SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.—H. 371 



rainfall. There seem to have been three periods of each, beginning with a long, damp 

 period that preceded the advent of the makers of coups-de-poing. The changes in 

 the rainfall were due to changes in the quantity of moisture brought by the north-east 

 monsoon. The moisture brought by this current would be affected by changes in the 

 glacial conditions in Asia north of the Himalayas. It may also have been affected by 

 conditions obtaining in East Africa at the time. The antiquity of the palseoUthic 

 period of India can be more precisely determined by a study of these climatic changes 

 than by any other means. 



Mr. S. J. Jones. — The Domestication of the Horse, 



The concentration of animals in oases and river valleys during periods of prolonged 

 drought no doubt afforded excellent opportunities for domestication, and the increasing 

 number of horse bones in the upper layers at Anau may denote such conditions. That 

 the value of the horse as a draught animal and for speed was early reaUsed on the steppes 

 of Western Asia is a legitimate assumption. In Mesopotamia, the ass and the ox 

 precede the horse, the introduction of which is associated with invasions of peoples 

 from the north. Contemporary nomadic raids may possibly be traceable in India and 

 China, whilst towards the middle of the first half of the second mUlennium B.C. the 

 Hyksos brought Egypt under the sway of the steppe. The destruction of the Tripolje 

 culture may indicate simUar but probably earlier movements towards western Europe, 

 the loess belt assuming great importance in this respect. The circle of horse skulls in 

 the tumulus of Mane Lud, Locmariaquer, may suggest an over-lap of steppe and 

 maritime iniluences rather than direct relations with the eastern Mediterranean, as has 

 previously been suggested. Art motifs, as in the case of the famous Maikop Vase, some- 

 times supplement direct evidence, whilst the Centaur myths of Greece may provide 

 further correlations between archaeology and ancient lore. 



Miss G. Caton-Thompson." — Excavations at Zimbabwe and other Ruins in 

 Southern Rhodesia. (Chairman : Dr. Randall MacIver.) 



Tuesday, September 9. 



Discussion (Sections C, E, H) on The Relation between past Pluvial and 

 Glacial Periods. (Chairman : Prof. H. J. Fleure.) 



The Chairman, in introducing the discussion, said that the time seemed appropriate 

 for a general review of the situation, as, while field observers in different regions were 

 noting more and more minor departures from the general scheme of glacial and inter- 

 glacial periods worked out by Penck and Briickner for the Alps, yet there was every 

 indication of increasing agreement with the main outlines of the Penck- Briickner 

 scheme over wide areas, if it be allowed that the Riss and Wiirm glaciations were to 

 a certain extent episodes of one major glaciation, and that the Giinz glaciation was 

 not more than a preliminary stage of the Mindel. It was being generally realised 

 that, after glacial conditions had established themselves in such an area as Central 

 Europe, the procession of Atlantic cyclones would be headed off and forced to find 

 its way eastward farther south, for example along the Mediterranean, as was the 

 case even during the cold spell of 1929. Also, at such a time, there might be heavy 

 precipitation and consequent very low-lying glaciation, probably outlasting the 

 glaciation in Central Europe, along the oceanic fringe facing the westerly winds. 



There is need to know what climatologists can say as to the probable position of 

 the belt of cyclones and westerlies during the periods of maximum glaciation in 

 Europe. 



In the Pleistocene, the western Sahara, at least, was at times greener than now. 

 We need to know whether this condition affected most of the Sahara, and what the 

 contemporary conditions would be in Arabia which, in addition to presenting a high 

 westward edge to catch precipitation, is so placed that, if cyclones went eastward 

 along the Mediterranean, they would probably penetrate across North Arabia to the 

 Persian Gulf. 



Gregory long ago suggested that European glacial maxima corresponded with 

 equatorial pluvial maxima, and Leakey has brought forward evidence for the same 

 conclusion. Is this sanctioned by the climatologists ? 



B B 2 



