508
CAVE IMPLEMENTS.
[CHAP. XXII.
Bos primigenius, UrusScarce. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ |
Bison pricus, BisonAbundant. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ |
Cervus megaceros, Irish ElkNot uncommon. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ |
Cervus elaphus (Strongyloceros spelæus, Owen), StagAbundant. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ |
Cervus tarandus, ReindeerDo. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ |
Arvicola amphibius, Water-voleRare. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ |
A. agrestis, Field-voleDo. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ |
A. pratensis, Bank-voleVery rare. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ |
Castor fiber, BeaverScarce. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ |
In the breccia the hyæna appears to be absent, while remains of bear occur in great abundance.
The list published by Prof. Boyd Dawkins in his "Cave-hunting"[1] adds a few mammals of minor importance, but also the Machairodus latidens, of which an incisor was found in the cave-earth in 1872.[2] Of this "sabre-toothed tiger" five canine teeth and one if not two incisors were found in the cavern by MacEnery, but doubts had been thrown upon his accuracy. The discovery of 1872 justified the Committee in reporting that Machairodus latidens and Man had been contemporaries in Britain.
In the black mould above the stalagmite, where polished stone and bronze instruments have occurred, a different fauna is present. We there meet with the dog, short-horn ox (Bos longifrons), roe-deer, sheep, goat, pig, and rabbit, of which no remains are found in the cave-earth. In that deposit, on the contrary, by far the greater number of the remains are of mammals now either entirely extinct, or no longer to be found in Britain.
The mineral condition of the bones in the cave-earth, it is but right to say, varies considerably; so much so, as to lead to the conclusion that some of the bones, especially of bear, are derived from an earlier deposit of the same character. These more ancient remains are, according to Prof. Boyd Dawkins, much more crystalline, much heavier, and of a darker colour than the ordinary teeth and bones. Still, nearly the whole of the bones in the cave-earth beneath the stalagmite appear beyond doubt to belong to one and the same period, though that period may have been of long duration, and the breccia which contained implements of River-drift types is of still earlier date. These bones have for the most part been broken into fragments, sometimes split longitudinally, and vast numbers of them have been gnawed, apparently by hyænas. In what manner are we to account for the presence of the works of man among them, and are they of the same age as the animal remains with which they are associated?
- ↑ P. 361.
- ↑ Trans. Dev. Assoc., vol. v p. 179; vii. p. 247.
