Forbidden Archeology_ The Full Unabridged Edition - Michael A. Cremo [168]
Thus the flints from the Miocene of Thenay did not win much approval at their Paris debut. Only a few scientists, prominent among them the Danish naturalist Worsaae, admitted they were actual artifacts. Undeterred, Bourgeois continued his work, finding more and more specimens, and convincing individual paleontologists and geologists they were the result of intentional work. De Mortillet said he was one of the first to be so convinced. He and other scientists not only examined the collection of Bourgeois at Pontlevoy but also carefully studied the site at Thenay.
Some scientists questioned the stratigraphic position in which the flints had been found. The first specimens collected by Bourgeois, many of which showed signs of burning by fire, came from the slopes of rocky debris along the sides of a small valley cutting through the plateau at Thenay. Geologists such as Sir John Prestwich objected that these were essentially surface finds. In response, Bourgeois dug a trench in the valley and found flints showing the same signs of human work (de Mortillet 1883, p. 94).
Still unsatisfied, critics proposed that the flints found in the trench had come to their positions through fissures leading from the top of the plateau, where Quaternary implements were often found. To meet this objection, Bourgeois, in 1869, sank a pit into the top of the plateau (de Mortillet 1883, p. 95). In the course of the excavation, he came to a layer of limestone 32 centimeters (about one foot) thick, with no fissures through which Quaternary stone tools might have slipped to lower levels.
Deeper in his pit, at a depth of 4.23 meters (13.88 feet) in Early Miocene strata of the Aquitanian stage, Bourgeois discovered many flint tools. De Mortillet (1883, pp. 95–96) stated in Le Préhistorique: “There was no further doubt about their antiquity or their geological position.” In the layer of Early Miocene clay containing the flint implements, Bourgeois found a hammer stone bearing evident signs of percussion. Hammer stones are primarily used to strike flakes from flint cores. In his collection, Bourgeois (1873, p. 90) had several other examples of hammer stones.
Despite the clear demonstration provided by the pit sunk in the middle of the plateau at Thenay, many scientists retained their doubts. A showdown came in Brussels, at the 1872 meeting of the International Congress of Prehistoric Anthropology and Archeology. There Bourgeois
Figure 4.8. A pointed implement from a Miocene formation at Thenay, France (Bourgeois 1873, plate 1).
delivered a report summarizing the history of his discoveries. In addition, he presented many specimens, figures of which were included in the published proceedings of the Congress. Describing a pointed specimen (Figure 4.8), Bourgeois (1873, p. 89) stated: “Here is an awllike specimen, on a broad base. The point in the middle has been obtained by regular retouching. This is a type common to all epochs. On the opposite side is a bulb of percussion, which although rare in the Tertiary flints of The-
nay, here shows itself very well.”
Bourgeois described another implement: “A very regularly shaped fragment of a flake that deserves the designation knife or cutter.” He continued: “The edges have regular retouching, and the opposite side presents a bulb of percussion” (Bourgeois 1873, p. 49). On many of his specimens, noted Bourgeois, the edges on the part of the tool that might be grasped by the hand remained unworn, while those on the cutting surfaces showed extensive wear and polishing.
Another specimen ( Figure 4.9), was characterized by Bourgeois (1873, p. 89) as a projectile point or an awl.
Figure 4.9. A pointed artifact from Miocene strata at Thenay, France, with retouching near the point (Bourgeois 1873, plate 2).
He noted the presence of retouching on the edges, obviously intended to make a sharp point. Bourgeois (1873, p. 89) also saw among the objects he collected “a core with the two extremities retouched with the aim of being utilized