The Journey: Prehistoric Adventure

By Charles Elford

What happens when you live in a prehistoric village before time was recorded, and your thirst for adventure can only be satisfied one way? This children's story of a prehistoric European village highlights the adventures of an eager young villager as he makes his first trip on a yearly trade journey to the southern lands.The book is suitable for all ages.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charles Elford
• Release date: Dec 13, 2009
• ISBN: 9781452309187

Book preview

The Journey

A Tale of Adventure from Prehistoric Europe

by

Charles Elford

The Journey

Copyright © 2009 by Charles Elford

All Rights Reserved

Cover Design by: Laura Shinn

Smashwords Edition 1.1 November 2009

License Note: This ebook is licensed for personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be sold or given away to other people except to members of your immediate family. If you would like to share this book with other people, please purchase another copy from your provider or Smashwords.com. Please respect the copyright of the author and any author whose creative works you enjoy.

The Journey

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 - Morning

Chapter 2 – Departure

Chapter 3 – First Day

Chapter 4 – Village Life

Chapter 5 – The Hunt

Chapter 6 – History of the Ancient Peoples

Chapter 7 – The Big River

Chapter 8 – The Southern Village

Chapter 9 – The Ambush

Chapter 10 – Homecoming

INTRODUCTION

The history of the European continent, as modern Man learns it, includes the Greek civilization, the Roman civilization and its expansion and conquering of northern Europe, and of the invasion of the Germanic tribes into the European area, and a little bit about the native peoples which they found, conquered, overran, and eventually merged into their own developing cultures. What we do not learn in the history of the European continent, is how the people lived in that area before the Roman and Germanic expansions and invasions into the area.

One can speculate that the peoples of this area were nomadic, that they lived off of the land, that they intermingled amongst themselves but otherwise did not ever develop what we, in modern times, would designate a civilization.

I believe it would be a disservice to the spirit of Mankind to believe or to conclude that earlier Humans were not capable of the same intellectual pursuits, the same bonds of family and friendship, and the same triumphs over a harsh natural environment, of which we are capable and of which we are so proud as Human Beings.

Even though the peoples who inhabited the European continent for countless thousands of years before history was recorded, left almost no permanent signs of their civilization, it is far more gratifying to assume that they nonetheless experienced all the basic elements of Life which make up our Human experience. The richness of the animal and plant life on the European continent, the continuous rains and the moderate temperatures lead to possibilities of a thriving Human culture which this continent has always been able to support. It therefore could be postulated that the Humans who inhabited this area in a time before their history was recorded, lived peaceful and happy lives in established villages with established cultural values and established religious practices, and that they successfully farmed, fished, built their homes, raised their children and traded with each other. It would be a nice preamble to the history of the European continent if one could know that there had been such a peaceful and happy time.

This story explores the possibilities of such a culture living uninhibited and un-oppressed in the vast and rich forests of the northern European continent. It offers a glimpse of what it could have been like to live in those days before the advent of large armies, walled cities, and mechanized and organized trade routes.

The history of the European continent has swallowed itself up, but the spirit of the Mountains and the Rivers and the Sky point to the possibility of Life in a time which modern Man would be proud to recall.

I invite you to dream and take a journey to a time of simple beauty, and to experience for a moment the simplicity and warmth of the Human Spirit. I invite you to join a restless and eager early European villager as he embarks upon the most important interaction which could take place in these early European villages, the tradition of the lifeline of early European culture, of that yearly spring ritual which they knew only as

THE JOURNEY

CHAPTER 1

MORNING

Kirlo woke up to the sound of the singing birds and the smells of the fresh flower fragrances drifting into his grass house.

This was the big day. This was the day he was going to get to accompany the trade Journey to the Southern lands, the spring ritual of the village.

Everybody in the village had waited eagerly all through the period of the long nights for the snows to thaw so that they could make this spring ritual which meant so much to the livelihood and survival of his people. This was something which happened every new spring and and was greeted with anticipation by everybody. But this time was different. This time, he would be on this trip. He was not going to have to listen anymore to the village fire tales of faraway and rocky mountain chains, of deep blue ice cold lakes, and of warm balmy climates where one could throw off his hide shirt and let the sun warm his back.

He would finally get to see the trees that bore the delicious fruits brought back from the trips and anxiously horded, traded and then finally enjoyed at the great feast.

Finally, he thought, he could be the one who would tell the tales of the beautiful lands and new peoples they had met along the way, and the children would sit at his feet next to the fire and eagerly ask him questions, and he could be their hero.

All his life he had gotten up every day to gather the wood for the fires, to gather twigs and grass to patch his house and the house of his parents and the elders of the village. For the last 15 springs, he had gotten up every morning to bring in milk from the goats so that the babies could eat and the mothers could make food.

And he always considered himself blessed for the peaceful life, but that did not stop him from longing, one day when he was old enough and had gained his status within the tribe, to be able to make this Journey himself. And so he awoke this morning refreshed and happy, because this was going to be his day.

The trip was always made with 20 people, led by the eldest person who had been on the trip and including one person