refuse at Solutré[1] in the valley of the Saone, above Lyons, and the implements at Chez-Pourré, in the commune of Brive,[2] show that encampments were found in the open air close to water at the same spot year after year. The habit of camping in the open air must have been the rule rather than the exception, because caverns and rock-shelters are only met with in very limited areas, and generally at some distance from the most fertile plains, where game would be most aburidant. The rarity of subaerial refuse-heaps compared with those in caves and under rocks may be explained by the greater liability of the former to be destroyed by the rain, frost, and other atmospheric agents, even wearing away or rearranging the surface soil. Probably the huts were formed of branches of trees, or of skins, like the summer tents of the Eskimos; and the same materials may have been used for making the caves and rock-shelters more comfortable.
Domestic Pursuits.—No Pottery.
From these refuse-heaps we can make out the domestic pursuits of the Cave-men as distinguished from their hunting, fowling, and fishing. The game brought home to the rock-shelter or cavern was either roasted or cooked by means of hot stones or "pot-boilers." Flint flakes were used for dividing the meat, and the bones were broken for the sake of the marrow. Some of the scoops (Fig. 56) have probably been used as marrow spoons.
