422 REPORTED EVIDENCE OF MAX 



That man existed in Western Europe during the period of 

 the Mammoth and the Ehinoceros tichorhinus, no longer, I 

 think, admits of a doubt ; but when we come to Pliocene, and 

 still more to Miocene times, the evidence is less conclusive. 



M. Desnoyers* has called attention to some marks noticed 

 by him on bones found in the upper pliocene beds of St. Prest, 

 and belonging to the Elephas meridionalis, Rhinoceros lepto- 

 rJiinus, Hippopotamus major, several species of deer (including 

 the gigantic Megaceros carnutorum, Laugel), and two species 

 of Bos, which he considers to be of human origin. 



Among the bones of the deer were several crania, all of 

 which have been broken in one way, namely, by a violent 

 blow given on the skull between, and at the base of, the 

 horns. M. Steenstrup has noticed fractures of this kind in 

 other less ancient skulls of ruminants, and at the present day 

 some of the northern tribes treat the skulls of ruminants in 

 the same manner. Through the courtesy of M. Desnoyers, I 

 have had the opportunity of examining some of the scratched 

 bones from Saint Prest. The markings fully bear out the 

 description given by him, and some of them at least appear 

 to me to be probably of human origin ; at the same time, and 

 in the present state of our knowledge, I am not prepared to 

 say that there is no other manner in which they might have 

 been produced. At the same place, that indefatigable archae- 

 ologist, M. 1'Abbe Bourgeois, has more recently discovered 

 worked flints, including flakes, awls and scrapers, but unfor- 

 tunately there is some doubt as to the stratigraphical relations 

 of the bed in which they occurred. ( Moreover, some autho- 

 rities consider these beds to be interglacial. In the inter- 

 glacial coal-beds of Dlirnten already alluded to (ante, p. 413), 

 Prof. Eiitimeyer has found a fragment apparently of rough 

 basket or wattle work. The interpretation in this case again 



* Comptes Rendus, June 8, 1863. 



t Mat. pour 1'Histoire de 1'Homme, 1867, p. 17; ditto, 1873, p. 14. 



