EARLY CARVINGS AND PICTURES 245 



They rarely attempted the human face or figure, and 

 when they did were not so successful as in their animal 

 work. They also painted on the walls of some of their 

 caverns, with red and yellow ochre, carbon, and white 

 chalk, representations — usually about one-third the size of 

 nature — of some of the most important animals of the 

 chase. They must have used lamps, fed with animal fat, 

 to illuminate the walls, both when they were at work on 

 the pictures and also afterwards, when they exhibited the 

 finished pictures to the less gifted members of the 

 tribe, as wonderful, even magical, appearances. It is 

 uncertain to what extent races of men succeeded one 

 another or were cotemporaries in this period in Europe, 

 but there is good reason for attributing the cave pictures 

 to an early occupation of the caves by men who also 

 carved, in ivory and stone, small figures of women resem- 

 bling the Hottentot Venus — whilst the later occupants 

 made no such statuettes, but carved in relief on bone or 

 engraved it. 



This was probably not less than 5 0,000 years ago, and 

 may well have been much more. Earlier than the date 

 of these Reindeer men (the Magdalenians, Solutrians and 

 the Aurignacians*), in the preceding cold, humid period 

 of the glacial extension (probably from 80,000 to 1 50,000 

 years ago) these and other caves were occupied by an 

 inferior race — the Neandermen. They could not carve 

 beasts on ivory nor paint, but could make very good and 

 well " dressed " flint weapons, and could make large fires 

 in and about the caves, both to cook their meat and to 

 keep off the wild beasts (lions, bears, and hyenas), who 

 contended with the strange, low-browed Neandermen for 

 the use of the caves as habitations. 



* A brief account of the skulls and implements of primitive man, with 

 illustrations, is given in the first series of ' Science from an Easy Chair,' 

 published in 1910 by Methuen & Co. j- ^. . -.^ , 



