The Catholic World, Vol. 02, October, 1865 to March, 1866: A Monthly Eclectic MagazineVarious
Religion
The Catholic World, Vol. 02, October, 1865 to March, 1866: A Monthly Eclectic Magazine
Various
Catholic Church -- Periodicals
_Irish Limestone Caverns._--At a late meeting of the Cork Cuvierian
Society, Professor Harkness, so well known for his investigations of
Scottish rocks, announced the discovery of the bones of mammals in a
limestone quarry at Middleton, County Cork. The rock consists of the
ordinary limestone of the district, in one part much fissured, and
under this fissured portion there is a mass of brown clay, the
thickness of which cannot be determined, as its base is not seen. This
reddish-brown clay under the limestone is the deposit which furnishes
the fossil bones, and which, doubtless, fills the space which was once
a natural grotto. Beside the bones, which are in a fragmentary
condition, there are also present teeth and antlers. The latter are
much broken, and do not afford sufficient character to enable the
species to be accurately determined. They seem, however, to belong to
two forms, one of which had the beam and branches smooth and
sub-compressed, features which indicate the antlers of the reindeer;
and the other with the horns rounded and rough, a form of surface
which marks the antlers of the common stag. Of these antlers two
portions which appear to belong to the reindeer have been cut while in
the fresh state; and the faces of the cuts being almost smooth, this
cutting appears to have been effected by a fine regular-edged
instrument rather than, by a serrated tool. The leg bones which appear
in this clay have all been broken, for the most part longitudinally,
except the carpal and tarsal, and other small bones of the
extremities. This longitudinal fracturing of the long bones of the leg
is not known to occur in any mammalian remains which belong to a
period previous to that where we have evidence of the existence of
{137} the human race; and these broken bones afford evidence of the
occurrence of man, who, for the purpose of obtaining the marrow,
divided them in the direction most available for this object. Beside
the evidence afforded by the cut antlers and longitudinally divided
bones, there are other circumstances indicating the occurrence of man
in connection with these remains; one of these is the presence of
charred wood, which is equally disseminated through the clay with the
bones and teeth. This charred wood is the remains of the ancient fires
by means of which former human beings cooked their food.
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