Page:Prehistoric Britain.djvu/99

Rh One of the bone objects, pointed at one end and having a broad split base, is regarded as giving the station its special character. Scattered through the earth were the broken bones of extinct animals, among which were the following: hyæna, cave-bear, cave-lion, woolly rhinoceros, reindeer, Irish elk and mammoth.

Besides the characteristic Aurignac bone point, split at the base for attachment to a shaft, there were various objects of bone, or horn, in the form of pins, pointers and chisel-like instruments with transverse scratchings (marques de chasse), which, according to Breuil, are characteristic of the stations of this epoch. Great progress was also made in the art of working in flint, as shown by the number of new and extremely varied forms of flint implements, often of small size, which were then in use.

5. Solutréen.—The station of Solutré (Saône-et-Loire) was an open-air encampment, having a fine exposure to the south, and sheltered on the north by a steep ridge. The climate was mild and dry, the glaciers were already on the retreat, and the rivers less torrential. The remains of the settlement, covering an area of some 10,000 square metres, are situated just beyond the limits of the cultivated land, and within a short distance of a spring of excellent water.

The special features of the Solutréen stage of culture axe well defined. First of all comes a marked advance in the manufacture of flint