Page:Natural History Review (1862).djvu/81

70 Aurignac is to be referred to a period, coeval witii the most Ancient geological deposits in which the products of human industry have been found,—the diluvial beds of St. Acheul and of Abbeville,— that the violent phenomena of that diluvian period, and the great cataclysm connected with those beds, have not affected the original conditions of this cavern? It is obvious, in fact, that nothing has been disturbed, and that, not only have a simple slab of stone a few centimetres in thickness, and a thin covering of loose earth, sufficed to preserve intact the sepulchre itself, but also that outside the cave, the relics of the funeral repasts and the various implements and arms left by the human inhabitants have not been disturbed.

It has been observed above that, from its isolated position in the mountain range of Aurignac, the mountain of Fajoles is completely protected from the streams and torrents of the surrounding country. Nevertheless, upon looking at the geological map of France, we find that the colour indicating the great alluvial deposits of the Garonne, Adour, &c., is wanting in the interval between the little valleys which commence on the plateau of Lanemézan. A very slight elevation of the borders of this plateau has been sufficient to protect the whole of the intermediate region, (more than 200 square leagues,) within which are comprised tbe district of Aurignac, firom the invasion of this diluvium or Pyrenean drift.