A Manual of the Antiquity of Man

Name: A Manual of the Antiquity of Man
Author: MacLean, J. P. (John Patterson)

MacLean, J. P. (John Patterson)

Human beings -- Origin

The cave or grotto of Aurignac, in which the seventeen human skeletons
were found, was carefully examined by Lartet eight years after its
discovery. The recess was formed in nummulitic limestone. In front of
the grotto, and next to the limestone (_c_, Fig. 12) was a layer of
ashes and charcoal, eight inches thick, containing hearth-stones, works
of art, and broken, burned, and gnawed bones of extinct and recent
mammalia. Immediately above this layer (_d_) was another, of made
ground, two feet thick, extending into the grotto; and its contents
similar to the other, save that within the grotto were found a few human
bones. The grotto was closed by a slab, and the made earth without was
covered by a talus of rubbish (_e_), washed down from the hill above.

In these layers were found not less than one hundred flint instruments,
consisting of knives, projectiles, sling-stones, chips, and a stone made
for the purpose of modelling the flints. The bone implements were
barbless arrows, a well-shaped and sharply pointed bodkin made of the
horn of the roe-deer, and other tools made of reindeer horn. Besides
these there were found eighteen small round and flat plates, of a white
shelly substance, made of some species of cockle (_cardium_), pierced
through the middle; also the tusk of a young cave-bear, the crown of
which had been carved in imitation of the head of a bird.

The following is a list of the different species found in the layers,
together with the approximate number of individuals belonging to each:

I.--CARNIVORA.

                                               Number of Individuals.
  1. Cave Bear (_U. Spelæus_)                                    5-6
  2. Brown Bear (_U. arctos_)                                      1
  3. Badger (_Meles taxus_)                                      1-2
  4. Polecat (_Putorius vulgaris_)                                 1
  5. Cave Lion (_Felis spelæa_)                                    1
  6. Wild Cat (_Felis Catus ferus_)                                1
  7. Hyena (_H. spelæa_)                                         5-6
  8. Wolf (_Canis lupus_)                                          3
  9. Fox (_C. vulpes_)                                         18-20

II.--HERBIVORA.

   1. Mammoth (_E. primigenius_)        Two molars and an astragalus.
   2. Rhinoceros (_R. tichorrhinus_)                               1
   3. Horse (_Equus caballus_)                                 12-15
   4. Ass (_E. asinus_)                                            1
   5. Boar (_Sus scrofa_)                               Two incisors.
   6. Stag (_Cervus elephas_)                                      1
   7. Gigantic Irish Deer (_Megaceros Hibernicus_)                 1
   8. Roebuck (_C. capreolus_)                                   3-4
   9. Reindeer (_C. tarandus_)                                 10-12
  10. Aurochs (_Bison Europæus_)                               12-15

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A Manual of the Antiquity of Man

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