Book Description

Excerpt from Some Phases of Prehistoric Archaeology Address In the more than seven years that have elapsed since Dr. Wilson's address was read, much progress has been made in the prehistoric archæology of Europe. This is especially true concerning our knowledge of the eolithic question and of paleolithic art in so far as it has to do with engravings and frescoes on certain cavern walls. In fact, eoliths and paleolithic mural decorations were not even mentioned by Dr. Wilson. He did refer, however, to Harrison's discoveries of "paleoliths" on the chalk plateau of Kent, but confused these with the well-known river-drift implements. The Eolithic Period. When Thomsen published his relative chronology for prehistoric times in 1836, the only stone age known was that which is now called the neolithic period. Boucher de Perthes's first discovery of paleoliths in the river-drift of the valley of the Somme came just two years later. These river-drift implements, however, were not accepted until after (Sir) Joseph Prestwich's visit to Abbeville in 1859. Is there a stone industry antedating the paleolithic? The answer depends in a measure upon the definition of the term. The Chellean coup de poing is quite generally looked upon as representing the oldest paleolithic industry. As to its position in the geological scale opinions differ. Piette and de Mortillet placed it in the Lower Quaternary. According to the more recent classifications of Rutot and Boule, the Chellean belongs to the Middle Quaternary. If the latter view is correct, then a pre-Chellean industry need not necessarily be of Tertiary age. The presence of artifacts in the Lower Quaternary should not be surprising even to the most sceptical. This is particularly true in view of the fact that the well-known almond-shaped implement represents an advanced stage in the art of chipping flint. While Professor M. Boule does not doubt that industrial remains may exist in the Lower Quaternary and even in the Tertiary, he denies that they have as yet been discovered. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.