318 THE ARYAN QUESTION VI 



what Aryan language can the people of the pile- 

 dwellings have spoken ? l 



As I have already mentioned, there is not the 

 least doubt that man existed in north-western 

 Europe during the Pleistocene or Quaternary 

 epoch. It is not only certain that men were con- 

 temporaries of the mammoth, the hairy rhinoceros, 

 the reindeer, the cave bear, and other great 

 carnivora, in England and in France, but a great 

 deal has been ascertained about the modes of life 

 of our predecessors. They were savage hunters, 

 who took advantage of such natural shelters as 

 overhanging rocks and caves, and perhaps built 

 themselves rough wigwams ; but who had no 

 domestic animals and have left no sign that they 

 cultivated plants. In many localities there is 

 evidence that a very considerable interval the 

 so-called hiatus intervened between the time 

 when the Quaternary or palaeolithic men occupied 

 particular caves and river basins and the accumu- 

 lation of the debris left by their neolithic succes- 

 sors. And, in spite of all the warnings against 

 negative evidence afforded by the history of 

 geology, some have very positively asserted that 

 this means a complete break between the Quater- 



1 See Dr. Munro's excellent work, The Lake Dwellings of 

 Europe, for La Tene. Readers of Professor Rhys' recent articles 

 (Scottish Review, 1890) may suggest that the pile- dwelling 

 peop^ spoke the Gaedhelic foriu of Celtic, and the Gauls the 

 Hry thonic form. 



