o4 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANATOMICAL AND A M II K< U'OLOGICAL 



must have been no less than seventeen skeletons of both sexes and 

 all ages. He also remarked that the si/e of the adult bones was such 

 as to imply a race of small stature. 



It was not till eight years afterwards that this cave was critically 

 examined, when M. Larlet undertook the work. Having been shown 

 remains of extinct animals and works of art found in the vault, he 

 determined to investigate what was left intact of the deposits inside 

 and outside the grotto. He found a layer of ashes and charcoal about 

 7 inches thick on the sloping terrace but none inside. Among the 

 ashes he found a great variety of bones and more than a hundred 

 articles of flint and some flat pieces of sandstone which seemed 

 to have served as a hearth. There were a few bone implements, as 

 arrow heads and a well-shaped bodkin, sharp-pointed and made out 

 of the horn of the roe-deer. The bones were those of the cave bear, 

 brown bear, badger, cave lion, cave hyena, mammoth rhinoceros, 

 horse, ass, pig, roe-buck, etc. Many of them were split open, 

 evidently for the marrow, and all bore marks of having had the flesh 

 scraped off them. A number were gnawed as if by wild animals. 



On the other hand the bones found in the grotto, which were 

 human, were entire as if laid there with the flesh on them. No human 

 bones were found outside the vault. Besides some flint knives with 

 no marks of having ever been used, there were several articles of 

 ornament in the grotto, such as a bear's tusk with the enamel removed 

 from the top and something like a bird carved upon it, also a number 

 of flattened pieces of siliceous substance supposed to be cockle shells 

 perforated in the centre, which had evidently been strung together as 

 a necklace. 



The various relics point to some interesting conclusions regard- 

 ing this ancient people. The presence of the bones of extinct animals 

 shows that the human bones belonged to a people long anterior to those 

 either of the Danish shell mounds or Swiss lake dwellings. The ashes 

 and the hearth in front of the grotto and other evidences of the con- 

 sumption of animal food point to the sacred rites of burial and accom- 

 panying funeral feast. The flint implements, the ornaments and pottery 



