tailieunhanh - Tombs in The Stone Age

The true history of man will be found in his tombs, says Thucydides; and as a matter of fact the sepulchre has ever occupied much of the thoughts of man, the result of a religious sentiment, a conviction that all does not end with the life which so quickly passes by. From the very earliest times we meet with tokens of the hopes and fears connected with a future existence; but, as I have already stated, the human bones that can with certainty be said to date from Palæolithic times are very rare. We know but very few facts. | Tombs in The Stone Age The true history of man will be found in his tombs says Thucydides and as a matter of fact the sepulchre has ever occupied much of the thoughts of man the result of a religious sentiment a conviction that all does not end with the life which so quickly passes by. From the very earliest times we meet with tokens of the hopes and fears connected with a future existence but as I have already stated the human bones that can with certainty be said to date from Paleolithic times are very rare. We know but very few facts justifying us in asserting that the contemporary of the mammoth and of the cave bear had already learnt to respect the remains of what had once been a man like himself. One of these few facts deserves I think to be noticed with some detail. In 1886 excavations in the cave of Spyl Namur page 344or rather in a terrace some thirty-six feet long by nineteen and a half wide giving access to it brought to light two human skeletons. One was that of an individual already advanced in life probably of the feminine sex the other of a man in the prime of life. These skeletons were imbedded in a very hard breccia containing also fragments of ivory and numerous flints of very small size. Some of them had very fine scratches on both sides. From what I could learn on the spot the skeletons when found were in a recumbent position. The bones few of which were missing were still in their natural position and near to one of them were picked up several arrow- or lance-heads one of which of phtanite some two and a half inches long was of the purest Moustérien type. The bones were those of short squat individuals and the skulls were of the type of the Canstadt race the most ancient of which anything is known the thickness of the crania was about one third of an inch. The forehead is low and retreating the eyebrows are prominent and the lower jaws strong and well developed. At the same level and in that immediately above it were picked up the remains of .