Abstract
CAVE EXPLORATION AT LESPUGUE, FRANCE.—Cultural and chronological relations of some importance have been establihed excavations in the Grotte de Gouërris at Iespugue, which have been carried out by Comte de Saint Périer, and are described by him in L'Anthropologie, T. 37, Nos. 3-4. The cave was first discovered by Miss D. Carrod. When excayated it wa found to contain three leveh of occupation. Of these the latest was neolithic, when the cave was not used as a dwelling-place but solely for purposes of burial. Traces of fire have been discovered, which probably points to the preparation of funeral feasts in the cave. No signs of the habitation-sites of the people using the cave for burial purposes have been found in the neighbourhood. Of the two preceding occupation levels, the earliest was that of a paheolithic people, who, it is suggested, made no prolonged stay. Probably they were hunters following the herds of reindeer of which the remains are abundant. They belonged to an early stage of the Magdalenian epoch when the harpoon was still unknown. They appear to have been related to the population of Perigord rather than that of the Pyrenees. After a period which allowed of a con- siderable deposit of stalagmite, they were followed by a people of low culture. The climate by then had become warmer and more moist. This people, as is indicated by their culture, belonged to the very beginning of the transition period. There are many Magdalenian types of implement. The harpoons are not of the typical Magdalenian style, yet they have not yet attained the Ailian form with teeth on both edges. A comparison with Mae dAzil establishes the position of this culture as between the latest Magdalenian stratum at 1[as d'Azil (Couche D of Piette) and the stratum E in which the coloured pebbles and the full-fledged Azilian culture were found. Thus Piettes contention that the large flat harpoon with unilateral barbs belonged to quite the beginning of the transition period is not only supported but also is given greater precision in date.
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Research Items. Nature 120, 598–600 (1927). https://doi.org/10.1038/120598a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/120598a0