PRINCE ALBERT I OF MONACO BOULE 499 



detail. 2 These are not, we see, the methods of a mere amateur but 

 those of a true man of science. 



As a result of the various kinds of difficulties which he encoun- 

 tered the Prince wrote from Paris on June 15, 1883, " I see, from the 

 complications which our excavations are continually encountering, 

 that we must abandon the caves for the time being." But this 

 proved only true in part. More and more desirous of achieving the 

 solution of the important problems of prehistoric anthropology 

 which presented themselves at the Baousse-Rousse, the Prince de- 

 cided in 1895 to take up again the work of systematic exploration, 

 at first in a cave still nearly intact — the " Grotte du Prince " — then 

 in some of the neighboring caves which already had been super- 

 ficially excavated but whose deposits of refuse were still partly in 

 place. 



These new excavations lasted nearly 10 years. They were con- 

 ducted by M. le Chanoine de Villeneuve and his aid, M. Lorenzi, 

 methodically, skillfully, and with devotion, as I am able to testify 

 through my frequent and long stays in Monaco. They furnished 

 valuable scientific results, which were presented in a large work 

 published sumptuously under the auspices of the prince. 8 I shall 

 call your attention for a moment to the most important of these 

 results. 



The " Grotte du Prince " is the largest of the group. The explora- 

 tion work took out more than 4,000 cubic meters of the material, 

 which filled it and permitted the study of two kinds of deposits : 



1. The lowest — that is, the oldest — represents an ancient coast 

 line, with Mediterranean shells and without northern species ; Seneg- 

 alese forms, such as Strombus buboniiis, indicate warmer water than 

 at present. 



2. Over this marine formation are superimposed, more than 15 

 meters in thickness, formations of subaerial origin in which are 

 found fireplaces, or heaps of ashes, especially rich in bones of 

 animals and corresponding to the successive periods of human occu- 

 pation. Two groups of fireplaces can be distinguished. A lower 

 group is characterized by mammals of the oldest period of Quater- 

 nary time, and denoting a warm climate, such as the hippopotamus. 

 The higher group contains the bones of " cold " species, such as the 

 reindeer. 4 The superposition of these two faunas — one warm, the 

 other cold — had not before been established in a country so far south. 



2 See L. de Villeneuve, " L.es Grottos de Grimaldi, Historique et Description," p. 31. 



3 L. de Villeneuve, M. Boule, R. Verneau, B. Cartailhac, " Lea Grottes de Grimaldi," 2 

 vols., quarto. Monaco, 1906-1919. 



* The reindeer is not. the only " cold " species which I have observed for the first time 

 in that region. Among the bones resulting from excavations recently carried on by M. 

 de Villeneuve in a cave of Monaco, I had the pleasure of recognizing a skull ot I satis 

 (blue fox). 



