PALEOLITHIC RACES 511 



where. I am personally much indebted to M. Rutot for 

 the pains he bestowed on me some two years ago, when he 

 guided me to the principal sections, and demonstrated the 

 characters of the supposed implements in his laboratory. The 

 logic of his method and the excellence of his examples l at that 

 time nearly persuaded me ; I have since oscillated repeatedly 

 between a positive and negative conclusion ; but now, after 

 a closer study, I feel convinced that the balance of probabilities 

 is largely in favour of the artefact origin of some at least of 

 these forms of flint. I have now before me several flakes, taken 

 with my own hand from the Mesvinian horizon, which all 

 present essentially the same shape and characters. One side 

 is formed by a single conchoidal surface, the other by two or 

 three faces which run parallel with one another, and with the 

 opposite face. If these flakes had been formed by random 

 blows, such as occur when pebbles are hurried along by a river, 

 we should find cones of percussion scattered at random over 

 the surface ; but, as a matter of fact, no such cones are any- 

 where to be seen, even with the assistance of a strong lens, 

 except at the butt end. There we perceive indications of 

 four, or sometimes five, cones of percussion ; one Of them is 

 given by the bulb of percussion which corresponds with the 

 single conchoidal surface, two with negative bulbs of percussion 

 which are associated with the faces of the opposite side ; the 

 remaining cones have not penetrated far into the stone, but 

 they record a blow which must have been struck in approxi- 

 mately the same direction as those which resulted in flaking. 

 But four or five blows delivered in the same direction over 

 a very restricted area of the flake can scarcely be attributed 

 to chance ; and when we find the same phenomenon repeated 

 in a great number of flakes all having much the same form, 

 we begin to feel that the blows recorded by the cones of 

 percussion are the result not of accident but intent. They 

 were delivered by an intelligent being, who immediately 

 preceded early palaeolithic man. 



If we accept this conclusion for the Mesvinian, 2 we cannot 



1 A. Rutot, "Causeries sur les industries de lapierre," Rev. de PEcole (P Anthro- 

 pologic de Paris, 1907, viii. pp. 283-294. 



2 It is now admitted by M. Hugo Obermaier, who identifies the Mesvinian 

 with the oldest known palaeolithic horizon, which he names " fruh-Chellean.'' 

 H. Obermaier, "Die Steingerate des franzosischen altpaleolithikums," Mitth. d. 

 prahistorischen Kom. d. K. Ak. Wiss. Wien. Bd. ii. No. 1, 1908, pp. 41-125. 



