Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, May 1899: Volume LV, No. 1, May 1899Various
History
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, May 1899: Volume LV, No. 1, May 1899
Various
Science -- Periodicals; Technology -- Periodicals
On the accidental discovery by workmen, in 1858, of a cavern in
Windmill Hill, overhanging the town of Brixham, Pengelly at once
thought of finding what was in it, and what story it might have to
tell. He visited the place and applied to the owner for permission to
explore it in behalf of the Torquay Natural History Society. But on
consultation with Dr. Hugh Falconer it was decided that as that
society probably had not means sufficient to bear the expense of the
exploration, the Royal and Geographical Societies should be applied to
for a grant. This was obtained, and the work was carried on under the
superintendence of Professor Prestwich and Mr. Pengelly, on whom, as a
resident of the place, the burden substantially fell. The decision to
explore the cave was brought about largely by the fact that it was a
virgin cave which had been inaccessibly closed during an incalculably
long period, the last previous event in its history having been the
introduction of a reindeer antler, which was found attached to the
upper surface of the stalagmitic floor. It was therefore free from the
objection urged against Kent's Cavern that, having been long known and
open, it had probably been ransacked again and again. A thorough
method of exploration was determined upon, beginning with the
examination and removal of the stalagmitic floor; after which the
upper bed should be dealt with in a similar manner horizontally
throughout the entire length of the cavern, or so far as practicable;
then the next lower bed, and so on, till all the deposits had been
removed. By this method the general stratigraphical order of the
deposits and their characteristics could be learned, all their fossils
secured, and the highest possible exactness attained. The excavations
were continued through twelve months, at the end of which the cave had
been practically emptied. Besides furnishing interesting indications
relative to its physical history, the cave yielded sixteen hundred and
twenty-one bones and thirty-six flints. While most of the flints were
flakes, some of which possibly might not be artificial, three were
fairly well made implements of paleolithic type; and it was therefore
concluded that man either frequented or at any rate sometimes entered
the Brixham Cave while Devonshire was inhabited by various mammals
which are now extinct. Previous to the execution of this work, all
geological evidence as to the antiquity of man had been received, even
by English geologists of the first rank, with what Pengelly called
apathy and skepticism. After the work it soon became evident, Pengelly
said in an address to the Section of Anthropology of the British
Association, in 1883, that this geological apathy had been more
apparent than real. "In fact, geologists were found to have been not
so much disinclined to entertain the question of human antiquity, as
to doubt the trustworthiness of the evidence which had previously been
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