IN HIGHER PEOPLES 97 



when the Angles and Saxons came over there, al- 

 tho the Britons had some knowledge of iron. 



6. Upper Barbarism, from the smelting of 

 iron ore and the use of iron tools to the invention 

 of the alphabet. 



The four events of pre-eminent importance in 

 the period of Barbarism were the following: the 

 invention of the process of smelting iron ore, the 

 domestication of animals, the discovery of the ce- 

 reals, and the use of stone in architecture. "The 

 production of iron was the event of events in hu- 

 man experience, without a parallel and without an 

 equal, beside which all other inventions and dis- 

 coveries were subordinate or inconsiderable " 

 (Morgan). Some historians believe that man- 

 kind might have remained in the stage of Barbar- 

 ism to the present day, if men had not learned 

 how to produce this king of metals. You see what 

 a narrow escape we have had. 



The Greek tribes of the age of Homer, the 

 Italian tribes just before the founding of Home, 

 and the German tribes of the time of Caesar were 

 in Upper Barbarism. 



7. Ancient Civilization, from the invention of 

 the alphabet to about 500 A. D. in European his- 

 tory. 



8. Medieval Civilization, from about '500 A. D. 

 to about 1500 A. D. 



9. Modern Civilization, from about 1500 A. D. 

 to the present time. 



The period of Savagery was a very long one 



