Prehistoric Britain/Chapter 1
PREHISTORIC BRITAIN
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION—THE LAND—FAUNA—FLORA—ICE AGE—MAN
As the word "prehistoric" has no limitation in the past history of the country, it logically follows that a treatise on "Prehistoric Britain" would have an equally wide range; but by a judicious discretion we limit the scope of this book to the period during which man was an inhabitant of Western Europe, prior to the invention of written records. But the Britain of that early period differed widely from the Britain of to-day both in climate and geographical area, and to some extent in its flora and fauna. Consequently our first duty is to describe with as much precision as modern researches will admit of, but very briefly, the physical conditions which obtained in prehistoric Britain when it comes within the above-defined scope of the present work. From this standpoint we have practically to discuss the entire field of the development of human civilization, as disclosed by the remains of Palæolithic and Neolithic races, both of which, have left traces of their existence within the British area.
On the other hand, the pre-history of our island, outside the limitation imposed on it by the appearance of man on the scene, goes back to the dawn of life on the globe; and it is largely to the modifications effected under the influence of cosmic agencies during this infinitely longer period that the country became a suitable habitat for Homo sapiens. A few preliminary words on this aspect of the subject will not, therefore, be considered out of place, as thereby the true starting-point of our main thesis will be brought into clearer relief. As we cannot endorse the opinion long held as a dogma in theological cosmogonies, that the multitudinous phenomena of the material world—the distribution of land and water, the evolution of plants and animals, the recurrence of seasons, etc.—were specially designed to minister to the welfare of mankind, we are bound to account for them on some other hypothesis. On this point all we affirm is that they were the outcome of the fixed laws which then governed, and still govern, the universe. Evidence in support of this conclusion is not far to seek. In the Geological and Palæontological records we have ample details of the successive changes the earth has undergone since it cooled down sufficiently to admit of organic life on its surface.
Land.—As to the actual formation of land, the larger portion of present-day Britain is composed of vast beds of intermingled sands, gravels, mud, and organic débris, brought together by the action of rivers, sea-currents, etc., and rearranged into stratified layers—thus proving that they are mostly of aqueous origin. The reappearance of some of these sedimentary deposits as dry land, often rising to the height of mountains, shows that, pari passu with the action of the disintegrating and denuding agencies, oscillations in the relative level of sea and land were taking place in several localities. The causes of this variableness in land-areas so affected the portion of Europe now known as Great Britain that, from time to time, it assumed very different aspects, now forming part of a European continent, and again reduced to a mere speck in the Atlantic Ocean. These disturbing elements extended over a geological range of some 50,000,000 years, and during all that time the British area was a variable quantity. And even at the present time this instability has not altogether ceased, as we see extensive alterations going on around our shores, here increasing and there reducing our sea-board lands.
The statement that Britain was part of a European continent, when Palæolithic man first appeared as a naked savage among its woods and river-valleys, is not a haphazard assertion, but one founded on indisputable evidences. The numerous animals, many of them now extinct, which then found their way into Britain, such as the mammoth, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, Irish elk, cave-bear, hyæna, etc., could not have done so had the English Channel been then in existence. Moreover, the bones of several of these animals have been repeatedly dredged up in fishermen's nets from the bed of the North Sea, under conditions which show that they found the means of living in the submerged localities in which their osseous remains are now found. Not less convincing is the fact that flint implements of Palæolithic types have been dug up from the valley gravels of the Thames and the Somme, considerably lower than the present surfaces of these estuaries. The discovery of the bones of the woolly-haired rhinoceros, reindeer, horse, etc., in a recently explored cave in Jersey can only be explained on the supposition that the island had been formerly part of the French mainland. The same argument applies to the finding of skeletons of the great Irish elk in the Isle of Man. Also, the submerged forests and raised beaches, described in geological text-books as occurring in several places around our seashores, testify to the prevalence of land oscillations within comparatively recent times.
Animals.—Concurrent with these fluctuations in the formation and distribution of continental land-areas the organic world was pursuing its marvellous course on the lines of evolution, producing, with unstinted copiousness and ever-changing adaptations, multitudes of living organisms, strange and sometimes fantastic-looking objects, whose sole life-purpose seemed to be to propagate their kind, after which their functional activities began to wane and finally ended in somatic dissolution. The origin of life, notwithstanding much discussion, e.g. at the Dundee meeting of the British Association (1912), is still a mystery, but, according to evidence culled from the geological records and modern biological researches, its first recognizable garb was that of very simple single-celled organisms—simpler even than most of the Protozoa of to-day. Such single cells are universally regarded as the ultimate units in all the complex structural combinations of the organic world. By a critical study of these ever-changing morphological productions, we are enabled to trace the connecting links which bind living things into one united whole, with man as their crowning achievement. As we move along the stream of time the number, variety, and complexity of living forms become bewildering. The quest for food, protection from enemies, and sexual impulses seem to furnish the chief motives of their respective life-activities; and hence the raison d'être for the invention and differentiation of special organs to carry out these purposes. The policy adopted in propagating the species seems to be to flood the environment with their young progeny, with the result that there is a perpetual struggle for existence which always ends in the premature death of the vast majority. For, of the multitudes born, there is room for only a small fraction to come to mature life. This waste of creative energy can only be defended on the plea that the survival of the fittest improves the future status of the successful competitors.
Biologists conversant with fossil records inform us that the life-histories of the great animal groups which now inhabit the earth have a wide range both in space and time. Invertebrates, of course, go back to pre-Cambrian times, but the Vertebrates are of more recent date. First, in ascending order, come Fishes (Silurian); then amphibians (Carboniferous); then Reptiles (Permian); then Birds and Mammals (Jurassic and Triassic respectively); but not till towards the close of the Tertiaries have we clear evidence of the presence of Man on the globe. All these geological formations, with their characteristic fossils, are to be found within the confines of the Britain of to-day.
Plants.—The evolution theory applies equally to the Vegetable Kingdom. In some respects the consecutive stages in the geological history of plants may be paralleled with those of animals. But the details of palæobotany are more difficult to decipher (see Evolution of Plants by D. H. Scott in this Library), and wide generalizations have hither-to been scanty. For our present purpose it is, however, enough to know that the members of the sub-Kingdom of the Angiosperms, or Flowering Plants, are not only the most recent in point of evolution, but the most numerous in the vegetable world of to-day. They embrace an endless variety of species widely different, in form, size and structural complexity. They exist under all the conditions of life, from the dense jungle of the Tropics to the home of eternal snows. In the ordinary walks of life we meet them everywhere, dominating our woodlands, prairies, meadows and ponds. The pedigree of a goodly number, including many dicotyledons (oaks, birches, hollies, etc.), as well as a few monocotyledons (palms, etc.), has been traced as far back as the Upper Cretaceous system. Their rapid evolution in recent geological times was characterized by Darwin as an "abominable mystery." But it is now suggested that their close relationship with insect life is a probable explanation of this mystery. In support of this idea it has been observed that the principal insects concerned in the fertilization of flowers came into being much about the same time, i.e. towards the end of the Cretaceous period. But, however this may be, the world-wide transformation, caused by the sudden rise and rapid evolution of the Flowering Plants, had a corresponding depressive influence on the Gymnosperms, Lycopods, Ferns, and Equisetums, which previously dominated the Plant world. Although many of these Cryptogams have still representatives within British lands, they occupy a subordinate position in comparison with the Angiosperms. Among Gymnosperms, the Coniferæ are the most interesting and conspicuous survivals to our day, still numbering some 300 species. They include the pines, firs, yews, cypresses, araucarias, etc. Among them are to be found some of the largest forest trees, for instance the Mammoth Tree of California (Wellingionia gigantea), and the handsome Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica). On the other hand, the horsetails have dwindled down to a few insignificant species, although their forebears were great forest trees with wide-spreading branches. Also, their supposed precursors, the calamites, which grew in large groups on the margins of lagoons in the Carboniferous Age, and possessed huge jointed-stems, supported by massive rhizomes and far-spreading roots, appear to have died out altogether in the Permian period. Our modern ferns are also diminutive in comparison with those of former ages; while all the modern Lycopodiaceæ are puny representatives of the great tree-forms which flourished during the Carboniferous period, and which are now so largely met with as fossils in our British coal-fields.
Ice Age.—Among the physical phenomena which materially helped to mould Britain into its present shape was the incoming of the great Ice Age. This singular episode in the world's history lasted during the whole of the Pleistocene period, but not as one continuous span of advance and retreat of its accompanying load of ice, but rather as a series of ice ages alternating with warm intervals of long duration. At the time of maximum glaciation the larger portion of Britain was covered with a vast mer de glâce, causing the environment to be in a state of general instability. The effect of moving masses of ice over the low-lying lands was to smooth their surface, here polishing and striating protruding rocks, there equalizing irregularities by filling up the hollows with the disintegrated materials. The gradual change from a tropical climate to one of Arctic severity, with inter-glacial warm intervals, led to the incoming into Central and Western Europe of different faunas, at one time hailing from sub-tropical and at another from sub-arctic regions. Here, for a time, these immigrants found a congenial home, but ultimately most of them succumbed to the extreme change of climate which subsequently ensued, and the consequent severe struggle for existence to which they were subjected.
To correlate the successive land-areas of the Pleistocene period with the contemporary works of man is a somewhat speculative undertaking in the present state of our knowledge; the most feasible hypothesis is that which makes man's earliest appearance in Britain contemporary with the inter-glacial warm period which immediately followed that of maximum glaciation. As soon as the increasing ice passed its meridian and the environment responded to a warmer temperature, torrential rivers, caused by the melting of the ice, began the work of excavating the river valleys and clearing away the accumulated deposits caused by the previous state of submergence. Concurrent with these changes a process of elevation of the land set in and continued until a large portion of Western Europe stood so high as to convert the present beds of the Irish Sea, the English Channel and the North Sea into dry land. The Thames and all the rivers of the east coast united with the Rhine and the Elbe to form what must have been a noble river flowing northwards and ultimately debouching into the sea, not far from the Faröe Islands. The Seine and the Somme formed a junction in the English Channel and, after gathering the surplus waters of the south of England and the north of France, continued their course as a fair-sized river to the Atlantic, some 100 miles farther west. The Severn received some streams from the basin of the Irish Sea, the lowest portion of which was then occupied by a chain of fresh-water lakes, and then followed a similar course to the Atlantic. Thus Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Jersey and other islands formed part of the inland uplands of a European continent.
While these far-reaching changes were in progress under a climate becoming more and more ameliorated, these richly wooded and well-watered plains (now mostly submerged) became attractive feeding-ground for large herds of grazing animals, followed of course by bears, lions and hyænas, whose natural prey they were. It was, in all probability, during the stage of maximum geniality that so many sub-tropical animals, such as the two earlier elephants, the hippopotamus, the Rhinoceros merckii, sabre-toothed tiger (Machairodus), cave-bear, cave-lion, etc., found their way into Britain. But these animals were ultimately caught as in a trap by a subsequent recrudescence of a cold period, the consequence of which was that most of them became extinct, and left their carcases on the battlefield, as evidence of their former existence in these regions. It is also during this inter-glacial period that we first meet with evidence that Palæolithic man was an inhabitant of Britain.
These remarks will suffice to show that during the Pleistocene Age the geography of Western Europe was very different from what it is now. Since the appearance of man on the scene, at least one Ice Age has occurred, but the ice-fields which accompanied it did not spread so far out on the lower grounds, probably in consequence of a drier state of the atmosphere. It should also be noted that contemporary with the recrudescence of the ice there was again a subsidence of the land. Whether ice pressure and land submergence have any causal connection it is difficult to say but the affirmative is the more feasible answer.
Man.—As an immigrant into Britain Palæolithic man had been subjected, like other animals, to the trials and discomforts which followed the changing vicissitudes of climate, but he, almost alone, survived the hardships of these cosmic persecutions. How he succeeded in warding off the fate of the extinct mammals falls to be described in subsequent pages. Meantime we have to consider what were his physical and mental characteristics when he first comes within the scope of our researches. Some knowledge of his forebears and previous habits are indispensable in order to define, with some degree of accuracy, the starting-point of the story of his future career on the British area, which is the main object of this little volume.
Although Palæolithic man was not the same as man of to-day, yet he was already in possession of the distinguishing characteristics of humanity. The preliminary problem which now falls to be considered is how he acquired these remarkable and unique features.
The races of mankind now living are differentiated from all other animals by the erect attitude, bipedal locomotion, manipulative hands, and a larger and more highly developed brain. All these characters apply to Palæolithic man, with perhaps the exception of the reasoning faculty, which, however, differed from that of civilized man only in degree. For a long time no rational explanation of how these human characteristics were acquired was forthcoming, and even now their origin and development are only beginning to be understood.
At an early stage in the evolution of animal life the power of moving from one locality to another became essential to the individual organism, the object being to secure a better supply of food than was possible in a fixed position, such as that of a plant. Among lower organisms movement was accomplished in various ways—vibratile filaments, ciliary organs, pseudopodia, etc.; but in all the higher vertebrates locomotion was effected by means of four movable limbs, capable of supporting and transporting the animal at will. As these four-footed animals became greatly affected by the struggle for life, owing to the rapid multiplication of species and the ever-varying conditions of the environment, it followed that the limbs became also more or less modified, so as to make them suitable, not only for increased speed in altered circumstances, but useful to the animal economy in other ways. Hence they became adapted for diverse purposes, such as swimming, flying, climbing, grasping, scraping, etc. The anterior limbs, owing to their proximity to the head, were more frequently selected for such transformations, as may be seen in the wings of birds and bats. But whatever modifications the fore-limbs may have undergone, no animal, but man, has ever succeeded in divesting them of their primary function of locomotion. This achievement was primarily due to the attainment of the erect attitude, which necessitated a rearrangement of the functions of the limbs—the anterior being henceforth entirely restricted to manipulative and prehensile purposes, and the posterior to locomotion.
The maintenance of the erect attitude involved some anatomical alterations in the structure of the body. Not only were the bones of the limbs adapted to perform their respective functions under the new conditions, but the spine had to be turned by a quarter of a circle, so as to be in the vertical direction, i.e. in line with the posterior limbs. The skull, which was formerly supported by a powerful muscle (Ligamentum nuchæ), moved backwards until it became equipoised on the top of the vertebral column. The upper limbs, now relieved from having any share in the locomotion of the body, assumed great freedom in the various movements of flexion, pronation, and supination. The fingers became longer and could be opposed, singly or in groups, to the thumb so as to form a hook, a clasp or a pair of pincers; and the palm of the hand could be made into a cup-shaped hollow capable of grasping a sphere. In fact, the hand of man is the most perfect piece of mechanism Nature has yet produced. But these morphological changes involved no obliteration of the primary homologies common to the rest of the higher vertebrates. All the bones, muscles, nerves, blood-vessels and sensory organs remained much the same as those of the anthropoid apes, which are the nearest of kin to man. But if the races of mankind are so closely related both in structure and mode of development to the anthropoid apes, what, it may be asked, are the essential characters which differentiate them from the latter? The authors of Mammals Living and Extinct (p. 740) thus answer the question:
"The distinctions between the Hominidæ and Simiidæ are chiefly relative, being greater size of brain and of brain-case as compared with the facial portion of the skull, smaller development of the canine teeth of the males, complete adaptation of the structure of the vertebral column to the vertical position, greater length of the lower as compared with the upper extremities, and greater length of the hallux or great toe, with almost complete absence of the power of bringing it in opposition to the other four toes. The last feature, together with the small size of the canine teeth, are perhaps the most marked and easily defined distinctions that can be drawn between the two groups."
This close analogy in bodily structure between man and the lower animals is strongly suggested by the facts of embryology, as all the homologous organs in the full-grown animal, such as the flipper of a whale, the wing of a bird and the hand of man, are developed from the same fundamental parts in the embryo. On similar grounds it can be proved that the human hand and foot had been developed from limbs which were somewhat similar to those of the quadrumana, which are specially adapted for arboreal life. It is of some significance to note that the great grasping power of the fore-limbs is still retained at birth, as shown by the remarkably tight and persistent grasp of a newly-born baby—a fact which is well known to accoucheurs.
The theory of the descent of man from the lower animals is also strongly supported by the presence in the human body of a number of vestigial organs, which are now useless in the human economy, but whose homologues in other animals have well-defined functions. Among such organs are the coccyx, intra- and supra-condyloid foramina of the humerus, and the appendix vermiformis. But indeed the detailed structure of the entire human body is utterly inexplicable on any other hypothesis. See Dr. Arthur Keith's volume on The Human Body in this Library.
But of all the problems relating to the origin and descent of Man the most important is to account for the great superiority of his reasoning powers. The hypothesis, that this profound distinction is primarily due to his being in possession of true hands, is the most feasible explanation that has hitherto been advanced on the subject. By means of hands man manufactured tools and weapons, and utilized them to such an extent that they ultimately superseded his natural means of defence. The knowledge, skill and experience thus acquired gradually led to an increase in brain substance—the undoubted organ of thought. This handicraft skill was absolutely a new departure in the history of organic evolution, as no other animal is, or ever was, a tool-maker, and the successful application of this discovery to practical life is alone sufficient to place man in a category by himself.
Thus with bipedal locomotion, limbs specialized into hands and feet, Homo sapiens started on his human career as a tool-maker. Only in brain capacity and a corresponding deficiency in the exercise of the reasoning faculty was he below civilized man of to-day. His subsequent career, as an inhabitant of Britain, falls to be described in this book; and then we shall have an opportunity of correlating the products of his mechanical skill with development of his brain. Along with this book there should be read the volumes on Anthropology (Marett) and The Dawn of History (Myres) in this Library.