Page:Prehistoric Britain.djvu/119

Rh It may be observed that the flatness which is characteristic of these harpoons is due to the fact that the texture of red-deer horn is spongy in the interior, and consequently it is only the outside of the horn that can be used in their manufacture. On the other hand, the harpoons of the Palæolithic period have round stems and conical butts, with two projecting knobs close to the butt-end for keeping the string from falling away when the harpoon becomes detached from the handle.

Similar evidence is derived from a study of the post-glacial deposits of the rock-shelter of the Schweizersbild, which have yielded to Dr. Nüesch not only relics of the hunters who frequented this shelter, but remains of the animals on which they feasted, in sufficient abundance to enable experts to make out a complete list of the ordinary fauna of the period. It has been shown that, during the occupancy of this rock-shelter by man, there had been a gradual transition from an Arctic to a temperate climate. The contents of these deposits indicate that the locality had been a constant rendezvous for bands of roving hunters from the Palæolithic period down to the Bronze Age.

Among inhabited sites which fall into the category of transition stations are the famous Kjøkkenmøddings of Denmark, and the recently discovered lacustrine settlement in the peat-bog of Maglemose (formerly the bed of a lake) in the island of Zeeland. The industrial remains on both these stations