116 
THE ROCK FIGURES OF THE MARITIME ALPS. 
plough, and a boy in attendance, and f. 12 two oxen drawing* a 
harrow or hurdle. PI. II. f. 2 looks like a scorpion, but having- 
only four legs it is more likely that it is intended for an ox. Mr. 
Bicknell is of opinion that almost all the figures of animals are 
meant to represent oxen. PI. II. f. 5 appears to be an ox with 
very long horns, four legs, ears as longf as the legs, and no tail. 
PI. II. f. 15 might be puzzling if it stood alone, but compared 
with others more complete, it will be seen to be an unequal pair 
of oxen with a plough. The very long wavy horns are an instance 
of the way in which some of these old sculptors gave play to 
their imagination in their designs. This is still more strikingly 
shewn in PI. I. f. 11, where the entire figure is four feet eight 
inches long, and the horns are three times as long as the body 
of the animal. Some of the heads are drawn with two pairs of 
horns, either similar or very different in size and shape. 
Figures of men are rare in the Meraviglie, but a good many 
are known in Val Fontanalba. The man and boy in PI. I. f. 8 
have already been mentioned. PI. II. f. 1 is a small figure, about 
9J inches high, holding aloft an implement with a long handle. 
In one, out of several given by Mr. Bicknell, the handle of the 
implement is nine times the height of the man. PI. II. f. 7 is a 
figure nearly seven inches long of a solitary man, and f. 12 is a 
diminutive figure of a man with an enormous weapon. 
Weapons are well represented on the Meraviglie rocks, and are 
also found, but less commonly, in Val Fontanalba. PI. I. f. 3 
is similar to one which is said to be a fair representation of a 
halberd of the Bronze Age. At the back of the head there is a 
clear space with dots, which may be nails, or simply ornamenta- 
tion. PI. I. f. 5 appears to be a dagger about 13 inches long, 
with guards. In several of the figures, as in this one, there is 
a clear space or band at a greater or less distance from the base 
of the weapon. PI. I. f. 7 is about 7 inches long, and is ap- 
parently a small dagger, while figs. 9, 10, and 13, of PI. I. may 
be axes or hammers, and PI. II. f. 9 an arrowhead. PI. II. f. 8 
may be the supposed Labarum or Roman Ensign, mentioned by 
Geofreddo. PI. I. f. 6 is perhaps some agricultural implement, 
but what it is difficult to say. A unique figure of a spiral is 
shewn in PI. II. f. 3. The partitions closing- some of the internal 
spaces suggest the idea of a labyrinth. PI. II. f. 14, a rectangle 
with loops, is possibly the ornamented skin of an animal, or 
simply a geometrical figure cut at the fancy of the sculptor. 
Other figures, of which it is difficult to find an explanation, are 
PI. II. f. 6, a circle with cross bars, which appears to stand on 
five feet, and PI. II. f. 10, perhaps the most curious of all. Mr. 
Bicknell describes it as the blades of two weapons turned away 
from each other, with their handles connected by cross bars and 
a rectangle at the base. At the back of each blade there is what 
appears to be a hand with outstretched fingers. Mr. Moggridg-e 
figured the upper part of this, but the base was hidden until 
Mr. Bicknell dug it out. Of the other figures on this plate little 
can be said. 
