LARTET ON KUMAlSr REMATlSrS. 61- 



implements, in the form of a very slender and sharp-pointed bodkin, 

 appears to have been made from the horn of the Roebuck, which is 

 far more compact and harder, than the horn of the Stag or the Eein- 

 deer. It is in a very good state of preservation, and would still 

 serve to make holes in the skins of animals for the purpose of joining 

 them together vnth a coarse kind of suture. This implement was 

 found in the ossiferous layer above the ashes. 



Another instrument, also of Eoebuck horn, has an equally sharp 

 point, but is not so tapering that it could serve for a needle or awl, 

 and it might be asked whether it could not have been employed for 

 the piu^pose of tatooing (?). 



Other implements of various dimensions and in the form of a 

 thinnish blade, represent, according to M. Steinhauer, the polishers, 

 made of Keindeer-horn, used by the Laplanders to smooth the coarse 

 sutures of their skin garments. In support of this supposition it may 

 be noticed that on one of these instruments, the marks of repeated 

 friction may be observed on both sides. 



Another instrument, of pretty nearly the same shape, appeared to 

 me intended for quite a difterent purpose. On one side, the surface 

 presents all the roughness of the Reindeer's horn, but it has neverthe- 

 less been carefully polished, and it is sensibly cui'ved and concave in 

 a longitudinal direction. The ojjposite side is convex and poHshed 

 throughout. 



Another blade of Eeindeer horn which is unfortunately broken at 

 each end, exhibits, on one side which is carefully polished, two series 

 of equidistant transverse lines, separated by an interval in the middle 

 of the fragment. On each edge, also, may be observed a series of 

 shallow notches at pretty regular distances apart. Tliese marks and 

 notches suggest the notion that they might be intended to represent 

 numeral signs expressive .of various values, or perhaps belonging to 

 distinct objects. 



Another portion, of which I am unable to explain the use, is a por- 

 tion of Eeindeer's horn, in the middle of which, at the point where an 

 antler sprang from the stem, is an oval hole or perforation, whose 

 side is marked with grooves resembling, except that they do not run 

 in a spiral direction, the worm of a screw. This fragment was found 

 in the layer of ashes. 



The handle of some imjjlement made of Eeindeer's horn was found 

 in the interior of the cave, beneath the space where the bodies had 

 been deposited, and in close juxtaposition with several flint imple- 

 ments, worked Avith more care than those left in the fireplace ; a 

 circumstance leading to the supposition that aU these choicer objects 

 had formed a sort of votive offering. The handle in qviestion pre- 

 sents, near the base, the mark of the place whence the lowest, or 

 brow antler had been removed, in order to render the gi'asp more 

 convenient; higher up, is the truncated base of the second antler, 

 which is hollowed out, for some luiknown purpose ; and at the end 

 of the stem portion, is the principal opening for the fixing of the 



