136 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXV. No. 630 



iioceros tichorlnnus, six various signs. A 

 number have not yet been determined. 



In their various explorations MM. Capi- 

 tan, Breuil and Peyrony have collected 

 about a hundred drawings of the mammoth. 

 Those of the bison, horse and reindeer are 

 also numerous. On the other hand, repre- 

 sentations of Ursus, Felts and BJiinoceros 

 are rare. The engraving of Ursus spelmus 

 on a piece of schist found in the floor de- 

 posits of the cavern of Massat (Ariege) 

 has been known since 1867. A similar 

 tigure is to be seen on the cavern walls of 

 Combarelles. An engraving of Felis on a 

 pebble from the cavern of Gourden (Haute- 

 G-aronne) was recently published by Piette. 

 Two mural engravings of Felis are known ; 

 one at Combarelles and the other at Font- 

 de-Gaume. In the latter the entire animal 

 is represented, being characterized by the 

 form of the head, the general aspect of the 

 body, the long, lifted tail and short paws. 

 The animal is probably Felis leo, var. 

 spelma, since it is figured somewhat larger 

 than are the four horses forming part of 

 the same group or picture. 



One of the most interesting animal repre- 

 sentations on the cavern walls of Dordogne 

 is a color drawing of Rhinoceros ticho- 

 rhinus, found at Font-de-Gaume near the 

 group that included an engraving of the 

 cave lion. The figure is not only complete, 

 but also exact. The two horns are faith- 

 fully indicated, the anterior notably longer 

 and larger than the posterior. The only 

 other representation of the woolly rhi- 

 noceros is an indiflrerent engraving on a 

 piece of stone found in the cavern of Gour- 

 dan and recently published by Piette. 



The cavern of Font-de-Gaume opens on a 

 narrow valley tributary to that of the 

 Beune and near their junction. The well- 

 known rock shelter of Les Eyzies lies across 

 the valley of the 7.eune. It is visible from 

 Font-de-Gaume, appearing like a black spot 



on the face of the great escarpment, and 

 only eight hundred meters distant. M. 

 Peyrony^^ suggests that the two prehistoric 

 communities may have been closely united. 

 His recent researches at Les Eyzies tend to 

 confirm this view. 



The shallow cave of Les Eyzies, over- 

 looking the Beune near its junction with 

 the Vezere, opens on a sort of natural plat- 

 form about thirty-five meters above the bed 

 of the stream. The opening of the cave is 

 wide and high enough to admit the light 

 to its greatest depth, which is twelve meters. 

 The geatest width is sixteen meters. It has 

 a southern exposure ; is dry and habitable. 

 Font-de-Gaume was never a place of resi- 

 dence, as is indicated by the absence of 

 floor deposits. About the only objects 

 found there are a few broken gravers with 

 edges dulled in executing the wall engra- 

 vings, a few pieces of ochre and manganese 

 and one handsome ochre pencil. Why 

 should the artists make residence of a dark 

 subterranean cavern, when by going a short 

 distance they could have an ample shallow 

 cave or rock shelter facing the south and 

 warmed and lighted by the sun? Such a 

 shelter is Les Eyzies, and the enormous 

 quantities of refuse taken from its floor at 

 various periods testify to its use as a place 

 of habitation by generation after genera- 

 tion. 



The rock shelter of Les Eyzies has fur- 

 nished unusually large quantities of ochre 

 of various tints. Most of the pieces have 

 been scraped to produce a colored powder 

 which was mixed with grease or some 

 liquid, thus forming a paint. In order to 

 pulverize and thoroughly mix the coloring 

 matter, mortars were used. An interesting 

 series of these mortars from Les Eyzies 



^' Le Dr. Capitau, I'Abbe Breuil et Peyrony, 

 ' Nouvelles observations sur la grotte des Eyzies 

 et sea relations avee celles de Font-de-Gaume,' 

 Gompte rendu, Congres prSh. de France, 1905, 

 p. 137. 



