Lastly we have the type represented by Brünn I., Brüx, Lautsch, Combe
Capelle, Barma Grande (one of the skulls from B.G. now in the Musée
de Menton, but not the skulls generally known as B.G. 1 and 2), the
woman from the upper layer in the Grotte des Enfants, the _Calotte du
gravier de fond_ at Grenelle, the Denise fragments, as well as by one
or two skulls of the transition period from palæolithic to neolithic
found at Ofnet (No. 21, i.) and a few of those belonging to the same
period found at Mugem. The type is usually high-headed as well as
narrow-headed, and tends to have the orbits horizontally lengthened,
the glabella and supraciliaries strong, the fore-head retreating, the
nose broad and the upper jaw projecting (alveolar prognathism). The
cephalic index is usually between 68 and 72; the stature is moderate or
low.[38]
Thus we find during the period of Aurignac three groups of long-headed
men, the Grimaldi, Cromagnon and Combe Capelle, and, especially on the
Riviera, in the Barma Grande cave and the Grotte des Enfants, skulls
which show various apparent combinations of these types, while at
Solutré and Laugerie Basse we find the last type showing modifications
to some extent towards the characteristics of modern men. These types
and intermixed types occupied west and central Europe, so far as it was
habitable during the later palæolithic periods, and the combinations
of Combe Capelle and Cromagnon characters in the skulls of Obercassel
(Magdalenian period) is noteworthy. The earliest in point of time is
the Grimaldi, which has been found only near Mentone, and there are
reasons for believing that its distribution lay around the western
Mediterranean, then an inland sea. This view is supported by the fact
that marked alveolar prognathism has been noted among the natives of
Algeria and Morocco, and I am told that it is not uncommonly met with
in Spain; it is also very marked in Portugal, though here it has been
attributed to a different cause. It is, however, of old standing in
that country, as it has been noted among the skulls from Mugem,[39]
which are believed to date from the close of the palæolithic age. A
similar feature has been noted in some of the skulls from the Algerian
dolmens.[40]
To the Cromagnon type, pure, it is difficult to ascribe any other
skulls besides those from Cromagnon, and those from Lafaye Bruniquel,
but some of the Cromagnon characters are well shown in some Barma
Grande skulls. The type is said to survive in the Dordogne and perhaps
near the western Pyrenees in North Spain at the present day.[41] The
Combe Capelle or Brünn type, is seen to have occurred on the whole more
to the north and east, and seems rather to focus in Central Europe and
the southern part of the North German plain. It was probably the latest
to arrive on the scene, for it is associated only with remains of late
Aurignac type, and has been more frequently found in the succeeding
Solutré period.
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