442 ANIMAL BIOLOGY 



of the stag, boar, wolf, bear, beaver, etc. It is significant that re- 

 mains of domesticated animals are not present, except possibly of 

 the dog - - the earliest companion of man. Among the implements 

 are arrow points, axes, adzes, and blade-like flints, while remnants 

 of pottery show that at least crudely fashioned bowls and jars 

 were employed. 



Other interesting accessions of the period are the curious painted 

 pebbles that are found in stream beds. The pebbles bear symbols 

 of various kinds, some of them crudely resembling modern letters. 

 Indeed it has been seriously suggested that these symbols represent 

 a mode of writing and that some of them have had their influence 

 on our own alphabet. 



3. Neolithic Culture 



The culture of the Neolithic, or New Stone Age, is essentially 

 that of modern men who have deserted cavern life and taken to 

 the open. The animal life is also modern since no 'prehistoric' 

 animals persisted and none haA^e since become naturally extinct. 

 The human population appears to have been increasing in num- 

 bers, and the division of labor between individuals and communities 

 to have become more significant. Thus the Mesolithic hunter and 

 fisherman gave place to the Neolithic husbandman who, to some 

 extent at least, controlled his food supply and so made possible 

 the development of community life. From a mere food gatherer, 

 Man became a food producer. 



Almost surely the relatively rapid transformation of the primi- 

 tive civilization was the outcome of the cultivation of plants - - such 

 as wheat, barley, rye, flax, grape, apple, and pear; the domestica- 

 tion of animals — for example the dog, ox, sheep, and goat ; and 

 the development of the art of making pottery and textiles. More- 

 over pottery and textiles afforded an outlet for artistic ability and 

 this is also evidenced, for instance, in the beautifully chipped flint 

 poignards and knives. The shaping and finishing of stone tools 

 and weapons by a process of polishing appears for the first time in 

 the Neolithic period which accordingly is frequently referred to 

 as the age of polished stone implements. (Fig. 287.) 



Transportation on water by means of dugouts began in Neo- 

 lithic times, and the custom was developed of erecting habitations 

 on piles in rivers, lakes, and swamps. Such pile villages, serving 

 both sanitation and safety, were widely distributed in Europe 



