Page:Prehistoric Britain.djvu/101

Rh epoch, was situated on the right bank of the Vézère, at the base of a limestone escarpment with an almost vertical face, about five metres from the river and only six metres above its level. It was completely excavated by Messrs. Lartet and Christy, and the principal relics found are figured in Reliquiæ Aquitanicæ. The most characteristic animal was the reindeer, which shows that the climate had still a sub-Arctic character. 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 in Central Europe.

The Magdalénien people started life, as it were, with a working knowledge of the discoveries and mechanical inventions of their predecessors; and hence their arts, industries, accomplishments, etc., represent the final out- come of Palæolithic culture and civilization. In the debris of their stations are to be found the perfected results of the application of mechanical principles to the improvement of the tools and implements requisite for the accomplishment of their daily avocations. Their principal occupation was the chase, the produce of which constituted their staple food; and to capture the big game of the neighbourhood in sufficient quantity entailed the use of a variety of new and improved weapons. One characteristic feature of the age was the practical knowledge that bone, ivory and reindeer-horn were better materials