THE OLD STONE AGE 
> « 
dence of a “‘warm”’ as well as a “cold”? Mousterian; that 
that particular culture existed in Europe during a milder as 
well as a more severe climatic phase. But Obermaier, 
perhaps our leading authority on this point, emphatically 
denies this. He says: 
We must strongly insist that in western and central Europe there 
is no true Mousterian with warm fauna. Such a fauna is found only 
in the Pre-Chellean, the Chellean, and the Early Acheulian, for, from 
the Late Acheulian on, we find a cold fauna which lasts through the 
final Magdalenian. Indubitable Mousterian with warm fauna is found 
only in southern Europe—as in Italy (Mentone) and Spain—where 
then and ever since the climate and fauna naturally would be different. 
To state the length of the Mousterian epoch in terms of 
years with anything like accuracy is still impossible; but, 
thanks mainly to the Swedish investigations of the last 
glaciation, we can make a far better guess than we can for 
Has 
4 
y 
vik eT 
Lats GHEE 
WYyez 
Fic. 42. Mousterian implements from the north of France. At left, a scraper; 
center, a flint carefully dressed on both faces; right, a long, narrow point. After 
Commont 
the still earlier periods. Thus it seems fairly safe to say 
that in western Europe the Mousterian epoch began some- 
where between 40,000 and 60,000 years ago, and con- 
tinued down to something like 25,000 or 30,000 years ago. 
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