Page:Early Man in Britain and His Place in the Tertiary Period.djvu/300

272 somewhat of this kind. Thin lines of smoke rising from among the trees of the dense virgin forest at our feet would mark the position of the Neolithic homesteads, and of the neighbouring stockaded camp which afforded refuge in time of need; while here and there a gleam of gold would show the small patch of ripening wheat. We enter a track in the forest, and thread our way to one of the clusters of homesteads, passing herds of goats and flocks of horned sheep, or disturbing a troop of horses or small short-horned oxen, or stumbling upon a swineherd tending the hogs in their search after roots. We should probably have to defend ourselves against the attack of some of the large dogs, used as guardians of the flock against bears, wolves, and foxes, and for hunting the wild animals. At last, on emerging into the clearing, we should see a little plot of flax or small-eared wheat, and near the homestead the inhabitants, clad some in linen and others in skins, and ornamented with necklaces and pendants of stone, bone, or pottery, carrying on their daily occupations. Some are cutting wood with stone axes (Fig. 99) with a wonderfully sharp edge, fixed in wooden handles, as in Fig. 100, with stone adzes and gouges, or with little saws composed of carefully notched pieces of flint about three or four inches long, splitting it with stone wedges, scraping it with flint flakes. Some are at work preparing handles for the spears, shafts for the arrows, and wood for the bows, or for the broad paddles used for propelling the canoes. Others are busy grinding and sharpening the various stone tools, scraping skins with implements ground to a circular edge, or carving various implements out of bone and antler with sharp splinters of flint, while the women are preparing the meal with