474 



The Journal of Heredity 



The lake-dwellers of Switzerland cul- 

 tivated, according to Braungart, the 

 following kinds of jjlants : 



1. The short-eared, six-rowed barley, 

 Hordeiim sanctum of the ancients, which 

 was grown in the Alps \\\) to recent 

 times. 



2. The thick-eared, six-rowed barley, 

 Hordeum hexastichon L., var. densum, 

 with large ears and kernels. 



3. Two-rowed barley, Hordeum dis- 

 iichon. 



4. Small lake-dwelling wheat, Tri- 

 ticum viilgare antiquonim. 



5. The true Binkel wheat. Triticum 

 vulgare compactiim, which is even today 

 grown in isolated localities in the Alps. 



6. Egyjjtian or English wheat, Tri- 

 ticum turgidum, L. It is today wide- 

 spread in many varieties. 



7. Emmer, Triticum amylium, Scr- 

 inge, T. dicoccum, Sch., a thick-eared, 

 awnless, unique species, grown in its 

 original form in the Tyrol as late as 

 40 years ago, but seeming now to have 

 changed. 



8. One-grained wheat or Einkorn, 

 Triticum monococcum, L., grown in the 

 transition period between the Stone 

 and Bronze Ages, perhaps along with 

 si)elt (Triticum spelta, L.). Today it is 

 grown onlv in scattered regions of the 

 Tyrol. 



9. Meadow (common), millet, Pani- 

 cum miliaceum, L. 



10. Club millet, Panicum italicum, L. 



11. Flax, not that known today 

 (f^inum iisitatissimum), but the type 

 which still grows wild in Greece, L. 

 angustifolium, L. 



Far from these lake dwellings, in the 

 little village of GleiehVjcrg, near Rom- 

 hild, at the southern edge of the Thurin- 

 gian forest, under a wall 10 meters 

 high on an old fireplace, there was un- 

 covered in 1906 an im]:)ortant find, with 

 remains of the eldest Bronze Age, which 

 contained the following: 



1. Einkorn wheat. 2. Sjx'lt, which is 

 grown there even to this day. 3. Binkel 

 wheat. 4. Small lake-dwelling wheat. 

 5. Small lake-dwelling barley. 6. The 

 smallest (Celtic) type of vetch {Vicia 

 faba, L., var. altica nana, Hcer.) 7. 

 Peas, Pisum sativum. S. Poppy, Papa- 

 ver smnnifcnim, var, antiquum Excep- 



tionally large seeds, apparently cul- 

 tivated. 9. Apple seeds (?). 



That Triticum turgidum was lacking, 

 is explained by the climate. 



PROOFS OF HIGH CULTURE. 



At various points in Wiirttemberg (at 

 Gross Pretach near Heilbronn and at 

 Heutingsheim near Ludwigsburg) whole 

 \-illages belonging to the late Stone 

 Age have been excavated and have 

 shown a high degree of culture — that is, 

 well de\'cloped agriculture and animal 

 husband y. There can no longer be any 

 doubt that a well-directed search would 

 unearth many more proofs of active 

 life in the prehistoric period in that 

 region. That they are still lacking is 

 explained by the newness of the idea 

 and the little endeavor that has been 

 made to confirm it. We have much 

 better information about the early 

 years of the peoples of Asia, wholly 

 unrelated to us, than we have about 

 our own predecessors in Germany. 



But the data already accumulated 

 show this at least, that in the later 

 Stone Age a rather highly developed 

 culture with the cultivation of food 

 plants and the keeping of domestic 

 animals, existed. But where did it 

 come from? Its mere existence does not 

 prove that it grew up on the soil, and is 

 not an Asiatic importation. 



To get such proof, we must go still 

 farther back and explore the Paleo- 

 lithic or old Stone Age. 



The early discoveries showed us a 

 great gap — the so-called Hiatus — be- 

 tween old and new Stone Ages, which 

 favored the theory that the jjopulation 

 had entirely changed in that period, 

 because no signs of transition could be 

 found. Later discoveries have revealed 

 the transition. The number of those 

 who have rejected the idea of a change 

 in the ])opulation, and have insisted on 

 a jjcrsistent evolution of the same stock, 

 is therefore augmented. Each day, al- 

 most, brings more evidence to their sup- 

 l)ort, and it seems as if the time is not 

 far distant when the gap will be closed. 



Nevertheless, in the field that interests 

 us — agriculture — there is a great gap 

 still. For while the men of the new 

 Stone Age had almost all our i)resent- 



