Chapter XXXV: Things to Think About

Have you ever read stories not written in books?

Can you think how large pieces of rock get broken off
from the cliffs?

Can you think how they become smooth and rounded?

How do you think that the pebbles you find along the
stream got there?

See if you can track a pebble up the valley of the
stream in which you found it.

What does the river take with it as it journeys toward
the sea?

What part of its load drops first?

_How People Know What the Cave-men Did_

Perhaps you have wondered if these stories are true.

Let us see if we can find out how we got them.

You know that the Cave-men lived long ago.

You know that they could not read or write.

You know that they did not write any stories.

But they told their children the brave deeds of their people.

They told them of combats with wild beasts.

They told them stories about their gods.

Their children told these stories again.

These stories were told a great many times.

Sometimes parts of the stories were left out and other parts put in.

Only part of the Cave-men’s story is left, and it tells only a few things that the Cave-men did.

But there are other ways of learning about them.

We have learned something from the weapons that have been found.

Perhaps you have done something like this yourself.

Perhaps you have found an Indian arrow.

Perhaps you can read what it tells of the Indians.

That will help you to learn more about the Cave-men.

You remember the time that the caves were flooded and the tools and weapons washed away.

They were dropped on the flooded plains and buried in the sands and gravels.

There have been many floods since then, and each time the river has dropped part of its load.

So the weapons have been buried very deep.

Sometimes people have dug deep down into the earth, and sometimes they have found the Cave-men’s weapons.

There are pictures of some of them in this book.

Can you see that they tell what the Cave-men did?

Bones, too, have helped to tell something of the Cave-men.

A great many bones have been found in the caves.

Most of the marrow bones were split.

Animals do not know how to split bones, so we know that they must have been split by men.

These bones have been taken to great museums, where wise men have studied them carefully.

The wise men have learned to read their story.

The bones tell that the Cave-men ate animal food.

They tell what animals lived at that time.

They tell that people were living then, too.

Perhaps you have seen fossil plants in rocks.

Some of them tell what plants were living then.

Many people have studied all these things.

They have tried to read all the stories they tell.

We have tried to learn what they have found and to write it in a story for you.

Can you understand now how these stories are true?

SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS

The best results will come from the use of this book if the teacher will give as careful attention to carrying out the suggestions under “Things to Think About” and “Things to Do” as she does to the study of the book itself. In this way she can help the child make vital relations between the study of nature on the one hand, and man and his works on the other.

_References_: Teachers and parents who wish to read books written by specialists who have devoted years to the study of the period under consideration, will find the following list of value:

_1. Books._

Clodd, Edward, _The Story of Primitive Man_. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

Dawkins, W. Boyd, _Early Man in Britain_. New York: The Macmillan Company.

Dawkins, W. Boyd, _Cave-Hunting_. New York: The Macmillan Company.

Evans, Sir John, _Ancient Stone Implements in Great Britain and Ireland_. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

Figuier, Guillaume Louis, _Primitive Man_. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

Geikie, Archibald, _Prehistoric Europe_. London: Edward Stanford.

Girod et Massénat, _Les Stations L’Age du Renne_. Paris: Librairie J.-B. Ballière et Fils. (This deals with the later cave-men.)

Gummere, Francis Barton, _Germanic Origins_. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

Hutchinson, H. N., _Prehistoric Man and Beast_. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

Hutchinson, H. N., _Extinct Monsters_. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

Joly, Nicholas, _Man Before Metals_. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

Lartet and Christy, _Reliquiæ Aquitanicæ_. London: Williams & Norgate.

Lubbock, Sir John, _Prehistoric Times_. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

Mason, Otis Tufton, _Origins of Invention_. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

Nadaillac, Marquis de, _Prehistoric Peoples_, pp. 79-112, 127-132. New York: Putnam’s Sons.

Smith, Worthington G., _Man, the Primeval Savage_. London: Edward Stanford.

Starr, Frederick, _Some First Steps in Human Progress_. Springfield, Ohio: Chautauqua Press, 1901.

Stoddard, James, _The Seven Sagas of Prehistoric Man_. London: Chatto & Windus.

Taylor, Isaac, _Origin of the Aryans_. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

Tylor, E. B., _Anthropology_. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

Waterloo, Stanley, _The Story of Ab_. New York: Doubleday, Page & Co.

Wilson, Sir Daniel, _Prehistoric Man_. New York: The Macmillan Company.

Wright, G. F., _Man and the Glacial Period_. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

Worsæ, J. J. A., _Industrial Arts of Denmark_. London: Chapman & Hall.

_2. Magazine Articles._

Barton, Julien, and Sheppard, W. L., “Eighty Miles in Indiana Caves,” _Scribner’s Magazine_, Vol. XIX., pp. 875-888.

Broca, Paul, “The Troglodytes or Cave-Dwellers of France,” _Popular Science Monthly_, Vol. II., pp. 699-708.

Larrabee, W. H., “Cave-Dwellings of Men,” _Popular Science Monthly_, Vol. XLI., pp. 27-45.

Oswald, Felix L., “Modern Troglodytes,” _Popular Science Monthly_, Vol. XII., pp. 37-46.

Rau, Charles, “The Stone Age in Europe,” _Harper’s Magazine_, Vol. L., pp. 681-690.

_3. Government Reports._

Broca, Paul, “The Troglodytes or Cave-Dwellers of the Valley of the Vézère,” _Smithsonian Report_, 1872, pp. 310-347.

“Man as the Contemporary of the Mammoth and the Reindeer in Middle Europe,” translated by C. A. Alexander, for the Smithsonian Institution, from “Aus der Natur: die neuesten Entdeckungen auf dem Gebiete der Naturwissenschaften,” Leipzig, 1867, _Smithsonian Report_, 1867, pp. 335-362.

Wilson, Thomas, “Anthropology at the Paris Exposition in 1889,” _Smithsonian Report_, 1890, pp. 641-680.

_Classifications._ In reading the above books for the purpose of supplementing the first three numbers of this series, it must be remembered that no uniform system of classification has been adopted and that the reader must become familiar with several in order to be able to use the reference books most advantageously. To help the reader in getting a working idea of the different classifications the following summaries may be of value:

The progress of mankind is classified by Professor W. Boyd Dawkins into the following periods:

I. The Pleistocene period.
1. The mid-Pleistocene period.
2. The late Pleistocene period.

II. The Prehistoric period.

III. The Historic period.

Others classify the period with reference to the materials used in making implements and weapons and give us the following:

I. The Stone Age.
1. The Paleolithic or Rough Stone Age.
2. The Neolithic or Polished Stone Age.

II. The Age of Metals.
1. The Age of Copper.
2. The Age of Bronze.
3. The Age of Iron.

Still others classify with reference to the dominant industry of the period, giving:

I. The House Industries, or the Period of Domestic Economy.
1. The Hunting Stage.
2. The Fishing Stage.
3. The Pastoral Stage.
4. The Agricultural Stage, etc.

II. The Handicrafts, or the Period of Town Economy.

III. The Factory System, or the Period of National Economy.

The Pleistocene period is the one that is treated in the first three volumes of this series. It is the period that is frequently designated as the Paleolithic or Rough Stone Age in contrast to the Neolithic or Polished Stone Age which belongs to what Professor Dawkins calls the Prehistoric Period.

Professor Dawkins divides that part of the Pleistocene period during which man inhabited the earth as the mid-Pleistocene and the late Pleistocene periods. Monsieur Du Pont, dividing it with respect to the form of animal life most characteristic, gives us the Age of the Mammoth and the Age of the Reindeer. M. de Mortillet, classifying it with reference to the localities which have yielded most materials for study, has made current the terms the _Chellian_, the _Mousterian_, the _Solutian_, and the _Madelenian_ epochs. The following table may serve to indicate in a general way how these various classifications are related. The reader who would like to pursue the question of classification further will find good summaries in the _Smithsonian Report of the U. S. National Museum_, 1888, p. 604; in the _Smithsonian Report of the U. S. National Museum_, 1890, p. 649; in Morgan’s _Ancient Society_, pp. 3-29, and in Dawkins’ _British Pleistocene Mammalia_.

====================+=======================+========================= The Tree-dwellers. | The Early Cave-men. | The Later Cave-men. --------------------+-----------------------+------------------------- The Age of Fear. | The Age of Combat. | The Age of the Chase. --------------------+-----------------------+------------------------- The Age of the Mammoth. | The Age of the Reindeer. --------------------+-----------------------+------------------------- Period of Extinct Animals. | Period of Migrated | Animals. --------------------+-----------------------+------------------------- Dawn of the Rough | The Paleolithic or Rough Stone Age. Stone Age. | --------------------+-----------------------+------------------------- Eolithic Epoch. | Chellian Epoch. | Mousterian Epoch. | | Solutian Epoch. | | Madelenian Epoch. --------------------+-----------------------+------------------------- Mid-Pleistocene Period. | Late Pleistocene Period. --------------------+-----------------------+------------------------- The Pleistocene Period. --------------------+-----------------------+------------------------- Climate mild and | Climate becomes much | Arctic climate. Cold equable. | colder. Great | and dry. | extremes of heat | | and cold. | --------------------+-----------------------+-------------------------

============================================+=========================
_Animals that have since become extinct._ |The same as in the
| preceding period
The Irish deer, the big-nosed rhinoceros, | with the exception
the mammoth, the straight-tusked elephant,| of the big-nosed
the cave-bear, and the sabre-toothed | rhinoceros and the
_felis_ were survivals of an earlier | sabre-toothed _felis_,
period and were accustomed to a warm | which were extinct.
climate. | All of the animals
| named became extinct at
The small-nosed rhinoceros came from the | the close of this
south and the woolly rhinoceros came | period.
down from the north during this period. |
|
At the close of this period the big-nosed |
rhinoceros and the sabre-toothed _felis_ |
becameextinct. |
--------------------------------------------+-------------------------
_Animals that have since migrated._ |General invasion of
| Arctic animals.
The musk-sheep and the marmot came down |
from the north during this period, stayed |At the close of the
through the next period and then migrated | period they migrated
to the Arctic regions. | to the north.
--------------------------------------------+-------------------------
_Living species._ |The same except that
| those animals that
In addition to those that migrated there | could not stand
were the lion, panther or leopard, lynx, | the intense cold,
wild-cat, spotted hyena, hippopotamus, | migrated south
brown bear, grizzly bear, wolf, fox, stag,| each winter.
roe, urus (the original form of the wild |
cattle), aurochs or European bison, horse,|Arctic fauna
wild boar, beaver, and water rat. Many of | characteristic of this
these animals migrated south in the | period.
winter and returned each spring. |
--------------------------------------------+-------------------------

_Field Trips._ In localities where the natural materials needed for the child’s work are near at hand it will be best to gather them immediately before they are to be used. In regions less favorably situated it will undoubtedly be best to plan the work so as to make a few trips serve the purpose. Perhaps the trips most needed to make the lessons of this book yield their full value are the following:

1. To a stream of water to notice:

(_a_) The wearing and building power of the stream.

(_b_) The location and the strength of the current.

(_c_) The best places for fords and for bridges.

(_d_) The tributary streams and springs.

(_e_) The location of ravines in relation to the river.

(_f_) Caves or places where caves may have been or may
yet be formed.

(_g_) The nature of the soil and its adaptation to the
formation of caves.

(_h_) The parts of the neighboring land that would be
flooded first if the river overflowed its banks.

(_i_) The place in the river where a natural dam might
be formed.

(_j_) The place where an artificial dam might be built.

(_k_) Sites that would make good camping-places for
hunters.

(_l_) Places where the best stones for weapons can be
found.

2. To uncultivated spots on hillsides, in the woods or meadows to find:

(_a_) Tough sticks and branches that are so shaped that
they can be fastened firmly to stone implements.

(_b_) Tough and flexible branches for making baskets.

(_c_) Tough grasses for making mats, baskets, and
sandals.

(_d_) Birch bark for making baskets, picture frames,
etc.

(_e_) Natural gum and pitch.

(_f_) Wood that is suitable for making a fire drill.

(_g_) Tinder and punk for making fire.

(_h_) A bed of gravel where good stones can be found.

(_i_) Animals and plants that may be of interest to the
child.

Field lessons should be supplemented by informal trips by different members of the class. A view from the window of a high building may serve to give the child the relative location of the different parts of a river valley. Such a view is of special value after a trip, for it gives a unified view of the whole.

In places where access to natural materials is exceedingly difficult, it is well to secure the advantages that come from a system of exchange. The American Bureau of Geography offers opportunities for securing all kinds of raw materials as well as specimens showing “the changes incident to their conversion into finished products.” Teachers who wish to avail themselves of the privileges of this bureau can secure a circular containing full information regarding it by sending a letter with an enclosed stamp to the director of the bureau, Winona, Minnesota.

SPECIAL SUGGESTIONS

_Lesson I._ The inexperienced child may think of a cave as a dark, damp place, fit only for the habitation of wild animals. The cave as a habitation for man is a new idea and cannot be understood unless it is related to the natural and social conditions which prevailed during the earliest stages of culture. The child who has read _The Tree-Dwellers_ knows that before people learned to use fire, the caves were inhabited by the cave-bear, the cave-lion, the sabre-toothed _felis_, and by packs of spotted hyenas. He is prepared to understand why people were glad to live in caves. To help the child who has not had such a preparation understand this fact, ask him to think of a time when people had no shelter except the trees, no clothing except the skins of wild animals, no food except wild roots, fruits, and nuts, and no fire. After he has considered man’s life under such conditions, tell him of the conquest of fire, and of the changes effected in social life by its use. Help him to see that fire was man’s best means of protection at that time, for it was greatly feared by wild animals. By means of a free conversation about the points that the child may have difficulty in understanding, he will get a conception of man’s life before he lived in caves, and this is the best basis for understanding why people wanted a cave for a home.

If the child is not familiar with wooded hills, grassy plains, and dense forests, make use of field trips, of views from windows in high buildings, and of pictures to get a conception of them, and provide an opportunity for him to express his idea by modeling in sand. (See _The Tree-Dwellers_, pp. 18-27.)

Encourage the child to invent ways of getting a cave from a wild animal, but hold him responsible for the use of only such means as the cave-men had. The child who would use a gun, or even a bow and arrow, must learn that these devices were not yet invented, and that man had to use his mind to devise some way of conquering the wild beasts without the aid of such weapons.

_References_: Katharine E. Dopp, _The Place of Industries in Elementary Education_, pp. 16-25. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1903. _The Tree-Dwellers_, pp. 89-101, 149, 150. Chicago: Rand, McNally & Co., 1903.

_Lesson II._ Although the main point of interest in this lesson is the way the fire clan takes possession of the cave, this social interest may be used as a means of learning various facts regarding the changes that take place in the natural world during late autumn. When such phenomena are seen as forces affecting the activities of man and of animals, they become interesting to the child. But if isolated from all social interests, if learned at all, they are carried as a dead weight. Encourage the child to act out the simple movements depicted in the story. At first this may be done during hours of play, but as teacher and children become accustomed to it, it should become a regular feature of the school work.

_Lesson III._ Knowing that Sabre-tooth is waiting for a chance to get into the cave, the child can understand why the first evening at the cave will be spent in planning ways of getting rid of him.

Perhaps the child may not realize at first why the cave-men were so careful to keep the fire burning, but if the use that they made of fire is emphasized, gradually he will appreciate something of what its loss might mean to the cave-men.

_Lesson IV._ Use this lesson to help the child get the meaning of the contrast between the crude implements that the cave-men used in securing food and in protecting themselves from their enemies, and the devices that we use for a similar purpose. In spite of the great contrasts that will be discovered, the child will find points of likeness between the implements of the cave-men, rude counterparts of which he can fashion for himself, and those that are still in use. Focus his attention upon the needs of the people that called forth the mechanical inventions of the period, and the use to which they were put in making the earth a safer place in which to live. By so doing, the killing of wild beasts, which, when considered as an end in itself, arrests the development of the finer feelings by fixing attention upon suffering without any purpose, becomes transformed into an act of great social significance; for we must not forget that the cave-men, by exterminating the most dangerous of the wild beasts, made the earth a more fit dwelling place for all succeeding ages. If the child, at this early period, can learn that the hunting peoples killed only enough to supply themselves with food and skins for clothing, and that even beasts of prey rarely kill more than they need for food, they will be in a position to treat many problems in a more rational way than they are usually treated.

The modeling of Sabre-tooth in clay is suggested for the sake of cultivating the habit of observing the beauty of form and movement in animals, and turning the interest that may have been generated by the lesson into artistic channels.

_Lesson V._ No doubt the flesh of the sabre-toothed _felis_ was not an attractive food, but in early times nearly everything was tested for food and used unless it was found to be injurious. Even though the cave-men had plenty of food, they no doubt would enjoy feasting upon the flesh of their enemy. Perhaps they believed that through eating Sabre-tooth’s flesh they might acquire something of his strength and courage.

The first cooking was undoubtedly the result of an accident. The invention was made only when man consciously controlled the process. At first, no doubt, animals were roasted in their skins, but as people began to prize skins for trophies, for clothing, and for thongs, they formed the habit of removing the skin. The fear that Sabre-tooth inspired would insure the removal of his skin for a trophy. The same is true of the sabre teeth.

Strongarm’s leadership illustrates the natural leadership of the most fit in time of danger. At other times, without doubt, there was no recognized leader.

_References_: Katharine E. Dopp, _The Place of Industries in Elementary Education_, pp. 22-27. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. _The Tree-Dwellers_, pp. 115, 119-121, 156, 157. Chicago: Rand, McNally & Co.

_Lesson VI._ The manners of the cave-men at the feast may be understood when it is remembered that the food supply of hunting peoples is irregular. Their lack of forethought is such that there is either a feast or a famine. Besides, their digestive systems were so well developed that it was possible for them to eat enormous quantities without harm. The habit of eating together developed slowly and probably depended largely upon the degree to which coöperative action was used in hunting. Except upon extraordinary occasions we may conclude that only those ate together who worked together in securing food.

Encourage the child to make a collection of as many things as he can find that he can use for or make into dishes.

If the child is allowed to crack the marrow bones of a chicken or turkey and make soup of them, he will understand the liking of the cave-men for marrow bones. The conversion of bones into musical instruments played by striking, or into bone whistles, may also furnish a delightful occupation which may yield results of no mean value.

_Lesson VII._ Let the children dig cooking-pits and caves of various sorts in the ground and experiment with them to discover where the smoke goes and why, and the effect of the form of the cave or cooking-pit upon the draft. The invention of a means of carrying off the smoke, and the attempt to regulate the draft in these crude contrivances, will lead to an interest in the fireplaces and chimneys in the child’s own house. Make use of this interest in such a way as to lead the child to observe the materials used and forms adopted in the construction of modern fireplaces and chimneys, and encourage him to seek reasons for the same.

Show the child a picture of the interior of a cave that has stalagmites and stalactites, and illustrate their formation by dissolving rock salt or lime in water and letting it drip until a deposit is made.

_Lesson VIII._ If the cave-men wanted to keep such trophies as teeth and claws of animals, it is evident that they would have to bore holes through them. To pierce bright and shining natural forms, fossil shells, etc., for beads, was an easy matter. To bore holes through such hard objects as the teeth and claws of wild animals taxed the cave-man’s ingenuity. The different devices for drilling represented in this lesson doubtless required ages for their development. It has seemed best, however, to represent them together, since they are all sufficiently simple for the child to understand. The advantage of the use of the strap or the bow in turning the drill will be appreciated by the child after trying to twirl it by the use of the hands alone. To get the best results from this work it should be carried on by the child for several days. He will probably enjoy doing such work outside of school hours. Horizontal drilling upon the thigh, and vertical drilling with or without the strap or the bow, may be carried on in actual boring or as mere games. Such exercises serve to give an insight into related industrial processes of the present, and to establish physical coördinations which can be turned to account in a variety of ways. Let the child try to bore a hole through a hard substance by using a soft spindle with sand and water. Such a device works better than the flint point without the sand. Although much of the experimentation with awls and drills may be made outside of school hours, the results of these experiments should be discussed during the recitation period. In this way the interest that the child takes in play is transferred to his school work.

_References_: J. D. McGuire, “A Study of Primitive Methods of Drilling,” _Smithsonian Report_, 1894, pp. 623-756. 201 figs.

Katharine E. Dopp, _The Place of Industries in Elementary Education_, pp. 27, 133. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

_Lesson IX._ Encourage the child to make a collection of the natural objects in his vicinity that can be used for tools or weapons, and encourage him to make such changes in the natural forms he has collected as he thinks would make them better fitted for the use to which he wishes to put them. Help him arrange them in some part of the schoolroom where they can be referred to easily from time to time. If the child can visit a museum where primitive implements and weapons are exhibited, it will be easier for him to understand the function that such crude implements have fulfilled in the life of the race. Where a museum is not available, the text, together with its illustrations, will supply sufficient data for the child to get an appreciation of the social significance of such implements. But in no case should the observation of the implement or the story about its use be made to take the place of actually making it.

The child will soon learn where to look for the best stones for implements and weapons, and how to choose forms that the river has worn into shapes that require but little work to fit them for use. It is worth while for the child to chip off a few flakes from the stones he selects, for the sake of the practical acquaintance that he gets with the properties of stones.

The name of the stone is a secondary matter, but if the teacher knows the names or can learn them from some person in the community, she can readily make the child familiar with the names of the more common varieties of stones.

In selecting suitable sticks for handles, the child will soon learn that he can save work by choosing a straight branch, and that it is worth while to cut it so as to have a forked end, or a shoulder to which he can bind the weapon. The need of a strong, tough handle furnishes a motive for studying the properties of wood. In rejecting the soft and brittle varieties, the child becomes acquainted with these as well as with the kinds that serve his purpose.

The selection of suitable material for binding the working part to the handle is a matter of considerable difficulty. No doubt the child who uses cord will find it impossible to bind the parts together as firmly as he desires. If after trying different materials no one thinks of the use of a material that will shrink, tell the children of the use of rawhide, and get enough from the meat market to illustrate its use. As the child tries different ways of winding the lashing, he will undoubtedly discover that the most effective binding is secured when the straps are wound symmetrically.

_References_: Otis Tufton Mason, _Origins of Invention, Stone-Working_, pp. 121-154. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

Katharine E. Dopp, _The Place of Industries in Elementary Education_, pp. 20-29, 64, 65, 82, 93, 134-138. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

_Lesson XI._ This lesson illustrates the fact that skins of animals which originally were worn as trophies for the sake of social approval, developed into clothing which was worn partly for comfort.

Let the child make bone awls of the wing bones of chickens, and sinew thread from the sinews attached to the leg bones. Encourage him to sew with these materials. Different ways of lacing the shoes will suggest typical stitches. Others may be found in museums, but the stitches which are a result of the child’s ingenuity will be of most value to him. Later when he discovers that the stitches that he invented were invented ages ago and have been used ever since, he will feel a relationship with people removed from him in time and space. Making sandals or bags for himself or his friends, dressing dolls to play with or to give away, and many other similar activities will also serve to enlarge his interests.

_References_: Katharine E. Dopp, _The Place of Industries in Elementary Education_, pp. 22, 25, 115, 116. _The Tree-Dwellers_, pp. 122-124, 157. Frederick Starr, _American Indians_, pp. 14-21. Boston: D. C. Heath & Co. “Dress and Adornment,” _Popular Science Monthly_, Vol. XXXIX., pp. 488-502; also pp. 787-801. Otis Tufton Mason, _Origins of Invention_, pp. 41, 42, 43, 241. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

_Lesson XII._ Perhaps we shall never know with certainty what stage the early cave-men had attained in the development of the family. For the purposes of this book however, it has seemed legitimate to supply the deficiency from what is known of the laws of social development. Enough will be accomplished in this subject if the child gets the idea that the family has not always been what it is to-day, and that the need of coöperation in hunting, in guarding the fire, and in protecting the clan from the raids of wild beasts, compelled people who would prosper to associate in this way.

_References_: Morgan, _Ancient Society_, pp. 383-508.

Katharine E. Dopp, _The Tree-Dwellers_, pp. 28-30, 99-101, 150, 156.

_Lesson XIII._ Since the winter life of the cave-men is depicted much more fully in the following number of the series, it has seemed best to pass it briefly at this time. If the child is encouraged to tell stories of what he thinks happened during the winter, enough will be accomplished in this subject. By writing the story as the child tells it, and allowing him to make corrections in it as it is read to him, he is able to produce a much better story than when he is obliged to write it. As he gets control of his hands, however, he may be asked to write short stories.

_Lesson XIV._ Undoubtedly the child who lives near birch trees is acquainted with them, for the birch is a tree that offers many attractions to the child. This lesson should extend and enrich these experiences by relating them to the serious activities of people in early stages of culture.

Where the child has the opportunity to see birch trees, but is denied the privilege of removing the bark, help him to see why it is necessary to take that privilege from him and, if possible, provide him with birch bark that can be purchased from dealers in such materials.

Even though birch trees are plentiful enough to permit the removal of the bark by the child, he should be taught to do it carefully and to take only what he needs to use. The same habit should be cultivated with reference to plants of all kinds. In this way the exercise of blind instinct, which in our present environment results in destructive habits, may be so directed as to form a social habit of wise economy in the use of natural resources.

A visit to a museum will suggest many uses for birch bark. Where such a visit is impracticable, well-selected pictures may serve the same purpose.

Instead of furnishing the child with a pattern of a basket, let him make one, first, by the use of paper and, later, with the birch bark. Encourage him to make such corrections as need to be made in the pattern before cutting the bark.

Where birch trees do not grow, it will be best to substitute for the study of the birch a study of some other tree whose bark or branches yield materials for basketry. In prairie regions a study of native grasses may precede this lesson, which may be read and appreciated to some extent, though not in the way it will be where the child is familiar with the birch tree.

_References_: Longfellow, _Hiawatha_. Lowell, _The Birch Tree_. Katharine E. Dopp, _The Place of Industries in Elementary Education_, pp. 64-67, 121-127. _The Tree-Dwellers_, Basketry, pp. 138-139. (See articles in encyclopedias and natural histories on the birch.)

_Lesson XV._ If you have never seen a river in the time of a flood, prepare for this lesson by talking with some one who has, by studying rivers and floods, and pictures of the same, and by making use of experiences that may be gained everywhere during and after a heavy rain. Model the upper part of a river valley, showing the river with its tributary streams and ravines. Show the high rocky banks where the river is narrow and the low banks where the stream is wider. Determine at what place in the river a dam would be apt to be formed during the melting of the snow in the springtime, and what parts of the valley would be flooded first. Then get a clear idea of the way that the flood that is referred to in this lesson took place by modeling an underground channel that connects with the river on the one hand and with the outer world on the other. Such an underground channel, when dry, is a cave of the type that is referred to in this book. Nearly all of the bone caves in England where the remains of the cave-men have been found are of this type. The ravines that are found in limestone regions are regarded by Mr. Boyd Dawkins, who has made a special study of the subject, as caves that have lost their roofs, and the valleys as ravines whose sides have become worn by the process of weathering.

By the use of concrete methods you can help the child to understand these facts very well. He can understand, too, that “the dark narrow passage” referred to in the lesson was a narrow part of the underground channel that led to the river, and that when the water in the river rose to the level of this passage, water would begin to pour into the cave. (See Field Lessons, p. 165.)

_Lesson XVI._ This lesson shows the cave-man’s need of fire, and the need of coöperative effort in withstanding the devastation produced by the flood.

_Lesson XVII._ The council undoubtedly originated in a common need and was devoted to devising ways of meeting that need. In the council portrayed in this lesson, the old man, because of his experience and wisdom, gains the ear of the people, and for the time is their leader. In the time of combat with a wild beast, however, Strongarm leads.

Treat the subject of this lesson in such a way as to enable the child to sympathize with the cave-men in their distress, and, in a dramatic way, to unite with them in overcoming their difficulties. In playing the council, let the children decide who shall take the most important parts, and let each test his fitness for taking the part by showing what he can do. Perhaps the best results will come from this if the children hold the council during hours of play.

Most children who are old enough to go to school know something of volcanic fires and fires that are caused by lightning. They know the use of oil in lamps and from this can be led to consider natural oil wells. The old man has heard of the fire country, and it is natural that he should look to that country for the much needed fire. This use of what Nature provides before learning to invent artificial processes is typical of man’s method of advance.

_Lesson XVIII._ Give the child an appreciation of the difficulties to be met on the journey to the fire country. Use the map to determine the relative location of the fire clan’s cave and the fire country, and let the child show what difficulties he thinks the men will meet with and where they will meet with them by modeling the place mentioned in the sand box. When the main features are thus mapped out, let the children indicate the easiest route, the location of trails, the mountain passes, and the places where the most dangerous wild animals would be apt to be. Point out the mountains that prevent the moisture of the wooded hills from passing over to the dry, rocky country.

When the difficulties of the way are well in mind the children may hold a council to decide what to do to help the men get ready for the journey. After deciding what is needed let them make the articles and dramatize such parts of the life at the cave as they may choose to do. (See map, the frontispiece.)

_Lesson XIX._ The reference to Sharptooth and Bodo made in this lesson will be understood by the child who has read _The Tree-Dwellers_. The explanations given under _Lesson I._ will be sufficient for the child who has not read the book.

It is probable that the sequence of utensils for carrying water differs with the locality. It is likely that the cave-men made use of the cleansed stomachs of large animals they had slain for carrying water before they invented the skin water bag. It was not thought necessary to include that at this time, for the purpose is not so much to develop a complete sequence as it is to present a vivid picture of the way people made use of the natural resources at hand in supplying their needs. The child will derive much pleasure and profit from a careful study of the natural forms in his environment which he can use for carrying water.

_References_: Katharine E. Dopp, _The Place of Industries in Elementary Education_, pp. 123-124. _The Tree-Dwellers_, pp. 43-46, 89-101. Otis Tufton Mason, _Origins of Invention_, p. 157. _Smithsonian Report_, 1894, p. 429.

_Lesson XX._ As long as the cave-men had fire they had no need of a door to the cave. Never having seen doors, it is not strange that the idea of making one did not come until it was forced upon them. When the cave was not protected by a fire or by a wicker-work door, man had constantly to dispute his possession with the wild beasts.

_Lesson XXI._ Although this lesson affords the opportunity to review the subject of natural fires, the main interest centers in the dramatic action. The contrast between the appearance of Sharpeyes now and when he set out on the journey will serve to emphasize the difficulties encountered. There is an opportunity here for a pantomimic representation of the return of Sharpeyes.

_Lessons XXII. and XXIII._ These lessons serve to satisfy the child regarding the details of the journey which they have been forecasting for several days. (See _Lesson XVIII._, p. 87.)

If the child does not know what punk is, tell him that it is decayed wood which, when lighted, holds fire for a long time without making a blaze. For that reason it was much valued as a means of preserving fire, and for tinder. Help the child to find punk in natural woods or along the shores of a lake or stream.

_Lesson XXV._ If the cave-men had not succeeded in getting fire, their social organization in the form of a clan would have broken up. Strongarm, realizing this and the immense advantage of living in clans, exerted himself to the utmost to get fire—the only means that he knew of for maintaining community life. The fact that he withheld part of the knowledge of the way he secured it is typical of the methods adopted by leaders from time immemorial of gaining ascendency over the masses. It is not the purpose at this time to condemn or to justify the act. That it resulted in securing peace and order within the clan is the point to be emphasized.

It is not known whether the cave-men invented the method of making fire by drilling before that of striking iron pyrites with flint. It is probable that both methods were invented at about the same time, the former in connection with the use of drills for boring, and the latter in connection with the manufacture of stone implements.

Since the sticks for making an effective fire drill should be chosen with care and dried thoroughly, the child should select them at this time, although he may not use them until he studies _Lesson XXXIV._

_Lesson XXVI._ The thanksgiving of the cave-men may well be used to give new meaning to our own thanksgiving festivals. The practice of giving food to the fire arose from the belief that it was alive. This belief and the worship of the fire is readily understood when it is remembered that fire was man’s greatest blessing at this time.

_Lesson XXVII._ If there are spruce trees in the vicinity, carry out the suggestions given in this lesson. If not, select some other tree or shrub that has tough flexible branches and make use of that instead. Encourage the child to make a basket of branches whose bark has not been removed, and then to peel enough twigs for a basket, using his teeth, finger nails, or other natural tools in doing the work. Be sure that he notices the difference in flexibility between dry twigs and those that have been soaked in water.

_Lesson XXVIII._ Let the child make such splints as he can without the aid of tools, or with such tools as he invents without suggestions from any person. Notice the rhythmical devices that are used by children when engaged in any kind of work.

_Lesson XXIX._ If the child has made splints and has already tried to weave them into baskets, he will readily see that the women got a variety in their weaving through the use of splints of different width. He may find it to his advantage to sort his splints, putting those of the same width together. The relation of the different styles of weaving to the need which caused them to be invented should be emphasized. Economy of time and material led primitive people to use the open style of interlacing for baskets intended for carrying coarse materials. The close work was better adapted for baskets used in carrying berries. The impacted work was used for baskets for carrying or for holding water. The child should be encouraged to use such a mode of weaving as is best adapted to the use to which he wishes to put the basket. The making of a water-tight basket involves more skill than the child has attained. He can understand, however, how such a basket was made, and the importance of the invention.

_Lesson XXX._ There are enough suggestions in this lesson to occupy the child for several days. Encourage him to experiment in natural methods of dyeing straw, grasses, reeds, and splints, by burying them in mud or in mud mixed with charcoal, by soaking them and exposing them to the warm sunshine, or by covering them in leaf mold. Let him test the natural materials in his environment that will yield color and invent ways of extracting it. If red chalk, ochre, hematite, or other mineral matter that may be used as a paint is found in its native state in the vicinity, let the child procure a small quantity and grind it to a fine powder. When mixed with water or with a fatty substance, it is ready to be used. The child may use it in decorating basketry, pottery, or some article that he may wish to have in his playhouse. If the child can see the paintings of primitive people, or illustrations of the same, it will serve to stimulate him to express his own ideas.

_References_: _Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_, 1884-5, pp. 216-217. Alice Morse Earle, _Child Life in Colonial Days_, p. 398. New York: The Macmillan Company. Otis Tufton Mason, _Origins of Invention_, pp. 226, 255. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

_Lesson XXXI._ Most of the primitive methods of carrying have survived to the present day and may be seen if one will take the trouble to look for them. The cave-men carried the smaller animals that they killed on their backs. The larger ones were too heavy to be carried in this way, and so the custom arose of dividing the carcass. The most desirable portions were cut out and carried home, while the remainder was left for the wolves and hyenas. Encourage the child to make a carrying strap that he can use in carrying his books or other objects.

_References_: Otis Tufton Mason, _Origins of Invention_, pp. 325-48. “Primitive Travel and Transportation,” _Smithsonian Report_, 1894, pp. 237-593.

_Lesson XXXII._ Until man had gained a mastery of the more dangerous animals, it is not likely that he hunted the mammoth. The cave-man must have longed, however, to capture one of these powerful beasts, and it is very probable that he would be quick to take advantage of a situation that offered him the opportunity for so doing. This lesson portrays such a situation.

The use of the bone whistle referred to is typical of the first use of musical instruments. The origin of the bone whistle was doubtless associated with the habit of sucking bones. Let the child experiment with whistles so as to discover ways of producing tones of different pitch.

_Lesson XXXIII._ The capture of such a large animal as the mammoth was the occasion for calling all of the people who were represented in the capture of it to the spot for a feast. The tusks at this time were prized as trophies; later they were used in the manufacture of tools and weapons. The examination of a mammoth’s skeleton will convince one that the tusks were not removed without many hard blows. An idea of the size of the head may be gained from the fact that a single tooth weighed seventeen pounds. This fact will mean little to the child until he tries to lift an object of nearly that weight.

The skin of the mammoth was so heavy that ten men could carry it with difficulty. It was a dark gray color, covered with three coats. The inner coat was a soft reddish wool about five inches long, which protected it from the cold. The second coat was a close-set, tolerably fine, fawn-colored hair. The third or outermost coat was long, black, bristle-like hair which protected it from sharp branches of trees and from heavy blows. This long coarse hair gave the mammoth a more formidable aspect than he otherwise would have had.

_References_: Katharine E. Dopp, _The Tree-Dwellers_, pp. 143-144. Chicago: Rand, McNally & Co.

_Lesson XXXIV._ While the child is studying the habits of the cave-men in respect to the use of fire, train him to be careful in the use of it.

After making a fire drill the child may try to make fire with it, but he should not be discouraged if he fails at first. The process is a difficult one and it requires great care. An old fire drill works best because the wood becomes charred and it is easier to keep a charred drill dry. In working any drill, care must be taken to keep up a steady and rapid motion with a downward pressure. The wood meal which is ground from the hearth by the drill must be allowed to collect in a little heap near which dry tinder is placed. It must be protected from strong drafts, but it may be fanned gently with the hand. As the spindle becomes warm from twirling, the wood meal becomes warm, then it begins to smoke, and at last it is fanned into a flame.

The illustration on page 183 is a reproduction from a photograph taken in 1899 of two third-grade boys of the State Normal School, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, who are using a fire drill. The class succeeded in getting fire with this drill which was made by one of the boys.

_References_: Walter Hough, “Fire-Making Apparatus in the U. S. National Museum,” _Smithsonian Report_, 1888, pp. 531-587. “The Methods of Fire-Making,” _Smithsonian Report_, 1890, pp. 395-409. Otis Tufton Mason, _Origins of Invention_, pp. 84-120. Scribner.

_Lesson XXXV._ Since the invention of the printing-press and the dissemination of printed matter, there has been a tendency to overrate the importance of the printed page, and to ignore other more fundamental sources of knowledge. The purpose of this lesson is partly to call attention to other ways of learning than by means of books, and partly to tell the child frankly what the sources are which have been drawn upon for the stories that are written in this book. To be sure he will not comprehend all that is meant by it, but the difference between what he can understand and what the adult understands is not so great as is often imagined. If fossil plants and animals are available, show them to the child and tell him what you know or can find out about them. If the child leaves the book with many unsettled problems, his condition is much more hopeful than if he thinks he has mastered the entire book.

=Industrial and Social History Series=

_By KATHARINE ELIZABETH DOPP, Ph. D._

_Lecturer in Education in the Extension Division of the University of Chicago. Author of “The Place of Industries in Elementary Education.”_

WHAT THE BOOKS ARE

_Book I._ =THE TREE-DWELLERS.= The Age of Fear.

_Illustrated with a map, 15 full-page and 46 text
drawings in half-tone by Howard V. Brown. Cloth, square
12mo, 158 pages; 45 cents. For the primary grades._

This volume makes clear to the child how people lived
before they had fire, how and why they conquered it,
and the changes wrought in society by its use. The
simple activities of gathering food, of weaving,
building, taming fire, making use of stones for tools
and weapons, wearing trophies, and securing coöperative
action by means of rhythmic dances, are here shown to
be the simple forms of processes which still minister
to our daily needs.

_Book II._ =THE EARLY CAVE-MEN.= The Age of Combat.

_Illustrated with a map, 17 full-page and 68 text
drawings in half-tone by Howard V. Brown. Cloth, square
12mo, 183 pages; 45 cents. For the primary grades._

_In this volume the child is helped to realize that it
is necessary not only to know how to use fire, but to
know how to make it. Protection from the cold winters,
which characterize the age described, is sought first
in caves; but fire is a necessity in defending the
caves. The serious condition to which the cave-men are
reduced by the loss of fire during a flood is shown to
be the motive which prompts them to hold a council; to
send men to the fire country; to make improvements in
clothing, in devices for carrying, and in tools and
weapons; and, finally, to the discovery of how to make
fire._

_Book III._ =THE LATER CAVE-MEN.= The Age of the Chase.

_Illustrated with 27 full-page and 87 text drawings in
half-tone by Howard V. Brown. Cloth, square 12mo, 197
pages; 45 cents. For the intermediate grades._

Here is portrayed the influence of man’s presence upon
wild animals. Man’s fear, which with the conquest of
fire gave way to courage, has resulted in his mastery
of many mechanical appliances and in the development of
social coöperation, which so increases his power as to
make him an object of fear to the wild animals. Since
the wild animals now try to escape from man’s presence,
there is a greater demand made upon man’s ingenuity
than ever before in supplying his daily food. The way
in which man’s cunning finds expression in traps,
pitfalls, and in throwing devices, and finally in a
remarkable manifestation of art, is made evident in
these pages.

_Book IV._ =THE EARLY SEA PEOPLE.= First Steps in the Conquest of the Waters.

_Illustrated with 21 full-page and 110 text drawings in
half-tone by Howard V. Brown and Kyohei Inukai. Cloth,
square 12mo, 224 pages; 50 cents. For the intermediate
grades._

The life of fishing people upon the seashore presents
a pleasing contrast to the life of the hunters on the
wooded hills depicted in the previous volumes. The
resources of the natural environment; the early steps
in the evolution of the various modes of catching
fish, of manufacturing fishing tackle, boats, and
other necessary appliances; the invention of devices
for capturing birds; the domestication of the dog and
the consequent changes in methods of hunting; and the
social coöperation involved in manufacturing and in
expeditions on the deep seas, are subjects included in
this volume.

_Other volumes, dealing with the early development of pastoral and agricultural life, the age of metals, travel, trade, and transportation, will follow._

_Write us for detailed information regarding these books and a complete list of our up-to-date publications_

RAND McNALLY & COMPANY
_EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHERS_
CHICAGO NEW YORK LONDON

* * * * *

Transcriber’s Note: Obvious punctuation errors repaired. In the suggestions for teachers, there is no section for Lesson X. Both _The Tree Dwellers_ and _The Later Cave-Men_ are availble on Project Gutenberg.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Early Cave-Men, by Katharine Elizabeth Dopp