Hundreds of specimens of drawings or carvings, chiefly of animals, on bone or on ivory have been discovered. The accompanying cuts (Figs. 2 and 3) are reproductions of celebrated engravings made by Paleolithic artists.
6. The Neolithic or New Stone Age.—The Old Stone Age was followed by the New. Chipped or hammered stone implements still continued to be used, but what characterizes this period was the use of ground or polished implements. The North American Indians were in this stage of culture at the time of the discovery of the New World. The old Egyptians and Babylonians seem to have been just emerging from it when they first appear in the dawn of the historic day.
Fig. 4.—A Prehistoric Egyptian Tomb (From Sergi)
Neolithic man in Europe was in many respects much advanced over Paleolithic man. He had learned to cultivate the soil; he had learned to make pottery, to spin, and to weave; he had domesticated various wild animals; he built houses and constructed great earthen forts; and he buried his dead in such a manner—with "accompanying gifts" (Fig. 4)—as to show that he had come to believe in a future life.
7. The Age of Metals.—Finally the long ages of stone passed into the Age of Metals. This age falls into three subdivisions,—the Age of Copper, the Age of Bronze, and the Age of Iron. Some peoples, like the African negroes, passed directly from the use of stone to the use of iron; but in most of the countries of the Orient and of Europe the three metals came into use one after the other and in the order named.
Speaking broadly, we may say that the Age of Metals embraces the five millenniums preceding the opening of our era. This means that for some peoples, as for instance the Egyptians and the Babylonians, these epochs or stages of culture fall within their historic period, while for others, as for instance the Greeks and
