F HIS PAST conquest, with 5, collected by ‘of idemtitying nied by nature stone set in type but of till objected two articles s imitae 7). Among of a Neo- 740 (repro- Conyers in and Vallois edition of |, Mahudel implements It of light- f the mod- accurately in Europe. comparison seventeenth ed in 1713 heads were the natives re are also the Ameri- re, as they WB tn Hgieer 1969 B ON CERAUNIA CUNEATA Michel Mercatus There are three kinds of Cerauniae, differentiated by shape and color. Sotacus, our most ancient authority, has recorded two of these, the black and red. A third kind has been added which is quite rare, and sought by the Parthian Magi (Priests), green in color it is thought that all kinds are hurled down from the sky by lightning bolts, and that the third kind is only found in a spot that has been struck by lightning: In our day they are known by scientists under a different name, probably from a translation of the Greek word. For they are called “Folgora (light- ning)" by which name we commonly understand “fulmina.” The Ger- mans rightly distinguish them from other stones that fall from the sky by calling them “der glatte Donnerstein.” Surprisingly, this is not true of more recent authorities, who have restored the old name “Cerauniae” to these well known stones. Our goldsraiths use them for polishing gold, a task for which ebony was employed in very ancient times. Nor di posterity neglect the ancient custom without good reason. For the Ce- Tauniae give the same degree of smoothness to the material as the ebony did; both are extremely hard, though the Cerauniae even more 50, espe- cially as their shape is-so naturally suitable for polishing. In length and breadth this shape is completely that of an axc, with the ends of the corners blunted, usually a haif-finger thick, and tapering toward the edge. It is inconceivable that the ancients did not appreciate the useful- ness of this shape for polishing if Cerauniae were known then. It seems that cobblers once employed them for putting a high polish to ladies’ footwear, and called them “Agerati (unaging),” according to Heras the Cappadocian doctor, who lived about the time of Domitian; their name fits in with this. For they were called “ageratoi (the Greek for unaging)” because of their hardness, since no amount of friction from leather has any eroding effect upon them. Regardless of color, some are a palim’s width, others are smaller, some are broad, others extended lengthways, and some begin narrow and widen toward the edge, while others are almost the same width at both ends. The black ones are often squareshaped, but almost rounded at the corners which have been worn away: these an- tiquity called “Baetuli.” Hesychius records that the stone which was substituted for Jupiter by Rhea, and which Saturn devoured in the myth, Extract here translated from the Latin reprint ia “Materlaux pour Thistoire primitive ‘et naturelle de Mhomme.” Vol. 10 (Second series, Vol. 6), pp. 49-57, 1675.™ MAN'S DISCOVERY OF HIS PAST was a “baitulos” (meteoric stone), which the Barbarians solemnly called “Abadir” in their mystery rites. Since Jupiter owed both his life and his kingdom to it, they were convinced that the “Baetuli” were sent by Jupiter, and possessed the power of storming cities and fleets. I should add this, because not only the Baetuli but also their very name was of doubtiul origin. The green stones generally have a palish color, while the red ones are tinged with dark brown, or sometimes yellow, which also darkens the paleness. The red and green are the hardest kinds, even more so than agate, though they look like flint: the black are found to be the softest of all. Inasmuch as Cerauniae have been found to turn up in various places in Italy, Germany, and the mountains of Spain, and by the side of rivers among flintstones, one may suppose that they occur in other areas too. Just as we have said that they are useful to goldsmiths, 50 also are they useful for smoothing silverware and for gilding metals. Some people carry them as a protection against lightning, and believe that this power derives from the fact that they are hurled down by the lightning. But ic is the place where they fall that receives such immunity, and this is a matter of pure chance. When the people who carry them move to a different place, then they must expect a different outcome, unless the Cerauniae have made a plot against the sky, so that some notorious ‘Typhon may hope to escape with impunity (Typhon: a monster who stole Jupiter's thunderbolis, but was eventually overcome by one). Galen recommends Ageratus for its moderate healing powers, although it cannot be tasted. For he says that it helps an uvula which is suffering from a slight inflammation; in the case of a more serious inflammation, it should be treated with oak-apple. To this end, the dust of the oak-apple should be applied to the uvula by means of a spoon. Someone in the pseudo- writings of Galen advises great caution here, since nature is not inferior to art in imitating things. Our suspicions are increased by the discovery of small pieces of Ceraunia unsuitable for sharp weapon-heads. Nothing can be said positively about the theory of lightning already mentioned, ‘except that it is found here and there. Our verdict, then, is an open one, for each man to decide for himself. Ceraunta Vurcaris, AND SictiEx Ceraunia is plentiful in Italy, where it is popularly called ‘Sagitta’ (arrow), since it is carved in the shape of a triangular weapon, made of flint, slender, and hard. Two opinions are held in regard to this. Most men believe that it is deposited by lightning. Those who study history think that before the use of iron it was beaten out of the hardest flints, to be used for the madness of war. For very carly man used sections of flint as knives. Sephora, the wife of Moysus, is said in the Holy Book to have initiated her son to she Jouishrtgseth.e ana phan yoo abu when Joshua entered Palestine, he was ordered by God to prepare twoIs PAST. ly called life and sent by ( should, 2 was of 1, while » which 4s, even ound to arn up in, and y occur Iso are people power # Bue 14a ftoa ’ss the orious who Galen annot com a hould hould 2udo- ‘erior overy hing ed, one, ita’ On Ceraunia Cuneata a Ae One of te illutrations from Metcai's Meralohec (1 are of Neolithic ty PS; the center blade is probably a Paleo Emperaire, 1966, fig. 10.) 9). The chipped stone forms ie specimen, (From Lamiag. 1518 MAN’S DISCOVERY OF HIS PAST stone knives for the same purpose, whence was established in Israel the ‘eustom of circumcision with a stone, In our age, in the absence of molten fron in western regions, ships, houses, and all mechanical tools have been. constructed by cutting stones to a sharp point. Indeed ‘Silex’ (Aint), as its name implies, seems like ‘Sicilex’ which has been selected for cutting. jcilices’ are those stones by which missiles and hunting spears are sharp- ened, as we find in that verse of Ennius recorded by Festus: “The skirmishers, with broad cuttingspears Gicilicibus) advanced in a body.” ‘This Ceraunia has the same shape, so that the opinion persists that before molten iron the ancients made ‘Sicilices' from ‘Silice’ (Rint), and that this Ceraunia is included among their number. From small begin- nings, men’s hatred grew to immense proportions, and Africans joined battle (using clubs which are called ‘phalangae,’ poles with the Egyptians; however, both Pliny and Pomponius Mela record that the Phoenicians had already considered war. Nor is Lucretius right when he says: “Ancient weapons consisted of hands, claws, and tecth.” For since they are of little value to man, he used his reason; that very hand which advised instruments most fitted for making things was also ‘put to use, so that instead of displaying cruelty after the fashion of wild Hpeas, Tne -was aioie to Sqha mare sabhy, To begin with, veasno shawed, hhim that he should collect stones and dubs, things all ready to hand, ‘ana fight his enemy from a distance. The first battles resulted from private quarrels, before peoples and nations contested in war. Then jealousy, avarice, and ambition, thirsting more greedily for human blood, disco fred greater atrocities. They began using spears, and upping every kind ‘of weapon with points made of horn, bone, and flint, according to those who think that Ceraunia was made from them to pierce more highly protected breastplates. This is suggested by its shape, which is rough and blunted on the surface, with a jagged edge, since it has not been shaped by a saw of file, which did not exist then; but it was beaten by a stone to force it into a triangle either uniform, oblong, or pointed in shape, and a sharp piece was left where it was to be joined to the spear shaft this was fixed into the shaft of the weapon. The substance shines, despite the rough surface, because of its considerable hardness; its color might be white, or yellowish, rich red-ochre, grassy-green, blackish, or sometimes variegated with spots. Thin metal strips are found of the same material, a palms Iength long and half an inch wide, or smaller, worn at the cor- ners, smoothed on the surface; this is level, then gradually tapers to an ‘angle, bisecting the center. ‘Those who think that the ancients made Ceraunia for sharpening weapons say that they covered their bows with these metal strips. But when was their use most prevalent, and at what time did the reign of iron, to which they yielded, invade the carth? The Holy Book asserts that iron was manufactured before the flood destroyed On Coraunia + the human 1 erations rem man bravely seems to hav the hatreds « ered iron to more ancien after the un it must have work: yet throughout For it couk unless the 1 digging dee without iro substances i So, althougl only have t the last of t were prever way of life, all by its mine existe Jonathan, | ments were Israelites, » Meanwhile voked nati man tried to point t sharp, sine Latium, ir vated; the pointed d vulnerable intertradir tions consi they them: found it ir was Selme: if we have by the an by its nam certain, th morphic 51\F HIS PAST in Israel the \ce of molten ols have been (Bint), as its for cutting. us are sharp- persists that * (int), and small begin- icans joined ¢ Fgyptians; Phoenicians jst om: that very © was also bhion of wild ason showed dy to hand, from private en jealousy, ood, discov- pevery kind ing to those nore highly s rough and pen shaped \ by a stone sd in shape, spear shaft; ines, despite ‘or might be sometimes ne material, at the cor- apers to an sients made bows with ind at what earth? The x stroyed On Ceraunia Cuneara n the human race, and that its creator was Tabalcais, who was seven gen- erations removed from the first parent. Josephus writes that the same man bravely engaged in warlike activities in antiquity, so that one man seems to have been the creator both of iron and war, and to have united the hatreds of a few men, joined by affinity of blood, and to have discov- ered iron tools with which to effectuate their hatred; there were none more ancient than these, Although the production of ixon was preserved after the universal destruction of living things which attended the flood, it must have been by the man who remembered its first creator and his work: yet when the nations had been restored, and again distributed throughout the world, the art of working iron was left with only a few. For it could not accompany people who emigrated to different areas, unless the metal itself went with them; they could have found it only by digging deep into the veins of the earth, which is also very difhcult without iron tools, Intelligence alone is insufficient to deal with this substance; it is tamed only by a considerable amount of hard work. So, although iron was used to some extent from the earliest times, it could only have been in the hands of a very few;it started in Armenia, when the last of the flood had subsided, then in Cilicia and Syria: other races ‘were prevented from developing that usage for themselves by their simple way of life, or by laziness, or by the unattractiveness of iron; or most of all by its uneven distribution, since it is not found everywhere. No iron mine existed in Palestine up to the reign of Saul; he alone, with his son Jonathan, had a lance and sword made of iron: the other iron imple- ments were those of the farmers, and had to be repaired after use. The Israelites, who were mountain dwellers, brought them down to Philisthi Meanwhile, then, whenever, from the earliest days of trade, injuries pro- voked nations to war, cruelty was resorted to without iron; but each man tried the most savage means available to him. Western people used to point their arrows with fish bones, and considered this sufficiently sharp, since they themselves were naked. In Italy, and particularly in Latium, in whose fields this kind of Ceraunia is most frequently exca- vated; the aborigines of Sicily, if the theory is correct, used to make sharp pointed darts, to prevent leather breastplates from protecting some valnerable area. AU this was ended when iron was at last introduced by intertrading between nations. The usual result was that individual na- tions considered the inventors of iron to have been those peoples by who: they themselves were introduced to it; Pliny says that the Dactyli of Ida found it in Crete; Strabo thinks it was the Teichines; Clement says hat was Selmens in Cyprus; and so opinions differ. We, however, are satisfied if we have shown that Ceraunia of this kind could have been produced by the ancients. For this is shown by its material and shape, supported by its name, and confirmed, finally, by its use. If this could be proved for certain, then Ceraunia ought not to be included in the category of idio- morphic substances, since it would have been made artificially. >8 ORIGIN AND USES OF THE THUNDERSTONE Antoine de Jussieu Nothing is as well known in the realm of science as the qualities which the ancients and we ourselves, in a tradition which is still preserved among us, have attributed to the thunderstone (pierre de foudre). ‘The explication of its name, ceraunia, indicates that they believed it to be descended from heaven in the moment when the thunder burst and struck somewhere on the earth. “This alleged origin caused it to be regarded with a degree of respect due to the majesty of God who, so they thought, had Jaunched it. Pliny also listed it in the catalogue of precious stones. But hardly anybody has made more of this than the people of the North [ie., of Europe] with the superstitions which they attached to these stones, They had formerly adored an idol which they thought ruled over the thunder and whom they represented with a thunderbolt in hand in the fotm of a pointed, warked stone (pierre taillées en coin). These stones ‘were kept as protection against thunder and lightning which they be- Tieved could be kept away from their houses if, at the first sound of thunder, they knocked with the stone three times at those places by which the lightning might have entered. Helwing, the well known minister of Angerbourg in Prussia, who wrote a special treatise on the stones of his country, said that he had to use secular force to destroy this superstition in the area under his jurisdic tion; a superstition which was more deeply rooted because it was main- tained by continuous new finds of this kind of stone and the people could not help imagining that stones of this shape had something mysterious about them: In that respect this nation [France] seems to agree with the Chinese, among whom:Rumphius, who has illustrated the shapes and kinds of stones in his “Report on:Shells,” assures us there existed a similar idk based on observations made on the shapes, qualities, and colors of this kind of stone and on the sites at which they are found, which are often tree trunks believed to have been struck by lighting. ‘While somewhat removed from these ideas, we continue to believe that the ceraunia is a-natural stone which is characterized by being shaped like wedges (coin) or arrowheads (fer de fléche), in the same way as the Ye POrigine et des usages de la pierre de foudre.” Mémoires de TAcadémie Royate, 1723, pp. 69. Paris. Origin and U: oval, cylind pebbles of N Mercator not want tc shaped in t] who admitt But today came, some be able to without a ¢ using nearl tience by ri steel. The prin make weap selves again ‘The shay stones whic made for t1 some flint ¢ and thin pi as arrows. Lam disy in the form a wedge de as armatun at the angh Looking which reses arrowhead stones and recognize a which have where they used them most of the quarries or these tools inhabitant: same degre commoditic obtains am make the t to use them ‘The peo) USES STONE de Jussieu tities which, UL preserved. are), believed it sr burst and © of respect ed it, Pliny ople of the red to these 2 ‘ed over fn hand in “hese stones ch they be- it sound of es by which who wrote had to use ris jurisdic. was main- sople could mysterious xe Chinese, di kinds of imilar idea lors of this fh are often velieve that ing shaped way as the ‘émie Royale, Origin and Uses of the Thunderstone 7% oval, cylindrical, prismatic, or round shapes are characteristic of the pebbles of Meudoc, the emerald, other crystals, and the “échinites.” ‘Mercator [Mercatus] enlightened as he was in the history of fossils, did not want to adhere so completely to the opinion that the stones were shaped in these forms that he would haye renounced the opinion of those who admitted the natural possibility of a “jeu de nature.” But today, with attention devoted to two or three of these stones which came, some from the American Islands and others from Canada, we will be able to correct our misinterpretation from the moment we learn that, without a doubt, the savages in these countries have different ways of using nearly similar stones which they have fashioned with infinite pa tience by rubbing them against other stones, lacking any tool of iron or steel, “The primary needs of the savages are to either cut or split wood, to make weapons to kill animals for their subsistence, or to defend them- selves against their enemies. ‘The shapes of axe and wedge (coin) which they have given to some stones which we have received from them show clearly that they were made for the first of these uses; and the points which they have given to some flint stones, which are skilfully attached to the end of certain long and thin pieces of wood, make it reasonably certain that they were used as arrows. T'am displaying one original specimen of each of these tools: the first is in the form of an axe and comes from the Caribs; the second resembles ‘a wedge deriving from Canada; the third are three arrows, each having as armature, instead of a steel point, a piece of triangular flint sharpened at the angle which serves as point, and with two cutting edges. ‘Looking at the shapes of these pieces which make up the collection, those which resemble any of the three forms and, mostly, those of wedge or arrowhead shape which until now have always been taken for thunder- stones and for something mysterious, we scarcely could hesitate now. to recognize as tools, like the steel tools to which they bear a resemblance, which have been fashioned either by the first inhabitants of the countries where they have becn found or which were introduced by strangers who used them in a kind of commerce. One reason for this guess is that in most of the countries where these tools are found there are hardly any ‘quarries or pebbles of the same kind which could have been used to make these tools locally, and consequently there is a great possibility that the inhabitants of a country where pebbles of the same fine grain and the same degree of hardness are found, came to exchange them for other commodities; and finally, to confirm this guess, the same practice still ‘obtains among the savages where those who have more skill and patience make the tools and furnish them to others who perhaps know better how to use them, ‘The people of France, Germany, and other Northern countries who,80 MAN'S DISCOVERY OF HIS PAST ee Dut for the discovery of iron, would have much resemblance to the savages of today, had no less need. than they—before using iron—to cut ‘wood, to remove bark, to split branches, to kill wild animals, to hunt John Fr for their food, and to defend themselves against their enemies. This they : with the lar could not possibly have done without these tools which, not being subject 4 clear present to rust, are found today in the ground intact and nearly with their fae atin original polish. ftom 10 its ‘As it is common enough for two things of very different nature to chapter) ana 4 geology, and have at times the same name, and as the name thunderstone, which | should only be applied to the kind of stone I have described, is also used in French for a sort of vitriolic marcasite, either oblong or rounded, 7 sometimes rough at the edges, sometimes smooth, and sometimes with facets, I strongly advise that the latter be not mistaken for the first kind, : not only because they do not resemble each other but are even different - in the respect that the latter has the quality of fusing and of changing into ; vitriol when exposed to air, while the one about which I am speaking isa true and very hard stone, so finely grained that it is used as touchstone for metals and for polishing different things. KE Lette To 3 sir e Ertake th found in 3 particularly im that High They are people whe depth of at : purpose of The strat q 1. Veget: j 2. Arg 2 — & Sands 4 Aga five or In the sa perfect wh q to the air; John Fres ofagia, 1800,: HIS PAST ince to the ron—to cut als, to hunt s. This they eing subject with their t nature to cone, which bed, is also or rounded, stimes with e first kind, en different anging into peaking isa touchstone 2K 81 John Frere's account of finding in 1790 Acheulean handaxes associated with the large bones of unknown animals (actually elephants) is the first clear presentation of ihe association in an open site of man-made tools and extinet animals, This account was ignored until J. Flower called atten tion to it sixty years later. Prestwich (see his account further on in this chapter) and Lyell (1863:166-169) visited the Hoxne pit and described the geology, and interest in the locality is still active (West 1956). THE BEGINNINGS OF PALEOLITHIC ARCHAEOLOGY John Frere Litter To THE Rev. Joun Branp, Secretary, Rea June 22, 1797 si T take the liberty to request you to lay before the Society some ints found in the parish of Hoxne, in the county of Suffolk, which, if not particularly objects of curiosity in themselves, must, I think, be considered in that light from the situation in which they were found. ‘They are, 1 think, evident weapons of war, fabricated and used by a people who had not the use of metals. They lay in great numbers at the Gepth of about twelve feet, in a stratified soil, which was dug into for the purpose of raising clay for bricks. ‘The strata are as follows: 1. Vegetable earth 114 feet. 2. Argill TY feet. 8, Sand mixed with shells and other marine substances 1 foot. 4, A gravelly soil, in which the flints are found, generally at the rate of five or six in a square yard, 2 feet. Jn the same stratum are frequently found small fragments of wood, very perfect when first dug up, but which soon decompose on being exposed to the air; and in the stratum of sand (No. 8), were found some extraor- John Frere, “Account of Flint Weapons Discovered at Hoxne in Suffolk” Archae- olagia, 1800, vol. 18, pp. 204-205,2 MAN'S DISCOVERY OF HIS PAST ea Fig. IL, Achoulean handaxe from Hoxne. (After Frere, 1800, pl. XIV.) dinary bones, particularly a-jaw-bone of enormous size; of some un- known animal, with the teeth remaining in it:T was very eager to obtain a sight of this: and finding it had been carried to a neighboring gentleman, T inquired of him, but learned that he had presented it, together with a huge thigh-bone, found in the same place, to Sir Ashton Lever, and it therefore is probably now in Parkinson’s Museum. The situation in which these weapons were found may tempt us to refer them to a very remote period indeed; even beyond that of the present world; but, whatever our conjectures on that head may be, it will be difficult to account for the stratum in which they lie being covered with another stratum, which, on that supposition, may be conjectured to have been once the bottom, or at least the shore, of the sea. The manner in which they lie would lead to the persuasion that it was a place of their manufacture and not of their accidental deposit; and the numbers of them were so great that the man who carried on the brick-work told me that before he was aware of their being objects of curiosity, be -had emptied baskets full of them into the ruts of the adjoining road. It may be conjectured that the different strata were formed by inundations happen- ing at distant periods, and bringing down in succession the different materials of which they consist; to which I can only say that the ground ‘in question does not fie at the foot of any higher ground, but does itself overhang a track of boggy earth, which extends under the fourth stratum; |F HIS PAST 5 Ww of some un- Ttoobtain a 3 gentleman, ether with a ever, and it tempt us to that of the ay be, it will sing covered nicanina *~ of their abers of told me he shad may be happen- ifferent ‘Wo 2s itself (om; Beginnings of Paleolithic Archaeology 83 Fig. 12, Acheulean handaxe from Hoxne found and illustrated by John Frere (1800, pl. XY). so that it should rather seem that torrents had washed away the incum- bent strata and left the bogearth bare, than that the bog-earth was covered by them, especially as the strata appear to be disposed. horizon- tally, and present their edges to the abrupt termination of the high ground. wv say HE ¥gu think the above worthy the notice of the Society you will please Tam, Sir, with great respect, Your faithful humble Servant, John Frere RK