424 Dr. Nils Olof Hoist — The Ice Age in England] 



In the Belgian caves the conditions are different in so far as man 

 appears in them (with the exception. of the Spy cave) at a distinctly 

 later date, hut they are similar as regards the oldest bone remains of 

 the cave-lion and the cave-bear. In the lowest of the five layers in 

 the Hastiere cave, the cave-lion first appears as the oldest animal. 

 The same condition obtained in the third cave at Goyet. Here the 

 cave-bear is found immediately above the horizon with the cave-lion. 



Many other bone-caves might be quoted in illustration, all leading 

 to the same result ; their first filling up, being in connexion with 

 subterranean water arising from a more copious rainfall, was not older 

 than, but probably just contemporaneous with, the immigration of 

 a new Pleistocene mammalian fauna. As regards the. cessation of the 

 pluvial epoch, it may here be enough to mention that as a rule it 

 terminated at the same time as the Ice Age, and therefore did not 

 come to an end quite at the same time in the northern and southern 

 regions. In the bone-caves it usually ceased with the uppermost 

 stalagmite, "granular stalagmite," as is the case in Kent's Cavern. 



Even more clearly than in Europe can the pluvial epoch be observed 

 in Northern Africa from Egypt to Morocco. There a number of 

 places on the borders of the desert region were inhabited during 

 Palaeolithic times by no inconsiderable population, but are now 

 uninhabitable. The power and high civilization attained by Egypt 

 in post-glacial times under the first pyramid-building dynasty is but 

 the continuation of a long development strongly fostered by nature 

 during the pre-dynastic glacial and pluvial epochs. It should perhaps 

 be recalled here that the first Egyptian dynasty began to rule 5,230 

 (3315 b.c. + 1915 a.d.) years ago (according to E. Meyer) or 7,415 

 (5500 b.c. -|- 1915 a.d.) years ago (according to "W. M. Plinders 

 Petrie), while the close of the Ice Age in Southern Sweden, according 

 to my calculation based upon archaeological finds in the Swedish peat- 

 bogs, may be regarded as having taken place about 7,000 years ago 

 (at a maximum). 1 



A discussion of the very extensive question of the North African 

 climate in Pleistocene times would, however, lead us too far, and 

 I shall here confine myself to referring my readers to an archaeological 

 work by Professor L. Capitan and his colleagues, in which are to be 

 found numerous elucidations of the changes of climate in Northern 

 Africa from Palaeolithic down to historic times, 2 as well as to 

 a report on various cognate observations made by the Geological 

 Survey of Egypt. 3 



1 N. O. Hoist, 1909. " Postglaciala tidsbestamningar ' ' : Sveriges Geol. 

 Undersok., ser. C, No. 216. , 



2 J. de Morgan, Capitan, & P. Boudy, April, 1910. " Etude sur les stations 

 prehistoriques du Sud Tunisien " : Eev. Ecole Anthrop. Paris, tome 20. 



3 W. F. Hume, 1910. "Climatic Changes in Egypt during Post-Glacial 

 Times" : pp. 421-4 of Die Veranderungen des Klimas. Sep. publ. Congr. 

 Geol. Internat., Stockholm. 



(To be continued in our next Number.) 



