'' Then the others grunted something back at
him and their growl meant, ``I see them,'' or ``let us run away
and hide.'' And this was probably the origin of all language.
But, as I have said before, of these beginnings we know
so very little. Early man had no tools and he built himself
no houses. He lived and died and left no trace of his existence
except a few collar-bones and a few pieces of his skull.
These tell us that many thousands of years ago the world was
inhabited by certain mammals who were quite different from
all the other animals--who had probably developed from another
unknown ape-like animal which had learned to walk on
its hind-legs and use its fore-paws as hands--and who were
most probably connected with the creatures who happen to be
our own immediate ancestors.
It is little enough we know and the rest is darkness.
PREHISTORIC MAN
PREHISTORIC MAN BEGINS TO MAKE
THINGS FOR HIMSELF.
EARLY man did not know what time meant. He kept
no records of birthdays or wedding anniversaries or the hour
of death. He had no idea of days or weeks or even years.
But in a general way he kept track of the seasons for he had
noticed that the cold winter was invariably followed by the mild
spring--that spring grew into the hot summer when fruits
ripened and the wild ears of corn were ready to be eaten and
that summer ended when sudden gusts of wind swept the leaves
from the trees and a number of animals were getting ready
for the long hibernal sleep.
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