MEN OF TIIK OLD STOXK AGE 



28i 



On the other side of the same mountain is the recently discovered cavern 

 of La Pasiega, with small and extremely difficult passages leading to a room 

 where there is a natural chair of limestone, on the arms of which the soiled 

 hands of palaeolithic men left their impressions. This "throne room" or 

 "altar room" is the latest proof, in the opinion of Professor Obermaier, of 

 the religious or ceremonial significance of these caves in the minds of the 

 paleolithic races. 



The greatest impression however was reserved for the last, in our visit 

 to Altamira, near the decayed Spanish capital of Santillana. The frescoed 

 ceiling of Altamira more than sixty feet in length, with its splendid poly- 

 chrome bison, horses, stags and wild boar, is the finest expression of palaeo- 

 lithic art. Not even the faultless reproductions of Abbe Breuil can convey 

 any idea of the impression produced by this wonderful chamber. It ranks 

 for palaeolithic times with the great gallery of Velasquez in the Prado of 

 Madrid, and deserves the close guardianship of the Spanish government. 



A/Ur Cartaill,.< ■ nil 



A portion of Altamira cavern; the opening to remoter i)arts is on the right. The frescoes 

 wliich are distributed over the ceiling are the finest paliBolithio paintings in Europe, rivaled 

 only by those of Font-de-Oaume 



