138 Shells as evidence of the JMigrations. 



As Dr. G. Elliot Smith has pointed out/' many 

 similarities exist between Magdalenian and the later 

 Azilian implements, and also of both of these to those 

 of Pre-dynastic Egypt. This suggests the possibilit}- of 

 the Magdalenian period in the west being approximately 

 contemporaneous with the pre-dynastic period in Egypt, 

 and that the Neolithic period in Western Europe did not 

 begin long before the third millennium ]!.C. 



In connection with the above it is of interest to note 

 that the cowr)- is frequently associated with pre-d)-nastic 

 burials in Egj'pt. 



The numerous discoveries of cowries detailed above 

 serve to show the migrations or intercourse of early 

 peoples. The)' are not to be regarded as evidence of the 

 shells, even the smaller kind, having been employed as 

 currenc}- in the localities where they were found, nor 

 indeed are they to be looked upon as having been worn 

 from purely jesthetic motives. Their presence maj^ be 

 explained by the part cowries played in early times as 

 symbolic of the generative forces of nature. The shell 

 itself was not worshipped, but rather regarded as an 

 attribute of some goddess. It was due probably to this 

 fact that the cowry was known to the ancients under the 

 appellation of " Concha Venerea." — the shell of Venus.^' 

 As pointed out by Dr. J. C. Melvill,""' the generic name of 



between ihe Lower and Upjier raktolilhic. The Lower Pal.colilhic, he 

 suggests, may be known as the Palaeanthropic, the Upper as the commence- 

 menl of the Neoanthropic, Age. (See "The American Museum Journal,'' 

 vol. \vi., ^Lay, 1916, p. 325.) 



^' Abstract of ]iaper o\\ "The Commencement (jf the Neolitiiic Phase 

 of Culture,'' read before the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Societ\ , 

 April 4th, 1916. 



*•'■' As well as the goddess of love, tlic word Venus signifies ihe itighest 

 throw of the dice. (Horace, 'Carmina,' 2, 7. 25.) It is not surprising, 

 thciefore, that we find the cowry—the shell of \'enus, used in so many 

 games of chance. 



■"■ ".Survey of Cienus Cypra.*a," t>/. 4'//., p. 1S4. 



