Page:Palæolithic Man and Terramara Settlements in Europe.djvu/186

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ANTHROPOLOGY

skeletons had been deposited. M. Lartet's description of their position in the cave is as follows:—

|"As for the human remains and the position they occupied in bed I, the following are the results of my careful enquiries in the matter. At the back of the cave was found an old man's skull, which alone was on a level with the surface, in the cavity not filled up in the back of the cave, and was therefore exposed to the calcareous drip from the roof, as is shown by its having a stalagmitic coating on some parts. The other human bones, referable to four other skeletons, were found around the first, within a radius of about 1.50 metres. Among these bones were found, on the left of the old man, the skeleton of a woman, whose skull presents in front a deep wound made by a cutting instrument, but which did not kill her at once, as the bone has been partly repaired within; indeed our physicians think that she survived several weeks. By the side of the woman's skeleton was that of an infant which had not arrived at its full time of fœtal development. The other skeletons seem to have been those of men.

"Amidst the human remains lay a multitude of marine shells (about 300) each pierced with a hole, and nearly all belonging to the species Littorina littorea, so common on our Atlantic coasts. Some other species, such as Purpura lapillus, Turritella communis, etc., occur, but in small numbers. These also are perforated, and, like the others, have been used for necklaces, bracelets, or other ornamental attire. Not far from the skeletons, I found a pendant or amulet of ivory, oval, flat, and pierced with two holes. M. Laganne had already discovered a smaller specimen; and M. Ch. Grenier, schoolmaster at Les Eyzies, has kindly given me another quite similar, which he had received from one of his pupils. There were also found near the skeletons several perforated teeth, a large block of gneiss, split and presenting a large smoothed surface; also worked antlers of reindeer, and chipped flints of the same types as those found in the hearth-layers underneath." (Ibid.) p. 70.)

The skull of the "old man" (cephalic index 73.6 and capacity 1590 cubic centimetres) presents osteological characters closely approximating to those of the normal type of modern Europeans (Figs. 33 and 34). From actual measurements the height of this man was calculated to be 1.82 metres. The lower jaw has large ascending rami, behind which the third molars are partly hidden. Moreover, these two teeth, instead of being the same size as the other molars, are smaller—a peculiarity of dentition which is of common occurrence among men of Neolithic times, and normal among modern civilised races. M. Lartet believed that these skeletons belonged to the later Palæolithic people of the locality ; but in the opinion of some anthropologists this inference is not justified from the facts. The bodies lay on the surface of the culture strata in a

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