PALAEOLITHIC RACES 



669 



irregular fringe to the boundaries of the ancient and vanished 

 ice-sheets. It owes its formation to the wind, which, during a 

 genial episode, swept the fine dust brought down by the glacial 

 rivers over the grass-grown steppes of the period. As the dust 

 accumulated the grass struggled upwards to maintain its exist- 

 ence, and the vertical pipes in the loss were left by the decay 

 of its roots. There is an older and a younger loss ; the older 

 overlies the third shotter terraces of the last genial period, 

 antecedent to the last glacial age. It is said to be in this 



Fig. 1. — Map showing Solutrian Stations in Europe. 



older loss that Solutrian remains are found. The most famous 

 localities are near Krems, on the Danube; Brunn and Predmost, 

 in Moravia. Stations also occur in Bohemia and Hungary. 



Solutrian Man. — As we enter upon the Solutrian stage we 

 become aware of an extraordinary advance in the arts. The 

 fabrication of flint instruments attained at this time a perfection 

 which the archaeologist can only regard with astonishment. 

 Some of the best work seems to anticipate that of the neolithic 

 epoch. After culminating towards the close of the period, 

 deterioration set in and persisted till a fresh climax was 

 reached in comparatively recent times. 



