378 IVORY AND THE ELEPHANT 



Kents Hole Cave, Devonshire, and a third from Robin 

 Hood Cave, Cresswell Crags.* 



It will be of interest to show here one of the fourteen 

 representations of the mammoth scratched or engraved 

 on the walls of the "Grotte des Combarelles" (Dept. Dor- 

 dogne), France, all of which, as has been noted in the first 

 chapter of this work, had the effect of their outlines height- 

 ened by the use of oxide of manganese.f 



It is not only in the prehistoric cave dwellings of France 

 that graphic representations of the extinct European ele- 

 phants have been found, but in Spain also examples of at 

 least equal interest and value have been discovered. One 

 of the best of these is a tracing, in a reddish colour, on the 

 right wall of the cavern of Pindal, in the Asturias, discovered 

 by Alcalde del Rio in April, 1908. This outline drawing 

 is singularly successful in presenting the chief characteristics 

 of the great pachyderm. The animal is depicted in repose, 

 the trunk hanging down vertically, with a slight curve at 

 the tip; only one tusk is indicated, by a single stroke. A 

 heart-shaped red mark toward the middle of the body is 

 supposed to indicate an immense ear flap. An especially 

 notable circumstance in connection with this effective 

 drawing by prehistoric man is that the shortness of the 

 tusk in comparison with the length of the trunk, the lack 

 of any indication of a hairy covering, and several other 

 signs point to a type differing greatly from that figured in 

 the French cave dwellings of the Dordogne, a type more 

 closely approaching that of living elephant species than 

 did the Elephas 'primigenius. Another red tracing of a 

 mammoth was found on the wall of the Castillo cavern, at 

 Puento Viesgo, Soain, discovered by Alcalde del Rio, Novem- 



*Communicated by Dr. R. Scharff, National Museum, Dublin, Ireland. 

 tRichard S. Lull, "The Evolution of the Elephant," pp. 15, 17. Peabody Museum 

 of Natural History. Guide No. 2. See figure on p. 367 of present work. 



