120 PREHISTORIC EUROPE. 



not till long after that glacier had melted away that Neolithic 

 man entered Yorkshire. 



The Belgian caves in like manner afford abundant proof of 

 the break or hiatus that divides in Europe the Palaeolithic 

 from the Neolithic Age. M. Dupont has brought forward 

 copious evidence to show that a mass of yellow clay, more or 

 less plentifully charged with large and small angular stones, 

 separates the newest deposits of the Eeindeer period from the 

 Neolithic accumulations. This clay with stones, he says, is 

 widely spread over the country, and he is inclined to attribute 

 its formation to the action of a great debacle or flood. Others 

 again have suggested that it may owe its origin simply to the 

 long-continued action of the weather. In whatever manner it 

 was formed it undoubtedly indicates a period of longer or shorter 

 duration. The Eeindeer epoch came to a close, and, thereafter, 

 the clay and stones began to accumulate, and the accumulation 

 had apparently come to a close before Neolithic man appeared 

 upon the scene, for his relics are now found resting either upon 

 the surface of the clay or in the debris of loose stones that has 

 subsequently gathered above it. 



Did space permit, reference might be made to other examples 

 of caves, especially in Southern France, where the evidence of 

 a distinct separation between Palaeolithic and Neolithic times 

 is more or less strongly pronounced. But those now given 

 may suffice, more especially as I shall presently bring forward 

 copious collateral proofs which have been furnished by certain 

 river-deposits, both in this country and the Continent. Mean- 

 while, such evidence as we have glanced at puts it beyond doubt 

 that a considerable interval of time must have supervened after 

 the departure of Palaeolithic man and before the arrival of his 

 Neolithic successor. 



