LARTET ON HUMAN REMAINS . 69 



tliereiu, denote that the cave, closed against all access from the ex- 

 terior, must have been consecrated to human burials. 



The fragmentary condition of the bones of certain animals, the 

 modeia winch they are broken, the marks of the teeth of the Hy.Tna 

 on bones necessarily broken in their recent condition, even the dis- 

 tribution of the bones and their significant consecration, lead to the 

 conclusion that the presence of these animals, and the deposition of 

 all these remains, are due solely to human agency. Neither the 

 inclination of the ground, nor the surrounding hydrographical condi- 

 tions, allow us to suppose that the remains could have been brought 

 where they are found by natiu^al causes. 



The large amount of the remains of animals which had served as 

 human food, and their presence at different levels, would indicate that 

 successive assemblages had gathered at this spot. These assemblages 

 probably took place on each occasion of the burial of the various indivi- 

 duals interred ui the grotto. And it is highly probable also that the 

 station ceased to be frequented when the sepulchral cave, being 

 fuUy tenanted, would no longer afford space for further inhumations. 



The gentle and prolonged action of simple atmospheric agencies, 

 would be sufficient, in course of time, to account for the detachment 

 of fragments from the escarpment of the adjacent rock, and the 

 gradual accumulation of loose fallen earth, by which the site of the 

 fire-place outside, and the slab closing the opening of the sepulchral 

 cave, would be entu-ely covered. 



The antiquity of the sepulchre cannot be ascertained either from 

 tradition or liistory, nor from numismatic data, no document of this 

 kind relating to it having been met with. 



Regarding the svibject archseologically, we perceive, in the ab- 

 sence of any kind of metal, and the common employment of imple- 

 ments and weapons of flint and bone, sufficient indications that the 

 station of Aurignac should be referred to that ancient period of pre- 

 historic times, denominated by antiquaries of the present day, — the 

 age of Stone. 



Palseontologically, the human race of Aurignac belongs to the 

 remotest antiquity, to which, up to the present time, the existence of 

 man or the vestiges of his industry have been traced. This race, in 

 fact, was e^ddently contemporary with the Aurochs, Reindeer, Grigantic 

 Elk, Eliinoceros, Hyaena, &c. ; and, what is more, with the Great 

 Cave Bear (17. spelcBus), which would appear to have been the ear- 

 liest to disappear in the group of great mammals, generally regarded 

 a-s characteristic of the last geological period.* 



But, it will be said, how does it happen, if the sepulchre of 



* The chemical examination by M. Delesse of the Anrignac bones, fiimishes a 

 further excellent means for determining the question of contemporaneity. The 

 respective analyses wliich he has made demonstrate that the bones of the Reindeer, 

 Rhinoceros, Aurochs, &c. have retained precisely the same proportion of nitrogen, 

 as the human bones from the same locality. 



