NOTES AND QUERIES. 



157 



knives, invariably of wrought forms, and associated with other implements 

 or weapons fabricated out of reindeer's horns ; the whole consolidated in a 

 confused mass, which had never been disturbed since the period of depo- 

 sition. This was established by the state of the materials and by the fact 

 that in several cases long bones were found with their heads in articular 

 continuity, and vertebrae of reindeer in sequence. 



" The principal objects of art were as follows : — In 'Les Eyzies' among 

 numerous fragments of a hard slate, foreign to the district, two plates were 

 found, each bearing an engraved representation of a quadruped. One of 

 them, mutilated by an ancient fracture, presents the fore-quarter of a her- 

 bivorous (?) animal, the head of which was apparently invested with horns, 

 so far as the faint lines of the engraving at this part admit of judging. 

 The other bears the figure of a head, with the nostrils sharply defined, and 

 the mouth half opened ; but the profile lines of the frontal region are in- 

 terrupted in consequence of erasure by subsequent friction. On one side 

 and a little in front is engraved the figure of the palm of a large horn, in- 

 ferred by MM. Lartet and Milne-Edwards, with reserve, to be that of a 

 moose deer. These specimens are regarded by M. Lartet as being the 

 earliest known examples of engraving on stone, by primeval man, of the 

 reindeer period in Europe. 



" The most striking part of the collection, consisting of sculptured ob- 

 jects, was discovered in the shelter recesses, under the cliffs of La Made- 

 leine, Laugerie-Haute, and Laugerie-Basse, amidst accumulations of bone- 

 refuse and other rejectamenta, mingled with an immense quantity of flint 

 flakes and the cores from which they were struck off. These spots were 

 evidently the kitchens and manufactories of the ancient savage. The bones 

 indicated the animals on which he fed : being the horse, ox, ibex, chamois, 

 reindeer, birds, fish, etc. The common stag was rare, as were also the 

 boar and the hare. Some detached molar teeth were discovered of the 

 extinct Irish elk, and also detached plates of the molar teeth of the mam- 

 moth. 



" Laugerie-Haute would seem to have been especially the locality were 

 flint implements were made, and Laugerie-Basse that where reindeer horns 

 were converted into spear-heads, harpoons, daggers, arrow-heads, needles, 

 and other implements. Here an enormous accumulation of reindeer horns 

 was discovered, the whole of which nearly bore the marks of a stone-saw, 

 by which pieces were detached suitable for conversion. Here also were 

 found the principal sculptured objects, some of which, considering the 

 period and the nature of the tools, are marvels both of artistic design and 

 of execution. 



" The most remarkable is a long dagger or short thrust-sword, formed 

 out of a single horn. The handle represents the body of a reindeer, the 

 parts in fair proportion, and treated with singular skill and art-feeling, in 

 subservience to the use for which it was intended. The fore legs are folded 

 easily under the body ; the hind legs drawn out insensibly into the blade ; 

 the salient horns and ears are cleverly applied to the chest by giving an 

 upward bend to the head ; and a convenient hollow for the grip of the 

 hand is produced by a continuous curve extending from the rump to the 

 muzzle. M. Lartet remarks that the hand for which it was designed must 

 have been much smaller than that of the existing European races. The 

 weapon was evidently left by the artist-savage unfinished ; but, as a design 

 imbued with taste, it will bear a very favourable comparison with Oriental 

 dagger-handles cut in ivory. 



" Another specimen is described as a handle terminating at one end in a 



