io SECRETS OF EARTH AND SEA 



have been discovered in caves in France, Spain, Belgium, 

 and Austria. It was long after them that the Neolithic 

 people appeared. 



The preceding remarks will have made it clear that 

 the engraved antler here figured was carved by a man 

 who was not really at all primitive, although he lived 

 probably between twenty and fifty thousand years ago. 

 It will also have been made clear that hundreds of such 

 engravings, more or less fragmentary, are known. Some 

 are very skilful works of art, others of a much inferior 

 quality. Many, however, show an astonishing familiarity 

 with the animal drawn and a sureness of drawing which 

 is not surpassed by the work of modern artists (see 

 Chapter III). The interest of the particular engraved 

 antler which I am describing is that it is the only carving 

 of its age as yet discovered which is more than a drawing 

 or sculpture of a single animal. It is a " picture " in the 

 sense of being a composition. It is not, it is true, painted 

 it is engraved ; but being a composition it is entitled 

 to be called "the earliest picture in the world." Let 

 me describe it a little more fully with the help of the 

 illustrations. 



The engraving has been made on a long cylindrical 

 piece of the red deer's antler. It can hardly be con- 

 sidered as decorative, since the figures of the animals do 

 not show as such on the cylindrical surface (Figs. I and 2). 

 Pieces of antler, bone, and ivory carved with spiral scrolls 

 and circles which are really decorative and effective as 

 decoration are found in these caves (Fig. 29). But often 

 such pieces as the present are met with. It has been dis- 

 covered by French archaeologists that the true intent of 

 such engravings may be rendered evident by rolling the 

 cylinder on a plastic substance (soft wax or similar 

 material), when the drawing is " printed off" or " de- 

 veloped " as it is termed. A great number of such line 



