Page:Annualreportofbo1906smitfo.djvu/482

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378
QUATERNARY HUMAN REMAINS IN CENTRAL EUROPE.


THE STATION OF WILLENDORF, LOWER AUSTRIA.

Willendorf is a village on the Danube, twelve hours' journey up the river from Vienna. Traces of paleolithic man were discovered in the loess deposits to the east of the village as the earth was being removed for making brick.

The archeologically important layer, preserved in part to this day, extends like a dark ribbon in the yellowish loess at the depth of about 4 meters below the actual surface of the soil. It is separable into three strata, of which the lowest is the richest in human remains. In this horizon were found thousands of flint implements, which showed all the types of the superior paleolithic culture, with two exceptions. It also yielded some points of horn and bone. The objects showing man's work were scattered about a very extended group of fireplaces.

The cotemporary fauna is typical of the loess, consisting of Elephas primigenius, Rhinoceros tichorhinus, Bos priscus, Rangifer tarandus, Capra ibex, Equus cahallus, etc. This deposit furnished thus far. according to J. N. Woldřich, but a single human hone, a fragment of a femur.

THE STATION OF PŘEDMOST, IN MORAVIA.

In the middle of the large alluvial plain of the stream Bečva and about 3 kilometers east of the city Přerov is a village known as Před- most, and near by is a rocky elevation called Hradisko. The base of this is surrounded with thick layers of gravel and fluvial sands, on which rest 20 meters of loess. At the depth of 2 to 3 meters below the surface of this, Wankel, Maška, and Kříž discovered twenty years ago the remains of a vast human settlement dating from the epoch of the steppes, which belonged to the extreme end of the last interglaciary period. The fauna of this station approaches already that of the last glacial period.

It is certain that man lived at Předmost contemporaneously with the mammoth. The bones of these animals are found not only below and at the same levels with the remains of man, but also above them.

The explorations at Předmost have been carried on in a thorough and scientific manner. The fauna discovered is composed of Felis spelæa, Hyæna spelæa, Canis lagopus, Gulo borealis, Myodes torquatus, Elephas primigenius, Rhinoceros tichorinus, Bos primigenius and priscus, Capra ibex, Ovibos moschatus, Rangifer tarandus, Cervus elaphus, Cervus alces, Equus caballus, and other less typical species. The mammoth is extraordinarily abundant, the bones of at least 800 or 900 individuals having been discovered. Archeological specimens were found in large numbers. The number of flint implements exceeds 25,000; they represent very diverse and often beautiful types of the superior paleolithic culture. The collection of objects from bone, ivory, and reindeer horn is also rich, and includes a series of