214 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN 



two." Perhaps all prehistoric archaeologists would 

 not be quite as emphatic as Mr. Wright, but it 

 must be admitted that up to the present, in spite 

 of various and even vigorous efforts, no one has 

 succeeded in convincing the scientific world that 

 the opinion embodied in the quotation just given 

 is inaccurate. If, then, there is a complete hiatus 

 so far as the districts above named are concerned, 

 is there any place where the transition between 

 the two types of civilisation can be observed ? 

 As already stated, there seems very good reason 

 to believe that Piette has discovered such a place 

 in the grotto of Mas d'Azil, from the remains in 

 which a certain zone of civilisation is now known 

 as Asylian. 



Further transition zones are known as Cam- 

 pignian, Tardenoisian, lourassian (the same as 

 Asylian), and Arisien. It must be noted that this 

 period of transition, according to Geikie, belongs 

 to the fourth mild epoch, in which we are now 

 living, but according to Hoernes to the fourth or 

 Mecklenburgian Glacial Period. It is only one of 

 several serious discrepancies between the two 

 classifications. 



Before leaving this part of the paper and turn- 

 ing to the last consideration, namely, that of the 

 time occupied by the Ice Age, it may be well to 

 quote the comparison between the Magdalenian 

 or latest Palaeolithic civilisation and that of the 

 Neolithic Period, since it shows vividly how great 

 the gap is which has to be bridged over by the 

 transition stage wherever it may have existed.* 



* The table is from Wright, W. B., p. 284. 



