OF THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. II7 



expect such a useful art as the making of pottery could long remain 

 unknown to the whole. 



In all probability these Palaeolithic men had some sort of bar- 

 ter between each other, but it must have been of a very primitive 

 kind and not of very frequent occurrence, at least not so often as to 

 make any appreciable difference in the social condition of the people- 

 Flint though abundant in the south of England, there are many parts 

 of Scotland in which it is scarcely to be found, yet in some of the 

 ancient cists opened in these parts, arrow and spearheads of flint 

 have been found, thus indicating some sort of a traffic in that stone. 

 Dr. Wilson in his "Prehistoric Annals of Scotland" says " among the 

 varied objects in the collection of the Society of Antiquaries of 

 Scotland is a skull found in an ancient cist on the farm of Clash 

 Farquhar, parish of Banchory Devenick Kincardineshire in 1822. 

 In form and cerebral development it corresponds to a class of skulls 

 found in the earliest caverns and barrows. In each corner of the 

 cist a few flint flakes were carefully piled up into a heap." Here, 

 then, it would appear that the earliest inhabitants of Scotland had a 

 knowledge of trade and exercised it. 



These large statured strong men were followed by a race of men 

 much smaller physically, but of a higher type intellectually, and 

 much better versed in the art of making implements. This second 

 class has been designated as Neohthic men. 



Of the Neolithic men we have more evidences of their having 

 intercourse, not only with each other, but also with tribes of peoples 

 occupying countries lying at a considerable distance from them. 



It is probable that these peopls conducted their business at 

 certain places agreed upon, and which were held to be neutral, or 

 sacred territory. We know that such was the case in later times. 

 Coteau des prairies was a sacred or neutral meeting place among the 

 Indians on this continent at a very early period in their history, and 

 continued to be so for long. It is supposed by some that the 

 ancient copper mines on Lake Superior were worked by the various 

 tribes under the same sort of guardianship or neutrality, and in 

 addition to the chief purpose of mining, these mines were used as 

 a place of barter, where the different tribes met for the purpose of 

 exchanging their productions. 



