502 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1923 



Another objective of the excavations organized by the Prince was 

 to clear up this mystery. In this respect also the results were note- 

 worthy. Although no new statuettes were discovered, there was 

 found in an Aurignacian fireplace of the " Grotte du Prince," a frag- 

 ment of soft rock, or steatite, identical with the material of the first 

 statuettes, which showed ihe beginnings of sculpture. If there was 

 still needed additional proof of the authenticity and of the antiquity 

 of these objects of primitive art, it was found in the uniformity of 

 physiognomy and in the general similarity shown by all the works of 

 the same class made in different countries quite distant from each 

 other. Very recently, this summer in fact, M. and Mme. de Saint- 

 Perier discovered in a cave in the Pyrenees, also in an Aurignacian 

 stratum, a fine female statuette in ivory, one of the most beautiful 

 objects which has been found so far in a Paleolithic deposit. The 

 style of this statuette is very close to that of the Menton figurines. 

 You will very shortly see photographic reproductions and a descrip- 

 tion of it in " L' Anthropologic" 



These are the chief results of the work carried on under the direc- 

 tion and at the expense of the Prince of Monaco in the caves of Gri- 

 maldi. The precious relics resulting from these excavations and 

 brought to light after so many thousands of years constitute the most 

 venerable archives of humanity. They must be preserved as we pre- 

 serve the archives of written history, and with this end in view the 

 Prince organized the Anthropological Museum of Monaco, the direc- 

 tion of which he entrusted to his learned and devoted collaborator, 

 M. de Villeneuve. Here are exhibited methodically, in galleries 

 lighted by great bays opening on the blue sea, an innumerable series 

 of objects carefully arranged and labeled. Large specimens give an 

 idea of the character and the composition of certain fossil-bearing 

 strata. Vertical glass cases are filled with fine paleontological speci- 

 mens. The human skeletons occupy the center of the main hall on 

 the first floor. They are surrounded by archeological objects classified 

 by levels. On the walls, plans and sections of the caverns of Baousse- 

 Rousse enable visitors to visualize the nature and the stratigraphy of 

 the positions. The other halls contain, among other collections, the 

 results of similar excavations carried on in various caves located in 

 territory belonging to the principality, notably in the Neolithic caves 

 of Bas-Moulin,s and the Spelugues. All this material forms a whole 

 which daily attracts many visitors and which keenly interested the 

 members of the thirteenth session of the International Congress of 

 Anthropology and Prehistoric Archeology held in Monaco in 1906. 



The Prince also rendered still another great service to our studies 

 when he took this Congress, whose fate appeared at that time very 

 doubtful, under his protection. And those among you who were 



