204 
THE MEDITERRANEAN NATURALIST 
It is much to be regretted that during the last 
17 years the Red R,oeks have been utterly spoilt 
by quarrying — a piece of vandalism on a par with 
the similar operations now going on at the Ched- 
dar cliffs in Somersetshire, and one of the many 
instances of wanton destruction of the beauties 
in the neighbourhood of Mentone. The pictu- 
resque outline of the overhanging brow between 
the two most eastward caves is now gone and only 
a huge stone quarry remains in its place, while 
even the caves have already begun to disappear. 
The mouth of the last cave but one has now 
been destroyed, and it was in the course of 
blasting away a further portion of its side that 
the present skeletons were accidentally found 
by the quarryman, a common uneducated labourer. 
This discovery raises the total number of human 
remains found in the caves to five whole skeletons 
and parts of six others, or eleven in all. The 
following is a complete list of these remains with 
the years of their discovery. 
1872-73. Complete skeleton of neolithic man 
discovered by M. Riviere. This is his ‘Thomme 
de Menton” now preserved in the museum at 
Paris. 
Fragments of three human adults of heights 
1.85, 1.90 and 2.00 metres respectively. 
Fragments of three children. All these were 
found in the course of a thorough exploration of 
the caves conducted by M. Riviere. 
1884. Perfect skeleton of a man 2.03 metres 
high discovered by M. Bonfils. This is the 
“nouvel homme prehistorique de Menton” and 
M. Bonfils claims that it is palaeolithic. The skull 
which was shattered by the pick of a workman has 
been pieced together and is now in the Museum 
of Mentone, but the rest of the bones were stolen 
by the workmen and have never been recovered. 
1892. Three complete skeletons of neolithic 
man. 
According to M. Rivifere’s report these skeletons [ 
■were situated at a distance of 18 metres from the 
mouth of the cave, but as the latter has been 
destroyed the figures are not reliable. Riviere 
estimates the depth of the cave at its narrowest 
point as 31 b metres. 
At the time of my visit (April 11,) the skeletons 
were still in situ with no protection but a few 
planks thrown over them, and as it was more than 
two months since they were first unearthed, the 
bones must have suffered much damage from ex- 
posure to the air. 
The skulls, which were accidentally broken at 
the time of discovery, had been removed and pieced 
together, and they, together with the orna- 
ments, were exhibited by the quanyman at a small 
tavern close by. The orientation of the bodies 
was east to west, all the skeletons previously 
discovered having been found poindng north to 
south. All three were lying on their left sides 
with their legs crossed, the middle one lying at a 
slightly lower level than the first and third. Of 
the latter one was an old man, the other being a 
lad about twenty years old as might be seen 
from his wisdom teeth not being fully cut. The 
middle skeleton was supposed to be a woman, 
but had not been so critically examined owing to 
! its greater depth. 
The heights of the three have been variously 
estimated. In a leading article which appeared in 
the Standard just after our visit, the old man was 
stated to be 8 feet (2. 42 metres) and the woman 
6 feet 3 inches high (1. 89 metres). On the other 
hand M. Riviere estimates the longest— the old man 
— at 2.05 metres and the next at about 1.85 metres. 
But from their lengths from head to foot in their re- 
cumbent positions it would be difficult to estimate 
what they would stretch to when fully extended. 
Probably the largest one was about 2. 12 metres 
high. 
The skulls are of a remarkable oblong shape 
showing that these cave dwellers belonged to a 
dolichocephalic or long skulled race. The teeth 
are notable for their perfect state of preservation. 
Two of the skeletons had the left arms raised 
and the skulls rested on large Hint scrapers held 
in the left hands. The right arms, which were of 
course uppermost, were allowed to drop freely at 
the sides. The other skeleton was found with its 
left arm extended and also holding a flint knife or 
scraper. The largest scraper was that found un- 
dermost the skull of the old man. According to 
report, it measurest 2G centimetres long by 5 
broad. All the bones were coloured dull red with 
bright spots of oligistic iron which evidently served 
to cover up the bodies at the time of interment; 
possibly the use of this iron formed a part of the 
funeral rites. The remains were concealed by an 
