142 Notes on the Geological Position of the Human
gives a presumption rather than a proof of a certain age,
inasmuch as such association is largely dependent on negative
evidence for any weight it may possess, and negative evidence
is always liable to be more or less upset by new discoveries.
The result of the drainage of the Lake of Haarlem gives a
hint on this point. It was drained about thirty years ago;
excellent sections were made in all directions across its bed,
and carefully examined by skilled geologists. As many
Dutchmen and Spaniards had perished in its waters three
centuries ago, and it had always been the centre of a
considerable population, plenty of human bones were expected.
Yet none were found, the only remains of man being some
wrecked Spanish vessels and a few coins; though the bones
of men buried on battle-fields are not more decayed than
those of horses interred with them. Thus, Mammalia un-
equal to the production of works of art might easily leave no
signs of their former existence in a deposit in which hundreds
or even thousands of them had been buried. (See Lyell's
Antiq. Man, ed. iii., p. 147).
Thus, had extinct Mammalia and flint implements of the
most primitive type been found associated with the Tilbury
skeleton, no one would have been thereby more justified than
now in calling the skeleton Palaeolithic. For their presence
in Recent strata could only show their extinction to be of
more modern date than had previously been supposed, and
could confer no additional antiquity on the beds themselves.
Similarly, the rude and savage character of the Tilbury or
any other skeleton can in itself give no presumption of
Palaeolithic rather than Neolithic age. No doubt, on the
average, men of the rude Neanderthal type were decidedly
commoner among the makers of the rude, or Palaeolithic,
implements than among the users of polished, or Neolithic,
tools. But many Neanderthal-like men may have used
polished implements, there being no inseparable connection
between highly-finished implements and elegantly-shaped
skulls.
In short, when terms like Palaeolithic and Neolithic are
used, on the one hand, in the provisional classification of