SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PILTDOWN DISCOVERY 277 



generally accepted, the exact relationship of these to the phases 

 of the Pleistocene is still in dispute. The names of these 

 Paleolithic epochs are as follows : (10) Azilian, (9) Magdalenian, 

 (8) Solutrean, (7) Aurignacian, (6) Mousterian, (5) Acheulean, 

 (4) Chellean, (3) Strepyan, (2) Mesvinian, (1) Icenian, reading 

 from above downwards, that is, from the latest to the oldest age. 



Of the ten divisions, the Azilian certainly extends into Post- 

 glacial times, and in many places this epoch bridges to some 

 extent the hiatus between the Paleolithic and Neolithic Periods, 

 which has already been mentioned. The first two divisions 

 have still a somewhat uncertain status. The epochs are defined, 

 of course, in accordance with the character of the stone 

 (or bone) implements which are discovered at the several 

 levels, the implements being preserved as a rule either in 

 river-gravels or in cave-deposits. The Mesvinian implements 

 have often been described as " eoliths," that is, as alleged stone 

 implements which antedate the paleoliths, and whose authenticity 

 is still questioned by some authorities. The Mesvinian imple- 

 ments are, however, on a somewhat different footing from other 

 eoliths, since they are more widely accepted. 1 The Icenian'imple- 

 ments are also in a rather dubious position, especially as some 

 of them are stated by Reid Moir, Ray Lankester, and others to 

 be Pre-glacial, but some at least of these appear to be genuine 

 (particularly the later or Pleistocene specimens) and they will 

 probably be accepted eventually. The implements of the third, 

 fourth, and fifth ages have been found chiefly in drift left by rivers, 

 those of the subsequent epochs chiefly in caves ; hence the now 

 discarded expressions " river-drift man " and " cave-man." 



As already stated, the Paleolithic epochs and the Pleistocene 

 phases have not been finally correlated with one another, but it is 

 probable that the Aurignacian Age lies wholly within the last 

 Interglacial phase, that the Magdalenian extends on to the very 

 end of the Pleistocene, that the Mousterian begins in the second 

 or middle Interglacial episode and overlaps the Aurignacian, and 

 that the Strepyan, Chellean, and Acheulean cultures flourished 

 during the Middle Interglacial. 



Now the greatest break in the story of man in Europe occurs 



not between the Stone Ages and the Metal Ages, and not 



between the Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages, but between the 



Mousterian and Aurignacian divisions of the Paleolithic. 



1 Notably by Prof, Sollas, who is a keen critic of eoliths. 



