386 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1896. 



three horses have been eugraved on one side, four on the other. The 

 horn is of such conformation as to afi'ord a grip at the lower or heavy 

 end, like a pistol grip, while the hole is so placed as to permit the 

 insertion of the index finger. It is evident from inspection that this 

 hole was bored subsequent to the engraving of the horses, for it passes 

 through and cuts off the head of one horse on one side and of two 

 horses on the other. Fig. 32 is a representation of a fragment of a 

 similar bone with a horse engraved thereon and a hole bored, likewise 

 after the engraving. Fig. 33 represents the shed antlers of a young 

 reindeer from La Madelaine, showing the amputation of three tines, 

 and with four holes. The holes in this, contrary to the former and 

 many others, have either been bored before the decoration, or it was 

 designed in advance for them. The stem or beam has been cut away 

 laterally on each side so as to make a flat surface for the boring of the 

 holes. The top or concave side bears thirty-three transverse notches 

 or cuts, mostly equidistant, though some are arranged in pairs. 



A number of these implements 

 have been found in the Paleolithic 

 caves of western Europe. Their 

 use is unknown and they are so 

 peculiar that nothing should be 

 omitted which will serve for their 

 elucidation. Various uses liave 

 been suggested for them, as split- 

 ting soft wood, barking trees, or 

 as weapons for game and for war. 

 It has been suggested that they 

 were to be held aloft in battles 

 in the hands of the chief like 

 an imperial standard, and so they have been called in French 

 " batons de commandement," but none of these uses have been proved. 

 The last has attached itself to them as a name, but possibly only in 

 default of a better. Other persons have considered them as mere 

 weapons. M. Pigorini, director of the Kircheriano Museum in Rome, 

 suggests they might have been used as bits for horses' bridles. 

 Implements analogous and made also of reindeer horn are found 

 among the Eskimos and are said to have been used principally to kill 

 game when near enough to be struck with it in the hand. Some trav- 

 elers have given to them the name of " slave killers," from their alleged 

 use by the Eskimos. 



Lartet noticed in his early explorations that they were lacking " in 

 the more ancient caves or stations which were characterized by the 

 presence of lanceolate (leaf shaped) implements and by older fauna." 

 He remarks ' their absence in the stations Aurignac (Haute Garonne), 

 La Chaise (Charente), Des Fees (Allier), and Gorge d'Enfer. On the 

 contrary, in stations having the barbed bone harpoons, these batons 



Fig. 32. 



HORSE ENGRAVED ON FRAGMENT OF REINDEER 



ANTLER, WITH HOLE BORED AFTER DECORATION. 



?.i natural size. 



' Reliquias Aquitanicje, p. 102. 



