ARCH^OLOGICAL PERIODS. 13 



former; the instances of any other kind of stone being extremely 

 rare. In this respect they differ from those of Neolithic age, 

 which are formed of many varieties of hard stone, although 

 flint from its extremely tractable nature was still in general 

 demand, especially for arrow-heads, and any instrument for 

 which a cutting edge or sharp point was desired. 



Other implements of Palaeolithic age are formed of bone and 

 horn. Among these are harpoon-heads, barbed on one or both 

 sides, awls, pins, and needles with well-formed eyes. But by 



Fig. 1. — Etching of Cave-bear found in the Cave of Massat (Ariege), J. 



far the most noteworthy objects of this class are the fragments 

 of bone, horn, ivory, and stone, which exhibit outlined and even 

 shaded sketches of various animals. These engravings have 

 been made with a sharp-pointed implement, and are often 

 wonderfully characteristic representations of the creatures they 

 portray. The figures are sometimes single, in other cases they 

 are drawn in groups. We find representations of a fish, a 

 seal, an ox, an ibex, the red-deer, the great Irish elk or deer, 

 the bison, the horse, the cave-bear (Fig. 1), the reindeer (Fig. 2), 

 and the mammoth or woolly elephant. Besides engravings, we 

 meet also with sculptures, a good example of which is shown in 

 Plate A, Fig. 8. 



