G GUIDE TO THE FOSSIL MAMMALS AND BIRDS. 



Wall-case luaiainotli occurs chiefly in the hya-na-dens, wliere it is 



-D- o leiiieseiited onlv l»v the teeth of vonn;' individuals wliich 



Pier-case 2. ^ ', " ■, i" i i. n i 



would be a much more ready prey than the luli-grown ijeasts. 



The hypcna-dens are easily recognised, not merely by the 



abundance of the remains of the hya-nas themselves, hut 



also hy their " coprolites " (or fossilised excrement) and the 



gnaM-ed Ijones of their prey. The tooth-marks of tliese 



animals are often quite distinct ; and the long Ijones of their 



prey are usually represented only hy the middle of the shaft, 



the ends having been gnawed away until the hyienas could 



scoop out the whole of the marrow with their tongue. Very 



good examples are exhibited from the Ihixham, Doward's 



AVood, AVookey, and Creswell Caves. 



The old river-deposits in the valley of the Thames, whicli 



are contemporaneous witli the lower cavern deposits, have 



yielded remains of the same mammals as the latter, with the 



addition of the elk (Alces maclilu), the musk-ox (Ovihos 



moschatus), and the saiga antelope {Saiga tatarica). Tliese 



will be referred to again when treating of the systematic 



collection. 



!\Ian Associated with Pleistocene Mammals. 



Table-case iJuiing the whole of the Pleistocene period, while the 

 ^- mammals just enumerated lived in Western Europe, man was 



undou1)tedly present as a Avandering hunter. Very few of 

 his bones occur ; but his implements of stone and bone, with 

 occasional traces of his fires, are found in intimate association 

 with the remains of the wild Ijeasts. A few examples of the 

 primitive implements are arranged in Table- case 1 and in the 

 drawers of an adjacent cabinet, which contains the greater 

 part of the late Sir Joseph Prestwich's collection. 



All the stone implements found in the Pleistocene 

 deposits are of the " Palaeolithic " or ancient-stone-age type, 

 i.e., they are roughly chipped (not polished), and their 

 broadest end would Ijc grasped or fixed, while their narrowest 

 or pointed end would be used for chopping, cutting, or 

 scraping. In the valley of tlie Thames, as in many other 

 places, these implements are of flint ; and some of the spots 

 on the river-bank where the Palfeolithic hunter actually 

 made his equipment have been discovered. One such 

 " floor," explored by Mr. Plaxman C. J. Spurrell at Crayford 

 in Kent, is illustrated by a selection from his collection 

 in Table-case 1. Here are the flakes which were struck 



