Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/282

Rh 270 CAVE Prehistoric caves have been rarely explored in extra- European areas. Among those which abound in Palestine, one in Mount Lebanon, examined by the Rev. Canon Tristram, contained flint implements along with charcoal and broken bones and teeth, some of which may be referred to a small ox, undistinguishable from the small short-horn, Bos longifrons. In North America the remains found by Mr. F. W. Putnam in the caves of Kentucky, consisting of moccasins, rudely plaited cloth, and other articles, may be referred to the same division. Historic Caves in Britain. The historic caves have only- attracted notice during the last few years, and in Britain alone, principally through the labours of the Settle Cave Committee from the year 1869 to the present day. To them is due the exploration of the Victoria Cave, which had been discovered and partially investigated as early as the year 1838. It consists of three large ill- defined chambers opening on the face of the cliff 1450 feet above the sea, and filled with debris very nearly up to the roof. It presented three distinct eras of occupation, one by hyasnas, which dragged into it rhinoceroses, bisons, mam moths, horses, reindeer, and bears. This was defined from the next occupation, which is probably of the Neolithic age, by a layer of grey clay, on the surface of which rested a bone harpoon and a few flint flakes and bones. Then after an interval of debris at the entrance was a layer of charcoal, broken bones, fragments of old hearths, and numerous instruments of savage life associated with broken pottery, Roman coins, and the rude British imitations of them, various articles of iron, and elaborate personal ornaments, which implied a considerable development of the arts. The evidence of the coins stamps the date of the occupation of the cave to be between the first half of the 5th century and the English invasion. Some of the brooches present a peculiar flamboyant and spiral pattern in relief, of the same character as the art of some of the illuminated manuscripts, as for example one of the Anglo- Saxon gospels at Stockholm, and of the gospels of St Columban in Trinity College, Dublin. It is mostly allied to that work which is termed by Mr Franks late Celtic. From its localization in Britain and Ireland, it seems to be probable that it is of Celtic derivation ; and if this view be accepted, there is nothing at all extraordinary in its being recognized in the illuminated Irish gospels. Ireland, in the 6th and 7th centuries, was the great centre of art, civilization, and literature ; and it is only reasonable to suppose that there would be intercourse between the Irish Christians and those of the west of Britain, during the time that the Romano-Celts, or Brit-Welsh, were being slowly pushed westwards by the heathen English invader. Proof of such an intercourse we find in the brief notice of the Annales Cambrics, in which Gildas, the Brit- Welsh historian, is stated to have sailed over to Ireland in the year 565 A.D. It is by no means improbable that about this time there was a Brit-Welsh migration into Ireland, as well as into Brittany. Objects with these designs found in Germany are probably directly or indirectly due to the Irish missionaries, who spread Christianity through those regions. The early Christian art in Ireland grew out of the late Celtic, and is to a great extent free from the influence of Rome, which is stamped on the Brit- Welsh art of the same age in this country. Several other ornaments with enamel deserve especial- notice. The enamel composed of red, blue and yellow has been inserted into the hollows in the bronze, and then heated so as to form a close union with it. They are of the same design as those which have been met with in late Roman tumuli in this country, and in places which are mainly in the north. They all belong to a class named late Celtic by Mr Franks, and are considered by him to be of British manufacture. This view is supported by the only reference to the art of enamelling furnished by the classical writers. Philostratus, a Greek sophist in the court of Julia Domna, the wife of the Emperor Severus, writes, &quot; It is said that the barbarians living in the ocean pour these colours (those of horse-trappings) on heated bronze, and that these adhere, grow as hard as stone, and preserve the designs that are made in them.&quot; It is worthy of remark that, since the Emperor Severus built the wall which bears his name, marched in person against the Caledonians, and died at York, the account of the enamels may have reached Philostratus from the very district in which the Victoria Cave is situated. Associated with these were bronze ornaments inlaid with silver, and miscellaneous iron articles, among which was a Roman key. Remains of this kind have been met with in the Albert and Kelko caves in the neighbourhood, in that of Dowkerbottom near Arncliffe, in that of Kirkhead on the northern shore of Morecombe Bay, in Poole s Cavern near Buxton, and in Thor s Cave near Ashbourne. List of Principal Animals and Objects found in Brit- Welsh strata in Caves. Animals. DOMESTIC Canis familiar is. Dog Sus scrofa. Pig Equus caballus. Horse , Bos longifrons. Celtic short-horn. Capra hircus. Goat j x WILD Canis rulpes. Fox Mdes taxus. Badger Ccrvus elaphus. Stag Cervus caprcolus. Koe Eoman coins, or imitations Enamelled ornaments, in bronze. Bronze ornaments, inlaid with silver Iron articles Samian ware Black ware Bone spoon fibulae Bone combs..., It is obvious in all these cases that men accustomed to luxury and refinement were compelled, by the pressure of some great calamity, to flee for refuge to caves with what ever they could transport thither of their property. The number of spin die- whorls and personal ornaments imply that they were accompanied by their families. We may also infer that they were cut off from the civilization to which they had been accustomed, because in some cases they extemporized spindle-whorls out of fragments of Samian ware, instead of using those which were expressly manufactured for the purpose. Why the caves were inhabited is satisfactorily explained by an appeal to contemporary history. In the pages of Gildas, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and in the Annales Cambria;, we have a graphic picture of that long war of invasion by which the inhabit ants of the old Roman province of Britannia were driven back by the Jutes, Angles, and Saxons, who crossed over with their families and household stuff. Slowly, and in the chances of a war which extended through three centuries, they were gradually pushed back into Cumber land, Wales, and West Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall. While this war was going on the coinage became debased, and Roman coins afforded the patterns for the small bronze minimi, which are to be met with equally in these caves