TO THE CAVE DEPOSITS 35 



from the more distant parts of the Ardennes. As the 

 river gradually wore the valley- channel to a greater 

 depth, this gravelly floor was left dry, and the cave 

 became frequented by predaceous animals who brought 

 there their daily prey. But though the level of the 

 river was lowered, the cave remained for a time 

 within reach of the spring floods caused by the 

 melting of the snow on the Ardennes, while the 

 sediment from these muddy waters covered and im- 

 bedded the animal remains. With each succeeding 

 year the cave became, as the valley was worn deeper, 

 more out of reach of the flood waters, until finally it 

 was left so dry as to be frequented by Palaeolithic 

 Man, who brought there the animals on which he fed. 

 Whence the abundance of deer and other ruminant 

 bones, scattered with flint flakes and other implements 

 in the upper part of the Cave deposits. 1 



After this the whole land was submerged, and 

 covered in places by a mantle of fine silt or Loess. As 

 it emerged, the effluent waters swept down the Ibose 

 dtibris from the ground above, together with the re- 

 mains of animals drowned, and deposited this rubble 

 on the slopes below, closing or nearly closing the 

 mouth of the caves and covering up the Cave beds. 

 That the derivation of the debris was local and not from 

 a distance, is proved by its being altogether of local 

 origin and not river- worn, as also by the circumstance 

 that it contains, at a lower level than the mouth of 

 the cave, fragments from the Cave beds above, while 



1 For lists of these Palaeolithic and Neolithic animals, see 

 Appendix E. 



D 2 



