Page:Palæolithic Man and Terramara Settlements in Europe.djvu/265

Rh man was a mere animal with social organisations little above those of his simian ancestors. Now, for the first time, were laid the germs of human institutions founded on the lines of practical utility. When the exigencies of climate compelled the river-drift men to seek shelter in natural caves they unconsciously took the first steps in founding the Home and Household menage. Clothing the person became a necessity to prevent its being frozen up. The disappearance of subtropical fruits made hunting their principal means of livelihood, and cooking the flesh of these animals became a recognised domestic duty. During this epoch their stock of tools and manufactured accoutrements necessary for their daily avocations were greatly increased, both in number and variety. The coup-de-poing was almost entirely discarded, and its place taken by a large flake, worked at first only on one side, known in recent times as le grand éclat Levallois. "It is," says M. Commont (Congres Préhist. de France, 1909, p. 130), "especially large and thick. It is not rare to find flakes measuring 15 to 18 centimetres (6 to 7 inches) in length and 2 to 5 centimetres in thickness at the heel-end (PI. III., No. 3). It is the inferior type in the Moustérien levels of Montières which has been found in the lower rolled gravels on the brink of the river. We find the type of Saint Acheul at the base of the ergeron, and in certain of the plateau stations (Beauval, le Boisiere, Caix en Sauterre, Fitz-James) associated with coups-de-poing." The title of M. Commont's instructive paper is "L'Industrie Moustérienne dans la Region du Nord de la France," and in it he describes and figures a number of the "Levallois flake." It is the typical implement in the cave of le Moustier, and some excellent specimens from it are figured in Reliquiæ Aquitanicæ. As a workable tool the "Levallois flake" was an improvement on the coup-de-poing, presenting a sharper cutting edge and requiring less labour in its manufacture. Along with it in the Moustérien stage of culture were saws, scrapers, lance-points, all of which were utilised in carrying on the work of the establishment.

In 1906 Dr Henri Martin discovered among the Moustérien débris in the station of La Quina (Charente) several portions