671.71 33 



III. 



The Earliest Known Seat of Learning in Europe. 



\ REMARKABLE discovery relative to the culture of pre-historic 

 •^^ times has recently been published by Ed. Piette in the third 

 part of his series of "Etudes d'Ethnographie prehistorique " in 

 L'Anthropologie (tome vii., no. 4). In the cave of Mas-d'Azil, on the 

 left bank of the Arise, in the Department of Ariege, the lower layers 

 indicated the previous existence of a cold, damp period ; above them 

 were found deposits characterised by bones of the reindeer, red deer, 

 aurochs, horse, common bear, &c. Many of the antlers, and harpoons 

 made from the bones of reindeer, were engraved. Next came a layer, 

 having a maximum thickness of 65 cm. (2 ft. i^ in.), containing a large 

 number of pebbles, which had been painted with peroxide of iron. 

 The coloured pebble layer, marking the Asylienne period, was 

 followed by a snail-shell layer {Helix nemoralis). . It contained remains 

 similar to those in the previous one, and belonged to the Neolithic 

 age, but in neither were polished axes found. That the climate was 

 damp may be inferred from the great numbers of this species of 

 snail. Polished axe-heads were found at a higher level in the 

 Pelecique layer, which was also characterised by the presence of 

 Helix hortensis, thereby indicating drier conditions of climate. 



The humidity of the climate during the Cervian period was con- 

 tinued to a less extent during the Asylienne ; the presence of trees 

 shows that the climate was ameliorating at the time when the shell- 

 layer was formed. Vegetation must have flourished under the 

 influence of the warmer, though still damp, atmosphere, and men 

 successfully cultivated several species of fruit-trees. 



The Transition period, which followed the glacial period, began 

 when the modern fauna had replaced the glacial fauna ; that is, after 

 the Equine or Eburneene Period. The Transition Period had three 

 phases : (i) the Cervian, during which the Quaternary industries con- 

 tinued, the implements remained unchanged, and the art of the rein- 

 deer-hunter was perfected ; (2) the Asylienne phase, or period of the 

 coloured pebbles, which came after the disappearance of the reindeer : 

 by this time man had forgotten the arts of engraving and carving, 

 but took to painting stones; (3) the Shell phase, marked by cinders 

 mixed with snail-shells, and remarkable for the richness of its 

 vegetation. 



