ANCESTRAL MAN. 25 



that the Iroquois Indians " had swords made of wood, having a 

 " gutter in the fore-part, in which were sharp-edged flints strongly 

 " fixed with a sort of bitumen and thread." 



This Neolithic Race, then, spread over Europe ; but not as far 

 as the north of Russia and of Scandinavia ; permitting the 

 assumption that these were the only countries that still remained 

 uninhabitable by reason of cold. For we may notice that the 

 shell-heaps of the Danish Kjokken Moddings, which abound with 

 flint implements and show no traces of metal, contain the bones 

 of the Capercailzie, a bird that feeds on the buds of the pine ; 

 proving that Denmark at that time was covered with forests of 

 fir.* And we may notice, further, that neither in these shell- 

 heaps, nor in the relic-beds of the Lakes, have there been 

 discovered any remains of the reindeer. So we may fairly 

 conclude that, with the exceptions referred to, Europe was at 

 last free from glacial conditions. 



And now the arts of civilisation rapidly increased. Copper, 

 and probably gold also, were got and wrought by stone tools. No 

 metallic implement of any description has been found in the pre- 

 historic copper-mines of Lake Superior. " The workings were 

 " effected by stone hammers and wedges, specimens of which 

 " were discovered, by the United States geologists, in great 

 " abundance at the bottom of the pits." Stone chisels or axes, 

 flint tools and weapons, and the remains of wooden shovels were 

 also found. The copper was made into axes, chisels, knives, and 

 spear-heads, entirely by the hammer, without smelting, alloy, or 

 the use of fire. Prof. Wilson says, " I was struck when examining 

 " these rude mauls or stone hammers, by the close resemblance 

 " traceable between them and some which I have obtained from 

 " ancient copper workings in North Wales." Precisely similar 

 hammers were found by Prof. Dawkins in the ancient copper 

 mines of Alderley Edge, and are preserved in the Owens' College 

 Museum. 



Bronze was discovered, in all probability, by the accidental 

 fusion of ores of copper and tin, under the fires used for preparing 

 food, or in heating stones for pot-boilers ; as such stones in such 

 situations have been found in a semi-fused condition. But for a 

 long period bronze axes and spear-heads were cast of exactly the 

 same shape as the old spear-heads and axes of stone. 



Gold, silver and lead, all, like copper, soff and malleable metals, 

 were early wrought. In the five tombs of Mycenae, Dr. Schliemann 

 found no trace of iron ; but in association with arrow-heads and 

 knives of obsidian, and with swords and lances of bronze, there 

 were articles of lead and silver, and an enormous number of gold 

 vessels and ornaments. 



* It is known that these were succeeded by forests of oak, which gave place, in their 

 turn, bo the present forests of birch. 



