth — De Mercey on origin of French limon — D’Acy’s views on same — Baron Richthofen’s loss-theory — Mr. Pumpelly’s views.

Chapter X. The Glacial Period

Early views of glacial phenomena — Agassiz’s glacial theory — Glacial phenomena of Scotland — Origin of rock-striae, roches moutonndes, till or boulder-clay, etc. — Intruded till and great erratics — Direction of glaciation in Scotland — Glaciation of Ireland ; of English Lake District ; of Lancashire ; Wales, etc. — Glacial phenomena of north¬ east of England ; of Midland districts and East Anglia — Great erratics — Glaciation of Norway and Sweden ; of Finland and Northern Russia ; of Germany — Contorted and disturbed rocks under boulder-clay — Great erratics — Direction of the northern mer de glace — Course followed by “under-tow” of ice-sheet 169-206

Chapter XI

the glacial period — Continued .

Ancient glaciers of north and south sides of the Alps, of the Jura Moun¬ tains, of the Black Forest, of the Vosges, of the Carpathians, of the Ural, of the Pyrenees and the Cantabrian Mountains, of Central and Southern Spain, of Corsica, of the Apuan Alps, of the Caucasus, of the Lebanon, of the Atlas Mountains — Erratics in the Azores — Limestone-breccias of Gibraltar — Breccias, etc., of Malta — Loam with flints of Northern France — “Head” of maritime districts of the Channel area — Stanniferous gravels of Cornwall — Glacial phenomena of North America— Angular earthy de'bris of North Carolina — Volume of water discharged from ancient glaciers — Quantity of mud in water coming from glaciers — Origin of loss and loamy deposits of Rhine,

CONTENTS.

xm

Danube, etc., of Central Europe — Origin of the Tchernozem or “ black-earth” of Southern Russia — Objections to Baron Richthofen’s loss-theory — Summary of conditions during Glacial Period.

CHAPTEE XII.

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS.

Earliest recognition of interglacial deposits — Interglacial beds of Scotland — Sections at Hailes Quarry near Edinburgh — Alternating arctic and genial climatic conditions — Succession of glacial and interglacial deposits in England — Palaeolithic implements in interglacial deposits at Brandon, Suffolk — Changes of climate during Glacial Period in British area — Glacial deposits of Scandinavia — Ancient strandlinier or horizontal rock-terraces of Norway — Theories of their origin — Their possible interglacial age — Interglacial deposits of Northern Germany — Section at Rixdorf on the Spree — Section at Domitz on the Elbe — Interglacial beds at Tempelhof — Boring near the Schwielow-See — Traces of interglacial submergence — Glacial and interglacial deposits of Saxony ; of Holstein and Denmark — Sand, gravel, and superficial erratics of Northern Europe — Dr. Penck’s views of climatic and geographical changes — Preservation of beds under till or boulder-clay ....... 252-296

CHAPTEE XIII.

interglacial epochs — Continued.

Interglacial deposits of Switzerland — Interglacial river-terraces at Camischollas — Glacial and interglacial deposits near Thoron ; at Durnten and Utznach ; at the Bois dela Batie — Interglacial beds of Northern Italy — Ancient glacier of the Lago d’Iseo — Lacustrine deposits of the Yal Borlezza — Deposits in the basin of Gandino — Lignites of Leffe — Interglacial age of the lacustrine deposits of Yal Borlezza and Yal Gandino — Lacustrine deposits in Yal Adrara and Yal Forestro — Deposits in the Upper Yal d’Arno — Interglacial deposits of Cen¬ tral France — Pumiceous conglomerate and associated deposits at Per¬ rier, near Issoire — Glacial and interglacial deposits in the valleys of the Ain and the Rhone — Successive glacial epochs in the Yosges mountains — Two glacial epochs in the Pyrenees — Interglacial deposits at Gibraltar — Probable interglacial age of similar deposits in Malta . 297-330

XIV

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIV.

CLIMATIC AND GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS OF PLEISTOCENE

PERIOD — SUMMARY.

Climatic and geographical conditions of Europe during Pliocene times — Gradual change of climate and commencement of Glacial Period — Modification of fauna and flora in glacial times — Geographical con¬ ditions in Pleistocene Age — Land-connection between Europe and Africa — Continental condition of British area — Dry land in the English Channel — Human relics in Pliocene strata — Cut bones in Italian Pliocene — Human relics in Miocene strata — Geographical conditions in Europe at the beginning of the last interglacial epoch — Migrations of plants and animals — Character of interglacial climate — Geographical conditions at climax of last interglacial epoch — Gradual deterioration of climate — Geographical conditions towards close of last interglacial and beginning of last glacial epoch — Last glacial epoch — Migrations of plants and animals — Final disappearance of great glaciers, etc. — Distribution of interglacial deposits — Inter¬ glacial age of Palaeolithic man and mammalia of southern group.

CHAPTER XV.

C C . ‘

NEOLITHIC, BRONZE, AND IRON AGES.

Difficulty of ascertaining the relative antiquity of Neolithic relics — The Danish “kitchen-middens” — Views of Worsaae, Steenstrup, and Lubbock — Fauna of the “kitchen-middens” — Neolithic man — Con¬ ditions of life — Shell-mounds of Britain and France — Lake-dwellings of Switzerland — Dr. Keller on various forms of lake-dwellings — Human relics — Remains of plants and animals met with in ruins of lake-dwellings — Conditions of life — Passage from the Neolithic through the Bronze into the Iron Age — Relics of Neolithic and later archaeological periods in other regions — “ Long-heads ” and “ broadheads ” of British barrows — Celtie, Belgae, and German! — Contrasts between Palaeolithic and Neolithic Ages . . 363-380

CHAPTER XVI.

POSTGLACIAL AND RECENT DEPOSITS OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS.

Fliysical conditions of late glacial times — Scottish Postglacial beds — Raised-beaches — Estuarine and river-deposits — Organic remains _

CONTENTS.

xv

Submarine forests and peat — Buried forest, etc., of Carse of Gowrie, etc. — Succession of deposits — Glacial and late glacial accumulations of 100-feet terrace — Postglacial river detritus — Ancient land-surface and vegetable remains under Carse-clays — Origin of Carse-clays — Connection of these clays with torrential gravels — Postglacial deposits of the Forth valley — Vegetable remains — Kitchen - middens of 45-50-feet beach — Postglacial deposits of the Montrose Basin — Suc¬ cession of changes — Date of last elevation of land Pages 381-406

CHAPTER XVII.

islands — Continued.

Larger size of Scottish rivers in Postglacial times — Local glaciers then reached the sea-level — Recent glaciation in mountain- valleys of Scotland — Contrasts between glacial phenomena of the Ice Age and Postglacial times — Examples of postglacial moraines — Interval be¬ tween the close of the Glacial Period and the reappearance of local glaciers in Postglacial Period — Scottish raised-beaches — Peat-bogs of inland districts — Buried forests in peat-bogs — Correlation of these with the submarine forests and peat of the maritime districts — Age of the Scottish peat-bogs — Alluvial deposits of Scotland — Their organic remains — Correlation of archaeological epochs with geological stages in Postglacial history of Scotland . . 407-429

CHAPTER XVIII.

islands — Continued.

Submerged forests of English coast — Unconformity between Glacial and Postglacial accumulations — Submarine forests of Lancashire and Cheshire — Succession of deposits — General conclusions as to con¬ ditions of accumulation — Postglacial and recent deposits of Cornish coast — Section of Happy Union Works, Pentium — Sections of Lower Pentewan Work — Section at Huel Darlington Mine — General con¬ clusion as to the succession of changes — Sunk forests and buried peat of the Fenland — Relation of Fen-beds to glacial deposits — Character of Fen-beds — General conclusions as to conditions under which they were accumulated . . . 430-450

XVI

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIX.

islands — Continued.

Correlation of English Postglacial accumulations — Resume of the evidence

_ Raised-beaches of English coasts — Postglacial accumulations of

inland districts — Their unconformability to Glacial and Paleolithic deposits — English rivers of larger volume in Postglacial times — Lacustrine alluvia and peat-bogs of England — Their organic remains

_ Succession of forest-layers in English peat — Arctic flora at Bovey

Tracey — Postglacial mammals of England — Postglacial and recent deposits of Ireland — Submarine trees and peat — Raised-beaches — Neolithic kitchen-middens — Successive tiers of trees in bogs of inland districts — Mr. Kinahan’s observations on succession of changes which these imply — Human relics in Irish bogs — Postglacial mam¬ malia Pages 451-463

CHAPTEE XX.

POSTGLACIAL AND RECENT DEPOSITS OF THE CONTINENT.

Postglacial and recent deposits of Norway and Sweden — No direct pass¬ age from Glacial into Postglacial accumulations — Postglacial shelly clays, etc. — Character of the molluscan fauna — Contrast between shelly clays of the east of Sweden and those of Western Sweden and Norway — Height of Swedish and Norwegian shell-banks above sea-level — Postglacial freshwater and marine deposits of Finland — Unfossiliferous clay and sand above shelly clays of Norway and Sweden — Postglacial erratics resting on shelly clays of Eastern Sweden — General conclusions — -Submerged peat of Scania — Raised-beaches of same region — Submerged peat and trees of Denmark ; of Schleswig- Holstein ; of East Friesland and Holland ; of Flemish coast ; of Somme Valley ; of Normandy and Brittany ; of Arcachon and Biarritz — Age of the submerged forests of the Channel area — Peat¬ bogs of Denmark ; of Norway — Rate of growth of peat — Arctic flora in Postglacial deposits of Southern Sweden, of Brandenburg, and other parts of Germany — Peat of Champagne, its organic remains — Peat-bogs in other regions of Europe — No trace of Palaeolithic man in any Postglacial accumulations — Postglacial deposits of Spitzbergen.

464-498

CONTENTS.

XVII

CHAPTER XXL

CLIMATIC AND GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS OF POSTGLACIAL AND RECENT PERIODS - SUMMARY.

Genial conditions in Southern Scandinavia — Mediterranean molluscs in Northern Seas — Southern forms in Gulf of St. Lawrence — Condi¬ tion of Northern Sea in latest glacial epoch — Immigration of South¬ ern species in postglacial times — Migration of arctic flora in late glacial and early postglacial times — Edward Forbes on origin of British fauna and flora — Contrasts between Britain and Ireland — • Large postglacial lake occupying bed of Irish Sea — Ireland derived its fauna and flora partly by way of Scotland — Genial climatic con¬ ditions — Former greater range of forests — Trees in peat of Faeroe Islands and Norway — Peat with pine on shores of Wellington Chan¬ nel — Origin of floras of Faeroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland — Former connection of those regions with Europe in postglacial times — Traces of former genial conditions in Kurland — Gradual disap¬ pearance of genial climate and submergence of land in north and north-west — Formation of 50-feet beach of Scotland — Local glaciers and swollen rivers — Cold and humid conditions, and increase of peat¬ bogs — Retreat of sea and amelioration of climate — Second great forest-growth — Second peat-forming period — The Present — Southern Europe in postglacial times — Date of advent of later Prehistoric races.

CHAPTER XXII.

Conclusion

Resume of results — Identity of Pleistocene or Quaternary Period with Preglacial and Glacial times — Alternations of cold and genial climates in Pleistocene Period — Testimony of fauna and flora — Palaeolithic man lived through the Pleistocene Period — Testimony of the Pleis¬ tocene river-deposits as to climatic conditions — Evidence supplied by cave-accumulations — Glacial and Interglacial accumulations contem¬ poraneous with river-gravels, etc., and cave-deposits — Distribution of ossiferous and Palaeolithic river-deposits — Last cold epoch of Glacial Period closes the record of Pleistocene times — Palaeolithic imple¬ ments in Interglacial deposits at Brandon ; in Pliocene or early Pleistocene beds of St. Prest — Pliocene and Miocene man — What

CONTENTS.

became of Paleolithic man — Professor Dawkins’s views — Objections to his hypothesis that the Eskimo are of the same race as Paleolithic man — Views of M. Quatrefages and other French savants — Climatic and Geographical conditions of Postglacial Period — Age of the archeological periods — Dr. Croll’s theory of the cause of glacial and interglacial climatic changes — Conclusion . Pages 539-562

Appendix

PAGE

Note A. — Table of Sedimentary Formations . . .563

Note B. — Map of Europe at the Climax of the Ice Age . . 564

Note C. — Europe in Early Postglacial Times (First Age of Forests) 568

LIST OF PLATES.

PLATE A. — Palaeolithic Implements

PLATE B. — Map of Glacial System of Lake Iseo

PLATE C. — Neolithic Implements

PLATE D. — Map of Europe at the Climax of the

Ice Age .

PLATE E. — Europe in Early Postglacial Times

(First Age of Forests)

To face page 1 2

PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Chapter I. Introductory

There is no chapter in the geological history of Europe more interesting than that which deals with the physical aspect and condition of our continent in prehistoric ages. What appear¬ ance did our mountains and valleys then present ? Was Europe as extensive in those old times as it is to-day ? Are the shores upon which our seaport towns are built the same as those along which wandered the earliest races of mankind ? With what tribes of animals and plants were our ancient predecessors associated, and under what conditions of climate did they live ? To answer all these and other subsidiary questions as fully as one might, would involve the consideration of a much wider range of evidence than it is possible to discuss adequately in the compass of these pages ; nevertheless such an outline of facts and inferences may be given as shall serve to afford some notion of the mode in which a geologist views the subject. It is as well to state at once, however, that there is a large class of facts which might properly enough come under our attention in a work like the present, but which I do not purpose to treat of specially. These have reference to the more or less local changes and modifications of the coast-line, brought about

B

PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

by the erosive and denuding action of waves, breakers, and tidal currents, and by the increase of deltas. Neither do I mean to give any account of those limited earth-movements, which have here and there raised and depressed certain mari¬ time districts of no great extent. Such geographical changes as I shall refer to are those which have aided most considerably in producing the present distribution of our fauna and flora. And so with changes of climate, attention will be confined to those which can be proved to have been more or less general, and which in conjunction with great oscillations of the sea-level have left abiding traces, not only in the living world, but upon the features of the land itself.

It is well known that when we try to trace the history of any nation back into the past, we sooner or later come to a period of myth and tradition, beyond which all seems impene¬ trably dark. If, for example, we take the case of Britain, how meagre, doubtful, and obscure, does the story become after it has carried us back to the days of the Bomans ! We may be able to determine with more or less probability whence the people came who were natives of Britain at the time of the Roman invasion; but beyond that, who can venture into the dark and hope to pick his way securely ? It is just here, how¬ ever, where myth and tradition fail us, that the archaeologist and geologist step forward to point out that all is not so irre¬ coverably lost as historians at one time believed. We know now that many long centuries before the advent of the Romans, our islands were occupied by a people whose knives and swords were fashioned of bronze; we know further that this people was preceded by a race or races ignorant of the use of metals, who lived during several considerable changes of climate and oscillations of the sea-level ; and we have also learned that at a still remoter period, our country and the neighbouring parts of Europe were tenanted by tribes of yet ruder barbarians, during whose occupancy several extensive geological mutations occurred. It is from a consideration of the extraordinary vicissitudes of climate and the very considerable changes in the

INTRODUCTORY.

configuration and outline of the land which have taken place within the human era, that geologists have been led to assign a far higher antiquity to man’s first appearance than the old chronologies would allow.

When the announcement was made some years ago that rude stone implements of undoubted human workmanship had been discovered in certain alluvial deposits in the valley of the river Somme, under circumstances which argued for the human race a very great antiquity, geologists generally received the news with incredulity. That the advent of man was an occurrence merely of yesterday, as it were, and a matter to be discussed properly by chronologists and historians alone, most of us until lately were taught to believe. So ingrained, indeed, had this belief become, that although evidence of the antiquity of our race similar to those subsequent French discoveries, which succeeded at last in routing the sceptical indifference of geologists, had been noted from time to time in England, and especially by Schmerling in Belgium, yet it was only noted to be explained away, and in point of fact was persistently neglected as of no importance.

Doubt had been cast upon the conclusions drawn from certain evidence supplied by the English caves, and it was not till 1858, when Brixham Cave was explored under the auspices of the Royal and Geological Societies of London, that English geologists abandoned their preconceived notions as to the improbability of man and many extinct mammals having co¬ existed in Britain. Meanwhile, M. Boucher de Perthes, a zealous and enthusiastic French antiquarian, had been insisting for more than twenty years upon his discovery of “ antediluvian ” human implements and mammalian remains in undisturbed natural accumulations of loam, sand, and gravel near Abbeville. But all his insistence had been in vain — his fellow-countrymen paid little or no regard to his tale of wonder. It was not till 1859 that attention was at last directed to the enthusiastic Frenchman’s discoveries by Dr. Falconer, and later on by Mr. Prestwich, Mr. Evans, Sir C. Lyell, Sir J. Lubbock, and other

PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

English geologists, who were enabled to confirm to the fullest extent Boucher de Perthes’ observations.

It is curious to reflect now that while British geologists were flocking to the Somme valley to inspect the discoveries there, similar “finds” of human implements and associated mammalian remains had already been made in England itself many long years before — namely in 1715, 1800, and 1836. But these had attracted no attention, and indeed had been completely forgotten. Let it be remembered also that to the late Dr. Schmerling of Liege belongs the honour of having been the first to show (in 1833), that man and the extinct mammalia were contemporaneous, although his work lay neglected and ignored for a quarter of a century. Such it would seem is the fate of those who publish “ unwelcome intelligence, opposed to the prepossessions of the scientific as well as of the unscientific public.”1 The Eev. Mr. MacEnery had arrived about the same time as Schmerling at similar results, and was engaged in the preparation of a memoir descriptive of his discoveries, when death cut short his labours, and his MS. wras lost sight of for many years. Both Schmerling’s and MacEnery’s work was con¬ fined to cave exploration, but Boucher de Perthes we have to thank for opening our eyes to quite another line of evidence in favour of the great antiquity of our race. Since the recognition of the importance of his discoveries, rude stone implements commingled with the remains of extinct mammals have been found in British caves, and in certain ancient river-deposits in the south-eastern counties of England, as also in similar positions in many localities on the Continent; so that we no longer doubt that, in ages long anterior to our own, certain tribes of cave-dwelling savages, and many large mammalian animals, which are now either locally or wholly extinct, were in joint occupation of Britain and the Continent. And the more closely the evidence is considered, the farther into the past does the period at which these cave-men lived seem to recede.