250 CAVES IN THE DORDOGNE. 



of the flakes are also nipped off at one end, In the same 

 manner. Perhaps, as no trace of such a handle has yet been 

 discovered by MM. Christy and Lartet, wood was the material 

 used for this purpose. 



Of course, where there was a manufactory of flint flakes, 

 the cores or nuclei, from which they were struck, must also be 

 present. I was, however, astonished at the number of them 

 in these caves ; during my short visit, I myself picked out 

 more than ninety. 



Awls and saws are very much less frequent, but some few 

 good specimens have been found. At some of the stations, 

 curious flat implements (fig. 130) are met with. From the 

 constancy of their form, which, moreover, is somewhat pecu- 

 liar, we may safely infer that they were applied to some 



FIG. 130. 



tflint Awl. 



definite purpose. For hammers, the reindeer hunters seem 

 to have used round stones, a good many of which occur 

 in the caves, and which bear unmistakeable marks of the 

 purpose to which they were applied. Some of them, 

 however, may have served also as heaters. The North 

 American Indians, the Esquimaux, and some other savages, 

 having no pottery, but only wooden vessels, which could 

 not be put on the fire, used to heat stones, and then place 

 them in the water which they wished to boil. Many of 

 the stones found in these caverns appear to have been 

 used in this manner. 



