Page:Palæolithic Man and Terramara Settlements in Europe.djvu/95

Rh Préhistorique). Of these objects, No. 4 is an ivory pendant; 10 and 11 are broken lance or dart points of reindeer-horn; 1-3 are broken flint blades of the laurel-leaf shape; 8 is made of agate; 15 represents the body of a species of deer sculptured in stone (Solutré); 16 represents the largest of the unbroken flint blades found in the Volgu hoard (Saône-et-Loire).

Magdalénien.

The rock-shelter of La Madeleine was situated on the right bank of the Vézère, at the base of a limestone escarpment with an almost vertical face, about 5 metres from the river and only 6 metres above its level. It was completely excavated by MM. Lartet and Christy, and the principal relics found are figured in Reliquæ Aquitanicæ (1865-75). The most characteristic animal represented in its debris was the reindeer, which shows that the climate had still a sub-Arctic character. The air is supposed to have been dry, and unfavourable to the formation of glaciers. The mammoth, though abundant at the commencement of the epoch, was gradually becoming scarce, and towards its close the extinction of the last of the Palæolithic elephants was a fait accompli. From the standpoint of domestic and social economy the dominant features of the Magdalénien epoch were (1) the prominent place given to the manufacture of all sorts of objects of bone, ivory, and horn, with, of course, a corresponding decline in the flint industry; and (2) the development of a remarkable artistic talent which manifested itself in the production of works of art in sculpture, engraving, and even painting. It would appear that the people, when not engaged in hunting and fishing expeditions, occupied themselves by manufacturing such tools, weapons, implements, and ornaments as were indispensable to the due performance of their multifarious occupations.

The Magdalénien people started life, as it were, with a working knowledge of the discoveries and mechanical adaptations of their predecessors; and hence their arts, industries, accomplishments, et hoc genus omne, represent the final outcome of Palæolithic culture and civilisation a subject sufficiently important to require a separate chapter for its consideration. Meantime, I have arranged on Plates VII., VIII., and IX., a