UC-NRLF
B 3 111
ARLY
CAV€-M6N
'«^%»'
THE
'E4RLYCAVE-MEN-
anD Social ^ijStort Aeries
By KATHARINE ELIZABETH DOPP, Ph. D.
n of The University of Chicago. AT
Industries in Elementary Education'1
The Extension Division of The University of Chicago. Author of "The Place of
~ yd us trie
Book I. THE TREE-DWELLERS. THE AGE OF FEAR.
Illustrated with a map, 14 full-page and 46 text drawings in half-tone by
HOWARD V. BROWN. Cloth. Square I2mo. 158 pages ; 45 cents.
for the primary grades.
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 12 mo. 183 pages ; 45 cents.
For the primary grades.
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 i2mo. 197 pages ; 45 cents.
For the primary grades.
Book IV. THE EARLY SEA PEOPLE. FIRST STEPS IN THE CON-
QUEST OF THE WATERS. Illustrated with 21 full-page and no text
drawings in half-tone by HOWARD V. BROWN and KYOHEI INUKAI. Cloth.
Square i2mo. 224 pages; 50 cents.
For the intermediate grades.
Other volumes, dealing with the early development of pastoral and
agricultural life* the age of metals, travel, trade,
and transportation, will follow.
TIRE CDUfSTR
A map of the Cave-men's country, showing the relative Position of the
geographical features referred to in this book
c
THE
IT CAVE-MEN
K/UH4RINE EUftBHtl DOPP
i ' v
Zectarerin Education.
In tlieExlension Division of the
University of Chicago
R4ND
COMPANY
NEW YORK
i I tf£
c,'.
Copyright, 1904
By KATHARINE ELIZABETH DOPP
Entered at Stationer? Halt
foattfr -
Chicago
TO
Ian,
I DEDICATE THIS BOOK
285588
I^HE series, of which this is the second volume, is an attempt
to meet a need that has been felt for several years by par-
ents and physicians, as well as by teachers, supervisors, and
others who are actively interested in educational and social prog-
ress. The need of practical activity, which for long ages consti-
tuted the entire education of mankind, is at last recognized by the
elementary school. It has been introduced in many places and
already results have been attained which demonstrate that it is
possible to introduce practical activity in such a way as to afford
the child a sound development — physically, intellectually, and
morally — and at the same time equip him for efficient social
service. The question that is perplexing educators at the present
time is, therefore, not one regarding the value of practical activity,
but rather one of ways and means by which practical activity can
be harnessed to the educational work.
The discovery of the fact that steam is a force that can do
work had to await the invention of machinery by means of which
to apply the new force to industrial processes. The use of prac-
tical activity will likewise necessitate many changes in the educa-
tional machinery before its richest results are realized. Yet the
conditions that attend the introduction of practical activity as a
motive power in education are very different from those that
attended the introduction of the use of steam. In the case of
steam the problem was that of applying a new force to an old
work. In the case of practical activity it is a question of restoring
a factor which, from the earliest times until within the last two or
three decades, has operated as a permanent educational force.
The situation that has recently deprived the child of the oppor-
m
Preface 9
tunity to participate in industrial processes is due, as is well
known, to the rapid development of our industrial system. Since
the removal of industrial processes from the home the public has
awakened to the fact that the child is being deprived of one of the
most potent educational influences, and efforts have already been
made to restore the educational factor that was in danger of being
lost. This is the significance of the educational movement at the
present time.
As long as a simple organization of society prevailed, the school
was not called upon to take up the practical work ; but now society
has become so complex that the use of practical activity is abso-
lutely essential. Society to-day makes a greater demand than ever
before upon each and all of its members for special skill and knowl-
edge, as well as for breadth of view. These demands can be met
only by such an improvement in educational facilities as corres-
ponds to the increase in the social demand. Evidently the school
must lay hold of all of the educational forces within its reach.
In the transitional movement it is not strange that new factors
are being introduced without relation to the educational process
as a whole. The isolation of manual training, sewing, and cooking
from the physical, natural, and social sciences is justifiable only
on the ground that the means of establishing more organic rela-
tions are not yet available. To continue such isolated activities
after a way is found of harnessing them to the educational work
is as foolish as to allow steam to expend itself in moving a loco-
motive up and down the tracks without regard to the destiny of
the detached train.
This series is an attempt to facilitate the transitional movement
in education which is now taking place by presenting educative
materials in a form sufficiently flexible to be readily adapted to the
needs of the school that has not yet been equipped for manual
training, as well as to the needs of the one that has long recognized
practical activity as an essential factor in its work. Since the
experience of the race in industrial and social processes embodies,
10 Preface
better than any other experiences of mankind, those things which
at the same time appeal to the whole nature of the child and fur-
nish him the means of interpreting the complex processes about
him, this experience has been made the groundwork of the pres-
ent series.
In order to gain cumulative results of value in explaining our
own institutions, the materials used have been selected from the
life of Aryan peoples. That we are not yet in possession of all
the facts regarding the life of the early Aryans is not considered
a sufficient reason for withholding from the child those facts that
we have when they can be adapted to his use. Information
regarding the early stages of Aryan life is meager. Enough has
been established, however, to enable us to mark out the main lines
of progress through the hunting, the fishing, the pastoral, and the
agricultural stages, as well as to present the chief problems that
confronted man in taking the first steps in the use of metals, and
in the establishment of trade. Upon these lines, marked out by
the geologist, the paleontologist, the archaeologist, and the anthro-
pologist, the first numbers of this series are based.
A generalized view of the main steps in the early progress of
the race, which it is thus possible to present, is all that is required
for educational ends. Were it possible to present the subject in
detail, it would be tedious and unprofitable to all save the specialist.
To select from the monotony of the ages that which is most vital,
to so present it as to enable the child to participate in the process
by which the race has advanced, is a work more in keeping with
the spirit of the age. To this end the presentation of the subject
is made : First, by means of questions, which serve to develop the
habit of making use of experience in new situations ; second, by
narrative, which is employed merely as a literary device for ren-
dering the subject more available to the child ; and third, by sug-
gestions for practical activities that may be carried out in hours of
work or play, in such a way as to direct into useful channels energy
which when left undirected is apt to express itself in trivial if not
Preface 1 1
in anti-social forms. No part of a book is more significant to the
child than the illustrations. In preparing the illustrations for this
series as great pains have been taken to furnish the child with
ideas that will guide him in his practical activities as to illustrate
the text itself.
Mr. Howard V. Brown, the artist who executed the drawings,
has been aided in his search for authentic originals by the late
J. W. Powell, director of the United States Bureau of EtJmology, Wash-
ington, D. C.; by Frederick J. V. Skiff, director of the Field Columbian
Museum, Chicago, and by the author. Ethnological collections and
the best illustrative works on ethnological subjects scattered
throughout the country have been carefully searched for material.
I wish to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to
Professor Dewey for the suggestions he has given me with refer-
ence to this series, and to acknowledge that without the inspiration
that has come through his teaching I should probably never have
undertaken a work of this kind. Among the many friends to
whom I am indebted for help and inspiration, I would mention
especially, Professor W. I. Thomas and Professor Ella Flagg
Young, of the University of Chicago; Superintendent F. A. Manny,
of the Ethical Culture Schools, New York City ; Mrs. Charlotte W.
Williams, of Chicago; my sister, Miss Elspa M. Dopp, of the State
Normal School, St. Cloud, Minn.; and Mr. W. W. Charters, of the
University of Chicago. To the late Director J. W. Powell, of the
United States Bureau of Ethnology, and to Director Frederick J. V.
Skiff, of the Field Columbian Museum, Chicago, I am under obligations
for courtesies extended which have enabled me to gain access to
illustrative materials. For the practical proof that work of this
kind is feasible, and that it supplies a genuine need in elementary
education, I am indebted to the hearty cooperation of students and
fellow-teachers of several states. K E D
February I, 1904..
Dedication .
Preface . .
Contents . .
Illustrations
PAGE
7
THE EARLY CAVE-MEN
THE AGE OF COMBAT
PAGE
15
18
24
Why People Wanted to Live in Caves
How the Fire Clan Got a Cave . .
The First Night in the Cave . . .
How the Fire Clan Got Rid of Sabre-
tooth 27
Preparations for the Feast .... 32
The Feast 35
How the Cave was Made Ready for
a Winter Home 40
How the Cave-men Bored Holes
Through Their Trophies ... 43
Making New Weapons 50
How the Women Dressed Sabre-
tooth's Skin
*How the Cave-men Made Clothing
The Fire Clan
How the Cave-men Spent the Winter
1 What the Cave-men Got from the
Birch Trees 66
The Flood 71
What the Cave-men Lost in the
Flood 79
The Council 82
The Way to the Fire Country ... 88
How Firekeeper Made the Skin
Water Bag 92
Suggestions to Teachers
PAGE
Why Firekeeper Made a Door . . 96
The Stranger that Came Toward
the Cave 100
The Journey to the Fire Country . 103
The Return from the Fire Country 107
Strongarm Makes a Great Discov-
ery 112
How the Cave-men Received
Strongarm 115
The Thanksgiving Feast . . . . 118
.What the Women Got from Spruce
Trees
How the Women Made Splints" for
Baskets
How the Women Wove Splints .
i How the Women Colored their Bas-
kets
How the Cave-men Carried their
Burdens . .•
A Mammoth Hunt
How the Cave-men Divided the
Mammoth 147
I Strongarm Tells Firekeeper His
Secret 150
j How People Know What the Cave-
men Did . 155
121
126
130
134
139
143
159
[12]
FULL PAGE
A map of the Cave-men's country
. . . . . . . . Frontispiece
" They wished they might have his
cave for a home" ..... 14
"Sabre-tooth was going away" . 19
"She stood trembling so that she
could hardly speak " . . . . 22
The Feast ......... 37
The Flood 76
u The old man arose in the silence,
and thus he spoke to his people " 84
" Then the old man and Sharpeyes
took leave of their kinfolk and
started out on the long journey " 91
PAGE
' ' They rushed upon him with their
knives and spears " 98
' ' They carried him into the cave "
"They watched the fire dart up
toward the sky "
" They shouted praises to the fire
god"
" They broke off slender branches "
Making splints for baskets . . .
' ' They rested the strap upon the
forehead"
A mammoth hunt
"// was here that he showed Fire-
keeper how to make fire" . .
102
105
119
124
127
141
145
TEXT
Firekeeper carrying wood
A flint point ........
A hunting knife .......
Fastening the shaft to a branch
Sabre-tooth pinned to the ground .
The two large sabre teeth . .
A stone hammer and stone ax .
A gourd . . , .......
A marrow spoon . . . .
Children carrying moss and leaves
Strongarm ..... ....
73
A bow drill . . „ 49
Making bones into weapons ... 51
Chipping the stones 52
A hammer stone, with bone handle
Putting handles on the spearheads
A hammer made by Sharpeyes .
A handle made of a forked branch
The women dressing skins
Two sides of a scraper
A bone awl
A buckle
A skin cradle
How they rocked the babies
A birch bark basket 68
A basket with rim 70
Cave-men watching the river .
The -cave ......... 78
How the sandal was worn ... 88
A sandal and a tool bag .... 89
A gottrd 94
A rhinoceros 108
Making lire with a strap drill . 112
A drill ' 114
The hearth of a fire drill . . . 114
Strongarm making fire . . . . 115
Cave-men dancing around tJie fire 116
Pounding the stems 129
Woven splints 131
Firm and strong weaving . . . 132
A strong basket .133
Methods of weaving and coloring
baskets .... 135, 136, 137, 138
How the Cave-men carried baskets 139
A basket with a handle .... 140
A pad for the forehead .... 140
A bone whistle 143
Returning from the feast . . 148, 149
A bow drill made into a fire drill 153
A fire drill 154
A spearhead . 157
Mammoths . . 158
Making a fire drill ..... 183
J
"They wished they might have his cave for a home
THE EARLY CAVE-MEN
THE AGE OF COMBAT
I
Why People Wanted to Live in Caves
Did you know that people once lived in
caves ?
Perhaps you would like to know how it hap-
pened.
Long before people lived in caves they lived
in the largest trees they could find.
This was before they had learned to use fire.
But after a while they learned to use fire,
and they no longer feared to make
on the ground.
They built brush huts of the rudest kind.
They lived in these huts for many years.
hsl
16 The Early Cave-men
For a long time it was warm on the wooded
hills, but after a while it began to grow cold.
The ground was covered with snow and ice.
Cold winds swept over the wooded hills.
Snow beat into the rude brush huts, and cold
winds whistled through the branches.
People shivered with the winter's cold.
They needed a warmer shelter, but they did
not know how to make one.
Many of them had been in caves, but they
did not dare stay very long.
Some caves were the homes
of big cave-bears, others
the dens of hyenas.
Sabre-tooth also lived in a cave.
People knew that these animals were dan-
gerous creatures.
Many a time they had barely escaped from
the claws of a cave-bear.
Many a time they had been chased by a pack
of hyenas.
They did not want to enrage these creatures.
Why People Wanted to Live in Caves 17
Least of all did they want to enrage old
Sabre-tooth.
He was the fiercest creature on the hills.
When he came out of his cave
the forest was still.
Scarcely an animal dared stir.
Even the rhinoceros and mam-
moth feared to attack him. sabre-tooth
He was as sly as a cat and as powerful as
a rhinoceros.
He had two sabre teeth that were sharp and
strong.
No such animal as Sabre-tooth lives now.
There were only a few animals like him then,
but they were more feared than any other
creature.
He was something like a lion and something
like a tiger, but he was more powerful than
either.
He did not like to live in the cold, so each
winter he went to the south.
Each summer he came back again,
18 The Early Cave-men
How glad every one was to see him go!
How they hoped he would never return!
How they wished they might have his cave
for a home !
THINGS TO DO
Model the wooded hills in your sand box. Make a brush
hut to show where the people lived. Show where the
caves are.
Tear from paper the animals that lived in caves.
Plan a way of getting a cave for a home.
ii
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
What happens to the trees and plants just before win-
ter?
What do the animals that you know do before the win-
ter comes ?
Do you know what people do to get ready for winter ?
How the Fire Clan Got a Cave
Summer was almost gone.
The oak and the birch trees were dropping
their leaves, and all the plants were show-
ing signs of the frost.
' ' Sabre-tooth was going away '
20 The Early Cave-men
The wild animals were getting ready for
ter.
Some of them were crawling into their holes.
Others were starting for the south.
The fire clan hoped that in a few days Sabre-
tooth would go.
They wanted his cave for the winter, so they
kept watch of all that he did.
They knew that he slept in his cave all the
day and seldom left it except at night.
One morning Strongarm saw him come out
of the cave and start off toward the south.
He believed that Sabre-tooth was going away,
so he hurried and told his people.
How glad they were to hear such news!
How excited they were as they took their fire-
brands and followed Strongarm to the cave !
When they reached the cave they paused a
moment, while Strongarm crept in through
the mouth.
When he was sure that it was safe for them to
follow, he beckoned to them with his hand.
How the Fire Clan Got a Cave 21
One by one they crept through the mouth of
the cave, their firebrands lighting the dark
way.
It seemed strange to be in such a dark place,
but they knew that it was safe and warm.
They all wanted to keep it for a home, but
they knew that wild animals would try to
get it.
So the women gathered armfuls of branches
and started a fire just outside the mouth.
As the fire began to flame up toward the sky,
the men gathered around and watched it
blaze.
The children played beside the fire or watched
their mothers gather branches.
All the people were near the fire when, sud-
denly, they were startled by a shriek of
terror.
Mothers clasped their children to their breasts,
and fathers grasped their knives to be ready
to fight.
All eyes were soon fixed upon Firekeeper.
. i 1 M
"She stood trembling so that she could hardly sfieak"
How the Fire Clan Got a Cave 23
She stood trembling so that she could hardly
speak, but she pointed toward a thicket.
The men stepped cautiously toward it, but
Firekeeper pulled them back.
Then she told them what she had seen.
It was Sabre-tooth trying to come back to the
cave.
When the fire clan heard this, they were filled
with terror.
They huddled around the fire.
Nobody knew what to do.
Yet everybody knew that something must be
done, for their lives were not safe as long
as Sabre-tooth was near.
THINGS TO DO
Show how the Cave-men kept watch of the caves of the
wild animals.
Show how Strongarm led the fire clan into Sabre-tooth's
cave.
Draw a picture of the people marching to the cave.
Show how the women broke branches of wood and, car-
ried them to the fire.
Draw a picture of the women and children gathering
wood for the fire.
24 The Early Cave-men
in
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
How do you think the fire clan will spend the first eve-
ning in the cave ?
Who will be apt to keep watch that night ?
The First Night in the Cave
At sunset the children were nodding their
heads and soon were fast asleep.
The women tended the fire while the men
sat around and talked.
All the beasts of prey were out for the night.
Sometimes the fire clan could see their shad-
ows in the open spaces near the cave.
Then they were glad that they had fire.
But they knew that they would have trouble
as long as Sabre-tooth was near.
So they began to plan ways of getting rid of
him.
They did not dare risk an open fight with
such weapons as they had, so they tried
to invent a new way.
The First Night in the Cave 25
They planned a long time, but they could not
decide what to do.
At length all but Firekeeper crept into the
cave, where they
were soon asleep
upon the rough
floor. i
Firekeeper stayed be-
side the fire and
kept watch all
alone.
She was the oldest
woman of the clan,
and people said
that she was the
daughter of the fire.
She always kept it
1 . Firekeeper carrying wood with
DUrnmg. a strap.
As she tended the fire through the long
night she heard all sorts of sounds.
Once a big cave-bear passed close to the cave,
but he sniffed and ran when he saw the fire.
26 The Early Cave-men
Then a pack of hyenas crept up toward the
cave.
They seemed to be looking for a safe place
to rest.
But as soon as they saw the fire they ran.
Other animals, too, ran when they saw the fire.
Firekeeper was not afraid when she was near
the fire, but it seemed that the long night
would never end.
When at last the sky became red in the east,
she knew that morning was coming again.
At the break of day all the people awoke.
It was only a few minutes before they were
ready to take up the work of another day.
THINGS TO DO
Show how the children fell asleep. Draw a picture of
them.
Show how the cave-bear acted when he saw the fire.
Draw the picture.
Show how Firekeeper kept watch during the night.
Draw a picture of her as she was keeping watch.
Get up early some morning and watch the sun rise.
Paint a picture of a sunrise.
How the Fire Clan Got Rid of Sabre-tooth 27
IV
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
Do you know what kind of weapons the fire clan had
at this time ?
Why would it not be safe for the fire clan to attack
Sabre-tooth with such weapons ?
What kinds of weapons can you make of stones and
sticks ?
What do you think the fire clan will do to get rid of
Sabre-tooth ?
Do you think that the fire clan ate three meals together
each day as we do ?
How the Fire Clan Got Rid of Sabre-tooth
As soon as the sun was up, messengers started
from the cave to ask the people on the hills
for help.
Nobody stopped to eat breakfast.
The Cave-men never ate breakfast together.
Each ate by himself such food as he could find.
Everybody was watching for Sabre-tooth.
Soon Sharpeyes saw him crawl into a thicket,
where he laid himself down and went to
sleep.
28
The Early Cave-men
A flint point
Then the messengers returned with
the people from the hills.
They went to the thicket to see
Sabre-tooth, but they did not
dare attack him.
They had learned to put handles on
their flint points, so as to make
41- good hunting-knives.
Hk But the handles were short, and it
was not safe to attack Sabre-tooth
with such weapons.
Their axes and hammers
were larger and stronger,
but they were afraid to
use them now.
While they were all wondering what
to do, Strongarm went to look at
Sabre-tooth again.
The creature had feasted all night
long and was sleeping heavily.
He was lying just under a strong
spreading branch of an old oak.
Opposite side
of flint
point
A hunting-
knife
How the Fire Clan Got Rid of Sabre-tooth 29
When Strongarm noticed this his eyes bright-
ened.
He motioned to an old man to come to him.
After a few minutes they went back to the
other men.
All crowded around, for they felt sure that
Strongarm had thought of a new plan.
Then Strongarm showed the people what he
wanted them to do.
Everybody was eager to help.
The women brought out all the skins that
they had.
Strongarm laid the strongest skin aside and
told the women to cut the others into straps.
Some of the men began to work upon large
flint points.
Others cut a tough branch of oak and made
it into a large shaft.
When all had finished their work, they
brought what they had to Strongarm.
He selected the largest and strongest flint
point and bound it to the end of the shaft.
30
The Early Cave-men
"Strongarm fastened the shaft to the
spreading branch of the oak ' '
He folded the skin so
as to make a bag.
Then he tied the skin bag to the shaft.
The boys brought stones to fill the bag and
laid them on the ground.
Everything was now ready, so Strongarm
took the new weapon over his shoulder
and climbed into the oak tree.
Others followed with stones and straps.
Strongarm quickly fastened the upper end of
the shaft to the spreading branch of the oak.
Then he carefully filled the skin bag with
stones and let the weighted spear hang
over Sabre-tooth.
How the Fire Clan Got Rid of Sabre-tooth
31
He motioned to the men to go back to the cave,
and was soon all alone with Sabre-tooth.
He did not stop to
think what might
happen.
He grasped his stone
knife and began to
cut the heavy strap.
When he had cut almost
through the strap, it
snapped.
The spear fell with its
heavy weight and
pinned Sabre-tooth
tO the grOUnd. "The spear fell with its heavy weight ' '
Sabre-tooth made one desperate effort to
escape.
Then he lay perfectly still on the ground.
How thankful the Cave-men were!
They had one less creature to fear.
They now felt that they would be able to keep
the cave for a home.
32 The Early Cave-men
THINGS TO DO
Notice how gracefully the cat moves. Notice how it gets
ready to spring.
Think of an animal many times larger than the cat and
see if you can model Sabre-tooth in clay.
See if you can find good stones for hunting- knives and
spears.
Name a tool or a machine that you have seen in which a
weight is used.
Draw a picture of it.
v
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
What do you think the Cave-men will do with Sabre.
tooth's skin ?
What will they do with his teeth and claws ?
What will they do with his flesh ?
Can you think of what they might do with the bones ?
How do you think they learned to cook food ?
Preparations for the Feast
How excited all the people on the hills were
when they knew that Sabre-tooth had been
killed!
Everybody wanted to see him.
Preparations for the Feast 33
Young and old crowded around to see the
monster as he lay stretched out on the
ground.
They gazed at the creature in silence.
They admired his rich tawny stripes.
Not a man on the hills had ever before been
able to get such a skin.
They all wished that they might have it, but
they knew that it belonged to Strongarm.
They examined the two large
sabre teeth.
They felt of the smaller teeth
and claws.
At length the men began to
quarrel about the trophies,
but Strongarm waved them
The two large sabre
back. teeth
He claimed one sabre tooth for himself and
allowed the other to go to the brave old man.
When Strongarm spoke the men kept silent,
for they knew that the trophies belonged
to the bravest men.
34 The Early Cave-men
But they were given a share in the smaller
teeth and claws.
While they were loosening them with stone
hammers, the women were hunt-
^^r\ mS f°r their stone knives.
&^ P They were soon busy taking off
Hammer Sabre-tooth's beautiful skin.
When the heavy skin was off, they began to
get ready for the feast.
They ate pieces of raw flesh as they worked,
and tossed pieces to the men and boys.
They were all too hungry to wait for the feast.
Besides, they were used to eating raw meat.
But they had learned how to cook meat at this
time.
They had learned to roast
meat in hot ashes. A stone
At first they roasted the animal in its skin,
but now they knew a better way.
They skinned the animal and cut out the ribs ;
then they buried them in the hot ashes.
They covered the ashes with hot coals.
The Feast 35
They cut slices of meat with their stone knives
and put them on roasting sticks.
Then they held these sticks over the hot coals
just as we sometimes do to-day.
THINGS TO DO
Make believe that you are doing some of the work that
the Cave-men did, and see if any one can guess what
it is.
See if you can cook something over the coals.
Ask some one to read you a story that Charles Lamb
wrote about roast pig.
VI
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
How do you think the Cave-men would act at a feast?
What would they use for dishes ?
What would they do to entertain themselves and their
neighbors ?
When would the neighbors go home ?
The, Feast
Nobody knew just when the feast began.
Nobody set the table, for there was no table
to set.
36 The Early Cave-men
But the women brought bowls they had made
out of hollow gourds.
Before the meat was half cooked everybody
was eating.
Some ate thick slices that
had been partly roasted on
the sharp sticks.
Others chewed raw meat
from bones which they
tore from the carcass.
The children sucked strips of
raw meat and picked the
scraps from the ground.
When the women lifted the ribs out of the
hot ashes, they found a nice gravy.
They dipped up the gravy in their gourd
bowls and gave it to the men.
Strongarm dipped some up with a bone dip-
. per that had been made from the skull of
a cave-bear.
Then he tore out a rib from the carcass and
gnawed the meat from the bone.
The Feast
38 The Early Cave-men
They all held what they ate in their hands.
They all ate very fast, and they ate a long
time.
At last their hunger was satisfied,
and they began to crack the mar-
row bones and scrape the marrow
out with sharp sticks and bones.
When the men became tired of suck-
ing the bones, they tossed them to
the women and children.
Then the men joined in a hunting-
dance while the women beat time
with the bones.
The women chanted, too, as they beat
A marrow
spoon time.
They danced until all became tired and the
visitors were ready to go.
Then Firekeeper loaded pieces of meat upon
the backs of the women, and all gathered
around to see the neighbors start home.
As soon as they were gone the Cave-men
prepared to rest for the night.
The Feast 39
THINGS TO DO
Take turns in doing something that the Cave-men did at
the feast, and let the children guess what it is.
Find some good marrow bones and crack them.
Find out whether we use marrow bones for anything
to-day.
If you think that you can, make something of the mar-
row bones.
Can you think why bones are filled with marrow ?
See if you can beat time with marrow bones so as to help
some one do his work.
See if you can make dishes of pumpkins, squashes, mel-
ons, cucumbers, or anything else that you can find.
VII
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
If you were going to live in a cave that had been taken
from a wild animal, what would you do to make it
comfortable ?
What do you think the Cave-men did?
What do you think the Cave-men found in the cave?
What kind of beds do you think they made ?
If they built a fire inside the cave do you think that
the smoke would pass out ?
Where do you think that they would make their fire-
place ? Where do we make our fireplaces ?
How do we keep the smoke from getting into our
rooms?
40 The Early Cave-men
How the Cave IV as Made Ready for a
Winter Home
The morning after the feast Firekeeper built
a fire inside the cave.
Then all went in to look at the cave, but the
smoke soon drove them out.
So Firekeeper raked out the fire with a branch
of spruce wood and waited for the smoke
to go out.
Then the Cave-men took firebrands and crept
inside, and stood up and walked around.
Bones of animals were strewn upon the rough
rocky floor.
Pieces of rock shaped like icicles hung from
the roof and stood up from some parts of
the floor.
Drops of water trickled down from the roof.
Layers of rock jutted out from the walls like
shelves.
The Cave-men walked through the large dry
cavern until they came to a narrow passage.
How the Cave Was Made Ready for a Home 41
Then they stopped to see where it led.
They peered into the darkness, but saw
nothing.
They listened, but heard no sound.
Since no one wanted to creep through the pas-
sage, they turned back toward the mouth.
The dry cavern near the mouth was large
enough for a home, so the Cave-men
thought no more of the narrow passage.
Before the men went out of the cave they
picked up armfuls of bones for weapons.
They carried them out by the fire and sat
down and worked upon them.
The women cleared away piles of bones, so
as to make a smooth place to sleep.
Then they went out among the trees to find
something to cover the floor.
They broke off small branches of evergreens
and carried them into the cave.
The children brought armfuls of moss and
leaves, and scattered them over the hard
rocky floor.
42 The Early Cave-men
When the beds were finished they made a
fireplace.
They dug a shallow hole just outside the cave
and walled it around with stones.
Perhaps you would not call this a good fire-
place, but it was the best fireplace any one
had at that time.
' ' The children brought armfuls of moss and leaves
THINGS TO DO
Visit a cave when you have a chance to do so.
Collect pictures of caves.
Model a cave in clay or make one in the ground.
Find out what caves are used for nowadays.
Make a fireplace out of doors and cook something in
the hot ashes.
How the Cave-men Bored Holes 43
VIII
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
What do you think the beads you wear are made of?
Can you think how they were made?
What do you think the Cave-men used for beads ?
What did they wear for ornaments besides beads?
Can you think how they bored holes through their
ornaments ?
What does the carpenter use to bore holes with ?
How does the woodpecker bore holes ?
How the Cave-men Bored Ploles Through
Their Trophies
For several days after the feast the Cave-men
did not hunt.
As long as they had meat they stayed near
the cave and worked upon their trophies.
They were trying to bore holes through the
teeth and claws, so as to string them and
wear them for ornaments.
Strongarm was working upon the big sabre
tooth.
44 The Early Cave-men
When he had worked for some time, the
Cave-men gathered around to see how deep
a hole he had made.
Some of the men said that he never could do
it, but others thought that it could be
done.
Strongarm was tired, so he rested a while and
talked to the people about boring holes.
He told what he had heard when he was a
boy.
All the grown people had heard what he said
many times, but they were always ready
to hear it again.
Besides, they wished their children to hear it.
So old and young gathered around to hear
what Strongarm said.
They all looked and listened as Strongarm
showed the children how to make holes
with awls.
As he spoke, the people picked up thorns or
sharp bones and punched them through
some object.
How the Cave-men Bored Holes
45
Then Strongarm showed them a bone awl
that he had made to punch holes through
seeds and thin shells.
But they could not punch
holes through teeth
and claws, so they
learned to twirl the
awls in their hands.
Strongarm did not know
how people learned to
do this, but he thought
that they learned it
when at play.
He took a round stick
that had a sharp point
and twirled it back and forth on his thigh.
The other Cave-men twirled, too, for they
wanted to show the children how to bore
holes.
The children soon learned how to do it.
Then Strongarm told them of a kind of wood
whose surface was coated with sand.
He took a round slick that had
a sharp point and twirled
it on his thigh ' '
46 The Early Cave-men
He told of awls and spindles that were made
of this wood and used to bore holes through
teeth and claws.
Such wood as this could not always be found,
so people used other stems.
They tried to find something that was hard
enough to bore the teeth and claws.
Sometimes they used sand with a spindle of
wood.
At other times they fastened a hard flint point
at the end of a wooden spindle.
When they used the sand in boring, they
no longer twirled the spindle on their
thighs.
They could not use the sand unless they held
the spindle upright.
Strongarm showed them how it was done,
and all the people tried it.
It was hard work for one person to twirl the
spindle steadily.
So they began to twirl in an easier way which
they had learned when they were young.
How the Cave-men Bored Holes 47
Strongarm and Sharpeyes worked together,
and the others worked in the same way.
When Strongarm's hands were near the foot
of the spindle, Sharpeyes' hands were near
the top.
As Sharpeyes' hands began to move down
the spindle, Strongarm began again to
twirl at the top.
Sometimes they were awkward in moving
their hands.
Then the spindle did not work so well, so
they tried to keep the same time with their
hands.
They worked together best when they sang
as they worked, and the singing kept them
from getting tired.
Once when they stopped to look at their work,
Strongarm picked up a strap that was on
the ground.
He carelessly wound it once around the
spindle, keeping hold of one end of the
strap.
48 The Early Cave-men
Then Sharpeyes picked up the other end of
the strap, and Strongarm jerked the end
that he held.
They did this a few min-
utes just in play, but at
last they began to do it
in earnest.
Strongarm placed the end
of the spindle in the
shallow hole that he had
made in the sabre tooth.
Then he and Sharpeyes
began to twirl the spin-
dle with the strap.
x But there was nothing
it^ to keep the spindle
A strap drill weighted with stones from f 3 1 1 1 n Q~
So they tried to hold it with a piece of wood.
They made a shallow hole in the wood to fit
the top of the spindle.
Then while Strongarm and Sharpeyes pulled
the strap, a boy held the spindle in place.
How the Cave-men Bored Holes
49
Soon the spindle was working steadily, and
the hole was becoming deeper and deeper.
When they had bored a hole halfway through
the tooth, they began to bore from the oppo-
site side.
All the Cave-men came up to see them work.
As soon as the hole was made, Strongarm
took a cord of braided sinew and hung the
sabre tooth at his side.
After that he always wore
the trophy.
Sometimes he used it for a
knife and sometimes for
a saw.
Every one who saw this
rare trophy knew thats
Strongarm was a brave
man
A bow drill
THINGS TO DO
Make a collection of things that you can use for awls.
Find something that will do for the spindle of a drill.
Show how to drill a hole by twirling the spindle or awl
on the thigh.
50 The Early Cave-men
Show how one person can twirl an upright spindle,
Show how two persons can twirl an upright spindle with
their hands.
Show how they can do it with a strap. Can you think
why stones are sometimes bound to the shaft of a
drill?
Look at the picture of the bow drill and see if you can
make one.
Draw a picture of the Cave-men working upon their
trophies.
IX
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
Think of as many tools and weapons as you can that
the Cave-men found ready to use.
What could they find to make into tools and weapons ?
Why did they not use large boards and metals ?
Why did they put handles on their tools and weapons?
Think of as many ways as you can of fastening handles
to tools and weapons.
Making New Weapons
The Cave-men liked their new home.
They were able to work better when they
were warm than when they were shiver-
ing with the cold.
Making New Weapons
51
They found more time to improve their tools
and weapons.
One day they began to make weapons of the
bones they found
in the cave.
Many of the bones
were good for
clubs.
Others were good for
handles of weap-
ons.
After the Cave-men
had sorted out the
bones that they
wanted, they went
to hunt stones
along the margin
of the stream. '
They Wanted StOneS " They made them into weapons'
that were good for hammers.
So they hunted for smooth, round stones that
were hard to break.
52 The Early Cave-men
They wanted other stones for knives, spears,
and axes.
So they hunted for stones that
broke with a sharp edge.
They struck the sharp edges
with hammer stones to see if
they crumbled under a heavy
blow.
When they found stones that
crumbled they threw them
away, but they kept the stones
that were tough and strong.
When they had chipped off a few
large flakes they carried the
rough stones to the cave.
There they made them into weapons.
They did not chip the hammer stones,
but fastened handles
" They chipped off a
few large flakes
"Some handles were long
bones that were large at the joint
to them.
Some handles were long
bones that were large at the joint.
Other handles were made of forked branches.
Making New Weapons
53
Sharpeyes found a hammer stone with a
groove around the center and
fastened a handle to it.
He cut a slender branch of a sap-
ling and bent it around the
groove.
Then he twisted the ends and held
them close, while he bound
them with rawhide.
The Cave-men liked this hammer
so well that they made other
hammers like it.
They made long handles for their
knife points, so that they be-
came real spears.
They put handles on the spear-
heads in many ways.
Sometimes they bound
the spearhead be-
tween the split end
of a long stick, and covered the binding
with pitch.
" They put handles
on the spearheads in
many ways
"The Cave-men liked this ham-
mer so well that they made other
hammers like if
54 The Early Cave-men
Sometimes they drove the spearhead into the
soft part of a large
horn.
Sometimes they drove
" Other handles were made of it intO the pith of
forked branches " 11
a branch.
They always tried to bind the handle so that it
would stay, for they sometimes got hurt
when a handle came off.
THINGS TO DO
Find stones that will make good hammers. Tell why
they are good for hammers.
Find stones that are good for knives, axes, and spears.
Tell why they are good for such weapons.
Find bones, horns, or sticks that are good for handles.
See if you can put handles on hammers or spears.
Notice how handles are put on tools nowadays.
Show as many ways as you can of fastening handles to
tools and weapons.
See if you can find a tool whose handle is fastened in a
way that the Cave-men did not use.
Tell where you can find the best stones for tools and
weapons.
Why do people not use stones for tools nowadays?
Find out what small stones are used for to-day.
How do you use stones?
How the Women Dressed Sabre-tooth's Skin
55
X
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
What do you think the women were doing while the
men were working on their weapons ?
What tools and weapons did the women need ? Do you
think that they made them themselves ?
, ~->
How the women dressed skim
How the IV omen Dressed Sabre-tooth 's Skin
While the men worked upon their trophies and
weapons, the women, too, were working.
They had gone to the river banks to get stones
to make into tools.
56 The Early Cave-men
They were ready to dress
old Sabre-tooth's skin,
so they hunted for stones
that would make good
scrapers.
|P They shaped the stones
by chipping the^n with
one side of scraper hammer stones, but they
did not make handles for them.
If the rough edges hurt their hands, they
wrapped the scraper in a piece of skin.
When the scrapers were ready, they found a
smooth spot where they stretched out
Sabre-tooth's skin.
Then they made little slits all around the
edge and drove little pegs
through them.
They scraped off thin shav-
ings from the inner side,
but they were careful not
to spoil the skin by cut-
ting through it. opposlte side ofscraper
How the Women Dressed Sabre-tooth's Skin 57
When they had a smooth surface, they rubbed
it with fat so as to make it soft.
Sometimes they chewed the hard parts to
make them soft.
When the skin was smooth and soft, they
dried it in the sun.
Then they took it into the cave.
Sabre-tooth's skin was too large to wear every
day, but Strongarm wore it on feast days.
THINGS TO DO
Show how the women stretched the skin upon the ground.
Show how they scraped it and rubbed it with fat.
Find a stone or a shell that will make a good scraper.
Get a skin at the meat market and see if you can dress it.
Name things that you wear that are made of fur.
Name things made of fur that men and women wear.
F^ind as many other uses of fur as you can.
Where does the fur that we use come from ? Ask some
one to tell you how it is prepared for use.
Can you think why fur is more expensive now than it
used to be? Why should we be careful about kill-
ing wild animals ?
Name the things you have that are made of leather.
Visit a tannery and ask some one to tell you about it.
Draw a picture of the women dressing Sabre-tooth's skin.
58 The Early Cave-men
XI
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
Why did the Cave-men need more clothing than the
Tree-dwellers had ?
Do you know whether they had cloth? What could
they use instead of cloth ?
How do you think they sewed?
How many ways do you know of lacing up your shoes?
What did the Cave-men use instead of scissors ?
What do you think they used for needles and thread ?
How the Cave-men Made Clothing
During the summer the Cave-men did not
wear much clothing.
They dressed about the same as the Tree-
dwellers.
When they were in the cave, they did not
need clothing, for it was always warm in
the cave.
But, as winter came on, they were cold when
they went out to hunt.
Sometimes they tried to keep warm by run-
ning, or by swinging their arms.
How the Cave-men Made Clothing 59
The skins that they wore for trophies also
helped them to keep warm.
But, as it grew colder, they began
to wear larger skins.
If they could not find a skin that was
large enough, they pieced small
skins together.
Where we would use scissors, they
used a stone knife.
Where we would use a needle, they
used a bone awl.
They trimmed off the ragged edges " H™
and punched holes in the places they
wished to sew.
Then they laced them together with
sinew thread, as you lace up your
shoes.
They fastened the garment over the
I shoulder by tying it with strong
•J straps.
fj Sometimes they fastened their gar-
A buckle ments with buckles.
A bone
60 The Early Cave-men
These skin garments covered only part of the
body, but they helped the Cave-men keep
warm and strong.
THINGS TO DO
See if you can find things such as the Cave-men used
to make a dress for your doll.
Find as many ways as you can of sewing by using an
awl instead of a needle.
See if you can find sinew or tough roots and grasses for
making thread.
XII
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
Can you think why the Cave-men lived in clans instead
of in families as we do ?
How many men do you think lived in the fire clan?
How many women ? How many children ?
What could the children do to help their fathers and
mothers ?
How do you think the children played ?
The Fire Clan
Ever since the Tree-dwellers had learned to
use fire, there had been a fire clan on the
wooded hills.
The Fire Clan 61
There were many other clans, too.
Some of them were named after wild animals,
and some were named after plants.
All the people lived in clans, for it was the
best way to live at that time.
There were enough men in each clan to pro-
tect it from wild beasts.
There were enough women to do the house-
hold work.
There were many children, too.
But there was room enough in the cave for all,
and they lived as if they were one large
family.
Each child in the clan was given a name,
which was changed when he became full
grown.
The name of one of the girls was Brighteyes.
Brighteyes called every man in the cave her
father, and she called every woman her
mother.
All of the children were her brothers and
sisters.
62
The Early Cave-men
She did not have any cousins.
She did not have any uncles and aunts.
At that time no one spoke of uncles and aunts.
Brighteyes used to play with her brothers and
sisters, and she used to work, too.
She tried to do what the grown people did.
Sometimes the children went with their
mothers to hunt for roots and
nuts.
But sometimes they had to stay
at home to take care of the
babies.
Brighteyes liked to play with the
babies.
She would hunt for bright and
shining playthings, which she
strung on spruce root or a
kind of tough grass.
Then she would dangle them over
the heads of the babies and
iB^' watch them as they laughed
and crowed.
A skin cradle
The Fire Clan
63
rocked the babies in their cradles
Sometimes the girls made rattles of gourds,
which the babies played with for a long
time.
Sometimes they carried the babies on their
backs until they got very tired.
Then they put them in their skin cradles again
and hung them on the branches of a tree,
While they rocked the babies in their cradles
they sang them little lullabies.
THINGS TO DO
Make some playthings for a baby that you know.
See if you can make a skin cradle for your doll.
64 The Early Cave-men
XIII
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
How do you think the Cave-men spent the winter ?
What kind of food do you think they ate ?
What do you eat in the winter ?
Why could not the Cave-men have as many kinds of
food as you have ?
Do you think you could stand it to go out in the cold
dressed as the Cave-men were dressed ?
How the Cave-men Spent the Winter
Perhaps you think that the Cave-men spent
a dreary winter.
It might be dreary for you if you had to spend
it that way.
But the Cave-men knew nothing about such
homes as we have.
They lived in the very best home that any-
body had at that time.
That is why they were satisfied.
When the weather was pleasant they went
out to hunt, but they never had to go far.
How the Cave-men Spent the Winter 65
The wild animals were not yet afraid of men,
and so they did not try to get away.
By using their spears and stone axes, the
Gave-men got plenty of meat to eat.
But they got so hungry for something green,
that they ate the green moss that they found
in the stomach of the reindeer.
Sometimes they ate the inner bark of trees.
Sometimes they found nuts in squirrels' nests,
but most of the food that they ate was
meat.
In the coldest weather they did not have even
meat, for it was not safe to hunt in the
biting cold.
They stayed in the cave for days at a time
without a taste of food.
Sometimes they were so hungry that they
chewed hard skins, and they even sucked
dry bones.
But they managed in some way to live through
these cold days, until the weather became
warmer again.
66 The Early Cave-men
THINGS TO DO
Think of the coldest and stormiest day you have ever
seen, and draw a picture showing how it looked.
Tell a story of what Brighteyes did during a cold day.
Tell a story of what the Cave-men did one pleasant day
in the winter.
XIV
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
Have you ever noticed the bark of a birch tree ?
Do you know what birch bark is used for ?
Why is birch bark better to make into baskets and boats
than the bark of other trees ?
Can you think of a way of taking birch bark from a tree
without splitting the bark ?
Have you ever seen bark that has been mended ?
What do you think the Cave-men used birch bark for ?
Why do you not have the right to peel birch bark from
any tree that you see ?
Are there any birch trees that you do have the right to
take bark from ?
What the Cave-men Got from the Birch
Trees
When the snow began to melt, the Cave-men
were glad ; for it was warm enough to leave
the cave.
What the Cave-men Got from the Birch Trees 67
They spent their days on the wooded hills
where many birch trees grew.
All the Cave-men liked to go to these trees.
They liked to peel off the silvery white bark
that hung from the older trees in strips.
They wanted to get the tough inner bark that
was under the smooth outer coat.
They chewed the inner bark the way you
chew gum.
Sometimes they bit into the bark with their
teeth, and sometimes they cut it with a
stone knife.
Then they peeled it off in strips with their
fingers.
At first they peeled it carelessly and gave no
thought to the width of the strips.
But one day Firekeeper peeled off a wide
strip.
There were narrow strips for her to eat, so
she kept the wide strip for a while.
One day she began to shape it with her hands
and to fold in the edges.
88 The Early Cave-men
After trying for a long time, she made it into
a basket.
She did not cut the bark, but shaped it by
making folds in each corner and fastening
them with sharp thorns.
She gathered winter buds into the basket and
carried them home to the cave.
' ' This basket did not last very long ' '
In a few days the thorns fell out, so Fire-
keeper cut the bark and sewed the folds.
But this basket did not last very long.
The edges split and Firekeeper's basket was
soon worn out.
One morning she went with the other women
to get birch bark for another basket.
What the Cave-men Got from the Birch Trees 69
They had no trouble in cutting the bark and
in loosening the edges with their fingers.
But as soon as they tried to peel it, the bark
began to split.
So they tried to press evenly with their fin-
gers against the under side, but still many
strips split.
Finally Firekeeper picked up the rib of a deer
and pressed it under the loosened edge.
Then she carefully pulled the ends of the rib
and peeled off a large piece of bark.
Then all the women tried to peel bark by
using the rib of a deer.
They carried the bark that they peeled to the
cave, and sat down by the fire to make
baskets.
Nobody was satisfied with Firekeeper's bas-
ket, for the corners were rough and the
edges split.
They found that by cutting into the sides of
the bark they could fold it so as to make
smoother corners.
70 The Early Cave-men
So they cut and folded the bark, then sewed
the folds with spruce root.
Then they hunted for something to bind
around the edge,
so as to strengthen
the basket.
Some of the women
made rims of tough
grass, and some
"The women always put rims on their . .....
baskets after that" USCU WllloW StemS.
These were the first rims they had ever made,
but the women always put rims on their
baskets after that.
THINGS TO DO
If there is a birch tree growing in your neighbor hood, go
and see it.
Notice whether it is a good shade tree. Does the bark on
the young trees hang in strips as it does on the older
trees ?
If you have the right to do so, peel off enough birch bark
to make a basket, a boat, or a frame.
When you visit a museum, find as many things as you
can that are made of birch bark.
Find pictures of things that are made of birch bark.
The Flood 71
XV
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
When the snow melts in the spring, what happens to
the river or stream in your neighborhood ?
How does the melted snow get to the river ?
Have you ever heard of rivers that are under the
ground ?
If such a river-bed were dry, what would it be ?
Have you ever seen a ravine? Is it anything like a
cave?
If the roof of a cave fell in, what would the cave
become ?
If the sides of a ravine became worn down, what would
it become ?
Think of ways in which the cave might be flooded when
the snow melts in the spring.
Do you know atlything about the floods that we have
nowadays ?
The Flood
Winter was almost gone.
The air was getting mild and soft.
The snow was beginning to melt, and the
river was rising.
All along the banks there were mountains of
snow and ice.
72 The Early Cave-men
H uge masses of floating ice were carried along
by the current.
The Cave-men were watching the swiftly
rising river.
They feared that there might be a flood.
The children were playing in the melting
snow and wading in the water.
Sharpeyes had just come from the ravine.
This ravine was usually dry in summer, but
in winter it was filled with snow.
Now it was a deep, dark stream, with black
and threatening water.
All the ravines were pouring their waters into
the river, which was rising rapidly.
Where the banks were steep the river was
narrow.
There the water was deep, and large masses
of snow and ice were carried along by the
strong current.
At the drinking-place the banks were low.
There the river was wider and the current
was not so deep and strong.
The Flood
73
Small masses of snow and ice were carried
along by the current, but the larger masses
became lodged on the bed of the stream.
In this way the river was forming a dam.
"All day long the Cave-men watched the river "
All day long the Cave-men watched the river,
but at night they went back to the cave.
There were dark clouds in the sky; so Fire-
keeper covered the fire with ashes, and
they got ready for the night.
74 The Early Cave-men
All but Firekeeper were soon asleep
As she kept watch that night there was some-
thing that troubled her.
It was not the roaring river.
It was not the pouring rain.
She had heard those sounds before.
It was a sound that was new to her, and she
wondered what it meant.
It seemed to come from deep down in the
cave, and sounded like rumbling water.
She did not wish to frighten the clan, so she
let them all sleep.
She listened again.
She still heard the roaring of the river.
She still heard the pouring rain.
Below it all she heard that strange muffled
sound.
It was coming nearer and nearer.
She felt water trickling over her bed of moss
and leaves.
At first she thought it was the rain.
She peered into the darkness, but saw nothing.
The Flood 75
She felt of the running water.
It was coming from the cave.
Then she called Strongarm.
He quickly roused the people, and they hur-
ried out of the cave.
A moment more and it would have been too
late.
The water rushed up from the dark narrow
passage and out through the mouth of the
cave.
There was water everywhere.
The frightened Cave-men ran for the hills.
They climbed trees, where they stayed through
the long dark night.
When the rays of the sun streaked the sky in
the east, the Cave-men were still up in
the trees.
They looked out over the valley, but they
scarcely knew the place.
All the land except the hills was covered by
the flood.
All the thickets had disappeared.
The Flood
The Flood 77
Only the tops of the trees stood above the
water.
The river was dammed with snow and ice.
The water dashed against the dam, but it
could not break its way through.
It was forced back; it was overflowing the
banks; it was flooding the land.
Nobody had breakfast that morning.
Nobody had a mouthful to eat all that day.
All the Cave-men watched the flood from
the trees.
They heard the ice when it began to crack.
They heard the roaring of the river as it beat
upon the dam.
They knew that it was wearing its way
through.
About midday there was a loud crash.
The Cave-men then knew that the dam was
broken.
They saw the water pour through the dam
and sweep everything in its path.
Before sunset the flood was gone.
78 The Early Cave-men
Most of the ice and snow had been swept
away.
The Cave-men were glad to come down from
the trees, and they hurried to see what had
happened to their cave.
THINGS TO DO
Notice a river or brook after a heavy rain or the melting
of the snow.
See if you can tell where the current of the river is.
Notice the difference in the current in the wide and nar-
row parts of the river.
Find the parts of the valley that would be flooded if the
river overflowed its banks.
Notice the little holes that are made in the ground by the
rain.
See if you can find a ravine made by the rain.
Model a small river valley showing some of the work of
the rain.
Change the little pot-holes so as to make them into caves.
Change the caves so as to make them into ravines.
Change a ravine so as to make a valley.
Tell a story of how a pot-hole became a valley.
Show in your sand box the way the cave was flooded.
What the Cave-men Lost in the Flood 79
XVI
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
Do you think that the Cave-men can live in their cave
when they go back ?
What do you think they lost in the flood ?
What did the Cave-men prize most of all ?
Can you tell why they thought the fire was alive?
IV hat the Cave-men Lost in the Flood
The Cave-men were anxious about their home,
so they hastened to the cave.
Their bare feet left clear tracks in the layer
of fine mud.
But they were too anxious about the fire to
think of such things as tracks in the mud.
They did not know much about the fire or
the flood, but they thought that they both
were alive.
They feared that the fire had been driven
away.
Vet they hoped to find a few live coals that
they could kindle into a flame.
80 The Early Cave-men
But not even a stone was left on the spot to
mark the place where the fireplace had
been.
Everything had been swept away by the flood.
Firekeeper searched in vain for a spark.
When at last she knew that the fire was gone,
she wrung her hands and wailed.
The people joined in Firekeeper's cries until
Strongarm comforted them.
Strongarm hoped that their neighbors still
had fire and sent Sharpeyes to find out.
Then he crept through the mouth of the cave
to see what had happened there.
The water had gone down in the large cavern,
but it was still rumbling below.
The floor of the cave was wet and slippery
and covered with fine mud.
Slowly Strongarm groped his way through
the dark and damp cavern.
He wanted to find Sabre-tooth's skin.
He moved his hands over the floor of the
cave and into each corner and crevice.
What the Cave-men Lost in the Flood 81
But no trace of the skin could he find.
Then the Cave-men hunted for their weapons,
but they, too, had been carried away.
The Cave-men had lost all they had in the
flood.
When they saw Sharpeyes coming they went
to meet him, but he brought them no good
news.
There was no more fire on the wooded hills.
There was sorrow everywhere.
THINGS TO DO
Show what the Cave-men did when they went back to the
cave. Draw a picture of them.
Tell a story of what you think happened at one of the
other caves.
XVII
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
How do you think the Cave-men will get fire ?
Where can fire be found without making it ?
If the Cave-men had seen a place where there were
natural fires, do you think they would remember
where it w as ?
What do you think happened to the wild animals dur-
ing the flood?
82 The Early Cave-men
The Council
The cave was too damp to live in for several
days after the flood.
The Cave-men camped at its mouth and
waited for it to dry.
Not an animal came near them during that
time.
Many animals had been drowned in the flood.
Many more had escaped to higher lands.
The Cave-men were safe for a time, but they
had to live on bark and roots.
They knew that the animals would return, so
they began to make new weapons.
It was well that they made them as soon as
they did, for the animals soon came back.
At first the animals kept away from the cave,
but when they no longer saw the fire, they
began to come up nearer.
Then the Cave-men were frightened.
Some of them wanted to leave the cave and
live as the Tree-dwellers had lived.
The Council 83
But Strongarm wanted to stay in the cave and
to keep all the people in the clan together.
He knew that they could not keep together
unless they had fire again.
So he talked with the bravest men, and they
decided to hold a council.
Messengers were sent to call all the people
to a meeting at the fire clan's cave.
By midday they had assembled0
They had not held many councils.
They were not used to obeying.
At first there was great confusion, and loud
and boisterous talking.
Each had a plan of his own0
But soon they became more quiet and began
to listen to the wisest men.
All eyes were soon turned toward an old man
who had been their mightiest hunter.
But now he was getting old, and his strength
was beginning to fail.
The old man arose in the silence, and thus he
spoke to his people :
"The old man arose in the silence, and thus he spoke to his people
The Council 85
" Many years have we lived on these hillsides.
Our fathers lived here before us.
They lived many years without fire.
They lived, and they worked, and they waited.
The fire god came among them.
He gave them burning branches.
He told them they were his children.
He asked them to feed him daily.
We have always tried to obey him.
We have always fed him daily.
He has given us his protection.
But the water god was angry.
He came in all his fury.
He drove us from our dwelling.
He rushed upon our fire god.
He drove him far away.
Now the water god has gone.
Our fire god may return.
He may be near us now.
We must search till we surely find him,
We must bring him home again."
For a moment the old man was silent.
86 The Early Cave-men
He waited for some one to speak.
At last Strongarm asked the old man if he
knew where the fire god now lived.
To this the old man responded:
'That no one knows truly.
I have heard that he dwells in the dry wood.
But he seems not to hear our voices.
I have heard that he dwells in the mountains.
Our fathers have been to the mountains.
They were hunting the musk sheep and the
marmot.
One night they were tired and hungry.
They were seeking a place of refuge.
They saw a light in the distance.
They ran to it.
They found the flaming fire.
It gave them its protection.
I have heard there are dark chasms.
I have heard that the fire springs from them.
I think I can find these mountains.
But my steps are getting feeble.
I need the help of a young man.
The Council 87
Who will go on this long hard journey?"
Then Sharpeyes stepped forward and said
that he would go with the old man.
Everybody knew that Sharpeyes was a brave
young man, and so it was agreed that he
should be the one to go.
THINGS TO DO
Think of the old man as he talked to the people.
Think of Sharpeyes as he stepped forward and said that
he would go.
Draw one of these pictures.
Play holding a council.
XVIII
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
When you go traveling where do you stay at night ?
Where do you think the old man and Sharpeyes
stayed ?
Where do you get food when you travel ? Where would
the Cave-men get food ?
What new clothing do you need before you go? What
clothing do you think the Cave-men needed to get
ready to go ?
Did the Cave-men need anything that you do not need ?
Why?
88 The Early Cave-men
The IVay to the Fire Country
The Cave-men knew that the fire country
was far away from the wooded hills.
They knew that the journey was a dangerous
one, and that the old man and Sharpeyes
might never return.
So they did all they could to help them pre-
pare for the journey.
Much of the way was
rocky, and they knew
their bare feet would
blister.
So they tried to make
something to protect
How the sandal was put on the foot their feet.
They had not yet learned to make shoes and
stockings, but they had often bound grass
about their feet.
They had even learned to make braided grass
sandals.
They braided the grass, then sewed it.
The Way to the Fire Country
89
^ j£ P
made new
sandals of thick,
tough skin'
Braided grass sandals were good while they
lasted, but they soon wore out.
So they made new sandals of thick,
tough skin.
Part of the way was through thorny
thickets, so they needed some-
thing to protect their legs.
They had not yet learned to make
trousers or leggins, but they cut
strips of skin to wind around
their legs.
Skins that were worn as clothing by day
served as blankets by night.
They dared not burden themselves with food,
but trusted to killing game on the way.
So they were careful to take their best spears
and axes.
They knew that their
weapons might
break, so they took
tools and straps
1 . i The tool bag for carrying tools and
to mend them. straps
90 The Early Cave-men
Everybody helped the old man and Sharp-
eyes.
Everybody arose early the morning they went
away.
Sharpeyes and the old man put on their new
clothing, and the women brought them
food to eat.
As the old man slung a hollow gourd over
his shoulder, Firekeeper came up and gave
him a skin bag.
Nobody knew what the bag was for until
Firekeeper showed them that it would
hold water.
The old man was glad to take it and leave the
hollow gourd at home.
Then the old man and Sharpeyes took leave
of their kinfolk and started out on the long
journey.
THINGS TO DO
Make a pair of sandals of something that you can find
growing out of doors.
Draw a picture of the Cave-men helping the old man
a,nd Sharpeyes get ready.
''Then the old man and Sharpeyes took leave of their kinfolk and started out on
the long journey"
92 The Early Cave-men
XIX
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
How do you think Firekeeper made the skin water bag ?
Where did the Cave-men get water? When did they
need to carry water ?
Name as many things as you can that they could use
for carrying water before they learned to make
water vessels.
What do we use to carry water ? Where does the water
that we drink come from ?
How Firekeeper Made the Skin Water Bag
The Cave-men watched the old man and
Sharpeyes until they passed out of sight.
Then the men went out on the hills, while
the women and children dug roots near
the cave.
After a while they climbed a large oak tree
and sat on its strong spreading branches.
Then Brighteyes asked Firekeeper about the
bag, and how she happened to make it.
All the children liked to hear Firekeeper
talk.
How Firekeeper Made the Skin Water Bag 93
She often told them of the brave deeds of
their fathers.
She often showed them how to make useful
things that their mothers knew how to
make.
They all wanted to hear her now, so they
tried to get close beside her.
She told them of Sharptooth and the way she
got water by drinking it from the stream.
Then she told how Bodo got fire, and how
people began to live around the fireplace.
As soon as people learned to work together,
they often went far away from the stream.
When the women went berrying far from the
river, they became thirsty before they got
home.
One day they found water in a hollow gourd
that had been filled by the rain.
They took the gourd with them when they
went home and used it for carrying water.
Afterward they learned to hollow out gourds
and to use them for water vessels.
94 The Early Cave-men
Sometimes they left part of the vine on the
gourd and used the vine for a carrying
strap.
When they pulled the gourd off from the
vine, they had to make a
strap for the gourd.
Sometimes the gourd
broke and spilled
the water, so they
wove a coarse net-
ting of wild vines
' ' They wove a coarse netting of and C O V C F C Q it
vines and covered the gourd
with thar with that.
All the children had seen gourd water vessels
and had used them many times.
Brighteyes had learned to make the netting,
so Firekeeper did not stop to show how
it was made.
All were anxious to hear about the skin bag,
so Firekeeper went on with her story.
She told them that she had been thinking of
the dry rocky country for several days.
How Firekeeper Made the Skin Water Bag 95
She knew that the men must pass through it,
and she feared they would die of thirst.
She was afraid to trust the gourd water ves-
sel at such a time as this.
She wished the gourd were as strong as skin.
Then she wondered if she could make a skin
bag.
The next day when she was skinning a hyena
she happened to think of a way to do it.
Instead of cutting the skin straight down the
breast line, she tried another way.
After cutting off the feet and the head, she
loosened the skin and slipped it off almost
whole.
She scraped it and softened it with fat, and
tied up the legs with straps.
Then she fastened a strap to the bag.
It was finished just in time for the men to
take it with them.
The story was now ended, so the women and
children got down from the tree and started
back to the cave.
96 The Early Cave-men
THINGS TO DO
Think of Firekeeper and the children as they sat in the
tree. Draw a picture of them.
Find as many things as you can that the Cave-men might
have used to carry water.
Make a water vessel of a gourd, a melon, or something
that you can find.
Perhaps you can ornament your water vessel.
Draw a picture of the skin water bag.
xx
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
What do you think the Cave-men will do while the old
man and Sharpeyes are gone ?
How will they keep the animals out of the cave ?
Why Firekeeper Made a Door
The day after the old man and Sharpeyes
went away, a cave-bear came up toward
the cave.
The women sent the children into the cave
and grasped their weapons to help the
men.
The bear turned and went away.
Why Firekeeper Made a Door 97
But the Cave-men were afraid that he would
come back.
They could defend themselves at the mouth
of the cave, but they had to go out to get
something to eat.
They were afraid to leave the children alone
for fear the cave-bear might get them.
At last they thought of shutting them up in
the cave.
They had never seen nor heard of a door, but
they knew how to heap up piles of stones.
So they rolled up large stones and piled them
up until part of the entrance was blocked.
They did not want to wall up the whole
mouth, for the stones were too heavy to
move every day.
But they wanted to close the mouth of the
cave so as to keep the cave-bear out.
Everybody tried to find a way to do it, and
at last Firekeeper got an idea for a door.
Perhaps you would not call what she made a
door, but it was a good door for that time.
, t!
"They rushed upon him with their knives and spears"
Why Firekeeper Made a Door 99
Firekeeper made it of tough branches.
She stuck several large branches into the
ground and wove smaller ones among them.
When the door was finished, the women
pulled up the large branches and carried
the wicker-work door to the cave.
They set it between the stones so as to close
the mouth.
After that they shut the children in the cave
when they went out to hunt.
But the cave-bear still prowled around.
When the women came home from the woods
one day, the cave-bear was at the door.
They rushed upon him with their knives and
spears.
They were torn and bruised by the cave-bear,
but he never troubled them any more,
THINGS TO DO
If you have a playhouse, try to make a wicker-work door
for it.
Tell a story of what the children did when they saw the
cave-bear through the holes in the door.
Model a cave-bear in clay.
100 The Early Cave-men
XXI
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
Can you think what kind of a place the fire country is ?
Can you tell where we get oil and gas to burn ? If a
natural oil well should take fire, what would hap-
pen?
Have you ever seen a volcano ?
The Stranger That Came Toward the Cave
Many days passed, and each day the Cave-
men missed the fire more and more.
They missed the old man and Sharpeyes.
They hoped they would soon come home.
But as the days went by and they did not
come, the Cave-men feared they would
never return.
One day about sunset they went into the cave.
As Firekeeper was fastening the door of the
cave, she saw a stranger coming.
She called the others to look.
They hoped they would see their friends, but
this man seemed a stranger.
He was hardly able to walk.
The Stranger That Came TowarcT the Cave 101
His garments were torn and tattered.
His limbs were bruised and bleeding.
As the Cave-men looked in silence, he sank
exhausted to the ground.
Then the Cave-men gathered around him.
They raised him up and looked into his face.
They could scarcely believe what they saw.
It was Sharpeyes.
No wonder they did not know him.
He had been one of their bravest hunters.
He had left them young and happy, but now
he looked old and haggard.
He seemed to be crushed with sorrow.
They carried him into the cave and bathed
his tired feet.
They dressed his wounds.
At last he moved, and they spoke to him.
They asked about the old man.
They asked if he had found fire.
But Sharpeyes could not answer.
He fell into a deep sleep, and he was still
sleeping long after the morning sun arose.
"They carried him into the cave
The Journey to the Fire Country 103
THINGS TO DO
Show how the Cave-men acted when they saw the
stranger coming toward the cave.
Show how they helped Sharpeyes to the cave.
Draw a picture showing the part that you like best.
XXII
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
What do you think the Cave-men will do while Sharp-
eyes is sleeping ?
Why will everybody on the wooded hills want to hear
his story ?
What do you think his story will be ?
The Journey to the Fire Country
Before sunrise Strongarm had sent word to
all the people on the hills that Sharpeyes
had returned.
He told them to meet at the fire clan's cave.
All were anxious to hear Sharpeyes' story.
Some of the Cave-men still hoped that the
old man would come with fire.
But others feared he would never return.
About noon Sharpeyes awoke.
104 The Early Cave-men
The women brought him water and meat.
When he had eaten, all the Cave-men were
there.
They gathered around Sharpeyes in silence
and grew sad as they looked in his face.
At length Sharpeyes roused up as if he were
waking from a dream.
He recalled the morning that he and the old
man had started out on their journey.
He spoke of the hope that filled their hearts.
He told of the long and difficult way and of
the trouble they had in crossing the moun-
tains.
At last they reached the dry, rocky country,
where the old man led the way.
He knew where to look for the cool mountain
springs, where they drank and filled the
water bag.
They journeyed onward many a day, climb-
ing steep and rocky heights.
At last they saw flames of fire in the distance.
They eagerly hastened to their journey's end.
"They watched the fire dart up toward the sky
106 The Early Cave-men
They were tired and hungry when they
reached the fire country, but their hearts
were filled with joy.
They were glad to be near the fire god once
more.
They watched the fire dart up toward the
sky.
It seemed to come from deep, dark chasms.
They stayed in the fire country several days.
After mending their weapons, they hunted a
while.
They cooked their meat in the flaming fire.
They slept on the ground beside the fire.
When they were rested they started home.
They lighted some punk and put it in their
tool bag.
Then they lighted their torches and set out
on their homeward way.
As they traveled they talked of their friends.
Their hearts were glad, for they hoped to
bring happiness to all the people on the
wooded hills.
The Return From the Fire Country 107
THINGS TO DO
Play that you are the Cave-men, and let some one tell
Sharpeyes' story while the others listen to it.
See if you can find some punk. Why do you think that
the men put punk in their tool bag?
Tell all that you know about the fire country. Draw a
picture of it.
XXIII
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
What do you think had become of the old man ?
How do you think the Cave-men will get fire ?
The Return From the Fire Country
While Sharpeyes was talking he seemed to
be hopeful.
But now his head fell, and he seemed unwill-
ing to speak.
Strongarm urged him to go on.
At length he continued the story, but his voice
was filled with sadness.
He told how the first few days of their jour-
ney everything went well.
108 The Early Cave-men
They stopped for nothing but food and sleep,
for they were anxious to get home.
No animal disturbed them on their way as
long as they had fire.
But one day the sky grew dark.
A heavy rainstorm beat down upon them and
put out the fire they carried,
"A big-nosed rhinoceros was watching them"
But since they had burning punk in the bag,
they thought they could light their torches
again.
They waited for the rain to cease.
Then they took the punk from the bag and
tried to light their torches.
The Return from the Fire Country 109
But the wood was damp, and it was hard work
to fan the spark into a flame.
They worked so busily that they thought of
nothing except the fire.
They did not see a big-nosed rhinoceros that
was watching them from among the trees.
He was almost upon them before they thought
of danger.
Then they quickly sprang for the tree, but
the old man lost his hold.
He fell and was trampled by the monstrous
beast.
The rhinoceros tore up the ground with his
horns until he had spent his rage.
Then he tramped off through the woods.
Sharpeyes paused again.
His voice choked, so that he could scarcely
speak.
At length he told how he slipped down from
the tree and found the old man dying.
He carried him out to a grassy spot, where
the old man died.
110 The Early Cave-men
Sharpeyes covered his body with leaves and
raised a mound of stones above it.
Then he went back to the tree and searched
for the lighted punk.
But there was no punk to be found.
The rhinoceros had trampled it under his
feet.
In vain Sharpeyes tried to find a spark.
When at last he knew that the fire was all
gone, he decided to go back to the fire
country.
He went as far as the dry, rocky country,
where he was chased by a pack of wolves.
He barely escaped to a neighboring tree,
where the wolves kept him treed for a
day.
When the wolves went away, he was nearly
starved ; he was tired and discouraged,
too.
His clothing was torn, and his weapons were
lost ; so he dared not cross the dry country
again.
The Return from the Fire Country 111
He turned his face toward home once more,
though he scarcely hoped to make the
journey.
He had many narrow escapes, but he did not
wish to talk about them.
For a few moments there was a deep silence.
Then the Cave-men wept.
They mourned for the old man.
They mourned for the loss of fire.
They had lost all hope.
They were filled with despair.
THINGS TO DO
Tell the story that Sharpeyes told to the Cave-men.
Draw a picture of Sharpeyes as he was telling the story.
Think of Sharpeyes as he was chased and treed by a
pack of wolves.
Draw a picture of him when the wolves were keeping
him in the tree.
Model the fire country in one end of your sand box and
the home of the fire clan in the other.
Model the places that Sharpeyes and the old man traveled
across in going to the fire country.
Show the places where you think they found trails.
Tell how you think the trails were made and what they
were used for.
112
The Early Cave-men
XXIV
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
What do we burn in our fires?
How do we light the different fires that we have ?
What do we burn for
light ?
How do we light our
lights ?
Find out how your
grandfather and
grandmother used
to light their fires.
Find out what they
used for lights and
how they took care
of them.
Making fire with a strap drill
Do you know how the Eskimo used to get fire?
Strongarm Makes a Great Discovery
When the Cave-men had heard Sharpeyes'
story, they went back to their caves.
The fire clan was left alone again.
Strongarm spoke of going to the fire country
himself, but it did not seem best to leave
the people just then.
Strongarm Makes a Great Discovery 113
Some of the men had already left the cave,
and gone to live as the Tree-dwellers lived.
Strongarm was trying to keep the rest of them
together.
He feared that he would not be able to do it
unless he could get fire.
For several days after that, the Cave-men
thought that Strongarm seemed queer.
Wherever he went he carried the drill that
he used in boring holes.
Sometimes he carried a bundle of sticks under
his arm.
Sometimes he worked with all these things
in a corner of the cave.
None of the Cave-men knew what he was
doing, but they heard him mumbling to
himself.
Once they saw him start up quickly and go
away from the cave.
Nobody knew where he went, and nobody
knew what he did.
Strongarm was very sad.
114 The Early Cave-men
His heart was sore for his people, for
they were in great distress.
He believed that the fire god dwelt in the
wood, and he was trying to persuade
him to come out.
He had noticed that the drill became
warm by twirling, when he used it
for boring holes.
So now he made a drill of hard wood
and twirled it on a piece of softer
wood.
As he twirled the stick he prayed to the
fire god.
He asked him to come and help the Cave-
men.
When he went away from the cave that day,
he went to find tinder.
When he came back that night, he was very
happy; for he
had a burn-
ing torch in
A piece of soft wood used as the hearth of a fire drill \\ 1 S hand.
A
drill
of
ivcod
How the Cave-men Received Strongarm
115
THINGS TO DO
Show how Strongarm acted
when he was twirling
sticks. Draw the picture.
Find some sticks that you can
vise in making fire. Put
them in a place where
they will dry.
Look at the pictures on pages
45, 48, and 49. What is
the difference between a
drill for boring holes and
a fire drill ?
sags
"As he twirled the stick he Prayed
to the fire god ' '
XXV
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
What do yon think the Cave-men did when they saw
Strongarm coming with fire?
Do you think he told them how he got it?
Did you ever have a secret ? What kind of things do
you wish to keep secret?
Can you think why Strongarm might wish to keep his
discovery a secret ?
How the Cave-men Received Strongarm
How glad all the Cave-men were when they
saw Strongarm coming with fire !
They ran out to meet him and shouted for joy.
116
The Early Cave-men
Firekeeper lighted a fire, and the women
brought branches to make it blaze.
The wild animals sniffed it and ran away.
The Cave-men joined hands and danced
around the fire.
" The Cave-men joined hands and danced around the fire "
They danced until they could dance no more,
and then sat down on the ground to rest
They asked where Strongarm found the fire,
but he did not tell them then.
How the Cave-men Received Strongarm 117
Some of the Cave-men were very selfish.
They cared more for themselves than they did
for the clan.
Some of the men had already left.
Others were thinking of going away.
Strongarm wanted to teach them to help one
another.
So he told them only part of the truth.
He said nothing about the fire drill, but he
told them about his prayer.
He said that the fire god came when he
called him.
At this the Cave-men were filled with fear.
They looked upon Strongarm in wonder.
After that they treated him with great respect.
When they needed a chief, he led them.
He was the greatest man of the time.
THINGS TO DO
Show how the Cave-men rejoiced when Strongarm came
with his burning torch. Draw the picture.
Show what you think they did when they were told that
the fire god came at Strongarm's command.
118 The Early Cave-men
XXVI
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
Do you know why we have Thanksgiving Day ?
How would the Oave-men show that they were thank-
ful ?
The Thanksgiving Feast
How thankful the Cave-men were to have
fire again !
They wanted the fire god to know it.
They wanted their neighbors to have fire, too.
So they sent a messenger with a firebrand to
invite them to a feast.
As the messenger neared the cave where they
dwelt, he heard the people wailing.
He hurried on with the glad tidings.
When the people saw him, they ran to meet
him and lighted firebrands of their own.
Their sadness was turned to joy.
They told the messenger that their bravest
man had been killed that very day.
He had been carried away by a tiger while
standing near the cave.
"They shouted praises to the fire god"
120 The Early Cave-men
They feared that the tiger would return, and
that they all would be killed;
But now that they had fire again, they began
to feel more safe.
The messenger told them what Strongarm
had done, while they stared with open
mouth and eyes.
When the messenger invited them to the
feast, they quickly made ready to start.
The feast was ready when they reached the
cave.
The Cave-men were filled with joy.
They gathered around the fireplace.
Everybody was silent while Strongarm gave
some of the choicest meat as an offering
to the fire god.
Then they all began to eat.
They feasted and talked a long time.
They shouted praises to the fire god.
They were thankful to have him with them
again.
All the people were happy once more.
What the Women Got from the Spruce Trees 121
THINGS TO DO
Play some game where you all join hands and dance
around in a circle. Draw a picture of it.
How many ring games do you know how to play?
Play that you are having a thanksgiving feast.
XXVII
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
Did you ever go out in the woods in the spring to find
something to eat?
Have you ever tasted the bark of any trees ?
If there are any spruce trees near you, find out what
they are good for.
IV hat the IV omen Got from the Spruce Trees
All the snow was now gone from the wooded
hills.
The people were glad, for they were tired of
the long, cold winter.
They were hungry for fresh green leaves and
berries.
One day Firekeeper took a torch and started
out over the hills to see what she could
find to eat.
122 The Early Cave-men
She found winter-greens with red berries half
hidden among the dry oak leaves.
She ate some and gathered a handful; then
she passed on over the hills.
The sap of the spruce trees was beginning to
flow and had hardened in places upon the
trunks.
Firekeeper bit off a lump and chewed it until
she made it into gum.
Then she bit off other lumps, and even bit
into the inner bark.
She liked the taste of the bark, so she peeled
off large pieces and ate them.
Then she gave a shrill call and listened until
she heard a call from the cave.
In a moment she called again.
Again the answer carne.
But this time the voices were nearer.
Then Firekeeper knew that the women and
children were coming.
Soon she heard their calls again, and again
she called to them.
What the Women Got from the Spruce Trees 123
This happened several times, each time the
voices sounding nearer.
In this way Firekeeper helped the women to
find the way to the spot.
She kept watch until they came in sight.
There were women carrying flaming torches,
and others with babies strapped to their
backs.
Children followed close to their mothers' heels
or ran along beside them.
The cradles were hung on the branches of
the trees.
While the women were getting a taste of the
bark, Firekeeper was hunting slender
twigs for baskets.
All the women soon joined Firekeeper in
the work.
They broke off slender branches from the
spruce trees and trimmed them and laid
them in bundles.
Then they dug spruce roots with sharp
digging sticks.
"They broke off slender branches"
What the Women Got from the Spruce Trees 125
After eating all the bark that they wished,
they played with the children among the
trees.
The mothers strapped bundles on the little
girls' backs, but took the larger bundles
themselves.
They strapped the cradles on top of their
loads.
They followed the river path on their way
home and stopped when they came to the
drinking-place.
After drinking the fresh cool water, they dug
shallow holes near the edge of the stream.
They dug little troughs from these holes, so
that the water of the river could flow in.
Then they put the spruce branches into
these holes and left them there to soak.
When they reached the cave that night they
were tired and hungry, too.
But the men soon came with plenty of meat,
and soon they were all eating and resting
around the open fire.
126 The Early Cave-men
THINGS TO DO
Go out to some uncultivated spot and see if you can find
twigs or branches that can be made into baskets.
See if you can peel the bark from the stems.
Soak some twigs in water and see hoiu much easier they
will bend than dry twigs do.
See if you can find hardened sap on a spruce tree. Make
it into gum.
Show how Firekeeper and the women called back and
forth.
XXVIII
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
What have you seen that is made of splints of wood?
Find branches that can be made into splints.
See if you can do anything to the wood to make it split
more easily.
How many splints do you think the women split the
stems into at first? How could they make flat
splints ?
How could they make splints that were the same width?
How the Women Made Splints for Baskets
After the spruce branches had soaked a few
days, the women brought them to the cave.
While the children played with sticks and
stones, their mothers made some splints.
Making splints for baskets
128 The Early Cave-men
They peeled off the bark with their teeth and
nails, and split one end of the stem.
Then they held one piece with their teeth and
pulled the other two pieces with their
hands.
The splints that they made in this way were
neither round nor flat.
They had three sharp corners.
Two of these corners were hard and tough,
but one was soft and pithy.
So they bit the pithy corner and pulled off a
long strand of pith.
This left a thick splint that was nearly flat.
The women found that it was hard work to
split the larger stems.
They were about to give it up when Fire-
keeper found a large stem whose layers of
wood peeled easily.
So they all tried to find such stems.
It was not long before they found that the
stems that peeled the most easily were the
ones that the children had pounded.
How the Women Made Splints for Baskets 129
So they all picked up hammer stones and
pounded the large stems.
At first each hammered to suit herself, but
soon they learned to strike together.
It was easier for them all when they worked
in the same time.
^x-~*4> " " -v,
People who have
made splints for
baskets since
then have worked
in the same time.
Sometimes they
keep time by calls
and sometimes
they use rhymes.
Perhaps you have
heard a bark-
beater's rhyme, or have a rhyme yourself.
This rhyme is used by children nowadays
when they try to beat in the same time:
"Sip, sap, say; sip, sap, say;
Lig in a nettle bed, while Mayday/'
"At first each hammered to suit herself"
130 The Early Cave-men
THINGS TO DO
Gather tough branches of trees or shrubs that you have
a right to use.
See if you can make them into splints for baskets.
Find a way of making brittle wood more tough.
Beat the sterns with hammer stones so as to loosen the
layers of wood.
Keep track of a tree or a shrub in your neighborhood
during the year, and find out the best time of the
year to gather its branches for baskets.
XXIX
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
What do you think would be the easiest way for the
women to weave the splints into baskets ?
What kind of baskets did they need ? Would they be
apt to make them all in the same way ?
Have you ever seen a basket that will hold water ?
If a basket was almost water-tight, how could you make
it water-tight ?
How the Women IVove Splints
When the splints were made, the women be-
gan to weave them into baskets.
Some of the splints were wide and some of
them were narrow.
How the Women Wove Splints 131
Some of them were thin, and some of them
were thick. n nn JIT)
But the women did not mind ,p
this.
At first they wove them by
interlacing, as Sharptooth '
had woven the basket of
the splints
rushes.
But since the strands were not all the same
width, the weaving did not look the same.
After a while they began to sort the splints.
They put the wide splints into one pile and
the narrow ones into another.
Then they wove the wide splints in open
work and made baskets for carrying roots
and leaves.
They wanted smaller baskets for
carrying berries, so they used
the narrow splints.
pThey wove these splints in close
"They wove these work so that the berries would
splints in close 1
not drop out.
132
The Early Cave-men
Some of the women wanted still closer weav-
ing, so they pressed the splints down with
their fingers.
When their fingers became sore from press-
ing hard, they used a
long bone.
By driving the splints
with a long bone, the
weaving was made
firm and strong.
Some of the baskets
they made in this
way were found to
be water-tight.
So they sometimes used
them for carrying
water.
When the baskets became very dry, the wood
shrank and this made little holes in the
baskets.
But the women soon learned to stop the leak
by mending the baskets with pitch.
"By driving the splints with a long
bone, the weaving was made
firm and strong ' '
How the Women Wove Splints
133
THINGS TO DO
Find baskets that are woven
in open work.
Find baskets that are woven
in close work.
See if you can find a water-
tight basket.
Draw a picture of the women
weaving baskets.
Weave a basket or a mat in
close work.
Use a stick and drive the woof strands close together.
In this strong basket the woof
strands are driven close
together
XXX
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
Look at all the uncolored baskets that you have a
chance to see and select the basket that you think
is the best. Why do you think it is the best?
What is it used for? How is it woven ?
Look at the baskets that are made of two or more colors
and select the one that you think is best. Why do
you think it is best ? How do you think the colors
were made ? Can you tell how the pattern is woven
in this basket ?
Can you think of any colors that the Cave-men could
use in their weaving before they learned to color
reeds and splints ?
134 The Early Cave-men
Can you think how they might have found a way to
stain their baskets ? Do you ever get stains in your
clothing ? What stains will wash out most easily ?
What stains do not come out easily? Which ones
would you like to use to stain a basket ? Do we
have anything in our houses that we stain on
purpose ? What do we use to stain with ?
Have you ever seen colored earth? Can you think
what it is used for ? Why do you think the Cave-
men liked to find colored earth?
Where do you put water to boil it? Why did the Cave-
men learn to roast food before they learned to boil
it?
Did you ever see anybody make dyes? Do you think
people could make dyes before they learned to boil
water?
Can you think of ways in which the Cave-men might
have changed the color of grasses, splints, and
reeds before they learned how to boil water and
to make such dyes as we use to-day ? Why do you
think they would wish to color them ?
How the Women Colored Their Baskets
The women took a great deal of pains in
weaving baskets.
They wove the ends in carefully so they would
not pull out.
How the Women Colored Their Baskets
135
They bound the rims on neatly, so as to make
the baskets strong.
But for a long time they did not try to orna-
ment their baskets.
They wove their baskets
so carefully that they
were beautiful with-
out ornaments.
At first they wove each
woof strand under
and over each strand
of the warp.
Then they began to
weave each woof
strand over one and
n rl P r 1" wo
U 1 1 (J. C I IWO.
This made such a pretty
pattern that they tried other ways of weav-
ing.
They soon learned to use strands of different
sizes, and after a while they learned how to
color them.
'wo've eac 'W00^ strand
under and over each strand
136
The Early Cave-men
But they could not make
such dyes as we have
until they learned to
boil water.
Sometimes they found
bright-colored leaves
and feathers and wove
them with the splints
and reeds.
Sometimes they stained
the finished basket
with the juices of fruits
and berries.
Sometimes they painted patterns on it with
paint that they made of colored earth.
Then they learned to dye the splints and reeds
in a very simple way.
They soaked them in water before they used
them, so as to make them pliable.
They found that willow stems that were soaked
in water were colored light brown by the
bark of the stem.
"Then they began to 'weave each
woof strand over one and
under two ' '
How the Women Colored Their Baskets 137
Splints buried in the
leaf- mold of the
brooks and marshes
were colored a dark
brown.
When charcoal was
mixed with the rich
leaf-mold the splints
were colored black.
%i|§
Green grass became
White When SOaked "They tried other ways of weaving"
in water, and yellow if soaked for a longer
time.
The women used these and other ways of get-
ting pretty colors.
Then they worked the colors into pretty pat-
terns, many of which we use to-day.
THINGS TO DO
Weave uncolored splints or reeds so as to make different
patterns.
Find a fruit that will make a durable stain, and stain
some splints for a basket, or make a pattern by
staining an uncolored basket.
138 The Early Cave-men
See if you can find how to take fruit stains out of cloth-
ing.
If you can find colored earth, see if you can make some
paint to use in ornamenting your baskets.
Try different ways of changing the color of grasses,
splints, and reeds, by soaking them in water or bury-
ing them in different kinds of soil.
"They worked the colors into pretty patterns, many of which we use to-day"
XXXI
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
How do you carry the things that you bring to school?
How is the food that you eat brought to you ?
How is your clothing carried to you ?
Do you know how the material that your house is made
of was brought to the spot ?
How the Cave-men Carried Their Burdens
139
How does the farmer carry oats to his horses ? How
does he carry milk to the calves? How does he
carry hay from the field to the barn ? How does
he carry hay from the mow to the manger ?
What things do you carry in your hands? What do
you carry in baskets ? What do you carry in trays ?
What other things do you use in carrying?
How do you think the Cave-men would carry an animal
that they had killed to the cave? Do you think
they would try to bring the whole
carcass home ?
What things would they carry in bas-
kets ? Why did they need handles
for their baskets? Think of as
many ways as you can that the
Cave-men might have carried
things.
How the Cave-men Carried
Their Burdens
The Cave-men used the baskets
they made for carrying roots
and berries.
It was easier to carry them in
baskets than to carry them «They Uarned to carry
1 • 1 -I
in their hands.
baskets on their
140
The Early Cave-men
But it took one hand to hold the basket, and
they often needed to have both hands free.
So they learned to carry
baskets on their heads
and shoulders.
When the Cave-men
jumped in time of dan-
ger, they were apt to
lose their load.
So they learned to make
handles for their bas-
kets and to carry them
with strong straps.
When they rested the strap upon the fore-
head, it was a head strap.
When the basket was
heavy, the head strap
pressed hard against
the forehead and cut
through the skin.
So they made little pads to protect their fore-
heads.
"They learned to make handles
for their baskets ' '
They made little pads to protect
their foreheads ' '
"They rested the strap upon the forehead"
142 The Early Cave-men
At first these pads were bunches of grass or
pieces of soft skin.
But the women soon braided carrying straps
that had pads for the forehead.
Sometimes they let the strap rest on the
shoulders.
Then it was a shoulder strap.
When they let it rest upon the breast, it was
a breast strap.
All the Cave-men learned to use straps so, and
many people still carry things in that way.
THINGS TO DO
Play carrying something on the head. The one who can
carry the longest without dropping his burden wins
the game.
Look at the handles of all the baskets you can find and
see if you can tell how they are used. Can you
think of any better way of carrying these baskets ?
Make a handle for a basket.
Make a carrying strap and show how to use it for a
head strap. Show how to use it for a shoulder
strap and a breast strap.
Draw a picture of a woman carrying a basket.
Model in clay a Cave-man who is carrying a wild pig on
his back.
A Mammoth Hunt
143
XXXII
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
Why would the Cave-men not be so likely to attack a
mammoth as a cave-bear ?
Why would they want to kill a mammoth ? "
Do you think the mammoth would be afraid of the
Cave-men's weapons? What was the mammoth
afraid of?
A Mammoth H^Lnt
One day Strongarm saw a herd
of mammoths grazing near
the edge of a cliff.
He had often wished to capture
a mammoth, but had never
had such a chance before.
He blew his bone whistle.
All who heard it called to others
farther away.
Soon all the men from the wooded hills came
running to the spot.
They wanted to attack the mammoths, but
Strongarm would not let them.
A bone whistle
144 The Early Cave-men
He knew that their weapons were not strong
enough, so he showed them what to do.
Then they all hunted for good sticks to make
into torches.
When the torches were made, the Cave-men
formed a line from one edge of the cliff to
the other.
They crept up through the low bushes until
they were only a few steps from the herd.
The mammoths did not see the men until
Strongarm gave the signal to charge.
Then they started to run.
But the Cave-men chased them, waving their
torches in the air.
The Cave-men pressed close after the mam-
moths until they came to the edge of the
cliff.
They filled the air with their loud cries.
When the mammoths saw the trap they were
in, they turned and faced the men.
One mammoth was crowded over the edge of
the cliff.
10
A mammoth hunt
146 The Early Cave-men
When the Cave-men saw the mammoth fall,
they broke the line and let the herd escape.
Then they hurried down by a well-known
path to the spot where the mammoth lay.
He had been killed by the fall.
The Cave-men seldom got such a large crea-
ture as the mammoth.
Everybody was glad, so Strongarm sent mes-
sengers to all the caves to call the women
and children to a feast.
THINGS TO DO
Show how the Cave-men hunted the mammoth.
Model a mammoth in clay.
When you go to a museum, inquire if there is a skeleton
of a mammoth there.
XXXIII
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
How do }^ou think the mammoth will be divided ?
How will the meat that is left after the feast be carried ?
Do you know what kind of a coat the mammoth has?
How long do you think its tusks are ?
Can you think how we have learned about this animal
that lived such a long time ago ?
How the Cave-men Divided the Mammoth 147
How the Cave-men Divided the Mammoth
When the women heard what the men had
done, they danced and shouted their
praises.
Then they all prepared for the feast.
You know how the Cave-men acted at a feast.
They all ate as much as they could.
Then the older men and women began to tell
stories.
All gathered around to hear the stories, and
then they joined in a hunting dance.
They feasted and danced for several days.
Even then there was plenty of meat.
There were trophies, too, for the bravest men.
All the Cave-men admired the mammoth's
tusks, and they tried to loosen them with
their hammers.
The tusks belonged to Strongarm, but others
shared in the meat and the bones.
When the feast was over, Firekeeper divided
the meat,
148
The Early Cave-men
The women and children carried the biirdens
The women loaded it upon their backs, or
dragged it on the ground.
They carried the tusks with strong straps
which hung down from their shoulders.
The women and children carried the burdens
while the men protected them on the way.
All the Cave-men divided their work in this
way.
They all knew they were safest when the men
were ready to fight.
If the men had carried the burdens, all the
people might have been killed.
How the Cave-men Divided the Mammoth
m
149
while the men protected them on the way"
THINGS TO DO
Show how the women and children danced and shouted
the praises of the Cave-men. Draw a picture of them.
Name animals that have tusks. What do they use their
tusks for ?
Show how the long line of Cave-men looked when they
were traveling on their way home. Draw a picture
of them.
xxxiv
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
Do you think Strongarm will ever tell any one how
he got fire ?
Why do you think people used to be so careful of the
fire?
150 The Early Cave-men
Do you know of any people who make fire by twirling
sticks ?
Do you think that you can make fire by using a fire
drill?
Can you think of a name for the wood that is ground
up as the spindle of the fire drill is twirled ?
Do you ever gather kindling to start a fire ? Have you
ever seen or heard of tinder ?
Strongarm Tells Firekeeper His Secret
Several years had passed by since Strongarm
made fire.
The Cave-men had never prospered so before.
Strongarm was their wisest man, and they all
obeyed him in time of danger.
Cave-men came from far and near to see him
and to hear what he said.
He had kept his secret all these years, but
now he knew that it was time to tell it.
He knew that he was growing old, and that
some one else must share the secret.
So one day he called Firekeeper to a fallen
tree that had lain near the cave for many
years.
mam
'// was here that he showed Firekeeper how to make fire"
152 The Early Cave-men
Its wood had become very dry, and parts of
it were beginning to decay.
It was by this log that he told his secret.
It was here that he showed Firekeeper how
to make fire.
He took a dry stick for a spindle and twirled
it on the dry log.
As he twirled he prayed to the fire god.
He worked until he got fire.
Then he let Firekeeper twirl the sticks until
she got a spark.
The first time she tried it, she could not get
fire.
So Strongarm showed her how to make a
groove in the log where the wood meal
could collect.
Soon the wood meal began to glow, and she
gently fanned it with her hand.
She placed dry tinder close beside it and
fanned it into a blaze.
Then Strongarm told her to teach her daugh-
ters how to make fire.
Strongarm Tells Firekeeper His Secret
153
He and Firekeeper were growing old, but he
knew their clan would always need fire.
Firekeeper remembered what Strongarm said,
and she taught her daughters to make fire.
A few years after all the clans on the hills
had some one who knew how to make fire.
In some clans a woman did this work.
In others young girls did it.
In some clans this work was done by men.
Everywhere people had some one to make
and take care of the fire.
A drill for boring holes can be made into a fire drill
154
The Early Cave-men
THINGS TO DO
Show how Strongarm taught Firekeeper to make fire.
Examine the sticks that you selected some
time ago for a fire drill.
If you choose a hard piece for a spindle,
your drill will work better if you choose
soft wood for the hearth.
Round the ends of the spindle and make a
shallow hole with a groove beside it in
the hearth.
Make a shallow hole in a flat piece of wood
to hold the upper end of the spindle.
After yoii learn to work the drill with
your hands, try a strap.
When yoit can use the strap easily, try a
bow.
If you keep on trying
you will be able to
get fire with your
fire drill.
The hearth of a fire drill
The
spindle
of a
fire drill
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 People Know What the Cave-men Did 155
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 Ca<ve-me1^
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.
156 The Early Cave-men
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 weap-
ons 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.
How People Know What the Cave-men Did 157
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
i i ^ i • i } A spearhead
what the Cave-men did r
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 muse-
ums, 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.
158
The Early Cave-men
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?
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:
i. 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 Stan-
ford.
Girod et Massenat, Les Stations L 'Age du Renne. Paris:
[159]
160 The Early Cave-men
Librairie J.-B. Balliere 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, Reliquia? Aquitanica. 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. Spring-
field, Ohio: Chautauqua Press, 1901.
Stoddard, James, The Seven Sagas of Prehistoric Man. London :
Chatto & Windus.
Taylor, Isaac, Origin of the Aryans. New York: Charles Scrib-
ner'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 Macmil-
lan Company.
Wright, G. F., Man and the Glacial Period. New York: D.
Appleton & Co.
Suggestions to Teachers 161
Worsae, J. J. A., Industrial Arts of Denmark. London: Chap-
man & 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. XLL, 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.
j. Government Reports.
Broca, Paul, "The Troglodytes or Cave-Dwellers of the Valley of
the Vezere," 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 Smith-
sonian Institution, from ' ' Aus der Natur : die neuesten Entdeckungen
auf dem Gebiete der Naturwissenschaften," Leipzig, 1867, Smith-
sonian 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 classi-
fications the following summaries may be of value :
The progress of mankind is classified by Professor W. Boyd
Dawkins into the following periods:
162 The Early Cave-men
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 desig-
nated 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
Suggestions to Teachers
163
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. 5. 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 Daw-
kins' 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 Rein-
deer.
Period of Extinct Animals.
Period of Migrated
Animals.
Dawn of the Rough
Stone Age.
The Paleolithic or Rough Stone Age.
Eolithic Epoch.
Chellian Epoch.
Mousterian Epoch.
Solutian Epoch.
Madelenian Epoch.
Mid-Pleistocene Period.
Late Pleistocene Pe-
riod.
The Pleistocene Period.
Climate mild and equa-
ble.
Climate becomes much
colder. Great ex-
tremes of heat and
cold.
Arctic climate. Cold
and dry.
164
The Early Cave-men
Animals^ that have since become extinct.
The Irish deer, the big-nosed rhinoceros, the
mammoth, the straight-tusked elephant,
the cave-bear, and the sabre-toothed felis
were survivals of an earlier period and were
accustomed to a warm climate.
The small-nosed rhinoceros came from the south
and the woolly rhinoceros came down from
the north during this period.
At the close of this period the big-nosed rhi-
noceros and the sabre-toothed felis became
extinct.
The same as in the
preceding period
with the excep-
tion of the big-
nosed rhinoceros
and the sabre-
toothed felis,
which were ex-
tinct. All of the
animals named
became extinct at
the close of this
period.
Animals that have since migrated.
The musk-sheep and the marmot came down
from the north during this period, stayed
through the next period and then migrated
to the Arctic regions.
General invasion of
Arctic animals.
At the close of the pe-
riod they migrated
to the north.
Living species.
In addition to those that migrated there were
the lion, panther or leopard, lynx, wild-cat,
spotted hyena, hippopotamus, brown bear,
grizzly bear, wolf, fox, stag, roe, urus (the
original form of the wild cattle) , aurochs or
European bison, horse, wild boar, beaver,
and water rat. Many of these animals
migrated south in the winter and returned
each spring.
The same except that
those animals that
could not stand
the intense cold,
migrated south
each winter.
Arctic fauna charac-
teristic of this
period.
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 fol-
lowing :
Suggestions to Teachers 165
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.
(/) Caves or places where caves may have been or may yet
be formed.
(g) The nature of the soil and its adaptation to the forma-
tion 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.
(/) The place where an artificial dam might be built.
(k) Sites that would make good camping-places for hunters.
(/) 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.
(/) 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
166 The Early Cave-men
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 diffi-
cult, it is well to secure the advantages that come from a system
of exchange. The American Bureau of Geography offers oppor-
tunities 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 under-
stood 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 pre-
pared 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 conver-
sation about the points that the child may have difficulty in under-
standing, he will get a conception of man's life before he lived in
Suggestions to Teachers 167
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 pro-
vide 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 conquer-
ing 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 regard-
ing 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 accus-
tomed 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 eve-
ning 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
168 The Early 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 them-
selves 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 posi-
tion 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
Suggestions to Teachers 169
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 some-
thing 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 VL 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
cooperative action was used in hunting. Except upon extraor-
dinary 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
170 The Early Cave-men
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 chim-
neys, and encourage him to seek reasons for the same.
Show the child a picture of the interior of a cave that has stalag-
mites 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
Suggestions to Teachers 171
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
coordinations 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 dur-
ing 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 primi-
tive 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
172 The Early Cave-men
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 com-
munity, 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 reject-
ing 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 to-
gether 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 Uni-
versity of Chicago Press.
Lesson XL 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.
Suggestions to Teachers 173
Let the child make bone awls of the wing bones of chickens,
and sinew thread from the sinews attached to the leg bones. En-
courage 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 cooperation 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, 9 9- 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
174 The Early Cave-men
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 care-
fully 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
Suggestions to Teachers 175
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 Educa-
tion, 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 r.egarded
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 under-
stand these facts very well. He can understand, too, that "the
dark narrow passage" referred to in the lesson was a narrow part
176 The Early Cave-men
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 cooperative effort in withstanding the devasta-
tion 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 some-
thing 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 deter-
mine 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
Suggestions to Teachers 177
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 moun-
tains 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 carry-
ing 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
12
178 The Early Cave-men
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 Sharp-
eyes 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.
Suggestions to Teachers 179
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 under-
stood 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 prim-
itive 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
180 The Early Cave-men
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 environ-
ment 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- 2I&~
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 wac left for the wolves and hyenas.
Suggestions to Teachers 181
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 doubt-
less 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 mam-
moth '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
182 The Early Cave-men
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 photo-
graph 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
Suggestions to Teachers
183
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.
How two boys made fire with a fire drill
3nbu3tnal anb Social Jltstorp
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 izmo, 158 pages; 45 cents. For the primary grades.
n^HIS 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 coopera-
tive 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 I2m.o, 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
i2mo, iQ7 pages; 45 cents. For the intermediate grades.
TTERE is portrayed the influence of man's presence upon wild animals. Man's fear, which with the con-
••••*- quest of fire gave way to courage, has resulted in his mastery of many mechanical appliances and in
the development of social cooperation, which so increases his power as to rnaks 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 cun-
ning 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 no text drawings in half-tone by Howard V. Brown and Kyohei
Inukai. Cloth, square i2mo, 224 pages; jo cents. For the intermediate grades.
'"PHE 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 cooperation 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
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11