An instinct of art also appears to have manifested itself in the human race at this extremely ancient date. Thus, one of the articles picked up in the sepulchral cave of Aurignac consisted of a canine tooth of a young cave-bear, perforated so as to allow of its being suspended in some way or other. Now this tooth is so carved that no one can help recognising in it a rough outline of some animal shape, the precise nature of which is difficult to determine, although it may, perhaps, be the head of a bird. It was, doubtless, an amulet or jewel belonging to one of the men interred in the cave, and was buried with him because he probably attached a great value to it. This object, therefore, shows us that some instincts of art existed in the men who hunted the great bear and mammoth.
Fig. 32.—Carved and perforated Canine Tooth of a young Cave-Bear.
We shall close this account of the valuable discoveries which were made in the sepulchral cave of Aurignac, by giving a list of the species of mammals the bones of which were found either in the interior or at the exterior of this cavern. The first six species are extinct; the others are still living:—
The great cave-bear (Ursus spelæus); the mammoth (Elephas primigenius); the rhinoceros (Rhinoceros tichorhinus); the great cave-lion (Felis spelæa); the cave-hyæna (Hyæna spelæa); the gigantic stag (Megaceros hibernicus); the bison, the reindeer, the stag, the horse, the ass, the roe, the wild boar, the fox, the wolf, the wild-cat, the badger, and the polecat.
We think it as well to place before the eyes of our readers the exact forms of the heads of the three great fossil animals found in the cave of Aurignac, which geologically characterise the great bear and mammoth epoch, and evidently prove that man was contemporary with these extinct species. Figs. 33, 34, and 35 represent the heads of the cave-bear, the Rhinoceros tichorhinus, and the megaceros or gigantic stag; they are taken from the casts which adorn the great hall of the Archæological and Pre-historic Museum at Saint-Germain, and are among the most curious ornaments of this remarkable museum.
Fig. 33.—Head of a Cave-Bear found in the Cave of Aurignac.