WOKEY HOLE. 265 



flesh on, as the different bones were all found together. It is 

 well known that food and drink were in ancient times fre- 

 quently buried with the dead, and M. Lartet thinks that we 

 may account in this manner for the bones of quadrupeds 

 found in the grotto at Aurignac, 



In this case, then, it would seem that we have a sepulture 

 belonging to the period at which the cave-bear, the reindeer, 

 the Irish elk, the woolly-haired rhinoceros, and the mam- 

 moth, still lived in the south of France. It is, however, very 

 much to be regretted that M. Lartet was not present when 

 the place was first examined, for it must be confessed that if 

 he had seen the deposits before they were disturbed, we 

 should have been able to feel more confidence that the 

 human skeletons belonged to the same period as the other 

 remains. 



Another instructive case is that of the Hyaena-den at 

 Wokey Hole, near Wells, which has been ably explored and 

 described by Mr. Boyd Dawkins.* In this case the cave was 

 filled with debris up to the very roof, and it appears that the 

 accumulation of material has taken place partly by the dis- 

 integration of the dolomitic conglomerate forming the roof 

 and walls of the cavern, and partly by the sediment washed 

 in gradually by rain and small streams. It is evident that 

 the bones and stones were not brought into the cave by the 

 action of water ; firstly, because none of the bones are at all 

 rolled; secondly, because, though several rude flint imple- 

 ments were found in the cave, only one single unworked flint 

 was met with ; and, thirdly, because, in some cases, fragments 

 of the same bone have been found close together, while, if 

 they had been brought from a distance, it is almost incredible 

 that they should have been again deposited close to one 

 another. Again, there are several layers one over the other 



* Geol. Journal, May, 1862, p. 115, 



