324 Mr. R. Walker on Ancient Shell 



land; the corresponding bones being absent in all. Professor 

 Steenstrup " thought that these curious results might perhaps 

 be referred to dogs ; and on trying the experiment, he ascertained 

 that the bones which are absent from the Kjokkenmoddings are 

 precisely those which dogs eat "*» Whether the absence of these 

 particular bones can in the present instance be entirely ascribed 

 to the selective propensity exhibited by the dog, or not, might be 

 somewhat difficult to determine. At any rate we have conclusive 

 evidence that the dog was then an inhabitant of the district ; and 

 the gnawed appearance presented by some of the ox-bones show 

 clearly enough that his bone-loving proclivities were as strong in 

 ancient times as they are now. 



The bones of the dog, moreover, were found mixed promiscuously 

 with, and very likely had undergone the same culinary operation 

 as, those of his larger and smaller contemporaries ; for, like them, 

 he appears to have occasionally filled a corner in the larder of his 

 rapacious masters. At the same time it seems not unlikely that 

 the absent bones may have been pounded in some kind of mortar 

 in order to extract the animal juices — a custom which is still prac- 

 tised by some savage tribes ; and if this custom prevailed here 

 during the mound period, doubtless it would be the more nutri- 

 tious portions of the boues that would be selected for the purpose. 

 With very few exceptions, all the long bones of the oxen have 

 been split open for the purpose of getting at the marrow, and in 

 most cases they are broken transversely. Some of the bones 

 show the marks of two or three blows struck by a blunt in- 

 strument in order to split them open. The lower jaws have 

 been broken apparently transversely by the angle of the ramus, 

 and about the middle of the teeth, after which they have not 

 unfrequently been split open in order to get at the fluid con- 

 tents of the maxillary cavity. The following Table contains the 

 measurements of the bones of the large and the small Ox, so far 

 as their imperfect condition admits of their determination. With 

 these are given the measurements of the corresponding bones 

 of the Ox of the lake-dwellings of Switzerland as given by Riiti- 

 meyerf, and those of the lake- dwellings of Italy as given by 

 Gastaldi and translated by Chambers J. The description of the 

 parts measured are taken from the latter writer. 



* Lubbock, ' Prehistoric Times.' 



t Fauna der Pfahlbauten der Schweiz. 



X Lake Habitations and Prehistoric Remains of North and Central Italy. 





