THE EEINDEEE-PEKIOD. 25 







III. The Reindeer-Period. It is of some interest to have good proofs, on 

 a large scale, of Man's coexistence with the Reindeer in Southern Europe 

 still more to trace his hand in the fracture of its bones for food, and the marks 

 on them of his knife as he cut away its skin, its flesh, and its sinews for thread, 

 but of greater interest still to find upon its horns, engraved, cut in relievo, or 

 sculptured, representations of the animal itself, rendered with a fidelity which 

 makes them characteristic and unmistakeable. 



It would be easy to cite many circumstances illustrative of the resemblance be- 

 tween the condition and habits of the modern Esquimaux and these cave-dwellers 

 of Prance at the Reindeer-period. But now comes the great question, When was 

 the Eeindeer-period in Southern France ? and what is its antiquity ? 



It is far easier to indicate its place in the series of observed facts in relation to 

 ancient man, than to assign to it any definite antiquity of years. Geologically, a 

 wide gulf separates it from the Drift-period, though perhaps wider in the geolo- 

 gical than in the palseontological aspect ; but, on the other hand, it will seem, 

 both from the palaeontological and archaeological bearings, to be of higher antiquity 

 than the Kjokkenmoddings of Denmark and the Lacustrine Dwellings of Switzer- 

 land, and very certainly than the whole group of so called Celtic and Cromlech 

 remains. Comparing its fauna with that of these various periods, the Reindeer- 

 period may be placed thus : 



In the Drift (Valley-gravels) the Mammoth, Rhinoceros, Horse, and Ox are 

 the predominant animals, and the Reindeer appears but sparingly. In the 

 Dordogne Caves the Reindeer predominates, associated largely with the Horse 

 and Aurochs, and exceptionally with some remains of Mammoth, Hyena, &c.; 

 but all traces of such domesticated animals as the Sheep, the Goat, and the 

 Dog are wanting. 



In the Kjokkenmoddings of Denmark, though so much nearer the Subarctic 

 regions, the Reindeer is not found, and the fauna, though more ancient than that 

 now existing, indicates the presence of domesticated animals (Dog). 



The same may be said of the Swiss Lacustrine Dwellings : domestic animals are 

 present ; and the Reindeer is absent even from the most ancient of them, though 

 that it was once in the neighbourhood is manifest by the existence of its remains 

 in caves (at 1'Echelle) in the same district. 



In none of the Cromlechs or Sepulchres is there a trace of Reindeer ; and the 

 fauna indicated by the remains found in them is cited as more recent than either 

 the fauna of the Kjokkenmoddings or that of the most ancient of the Lake- 

 dwellings. 



