Page:Excavations at the Kesslerloch.djvu/30

(Elephas primigenius) and the Rhinoceros tichorinus. A considerable number of bones of the mammoth have been found, amongst which are several portions of the skulls and various bones of young animals of different ages, phalanges of grown elephants, and a large number of broken fragments of great bones. Most of these elephant's bones come from the lower relic-bed; some of them lay immediately upon the clay; most of them, like many remains of the horse, the glutton, and the wolf, have a coating of tufa. But that the bones of this pachydermatous animal do not belong exclusively to the lower beds, but also to the higher or black relic-bed, is proved by the discovery in the latter bed of two molars, a tusk, and a great many fragments probably derived from this very tusk. One of these molars is entirely broken to pieces, and we only secured two plates, while the other is perfect down to the roots. It shows plainly nine plates, and therefore belonged to a young animal. The tusk was found near the pillar hardly 21/2 inches below the top of the uppermost relic-bed. It was 53 inches long, and weighed 42 pounds; but it was so much decayed that in spite of every care, and though we bound it round with narrow strips of cloth, it fell to pieces. At first I had the idea that the remains of this prehistoric animal had been found in the alluvial deposits, as they are occasionally found in the gravel of the Rhine, and that they had been brought into the cave by the inhabitants as curiosities. But further investigation has brought to light a number of other elephant's bones, molar teeth, and tusks both of old and young animals, so that it is certain that these animals have lived here, been hunted and taken into the cave. For I see no reason why the inhabitants should have brought in and broken to pieces the useless bones of this animal, which they had found by chance; nor why so many young animals should here have met with their death, unless it had been caused intentionally by the hand of man. The Kesslerloch thus proves afresh the contemporaneity of man and the mammoth. When it became extinct we know not, for its disappearance from the face of the earth must in any case be thrown back to prehistoric times. Thousands of years ago this giant animal was very widely distributed. Its remains are found not only in the whole of North America, from Behring's Straits down to Texas, but also in the Old World, from the extreme north of Siberia to the furthest parts of Western Europe. In fact it crossed the mountains, and ventured even