80 Chronicles of Science. [Jan., 



were used chiefly as fireplaces, for hearth-stuff is abundantly found 

 in most of them ; and it is curious to observe that at the present 

 day the cottages of the district are built in precisely similar posi- 

 tions, the fireplaces being situated in the face of the rock. The 

 hearth-stuff has yielded a mine of organic wealth in the shape of 

 remains of animals, which had been killed for food, consisting chiefly 

 of the reindeer, the horse, and the ox, with the ibex and the chamois. 

 The " wild boar was scarce or but little eaten," and with the excep- 

 tion of the horse the fauna tends to a northern grouping. The 

 rock-dwellers were not unaccustomed to more delicate food, as is 

 proved by " the many bones of birds and of salmon which are mixed 

 with the refuse ;" they also seem to have been very fond of marrow, 

 as the marrow-bones have invariably been split for the purpose of 

 extracting it. The question whether the rock-dwellers cooked their 

 food is at present unsettled. The bones do not show traces of the 

 action of fire, so that the meat could not have been roasted ; and there 

 is not sufficient depth of earth below the healths to encourage the 

 supposition that it was cooked by being buried in the earth, and 

 having a fire lighted over it. Thus there remains but one method 

 possible — boiling : that these people boiled water is certain because 

 the " boiling-stones " have been found, and they have evidently 

 been heated for the purpose ; but no pottery is forthcoming, so the 

 water was probably boiled in hollows in the rock. The climate 

 of the country at the time when the rock-dwellers peopled it, was, 

 as already indicated by the fauna, very much colder than it is now ; 

 but another argument has been very ingeniously used by the 

 authors, namely, that in the South of France at the present day 

 such masses of animal remains as we find in the caves, would 

 speedily become a fearfully decomposing mass; besides which the rock- 

 dwellers have " almost invariably chosen a southern exposure, and the 

 warmest and sunniest nooks for their residences." The causes of this 

 colder climate have not yet been entered upon : but as there has been 

 little or no change of level, and there are no high mountains in the 

 vicinity, it will certainly be a puzzle. The implements and the 

 fauna point to a much later period than that usually denominated 

 " Glacial," so it is unlikely that the cause was cosmical ; and it is 

 difficult to conceive what local changes in the character of the sur- 

 face would have so great an effect. 



The implements found in the caves and rock-shelters are won- 

 derfully interesting, and, fortunately for antiquaries, are illustrated 

 with the most prodigal liberality. A comparison of them with 

 recent implements in use amongst uncivilized peoples points in the 

 same direction as the fauna, namely, northwards. The implements 

 are either of flint, bone, or deerhorn, and comprise almost every 

 conceivable variety ; in flint " from lauce-heads long enough and 

 stout enough to have been used against the largest animals, down 



