The Shield Of Time, PART FOUR, 13,212 B.C., II.
Red Wolf and his men harry mammoths toward ground better suited for taking one. After a while, instead of giving way, the mammoths stop, stamp and do not move on until they have eaten everything they can. One charges so that the hunters must scatter and not return till dawn. The tribe is hungry but, if the land-wights are angry, then it might be better to hunt other game and to give the wights the first kill. Red Wolf points out that a mammoth is needed. Flesh, fat, bones, tusks, teeth, hide and hair are used. Also, victory will mean luck reborn after a long, grim trek.
The scout, Running Fox, returns to report a deep bog nearby. The hunters gather twigs, reeds, anything dry, for faggots. Red Wolf uses the fire drill, while singing the Raven Song to which his comrades dance. By night, they approach the mammoths. When Red Wolf whistles, the others run back to light their brands from his. Then they run around the mammoths, waving their brands, howling like wolves, roaring like lions, growling like bears and screaming like men. Mammoths squeal, trumpet, flee, blunder, bleat and disperse while the chosen young bull bolts into the bog. Overtaking him, the men throw their brands while Red Wolf drives in a spear and other weapons fly from throwing-sticks. The bull, now sunk to his belly, is repeatedly pierced, stabbed and chopped, then lanced in one eye by Snowstrider.
Withdrawing, the men sing the Ghost Song while Red Wolf addresses the Father of Mammoths. He sends Running Fox to bring the tribe. The hunters retrieve spears and rest until the mammoth shudders, empties its bowels and dies. Stripping, the men suck blood and cut off tongue and fat. They wash in a pool, offer the unpierced eyeball, redon their clothes and feast while defending their kill against carrion. Wolves approach but not close since they recognize men. The tribe arrives the following day. Butchering the bull will take several days.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
And that answers my question about how mammoths were hunted, at least sometimes! Methods may have differed at other times.
Wolves being wary of men reminded me of "The Little Monster," where the earliest men were so weak and primitive that animals had no fear of men.
Ad astra! Sean
There's one tribe in the Congo where the traditional way for a young man to impress a girl is to sneak up behind an elephant, cut off its tail, and escape to -tell- the tale, and present the severed organ to his ladylove.
Elephants around there tended to have a grudge against people...
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Ha! And SHUDDERS! I really, really don't want to annoy an elephant unless I'm part of a hunting band trying to kill that elephant, not cut off its tail!
Ad astra! Sean
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