25' 



A PREHISTORIC CYPRiEA TIGRIS L. IN HANTS. 



By J. R. LE B. TOMLIN, M.A., F.E.S. 



(Read before the Society, June 14th, 191 1). 



The Reading Corporation Museum has recently added to its col- 

 lections some interesting relics of prehistoric man from pit dwellings 

 at St. Mary Bourne, Hants. Amongst these is a specimen of sur- 

 passing interest to the conchologist, viz., the complete outer lip of a 

 large Cyprcea. Careful comparison with all our large Cowries leaves 

 no shadow of doubt in my mind that this lip is part of a C. tigris L. 

 The teeth are considerably worn down in a way to suggest that it 

 has been used as a file; it is also alternatively supposed to have been 

 a charm. The edge, where it is broken away from the shell, has 

 been evenly ground down. 



Monterosato, in his "Notizie intorno alle Conchiglie Mediterranee" 

 (Palermo, 1872) calls attention to a small collection of shells found 

 at Pompeii and now in the Naples Museum, which includes two 

 exotic species : Cofius textile L. and Cypraa tigris L. I noticed a 

 similar collection recently in the museum at Pompeii wliich contained 

 several exotic species, including quite a long series of Cyprcea pa?i- 

 theriiia L. The latter cowry is, of course, common in the Red Sea ; 

 C. tigris is recorded from Aden (Shopland), but was not found by 

 McAndrew in the Gulf of Suez. 



Since the above was written, Mr. J. W. Jackson has kindly called 

 my attention to a record^ of Cyprcea jnoneta L. from a sandy layer 

 above the Tertiaries at Frankfurt-on-Main. The author of the article, 

 Dr. \V. Wenz, says that the specimen is superficially weathered, but 

 otherwise in good [)reservation, and that extensive prehistoric settle- 

 ments of different periods existed in the immediate neighbourhood. 



I also find that Cyprcea tigris has been recorded by M. Locard 

 from Lyon, in a paper entitled : " Note sur une Faunule Malacolo- 

 gique Gallo-Romaine, trouvee en 1885 dans la necropole de Trion, 

 a Lyon." 



This necropolis was unearthed on the southern flank of Mount 

 Fourvieres, and was considered to date back to the end of the first 

 century. 



Twenty-one determinable species occurred, all but three being 

 Mediterranean marine forms — either edible, or forms of the family 

 MuricidcE for dyeing purposes. Of the three exceptions, the most 

 interesting is Cyprcea tigris, and its presence is explained by M. 



I Nachr. Deutsch. Mai. Ges., 1911, p. 104. 



