tinues to be uniform to the top of the section. The female skeleton, therefore, found by de Villeneuve at a depth of 1.9 meters from the surface is Quaternary, belonging probably to the close of the Magdalenian epoch. It has certain negroid characters, such as relatively long forearms and thighs. The slight parieto-occipital flattening suggests the Cro-Magnon type, while in some respects it is not unlike the neolithic dolichocephals.
The reindeer is associated with three successive cultural epochs—Aurignacian, Solutréan, and Magdalenian, respectively. All three epochs are probably represented at the Grotte des Enfants, I'll which case the negroid skeletons might be considered as of Aurignacian age. Immediately below were remains of Elephas antiquus. It may be recalled that at Krapina, the latter was associated with a Mousterian industry and skeletal remains of the Homo primigenius type.
The human skeletal remains from the Grotte des Enfants are all referable to the reindeer period, the transitional Asylian epoch not being represented there. Thanks to the researches of Dr. R. R. Schmidt[1] in the cavern of Ofnet, a number of human skulls dating from the Asylian have been brought to light. Stratigraphically, Ofnet is, after Sirgenstein, one of Germany's most important paleolithic stations. An instructive section of the deposits is reproduced in plate 18, taken at a point just inside the entrance to the cavern. On account of its great weight, the fallen stone at the top had protected this portion of the floor deposits from earlier exploitation. The first two layers are sterile. In the third and fourth, Schmidt found an industry typical for the middle and upper Aurignacian in association with an Equus fauna, including the lemming. The fifth layer marks the appearance of a pure early Solutréan culture, with a continuation of Equus fauna. The lemming reappears at the base of the sixth deposit, which is surmounted by a characteristic upper Magdalenian industry.
The horizon that interests us most is the seventh, called by Schmidt "Mesolithik," and coordinate with the Asylian. The layer is only about 5 centimeters thick except at two points where pockets are formed that reach to the level of the Solutréan deposit. The compact earth in these pockets was impregnated with red ochre, and in each was a circular group of human crania covered with powdered ochre. All the crania, twenty-seven in one group and six in the other, were placed so as to face the setting sun. A large majority in each group were skulls of females and children, there being in all but six male skulls. The burials of the heads without the bodies were made while the flesh was still on as the lower jaw and one or several cervical
- ↑ Die vorgeschichtlichen Kultiuren der Ofnet. Bericht des naturwissenschaftl. Vereins für Schwaben und Neuberg (E. V.). 85, 1908.
