WHOLE VOL. SKELETAL REMAINS OF EARLY MAN IIRDLICKA I79 



plateau above the hillside were found also a large number of worked 

 flints, partly like those of the cave, partly more recent to neolithic. 



In 1885 a more systematic and extensive exploration of the cave 

 was begun by Marcel de Puydt, Member of the Archeological Institute 

 of Liege, and Maximin Lohest. at that time Assistant in Geology at 

 the University of Liege. These explorers found the cave much worked 

 over, but a large, high terrace in front (jf the cave had evidently not 

 as yet been touched, and uix)n this terrace they concentrated their 

 attention. A trench sunk in the terrace to a depth of four feet re- 

 vealed a thick layer of brown earth with numerous fragments and 

 blocks of limestone fallen from the rocks alx>ve, beneath which the 

 explorers found an ossiferous layer 30 to 40 cm. (12 to 16 ins.) in 

 thickness, containing also numerous flint implements. From the de- 

 posits above this layer, apparently, the explorers recovered some 

 worked flints and bones, some debris of pottery, and a fragment of 

 a human skull, which made it appear that the lower ossiferous layer 

 was not the sole layer here of human habitation.' 



The total number of worked flints recovered during the 1885 exca- 

 vations reached several thousand.'' In addition there were recovered 

 numerous points and awls of bone, three polished fragments of ivory 

 covered with graved lines, one oval ivory bead, a flat bone with several 

 series of parallel or crossed lines, two other decorated bones, and a 

 perforated tooth of a young hyena, evidently used as a pendant. The 

 stone implements, of relatively high-class workmanship, ranged them- 

 selves with the Mousterian. 



The explorations by Messrs. De Puydt and Lohest were resumed 

 in 1886, and in June of that year the excavators discovered in the 

 terrace the remains of two remarkable human skeletons, besides large 

 quantities of bones of Quaternary animals and flints and other in- 

 dustrial objects, a large proportion of which showed Mousterian 

 affinities. The discovery was brought to the attention of Professor 

 J. Fraipont of the Liege University; and on August 16, 1886, De 

 Puydt and Lohest announced the important find to the Congres arche- 



' De Puydt, Marcel, et Lohest, Max. Exploration de la grotte de Spy. Ann. 

 Soc. geol. Belg. Liege, Vol. 13, pp. 34-39, 1886; also, L'homme contemporain 

 du mammouth a Spy, province de Namur (Belgique), with 10 pis. Bruxelles, 

 1887. 



^ " Des silex ct ossements, quclqucs debris do poteric ct uii fragment de crane 

 huinain, trouves dans les terres lors du creusement, font, il est vrai, supposer 

 qu'il pourrait y avoir d'autres niveaux ossiferes plus ou moins caracterises " 

 (p- 35)- 

 15 



