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Chapter 3 ALLUVIAL DEPOSITS AND CAVES

Word Count: 4491    |    Released on: 06/12/2017

oundings next demand attention. A brief indication of these will be given with the aid of the illustrations provided i

locality. But in comparison with the modern fauna of Java, the strata in which the Pithecanthropus was found shew a predominance of extinct species, though not of genera. Elephants and hippopotami were present: they point to a close relation between the fauna of Trinil and that of certain Siwalik strata in

k. C Lapilli-rock. D Level at which the bones were found. E Conglomerate. F Cl

Yet there is no doubt as to the exact position in which it was found. Sand and l?ss (a fine earthy deposit) had accumulated above it to a thickness of seventy feet. The nature of the surroundings may be estimated by reference to the illustration (Fig. 20) reproducing Dr Schoetensack's photograph of the sand-pit. The sands which contained the mandible represent an alluvial deposit, and so far resemble the Trinil beds in Java. The attempt to institute an exact com

(in white) position of jawbone when fou

part of the Pleistocene epoch. In his original memoir, Dr Schoetensack gave no account of any associated 'industry,' in the form of stone implements. But now (1911) Professor Rutot unhesitatingly (though the reaso

uperincumbent strata. Palaeoliths had often been obtained from the same stratum as that which yielded the human teeth. Dr Weiss referred it to the first, i.e. the earlier of two inter-glacial periods judged to have occurred in this re

ically never associated with 'southern' animals, so that in this respect the Taubach bone-bed provides a paradox. Without discussing this paradox at length, it may be stated that the implements just described as 'Mousterian' are not recognised as such by all the experts. Thus Obermaier identifies them with those of Levallois, i.e. a late S. Acheul type (cf. Obermaier, 1909). Others declare that the type is not that of Le Moustier, but of Chelles. The la

ite was not exhausted until 1905. The actual excavations were made in a rock-shelter on the right bank of the Krapini[vc]a river, near the village of Krapina. The rock-shelter had been to some extent invaded not long before the archaeological work commenced, and evidence of early human occupation of the site wa

h no variations of a cultural nature were detected. Throughout the period of human occupation, the Palaeolithic inmates of the cave remained on an unaltered and

, 4 strata with human remains. 1 b former level

n discovered, whereas its habitual companions, Elephas antiquus and Hippopotamus, have left no traces at Krapina. Other animals associated with the cave-men of Krapina are not so commonly found in the presence of the Rhinoceros merckii. Thus the Ursus spelaeus, U. arctos, Bos primigenius, and the Arctomys (Marmot) are suggestive o

y fragmentary remains of animals. Up to the present time, the following forms have been identified: Rhinoceros tichorhinus (the hairy rhinoceros), the Reindeer, and two varieties of Horse. So far as this evidence goes, the age assigned to the implements is supported, or at least not contra-indicated. It is mo

ch no signs of an earlier settlement are recorded. Secondly, the superincumbent strata can be assigned to one period only of the archaeological series, viz. that of Le Moustier. Indications of the preceding period (S. Acheul) as well as of the subsequent on

at La Chapelle-aux-Saint

o the right. In general, this attitude recalls that of the skeletons of La Ferrassie and the Grott

the Reindeer, Horse, a large bovine form (? Bison), Rhino

tone artefacts are all perfect tools: no flakes or splinters being found as in habitations. The animal remains are supposed t

e head; the left arm was extended. The stratum upon which the body rested consisted largely of w

to have been placed on what was at the time the floor of the grotto, and then covered partly with earth on which implements were scattered. Indications of a definite grave wer

of the human skeleton. An extended search revealed bones of Bos primigenius in the cave. No bones of the Reindeer were found and their absence is specially remarked by Professor Klaatsch, as evidence

trongly flexed at the knee and turned to the right side. The bones were covered by some 3·5 m. of débris: stone implements were yielded by strata above and below the body respectively.

ntrance. It is difficult to realise the conditions of life in such a cave, after the death of a member of the community, unless, as among the cave-dwelling Veddas of Ceylon, the cave were temporarily abandoned (Seligmann, 1911). It is possible that the normal accumulation of animal remains created such an atmosphere as would not be greatly altered by the addition of a human corpse, for Professor Tylor h

ull had been buried intentionally or not. The associated fauna i

910 the present writer explored Forbes Quarry and a small cave opening into it. But no evidence of the presence of prehistori

a deep fissure leading to a series of labyrinthine passages. The walls of the fissure or cave were decorated with drawings of animals resembling those at Cretas in Aragon. Be

st important point is the enormous thickness of accumulated débris by which the bones were cov

fants, Mentone. I. stratum in which the "G

es being found in position, adjusted so as to prote

e the lower limbs. The male skeleton has the right arm flexed, but the lef

n is very important here. For the evidence of the stone implements accompanying the human bones is fairly definite: it points to the Mousterian age. The animal bones are those of the Reindeer

r. Were this so, the contention made in respect of the Taubach implements (cf. supra, p. 67) would be remarkably corroborated, as would also the somewhat similar suggestion made in regard to Krapina. For the moment, however, it must suffice to attribute these human remains of negroid aspect to the Mousterian period at Mentone. Inasmuch as the reindeer appears in several strata overlying the remains of the Grimaldi rac

means of distinction. The whole formation is stated by some to be fluviatile. Other observers speak of it as L?ss. This need not necessarily exclude a fluviatile origin, but speaking generally that term now suggests an aerial rather than a subaqueous deposit. The upper subdivision is designated the yellow l?ss in contrast to the brown l?ss forming the middle layer. Opinion is much divided as to the exact geologica

rresponding with modern forms, and contrasted with the Tertiary Argentine mollusca. The skeleton was in a 'natural' (i.e. not a contracte

ares that no greater age than that of the Pleistocene period can be assigned. The two specimens were obtained at very different times, an interval of many years separating the dates of the respective discoveries. So far as is known, no mammalian or other animal remains ha

a stratum distinguished as Mousterian. But the interment is considered to be later, and of Aurignacian antiquity. Stone implements of Aurignacian type were disposed around the skeleton: in addition to these, a number of

iver is not far from the spot. The bones were very fragmentary, and in particular the skull-cap has been reconstructed from no less than a dozen fragments. The limb bones were als

that the Brüx skeleton is not one upon which far-reaching arguments can be successfully based. The interest of the spe

Rhinoceros (R. tichorhinus): some ribs of a Rhinoceros are scored or marked in a way suggestive of human activity: other ribs of the same kind were artificially perforated. More noteworthy, however, is a huma

eposit at Galley Hill. No precise designation seems to have been assigned to them. From the published figures, they seem to correspond to the earlier Acheulean or to the Chellean type. One in particular, resembles the implements found at Reculver, and I have recently seen similar specimens which had been obtained by dredging off the Kentish coast near Whitstable. Some of the Galley Hill implements

en ascertained by observations in the vicinity of Galley Hill as well as in other parts of the Thames basin. The mollusc Cyrena fluminalis, indicative of a sub-tropical climate, has been found in these

on's li

has pri

ppopo

os: species

Bos

quus

ervu

lis l

on's li

a more primitive form

this occurs later, i

ceros me

species

similar to the Pli

esembles the Fallow-deer (C

elis

ain: bones of limbs sh

species

us: species

pecies differing fro

aller rodents,

auna shews a strong similarity to the Pliocene fauna, which appears to have pe

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ation by

an bon

e III

ces and su

ociated animals Name of ty

isi

e Capelle Cave Reindee

Alluvial drift o

uus Acheulean

nter

os megar

herium

ys (R

maldi (Me

ian ? also Aurig

na s

s sp

in highe

A (4) La F

Mousteria

n pr

ch de l'

sterian (Hea

n pr

e Moust

ius Mousteri

rei

a Chape

arce) Mouste

n pr

. Bréla

r Moust

?

ros tic

na Cave (Ro

s merckii

e B

rimig

t (Ar

ach Alluvia

as an

rian No

ii ? Upper Acheu

leo ?

ppopo

11) Mauer All

uus None foun

ros etr

arve

ppopo

nil Alluvi

one found by Du

os sivas

Sivali

ers are omitted owing to insufficiency

. R. megarhinus represents the R. leptorhinus of Falconer and Cuvier. R. merckii represents R. hemitoechus of Falconer, wh

come into Britain from the south-east of Europe. But the Galley Hill man, if contemporary with the High Terrace drift, had arrived in Britain ages before the appearance of Homo

th. Near Weimar, Wüst says the stratigraphical positions o

al d'Arno (Pl

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