has been preserved in the rock-shelter of La Madelaine, in which the hunter (Fig. 78), also naked, but standing up, is in the act of striking a horse with something in his right hand which is probably intended for a spear. He has evidently surprised a herd, and the head of the horse which he is attacking has its ears pricked up in a very significant fashion. The figure to the left is probably an eel. On the other side of the rounded antler two bisons' heads are drawn with remarkable spirit, their simply curved short horns offering a great contrast to those of the urus of the preceding figure. Although in both these sketches the hunter is represented naked, it is impossible to suppose that he did not use the skins of animals for clothing in a climate such as that of France and Britain at the time. In the winter, at all events, we must picture him clad in furs.
Fig. 78.—The Hunting of Bisons and Horses, La Madelaine, 12.
The game was also probably caught sometimes by means of sharp-pointed stakes, by which the animals were impaled. One of these scenes is represented in a sketch from La Madelaine.[1] At other times they were entrapped between barriers, either natural or artificial.
- ↑ Ib. B. Pl. 2, Fig. 5.
