CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE Cornell University Library GN775.B95 P8 3 1924 029 918 699 olln Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029918699 PREHISTORY CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS C. F. CLAY, Manager LONDON : FETTER LANE, E.C. 4 NEW YORK : THE MACMILLAN CO. BOMBAY \ CALCUTTA . MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd. MADRAS J TORONTO : THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. TOKYO : MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PREHISTORY A STUDY OF EARLY CULTURES IN EUROPE AND THE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN BY M. C. BURKITT, M.A., F.G.S. with a short preface by L'Abb£ H. BREUIL PROFESSOR AT THE INSTITUTE OF HUMAN PALAEONTOLOCy, PARIS CAMBRIDGE AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS I 9 2 I PREFACE I TEXT-BOOK on Prehistoric Archaeology is by no means A. an easy thing to write, and the matter is still further complicated to-day by the tremendous rise in the expense of publication, especially if many plates are figured. Again, in a subject such as Prehistory, so closely connected with various branches of written History, Geology, Ethnology, and Later Archaeology, it is very difficult to know when to be ultra-elementary, and when to assume a slight general knowledge of one of these allied subjects. Thus, in the chapters which deal with purely geological problems, a student of Geology wishing to learn something of Prehistory will find some of the most elementary geological ideas ex- plained at length, as all are not geologists. This book must be regarded as an attempt to give a general idea of the subject, and if the student arms himself with that excellent and inexpensive book by S. Reinach, Repertoire de I'Art quaternaire, he will have sketches of most of the Palaeolithic drawings. Questions of human anatomy have been but slightly dealt with, as that is really a separate sub- ject requiring in the student an altogether special knowledge. It has been my fortunate lot to be able to take part in several important diggings and to study nearly all the painted caves, etc. on the spot. For this purpose I have wandered over Spain, on donkey back and otherwise, and have also visited Scandinavia and North Russia. Prehistory is a subject which in great part has to be studied in the field, and es- pecially is this true in respect to the problems of Prehistoric Art. No illustrations and no amount of description really equal a visit to at least one painted cave. If a serious student really wants to get into the atmosphere of these magic temples he must sooner or later make up his mind to visit at least one of the groups. Also, a short time at some of the diggings in Dordogne or in the Pyrenees will teach the student more than months of book-work. Here in England we are excel- lently situated for the elucidation of many of the geological problems—Man's relation to the Ice Age and the like—but, vi PREFACE caves and as far as we know, we have little or no Art in our was favour- indeed after Acheulean times the climate never times, ims able for any flourishing cultures until Neolithic in England, does not mean that there is not plenty for us to do subject, there but for the student, in process of learning his as regards the is no place like France or North Spain, Archaeology of the Stone Ages in Western Europe, short popular In 1914 I had completed in manuscript a text-book guide to Prehistoric Art, intended for a shilling edition. The war destroyed this plan, and I have preferred to incorporate what I had written into this bigger work. For the former little book Professor Breuil very kindly wrote a short preface which he has further amplified for this present work. Acknowledgments . I have especially to thank the Abb6 Henri Breuil, Pro- fessor of Human Palaeontology of Paris, D.Litt. of Cam- bridge, my kind instructor and friend. In his company I have studied the caves in France, and wandered over the mountains of Spain ; and it cannot be too much emphasized that any knowledge of Archaeology in Palaeolithic times which I possess is due directly and entirely to relationship with Professor Breuil. Special references to Professor Breuil 's work are made here and there in the text, but practically all my knowledge of the subject is due to many discussions and conversations which I have enjoyed while '' digging together or while exploring the decorated caves and rock shelters of Spain and South France. I have further to acknowledge a great debt of gratitude to Dr Hugo Obermaier, who until the war was also Professor at the Institute of Human Palaeontology at Paris. Under Dr Obermaier's care I was initiated into the scientific explora- tion of deposits ; the whole of one season and part of another I spent at Castillo, where, besides the work in hand, much archaeological and geological information was gleaned in the course of conversations. Besides my actual teachers I would like to take the op- portunity of thanking, for all their kindness to me, M. Emile Cartailhac of Toulouse, M. Peyrony of Les Eyzies, M. Daleau PREFACE vii of Bourg-sur-Gironde, and last but not least M. Gaston Lalanne of Bordeaux. It was whilst arranging the latter's magnificent collection of implements from Laussel, under the direction of M. Breuil, that I learnt typology of imple- ments. I also wish to remember the kindness shown by M. Boule, Director of the Museum of Palaeontology, and head of the Institute of Human Palaeontology at Paris. Where official permissions were necessary, M. Boule has always most graciously accorded them, and one cannot be privileged to hear his conversation without gaining much from the lucidity and brilliance of his mind. In Scandinavia and North Russia, Dr Hallstrom of the National Museum of Stockholm was unwearied in his kindness in showing me some of the archaeological treasures in his area. In England I gratefully remember the late Professor Hughes of Cam- bridge and, although his ideas were in opposition to most of the modern ones, it was he who first inspired me with an interest in this branch of thought. Dr Haddon has continually given excellent advice on matters more particularly relating to the ethnological side; and Dr Marr has been a continual stimulus in matters re- lating to geology. Much of the chapter dealing with Man in relation to geology is due to conversations with him, and many problems of Man and his relationship to the glaciations in Britain will probably be solved by the work which Dr Marr and a little band of helpers are engaged on in the study of the Pleistocene deposits in Cambridgeshire. I also wish to express gratitude to Professor Macalister of Dublin, who most kindly entertained Professor Breuil and myself and accompanied us round the engraved monuments of Ireland, a most interesting journey. Mr Reid Moir has more than once taken me to see his various finds in East Anglia. Although I started with antagonistic views, Mr Reid Moir has taken the trouble to explain his theories with great care, many of which seem now to be true beyond dispute. For the actual writing of the book I tender my most profound thanks to my secretary, Miss M. Boyle. It is cer- tainly true to say that without her skilful co-operation the viii PREFACE not only was book would probably never have been written ; further, the I relieved of the merely mechanical work, but readable substance dictated was altered and put into a more thanks form, and references have been verified. My grateful book are also due to Mrs Quiggin who has both indexed the and given most useful criticism in correcting the proofs. Very many thanks are also given to Sir Montagu Pollock, author of Light and Water, who has most kindly reproduced the various works of Palaeolithic art from my collection which are here figured. The other reproductions are the work of Mr L. S. Stanley of Clare College, who has expended on them a great deal of care and skill. As regards the literature of the subject, H. Breuil's numerous papers in various scientific journals, as well as his publications in the Prince of Monaco's series, are of out- standing importance. H. Obermaier's latest book in Spanish, El Hombre Fdstl (Madrid), is by far the best book written on Palaeolithic Prehistory as yet. His earlier book in German, Der Mensch oiler Zeiten, is also excellent. Ancient Hunters by W. J. SoUas is an excellent introduction to the study of the subject, and especially deals with modern races equivalent to the prehistoric ones. Men of the Old Stone Age, by H. F. Osborn, is exceedingly useful, especially on the subject of human skeletons. Those who are interested in Man as a fossil, and who have no very great knowledge of human anatomy, may well consult the lucid and accurate accounts given in those parts of the volume that deal with physical anthropo- logy. Dechelette's Manual (vol. i.) is still a mine of in- formation, but is getting a trifle out of date. Besides these books diere are, of course, numerous articles on particular localities or special branches of the subject, mainly in French reviews. The writer feels that a text-book on this Old Stone Age period may be useful for the help of students, though the time has not come for a final exhaustive work, the subject having been too little co-ordinated as yet (even in Western Europe) for a comprehensive and well-dated review of all the finds to be made.