4 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 8/ 



irregular breaking of the lip and an unfortunate perforation at the 

 time of excavation, there is no artificial adaptation of any sort." 



The find of a Triton shell in a Paleolithic level is important from 

 several points of view. A few stations have yielded Strombus, but 

 this is the only Triton so far reported. The 250 kilometers separating 

 Marsoulas from the Mediterranean and the 300 kilometers distance 

 from the Atlantic is witness to the wide migrations or trade contacts of 

 the Paleolithic hunters, provided the species existed in those seas during 

 Quaternary times. If it did not, the distance over which it came 

 indicates for these hunters travels or contacts farther afield than 

 has been previously considered possible. 



Fauna from the Paleolithic terrace: Red fox {Vulpcs sp.), fox 

 (Vulpcs sp. or Alopcx sp.), horse (Eguits cf. cahallns), reindeer 

 (Rangifcr ci. tara Jidus) ,hov'id (Bos or Fyison sp.), Mollusca (Capiihts 

 JiungaricHS Linne, Triton nodifcrnm Lamarck). 



Fauna from Aurignacian hearth: Fox (Vidpes sp. or Alopcx sp.), 

 horse (Eqiiiis s]).), reindeer {Rangifcr cL tarandns), bovid (Bos or 

 Bison). 



Fauna from travertine: Horse {Eqnus sp.), bovid (Bos or Bison 

 sp.). 



TARTE 



On the floor of the cave of Tarte," situated in the same hillside and 

 500 meters west of Marsoulas but in the Commune of Cassagne, Haute 

 Garonne, an interesting industry in poor quality quartzite, neglected 

 by former searchers, was remarked. It was decided to make a sound- 

 ing in the hope of finding an intact layer that would date these 

 artifacts. 



Two layers were found, one on the right just inside the entrance 

 and the other on the extreme left of the terrace. Both contained 

 the Aurignacian typical of Tarte, and both contained the quartzite 

 industry. 



The form of the quartzite artifacts was limited by the poor quality 

 of the material, and no particular type is recognizable. Only one 

 face of these artifacts was retouched, and they apparently served 

 as choppers and crude scrapers (pi. 4, figs, i to 4). The specimen 

 shown in Plate 4, Figure 4, is water-worn and is, therefore, probably 



* The Smithsonian Institution wishes to express its thanks to Monsieur Joleau, 

 Professor of Geology at the Sorbonne, who examined the specimen in question 

 and gave the above opinion. 



" Cartailhac, Quelques faits Nouveaux du Prchistoirie Ancien des Pyrenees. 

 L'Anthropologie, 1896, p. 316; Cartailhac and J. Bouysonie, Une Fouille a Tarte. 

 Assoc. Franqaise Advanc. Sci., 1909, p. 128; Cazedessus, Jean, La Grotte du 

 Tarte. IX Congr. de I'Union Hist, et Archaeol. des Societes du Sud Quest, 1926. 



