378 HISTORICAL GEOLOGY 



characteristic Quaternary animals and with implements of the 

 rudest kind. " * 



In the Perigord district of southwestern France there are a 

 number of caves in which were found relics of Men which are 

 thought to range from early to late Paleolithic time. Among the 

 more interesting relics are fish-hooks made of bone, and crude 

 drawings of certain animals with which the Men were familiar, 

 such as the Mammoth, which is now wholly extinct, and the Rein- 

 deer and Horse, now (naturally) extinct in that region. 



The Aurignac cave of France was probably a family or tribal 

 burial place. Near the entrance were found ashes and cinders 

 mixed with split and burnt bones of now extinct animals. Within 

 the cave were seventeen human skeletons of various sizes associated 

 with ancient art works and bones of extinct animals. 



An important discovery (1908) was in a cave at La Chapelle- 

 aux-Saints (Correze) . The remains are a nearly perfectly preserved 

 skull as well as the lower jaw and many bones of the body. In 

 most respects the specimen very closely resembles the Neanderthal 

 skeleton above described. Among animal remains found associated 

 with this skeleton were the Reindeer, Horse, Bison?, Rhinoceros, 

 Ibex, Wolf, Marmot, Badger, and Boar. This La Chapelle speci- 

 men seems to be a very fine typical example of the Paleolithic, or 

 Neanderthal, type of Man. 



Very recently (1911-1912) an important discovery was made at 

 Piltdown Common in Sussex, England. The remains consist of 

 most of a skull and lower jaw, with portions of the front of each 

 missing. After considering all the evidence, Dawson and Wood- 

 ward 2 say: "It appears probable that the skull and mandible 

 cannot safely be described as being of earlier date than the first 

 half of the Pleistocene epoch, " and according to Woodward the 

 skull represents the "oldest typically human brain-case hitherto 

 found." The lower jaw is pretty Ape-like in character, while the 

 skull, on one hand, has a much smaller brain capacity than the 

 typical examples of Paleolithic Man above described, and, on 

 the other hand, the front (forehead) of the skull is distinctly 

 steeper (relatively higher) than in typical Paleolithic Man, this 

 latter feature being exceptionally modern. Because of this un- 

 usual combination of characters, the Piltdown specimen may 



1 J. Le Conte: Elements of Geology, 5th ed., p. 635. 



2 Dawson and Woodward: Quar. Jour. Geol. Soc, Mar., 1913, p. 123. 



