The Antiquity of Man | Page 3

types has
been established and correlated with the gravel terraces of existing
rivers, and even with the deposits of rivers no longer existing and with
certain glacial deposits. But with all of these the actual bodily remains
of man are comparatively scanty. From this it may be concluded that
primitive methods of burial were such as to be unfavourable to the
actual preservation of human remains. Attempts have also been made to

prove the existence of man in pre-glacial times, but hitherto none of
these have met with general acceptance, since in no case is the evidence
beyond doubt.
One of the most important results of recent research in the subject has
been the establishment of the existence of man in interglacial times.
When Lyell wrote, it was not fully recognised that the glaciation of
Europe was not one continuous process, but that it could be divided
into several episodes, glaciations, or advances of the ice, separated by a
warm interglacial period. The monumental researches of Penck and
Bruckner in the Alps have there established four glaciations with mild
interglacial periods, but all of these cannot be clearly traced in Britain.
One very important point also is the recognition of the affinities of
certain types of Palaeolithic man to the Eskimo, the Australians, and
the Bushmen of South Africa. However, it is impossible to give here a
review of the whole subject. Full details of recent researches will be
found in the works mentioned in the notes at the end of the book.
Another point of great interest and importance, arising directly from the
study of early man is the nature of the events constituting the glacial
period in Britain and elsewhere. This has been for many years a fertile
subject of controversy, and is likely to continue such. Lyell, in common
with most of the geologists of his day, assumes that during the glacial
period the British Isles were submerged under the sea to a depth of
many hundreds of feet, at any rate as regards the region north of a line
drawn from London to Bristol. Later authors, however, explained the
observed phenomena on the hypothesis of a vast ice-sheet of the
Greenland type, descending from the mountains of Scotland and
Scandinavia, filling up the North Sea and spreading over eastern
England. This explanation is now accepted by the majority, but it must
be recognised that it involves enormous mechanical difficulties. It is
impossible to pursue the subject here; for a full discussion reference
may be made to Professor Bonney's presidential address to the British
Association at Sheffield in 1910.
It will be seen, therefore, that the "Antiquity of Man" opens up a wide
field of speculation into a variety of difficult and obscure though
interesting subjects. In the light of modern research it would be an easy
task to pile up a mountain of criticism on points of detail. But, though
easy, it would be a thankless task. It is scarcely too much to say that the

dominant impression of most readers after perusing this book will be
one of astonishment and admiration at the insight and breadth of view
displayed by the author. When it was written the subject was a
particularly thorny one to handle, and it undoubtedly required much
courage to tackle the origin and development of the human race from a
purely critical and scientific standpoint. It must be admitted on all
hands that the result was eminently successful, taking into account the
paucity of the available material, and the "Antiquity of Man" must ever
remain one of the classics of prehistoric archaeology.
This edition of the "Antiquity of Man" has been undertaken in order to
place before the public in an easily accessible form one of the best
known works of the great geologist Sir Charles Lyell; the book had an
immense influence in its own day, and it still remains one of the best
general accounts of an increasingly important branch of knowledge.
In order to avoid a multiplicity of notes and thus to save space, the
nomenclature has been to a certain extent modernised: a new general
table of strata has been inserted in the first chapter, in place of the one
originally there printed, which was cumbrous and included many minor
subdivisions of unnecessary minuteness.
The notes have been kept as short as possible, and they frequently
contain little more than references to recent literature elucidating the
points under discussion in the text.
R.H. RASTALL. 1914.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
The passage of the Beresina (in verse), 1815.
Principles of Geology, being an attempt to explain the former changes
of the earth's surface, by reference to causes now in operation, 1830-33
(third edition, 1834; fourth, 1835; fifth, 1837; sixth, 1840; seventh,
1847; ninth, entirely revised edition, 1853; tenth, entirely revised
edition, 1867, 1868; eleventh,