Page:Early Man in Britain and His Place in the Tertiary Period.djvu/296

268 combs, six inches long, with short thick teeth and long handles (Fig. 96), were used in weaving. A bone needle with drilled eye implies sewing. Fragments of pottery, not turned in the lathe, plain, or ornamented with incised curves, right lines, or lines of dots, prove a knowledge of the potter's art. They were also cultivators of the ground; for Dr. Blackmore discovered a cast of a grain of wheat in the clay which had formed a portion of the cover of one of the pits; and two concave stone grain- rubbers or "mealing-stones" for grinding corn show an acquaintance with agriculture.

The remains of the animals in the pits belong to wild and domestic species: for on the one hand we have the stag; and, on the other, the dog, goat, short-horn (Bos longifrons), horse, and pig, besides smaller animals and fishes. We may, therefore, infer that the inhabitants were also hunters, fishermen, and keepers of flocks and herds.

The Neolithic age of these accumulations is proved by a roughly clipped celt, besides large quantities of broken flint and an arrow-head. No trace of metal was discovered.

This form of subterranean habitation is still used by native tribes in the interior of Africa. The eminent explorer Mr. H. M. Stanley describes "deep pits with small circular mouths, which proved on examination to lead to several passages from the mouth of the pit to more roomy excavations like so many apartments," which are used for dwellings in Southern Unyoro.