Brixham Cave appears to have long been the resort of hyænas, who dragged
their prey into its main passages, and left there the gnawed bones of
the rhinoceros, the fossil horse and ox, the reindeer, roebuck, great
red-deer, etc. It included unmistakable traces of the mammoth, or other
huge proboscidian, was visited by the cave-tiger (_Felis spelæa_), and
finally became a favourite haunt of the great cave-bear (_Ursus
spelæus_), as well as of two other species of bears, one of which seems
to correspond to the _Ursus arctos_, or brown bear, and another has been
supposed to be identical with the _Ursus ferox_, or grizzly bear. From
time to time it was also visited, and some of its remote recesses
explored by man. Thirty-six flints in all have been recovered in the
different strata of the cave beds. A few of those are simply unworked
flints; but twenty-three of them betray traces of human workmanship and
use; and include knives and oval and lanceolate blades, closely
analogous to implements found in the Cavern of Aurignac, in the
Pyrenees, and in that of Le Moustier, in the Dordogne. Others, though
mere flint-flakes, bear decided marks of use as scraping tools. Another
implement is a round pebble of siliceous sandstone, weighing 1 lb. 3
oz., which must have been brought from a distance, and shows on the side
opposite to that by which it is most readily grasped by the hand
distinct evidence of its use as a hammer stone. One, and only one,
object wrought from animal substance, a small cylindrical pin, or rod of
ivory, accompanied the more durable flints. Some of those indications of
the presence of man were found in the bottom, or shingle-bed, overlaid
by undisturbed cave-earth rich in mammalian remains; and the entire
succession of beds was overlaid by a layer of stalagmite in which bones
of the mammoth, rhinoceros, and other fossil mammals occurred.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account