In the valley of the river Meuse (Belgium), and its tributaries, have been found a number of caves and rock-shelters. It was in the caves of the Meuse that Schmerling made his explorations. When the real value of his work was recognized, the Belgian government had a thorough exploration made by M. Dupont, director of the Royal Museum in Brussels. This gentleman scientifically examined forty-three of these resorts. His opinions, therefore, are deserving of great weight; but, unfortunately, they are not accepted by all. These caves vary greatly in size—many being mere rock-shelters. From their position, we are at once struck with the prolonged period of time necessary to explain their formation. They are found at very different heights along the river’s bank. In one case two caves are so situated that the river must have sunk its bed nearly two hundred feet between the time of their formation.9
M. Dupont thinks the evidence very clearly points to the presence of two distinct stages in cave life—one of which he calls the Mammoth period, and the other, which is more recent, the Reindeer. It is, however, known that the mammoth lived all through the Reindeer epoch, if not to later times; so the names bestowed on these periods do not seem very appropriate. We can readily see, however, that, while the names might be wrong, the two periods might be reality. In many cases, the same cave contained remains of both stages, separated by layers of cave earth, and it is noticed that, in such cases, those of the Reindeer stage are invariably of a later date. In general terms, M. Dupont finds that the implements of the Mammoth period are of a rude make, consisting of a poor kind of flint, and poorly finished. But, in beds of the Reindeer epoch, the flint implements consist, principally, of well-shaped blades and flakes—with numerous bodkins, or awls—javelins, or arrow-heads —besides articles of bone and horn such as harpoons, and teeth of various animals drilled as if suspended for ornaments. Their workmanship indicates decidedly more skill than that of the implements obtained from the lower levels. But the most remarkable finds of the Reindeer epoch consist of portions of reindeer horn, showing etchings or engravings which have been traced by some sharp point, no doubt by a flint implement. One small bit of horn has been cut or scraped so as to present the rude outline of a human figure.
So far the evidence seems to bear out the same conclusions as do those of the British caves, though it also shows that the men of the Drift inhabited caves quite extensively. We must remember, however, that the greatest wealth of cave relics belongs to the so-called Cave-men, but that savage tribes have always resorted to caves as a place for occasional habitation.10
It is in France that we find the greatest wealth of relics of Cave-men. Sir John Lubbock has left us a description of the valley of the Vezère, where these caverns occur. The Vezère is a small tributary of the Dordogne. “The rivers of the Dordogne run in deep valleys cut through calcareous strata: and while the sides of the valley in chalk districts are generally sloping, in this case, owing probably to the hardness of the rock, they are frequently vertical. Small caves and grottoes frequently occur: besides which, as the different strata possess unequal power of resistance against atmospheric influence, the face of the rock is, as it were, scooped out in many places, and thus ‘rock-shelters’ are produced. In very ancient times these caves and rock-shelters were inhabited by men, who have left behind them abundant evidence of their presence.
“But as civilization advanced, man, no longer content with the natural but inconvenient abode thus offered to him, excavated chambers for himself, and in places the whole face of the rock is honey-combed with doors and windows, leading into suits of rooms, often in tiers one over the other, so as to suggest the idea of a French Petra. Down to a comparatively recent period, as, for instance, in the troublous times of the Middle Ages, many of these, no doubt, served as very efficient fortifications, and even now some of them are in use as store-houses, and for other purposes, as, for instance, at Brantome, where there is an old chapel cut in solid rock.
“Apart from the scientific interest, it was impossible not to enjoy the beauty of the scene which passed before our eyes, as we dropped down the Vezère. As the river visited sometimes one side of the valley, sometimes the other, so we had at one moment rich meadow lands on each side, or found ourselves close to the perpendicular and almost overhanging cliff. Here and there we came upon some picturesque old castle, and though the trees were not in full leaf, the rocks were, in many places, green with box and ivy and evergreen oak, which harmonized well with the rich yellow brown of the stone itself.”11
Thus it will be seen this valley has been a favorite resort for people at widely different times, and amongst others, the cave dwellers of the Paleolithic Age. As in the caves of Belgium, some of them are at a considerable height above the stream, while others are but little above the present flood line. Mr. Dawkins refers us to the results of the exploration of a French scientist in one of the grottoes of this section, which seem to be exactly similar to the results obtained from the caves of Cresswell Crags and Kent’s Cavern. The implements obtained from the two lower strata are rough choppers and rude flakes of jasper and other simple forms. Above these beds was a stratum of black earth, underneath a sheet of stalagmite. Here were found implements of a far higher type: those of flints, consisting of flakes, saws, and scrapers, with finely chipped heads and arrow-heads, and awls and arrow-heads of bone and antler.12 Now these results can only be interpreted as were those in the English caverns. The lower and ruder implements belong to the men of the Drift; the later and more polished ones to the Cave-men.
