554 PREHISTORIC EUROPE. 



alpine forms had retired to their present limits before the 

 territories vacated by Palaeolithic man upon his final retreat to 

 Southern France came to be occupied by his Neolithic successor. 

 In late glacial and early postglacial times Central and North- 

 western Europe were, so far as we know, untenanted by man. 

 It is conceivable, however, that long after the main body of the 

 northern mammals had retired from Southern France, the rein- 

 deer and some of its congeners may have continued along with 

 Palaeolithic man to occupy the valleys of the Pyrenees. As the 

 climate improved, and the reindeer became scarce and eventually 

 died out, the Palaeolithic people would probably accommodate 

 themselves to the gradually changing conditions, and this may 

 have been the state of matters when the first wave of Neolithic 

 population swept round the flanks of the Pyrenees, and over- 

 flowed upon the low ground — thus effectually cutting off the 

 retreat of the older race. Whether this was what actually 

 happened future investigations must be left to determine. At 

 present all we know is that in not a few caves of the Pyrenees, 

 as Dr. Garrigou has shown, the line of demarcation between 

 Palaeolithic and Neolithic deposits is quite as well marked as in 

 the caverns of North-western Europe. In others, however, the 

 separation is by no means so clear, and may indicate, as M. Piette 

 has maintained, that the older and newer races came into more 

 or less violent contact ; the unconformity or discordance in the 

 cases referred to by Dr. Garrigou being accounted for on the 

 supposition that those caves had been abandoned by Palaeolithic 

 man long before the advent of his Neolithic assailant. 



To the last glacial epoch of the Pleistocene Period there 

 gradually succeeded genial climatic conditions — somewhat ana- 

 logous to those of Interglacial ages. Britain and the southern 

 portion of the Scandinavian peninsula, which towards the close 

 of the Glacial Period had experienced considerable submergence, 

 were now gradually re-elevated, and by and by dry land joined 

 our islands to themselves and the Continent. Arctic and alpine 

 plants and animals had now retired to high latitudes and moun- 

 tain-elevations, while the great Germanic flora had established 



