THE OLD STONE: AGE 
But even so, it still remains something of a puzzle how 
Neanderthal man, with such primitive weapons, could 
have hunted large and dangerous animals like the mam- 
moth, the woolly rhinoceros, the cave bear, the wild bull, 
and numerous others whose bones we find among the 
refuse of his ancient “‘garbage piles.” It must have been 
through recourse to superior intelligence and cunning that 
he was able to overcome them at all. For he did not know 
the bow and arrow, that most effective of early hunting 
devices; and the structure of his skeleton shows that he was 
a slow and clumsy runner, supporting his weight mainly 
on the outer edges of his feet, and incapable of straighten- 
ing his knee joints fully. He may have stampeded his prey 
into running over cliffs (see Plate 21) or into boggy ground 
or deep snow; or he may have lurked in the underbrush and 
behind rocks at water holes, so as to take it by surprise. 
He may have used pitfalls, fire, and possibly poison. 
Round stone balls have been found which seem to have 
been used for throwing, perhaps at the end of a thong or 
even from a sling. As these balls sometimes occur in sets 
of threes, they may have been attached to one another by 
skin cords and hurled so as to entangle the legs of running 
animals, like the well-known 4o/as used by the Gauchos 
of South America. But whatever the hunting methods 
used by the Mousterians, they must certainly have been 
accompanied by a considerable degree of social organiza- 
tion and discipline, with well-directed cooperation and 
loyal, intelligent teamwork. 
Possibly during the summer months, when freer to wan- 
der about in pursuit of game or to visit localities where 
especially fine qualities of workable flint occurred, the 
Neanderthalers erected temporary shelters, of bark or 
leafy boughs or even skins, against wind and rain; but we 
have no proof. For the rest of the year we know that they 
lived in the vestibules of caverns, under the most crowded, 
unsanitary, and comfortless conditions imaginable. The 
caves were in general excessively damp and draughty, and, 
[195 ] 
