78 



ON THE 



^frtnttes of Cantac, 



AND OTHEE 



f r^ffetmrw: lioromeitte of intern^ 



By the Rev. W. C. Ltjkis, M.A., F.S.A., 



(Hon. Member of the Societe Polymathique du Morbihan, and of the Societe Archeologique de 

 Nantes, Loire Inferieure.) 



Read before the Society at Salisbury, September, 1870. 



HE monuments described in this article belong to that section 

 of the pre-historic age which has been designated the period 

 of polished stone implements. Formerly they were supposed to be 

 among the most ancient structures that told of the earliest inhabit- 

 ance of this globe. But archseological researches have now shown 

 that there was a more remote period of human history, in which 

 man did not erect such buildings, but took refuge in dens and cave£ 

 of the earth, making them his abodes in life and his last resting-places 

 in death. The cave-men, however, would seem to have been more 

 advanced in the arts than those who planned and executed the grand 

 avenues and other megalithic monuments of Britanny. The caves 

 which they occupied have produced engravings and sculptures on 

 stones, ivory, and reindeer bones, that are marvellous for accuracy 

 of delineation and truthfulness of form, compared with which the 

 carved stones of Britanny are rude and unmeaning. Some of these 

 sculptures and engravings, such as those to be seen in the Museum 

 in which we are now assembled, are full of artistic life and vigour. 

 Now it is said that there was a remoter period still of human 

 existence, in which man simply chipped flints into rude implements 

 and knew not how to polish them, nor did he know how to manu- 

 facture clay vessels and procure fire. The antiquity of this people 

 is supposed to be lost in the impenetrable mists of the post-glacial 

 period. 



