ICE AGE LOWBROWS

Evening Post, Issue 2, 2 July 1932, Page 8

ICE AGE LOWBROWS

A chilly wind whipping the ii.c; \ou stumble on, half'frozen, seeking shcltci, and makc~ foi a ca^c fiom which smoke is drifting. And then emeiges. v mghtmaie, «i tia\esty ot man.

. ' Squat, beetling-b.ro\ved, > with'lpw,fQre".head,"and retreating i chin.;---.h.ead" jjvink iii- neck, arid fbrw^ ling:'bn;''curvcaV.9^ .;B^ayo^i■ng.'^'ina^tic.^Ta't9..^.■Tig^'i•''. I "'■^tb.^lß in hand, fr&,rQsh~cs':af-,'ypn.!.'.'-l"/ ;', TTou are back in.T8.G;;;30,00p,:,iuJ'thp last Ice Age, face to 'face with',the. Neanderthal: (writes' H. C: McKay *iii the Sydniey4"paily ; .Strictly "speaking, with- the • Neanderthal6id,: for; the-shorter name "istfrat of stho JPr.ussian' va]lpy;;Tvhere the. skulls of.- these 'prehistoric people; were -"first fliseove'rod." Since then, complete skeletons have been found elsewhere, the latest being those of three adults, reported as unearthed in a cave of Mount Carmcl, Palestine. '. • ... "Whence, where, why, and how?" are the questions anthropologists ask of these remainsj and as yet there is no answer.

Suddenly, with the blight of the Ice ;Age;'. thpse .savages.'.appear in Ijutope, supplahting.'the''mpreJ cultu'red-ra'c'eV^the Chelleans,' ;that; preceded ;the'm:': As suddenly' they disappear; with * the';end of 'that age 'as the Aveather grows milder .and, the lice '..melts.! " Tho;:giaht Reindeer- Men (Cr'o-Magnons) •• take their place.. : - -.;"■-. • ,-.v : y.,.\

Those Too Ago lowbrows, the JSToandeithal Men, must have had ancestors. Some believe thp Pekin Man (whose skeleton was found in China threp years ago) is one, others believe the Heidclbuig skull represents another; but otherwise they just flit on, to the stage of life in a pcnod of stipes, cold, and hunger; then, as the eaith waims, become extinct The Reindoei Men may have wiped them out. Huge fellows, these, over sit feet high, with, biain cases modern men might envy, for few living Australians could measuiejup to their capacm Skilled hunters and aitists, flat faced, high chcekboncd cave dwellers, 'they came on m a wave with the first icefreo summer, out of Asia and Africa; the Neanderthal quickly made his q-at. The latter is usually looked on as a side issue in evolution He is not in piescnt day man's diiect anccstiy. S*udy of his skull shows that he had a large but primitive brain—or at least it was under developed in the fiontal arcis and ovei developed olsewheie. l!ic set of his Wad on his shouldeis is that of the ape; he must have gJaied up fioin a head sunken toward, the chest. Fjve feet'four is lus top height His legs wcio permanently bent at hip and knee joints, so that he could only shuffle along He^jcaadc a pceuhai tjpe of stone ijn plemeat"aftfl'weapon, these, s fouhd (mulu^ Sk^lafons) over Europe, and Afucft suggest that at one tifne the race spiead o\er a big area of'the planet ■"■ jAnd, aftei all, he could not have been "=o lowbrow as he looked He managed to hang on light through the la£r 'Ice

' MYSTERY OF EARLY MAN

Age, when huge cave-lion's'and 'cave-' bears disputed'the right'to tlicso'r'ockjTi shelters' with- him, : ,•:■■ -. ■V:^-. .•:■..'■•,' | Outside in the sno^v and, ice. .rtiahi-j ed the mammoth, the vWOtfjl^ yhinoceros,i and other fierce aniinais;-\yhi^h:-he may have hunted, though'he probably,:, kept to reindeer andthe smaller. Arctis'niauilnals which came down into onpe-iyafnV latitudes as the cold^grew w'6t|ov'.;:' And yot before this cold snap, \\vlien.i the Chelleans were in evidence, the cii'-j mate was. ideal. In this r iuterglaqlali period the weather is believed to' h'siyebeen at first misty and.. jwarinj' -InciT cooler and drier, with dust'stbrms/ ■''.; . .At last, spreading down, from Scandinavia, came the ice: vA';wild.:jnigra--tion of men "and'Jbej|st|4o^tne-'%qtaf*M: set in, food : grew g'carcef'and'-'ajno'ijigi the flesh-eaters "Eat:or: b? e!'eaten!.";lje-f came the slogan of thtj/dayy '■'.:■ '■'■ .'"■*! i The Chelleans eith'er?g6t!aTV<ity south j or peiished. Thousands"«f JMijn&ls.-died.: Some became extiHtft":'f?pm?;fli'at 'pprlp.aSi One-fifth of tho.>g^S;.(was;'i,oha§r>ace4:! No remains of N^Blerthal^.en^ayejl been found in Australia^;aid^it-'iS-Tgos-:i siblethey- never came this- Hrayi.'^-gjfie- 1 niucli-dispntea Jerybis; -^kull* is^ratherr that of a proto-Australiah'([an ancestor of the aborigine). The Talgai skull certainly is, and,it js.not in line with the Neanderthal types. "'-•■ A reconstruction of the latter showsthem to,lie a ty^o not exactly paralleled anywhere (till the Talestine -find was made) except in a few European -and North African caves (one was found near! Gibraltar, in 1926). .One peculiarity' ■is; l 'the^eni9riiou!psiidg?.a;;f;oV. attaihmesit itffibiiting muscles, Xh;p\igh'.*liQ;Ha;d weapons * the NeajaawlJ^fl^jnu^'Sstiil ■Karev^pne:Va:'lot--.^?^Hting;\-'Aitif"hia teoth^ ■,'■.•;»'■;"•! ;.,., ''$&■>.■';/■■s '£- :vj fr:'-; .':-s.ii,--; v Yet "(ito^^ l^w^>asnyyhinji^spe,ecH) lie must. Kavejhad|K;ru4i^eri]ta'ry' culturei^.fi^r^^^tt^g^^^ur;ied.' 'liis dead- ;anU:'%.:;b^ried;.gt|ie''':dead: man's weap:pjis ■ andJlin^leWeints '^vrith him. vJ^isV^iigh'^'oinJ^toj^'tcr'uae belief ii'sdßWyklj-^fe^^t^Hio'fcp'tpson.e"^-. ing ;hjs; jlieinelits^ifti:-Jlfe:* spirit '• larid. O^iii^ih^t^e^ifle^iy: tejief ;that /a dead ::m:a^^S^'pf^s%fbiighfc^b For ;tM?:jiiaK^|a^y^hagic^'.might pre-d^'^ar^culaT^^eecte:^-;^-- ;.:> ] Th'6'^o'anae.ftHii'-*alsor>^^-jii;ey'>/ l IHo probably-didliotfiopfcohi^niealsirjbut tho. ;fires jiea^ihs''are stUl:yHiJjle)^otH:^armpd,^'e'Urib'e:and frightened/o3|-caT^pn^ak^ptKer^wild beastSiy,-^&;fl^:^e^Ji^ai;?t4V^^e" entr'asfefjj!ajlajthe. ti'iVVe ■ app^rVritly'liyed just-iiiside;^.^:^:^;^-^^;' '^Thtfs:^i^,^iA^F^"aVj;inkiiaj^f,'i; ::t6live tKrp^ig%sJie'i^r^evireb^,\pnrluch an Jenori^Suai'sjJanH {S6jjj©';say' a fiiindi-ed '|h^fea^; r3^a^s^^;^rßs?)Sr:;;^; v«r : f' ; : • I)id-*lhu^'''gruelEn:f)Jtnn'(» ':■ ftveniiially "get him down"? The' Reindeer' Mail was cleverer, but the Neanderthal must have .been a nasty snag, especially when he'got to in-fighting; and'set his enormous jaws, andi teeth, to •work.- .

.^.ayhow, he disappeared, .just as,<.the Reindeer Man''disappeared later. Evolution . had' finished, with | him. Either cunning heat savagery or else the' Neanderthal degenerated- to extinction; "J;Kotv,' as -pur own. race may 6ne day: l)Cjiliei'is;6nij; a: curio'jii/ajjii'Useuui."' ;":'