October io, 1907J 



NA TURE 



591 



on the unsubstantial ground that the d<'ad had been 

 designedly interred. Three polished >tone axes in 

 the Genoa Museum from the collection of Prof. Peres 

 were believed to be derived from these caves. 

 Riviere himself had obtained from this site a 

 polished axe-head and a ring or disc en jayet. 

 During the discussion it was shown that the axes 

 in the Genoa Museum came from Nice, and there 

 was strong p.-obability that the axe and ring found 

 by Riviere lav on the deposit rather than in it. A\\ 

 went to prove that further and more precise excava- 

 tions were necessary before the age of the deposit 

 could be definitelv fixed. It is with these later 

 investigations that the second and third 

 folios are concerned. 



The second folio is divided into three 

 sections. In the first the various cave- 

 beds are described with their petrographi- 

 cal characters ; a list of the fossils found 

 in each bed is given. The second section 

 IS concerned with the marine formations 

 observed at tlie entrance and in the in- 

 terior of the caves, and with the geo- 

 graphical changes which have taken place ■ 

 in the bed of the Mediterranean during 

 Quaternary time, .^n interesting attempt 

 is made to correlate the movements of the 

 level of the Mediterranean with the move- 

 ments of the ice. and to show that great 

 glacial invasions are coincident with great 

 positive movements of the sea, while inter- 

 glacial periods correspond to negative 

 movements. It is suggested that the 

 negative movement of the Inferior Pleisto- 

 cene was possibly able to re-establish 

 relations between the large Mediterranean 

 islands and the neighbouring continents, 

 and that in this way ma)' be explained 

 the similarity' in the contemporary fauna 

 and pateolithic tools of south Europe and 

 Africa. The third section of the folio is 

 devoted to the study of the fossil animals 

 which have been discovered during the 

 excavations. It throws light on the fauna 

 during successive periods, and discloses 

 the danger of dating deposits from imple- 

 ments alone, for in these caves Mous- 

 ti^rien implements are found in association 

 with a Chell^en fauna. 



The illustrations, which form a verv 

 marked feature of the work, show sec- 

 lions of the caves, and clearly demonstrate 

 the positions of the foyers and skeletons. 

 The bathymetric charts of the Mediter- 

 ranean are deserving of special mention. 



The third folio is largelv devoted to 

 anthropology, but to some extent par- 

 takes of a resume. The human skeletons 

 are described in great detail, and are 

 compared with each other, with Cro- 

 Magnon Man, with the Negro, and with the Euro- 

 pean of to-day. 



All the skeletons save two conform, with but slight 

 variation, to the Cro-Magnon type. They resemble 

 that type in stature, which is high, and in the shape 

 of the skulls, which latter are dvsharmonic, the 

 crania being long while the faces are low and wide. 

 The nose is leptorhine, depressed at the root, 

 yet projecting .sharplv from the face. The orbits 

 are rectangular and microseme ; the supraciliary 

 eminences are faintly developed; the mandible is 

 robust, possessing a prominent chin. Certain 

 negroid traits are noticeable in the skeletons ; the 

 proportions of forearm to arm, of leg to thigh, of 

 lower limb to upper limb, resemble those found in the 



VO. Tg8o, VOL. 76] 



Negro and differ from those in the European. The 

 two skeletons above referred to as not conforming 

 to this type were discovered on June 3, 1901, in La 

 Grotte des Enfants (Fig. 2). They were found at a 

 depth of 8-5 metres, and are the most ancient human 

 remains from these caves, although it should be re- 

 marked that a skeleton of the Cro-Magnon type was 

 found in the same cave at a depth of 7-8 metres. The 

 two skeletons were those of an old woman and a 

 boy. The sl<ulls are of the usual type in being 

 dvsharmonic, the cranium long, the face low and 

 wide. The orbits are microseme, the forearm and 

 leg relatively long. Thev differ from the type in 



boy, from La Gn 



Stature, which is not high, in the nose being platy- 

 rhine, in the face being prognathous, with the chin 

 fiiyant. On these grounds the two skeletons are 

 separated from the rest and regarded as constituting 

 a special type- -the Grimnldi type. Before accepting 

 such a separation, it should be remarked that little 

 importance can be attached to stature when one of 

 the examples is a boy, the other an old woman. 

 .Again, the skulls were obtained in a more or less 

 fragmentarv state, and the platyrhinity and pro- 

 gnathism rnight quite easily be in part due to the 

 rec^nsiruction. .Sex, age, and individual variation 

 might also account for some of the difference. It is 

 unfortunate that more examples — and those examples 

 of adults — are not forthcoming. 



