Prehistoric man and his story : a sketch of the history of mankind from the earliest times / by G.F. Scott Elliot.

  • Elliot, G. F. Scott (George Francis Scott), 1862-1934.
Date:
1915
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Prehistoric man and his story : a sketch of the history of mankind from the earliest times / by G.F. Scott Elliot. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    INTRODUCTION Even the most primitive people in the world have their theories on the origin of mankind, and the same elusive problem still has its fascination even for ourselves. We take a sort of fatherly interest in the struggles and hard¬ ships of our early ancestors, and the story itself is a record of fine achievements by which man, who was once hardly so comfortable as a squirrel or a chipmunk, rose to the peacefully luxurious condition which prevails, now and then, in most of Europe and in the United States. It is the most complicated of all stories, for in it is involved almost every science and the history of almost every art and craft in which man has every exercised himself. In consequence, the literature of the subject is enormous, and seems yearly to increase both in amount and in complexity. The convenient word “ anthropology ” includes geo¬ logical, anatomical, zoological, archaeological, and ethno¬ logical questions or problems which are of extreme difficulty, and on many of which there is a radical difference in opinion; moreover, these are but a few of the sciences concerned. No one, however omnivorous his reading, could possibly learn and digest all the available literature. However, during the last few years, the mists which obscured the story of mankind seem to be beginning to clear away, and it is now possible to trace more or less clearly the general course of his ascent. Naturally only a sort of large scale-map can be outlined, for undue persis¬ tence on unnecessary details would obscure the general scheme. It has often been impossible in the following pages to do justice to views and theories which are of great importance, partly for want of space and partly because mention of conflicting opinions would have hopelessly confused the narrative. But it seemed to me that the story of humanity was becoming quite incompre-