﻿212 EVOLUTION IN THE PAST 



their repasts. There is no reason to suppose that they ever 

 cultivated the soil. 



Weapons and implements they had in plenty ; but although 

 these in a few cases were polished, and, therefore, of neolithic 

 or " new stone " type, they were as a rule little superior to 

 those of the Cave men. Pottery, roughly made, was certainly 

 in use. This is a luxury which, it is believed, the Cave men 

 did not possess. 



Unfortunately no human remains have been found in the 

 shell-mounds. There are numerous burial-mounds, belonging 

 to a round-headed race of men, in the neighbourhood, but 

 none of these can be assigned definitely to the consumers of 

 the molluscs. 



The domestication of the wild dog is a fact of the highest 

 significance. Indeed, the discovery — made many thousands 

 of years ago — that wild animals could be brought into man's 

 service is one of the greatest triumphs in the history of 

 mankind. The mollusc-eaters, it may safely be said, did 

 not make the discovery, nor had they put it much in practice. 

 Doubtless it had originated, and had already been considerably 

 developed, in the East, where also other highly important 

 discoveries had been made. 

 EARLY lake- Among the many tribes that were arriving in Europe, 

 dwellers whilst the mollusc-eaters were enjoying life in Denmark, 

 some certainly had not only jackals in a domesticated con- 

 dition, but also goats and oxen. Nor were these men merely 

 wandering shepherds and graziers ; for there is evidence that 

 at least some of them cultivated the soil, and raised crops of 

 wheat, barley, and millet. 



Some of these agriculturists, as may be gathered from the 

 evidence of the earliest lake-dwellings of Switzerland, lived 

 on the borders of lakes in rude huts, resting on piles driven 

 into the mud. This peculiar kind of habitation was adopted, 

 it may be supposed, as a protection from wild beasts 

 and incursions of hostile tribes. It was certainly much 

 in use, and greatly elaborated in later times. Even the 

 earliest lake-dwellers did not wholly rely on skins for 

 their clothing, for they were acquainted with the art of 

 spinning. This, as well as their pottery, rudely manufac- 



