Abstract
Palæolithic Sites of Bourdeilles (Dordogne).—Excavations in rock-shelters and caves in the neighbourhood of Bourdeilles, a village on the banks of the Dronne, 25 km. north-west of Périgueux, have been described by M. D. Peyrony (Mém. 10, Arch. Inst. Paléontologie humaine). The Grotte des Bernous yielded lato Mousterian, followed immediately by Middle Aurignacian, Lower Aurignacian being absent. The closo juxtaposition, and in some instances intermingling, of Mousterian and Aurignacian suggests that here the Mousterian survived while Lower Aurignacian nourished elsewhere, and was driven out by Middle Aurignacian tribes. The Fourneau du Diable furnished a stratification of Aurignacian, Solutrean, and Hallstat, while on the terraces lying above there were three horizons of Solutrean. Many objects found were unique, such, for example, as a haft of reindeer horn socketed to take a stone implement, and a collection of coloured pebbles arranged in a quadrilateral figure. The latter, it is suggested, may have been fastened to some material, such as wood or leather, which has perished, and have been used as a dance rattle. The cultures of Bourdeilles throw new light on a number of questions. The development of the flint industry of the Solutrean can here be followed in detail and the first appearance observed of the implements, such as daggers and tho feuille de saule, which were the forerunners of the weapons of neolithic times. From the evidence at Bourdeilles it is concluded that for a long time different peoples lived side by side and finally coalesced to adopt a single culture. This view is borne out by the occurrence, in what is virtually the same cultural horizon, of Chancelade man with his Eskimo characters and tho man of Laugerie Basse, a Nordic type.
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Research Items. Nature 130, 316–318 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/130316a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/130316a0