,89,. THE CAVE MEN OF MENTONE. 275 



is higher in the parietal region, and projects to a remarkable extent 

 above the occipital region, so much so that it is, perhaps, abnormal. 

 The smaller skull is highest in the posterior parietal region ; it is, 

 moreover, curiously asymmetrical, the right parietal region being 

 much flattened, and the left higher and more convex. 



All the skulls, then, are dolichocephalic, and one of the new ones 

 closely approaches that of 1884. The three may be placed in series. 

 That of 1884 has the more prominent supra-orbital ridges and 

 projecting chin, and is widest in the frontal region. The large skull 

 of 1892 has the prominent eyebrow-ridge, but is slightly narrower in 

 the frontal region. The smaller skull has these prominences less 

 marked, and is narrower across the frontal bones, but still stronger, 

 thicker, and more definitel}'^ ridged than the neolithic skull of Final 

 Marina referred to below. All have the somewhat quadrangular- 

 shaped orbit relied on by M. Riviere as evidence of antiquity. 



The lower jaw (complete only in No. 3) is very broad in the 

 chin-region, and wide at the side in the area of attachment of the 

 masseter muscle. 



The teeth in the larger skull, so far as left, are well worn down, 

 and the crowns are flat, indicating an advanced age for the individual 

 in question. In skull No. 3, on the other hand, the teeth are little 

 worn, and the last molar has not yet come into use, showing that the 

 age of the individual was not more than 20 years. The third 

 skeleton has been said to be that of a child, but as it is quite 

 as large, there seems no reason for attributing to it a younger age 

 than the second. The skull has been lost. 



Whatever, then, are the differences between the individual 

 skulls found at different times in the Mentone Caves, it is of impor- 

 tance to note that they are as a whole widely separated from such 

 types as that found further east in the Final Marina Caves, and now 

 in the Museum at Bordighera. Though full details as to the position 

 in which this specimen was found are not yet obtainable, it may be 

 mentioned that the skull, while dolichocephalic, is much smaller, 

 the supra-occipital region weak, the zygoma slender, and the jaw 

 feeble in comparison ; a series of craniological deficiencies which may 

 or may not be correlated with the fact that the skeleton is associated 

 with well-made and ornamented pottery, of which no trace seems to 

 have been found at Mentone. The beautiful preservation of this 

 specimen, which I have had the opportunity of examining through 

 the kindness of C. Bicknell, Esq., suggests that it may be of very late 

 age ; it is only referred to here as a type of skull without any of the 

 " Cro-Magnon " characters. 



The implements found with the skeletons are larger than 

 those discovered round the 1884 cranium, s and also thinner and 



* These were 6-7 inches long, thicker and without curvature, but at the same 

 time not much wider in proportion, as is the case with so many typical Palaeolithic 

 flints. 



T 2 



