PREHISTORIC REMAIMS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1634, 28 December 1912, Page 6

PREHISTORIC REMAIMS.

■ STATUETTES 12,000 YEARS OLD. Count Bcguen has communicated to the French Academy of Inscriptions an interesting account of discoveries made 'by him in the cave, of J?uc-d-Audoubert, in the Department of Ariege. He said:— "At one place the low-roofed passage seemed completely blocked by pillars of stalactites' from floor to ceiling, but behind the passage looked as if it was prolonged. Aly sons did not hesitate to break down tho columns and to . malts a small burrow beyond, through which wo managed to orawl. At the end of this gallery, more than 700 yards, from the entrance to tlw cavern proved up against fragments of rock fallen'from'above,'we found two clay statuettes measuring about 21 inches, almost intact, and representing bisons. "In drying the clay-had slightly cracked, and some of these. cracks run right across, but as they are supported against the rock, they have kept .together.' Only the tip of the right horn and the tail of the cow have fallen, and lie at its feet. The artist of 12,000 years ago has treated his subject in bas Tclief. Only, one side, tho right, is finished; the other; which is stuck against the rock, is-barely indicated. On the clay can be plainly seen the traces left by the modelling hand, and on the ground betwosu the two animals pellets of clay still boar the imprints of fingers." Before reaching tho spot 'where he found these statuettes, Count Beguen passed through many subterranean galleries, whose floors wero paddled with thousands of traoks of bears mixed with a few human footprints. Count Beguen - suggests that; this may have bean a species of temple, or rendezvous for ritual ceremonies and dances, 6Uch as may bo seen to-day amongst the savago tribes of Africa. It is tho first time that clay_ statues have been found of such antiquity, their age being' put by some of the savants at 20,000 years. Not only did some extraordinary luck save tho fragile relics from the falling rocks, but it is remarkable that the medium of clay should have beon able to resist so long, and appear'almost as fresh as a week after it left the hands of the artist.