Mammoth Hunt, 1896
Hutchinson, Henry N. (1856-1927). Prehistoric Man and Beast. London: Smith, Elder, 1896.
Cecil Aldin (1870-1935) was a scientific illustrator whose work often appeared in the Illustrated London News, and he was tapped by H.N. Hutchinson to provide the images for his book on prehistoric men. Aldin responded with a series of soft watercolors that are most unlike the plates in earlier works, such as Figuier’s Primitive Man of 1870 (see item 27). Moreover, they are printed here with the new half-tone process, and in black and white, so the scenes became even softer in the transformation. This image shows a mammoth hunt in progress; the hunters are not shown clearly, but would seem, from the text, to be Mousterian-age, and thus Neanderthals.