A HISTORY OF DEVONSHIRE 



fifteen or sixteen individuals of both sexes ranging from childhood to old age. Two facially perfect 

 skulls are represented in the accompanying illustration (see Fig. 3), and from the measurements calcu- 

 lated from these portions Mr. R. N. Worth reported that they appeared to him to be orthocephalic in 

 type, i.e. midway between the long head and the round. They are orthognathous, and some of the 

 powerful lower jaws discovered have prominent chins. Some of the skulls were exceptionally thick, 

 and others again very thin. The teeth generally are massive, and however much worn show but 

 little traces of decay. One of the humeri is perforated, and the tibiae are distinctly platyknemic. 

 The race was a short one, various calculations making the average slightly over five feet. 



AxMiNSTER. — Although the principal evidence of the existence of palaeolithic man in Devon- 

 shire is rendered by certain of its caverns, we have in the valley of the Axe a deposit of river drift 

 implements. These have been found in a ballast pit at Broom, near Axminster, and close to the 

 River Axe. Some of the implements are of large size and of chert, some water-worn, and others 





100 MILLIMETERS 



;?==;= 



3=3= 



lOCEHTIMETERS 



J^ 



10 DECIMETERS". METER (or 39 flft inches) 10 METERS= 1 DEKAMETER 100 METE RS= iHE( 



Fig. 3. — Skulls from Cattedown Cave 



again quite sharp and uninjured. The ovate type seems to predominate,^ but the pointed forms 

 are not scarce. There is a fine series of palaeolithic implements from Broom at the Albert 

 Memorial Museum at Exeter. 



The Neolithic Age 



The records of primitive man in Devonshire, as revealed by the explora- 

 tion of Kent's Cavern, are plain and distinct. The formation of the breccia 

 and the infilling of the cave with red earth, both containing relics of human 

 handiwork, must have taken a long period of time. During this, as we have 

 previously realized, man and predaceous animals, in turn, were at least visitors 

 if not actual occupants of the cave. Over this again was the black band, 

 where charcoal, the debris of ancient fires, indicated a more continuous human 

 occupation. Above all was the floor of thick stalagmite, and this also 

 must have taken, measured by years, a very long time to form. This stalag- 



' For a typical example figured see Evans, Stone Imp, 638. 



