PRIMEVAL MAN. 365 



ble to discover the record. Their food, like their dwellings, 

 was at first supplied spontaneously by Nature ; but during 

 the epoch of the pile habitations, man seems to have learned 

 the art o producing grain and vegetables. In some of the 

 earthen pots dredged from the Swiss lakes have been found 

 winter stores of fruits and cereals. Among them were 

 beautiful specimens of wheat, and, in addition, barley, oats, 

 peas, lentils, and acorns. At this epoch the people must 

 have cultivated the ground and raised cattle. The discov 

 ery of millstones, with pestles of granite and freestone, 

 shows that they knew how to grind their grain. The use 

 of fire was known, and upon this they roasted their meat. 

 They ate the marrow and brains of the animals killed, as 

 we find the bones split open for the removal of these sub 

 stances. 



The clothing of the primeval folk was probably at first 

 formed from the skins of quadrupeds ; but during the age 

 of the lacustrine cities they had learnecf the art of manu 

 facturing textile fabrics, since among the other debris of 

 the pile habitations have been found fragments of linen 

 cloth. The garments, formed either of skins, bark, or cloth, 

 were sewed together with needles and awls, of which the 

 lacustrine cities furnish examples. 



The man of this period was possessed of some degree of 

 taste. This is shown first in the workmanship displayed 

 upon the bone and horn handles of many of his tools, in 

 the finish of lance and arrow heads, knives and daggers, in 

 the fashion of his pottery, and in beads formed of pebbles, 

 pieces of coral, and the teeth of wild animals. In some in 

 stances whistles have been found made of the digital bones 

 of certain ruminants. His taste, and even no mean degree 

 of artistic skill, are also displayed in the sculpturing of his 

 tools and implements, and his delineations upon pieces of 

 ivory, horn, and slate. &quot; The decorations on many pots 



