All these facts taken together enable us to form a clear idea of the condition of things at the time the hyæna-den was inhabited. The hyænas were the normal occupants of the cave, and thither they brought their prey. We can realize those animals pursuing elephants and rhinoceroses along the slopes of the Mendip, till they scared them into the precipitous ravine, or watching until the strength of a disabled bear or lion ebbed away sufficiently to allow of its being overcome by their cowardly strength. Man appeared from time to time on the scene, a miserable savage armed with bow and spear, unacquainted with metals, but defended from the cold by coats of skin.[198] Sometimes he took possession of the den and drove out the hyænas; for it is impossible for both to have lived in the same cave at the same time. He kindled his fires at the entrance, to cook his food, and to keep away the wild animals; then he went away, and the hyænas came to their old abode. While all this was taking place there were floods from time to time until eventually the cave was completely blocked up with their deposits. [Illustration: FIG. 92.--Gnawed jaw of Hyæna, from Hyæna-den at Wookey (1/2). Dotted outline = portion eaten.] The winter cold at the time must have been very severe to admit of the presence of the reindeer and lemming. _The district of the Mendip Hills at a higher level than now._ When we reflect on the vast quantities of the remains of the animals buried in the caves of so limited an area as the Mendip Hills, it is evident that there must have been abundance of food to have enabled them to live in the district. The great marsh now extending from Wells to the sea, and cutting off the Mendips from the fertile region to the south, was probably a rich valley at a higher level than at present, joining the westward plains now submerged under the Bristol Channel. An elevation of from 100 to 300 feet would produce the physical conditions necessary for the sustenance of the herbivora found in the caves both in South Wales and Somersetshire. _The characters of a Hyæna-den._ [Illustration: FIG. 93.--A and B, upper and lower jaws of Hyæna-whelp, Wookey.]