CHAP, vii.] SCULPTURE. 223 



ancestors for countless generations have obtained by the 

 use of clothes, would render a natural clothing of hair 

 unnecessary, and produce the present comparatively 

 hairless condition of our bodies. Nevertheless there are 

 numerous cases of reversion to the original hairy con- 

 dition, such as that of the Ainos, in northern Japan, 

 and of the hairy Siamese family, 1 described by Mr. 

 Darwin. 



Sculpture. 



The Cave-men were also acquainted with the art of 

 sculpture. In the cave of Laugerie Basse, the handle 



FIG. 87. Handle of Dagger, Laugerie Basse, . 



of a dagger (Fig. 87) of reindeer antler has been carved 

 into the shape of that animal, with his head thrown 

 back, so as to allow the antlers to rest on the shoulders, 

 the forelegs being folded gracefully under the body, and 

 the hind passing gradually into the blade. An exami- 

 nation of the figure shows with what grace the artist 

 has treated the animal. The same composition is to be 

 observed in the figure of a reindeer carved in ivory, 

 from the rock-shelter of Montastruc, 2 not far from the cave 

 of Bruniquel, in which place the figure of an elephant 



1 Darwin, Variation under Domestication, and Descent of Man. 



2 Peccadeau de 1'Isle, Revue Archeol. 1868, p. 213. Materiaux, 1868, 

 p. 96. Hamy, Paleontologie Humaine, p. 331. 



v 



