Transcriber’s Note: Italic text is enclosed in _underscores_;
superscripts are indicated by carets: 4^e.
CAVE HUNTING.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: _Fig. 1._
_Fig. 2._
_Fig. 3._
_Fig. 4._
_Fig. 5._
_Fig. 6._
_Fig. 7._
_Fig. 8._
C. F. Kell Lath. London F.C.
ENAMELS FROM THE VICTORIA CAVE. p98.
London; Macmillan & C^o. 1874.]
CAVE HUNTING,
RESEARCHES ON
THE EVIDENCE OF CAVES
RESPECTING THE
EARLY INHABITANTS OF EUROPE
BY
W. BOYD DAWKINS, M.A., F.R.S., F.G.S., F.S.A.,
_Curator of the Museum and Lecturer in Geology in
The Owens College, Manchester_.
_ILLUSTRATED BY COLOURED PLATE AND WOODCUTS._
London:
MACMILLAN AND CO.
1874.
[_The Right of Translation and Reproduction is reserved._]
LONDON:
R. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS,
BREAD STREET HILL.
TO
THE BARONESS BURDETT COUTTS,
THE FOUNDER OF THE SCHOLARSHIPS
FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF GEOLOGICAL SCIENCE
IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD,
This Work is Dedicated,
AS A SLIGHT ACKNOWLEDGMENT FROM HER FIRST SCHOLAR.
PREFACE.
The exploration of caves is rapidly becoming an important field of
inquiry, and their contributions to our knowledge of the early history
of the sojourn of men in Europe are daily increasing in value and in
number. Since the year 1823, when Dr. Buckland published his famous
work, the “Reliquiæ Diluvianæ,” no attempt has been made to correlate,
and bring into the compass of one work, the crude mass of facts which
have been recorded in nearly every country in Europe. In this volume
I have attempted to bring the history of cave-exploration down to the
knowledge of to-day, and to put its main conclusions before my readers
in one connected and continuous narrative. Since Dr. Buckland wrote,
the momentous discovery of human relics along with the extinct animals
in caves and river deposits has revolutionised the current ideas as to
the antiquity and condition of man; and works of art of a high order,
showing a familiarity with nature and an aptitude for the delineation
of the forms of animals by no means despicable, have been discovered in
the caves of Britain, France, Belgium, and Switzerland, that were the
dwellings of the primeval European hunters of reindeer and mammoths.
The discoveries in Kent’s Hole and in the caves of Belgium led to those
in the caves of Brixham and Wookey Hole, and finally to those of
Auvergne and the south of France, as well as of Germany and Switzerland.
Archæology, also, by the use of strictly inductive methods, has grown
from a mere antiquarian speculation into a science; and its students
have proved the truth of the three divisions of human progress
familiar to the Greek and Roman philosopher, and expressed in the
pages of Hesiod and Lucretius--the Ages of Stone, Bronze and Iron. The
subdivision of the first of these into the older, or palæolithic, and
newer, or neolithic, by Sir John Lubbock, is the only refinement which
has been made in this classification. Sir Charles Lyell has discussed
the various problems offered by the general consideration of the first
of these divisions in “The Antiquity of Man;” while Sir John Lubbock,
in “Prehistoric Man,” has followed Dr. Keller and others in working out
the past history of mankind by a comparison of the habitations, tombs,
implements and weapons found in Europe, with those of modern savages.
This work is intended to be to a considerable extent supplementary to
theirs,--to treat of the formation of caves, and of the light thrown by
their contents on the sojourn of man in Europe, on the wild animals,
and on the changes in climate and geography.
In treating of the caves of the historic period, I have given
considerable prominence to the exploration of the Victoria Cave, near
Settle, which has led to the discovery that many caverns were inhabited
in this country during the fifth and sixth centuries, and that they
contain works of art of a high order. In the difficult task of bringing
them into relation with British history and art, I have to acknowledge
the kind assistance of Mr. E. A. Freeman, the Rev. J. R. Green, and Mr.
A. W. Franks.
In the neolithic division of the prehistoric period, I have
published at length my recent discoveries in the sepulchral caves of
Denbighshire, and am allowed by my friend, Professor Busk, to reprint
his description of the human bones. To his suggestive essay on the
Gibraltar caves, as well as to the works of the late Dr. Thurnam, and
of Professors Broca and Huxley, I am indebted for the clue to the
identification of the neolithic dwellers in caves with the ancient
Iberians or Modern Basques. That portion of the evidence which relates
to France I have verified by a personal examination of the human
remains from caves and tombs in the Museums of Bordeaux, Toulouse,
Lyons and Paris.
The results of the exploration of the Hyæna-den of Wookey Hole have
been given in greater detail in the portion of the work devoted to the
palæolithic age than they would have been, had they been before fully
recorded. And in this division of the subject I have largely made
use of the “Reliquiæ Aquitanicæ,” which embodies the discoveries in
Auvergne of my late friends Professor E. Lartet and Mr. Christy. To the
editors of that work I am indebted for permission to use some of the
plates and letterpress.
The history of the pleistocene mammalia, in which palæolithic man
forms the central figure, has been my especial study for many years.
And the evidence which is offered by the animals as to the geography
and climate of Europe, which I have published from time to time in the
works of the Palæontographical Society, the _Geological Journal_, and
in the _Popular Science_, _British Quarterly_, and _Edinburgh Reviews_,
is collected together in this work, and brought into relation with the
inquiry into the extension of ice over Europe in the glacial period,
and into the soundings of the European seas. In approaching these
and the like problems, I have done my best to arrive at the truth by
visiting as far as possible the foreign localities and collections, and
by correspondence with the discoverers of new facts.
In addition to those names which I have already mentioned, I have
to express my thanks to the Councils of the Society of Antiquaries,
the Geological Society, and of the Anthropological Institute and to
Mr. John Evans, for the use of woodcuts; to Mr. Rooke Pennington for
looking over some of the proof sheets; and to Professors Gaudry,
Rütimeyer, Lortet, Nilsson, and Steenstrüp, and the Rev. Canon
Greenwell for aid of various kinds. But especially do I feel grateful
to my old friend and master, the late lamented Professor Phillips, for
frequent help and prudent counsel.
In laying this book before my readers I would merely further remark,
that it is a faint outline of a new and vast field of research, in
which I have attempted to give prominence to the more important points,
rather than a finished and detailed history of cave-exploration.
W. B. D.
THE OWENS COLLEGE, MANCHESTER,
_20th July, 1874_.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.
PAGE
Legends and Superstitions connected with Caves 1-5
The Physical Division of the Subject 5, 6
The Biological Division 6
Men and Animals 6
Ethnological, Archæological, and Geographical Bearings 7-9
The Three Classes of Bone-Caves 10, 11
History of Cave-Exploration in Europe 11
” ” Germany 11, 12
” ” Great Britain 13-18
” ” France 18-20
” ” Belgium 20, 21
” ” Southern Europe 21, 22
CHAPTER II.
PHYSICAL HISTORY OF CAVES.
Caves formed by the Sea and by Volcanic Action 23
Caves in Arenaceous Rocks 24
Caves in Calcareous Rocks of various ages 25-27
Their Relation to Pot-holes, “Cirques,” and Ravines 27, 28
Water-Cave of Wookey Hole 29-31
Goatchurch Cave 31-34
Water-Caves of Derbyshire 34
Water-Caves of Yorkshire--Ingleborough 35-39
Rate of Deposit of Stalagmite 39-41
Descent into Helln Pot 41-47
Caves and Pots round Weathercote 47-50
Formation of Caves, Pot-holes, and Ravines 50-57
Caverns not generally formed in line of Faults 57
Various Ages of Caves 58-61
Filling up of Caves 61
Cave of Caldy 62-68
Black-Rock Cave, Tenby 68
Carbonate of Lime dissolved by Atmospheric Water 69-70
Circulation of Carbonate of Lime 71
Temperature of Caves 71-72
Conclusion 73
CHAPTER III.
HISTORIC CAVES IN BRITAIN.
Definition of Historic Period 74
Wild Animals in Britain during the Historic Period 75-77
Animals living under the care of Man 77
Classificatory Value of Historic Animals 78-81
The Victoria Cave, Settle, Yorkshire--History of Discovery 81-85
The Romano-Celtic or Brit-Welsh Stratum 86-88
Bones of the Animals 88-90
Miscellaneous Articles 90-92
The Coins 93
The Jewellery, and its relation to Irish Art 94-101
Similar remains in other Caves in Yorkshire 101
Caves used as places of Refuge 102
The evidence of History as to Date 103-111
Britain under the Romans 103-105
The inroads of the Picts and Scots 105
The English Conquest 107
The Neolithic Stratum 111-115
Approximate Date of the Neolithic Occupation 115
The Grey Clays 116-118
The Pleistocene Occupation by Hyænas 118-121
Probable Pre-glacial Age of the Pleistocene Stratum 121-125
The Kirkhead Cave 125
Poole’s Cavern, Buxton 126
Thor’s Cave, near Ashbourne 127-129
Historic Value of Brit-Welsh group of Caves 129
Principal Animals and Articles in Brit-Welsh Caves 130-132
The Use of Horse-flesh 132
Cave of Longberry Bank, Pembrokeshire 133
CHAPTER IV.
CAVES USED IN THE AGES OF IRON AND BRONZE.
Difference between Historic and Prehistoric Time 134-136
The Prehistoric Fauna 136-138
Archæological Classification 138-140
Caves of the Iron Age 140
Caves of the Bronze Age in Britain 141-145
The Caves of the Césareda in Portugal probably occupied by
Cannibals 145-147
Cave of Reggio in Modena 148
CHAPTER V.
CAVES OF THE NEOLITHIC AGE.
Neolithic Caves in Great Britain--Perthi-Chwareu 149-156
Rhosdigre 156-158
Neolithic Caves in the neighbourhood of Cefn, St. Asaph 159-161
Chambered Tomb near Cefn 161-164
Correlation of Chambered Tomb with the Caves of Perthi-Chwareu
and Cefn 164
Contents of Caves and Tombs, tabulated 165-166
Description of Human Remains by Professor Busk 166-187
General conclusions as to Human Remains 197-188
CHAPTER VI.
THE RANGE OF NEOLITHIC DOLICHO-CEPHALI AND BRACHY-CEPHALI.
Cranial Terminology 189-190
Dolicho-cephali and Brachy-cephali 191-194
Range of the Dolicho-cephali in Britain and Ireland 194-197
Range of the Brachy-cephali 197
Their Range in France 198
Caverne de l’homme Mort 198-202
Sepulchral Cave of Orrouy 202
Skulls from French Tumuli 203
The Dolicho-cephali of Iberian Peninsula--Gibraltar 204-208
Spain--Cueva de los Murcièlagos 208-210
The Woman’s Cave near Alhama 210
The Guanches of the Canary Isles 211
Iberic Dolicho-cephali of the same race as those of Britain 212
Dolicho-cephali cognate with the Basque 213-215
Sepulchral Cave of Chauvaux 215-218
Cave of Sclaigneaux 218-220
Evidence of History as to the Peoples of Gaul and Spain 220-223
The Basque Population the oldest 223
Population of Britain 224
Basque Characters in British and French Populations present 225-227
Whence come the Basques? 227
The Celtic and Belgic Brachy-cephali 228-230
The Ancient German Race 230
General conclusions 231
CHAPTER VII.
CAVES CONTAINING HUMAN REMAINS OF DOUBTFUL AGE.
The Paviland Cave 232-234
Cave of Engis 234, 235
Trou du Frontal 236-239
Cave of Gendron 239
” Gailenreuth 240
” Neanderthal 240-241
” Aurignac 242-247
” Bruniquel 247, 248
” Cro-Magnon 249-256
” Lombrive 256
” Cavillon, near Mentone 257
Grotta dei Colombi, Palmaria, inhabited by Cannibals 258-261
General conclusions as to Prehistoric Caves 261-263
CHAPTER VIII.
THE PLEISTOCENE CAVES OF GERMANY AND GREAT BRITAIN.
Relation of Pleistocene to Prehistoric Period 264
Magnitude of Interval 265
Animals 265, 266
Physical Changes--Excavation and filling up of Valleys 267-272
Fisherton, near Salisbury 267
Freshford, near Bath 269
Comparison of Deposits in Valleys with those in Caves 272
Difference of Mineral Condition 273
Pleistocene Caves of Germany--Gailenreuth 273-276
Kühloch 276-278
Pleistocene Caves of Great Britain 278
” ” Yorkshire--Kirkdale 279-284
” ” Derbyshire--Dream Cave 284, 285
” ” North Wales, near St. Asaph 286, 287
Caves of South Wales in Glamorgan and Carmarthen 288
” Pembrokeshire 289
” Monmouth 290
” Gloucestershire and Somersetshire 291
” the Mendip Hills--Hutton 292
Banwell 293
Uphill 294
Hyæna Den, Wookey Hole 295-314
The district of the Mendip higher in Pleistocene Age than now 314
The condition of Bones gnawed by Hyænas 314-317
The Caves of Devonshire--Oreston 317, 318
Caves at Brixham 319-324
Kent’s Hole 324-330
Probable Age of the Machairodus in Kent’s Hole 330-335
Caves of Ireland--Shandon 335
CHAPTER IX.
THE INHABITANTS OF THE CAVES OF NORTH-WESTERN EUROPE, AND THE
EVIDENCE OF THE FAUNA AS TO THE ATLANTIC COAST-LINE.
The Caves of France 336
Cave of Baume 337
Caves of Périgord 337-347
” Belgium 347, 348
Trou de Naulette 349
Caves of Switzerland 350
Cave-dwellers and Palæolithic Men of the River-gravels 351
Classification of Palæolithic Caves 351-353
Relation of Cave-dwellers to Eskimos 353-359
Pleistocene Animals living north of the Alps and Pyrenees 359
Relation of Cave to River-bed Fauna 362
The Atlantic Coast-line 362-366
Distribution of Palæolithic Implements 366, 367
CHAPTER X.
THE FAUNA OF THE CAVES OF SOUTHERN EUROPE, AND THE EVIDENCE
AS TO THE MEDITERRANEAN COAST-LINE IN THE PLEISTOCENE AGE.
Changes of Level in Mediterranean Area in Meiocene and
Pleiocene Ages 369
Bone-caves of Southern Europe 370
Caves of Gibraltar 371, 372
Bone-caves of Provence and Mentone 373-375
” Sicily 375-377
” Malta 377
Range of Pigmy Hippopotamus 378
Fossil Mammalia in Algeria 379
Living Species common to Europe and Africa 379
Evidence of Soundings 380-382
The Glaciers of Lebanon 382
Glaciers of Anatolia 383-386
” of the Atlas Mountains 386
” probably produced by elevation above the Sea 387-389
Mediterranean Coast-line comparatively modern 389
Changes of Level in the Sahara 390
CHAPTER XI.
THE EUROPEAN CLIMATE IN THE PLEISTOCENE AGE.
Evidence of the Mammalia as to Climate 392
Southern Group of Animals 393-395
Northern Group 395-397
Probable cause of Association of Northern and Southern
Groups 397, 398
The Temperate Group 399
Species common to Cold and Tropical Climates 400
Extinct Species 400
Two Periods of Glaciation in Britain 401-403
Three Climatal Changes on the Continent 403
Europe invaded by Pleistocene Animals before the Glacial
Period 404-406
Mammalia lived in Europe during the second Glacial Period 406
The Glacial Period does not separate one Life-era from another 407
Bone-caves inhabited before and after the Glacial Period 408
Relation of Palæolithic Man to Glacial Period 409
Age of Contents of Caves in Glacial Districts 410
CHAPTER XII.
CONCLUSION.
Classification of Pleistocene Strata by the Mammalia 412-414
Late Pleistocene Division 414
Middle Pleistocene Division 415-417
Early Pleistocene Mammalia 417-420
The Pleiocene Mammalia 420-423
Summary of Characteristic Pleistocene and Pleiocene Species 423, 424
Antiquity of Man in Europe 424-426
Man lived in India in the Pleistocene Age 426-428
Are the Palæolithic Aborigines of India related to those of
Europe? 428
Palæolithic Man in Palestine 429
Conclusion 430
APPENDIX I.
ON THE INSTRUMENTS AND METHODS OF CAVE-HUNTING.
Instruments used in Cave-hunting 435
Search after Bone-caves 437
Three modes of Cave-digging 438
Stalagmitic floors to be broken up 440
The Preservation of Fossil Remains 440
APPENDIX II.
Observations on the Accumulation of Stalagmite in the
Ingleborough Cave 442
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
FIG. PAGE
Coloured Enamels from Victoria Cave _Front._
1 Diagram of Wookey Hole, Cave and Ravine 30
2 Diagram of Helln Pot and the Long Churn Cavern 41
3 Diagram of Helln Pot 42
4 Diagram of Helln Pot, showing Waterfall at the bottom 45
5 Waterfall in Pot-hole, at Weathercote 48
6 Diagram of Subterranean Course of Dalebeck 49
7 Diagram of an acid-worn joint, Doveholes, Derbyshire 52
8 Diagram of the Source of the Aire at Malham 55
9 A View in the Fairy Chamber, Caldy 63
10 Stalagmites in the Fairy Chamber, Caldy 63
11 The Fairy Chamber, Caldy 64
12 Pools in Fairy Chamber 65
13 Pool in Fairy Chamber 65
14 Edge of Pool in Fairy Chamber 65
15 Cone with Straw-column 65
16 Basin containing Cave-pearls 67
17 Fungoid Structures, magnified 67
18 Fungoid Structure, Black-rock Cave 68
19 View of King’s Scar, Settle, showing the Entrances of the
Victoria and Albert Caves 82
20 Longitudinal Section of Victoria Cave 86
21 Vertical Section at the Entrance to the Victoria Cave 87
22 Spoon-brooch 91
23 Ornamented Bone Fastener 92
24 Two Bone Links 92
25 Bronze Brooch 95
26 Bone Harpoon 112
27 Bone Bead 113
28 Stone Adze of doubtful origin 114
29 Section below Grey Clay, at Entrance to Victoria Cave 117
30 Skull of Woolly Rhinoceros, showing the part which is not
eaten by Hyænas 119
31 Bronze Bracelet from Thor’s Cave 129
32 Bronze Knife, Heathery Burn 142
33 Bronze Armlet, Heathery Burn 143
34 Bronze Spear-head, Heathery Burn 143
35 Bronze Mould for casting a socketed Celt 143
36 Section of Cave at Perthi-Chwareu 152
37 Plan of Cave at Perthi-Chwareu 154
38 Greenstone Celt, Rhosdigre Cave 157
39 Plan of Chambered Tomb at Cefn 162
40, 41, 42 Skull from Sepulchral Cave at Perthi-Chwareu 168
43, 44, 45 Skull from Sepulchral Cave at Perthi-Chwareu 169
46 Section of Femur 172
47, 48, 49, 50, 51 Section of Tibiæ 176
52, 53, 54 Platyenemic Tibiæ 177
55, 56, 57, 58 Human Femora 182
59, 60, 61 Skull from Cave at Cefn, St. Asaph 185
62, 63, 64 Skull from Genista Cave 207
65, 66 Skull from Cave of Sclaigneaux 219
67 Platyenemic Tibia from Sclaigneaux 219
68 Map of the Distribution of Iberic, Celtic, and Belgic
Peoples at dawn of History 221
69 Section of the Trou du Frontal 237
70 Diagram of the Cave of Aurignac 245
71 Section across the valley of the Vezère and rock of
Cro-Magnon 249
72 Detailed Section of the Cave of Cro-Magnon 251
73 Thigh-bone of Child from Grotta dei Colombi 260
74 Section of Valley-gravels at Fisherton 268
75 Section of Valley-gravels at Freshford, Bath 270
76 Section of Gailenreuth Cave 274
77 Plan of Kirkdale Cave 279
78 Sections of Kirkdale Cave 280
79 Molar of Hippopotamus 281
80 Leg-bones gnawed by Hyænas 282
81 The Dream-cave, Wirksworth 285
82 Left Lower Jaw of Glutton, Plas Heaton Cave 287
83 Plan of Hyæna Den, Wookey Hole 297
84, 85, 86, 87 Four Views of Flint Implements from Wookey Hole 299
88 Section showing Contents of Hyæna Den 304
89 Transverse section of ditto 305
90 Longitudinal section 306
91 Longitudinal section 311
92 Gnawed Jaw of Hyæna from Wookey 313
93 Upper and Lower Jaws of Hyæna Whelp, Wookey 315
94 Thigh-bone of Woolly Rhinoceros gnawed by Hyænas, Wookey 316
95 Diagram of deposits in Brixham Cave 320
96 Lanceolate Implement from Kent’s Hole 326
97 Oval Implements from Kent’s Hole 326
98 Harpoon from Kent’s Hole 327
99 Harpoon-head from Kent’s Hole 327
100 Hammer-stone 328
101, 102 Upper Canine of Machairodus, Kent’s Hole 331
103, 104, 105 Incisors of Machairodus, Kent’s Hole 333
106 Flint-flake, Les Eyzies 339
107 Flint Scraper, Les Eyzies 339
108 Flint Javelin-head, Laugerie Haute 339
109 Flint Arrow-head, Laugerie Haute 340
110 Bone needle, La Madelaine 340
111, 112 Harpoons of Antler, La Madelaine 342
113, 114 Arrow-heads, Gorge d’Enfer 342
115 Bone Awl, Gorge d’Enfer 342
116 Carved Handle of Reindeer Antler 343
117 Two sides of Reindeer Antler, La Madelaine 344
118 Horses engraved on Antler, La Madelaine 344
119 Group of Reindeer, Dordogne 345
120 Mammoth engraved on Ivory, La Madelaine 346
121 Carved Implement of Reindeer Antler, Goyet 348
122 Eskimos Spear-head, bone 353
123 Eskimos Arrow-straightener of Walrus-tooth 354
124 Eskimos Plane, or Scraper 355
125 Eskimos Hunting Scene 357
126 Map of the Physiography of Great Britain in Late Pleistocene
Age 363
127 Molar of _Hippopotamus Pentlandi_ 377
128 Molar of _Elephas Melitensis_ 378
129 Map of the Physiography of the Mediterranean in the
Pleistocene Age 381
LISTS OF SPECIES AND TABLES OF MEASUREMENTS.
PAGE
List of Animals extinct during the Historic Age 78
” Animals introduced during the Historic Age 79
” Coins found in the Victoria Cave 93
” Principal Animals and Objects found in Brit-Welsh Strata
in Caves 131
” Animals found in the Refuse-heap, Perthi-Chwareu 150
” Contents in Neolithic Caves and Cairn, North Wales 166
Dimensions of Perthi-Chwareu Skulls 171
Dimensions of Perthi Chwareu Tibiæ 173
Proportions of ordinary Tibiæ 174
Comparative Measurements of Skulls 179
Table of Long Skulls from Britain and Ireland 197
” Measurements of British Brachy-cephali, and Gaulish
and Belgic Brachy-cephali and Dolicho-cephali 199
Measurements of various Skulls 213
Measurements of Skulls of doubtful antiquity 236
List of Late Pleistocene Animals unknown in Britain in the
Prehistoric Age 266
” Remains found in Wookey Hyæna Den 310
Late Pleistocene Fauna north of Alps and Pyrenees 360, 361
List of Animals from the Caves of Gibraltar 372
Fauna from the Caves of Mentone 373
” Bone-caves of Sicily 376
List of Animals from the Middle Pleistocene 415
” ” ” Early Pleistocene 418
” Pleistocene Mammalia 420, 422
” Characteristic Animals of the Pleistocene Period 423
” ” ” ” Pleiocene Period 424
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.
Page 1, line 7, _for_ “Cythæron” _read_ “Cithæron.”
Page 8, line 4, _for_ “that” _read_ “who.”
Page 17, line 5, _for_ “Seine” _read_ “Somme.”
Page 60, lines 29, 30, _for_ “non-ossiferous” _read_ “no ossiferous.”
Page 82, fig. 19, _for_ “A, B, Albert, C, Victoria” _read_ “A, B,
Victoria, C, Albert.”
Page 95, fig. 25.--This design is to be seen in the chalice discovered
in 1868, in a rath at Ardagh, Limerick, and described by the Earl of
Dunraven (Trans. Royal Irish Acad. xxiv. Antiquities). The chalice is
made of gold, silver, bronze, brass, copper, and lead, and from the
identity of its inscription and ornament with those of Irish MSS. of
ascertained age, may be referred to a date ranging from the 5th to
the 9th centuries. It is also adorned with squares of blue and red
enamel of the same kind as that of the brooches from the Victoria Cave,
figured in the coloured plate. The same design is also presented by
the “bronze head-ring” found in 1747 at Stitchel, in Roxburgh, (Wilson
“Prehistoric Annals of Scotland,” ii. 146) as well as by one of the
silver articles known as “The Norrie Law Relics,” found in a tumulus
on the shore of the Bay of Largo, Firth of Forth. Of the coins found
at the same place, the latest, belonging to Tiberius Constantine (d.
682), fixes the date as not earlier than the 7th century. Some of
the sculptured stones of Scotland, such as the Dunnichen stone, are
ornamented also in the same style, and, according to Professor Wilson,
belong to “the transition period from the 4th to the 8th centuries,
when pagan and Christian rites were obscurely mingled,” (ii. 259). In
Scotland, therefore, as well as Ireland, this style of ornamentation
is of the same age, corresponding in the main with that of Brit-Welsh
articles in the Victoria Cave, proved by the associated coins to be
later than the 4th century.
Page 120, line 4.--These teeth are considered by Dr. Leith Adams to
belong to _Elephas antiquus_, which has been discovered in other places
in Yorkshire. They may possibly belong to that animal; but they may,
with equal justice, be identified with the wide-plated variety of the
teeth of the Mammoth. The great variation in the width of the component
plates of the fossil teeth of Mammoth observable in the large series
from Crayford and the caves of the Mendip Hills, and in those in the
magnificent Museum of Lyons, causes me to hesitate in considering them
to belong to the rarer species.
Page 130, line 2.--This has been verified while these sheets were
passing through the press by the discovery of Brit-Welsh articles in
a cave in Kirkcudbrightshire by Messrs. A. R. Hunt and A. J. Corrie,
among which are bone fasteners similar in outline to that from the
Victoria Cave (Fig. 23).
Page 190.--In using this classification of crania, I have purposely
attached higher value to the two extremes of skull form, or the long
and the broad, than to the intermediate oval forms, which cannot be
viewed as distinctive of race, because they may be the results either
of the intermarriage of a long-headed with a short-headed people, or of
variation from the type of one or other of them.
Page 196, heading, _for_ “Dolicho-cepha” _read_ “Dolicho-cephali.”
Page 201, heading, _dele_ “A”.
Page 213, note 2.--The “tête annulaire,” or annular depression, is
also visible on some of the broad as well as the long skulls from
a “Merovingian” cemetery at Chelles in the same collection. The
association in this cemetery of the two skull-forms is probably due to
the Merovingians being the masters, and the Celts the servants, and the
conquerors and the vanquished being buried in the same spot.
Page 220, line 24, _for_ “Volscæ” _read_ “Volcæ.”
Page 223, line 25, _for_ “east” _read_ “west.”
Page 228, line 3, _dele_ “that.”
Page 229, line 3, _for_ “set foot” _read_ “settled.” The statement in
the text is too strong. The conquest of Gaul by the Huns under Attila
was averted by his defeat in the famous battle of Chalons.
Page 275, line 21, _for_ “are” _read_ “is.”
Page 279.--Since this was written a new ossiferous deposit has been
found in a fissure at Lothorsdale, near Skipton, from which the remains
of the _Elephas antiquus_ and _Hippopotamus amphibius_ have been
obtained.
Page 284.--The ossiferous fissure at Windy Knoll, near Castleton,
recently explored by Messrs. Tym, Pennington, Plant, Walker and
others, has added several animals to the pleistocene fauna of that
district--the bison, roe, reindeer, bear, wolf, fox, and hyæna, the
first of these species being remarkably abundant, and of all ages. The
remains were probably introduced by a stream from a higher level.
Page 337, note 2, line 2, _for_ “the Revue” and “les Matériaux” _read_
“in the Revue” and “in the Matériaux.”
Page 337, note 5, _for_ “Aquitainicæ” _read_ “Aquitanicæ.”
Page 347, line 6, _for_ “mind” _read_ “minds.”
Page 356, line 15, _for_ “Port” _read_ “Fort.”
Page 361.--Mr. Ayshford Sanford adds the _Felis Caffer_ to the list
from Bleadon, and the _Gulo borealis_ to that of the animals from
Kent’s Hole.
Page 386, line 10, _dele_ inverted commas.
Page 386, line 17, _for_ “or from 1,000 to 2,000 feet lower than the
glacial covering” _read_ “thus differing by a line of from 1,000 to
2,000 feet from the glacial covering” (Palgrave).
CAVE-HUNTING.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.
Legends and Superstitions connected with Caves.--The Physical
Division of the Subject.--The Biological.--The Inhabitants
of Caves.--Men and Animals.--Ethnological, Archæological,
and Geographical Bearings.--The three Classes of Bone-Caves:
Historic, Prehistoric, Pleistocene.--History of Cave Exploration
in Europe: Germany, Great Britain, France, Belgium, Southern Europe.
Caves have excited the awe and wonder of mankind in all ages, and
have figured largely in many legends and superstitions. In the Roman
Mythology, they were the abode of the Sibyls, and of the nymphs, and
in Greece they were the places where Pan, Bacchus, Pluto, and the Moon
were worshipped, and where the oracles were delivered, as at Delphi,
Corinth, and Mount Cithæron; in Persia they were connected with the
obscure worship of Mithras. Their names, in many cases, are survivals
of the superstitious ideas of antiquity. In France and Germany they are
frequently termed “Fairy, Dragons’, or Devils’ Caves,” and, according
to M. Desnoyers, they are mentioned in the invocation of certain
canonized anchorites, who dwelt in them after having dispossessed and
destroyed the dragons and serpents, the pagan superstition appearing in
a Christian dress.
In the Middle Ages they were looked upon as the dwellings of evil
spirits, into the unfathomable abysses of which the intruder was lured
to his own destruction. Long after the fairies and little men had
forsaken the forests and glens of Northern Germany, they dwelt in their
palaces deep in the hearts of the mountains,--in “the dwarf holes,” as
they were called--whence they came, from time to time, into the upper
air. Near Elbingrode, for example, in the Hartz, the legend was current
in the middle of the last century, that when a wedding-dinner was being
prepared the near relations of the bride and bridegroom went to the
caves, and asked the dwarfs for copper and brass kettles, pewter dishes
and plates, and other kitchen utensils.[1] “Then they retired a little,
and when they came back, found everything they desired set ready for
them at the mouth of the cave. When the wedding was over they returned
what they had borrowed, and in token of gratitude, offered some meat to
their benefactors.” Allusions, such as this, to dwarfs, according to
Professor Nilsson, point back to the remote time when a small primeval
race, inhabiting Northern Germany, was driven by invaders to take
refuge in caverns,--a view that derives support from the fact that in
Scandinavia the tall Northmen were accustomed to consider the smaller
Lapps and Finns as dwarfs, and to invest them with magic power, just
as in Palestine the smaller invading peoples considered their tall
enemies giants. The cave of Bauman’s hole, also in the Hartz district,
was said, in the middle of the last century, to have been haunted
by divers apparitions, and to contain a treasure guarded by black
mastiffs; and in Burrington Combe, in Somersetshire, some twenty years
ago, a cave was dug out by a working man, under the impression that it
contained gold. The hills of Granada are still believed, by the Moorish
children, to contain the great Boabdil and his sleeping host, who will
awake when an adventurous mortal invades their repose, and will issue
forth to restore the glory of the Moorish kings.
It is, indeed, no wonder that legends and poetical fancies such as
these should cluster round caves, for the gloom of their recesses,
and the shrill drip of the water from the roof, or the roar of the
subterranean water-falls echoing through the passages, and the white
bosses of stalagmite looming like statues through the darkness, offer
ample materials for the use of a vivid imagination. The fact that
often their length was unknown, naturally led to the inference that
they were passages into another world. And this is equally true of
the story of Boabdil, of that of the Purgatory of St. Patrick, in the
north of Ireland, and of the course of the river Styx, which sinks
into the rocks and flows through a series of caverns that are the dark
entrance-halls of Hades. The same idea is evident in the remarkable
story, related by Ælian (Lib. xvi. 16). “Among the Indians of Areia
there is an abyss sacred to Pluto, and beneath it vast galleries,
and hidden passages and depths, that have never been fathomed. How
these are formed the Indians tell not, nor shall I attempt to relate.
The Indians drive thither (every year) more than 3,000 different
animals--sheep, goats, oxen, and horses--and each acting either from
dread of the dreadful abyss, or to avert an evil omen in proportion to
his means, seeks his own and his family’s safety by causing the animals
to tumble in; and these, neither bound with chains nor driven, of their
own accord finish their journey as if led on by some charm; and after
they have come to the mouth of the abyss they willingly leap down, and
are never more seen by mortal eyes. The lowing, however, of the cattle,
the bleating of the sheep and of the goats, and the whinnying of the
horses are heard above ground, and if anyone listen at the mouth, he
will hear sounds of this kind lasting for a long time. Nor do they ever
cease, because beasts are driven thither every day. But whether the
sound is made by those recently driven in, or by some of those driven
in some time before, I do not express an opinion.” The Roman Catholic
Church took advantage of this feeling of superstitious awe, as late as
the Middle Ages. At the time of the Reformation it was believed that a
cave at Bishofferode would prove the death of some person in the course
of the year, unless a public yearly atonement were made. Accordingly
a priest came, on a certain day, to the chapel on the hill opposite,
whence he passed in solemn procession to the cave, “and let down into
it a crucifix, which he pulled up again, and took this occasion to
remind them of hell, and to avoid the punishment due to their sins.”
The beauty of the interiors of some of the caves could not fail to give
rise to more graceful fancies than these. The fantastic shapes of the
dripstone, with which they are adorned, now resembling Gothic pillars
supporting a crystalline arcade, or jutting out in little spires and
minarets, and very generally covering the floor with a marble-like
pavement, and in some cases lining the pools of water with a fretwork
of crystals that shine like the facets of a diamond, were fitting
ornaments for the houses of unearthly beings, such as fairies.
_The Physical Division of the Subject._
It is by no means my intention in this work to give a history of
legends such as these, but to take my readers with me into some of
the more important and more beautiful caves in this country. The
exploration of the chambers and passages of which they are composed,
the fording of the subterranean streams by which they are frequently
traversed, or the descent into deep chasms which open in their floors,
have the peculiar charm of mountaineering, not without a certain
pleasurable amount of risk. But to physicist and geologist they offer
far more than this. They give an insight into the wonderful chemistry
by which changes are being wrought, at the present time, in the solid
rock. Nor are the conclusions to which we are led by the investigation
of these chemical changes merely confined to the interior of caves.
They enable us to understand how some of the most beautiful scenery
in Europe has been formed, and to realize the mode by which all
precipices and gorges have been carved out of the calcareous rock. In
the next chapter we shall see why it is that the combination of hill
and valley, ravine and precipice, present the same general features in
all limestone districts--why, for instance, the ravines of Palestine
are the same as those of Greece, and both are identical with those
in Yorkshire. The origin and the history of caves will be examined,
as well as their relation to the general physical geography of the
calcareous strata. All these subjects are comprehended in the first or
the physical division of cave-hunting.
_The Biological Division._
We must now proceed to the definition of the scope and object of the
second, or Biological, division of the subject.
Caves have been used by man, and the domestic animals living under his
protection, from the earliest times recorded by history down to the
present day. Those penetrating the rugged precipices of Palestine,
we read in the Old Testament, served both for habitation and for
burial, and, from the notices which are scattered through the early
Greek writers, we may conclude that those of Greece were used for
dwelling-places. The story of the Cyclops proves that they were also
used as folds for goats. The name of Troglodytes, given to many peoples
of the most remote antiquity, implies that there was a time in the
history of mankind when Pliny’s statement “specus erat pro domibus”
was strictly true (“Hist. Nat.” I. v. c. 56). The caves of Africa
have been places of retreat from the remotest antiquity down to the
French conquest of Algeria, and in 1845 several hundred Arabs were
suffocated in those of Dahra by the smoke of a fire kindled at the
entrance by Marshal (then Colonel) Pelissier. Dr. Livingstone alludes
in his recent letters to the vast caves of Central Africa, which
offer refuge to whole tribes with their cattle and household stuff.
In France, according to M. Desnoyers, there are at the present time
whole villages, including the church, to be found in the rock, which
are merely caves modified, extended, and altered by the hand of man.
The caves of the Dordogne were inhabited in the middle ages. Floras
writes that the Aquitani, “callidum genus in speluncas se recipiebant,
Cæsar jussit includi,”[2] and the same caves afforded shelter to the
inhabitants of the same region in the wars of King Pepin against
the last Duke of Aquitaine. In this country a small cave in Cheddar
Pass was occupied till within the last few years. The caves in the
northern counties are stated by Gildas to have offered a refuge to
the Brit-Welsh inhabitants of Britain during the raids of the Picts
and Scots; and in the year 1745 those of Yorkshire were turned to the
same purpose during the invasion of the Pretender. We might reasonably
expect to find in caves turned to these uses objects left behind, which
would tell us something of the manners and customs of their possessors,
and light up the catalogue of battles and intrigues of which history
generally consists. The results obtained from the Brit-Welsh group of
caves, treated in the third chapter, show that this hitherto neglected
branch of the inquiry is not without value to the historian.
Caves containing remains of this kind may be conveniently termed
historic, because they may be brought into relation with history. It
must, however, be carefully remarked that the term does not relate
to history _in general_, but to that _in particular_ of each country
which happens to be under investigation. The misapprehension of
this has caused great confusion, and many mistakes in archæological
classification and reasoning.
Again, our experience of the habits of rude and uncivilized peoples
would naturally lead us to look to caves, as the places in which we
should be likely to meet with the remains of the men who lived in
Europe before the dawn of history. Such remains we do find that,
placed side by side with others from the tombs and dwellings, enable
us to discover some, at least, of the races who lived in Europe
in long-forgotten times, and to ascertain roughly the sequence of
events in the remote past, far away from the historical border. It
may, indeed, seem a hopeless quest to recover what has been buried
in oblivion so long, and it is successful merely through the careful
comparison of the human skeletons in the caves and tombs of Britain,
France, and Spain, with those of existing races, and of the implements
and weapons with those which are now used among savage tribes. By this
means we shall see that there are good grounds for extending the range
of the Iberian people over a considerable area in Europe, and for
the belief that the Eskimos once lived as far south as Auvergne. In
discussing both these problems it will be impossible to shut our eyes
to the continuity that exists between geology, archæology, biology, and
history--sciences which at first sight appear isolated from each other.
The bones of the domestic animals in the caves will necessarily lead to
the further examination of the appearance and disappearance of breeds
under the care of man. And this complicated question has an important
bearing not merely on the ethnology, but also on the history, of some
of the European peoples. It must be admitted, however, that this
branch of the subject is, as yet, known merely in outline, and we can
only hope to ascertain a few facts which may form a basis for future
investigation.
From another point of view the contents of caves are peculiarly
valuable. They have been used as places of shelter, not merely by man,
but by wild animals, from the time they first became accessible to
the present day. In the same way, therefore, as now they contain, in
their superficial layers, the bones of sheep, oxen, and horses, foxes,
rabbits, and badgers, so in their deeper strata lie buried the remains
of the animals which were living in Europe long before the historic
times. In other words, they enable us to make out the groups of animals
inhabiting the neighbouring districts, and which in many cases have
either forsaken their original abodes or have become extinct. And since
those which are extinct, or which have migrated, could not have lived
where their remains are found under the present conditions of life, an
inquiry into their history leads us into the general question of the
ancient European climate and geography. It is obvious, for example,
that the spotted hyæna, which formerly inhabited the caves of Sicily,
could not have crossed over to that island after it was separated from
Africa and Italy; and it would be impossible for the musk-sheep, the
most arctic of the herbivora, to live as far south as Auvergne under
the present climatal conditions. The presence, therefore, of these
animals in these districts is proof in the one case of a geographical,
and in the other of a climatal, change.
The discussion of all these questions is comprehended under the second,
or biological, division of cave-hunting, which may be defined as an
inquiry into the remains of man and animals found in the caves, and
into the conditions under which they lived in Europe.
_The three Classes of Bone-caves._
In the biological branch of the subject the caves will be treated
first which are comprehended within the limits of history; then we
shall pass on to the investigation of Prehistoric caves, or those
which have been inhabited in the interval that separates history from
the remote geological era, which is characterized by the existence of
the extinct mammalia in Europe. And, lastly, those will be examined
which have furnished the remains of the extinct animals, and which
are termed by the geologists Pleistocene, from the fact that a larger
percentage of existing species were then living than in the preceding
Pleio-, Meio-, and Eocene periods. The equivalent terms “Quaternary,”
used by many French geologists, and the “Post-pleiocene division of the
Post-tertiary Formation,” used by Sir Charles Lyell, are not adopted
in this work, because they imply a break in the continuity of life,
which does not exist. “Pleistocene” was invented and subsequently
discarded by Sir C. Lyell,[3] and is at present used by many eminent
writers, such as Forbes, Phillips, Gervais, and others. The ossiferous
caves will therefore be divided into the Historic, Prehistoric, and
Pleistocene groups. And it will be more convenient to work backwards
in time from the basis offered by history, than to begin with the
Pleistocene, or oldest division, and bring the narrative down to the
present day.
This classification, founded in part on the principle of change
in the animal world, and partly on the basis offered by history,
coincides, only in part, with that of the archæologists based on the
remains of man’s handiwork. The Pleistocene age is the equivalent of
the Palæolithic, or that of rude unpolished stone; the Prehistoric
represents the ages of polished stone, bronze, and iron in part, or
those stages in human progress when the use of these materials became
general for the purposes of every-day life; while the Historic covers
merely the later portion of that of iron.
_History of Cave-Exploration in Europe._
_Germany._--The rest of this chapter must be devoted to an outline of
the history of cave-exploration during the last two centuries. The
dread of the supernatural, which preserved the European caves from
disturbance, was destroyed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
by the search after “ebur fossile,” or unicorn’s horn, which ranked
high in the materia medica of those days as a specific for many
diseases, and which was obtained, in great abundance, in the caverns of
the Hartz, and in those of Hungary and Franconia. As the true nature
of the drug gradually revealed itself, the German caves became famous
for the remains of the lions, hyænas, fossil elephants, and other
strange animals, which had been used for medicine. We owe the first
philosophical discussion on the point to Dr. Gesner,[4] who, although
he maintained that the fossil unicorn consisted, in some cases, of
elephant’s teeth and tusks, and in others of its fossil bones, did not
altogether give up the idea of its medicinal value. It is a singular
fact, that fossil remains of a similar kind are, at the present time,
used by the Chinese for the same purpose, and sold in their druggists’
shops.[5] The cave which was most famous at the end of the seventeenth
century was that of Bauman’s Hole, in the Hartz, in the district of
Blankenbourg. It is noticed in the Philosophical Transactions for the
year 1662, and was subsequently described by Dr. Behrens,[6] Leibnitz,
De Luc, and Cuvier, along with others in the neighbourhood. Those of
Hungary come next in point of discovery, the first notice of them
being due to Patterson Hayne in 1672. They penetrate the southern
slopes of the Carpathian ranges, and are known by the name of dragons’
caves, because the bones which they contain had been considered from
time immemorial to belong to those animals by the country people.
These remains were identified by Baron Cuvier as belonging to the
cave-bear.[7]
It was not, however, until the close of the eighteenth century that the
exploring of caves was carried on systematically, or their contents
examined with any scientific precision. The caves of Franconia, in
the neighbourhood of Muggendorf, were described by Esper in 1774, by
Rosenmuller in 1804, and six years later by Dr. Goldfuss. The most
important was that of Gailenreuth, both from the vast quantity of
remains which it was proved to contain, and the investigations to which
it led. The bones of the hyæna, lion, wolf, fox, glutton, and red
deer were identified by Baron Cuvier; while some of the skulls which
Dr. Goldfuss obtained have been recently proved, by Professor Busk,
to belong to the grizzly bear. They were associated with the bones of
the reindeer, horse and bison. Rosenmuller was of opinion that the
cave had been inhabited by bears for a long series of generations; and
he thus realized that these remains proved that the animals found in
the cave had once lived in that district, and had not been swept from
the tropics by the deluge. The interest in these discoveries was at
its height in the year 1816, when Dr. Buckland visited the cave, and
acquired that knowledge of cave-exploring which he was subsequently
to use with such good effect in this country.[8] From this time down
to the present day, no new fact of importance has been added to our
knowledge of caves by explorations in Germany.
_Great Britain._--The first bone-cave systematically explored in
this country was that discovered by Mr. Whidbey,[9] in the Devonian
limestone at Oreston, near Plymouth, in 1816; and the remains obtained
from it were identified by Sir Everard Home as implying the existence
of the rhinoceros in that region. This discovery followed close upon
the researches in Gailenreuth, and was due in some degree to the
request which Sir Joseph Banks made, that Mr. Whidbey, in quarrying the
stone for the Plymouth breakwater, should examine the contents of any
caverns that he might happen to meet with. It preceded Dr. Buckland’s
exploration of Kirkdale by about four years.
In the summer of 1821 a cave was discovered, in a limestone quarry at
Kirkdale, in Yorkshire, which was found to contain bones and teeth of
animals. On hearing of the discovery, Dr. Buckland posted at once from
South Wales to the spot, and published the result of the explorations
in the Philosophical Transactions for the next year. He brought forward
evidence that the cave had been inhabited by hyænas, and that the
broken and gnawed bones of the rhinoceros, mammoth, stag, bison, and
horse belonged to animals which had been dragged in for food. He also
established the fact that all these animals had lived in Yorkshire
in ancient times, and that it was impossible for the carcases of the
hyæna, rhinoceros, and mammoth to have been floated from those regions
where they are now living into the position where he found their bones.
He subsequently followed up the subject by investigating bone-caves
in Derbyshire, South Wales, and Somerset, as well as in Germany, and
published his great work, “Reliquiæ Diluvianæ,” in 1822, which laid the
foundations of the new science of cave-hunting in this country. The
exploration of Kirkdale followed closely upon that of Gailenreuth, and
was merely the application of those principles of research which had
been discovered in Germany to caves in a new district.
From this time forward bone-caves were discovered in Great Britain
in increasing numbers, and explored by many independent observers.
The famous cavern of Kent’s Hole, near Torquay, furnished the Rev. J.
McEnery, between 1825 and the year 1841, in which he died, with the
first flint implements ever discovered in a cave along with the bones
of extinct animals. He recognized the fact that they may be proof of
the existence of man during the time that those animals were alive;
but the scientific world was not then sufficiently educated to accept
the antiquity of the human race on the evidence brought forward, and
Dr. Buckland himself was so influenced by the opinions of his times,
that he refused even to entertain the idea. Although the discovery
was verified by the independent researches of Mr. Godwin Austin in
1840, and by the Torquay Natural History Society in 1846, the force of
prejudice was so strong, that the matter was not thought even worthy of
investigation. Mr. McEnery’s manuscripts were lost until the year 1859,
when an abstract of them was published by Mr. Vivian, and subsequently
they were printed in full by Mr. Pengelly, the able superintendent of
the exploration which has been carried on by a committee of the British
Association since 1865, by whom several thousand flint implements have
been obtained, under the conditions pointed out by the Rev. J. McEnery
and Mr. Godwin Austen.[10]
While the important question of the antiquity of man was being passed
by as of no account, other caves were being examined in this country.
Those of Banwell, Burrington, Sandford Hill, Bleadon, and Hutton,
in the mountain limestone of the Mendip hills, were being worked by
the Rev. J. Williams and Mr. Beard, and furnished the magnificent
collection of mammalian bones now in the museum at Taunton. In North
Wales, also, Mr. Lloyd discovered a similar suite of bones in the
limestone caves in the neighbourhood of St. Asaph at Cefn, and in South
Wales numerous remains were obtained by many explorers in those of
Pembrokeshire and Gower.
The result of these discoveries was the proof that certain extinct
animals, such as the woolly rhinoceros and the mammoth, had lived in
this country in ancient times, along with two other groups of species
which are at present known only to live in hot and cold climates--the
spotted hyæna and hippopotamus of Africa, with the reindeer and the
marmot of the colder regions of the earth.
The discovery in 1858, and the exploration, of the now famous cave
of Brixham, by the Royal and Geological Societies, marked the dawn
of a new era in cave-hunting. Under the careful supervision of Mr.
Pengelly, flint implements were discovered underneath stalagmite, and
in association with the remains of the hyæna and woolly rhinoceros and
mammoth, in undisturbed red loam, under conditions that prove man to
have been living in Devonshire at the same time as those animals. This
singularly opportune discovery destroyed for ever the doubts that had
overhung the question of the antiquity of man, and of his co-existence
in Europe in company with the animals whose remains occur both in the
caverns and river-deposits.
In 1847 M. Boucher de Perthes described certain rude flint implements
that he obtained from the fluviatile gravels of Abbeville (“Antiquités
Celtiques,” vol. i.), along with the bones of extinct animals; and
his discovery was treated with the same scepticism in France as that
of the Rev. J. McEnery in England, although it was verified by flint
implements being discovered, under exactly the same conditions, in the
gravels of Amiens, some forty miles away, by Dr. Rigollot.[11] In the
autumn of 1858, Dr. Falconer, who had been superintending the work
in the Brixham cave, visited the collection made by M. de Perthes,
while on his way to examine the caves of Sicily, and recognizing
man’s handiwork in the implements, he asked his friend Mr. Prestwich
to explore the Valley of the Somme. This he accordingly did, and in
company with Mr. John Evans, F.R.S., dug out with his own hands an
implement from the undisturbed strata,[12] and thus finally settled the
disputed question. It is undoubtedly true, that scientific opinion was
tending towards the acceptance of the evidence in favour of man having
lived in Europe in the Pleistocene age; but the researches in Brixham
cave established the fact on the highest possible authority, and
confirmed the long-neglected discoveries in the valley of the Somme.
By the end of 1859 it was fully accepted by the scientific world, and
caused the exploration of caves to be carried on with increased vigour.
In December 1859,[13] I began the exploration of the hyæna-den of
Wookey Hole, near Wells, Somerset, in company with the Rev. J.
Williamson, and obtained flint instruments along with the remains
of the mammoth, hyæna, woolly rhinoceros, and other animals, under
conditions that proved the contemporaneity of man with the extinct
mammalia. And from that time down to the present date I have carried
on researches in caves in various parts of Great Britain. In the
district of Gower also, many ossiferous caverns were investigated,
in 1858-9-60-1 by Colonel Wood and Dr. Falconer, and in one of them
flint implements were obtained along with the bones of the extinct
mammalia.[14] Kent’s Hole, begun in 1865 by the British Association,
and still being worked, furnishes annually a vast number of bones
and teeth of hyænas, rhinoceroses, cave-bears, and horses, and other
animals, along with flint and bone implements.[15]
In 1869 I had the good fortune to discover, and subsequently to
explore, a group of sepulchral caves in Denbighshire, which had been
used by an Iberian or Basque race in the Neolithic age (Chapter V.);
and in the following year the Settle Cave Committee began their work
in Yorkshire under my advice. And this has led to the important
conclusion, that a group of caves, extending over a wide area in the
centre and north of England, was occupied by the Brit-Welsh in the
obscure interval which elapsed between the departure of the Roman
legions and the English conquest.
_France._--The researches of Buckland into the caves of Great Britain,
and of Goldfuss and others into those of Germany, and more especially
the publication of the “Ossemens Fossiles,” by Cuvier, gave an impetus
to cave-exploration in France which yielded the same results as in
our own country. The mammalia obtained from the cave of Fouvent (Haut
Saone) in 1800 were described in the “Ossemens,” as well as those
from Gondenans. In the Gironde, the Cave of Avison was explored by
M. Billaudel in 1826-27. In the south, Marcel de Serres, aided by
MM. Dubrueil and Jeanjean, examined the important Cave of Lunel-viel
in 1824, and published their results in a work that holds the same
position in France as the “Reliquiæ Diluvianæ” in England. The caverns
of Pondres, Souvignargues, and of Bize were explored, the two first
by M. Christol in 1829, the last by M. Tournal in 1833, and those of
Villefranche (Pyrénées-orient), Mialet (Gard), and Nabrigas (Lozère)
were described by De Serres in 1839, who subsequently added those of
Carcas-sonne to the list in 1842. In this year MM. Prevost and J.
Desnoyers explored the caves of Montmorency in the neighbourhood of
Paris, and described the remains discovered in those of Bicêtre. The
Cave of Pontil (Hérault) described by M. de Serres in 1847, was proved
in 1864, by Professor Gervais, to contain two distinct strata, the
neolithic lying over the palæolithic, as in Kent’s Hole.[16]
In 1860,[17] the famous Cave of Aurignac was proved, by the
investigations of Professor Lartet, to have been inhabited by man in
the life-time of the extinct mammalia. Three years later the caves
of Périgord were explored by that gentleman, along with Mr. Christy,
and yielded results which mark a new era in the history of man in the
remote past. From the remarkable collection of implements and weapons,
the habits and mode of life of the occupants can be ascertained with
tolerable certainty, and from their comparison with the like articles
now in use among savage tribes, it may be reasonably inferred that
they were closely related in blood to the Eskimos. This most important
question will be investigated in its proper place, in the chapter
relating to the palæolithic caves of France. Professor Lartet, M. Louis
Lartet, Sir Charles Lyell, and other eminent observers believe further,
that the interments that have been discovered in Aurignac and in Cro
Magnon,[18] in Périgord, are to be assigned to the same relative age
as the occupation of the caves by man. From the fact, however, that
the skeletons in both these cases were _above_ the strata accumulated
by the palæolithic cave-dwellers, it may be concluded that they were
deposited after those strata were formed, in other words, that they are
of a later age.
From 1863 down to the present time very many caves have been explored
in France without any further addition to our knowledge, excepting the
verification of the facts, afforded by the caves of Brixham and of
Périgord, as to the co-existence of man with the extinct mammalia, and
his probable identity in race with the Eskimos.
_Belgium._--The caves of Belgium[19] have afforded evidence of
precisely the same nature as those of England and France. Dr.
Schmerling, of Liège, published the results of his researches, begun
in 1829, into the bone-caves on the banks of the Meuse and its
tributaries, in 1833-4, and proved that the mammoth, rhinoceros,
cave-bear, and hyæna formerly lived in that district. He also arrived
at the conclusion that man was living at that remote time, from the
discovery of flint-flakes and human bones along with the remains
of those animals in the caves of Engis and Engihoul. In 1853,[20]
Professor Spring discovered a quantity of burned, broken, and cut
bones belonging to women and children, in the Cave of Chauvaux, which
he considered to imply that it had been inhabited by a family of
cannibals. Axes of polished stone were also met with, that indicated
the relative age to be neolithic.
To pass over the human skeleton found in the Neanderthal Cave in 1857
by Dr. Fuhlroth, which is of doubtful antiquity, the next discoveries
of importance are those made by M. Dupont in the years 1864-70, in
the province of Namur, that established the fact that the same race
of men who inhabited Auvergne in the palæolithic age had also lived
in Belgium. M. Dupont considers that the interments in the Trou de
Frontal[21] belong also to the palæolithic age, and that therefore man
at that remote time was possessed of religious ideas. Before, however,
this view can be accepted, it will be necessary to show the exact
relation of the bones of the reindeer, chamois, mammoth, and other
animals found outside the slab of stone, at the mouth of the sepulchral
chamber, to the human remains within. In this case, as in Aurignac
and Cro Magnon, the evidence seems to me insufficient to establish so
important a conclusion.
_Southern Europe._--In southern Europe the bone-caves of Sicily,
worked in 1829 for the sake of the animal remains to be used in sugar
refining, were scientifically examined by Dr. Falconer in 1859; those
of Malta by Captain Spratt in the same year; and those of Gibraltar by
Captain Broome in the years 1862-8. They established the existence of
the serval and the African elephant, and other characteristic African
species, in Europe, and offer as we shall see in this work, important
testimony as to the geography of the Mediterranean area in the
Pleistocene age.
In this outline of the history of cave-exploration it will be seen,
that the additions to our knowledge of the past have been neither
few nor insignificant, nor in one line of inquiry. And if the
attention which is now being directed to the subject be due to the
general development of scientific thought, it is equally true, that
the results have reacted on scientific thought in general, and have
especially benefited the sciences of geology, archæology, and history.
A rich field of investigation lies before the cave-hunter, in Greece,
Palestine, Lycia, Persia, and the limestone plateaux of central
Asia; and since these discoveries have been so valuable in central
and north-western Europe, what may we not recover from the grasp of
oblivion, of the infancy and early culture of mankind in the very
birth-place and “pathway of the nations”?