5o0 Fraas — Pre-hisioric Settlements. 



form of the first lower molar would rather indicate the TJrsus priscus 

 (Goldfuss), which some time since was found fossil in the Bavarian 

 caves. Biit besides the bear and the horse, genuine carnivora were 

 used for food ; for the remains of the wolf, the fox, and the Gulo, or 

 glutton, are found together in the same excavation. Of the wolf 

 there is a broken under-jaw ; of the fox -I here are not only several 

 xmder-jaws, but several pieces of the skull and bones — these remains, 

 however, do not belong to the fox of the present day, for the teeth 

 of the Schussenried fox are smaller and thinner ; the projections of 

 the molar teeth are more pointed ; the form of the skull is blunter, 

 and a comparison of it with that of the recent fox leads to the 

 conclusion that we have before us the remains of an Arctic or blue 

 fox (the Canis lagopus), so notorious amongst travellers in the polar 

 regions for its consummate audacity and thievish propensaties. In 

 hunting these animals nothing more is wanted than a cudgel in one 

 hand and a piece of flesh in the other ; or, according to Brehm, they 

 are dug out of their holes in the snow by the Samojedes with a spade 

 made of reindeer's horn. Besides the remains of the Arctic fox, 

 there were found those of two individuals of the Glutton or Gulo 

 (in German, Fialfrass, or more commonly Vielfrass ; but in Swedish 

 Felsenbewohner). This carnivorous animal of the far north, which 

 is as much feared as the bear or the wolf, lies more especially in 

 wait for the reindeer, on the backs of which it springs from the 

 boughs of trees. The flesh of this animal also was eaten, as is 

 proved by the bones of the skull having been opened. With the 

 exception of the foot of an unknown small variety of ox, no further 

 remains of mammalia were met with, and more particularly no trace 

 of the game or domestic animals of the present day — no trace of the 

 common cow, the sheep, the goat, the pig, or of the stag, the roe or 

 the hare ; nay, what is still more remarkable, no remains of the dog. 

 Had these animals been living at that time in our districts we should 

 most certainly have met with their remains in the Schussenried 

 refuse. On the other hand, there are remains of birds and fishes 

 which the ancient Swabians must have known how to secure by the 

 bow and arrow and the fish-hook. Thus we have a very distinctive 

 head and bones of the wild swan, which now breeds in the north ; 

 also many remains of a Penelope or tufted Pochard duck, somewhat 

 larger than our present Fuligula cristata. Several bones of the 

 extremities of the heron, a foot long, as well as other bones belonging 

 to smaller birds, are now waiting careful examination. Some of the 

 vertebrae of fish have belonged to a large pike. 



Such are the main features of the late discoveries ; they require 

 only two remarks. First — That the facts now stated indicate the 

 existence of an ancient intelligent race of men, quite unacquainted with 

 the use of metals, and, like primaeval man, having only stones to make 

 use of in their struggle for existence ; and secondly, that the discovery 

 at Schussenried indicates a totally different climate, such as now 

 begins at 70 degrees of north latitude in the arctic lands lying between 

 the forest region and the frozen sea, which are free from snow only a 

 few months in the year. 



