DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5625#0027
The Late Stone Age
13
of this remote age. A mine opened by archaeologists in Eng-
land still contained eighty much-worn picks of deerhorn used
by the flint miners; while in Belgium a fall of rock from the
ceiling covered and preserved to us even the body of one of
these ancient miners (see Ancient Times, Fig. 22).
Let us now look back for a moment and see how much early 16. Summary
man had gained in over fifty thousand years of slow progress, maSTprog"
Before his first stone weapon he had learned to speak, then to £js|bo°™
kindle fire, and after that came his earliest efforts to work 3000 B-c-.
stone. For ages afterward (Early Stone Age) his progress con-
sisted chiefly of improvements in his stone weapon, the fist-
hatchet, as he gradually passed from chipping its edge by blows
to the production of a much finer edge by pressure (Middle
Stone Age; see Fig. 2, descriptive matter). Then after the ice
came down he learned to carve ivory, bone, and reindeer horn,
and to make himself ivory-pointed spears, bows, and arrows,
ivory needles for sewing together skin clothing, and sharp
flint daggers. He even painted wonderful animal figures on
the walls of his cavern home and carved the same animals
on his weapons. Thereupon, as the ice retreated (Late Stone
Age), he learned to grind the edge of his stone tools and
weapons.1 With these he could build wooden dwellings and
fill , them with wooden utensils and furniture. He discovered
how to make pottery, spin and weave flax for clothing, culti-
vate grain and follow agriculture. Then he learned to keep the
once wild creatures, like cattle and sheep, as tamed domestic
animals; at first for food only, but later also as draft ani-
mals. At the same time Stone Age men had learned to lead a
settled life in towns and villages. Here they sometimes carried
on wars, but they had also made a beginning in industries
and commerce.
1 The Stone Age periods are as follows:
Early Stone Age (stone edge made by striking, or percussion) \ Called Paleolithic Age
Middle Stone Age (chipped stone edge made by pressure) J by archaeologists.
T „ \ Called Neolithic Age by
Mtte btone Age (stone edge made by grinding) J archaeologists,
13
of this remote age. A mine opened by archaeologists in Eng-
land still contained eighty much-worn picks of deerhorn used
by the flint miners; while in Belgium a fall of rock from the
ceiling covered and preserved to us even the body of one of
these ancient miners (see Ancient Times, Fig. 22).
Let us now look back for a moment and see how much early 16. Summary
man had gained in over fifty thousand years of slow progress, maSTprog"
Before his first stone weapon he had learned to speak, then to £js|bo°™
kindle fire, and after that came his earliest efforts to work 3000 B-c-.
stone. For ages afterward (Early Stone Age) his progress con-
sisted chiefly of improvements in his stone weapon, the fist-
hatchet, as he gradually passed from chipping its edge by blows
to the production of a much finer edge by pressure (Middle
Stone Age; see Fig. 2, descriptive matter). Then after the ice
came down he learned to carve ivory, bone, and reindeer horn,
and to make himself ivory-pointed spears, bows, and arrows,
ivory needles for sewing together skin clothing, and sharp
flint daggers. He even painted wonderful animal figures on
the walls of his cavern home and carved the same animals
on his weapons. Thereupon, as the ice retreated (Late Stone
Age), he learned to grind the edge of his stone tools and
weapons.1 With these he could build wooden dwellings and
fill , them with wooden utensils and furniture. He discovered
how to make pottery, spin and weave flax for clothing, culti-
vate grain and follow agriculture. Then he learned to keep the
once wild creatures, like cattle and sheep, as tamed domestic
animals; at first for food only, but later also as draft ani-
mals. At the same time Stone Age men had learned to lead a
settled life in towns and villages. Here they sometimes carried
on wars, but they had also made a beginning in industries
and commerce.
1 The Stone Age periods are as follows:
Early Stone Age (stone edge made by striking, or percussion) \ Called Paleolithic Age
Middle Stone Age (chipped stone edge made by pressure) J by archaeologists.
T „ \ Called Neolithic Age by
Mtte btone Age (stone edge made by grinding) J archaeologists,