-296 FOSSIL MEN. 



to pre-historic Europe, and note the parallelism. We 

 may here at once affirm that the oldest "Neolithic " 

 mounds and cave interments of Europe bespeak beliefs 

 similar in every respect to those of America. I have 

 already referred to this in the case of the "gallery 

 graves " of Scandinavia, and it is equally apparent in 

 the sepulchral tumuli. But how was it with those 

 oldest tribes of men supposed to have been contem- 

 porary with the now extinct Post-glacial mammals ? 

 Unfortunately, most of the remains of this period are 

 not of a character to give much information as to rites 

 of sepulture or religious beliefs. There are, however, 

 some which partially make up for this defect, and I 

 shall refer here to a few instances. 



Among the caves on the banks of the Eiver Lesse, 

 described by Dupont in his book on the Pre-historic 

 Ages, one of the most curious, the Trou de Frontal, in 

 Belgium, is a sepulchre of the so-called Eeindeer Age, 

 which intervenes between the earliest Palaeolithic or 

 " Mammoth " Age, and that of Polished Stone. It is 

 rather an overhanging ledge or shelter than a cave, 

 except at its inner side, where there is a chamber 

 about two yards in length by one in breadth. This 

 inner chamber had been used as a sepulchre, in which 

 were found bones referable to sixteen persons of dif- 

 ferent ages. The mouth of the cave had been closed 

 with a slab of dolomite, and on the terrace in front, 

 and under the overhanging ledge, was a hearth of 

 stones which had been used for funeral feasts, and 

 around which were the bones of many animals, all 



