Page:Palæolithic Man and Terramara Settlements in Europe.djvu/130

76 once recognised them as remains of the reindeer, and sent some specimens to Dr Fraas at Stuttgart. Investigations were at once undertaken by the Government, and carried out under the superintendence of Dr Fraas and M. Hassler, Royal Conservator of the Antiquities of the Kingdom of Wurtemberg.

The height of the peaty plateau above sea-level at the source of the Schussen (which flows into Lake Constance) is 575 metres; and its depth varies from 4 to 5 metres. Below the peat was a bed, about a metre in depth, composed of sand and calcareous matters mixed with the detritus of an underlying moraine. When the fine sand of this layer became infiltrated with the calcareous waters, it became hardened, and exhibited a variety of brown and ochre tints.

The next geographical stratum was the moraine of unknown depth, consisting of the usual mixed materials sand, clay, striated stones, etc. Intercalated between the moraine and the calcareous deposits was an archæological stratum, composed of an immense quantity of broken bones, reindeer-horns, flint implements, worked objects of bone and horn, ashes, charcoal, and other refuse of human habitation. This heterogeneous mass lay in a hollow, covering about 106 square metres, which Dr Fraas believed to have been artificially scooped out by the occupants of the station. A remarkable feature of its contents was the presence here and there of thin layers of Arctic mosses, the predominant species being Hypnum sarmentosum and Hypnum grœnlandicum. Dr Fraas thinks that it was to the influence of these mosses that so many bones and horns were preserved, as in other parts of the débris where they were not present the osseous remains were very much decayed.

Of the fauna represented, the reindeer was by far the most abundant, the number of individuals being estimated at several hundreds. Out of these bones a complete skeleton had been constructed (though, of course, not the bones of one individual), which now adorns the Stuttgart Museum. The other animals represented by their bones were the horse, ox, hare, and (very sparingly) the glutton, bear, wolf, Arctic fox, and swan. The absence of the dog and red-deer may be noted.

More than six hundred flint objects, mostly in the form of lance-heads and knives, were found, chiefly in the lower strata,