334 HABITS OF THE CAVE-DWELLERS. 



by an entire ignorance of metallurgy. This is particularly 

 the case with the Esquimaux, some of whose drawings will 

 be given in a future chapter. 



In considering the probable condition of these ancient Cave- 

 men, we must give them full credit for their love of art, such 

 as it was ; while, on the other hand, the want of metal, of 

 polished flint implements, and even of pottery,* the igno- 

 rance of agriculture, and the apparent absence of all domestic 

 animals, including even the dog, certainly imply a very low 

 state of civilization and a very considerable antiquity. 



There is also evidence that a considerable change of climate 

 must have taken place. The reindeer is the most abundant 

 animal, and evidently formed the principal article of food ; 

 while we know that this species is now confined to Arctic 

 climates, and could not exist in the south of France. Again, 

 the ibex and the chamois, both of which are now restricted to 

 the snowy summits of the Alps and Pyrenees, and a species 

 of spermophilus, also point to the same conclusion. The pre- 

 sence of the two former species in some of the Swiss lake- 

 dwellings is not equally significant, because they are in the 

 neighbourhood of high mountains, while the highest hills of 



O O O 



the Dordogne do not reach to an altitude of much more than 

 800 feet. 



Another very interesting species determined by M. Lartet 

 is the Antilope Saigo of Pallas, which now abounds on the 

 Steppes of North-eastern Europe and Western Asia, in the 

 plains of the Dnieper and the Volga, round the shores of the 

 Caspian, and as far as the Altai Mountains. Mr. Christy 

 tells us that the northern plains of Poland, and the Valley 

 of the Dnieper, are the southern limits of this species at the 

 present day. 



* Pottery is, however, very rare abundant in the Danish shell - 

 in the remains of the Irish Cran- mounds, 

 noges, and is not by any means 



