ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 



287 



might have contained the thoughtless brains of a savage." 

 The latter are still more remarkable, being nnusually 

 large and well formed. Dr. Pruner-Bey states that they 

 surpass the average of modern European skulls in 

 capacity, while their symmetrical form without any trace 

 of prognathism, compares favourably not only with those 

 of the foremost savage races, but with many civilised 

 nations of modern times. 



One or two other crania of much lower type, but of less 

 antiquity than this, have been discovered ; but they in 

 no way invalidate the conclusion which so highly de- 

 veloped a form at so early a period implies, viz., that we 

 have as yet made a hardly perceptible step towards 

 the discovery of any earlier stage in the development 

 of man. 



2. This conclusion is supported and enforced by the 

 nature of many of the works of art found even in the 

 oldest cave-dwellings. The flints are of the old chipped 

 type, but they are formed into a large variety of tools 

 and weapons — such as scrapers, awls, hammers, saws, 

 lances, &c., implying a variety of purposes for which 

 these were used, and a corresponding degree of mental 

 activity and civilization. Numerous articles of bone 

 have also been found, including well-formed needles ; 

 implying that skins were sewn together, and perhaps 

 even textile materials woven into cloth. Still more 

 important are the numerous carvings and drawings re- 

 presenting a variety of animals, including horses, rein- 

 deer, and even a mammoth, executed with considerable 

 skill on bone, reindeer-horns, and mammoth- tusks. 

 These, taken together, indicate a state of civilization 

 much higher than that of the lowest of our modern 



