['9'] 



ments, nets and mats, and implements of stone, antler, 

 and bone. Numbers of domestic and other animals were 

 kept in these dwellings, such as the dog, horse, pig, 

 sheep, and cow ; and fish appears to have been a regular 

 article of consumption. Similar discoveries have been 

 made in Denmark by Professor Steenstrup and others, 

 which show an equal advance in civilisation and culture 

 during early Neolithic times. Vast accumulations of 

 refuse matter, in the form of oyster-shells, fish-bones, 

 and animal remains, have been found near the shores of 

 the Baltic, the whole being heaped up into mounds, 

 evidently having formed public refuse-heaps for commu- 

 nities of settlers. Scattered about were also found 

 polished stone axes, but no metal implements; while 

 upon some of the stones were well-drawn engravings, 

 pointing to a considerable advance in culture ; and the 

 fact that the remains of the domestic animals prove them 

 to be of southern and eastern origin suggests the pro- 

 bability that these settlers were immigrants from the 

 south-east of Europe, where we should expect consider- 

 able advance to have been effected in civilisation. 



It is extremely probable and generally admitted that 

 man became civilised in oriental countries, and made 

 his way northwards and westwards, gradually covering 

 the whole of Europe ; so that we should expect the races 

 of Egypt, Persia, and India to be far more highly cultured 

 than those who were establishing themselves in the west 

 at the same time. It would take a very long time indeed 

 for people to spread themselves from Egypt and Persia 

 over the whole of Europe, and during all this time they 

 would naturally, owing to their wandering habits, advance 

 in civilisation far more slowly than those who remained 

 in their original homes. At the time, therefore, that 

 Neolithic man had become a settler in Europe and 

 Britain we may fairly suppose that Egypt, Persia, and 

 India were great, powerful, and prosperous states, well 

 advanced in civilisation and art, and, perhaps, even the 

 tail-end of a mighty and prosperous civilisation that had 

 preceded them long ages before. It was probably from 

 these highly-civilised centres that the discovery of bronze 

 was carried into Europe, which marked the commence- 

 ment of what is called the Bronze or Prehistoric Age, 



