The Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man: With Remarks on Theories of the Origin of Species by Variation

541 Pages·2009·10.08 MB·English

by  Charles Lyell

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Darwin
Two hundred years after his birth and 150 years after the publication of ‘On
the Origin of Species’, Charles Darwin and his theories are still the focus of
worldwide attention. This series offers not only works by Darwin, but also
the writings of his mentors in Cambridge and elsewhere, and a survey of the
impassioned scientific, philosophical and theological debates sparked by his
‘dangerous idea’.
The Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man
Sir Charles Lyell (1797–1875) is remembered today as much for his profound
influence on the young Charles Darwin as for his own work as a geologist:
Darwin read the three volumes of his Principles of Geology (1830-3) as they
came out, and was greatly interested in Lyell’s theory of the huge effects over
geological time of an accumulation of tiny, almost unobservable changes.
The Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man was published in 1863,
and went into three editions in that year alone. The work synthesises the
then existing evidence for the earliest humans in Europe and North America
and – as indicated by its subtitle, With Remarks on Theories of the Origin
of Species by Variation – discusses Darwin’s theory and ‘the bearing of this
hypothesis on the different races of mankind and their connection with other
parts of the animal kingdom’.
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The Geological
Evidences of the
Antiquity of Man
With Remarks on Theories of the Origin of
Species by Variation
Charles Lyell
CAMbRiDGE UNiVERSiTy PRESS
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Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New york
www.cambridge.org
information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781108003971
© in this compilation Cambridge University Press 2009
This edition first published 1863
This digitally printed version 2009
iSbN 978-1-108-00397-1
This book reproduces the text of the original edition. The content and language reflect
the beliefs, practices and terminology of their time, and have not been updated.
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
PRINCIPLES of GEOLOGY ; or, the MODEEN CHANGES of j
the EAETH and its INHABITANTS, as illustrative of Geology. 9th Edition.
Woodcuts, 8vo., 18s.
ELEMENTS of GEOLOGY ; or, the ANCIENT CHANGES of
the EAETH and its IKHABITAHTS, as illustrated by its Geological Monuments. |
6th Edition, revised. Woodcuts. 8vo. [In preparation. j
A FIRST and SECOND VISIT to NORTH AMERICA, !
CANADA, NOVA SCOTIA, &c.: with GEOLOGICAL OBSEKVATIONS. 2nd I
Edition. Maps. 4 vols. Post 8vo. 24s.
THE GEOLOGICAL EVIDENCES
OF
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
•WITH HEM A KKS ON THEORIES 01
THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES BY VARIATION
BY SIR CHAELES LYELL, F.E.S.
AUTHOR 01' ' PBINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY,' 'EI.ESIEHTS OF GEOLOGY,' ETC. ETC
ILLUSTRATED BY WOODCUTS
LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET
1863
The right 01 translation is reserved

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.
Preliminary Remarks on the Subjects treated of in this Work—Definition of
the Terms Recent, Post-Plioeene, and Post-Tertiary—Tabular View of the
entire Series of Fossiliferous Strata PAGE 1
CHAPTER II.
RECENT PERIOD DANISH PEAT AND SHELL MOUNDS SWISS LAKE
DWELLINGS.
Works of Art in Danish Peat-Mosses—Remains of three Periods of Vegetation
in the Peat—Ages of Stone, Bronze, and Iron — Shell-Mounds or ancient
Refuse-Heaps of the Danish Islands — Change in geographical Distribution
of Marine Mollusca since their Origin — Embedded Remains of Mammalia
of recent Species—Human Skulls of the same Period—Swiss Lake-Dwel-
lings built on Piles—Stone and Bronze Implements found in them—Fossil
Cereals and other Plants — Remains of Mammalia, wild and domesticated—
No extinct Species—Chronological Computations of the Date of the Bronze
and Stone Periods in Switzerland —Lake-Dwellings, or artificial Islands
called ' Crannoges,' in Ireland 8
CHAPTER III.
FOSSIL HUMAN REMAINS AND WORKS OF ART OF THE RECENT PERIOD.
Delta and Alluvial Plain of the Nile — Burnt Bricks in Egypt before the Roman
Era—Borings in 1851-54 — Ancient Mounds of the Valley of the Ohio —
Their Antiquity—Sepulchral Mound at Santos in Brazil—Delta of the
Mississippi—Ancient Human Remains in Coral Reefs of Florida— Changes in.
Physical Geography in the Human Period—Buried Canoes in marine Strata
near Glasgow — Upheaval since the Roman Occupation of the Shores of the
Firth of Forth — Fossil Whales near Stirling—Upraised marine Strata of
Sweden on Shores of the Baltic and the Ocean—Attempts to compute their
Age. 33
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