The Zoologist/3rd series, vol 1 (1877)/Issue 3/On the Geographical Distribution of the Fallow Deer Past and Present

by Ludwig Heinrich Jeitteles

 

THE ZOOLOGIST

 

THIRD SERIES.

 

---

---

---

---

 

ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE
FALLOW DEER PAST AND PRESENT.

TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF L.H. JEITTELES.^[1]

By P.D. Ullmann and J.E. Harting.

 

Natural History shares with History the doubtful honour of possessing many chapters which are nothing more than what Talleyrand would call "des fables convenues," or which are made up of fallacies universally adopted as true. To this unfavourable side of science Geology contributes the largest share, but Zoology is by no means exempt, especially as regards the habits, haunts and geographical distribution of animals.

According to most works on Zoology, "The Fallow Deer (Cervus dama) is a native of the countries washed by the Mediterranean, from whence it was introduced into Germany, Scandinavia, and England after the Crusades." And yet this animal was equally indigenous many thousand years ago, not only in Africa and Western Asia, but also in Southern Russia, and even in Central Europe, Denmark, Italy, and the South of France.

My researches into the geographical distribution of the Fallow Deer, as well as my study of the history of the domestic fowl,^[2] were occasioned by an antiquarian discovery at Olmütz. There, in the same stratum with the skull of the domestic fowl, and amongst weapons and utensils of the early Bronze Age, was found a piece of horn, which from its flatness and from the total absence of rugosities and tubercles (runzeln und perlen), I was at once inclined to consider a fractured portion of the horn of a Fallow Deer. Careful comparison with the horn of the Red Deer, Reindeer, Elk, and Irish Elk, in different museums, particularly those of Stuttgardt and Munich, and in numerous private collections, confirmed my opinion. Reliable authorities on the Cervidæ agreed with me, although a still greater authority, Professor Rütimeyer of Basle, suggested the possibility of this fragment from Olmütz having belonged to a Red Deer.

Cuvier mentions fossil horns of the Fallow Deer, and speaks of "bois assez semblables à ceux du Daim, mais d'une très grande taille, trouvés dans la vallée de la Somme et en Allemagne."^[3] He has also figured two pieces of horn from Abbeville, which are certainly taken from the true Fallow Deer. Moreover, he has given a copy of a drawing sent to him by Autenrieth:—"D'un crâne et d'un merrain y adhèrent, déposés au cabinet de Stuttgardt; pièces que ce savant rapportait au cerf à bois gigantesques, mais qui me paraissent plutôt se devoir rapporter à ce Daim à cause de la longueur de la partie cylindrique."^[4] Subsequently similar remains of horn were dug up in Gergovia, near Clermont, in the Departement of Puy-de-Dôme, and at Polignac, near Puy, in the Departement of Haute-Loire, which were described by F. Robert as those of Cervus dama polignacus; by Pomel as C. somonensis and C. Roberti; and by Gervais as C. somonensis, with an original figure by Desmarest. Gervais describes them as "des bois de Daims qui indiquent une espèce ou variété bien plus grande que celle dont il a été question ci-dessus" (namely, C. dama); and that these horns were "d'un tiers a moins plus grande que ceux du Daims ordinaire."^[5]

Georg Jäger, in his "Review of the Fossil Mammalia of Wurtemburg,"^[6] refers to numerous discoveries of the remains of Fallow Deer in the caves and bogs, as well as in the diluvial fresh-water chalk of Wurtemburg. lie further states that in the Museum of Mannheim there are skulls not only of Bos primigenius, but also of B. priscus and its ally B. priscus affinis, with a skull of Cervus dama giganteus, all found in the diluvium in the neighbourhood of Mannheim.

In the Museum at Linz, in Upper Austria, numerous remains of animals from the diluvium in the neighbourhood of Wels are preserved, which were discovered at no great distance in cutting the railway known as the Elizabeth-Westbahn in Buchberg. Besides a fractured piece of the horn of a Red Deer, a molar of Ursus arctos (not U. spelæus), a fine molar of the Mammoth (Elephas primigenius) and horses' teeth, there is in the Museum—amongst those remains marked as found in the above-mentioned railway cutting—a fine large fragment of horn undoubtedly belonging to a Fallow Deer. Like the fragment of horn of Cervus elaphus from the same locality, it is of a white colour and has a calcined appearance. In 1870 and again in 1873 I examined this interesting fragment of horn, with the other animal remains found at the same time, and am indebted to the kindness of Herr Kaiserl Ehrlich, the Curator of the Museum, for a photograph of it. In October, 1873, I also inspected the cutting at Buchberg, and convinced myself of the purely diluvial nature of the soil there. In many places I found it deeply excavated for gravel (schotter), and it seems clear that the horns and teeth preserved in the Museum at Linz were found in one of these gravel-pits, but lying in a stratum of marl (mergeligen) beneath the gravel.

Fragments of horn undoubtedly belonging to the Fallow Deer were dug out by Dr. F.A. Wagner in the autumn of 1828, in the ash-heap (aschenschicht) of a so-called place of sacrifice (opfer-herdes) between Schlieben and the village of Malitzschkendorf, in Schweinitz, Saxony, in large quantities, together with remains of the Elk (among them a four-tined elk-horn), the teeth of mighty boars, and remains of very large oxen, roe-deer, and sheep, as well as wheat and millet. A detailed account of these discoveries is given in his work.^[7] Dr. Wagner (a physician at Schlieben) prosecuted his researches with the greatest conscientiousness and determined the animal remains in question with great care and skill, as will be evident from his work, the bombastic title of which may be overlooked. In the determination of the various fragments of horns he was assisted by a well-known and excellent zoologist, Professor Nitzsch, of Halle. The four-tined elk-horn is figured (pl. v., fig. 8), but unfortunately not the pieces of Fallow Deer's horns. Besides the remains of animals and plants, these places of sacrifice yielded various fashioned bones, three needles, fragments of battle-axes, pieces of urns, four entire vessels, and a polished shin-bone of an ox. Dr. Wagner also recognised therein a skate and other bones beautifully polished. No human bones were found. As regards the Fallow Deer, Dr. Wagner writes as follows (p. 34):—"In digging at various times in this temple, we found fragments of horns which were more than suggestive of those of the Fallow Deer; but as no complete skeleton was ever secured, nor even such portions as would place the matter beyond doubt, it is still uncertain whether this species was sacrificed along with the Elk (Cervus alces), and the subject requires further investigation."

Alex. von Nordmann, in his 'Palæontologie Südrusslands,'^[8] gives a drawing of five teeth from a "Cervus fossilis damæ affinis." But in the diluvial period, and in later prehistoric times the Fallow Deer existed in more northern latitudes. In the year 1871, in the centre of the town of Hamburg, and subsequently in a tributary of the Elbe, numerous upper and lower jaws were discovered, larger than those of the existing Cervus dama, except as regards the teeth, which corresponded in size with those of the existing species. With these were found remains of the Aurochs, and other large oxen, and bones of the horse, pig, and other animals. The remains first discovered were found between tree-stumps in twenty to twenty-two feet of "solid black peat, the alluvium of the Alster, below the diluvial Geestrücken of Neustadt."^[9]

Prof. Steenstrup has given a short account of the collection of animal remains from the Kjökkenmöddings and peat bogs of Denmark, which were exhibited on the occasion of the Archaeological Congress in 1869 in Copenhagen, amongst which he mentions (pp. 160 et seq.) the Fallow Deer, whose horns and bones were found in the upper peat of Denmark:—"Le Daim (Cervus dama). Bois et ossements provenants des états supérieurs de la tourbe."^[10] Nevertheless he adds, "Cet animal n'est pas originaire du Danemark; il est bien constaté qu'il a été introduit dans le pays pendant le moyen âge."

In Owen's 'History of British Fossil Mammals and Birds' (1846, pp. 483, 484) are some brief remarks on the discovery of fossil remains of the Fallow Deer in a few localities in England, but the specimens referred to are described as "far from yielding satisfactory grounds of identification." From the peat-moss of Newbury portions of palmated antlers and teeth have been dug out, which accord in size with those of the Fallow Deer, and Dr. Buckland found similar remains in the large cave of Paviland, on the coast of Glamorganshire, with the remains of the Mammoth, Rhinoceros, Hyæna, &c., "deer of two or three species, and fragments of various horns, some small, others a little palmated."

Professor Owen justly remarks that "the same doubt as to whether the latter are referable to the Reindeer or the Fallow Deer arises as in the case of the palmated fragments from Newbury."

Among the animal remains found in the Swiss Lake dwellings were discovered fragments of horn that apparently belonged to the Fallow Deer. Referring to this, Prof. Rütimeyer says:^[11]—"A number of flat pieces of palmated horn with perfectly smooth surface found in the Bieler Lake, and now in the collection of Lieutenant Schwab, of Biel, can only belong to the Fallow Deer, judging from their size and form. I could only ascribe to this animal similar pieces from Meilen, which fully agreed with the abnormal form which the horn of the Fallow Deer assumes in old age (Cuv., Ossem. Fossiles, iv., tab. iii., figs. 32—35). At the same time I must remark that I have never yet seen a perfect antler from the pile-dwellings (Pfahlbauten), nor even fragments of the skull, which, next to the horn, would offer the most important characteristics of the Fallow Deer. Reliable evidence of the spontaneous existence of this species of deer north of the Alps is therefore still desirable." Nevertheless the existence of this animal in the Terremare of Italy—which is equivalent to the Swiss Pfahlbauten—is quite certain. In the Museum of Modena are two fragments of horn, respecting which Professor Canestrini,^[12] and more recently Mortillet,^[13] have given some account. In 1870, at my request, Dr. Carlo Boni, subsequently Director of the Museum of Modena, had the goodness to send to me at Basle—where I was spending the winter of 1869–70—these two fragments for comparison with mine from Olmütz, when Professor Rütimeyer, who also saw them, determined that one of them (marked "624 Gorzano") must have belonged to Cervus dama.

As well as in Moravia, the Fallow Deer seems, in olden times, to have existed on the borders of Lower Austria. In Pulkau, not far from Eggenburg, south of the Thaya, in an ancient place of sacrifice, discovered and described by Dr. Woldrich, were found earthen vessels, implemenls of stone, bone and horn, a bronze casting-mould, the remains of the dog, ox, and red deer, and a piece of horn that was conjectured to be "the tine of a Fallow Deer's antler."^[14]

That the Fallow Deer inhabited the woods of Switzerland in the middle ages may be gathered from the following words in the Benediction of the monk Ekkehard, of St. Galle, who lived in the eleventh century:—"Imbellem damam faciat benedictio summam;"^[15] and even at a later date, according to a statement in Forer's German edition of Gesner's 'Natural History' (Heidelberg, 1606, p. 84), where it is said that "The Fallow Deer is hunted in many other places, and is frequently captured in the woods of Switzerland and near Lucerne: it is called Dam, Dämlin, or Damhirsch." In the Latin edition, however (Hist. An., vol. i., 2nd ed., Frankfort, 1620), which is now before me, I can find no important observations on the appearance of the Fallow Deer in Switzerland. The author merely states (p. 308^[16]), "Nostra vero dama etiam in Europa capitur cum alibi tum circa Oceanum Germanicum, ut audio. Germani vulgo vocant Dam, vel Dämlin, vel Dannhirtz, vel Damhirtz potius; Itali, Daino, nonnulli Danio; Galli, Dain vel Daim; Hispani, Gamo vel Corza." Moreover, in both the Latin and German editions of Gesner the Fallow Deer is unmistakably portrayed.

According to the marginal notes on Daniel Spekle's excellent map of Alsace there were still Fallow Deer in Wasgau as late as 1576.^[17] In the neighbourhood of Rome, in a postpliocene travertine on the heights of Monte delle Gioie, numerous fragments of antlers of the Fallow Deer have been found with remains of Hyæna spelæa, Cervus tarandus, Rhinoceros megarhinus,^[18] &c.

Finally, it may be observed that representations of the Fallow Deer are found carved on Assyrian monuments, and with such characteristic accuracy that it is impossible to confuse them with those of any other species. We would recommend the reader to examine the beautiful plates, Nos. 35 and 53, in Layard's 'Monuments of Nineveh.'^[19] Representations of this species are also to be seen in the pictures on the walls of Egyptian tombs, as for example at Beni-Hassan. The hieroglyphical name is "hanen."^[20]

We will now consider the present geographical distribution of Cervus dama.

This species is still found in a wild state in Asia Minor. Canon Tristram speaks of its occurrence near Mount Tabor, in Palestine, and in the woods between this mountain and the gorge of the Litany River, and he once met with it himself "about ten miles west of the Sea of Galilee."^[21] The late Prof. Ed. Lartet had previously found teeth of this species of deer in the bone-heaps of Lebanon.^[22] According to Hartmann, "The Fallow Deer inhabits the fertile valleys of the deserts of Africa and the borders of the cultivated parts of Tunis, Tripoli, Barqah, as far as Wâdî-Nâhûn."^[23] Gervais, in his 'Zoologie et Paléontologie Française' (2nd edit., p. 145), records its presence in the neighbourhood of La Calle, in Algiers, but Loche, in his 'Hist. Nat. des Mammiferes de l'Algérie' (Paris, Bertrand, 1867), says it is now seldom met with in that province. In the island of Sardinia, in Cetti's time, there were large numbers of Fallow Deer on every part of the island, and especially on the plains of Sindia.^[24] At that time no fewer than 3000 head were annually killed in Sardinia. It is remarkable that the inhabitants call it "Crabolu," a corruption of Capriolo (the Roebuck), which does not exist on the island, while the Red Deer is occasionally met with, more particularly in the east, although it does not attain so large a size here as on the Continent.^[25] According to Bonaparte and Cornalia,^[26] this species of deer is still tolerably common on this island. In Spain it appears there are very few wild deer now-a-days: at all events, A.E. Brehm, in his 'Beitrag zur Zoologischen Geographie Spaniens,' could only recollect having seen them in parks.^[27] On the other hand, Graëlls refers to Cervus dama as an inhabitant of the Sierra Guadarrama.^[28] The modern Spaniards call this animal "Gamo" or "Paleto." Buffon^[29] says that in his time the Fallow Deer of Spain had longer tails than elsewhere, and were nearly as large as the Red Deer. Gérard, in his 'Faune Historique de l'Alsace,' already quoted (p. 327), informs us that this species of deer still occurs in a wild state in France,—for instance, in Nivernais, in the Cevennes, and in the Alps of Dauphiné,—but does not say on what authority he makes this statement, and Gervais, in his 'Zoologie et Paléontologie,' does not mention it. As regards Greece, Blasius, in his 'Mammalia of Germany' (Brunswick, 1857, p. 455), says, "Belon found the Fallow Deer on the islands of the Grecian Archipelago"; but Erhard does not mention it in his 'Fauna der Cycladen' (Leipzig, 1858). V.d. Mühle, however, refers to it in his 'Beiträgen zur Ornithologie Griechenlands' (1844, p. 1).^[30]

From the foregoing data the following conclusions may be drawn:—

1. In prehistoric times the Fallow Deer, with other extinct Mammalia, inhabited Lebanon, South Russia, Italy, France, Upper Austria, Wurtemburg, Baden, Saxony, Hamburg, and Denmark. It seems also to have occurred in Switzerland and in England, as well as in Moravia and Lower Austria.

2. Within historic times it inhabited Egypt (tombs of Beni-Hassan) and Assyria; and, in the latter part of the middle ages, Switzerland and Alsace.

3. It is still found in a wild state in Asia Minor, North Africa, Sardinia, and apparently in parts of Spain and Greece, and perhaps still in the Cevennes and the Alps of Dauphiné.

4. The size and strength of the antlers, as well as the size of the skull, have in course of time degenerated. The skull and antlers of existing Fallow Deer are smaller than those of prehistoric times.

 

---

 

1. 'Ueber die geographische Verbreitung des Damhirsches in der Vorzeit und Gegenwart.' Von L.H. Jeitteles, 'Der Zoologische Garten,' 1874, pp.288–397. After this article had been translated and forwarded to the printers, we discovered that an English translation by Mr. P.L. Sclater had already appeared in 'Nature' (26th November, 1874). (available: here in Internet Archive (Wikisource-ed.)) To many readers of 'The Zoologist,' however, we believe the subject matter will be new, and therefore we do not hesitate to offer the present version. At the same time we cannot do better than quote, by way of supplement, the valuable criticisms which this essay has elicited from Prof. Boyd Dawkins ('Nature,' 10th December, 1874) and Sir Victor Brooke ('Nature,' 14th Jan. 1875).
2. See 'Zool. Garten,' vol. xiv., p. 55.
3. 'Recherches sur les Ossemens Fossiles,' vol. vi., Article iii., p. 191 (ed. 1836).
4. Id., pl. 168, fig. 11.
5. Zool. Paléon. Franç., 2 ed., Paris, 1859, p. 145.
6. 'Nova Acta Acad. Cæs. Leop. Carol.,' vol. xxii., pars post. 1850, pp. 807, 893, 897.
7. 'Ægypten in Deutschland oder die germanisch-slavischen wo nicht rein germanischen Alterthümer an der schwarzen Elster.' Leipzig, Hartmann, 1833.
8. Helsingfors, 1858–60, plate xviii., figs. 4–8.
9. Dr. Zimmermann, on a new species of deer from the alluvium of Hamburg, 'Neuen Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geologie und Palæontologie,' Heidelberg, 1872, 1 Heft, p. 26.
10. 'Bulletins du Congrès International d'Archéologie préhistorique à Copenhagen en 1869.' Copenhagen, 1872, p. 162.
11. 'Fauna der Pfahlbauten der Schweiz,' p. 62.
12. 'Oggetti trovati nelle terremare del Modenese, Seconda Relazione: Avanzi Organici,' Modena, 1866.
13. 'Matériaux pour l'Histoire Positive et Philosophique de l'Homme," 3me année, 1867.
14. Woldrich, 'Mittheilungen der anthropologiscben gesellschaft in Wien,' vol. iii., 1873, pp. 13 and 19, and plate iv., fig. 54.
15. 'Bened. ad mensas Ekkehardi,' Vers. 128. Vide 'Mittheil. der. Antiquar. Gesellschaft zu Zurich,' iii., p. 111.
16. Historia Animalium etc. (1602), p. 308 (Wikisource-Ed.)
17. Gerard, 'Faune historique de l'Alsace,' Colmar, 1871, p. 328.
18. Trutat et Cartailhac, Matériaux pour l'Histoire de l'Homme,' 1869, p. 299.
19. See images p.35 and p. 53 in Internet Archive (Wikisource-ed.)
20. Robt. Hartmann, in Brugsch 'Zeitschrift für Ægyptische Sprache und Alterthumskunde,' Jahrgang ii., 1864, p. 21.
21. 'Report on the Mammals of Palestine,' Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1866, p. 66.
22. 'Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France," xxii., p. 542.
23. 'The Geographical Distribution of existing wild Mammalia of North-East Africa,' in the 'Berliner Zeitschrift für Erdkunde,' 1868, p. 252.
24. 'I Quadrupedi di Sardegna,' Sassari, 1774, pp. 104, 105.
25. [Both Lord Lilford and Mr. Basil Brooke have observed the Fallow Deer wild in many parts of Sardinia.]
26. 'Fauna d'ltalia,' parte prima (Milano).
27. 'Berliner Zeitschrift für Erdkunde,' 1858, p. 101.
28. [Lord Lilford has seen it wild in Central Spain, near Aranjuez.]
29. 'Histoire Naturelle,' tome vi., Paris, 1756, p. 170.
30. [Lord Lilford has observed wild Fallow Deer in the province of Acarnani, in Greece; and in December, 1864, as we are informed by Mr. Sclater, the Zoological Society received a small dark-coloured Fallow Deer from the island of Rhodes.]