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CHAPTER XII
THE MIDDLE STONE AGE
FOR many years archeologists believed that when the Old
Stone Age came to an end, not long after the close of the
Glacial Period, there followed an interval during which
mankind disappeared entirely from Europe. Only with
the arrival of new races, bringing with them domestic
animals, agriculture, pottery, and polished stone imple-
ments, was the Neolithic Period, or New Stone Age,
thought to have begun. We know better now, thanks to
later discoveries. In various regions of Europe, both
north and south, the remains of cultures have come to
light, proving that Europe throughout this intermediate
period was occupied by human beings, in most cases the
direct descendants of the later Old Stone Age races.
Moreover, the culture of this time forms in many respects
a true connecting link between those of the Old and New
Stone Ages.
This transitional period is sometimes called Mesolithic-
Greek for "Middle Stone." At its beginning, man seems
yet to have lacked any implement capable of cutting down
a tree. He still lived mainly by hunting and fishing and
gathering wild berries and fruits. At first sight it might
appear that he had actually retrograded in culture; for
his life seems to have been a wretched one, not unlike that
led by the savages of Tierra del Fuego, for example, or
others among the least advanced of present-day races.
Nevertheless he was making progress, and that in several
important directions.
It appears, for example, that during this period he
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