I02 RELIQUIAE AQUITANKLE. 



B. PLATE XV. & XVI. (One Plate.) 



We have here before us other specimens of those Implements, of problematic 

 use, of which we have already figured some, more or less imperfect, in B. Plates 

 II. III. & IV., and VII. & VIII. We have seen that various suggestions have 

 been offered as to the probable use of these trimmed and ornamented Antler-stems, 

 namely, as implements in common use, for splitting soft wood, stripping bark 

 from trees, &c.*, and for killing gamef ; as arms, for fighting j, and as insignia 

 of rank or social distinction , and possibly also employed in superstitious usages. 

 We shall not, however, at present attempt to determine the relative value of these 

 suggestions, which may be strengthened or enlarged by further information, and 

 by the study of the very many specimens yielded by the Caves of Dordogne. It 

 will be useful, however, to remark that Implements of this kind are not found 

 indiscriminately in all the Stations (hitherto examined) of the Period of Chipped 

 Stone where the Reindeer is more or less abundantly represented by its bones or 

 by tools and other articles of use or art wrought out of its antlers. Thus as yet 

 we do not know of any well-defined specimen of these peculiarly worked antlers 

 in the more ancient Caves at our Stations, characterized by the presence of the 

 lanceolate Dart-head (see B. Plates XII. & XIII.) and the older fauna (page 95). 

 In support of this view we may also cite the Caves of Aurignac (Haute Garonne), 

 La Chaise (Charente), Des Fe"es (Allier), and the B/ock-shelter in the Gorge d'Enfer 

 (Dordogne), mentioned above (pages 94 and 97), as not having yielded as yet any 

 fragment of a worked antler analogous to those under notice ; whilst the latter, 

 on the other hand, show themselves more or less abundantly at all the Stations 

 where barbed Harpoons were used, such as the Caves of Massat (Ariege) and Les 

 Eyzies (Dordogne), the Rock-shelters of La Madelaine and Laugerie Basse (Dor- 

 dogne), the Caves of Bruniquel (Tarn et Garonne), and of Le Chaffaut (Vienne), &c. 

 We may also include in this latter category the Cave at Mont Saleve (Haute 

 Savoie), where M. Alphonse Favre|| and M. Thiolly^f have discovered similar 



* Page8 38 and 59. t Pages 50 and 52. 



J Pages 40, 52, and 60; and page 67, note. Page 41 ; and pages 30, 31, and 33. 



II "Station de 1'homme de 1'age de la pierre a Veihrier pres de Geneve," 'Archives des Sciences, 



Bibliotheque Universelle de Geneve,' Mars 1868. See also Mortillet's 'Materiaux pour I'histoire de 

 1'homme,' vol. iv. pp. 91 &c. 



If "Epoque du Eenne au pied du Mont Saleve," 'Kevue Savoisienne,' Mars 1868. See also Mortillet's 

 ' Materiaux,' vol. iv. pp. 93, 152, 154, <fec. 



