THE CAVE-DWELLERS OF FRANCE. 



701 



E. Lartet, De Verneuil, and Falconer. It will be seen to contain an 

 engraved design of the mammoth, as his carcass is to this clay found 

 on the banks of the Lena. (See vol. i. of The Popular Science 

 Monthly, p. 215.) 



The Troglodytes of the Reindeer Age had but rarely the opportu- 

 nity of measuring strength with the mammoth. Their game was more 

 commonly the aurochs, the horse, the ox ; and doubtless it was in the 

 pursuit of these great animals that they used their long spears tipped 

 with flint. Still, nearly all their weapons were light, and mostly 

 tipped with reindeer-horn. The bow became their principal weapon, 

 in proportion as the animals they hunted grew more timid and wary. 

 Their arrows were of two kinds: a small one, with pointed tip, without 

 a barb, for small game and birds ; and a large one, with two rows of 

 barbs, for hunting the reindeer. The rest of their equipment consisted 

 of light lances with blunt heads, darts with conical points, and long, 

 sharp daggers, for close quarters. They had also a whistle to summon 

 their companions in the chase ; this was made of reindeer-bone. 



Tnat our Troglodytes followed fishing also is shown by the number 

 of fish-bones found in their caves ; but, strange to say, salmon was their 

 only fish. At the present day salmon does not go up the Vezere, nor 

 is it found in the Dordogne as far up as the mouth of the Vezere. There is 

 every reason for believing that these ancient fishers did not use a line, 

 for with a line the fisherman takes fish of every kind. If they em- 

 ployed only the harpoon, we can well understand why they could take 

 only large fish, and why among these they should select the salmon, 

 whose flesh they prized most. But did they fish from boats ? We 

 have no evidence bearing on this point ; but the Vezere was so closely 

 confined by steep banks, that the salmon might easily be harpooned 

 from the shore. The harpoon used by our Troglodytes was a small 

 dart of reindeer-horn, with barbs on one side only, and having a pro- 

 jection at its base, to fasten it to the line. 



Fig. 2. 



Bone Haepoon feom Tekea Del Fuego. 



On returning from the chase or from fishing, the Troglodytes got 

 ready the feast in their cave. The carcasses of reindeer and the 

 smaller game were brought in whole, but large-sized animals, the 

 horse or the ox, being too heavy to carry away whole, were cut up on 

 the spot, the head and legs being carried off, and the rest of the skel- 

 eton left behind. Hence, among the leavings found in the caves, 

 we scarcely ever meet with any bones from the trunk of large mam- 



