ABSENCE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 325 



was thus transfixed. Moreover, as we shall presently 

 there is still more conclusive evidence that man and the rein- 

 deer were contemporaneous in this locality. 



But in its negative aspect the zoological evidence is also 

 very instructive. No remains have been found which, in the 

 opinion of MM. Christy and Lartet, can be referred to domestic 

 animals. It is true that bones of the ox and horse occur, 

 but there is no evidence that they belonged to domesticated 

 individuals. Eemains of the boar are very rare, and if these 

 animals had been domesticated we might have expected to 

 find them in greater abundance. The sheep and goat are 

 entirely wanting, and, what is still more remarkable, even the 

 dog appears to be absent. At the same time the bones of the 

 horse and reindeer, especially of the latter, are very numerous ; 

 but MM. Christy and Lartet do not think that they were 

 domesticated. On the other hand, M. Elitimeyer seems to be 

 of a different opinion.* Of the bones from the cave of Veyrier 

 he has drawn out the following list : Ptarmigan 31 individuals, 

 reindeer 18, ibex 6, horse 5, stag 4, mountain hare 4, marmot 4, 

 chamois, 1, wolf 1, bear 1, ox 1, fox 1, stork 1. He points out 

 that this is decidedly an Alpine fauna, and he asks why, if 

 the reindeer were wild, they did not retire into the high Alps 

 with the bear, the ibex and the chamois ? The condition of 

 the bones, and especially of the horns, will enable us some day 

 to answer this question, but we have at present no case in 

 which the reindeer and the horse are held in domestication 

 together by the same race, and we must be satisfied to wait for 

 further evidence before the question can be decided. 



In the collections made by MM. Christy and Lartet, as well 

 as that of M. le Vicomte de Lastic from Bruniquel, a very large 

 proportion of the animal remains consists of teeth, lower jaws, 

 and horns. Other bones do indeed occur, but they form a 

 small fraction of the whole. Yet we cannot attribute this to 

 * Revue Savoisienne, 25th April,. 1868. 



