Page:Prehistoric Britain.djvu/68

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PREHISTORIC BRITAIN

not the earliest in Europe which has yielded remains of human industry. In his classification (Le Préhistorique dans L'Europe Centrale) he tabulates below the Chelléen, deposits called Strépyien, Mesvinien, Reutelo-Mesvinien ou Mafflien, and Reutelien. The Elephas antiquus is made to be contemporary with the last three deposits, and the mammoth appears on the scene with the Strépyien. Besides, M. Rutot has altered de Mortillet's well-known classification by changing the nomenclature without almost any change in the substance, thus bringing unnecessary confusion into the subject. He founds his theory upon the stratigraphical position of the objects and the degree of rudeness in their manufacture.

Among the human remains found in the Belgian caverns are two finds of capital importance, viz, the Naulette mandible and two skeletons known as Les Hommes de Spy. The former (Fig. 7) was found at a depth of 4⋅50 metres in the débris of the Trou de la Naulette, near Dinant, and though only a fragment, it presents certain characters which differentiate it from the corresponding bone in modern races, notably in the absence of the chin and the size of the socket for the third molar tooth. The latter will be discussed in the next chapter.

France.—On entering the Dordogne district we are on classic ground as regards the home of Palæolithic man in France. Here, on the rocky banks of the Vézère, are some thirty caves and rock-shelters, which have yielded