TRACES OP A RELIGIOUS BELIEF OF PRIMEVAL MAN. 131 



customs unaltered, and had not been corrupted by the evil 

 influences of white 1 men, nor had they abandoned their ancient 

 habits through the pressure of European civilisation. A know- 

 ledge of the burial customs which are held now, and were held 

 formerly by savage races, is absolutely necessary in discussing 

 this question. Particularly the customs of the North American 

 Indians in former days should be studied. The works of such 

 writers at Catlin, Carver, and Hearne, as well as a host of later 

 writers, are at hand for our assistance, and the Transactions of 

 the Smithsonian Institute form a library full of valuable infor- 

 mation. Let the student also consult the valuable accounts of 

 the North American Indians given by the Jesuit missionaries 

 in Canada in die seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 



In enumerating those burials of the Palaeolithic Age which 

 seem to indicate some kind of religious belief, I shall arrange 

 them in the following manner : — 



First, burials in caverns of single or of several bodies {i.e., 



skeletons now). 

 Secondly, burials in the open air of single or of many 



bodies. 



Thirdly, burials of many bodies in separate caverns, i.e., 

 ossuaries. 



1. Le Mov slier. The valley of the Vezere in the department 

 in Central France is classic ground for the archaeologist, and 

 was thoroughly explored by Messrs. Christy and Lartet fifty 

 years ago, and since that time it has been again and again 

 examined by zealous investigators. Here, in the famous cavern 

 of Le Moustier, a skeleton was found in 1909. It lay on its 

 side, and belonged to a young man. Flint implements lay 

 around, and a flint hatchet was placed close to one hand. 

 Remains of food had also been laid close to the corpse when 

 buried, and smaller implements were arranged beneath the 

 body, around which also lay a number of shells which were 

 evidently ornaments of the deceased. The body had been 

 buried in a grave, which had been conk in a deposit of the 

 Mousterian era of the Palaeolithic Age. 



2. La Chappelle-aux-Saints. This cave is also in the district 

 of the Dordogne, near Brive, in the Department of La Correze, 

 and the animal remains found in it include the horse, bison, 

 reindeer and rhinoceros. A pit had been dug in a Palaeolithic 

 deposit in this cavern, in which the body had been placed, and 

 traces of food, and bones which had formed portions of the 

 food, lay around. Nodules of oxide of iron, used as a paint 



K 2 



