PREHISTORIC ART. 421 



two ]>eriods; differeiices in climate, geography, fauna, domesticity of 

 animals, sociology, industry, and art. 



In tbe later epoch of the Paleolithic period the climate was cold and 

 dry, with extreme temperatures, while in the Neolithic period the cli- 

 mate was temperate and uniform. 



In the Paleolithic period were living many great animals, now fossil, 

 like the cave bear, the giant beaver, and, most plentiful of all, the 

 mammoth. In the Neolithic period these and others to the number of 

 seventeen, became extinct. Out of forty-eight well ascertained animal 

 species living in France and England during the Paleolithic period, 

 only thirty-one continued into the Neolithic period. Eighteen species 

 of the animals living in the center of Europe associated with man in the 

 Paleolithic period were cold loving. In the Neolithic period, thirteen 

 of them, such as the reindeer, antelope, musk ox, blue fox, and white 

 bear, emigrated to colder countries by latitude, while five, the chamois, 

 marmot, wild goat, and others, have emigrated to colder countries by 

 altitude, going up the mountains. 



In the Paleolithic period there were no domestic animals; in the 

 Neolithic period they were abundant. 



In the Paleolithic period the population was nomadic; they were 

 hunters and fishers, but not agriculturists; in the Neolithic period the 

 population was sedentary, and agriculture became well developed. 



In the Paleolithic period there was practically no pottery in England 

 or France. There are two localities in Belgium where pottery is alleged 

 to have been found. In the Neolithic period pottery was everywhere 

 made and used. 



Jn the Paleolithic period there were no monuments or burials, appar- 

 ently no respect for the dead, and therefore no evidence of any belief 

 in a future state. 



Differences in Art of the Two Periods. 



Among these differences the strangest was in the fine arts. In the 

 Paleolithic period we have seen the large number of sculptures and 

 engravings, and that even painting was attempted; how nearly every 

 animal belonging to that epoch, from man down, has been graphically 

 represented in the fine art of that period. On tlie contrary, in the 

 Neolithic period there are innumerable .specimens of decorative art as 

 applied to industry, while we are wholly without graphic delineations 

 of the animals of the period, and no attempt appears to have been 

 made to represent any living thing or to make a representation of 

 nature in any of its forms. 



Geometric Ornament. 



The art of this period was entirely decorative, and consisted of marks, 

 lines or dots, usually by incision, in geometric form, such as hatch 

 marks, zigzags, herring bone, chevrons, parallel lines, and thumb marks. 



