Page:Palæolithic Man and Terramara Settlements in Europe.djvu/188

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132
ANTHROPOLOGY

discovery of Palæolithic burials in the Grimaldi caves and elsewhere containing grave-goods precisely similar to those of the Cro-Magnon interment.

L'Homme écrasé de Laugerie Basse.

On the other side of the Vézère (right), and about a dozen kilometres farther up than Les Eyzies, are the two famous stations of Laugerie Basse and Laugerie Haute. Here the rock-shelters are large and the fallen débris particularly abundant, owing to weathering. Laugerie Basse is a large station, and has been more or less excavated by Lartet and Christy, Vibraye and Massénat, all of whom had amassed

A, the skeleton; B B, blocks of fallen rocks; B B' B", Lower rocks, beneath which the gallery was excavated ; F F, Palæolithic hearths ; T T, ancient level of talus, cut down to make a sheepfold.

Figure(s): 35


FIG. 35. Section of the Rock-shelter of Laugerie Basse, showing the position of the crushed skeleton, A. (After R. Aquitanica)

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collections of interesting relics from it. Towards the end of the winter 1872 Massénat found a human skeleton under the following circumstances. After clearing away the usual Magdalénien deposits to a depth of 1.25 metres, there appeared a confused heap of blocks which had evidently fallen from the roof. Below this came another deposit of the débris of occupation, consisting of Magdalénien relics, hearths, charcoal, etc., in which the skeleton was found. The body lay on its left side with the knees bent upwards in front of the breast ; the left hand was under the parietal bone, and the right lay on the neck with the elbows almost touching the knees. The bones