ANTIQUITY OF MAN IN EUROPE—MACCURDY. 5538 
same school of art as the relief and incised figures from the floor 
deposits of the shallow caves and rock-shelters, so well known through 
the works of the earlier investigators. This statement applies equally 
to all the caverns thus far explored. 
The cavern of Bernifal was first explored in 1903. It was dis- 
covered by accident. The original entrance near the base of an 
escarpment is completely obstructed by earth and stones. The pres- 
ent artificial entrance is at a point where the ceiling of the cavern 
comes close to the surface of the wooded sloping upland. The de- 
scent into the cavern is almost vertical, and made by means of an 
iron ladder about 3 meters long. There is a joint in the ladder, the 
upper portion of which may be inclined and locked so as to secure 
the interior against vandalism. Within are three large chambers 
united by rather narrow corridors. The first is 22 meters long, with 
high ceiling and a maximum breadth of 8 meters. The others are not 
quite so large. The beautiful stalactites overhead have been left 
undisturbed. Most of the engravings are to be found in the second 
chamber. They are cut rather deeply into the calcareous walls, and 
generally coated over with a thin, hard layer of stalactite. Twelve 
groups, numbering in all 26 figures, have been recognized. These 
include geometric triangular signs in addition to various animal 
figures—reindeer, mammoth, horse, bison, and antelope. Some are 
simply engraved, others are painted with red ocher and manganese. 
Many are probably wholly hidden beneath thick mural incrustations. 
Tectiform signs, the significance of which is unknown, were also met 
with at Les Combarelles and Font-de-Gaume. 
The Font-de-Gaume frescoes and engravings were discovered in 
1901 by Capitan and Breuil with the assistance of M. Peyrony, the 
school principal of Les Eyzies. The entrance is some 20 meters above 
the valley and near the top of the escarpment (pl. 8, fig. b). 
A passage about 65 meters long, and much restricted in places, 
leads to an ample gallery 40 meters in length, 2 to 3 in breadth, and 
5 to 6 in height. A majority of the paintings—and Font-de-Gaume 
is especially rich in paintings—occur on the walls of this gallery and 
in a little side chamber farther on (fig. 7, no. 16). The latter con- 
tains 13 remarkable figures, in color, of the bison and a group of 
reindeer (pl. 9). The coloring matter was red ocher and manganese, 
either mixed so as to give various intermediate shades or used sepa- 
rately. Both these materials are found on top of the neighboring 
plateaus. The dimensions of the figures vary from 2.70 meters down 
to 0.20 meter. Some are on regular surfaces, while others include 
natural prominences in such a way as to give the effect of relief. 
They are veritable frescoes, the whole figure often being covered with 
“Most of the prehistoric monuments of France are now the property of the 
Government and are protected by the enactment and enforcement of wise laws. 
