The Advance of Prehistoric Humanity 109 



skeletons found on the Riviera and in Switzerland to 

 think that the Neolithic invaders came from North Africa. 

 Probably bridges of land still existed then across the 

 Mediterranean. Even in southern France and Austria 

 the transition can be fairly traced. 



Hence we have no reason whatever to depart from 

 evolutionary lines, though the origin of many of the new 

 practices and institutions is obscure. The stone 

 implements are clearly only an improvement on the 

 older ones, but the origin of their crude clay pottery, 

 rough weaving, burial of the dead, agriculture, and use 

 of domestic animals, can only be dimly conjectured. 

 Possibly a culinary practice of covering the joint of 

 horse or reindeer with clay, to prevent burning, gave the 

 first idea of making clay vessels, and weaving may have 

 begun with the twisting of animal nerves and sinews. 

 The fact is that the human family now has the 

 rudiments of civilisation, and spreads as far north as 

 Scotland and Scandinavia. Villages are erected, with 

 daub and wattle huts, one or two species of small oxen 

 and pigs, and several kinds of corn and millet. Spindle 

 whorls are found in their ruins, and quorns for grinding 

 corn, and even rough bits of woven fabric. The 

 mixture of races begins to perplex us, and the modern 

 study of skulls from the ancient tombs has by no means 

 established the lines of early racial evolution. 



Over Europe two main races, the long-headed 

 (dolichocephalous) and short or round-headed (brachy- 

 cephalous), are found to prevail. The long and round 

 barrows of England fitly represent each type. An 

 African type seems to appear before the end of the 

 Paleolithic, and it is a very general opinion that the 

 stone monument builders came from the south of Asia 

 along the shores of the Mediterranean, and up through 

 Spain and Prance to Britain, and across Europe to 



