Page:Excavations at the Kesslerloch.djvu/38

Rh exception, are genuine types of animals belonging to a very cold climate. Again, other animals, such as the reindeer, Arctic fox, red fox, glutton, ptarmigan, and the wapiti, have retreated to the far north. The chamois, the ibex, the Alpine hare, and the marmot have wandered off to the Alps, where it is evident the colder climate agrees better with them than the temperate climate of Middle Europe. It would probably be correct if we take for granted that these animals, not only at the present day, but at all periods, were accustomed to a cold climate, and further, that wherever their existence at any time can be proved, as for instance is the case in the Kesslerloch, the argument in favour of a former cold climate is conclusive. Even the remaining animals, the wolf, the fox, the wild cat, the lynx, the bear, the wild goose, the wild swan, and the sea-eagle, all prefer a cold climate, or at any rate are well able to bear it. An Alpine climate is not injurious even to the deer and the horse. There can therefore be no doubt whatever that the neighbourhood of Thayngen had formerly, in the strictest sense of the word, and for a lengthened period, an arctic-alpine climate, which, however, from various causes became gradually considerably milder; and this gave the above-named animals the opportunity of migrating to the north and the south, so that of the twenty-five animals which have been determined with certainty, only two species now live in the district, namely, the fox and the raven. What a surprising fact!

It may be interesting to compare the fauna met with in the Kesslerloch with that of some other abodes of prehistoric man. For this purpose I have prepared the following table, which- however makes no pretence of being perfectly correct. It seemed proper here only to insert the characteristic forms of animals, and not the actual species, which owe their existence to local conditions. The following is the meaning of the marks given in the table: A single asterisk indicates a single individual, two asterisks several individuals, three asterisks indicate a large number, and four asterisks a very large number of the animals mentioned.