136 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 83 



when discovered. There never appear to be a number of bones belonging to the 

 same animal occurring together, as would be the case if they had died naturally 

 on the spot or been accidentally engulfed, in the way suggested for the well- 

 known occurrence at the Winnats, Castleton, Derbyshire. It seems certain that 

 the deposits as a whole represent the materials accumulated during alternating 

 occupations of the original cavern by animals and human beings, with interven- 

 ing periods when the cave was untenanted probably owing to flooding with 

 water. The animal occupants were such as are found together in the Rhodesian 

 caves of the present day, namely, hyenas and porcupines, no doubt accompanied 

 by owls and bats. Some of the bones show signs of having been gnawed by 

 hyenas, and there can be little doubt that many of them were dragged into the 

 place when it served as a hyena den. Most of the smaller bones are probably 

 to be accounted for in a somewhat similar fashion, the rats, shrews, etc., having 

 formed the prey of owls and the bones having been ejected in the usual pellets 

 after the birds had assimilated the more digestible portions of the bodies. An 

 examination of modern owl pellets entirely confirms this view, as these latter 

 show the same predominance of head and leg bones as do the washings of the 

 Broken Hill deposit. As usual with mammalian remains, lower jaws are par- 

 ticularly prominent. Those parts of the deposit which contain implements, no 

 doubt owe their accumulation in great part at least to human agency, the bones 

 being relics of the food supply of the ancient inhabitants. It may at once be 

 stated that the contemporaneity of the implements and bones is entirely beyond 

 question. Masses of the deposit full of bones when disintegrated by soaking in 

 water, are found to contain embedded implements. These latter are of a rude 

 order and mostly made of quartz, owing of course to the absence of any more 

 suitable material in the vicinity. There seems to be a strong prejudice in England 

 against the genuineness of implements made of quartz, and it may therefore be 

 well to emphasize the fact that some are made of chert brought from a distance, 

 and it may also be well to point out that quartz is a very common material for 

 Bushman implements, which the Broken Hill ones much resemble. Knives, 

 scrapers, and grooved scrapers are the common types. Some of the bones show 

 indications of having been cut previously to their mineralisation, as if to make 

 implements, though no finished bone implements have so far been brought to 

 light. One tibia of a moderate-sized ungulate in the Rhodesia Museum has had 

 a nearly circular hole made in it prior to its replacement by zinc salts. This may 

 be attributed to a wound from an arrow of the Bushman type or it may have 

 been bored with a view to making an implement or ornament ; in either case it 

 must be due to human agency. 



With regard to the age of the deposit it must represent a long period of time 

 in all, but it will be noted from the subjoined list that nearly all the bones appear 

 to be referable without much doubt to recent species inhabiting the country at 

 the present day. It is probable, however, that some may represent closely allied 

 but really ancestral forms, and this certainly appears to be the case with the 

 species of Dicer os (rhinoceros) of which two well-preserved bones are now in 

 the Rhodesia Museum. It is unfortunate that we are not in possession of skulls 

 or teeth of this animal, but we think there can be little doubt as to its being new, 

 and it has therefore been thought well to give it a name for convenient future 

 reference. 



The mineral condition of the bones and the obvious changes in the physical 

 features of the locality since the deposit was formed are entirely in accord with 



