l82 PRIMEVAL MAN. 



SO common in Africa, and of a kind so easily- 

 reducible by heat, that its use might well be 

 discovered by the rudest tribes. As a matter 

 of fact, they are now all excellent workers 

 in iron. Then again, it is to be remembered 

 that there are some countries in the world 

 where stone is as rare and difficult to get as 

 metals. In them the use of stone imple- 

 ments may imply even an extended com- 

 merce. The great alluvial plains of Meso- 

 potamia are a case in point. Accordingly, 

 we know from the remains of the First 

 Chaldaean Monarchy that a very high civili- 

 zation in the arts of agriculture and of 

 commerce co-existed with the use of stone 

 implements of a very rude character.* This 



* Rawlinson's "Five Great Monarchies," vol. i. pp. 119, 120. 



