वेदों की प्राचीनता एवं काल-निर्णय / ओरायन (लोकमान्य बाल गंगाधर तिलक - खगोलीय वैदिक शोध)

CONTENTS.
PAGE
PREFACE . . . . . . . . i—ix
CHAPTER I.
‘PREHISTORIC TIMES.
The Historic Period—Preceded by myths and traditions—The Science
of Mythology—Fresh impulse given to it by Comparative Philo-
logy—Unity of Aryan races and languages—The system of in-
terpreting myths, and the theory of Asiatic Home—Recent dis-
coveries in Geology and Archæology—Requiring revision of old
theories—The Vedas still partially unintelligible—New key to
their interpretation supplied by recent discoveries—The Ages of
Iron, Bronze and Stone—Represent different stages of civilization
in Prehistoric times—The Ages not necessarily synchronous in
different countries—Distinction between Neolithic and Palæolithic
or New and Old Stone Age—The Geological eras and periods
—Their correlation with the three Ages of Iron, Bronze and Stone
—Palæolithic Age probably inter-glacial—Man in Quartenary and
Tertiary eras—Date of the Neolithic Age—5000 B. C. from lake-
dwellings—Peat-mosses of Denmark —Ages of Beach, Oak and
Fir—Date of the Palæolithic or the commencement of the Post-
Glacial period—Different estimates of European and American
geologists—Freshness of fossil deposits in Siberia—Favours Ame-
rican estimate of 8000 years—Neolithic races—Dolicho-cephalic,
and Brachy-cephalic—Modern European races descended from
them—Controversy as to which of these represent the Primitive
Aryans in Europe—Different views of German and French writers
—Social condition of the Neolithic races and the primitive Aryans
—Dr. Schrader's view—Neolithic Aryan race in Europe cannot be
regarded as autochthonous—Nor descended from the Palæolithic
man—The question of the original Aryan home still unsettled. 1