Page:Excavations at the Kesslerloch.djvu/69

Rh therefore, with its sheltering roof, offered to him a welcome abode to secure him from storm, rain, and cold; in fact from all the hurtful influences of nature. It was very natural that the caves of the Jura formation should be inhabited before others; for no other formation has so many caves as this, besides which, in general, flint (or chert) was found in it, which was then so necessary to human existence. Caves situated in the Nagelfluh have also been inhabited; as, for instance, that at Villeneuve. There are many different views as to the mode in which such caves were formed. Dupont thinks that they are caused by hot springs; other scientific men say from volcanic upheavals and depressions; and others, again, that they have been caused by the action of water. Naturally all caves cannot have been formed by the same causes. No one who has seen the Kesslerloch can doubt that it was caused purely by the action of water. No doubt it was at one time filled with loam or clay (Lehm), like other caves which are brought to light occasionally, when the Jura limestone is blasted. But when the valleys were formed this loam was then laid bare, and was washed away by the running water. There can be no doubt that the Kesslerloch was a favourite place of abode, for hardly any cave is better situated or more convenient inside. The cave at Freudeuthal compared with this is a mere nook.

The animals amongst which our cave-men lived were very varied, as the fauna shows. The most harmless animals, such as the marmot, the hare, the chamois, &c., and the wildest beasts, such as the bear, the lion, the wolf, &c., were merely the contemporaries of man; for no one will contend that he lived in the cave together with the animals whose bones we found scattered about there; more especially if it be considered that the flint knives and bone implements made by man were found, together with the bones, in every bed and in all parts of the cave. The companionship of man was in fact by no means a peaceful one. Most of the animals were very superior to him both in size and strength, and this considerably aggravated his struggle for existence. He had therefore to endeavour to make up by his intelligence that which was defective in his bodily powers. He was obliged to be the master of these wild beasts if he wished to attain that security of existence which is naturally so earnestly longed for by man and beast. In this struggle man