The Australian Town and Country Journal, 02 July 1870, page 21.
Ethnologists and Paleontologists have so generally used the terms "stone age" and "cave dwellers," as appertaining to periods of very remote antiquity, that the general public have come to regard all such subjects as exclusively belonging to pre-historical times. Evidences, however, are not wanting to show that, although this may be the case with regard to European countries, both terms are applicable to what are almost things of today in Polynesia and Australia. Another erroneous idea that seems very prevalent is, that the use of stone tools and weapons by a people indicated that they had not emerged from the very lowest stage of barbarism; and having this notion present to their minds, some recent writers have puzzled themselves and their readers by trying to account for the enormous quantities of chipped flints, such as arrow-heads and other weapons, which have been found in certain localities in Europe. They could not imagine that savages in the lowest stage of human existence, as they erroneously took it for granted that the stone age people were, could have had what, for want of a better term, we must call great manufactories of stone implements. Yet it appears certain that the stone age folks had such centres of industry, and it is probable that the results of their labours were widely distributed by means of channels of communication and commerce,
not very unlike those which prevail at the present day in many semi-barbarous countries. If this was the case, many races of mankind, during the ages in which stone implements were exclusively used, must have been very much further advanced in their progress towards civilization than is generally believed. I have been led into these remarks from reading an account of recent explorations and investigations in the Sandwich Islands by Dr. Beratz, a German traveller. He has described caves and large quantities of stone implements which he found in Hawaii, evidently of recent occupation and make; and yet these things, if found in Europe, would be referred to as the habitations and productions of savages in the lowest state of existence, in times almost incalculably remote. In speaking of the caves near the top of Mount Kea, Dr. Beratz says "In every one we found a fire-place near the entrance, showing that the hands of men had completed what nature had left unfinished. Where the natural entrance to a cave was too large, we found rocks piled up like a wall, and the fissures and openings between them filled up with chips and small stones. In other caves again where the entrance had proved too steep or too rough to be comfortable, there Hat stones had been placed like steps, down which we descended into these little mountain habitations. This part of the mountain-where these caves and the quarries from which the material for the adze manufacture
was procured are situated-is destitute of vegetation. On examining the interior of the caves, we found pieces of Kapa of various texture and colour, bones of dogs and pigs, cocoa-nut shells, banana stems, pieces of awa- root, and sugar-cane, old mats, firewood, and heaps of Opihi shells. Outside of the caves, the ready made stone adzes were put up in large heaps on both sides of the entrance. The most striking thing of this whole stone adze manufactory, and which at the same time gives us somewhat of an idea of the extent to which it was carried on, the number of ages during which it was continued, and the amount of people working constantly at it, are the large mounds of little chips, thin and sharply pointed, in front of every cave, 20 to 30 feet in height and thickness. In fact, these wonderful mounds, visible for some distance, led to the discovery of the other caves. It is only a short time since the 'stone age' of these islands closed, and the first iron tools and metal instruments were imported by foreigners." In connection with this matter of flint implements, it may not be out of place to mention that some of the Australian tribes, particularly those on the north-western coast, show an almost marvellous degree of dexterity in their manufacture. In Captain King's account of his visit to Hanover Bay, he says:-
"What chiefly attracted our attention was a small bundle of bark, tied up with more than usual care; and upon opening it we found it contained several spear-heads, most ingeniously and curiously made of stone; they were about six inches in length, and were terminated by a very sharp point;
both sides were serrated in a most surprising way; the serrature was evidently made by a sharp stroke with some instrument, but it was effected without leaving the least mark of the blow; the stone was covered with red pigment, and appeared to be a flinty slate. These spear-heads were ready for fixing, and the careful manner in which they were preserved, plainly showed their value: for each was separated by slips of bark, and the sharp edges protected by a covering of fur. Their hatchets were also made of the same stone, the edges of which were so sharp, that a few blows served to chop off the branches of a tree."
It is evident from the foregoing facts, that no very reliable conclusion, as to the stage of advancement to which a people had attained, can be arrived at from the fact, that they used stone implements. -B.
