Page:Palæolithic Man and Terramara Settlements in Europe.djvu/300

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226
ANTHROPOLOGY

cave of Font-de-Gaume belong to a later period than the engravings of Combarelles, founding this opinion on the frequency in the former of the figures of the bison, and the rarity of those of the reindeer and mammoth (ibid., p. 238.)

Altamira.

This cave is situated on the summit of a hill of cretaceous rock, with the entrance facing the north, and affording peeps of the sea, from which it is distant some 3 kilometres. On

figure(s): 78

FIG. 78. Plan of the Cavern of Altamira. (Drawn by M. Harle in 1903.)

.

Total length of cavern, 280 metres. A, entrance; B, vestibule, with habitation, debris, and fallen rooks; C, chamber on left, with paintings on roof; D, fallen rocks; K, gallery on right, opening into chamber, F, from which a cascade of stalagmite, with sculptures, Q, descends to the left, to the chamber H, adorned with red figures; I, gallery, with fallen rocks; J, a dome-like chamber ; K, vast cascades of stalagmite; L, a navelike chamber, communicating with J by two openings ; M, a shallow well filled by later materials than the age of the pictures ; N, terminal passage.

entering, there is a vestibule half-filled with fallen rocks overlying a heap of shells, broken bones, and other kitchen débris ; and on the left there is a spacious chamber, 40 metres by 10 metres, described on the plan as salle "aux grandes fresques," on account of the number of figures of animals engraved and painted on its roof. The accompanying plan and descriptive references (Fig. 78) give all necessary details