THE EARLIEST MEN 161 



Yet even this period is only as the day before 

 yesterday in the history of the globe, or even of 

 its human inhabitants. So that we may safely say 

 of Historical Time, that of the events of to-day 

 and of yesterday we are tolerably sure, and as to 

 those of the day before yesterday we can make 

 reasonable guesses. Of those of the days before 

 that we know nothing, though we can (and do) 

 make many surmises as to them. 



Archaeological Time, which we may define, for 

 our present purposes, as commencing with that 

 uncertain epoch when man first made his appear- 

 ance on this world, merges into Historical Time 

 on the one hand, and like Historical Time, is, of 

 course, co-existent with Geological Time. In part, 

 in very large part, and at its earlier periods almost 

 entirely as we shall see, Archaeological Time de- 

 pends upon Geological Time for its estimation. 

 For it is by the stratigraphical character of early 

 deposits almost alone that we are able to arrive at 

 any conclusion, not merely as to their actual, but 

 even as to their relative chronological positions. 

 We are quite safe at present in assigning certain 

 Periods to Archaeological Time, and more or less 

 safe in assigning certain objects to them. Thus 

 there was a time in every part of the world when 

 mankind had no knowledge of the use of metals, 

 a time which we call the Stone Age. But this time 

 was by no manner of means synchronous in all 

 parts of the world. It is many a long year since 

 Europe emerged from this stage of its develop- 

 ment : it is only the other day that savage tribes 

 in remote parts learnt that there were other 



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