Page:Palæolithic Man and Terramara Settlements in Europe.djvu/217

 CHAPTER VIII

The Caves of Grimaldi.

famous caves of Grimaldi are situated a little to the east of the town of Mentone, on the Italian side of the frontier, in a massive escarpment of Jurassic limestone, known locally as Baoussé-Rousse, or Balzi Rossi (red rocks). Here the rocks protrude on the Mediterranean, with an abrupt front, presenting at irregular intervals a series of wide fissures or rock-shelters. They are all nearly on the same level, viz., 27 metres above the sea, from which they are separated by a shelving plateau 15 to 35 metres in breadth. The construction of the railway from Nice to Ventimiglia in 1870 entailed a deep cutting through a portion of the talus in front of some of the caves, which brought to light hearths and other evidences of human habitation. These discoveries fortunately attracted the attention of archaeologists and led to a long series of investigations, the results of which it is now my duty to describe as briefly as possible.

According to M. Boule (C.A.P., 1906, p. 58) the number of caves hitherto more or less explored are nine, which, counting from west to east, are thus numbered and named :

No. 1. Grotte des Enfants.— So called from the discovery of the skeletons of two children in it by M. Emile Rivière in 1874-5.

No. 2. Abri Lorenzi.— So named after the curator of the Anthropological Museum of Monaco.