Page:Prehistoric Britain.djvu/252

244 while others were restricted to brachyeephalic types. A large majority of them, however, included long, intermediate, and short types of skulls in various proportions. The two most remarkable stations which contained only long skulls were the caverns of L'Homme-Mort and Baimaes-Chaudes, both situated in the department of Lozère. The details of their exploration and osseous contents have been recorded by Drs. Broca and Prunières.

In the cavern of L'Homme-Mort there were nineteen skulls sufficiently well preserved to furnish the necessary measurements. The cephalic indices of seventeen of these varied from 68⋅2 up to 76⋅7, and of the other two they were 78⋅5 and 78⋅8. There were, therefore, no brachycephalic skulls in this sepulchre, so that the race was comparatively pure. It may also be mentioned that some of the crania had been trepanned—a feature which, though at first overlooked, subsequently became the subject of much interest to anthropologists. The animal remains were those of the Neolithic epoch, but among them were none of the reindeer, horse, ox or stag. Among the relics were a lance-head and a portion of a polished stone axe. Drs. Broca and Prunières were of opinion that the individuals whose remains were consigned to this ossuary belonged to an intermediate race, who flourished in the Transition period, and thus became connecting links between the people of the reindeer caves and the dolmens.