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PREHISTORIC EUROPE

BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
THE GREAT IGE -AGes,
AND ITS RELATION TO THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN.

Second Edition, Revised.

Demy 8vo, cloth, with Maps and Illustrations. Price 24s.

PREHISTORIC EUROPE

A GEOLOGICAL SKETCH

By JAMES GEIKIE, LL.D. FBS.

OF H.M. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF SCOTLAND

AUTHOR OF THE ‘GREAT ICE AGE’

MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON
EDWARD STANFORD, 55 CHARING CROSS, S.W.
1881

PREFACKH.

—>—.

THE object of these pages is to give an outline of what appear
to have been the most considerable physical changes experienced
in our continent since the beginning of the Pleistocene or
Quaternary Period. Several general works, by some of our
most accomplished geologists and archeologists, have already
dealt with the subject in part, and it is impossible, therefore, that
a new essay in Post-tertiary geology can avoid discussing certain
evidence which is perhaps sufficiently familiar even to non-
specialists. But none of the treatises referred to quite covers
the ground I have endeavoured to occupy. While some of my
predecessors have examined the evidence principally from the
point of view of the archeologist, and others from that of the
paleontologist, my aim has been to describe in a more system-
atic manner than has hitherto been attempted that succession
of changes, climatic and geographical, which, taken together,
constitute the Historical Geology of Pleistocene, Postglacial, and
Recent times.

In a former work (The Great Ice Age) I have already dis-
cussed some of the questions which form the subject-matter
of the present volume, and to a certain extent, therefore, the
latter may be considered as supplementary to its predecessor.
The two works, however, are quite independent. The Great Ice

vi _ PREFACE.

Age is for the most part occupied with a somewhat detailed
description of the Glacial deposits, and an exposition of the prin-
ciples upon which these are interpreted. It gives only a meagre
account of the cave- and river-accumulations which have yielded
traces of man and the Pleistocene mammals, while the more
recent deposits, with the exception of those of Scotland, are
passed over with merely a few general remarks. This mode of
treatment was necessitated by the object I had in view, which
was to point out to English geologists that in their endeavours
to arrange chronologically the ossiferous and Paleolithic accu-
mulations sufficient attention had not been paid to the results
which had accrued from a study of Glacial and Interglacial
formations. And I sought by a rigid analysis of the evidence
to show that the Paleolithic deposits, which had hitherto
been classed by them as of Postglacial age, could not possibly
belong to so late a period, but ought to be referred to Inter-
glacial, and probably in part also to Preglacial, times. The plan
of my former work, however, did not allow of so full a treat-
ment of this part of the subject as its importance demanded, and
the preparation of the present book was forthwith commenced,
with the view of supplying such deficiency, and of still further
illustrating and substantiating my general argument.

Many questions, which hardly came within the scope of my
previous essay, are here discussed at some length: Chief among
these are the physical changes that characterised the Postglacial
and Recent Period. Since the appearance of Edward Forbes’s
well-known paper on the Geological Relations of the Fauna and
Flora of the British Islands, great advances have been made in
our knowledge of the later chapters of the geological record; and
I have taken advantage of this fuller information to reconsider
some of those questions of geographical and climatic change
which the genius of Forbes suggested. The subject is extremely

PREFACE, vii

fascinating, and deserving of more attention than it has of late
years received. But Mr. Wallace’s important and interesting
work (Island Life), which has just appeared while I pen these
lines, will doubtless give a fresh impulse to the study among
naturalists, and should the present volume assist in the same
direction, I shall feel well repaid for my labour.

The reader will not, I hope, have any difficulty in under-
standing the precise signification I attach to such terms as
“Prehistoric,” “ Pleistocene,” “ Preglacial,” “Glacial,” “Inter-
glacial,” “ Postglacial,” etc. But it may be as well to state here
that I employ the term “Prehistoric” in the same extended
sense as Professor D, Wilson, by whom “it was purposely
coined to express the whole period disclosed to us by means
of archzeological evidence, as distinguished from what is known
through written records.” In the classification adopted by me,
“ Pleistocene” or “ Quaternary ” includes the Preglacial, Glacial,
and Interglacial deposits; while “ Postglacial” is restricted to
those accumulations which belong to a later date than the last
great extension of glacier-ice in Europe—a sense in which it
has long been employed in Scotland, Scandinavia, Switzerland,
and the Continent generally. This differs somewhat from the
classification advanced by certain English geologists, who would
include under the term “Postglacial” many accumulations of
Pleistocene age, which it is the object of these pages to show
are of Interglacial, and not Postglacial, date.

To the many friends and correspondents at home and abroad,
who have kindly satisfied my inquiries and favoured me with
copies of their papers, I would here express my grateful thanks.
I have also to acknowledge my indebtedness to Dr. J. Evans,
who has courteously allowed me to copy from his great work on
Ancient Stone Implements the illustrations which are given in

Plate C. And to Professor T. Rupert Jones similar acknow-

viil PREFACE.

ledgments are due for permission to reproduce those illustra-
tions of Paleolithic Implements which are taken from Reliquic
Aquitanice, and which appear in Plate B. I have further to
thank my friend Dr. Buchanan White for many important
suggestions and much assistance while my work was in pre-
paration. I have enjoyed the great advantage of discussing with
him many of the questions which form the chief subject-matter
of this volume, and his wide and accurate knowledge of the
geographical distribution of plants and animals, which he
generously placed at my disposal, has been of most essential

service.

PERTH, October 1880.

CONTENTS.

ee
CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY : : : : . Pages 1-4
CHAPTER II.

ARCH ZOLOGICAL PERIODS.

Classification of Human Relics—Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age—
Phases of Civilisation—Gradual transition from Stone Age into
Bronze Age,and Bronze Age into Iron Age—Paleolithic and Neolithic
Periods—Palzxolithic Implements—Classification of Paleolithic Cave-
relics—Conditions of life in Paleolithic Period—Human Remains—
Break in Succession between Paleolithic and Neolithic Periods.

5-24

CHAPTER III.
CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD—TESTIMONY OF MAMMALIA.

Geographical distribution of Mammals—Southern, Northern, and Tem-
perate Group—Evidence of Mammalia as to Climate—Present climatic
conditions in Europe, Northern Asia, and boreal regions of North
America—Region of Tundras and Barrens—Arctic Forest Zone—
Annual Migrations in Siberia—Similar migrations cannot take place
in Europe—Influence of the Gulf Stream on European Climate
—Probable effect of its withdrawal—Alternations of Climate during
Paleolithic Period ; 2 : c : 25-43

x CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV.

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD, continuwed—TESTIMONY OF
PLANTS AND MOLLUSCS. ‘

Preservation of land-plants exceptional—Plants in the Travertine of
Massa Marittima in Tuscany—Plants in tufas of Provence ; in tufas
of Montpellier, etc. ; in tufa of La Celle near Paris—Views of Count
Saporta—Plants in tufa of Canstadt—Pleistocene lignite of Jarville
near Nancy ; its plant and insect remains—Mr. Nathorst on Arctic
flora in peat of Switzerland, Germany, etc. ; M. Tournouér on shells
in tufa of La Celle—M. Bourguignat on shells in “ diluvium
gris” of Paris—Shells in tufas of Canstadt ; in English Pleistocene
deposits—Dr. Sandberger on shells and mammalian remains in léss
of Wiirzburg—M. Locard on shells in Corsican breccias—Summary
of evidence : : : : - Pages 44-68

CHAPTER V.
CAVE-DEPOSITS OF THE PLEISTOCENE PERIOD.

Caves of different kinds—Mode of their formation—Absence of Pliocene
organic remains in European caves—General character of cave-accu-
mulations—Commingling of human relics with remains of extinct
mammalia—‘“ Break” between Paleolithic and Neolithic times—
Stalagmite ; its formation and rate of growth—Mr. Pengelly’s obser-
vations on stalagmitic accretion in Kent’s Cavern—Stalagmitic
growth not continuous—Calcified earth, sand, and gravel in caves—
Angular blocks, débris, and breccia in caves—Succession of deposits
in Brixham Cave—Professor Prestwich on the geological history of
that cave—Contemporaneity of man and the old mammalia—Ex-
treme antiquity of Pleistocene Period . 2 - 69-89

CHAPTER VI.
CAVE-DEPOSITS OF THE PLEISTOCENE PERIOD—Continued.

Succession of deposits in Kent’s Cavern—Conditions during their accumu-
lation— Evidence for prolonged duration of Paleolithic Period —
Hyena dens in England—Kirkdale Cave and Wookey Hole—Bone-

CONTENTS. x1

caves never tenanted by man or wild beasts—Victoria Cave, near
Settle in Yorkshire—Succession of deposits in that cave—Glacial
bed associated with Pleistocene deposits—Bone-caves of Belgium—
General succession of deposits in these—Trou du Sureau—Relative
position of Neolithic relics : . : Pages 90-104

CHAPTER VII.

CAVE-DEPOSITS OF THE PLEISTOCENE PERIOD—Continued.

Bone-caves of Belgium—The Trou Magrite—Contrast between lower and

upper deposits—Trou de la Naulette—Human bones associated with
remains of extinct animals—The Cavern of Goyet—The Trou du
Frontal
General conclusions as to caves—Evidence of progress during Paleo-

Age of sepulchral cavity—Caves of Germany and France—

lithic Period—Reindeer period in Belgium and France—Cold
climatic conditions during the closing stage of Paleolithic Period—
Alternations of genial and cold climates in earlier stages of same
period—Break between Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages 105-120

CHAPTER VIII.

RIVER-DEPOSITS OF THE PLEISTOCENE PERIOD.

M. Boucher de Perthes’ discoveries—Professor Prestwich on origin of the

Loss

ossiferous and implement-bearing “ drifts”—Fluviatile origin of the
so-called “ drift”—Erosion of river valleys during Pleistocene times
—Time required for excavation of valleys—Professor A, Geikie on
modern denudation—Flooded condition of Pleistocene rivers—Pro-
fessor Prestwich on relation between ancient river-gravels and loams—
Absence of well-marked river-terraces accounted for—River-ice and
ice-floated erratics—Professor Prestwich on climatic conditions im-
plied by Pleistocene river-deposits—Commingling of different groups
of mammals—Sir C, Lyell’s views—Mr. Darwin on angular gravels
of Southern England . : : ‘ - 121-142

CHAPTER IX.

LOAMY DEPOSITS OF THE PLEISTOCENE PERIOD.

of German geologists—Its distribution throughout Europe—Organic
remains of the léss—Dr. Nehring on loamy deposits of Thiede and

xli

CONTENTS.

Westeregeln—Mammalian and human remains in léss—Changes in
composition of léss—River-gravels and lignite underlying léss—Léss
of Northern France—lIts relation to Diluviwm gris and Diluvium
rouge—Terre & briques and Limon grossier—Fossils of French loss—
Belgian léss—Its organic remains—M. Dupont on Belgian léss and
associated deposits—Tchernozem, or black-earth of Russia—Theories
of the origin of loss—Views of Bennigsen-Férder, Hibbert, Giimbel,
Lyell, Prestwich, Tylor, A. Geikie, Belt—Murchison on origin of
black-earth—De Mercey on origin of French limon—D’Acy’s views
on same—Baron Richthofen’s léss-theory—Mr. Pumpelly’s views.
Pages 143-168

CHAPTER X.

THE GLACIAL PERIOD.

Early views of glacial phenomena—Agassiz’s glacial theory— Glacial

phenomena of Scotland—Origin of rock-striz, roches moutonnées, till
or boulder-clay, etc—Intruded till and great erratics—Direction of
glaciation in Scotland—Glaciation of Ireland; of English Lake
District ; of Lancashire ; Wales, etc.—Glacial phenomena of north-
east of England; of Midland districts and East Anglia— Great
erratics — Glaciation of Norway and Sweden; of Finland and
Northern Russia ; of Germany—Contorted and disturbed rocks
under boulder-clay—Great erratics—Direction of the northern mer
de glace—Course followed by “ under-tow” of ice-sheet 169-206

CHAPTER XI.

THE GLACIAL PERIOD—Oontinued.

Ancient glaciers of north and south sides of the Alps, of the Jura Moun-

tains, of the Black Forest, of the Vosges, of the Carpathians, of the
Ural, of the Pyrenees and the Cantabrian Mountains, of Central and
Southern Spain, of Corsica, of the Apuan Alps, of the Caucasus, of

_ the Lebanon, of the Atlas Mountains—Erratics in the Azores—

Limestone-breccias of Gibraltar—Breccias, etc., of Malta—Loam with
flints of Northern France—“ Head” of maritime districts of the
Channel area— Stanniferous gravels of Cornwall—Glacial phenomena
of North America—Angular earthy débris of North Carolina—Volume
of water discharged from ancient glaciers—Quantity of mud in water
coming from glaciers—Origin of léss and loamy deposits of Rhine,

CONTENTS. xiii

Danube, etc., of Central Europe—Origin of the Tchernozem or
“)lack-earth” of Southern Russia—Objections to Baron Richthofen’s
l6ss-theory—Summary of conditions during Glacial Period.

Pages 207-251

CHAPTER XII.
INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS.

Earliest recognition of interglacial deposits—Interglacial beds of Scotland
—Sections at Hailes Quarry near Edinburgh—Alternating arctic
and genial climatic conditions—Succession of glacial and interglacial
deposits in England—Palzolithic implements in interglacial deposits
at Brandon, Suffolk—Changes of climate during Glacial Period in
British area—Glacial deposits of Scandinavia—Ancient strandlinier
or horizontal rock-terraces of Norway—Theories of their origin—
Their possible interglacial age—Interglacial deposits of Northern
Germany—Section at Rixdorf on the Spree—Section at Démitz on
the Elbe—Interglacial beds at Tempelhof—Boring near the Schwie-
low-See—Traces of interglacial submergence—Glacial and interglacial
deposits of Saxony ; of Holstein and Denmark—Sand, gravel, and
superficial erratics of Northern Europe—Dr. Penck’s views of climatic
and geographical changes—Preservation of beds under till or boulder-
clay. , . 252-296

CHAPTER XIII.

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS—Continued.

Interglacial deposits of Switzerland—lInterglacial river-terraces at Camis-
chollas—Glacial and interglacial deposits near Thoron ; at Diirnten
and Utznach ; at the Bois dela Batie—Interglacial beds of Northern
Italy—Ancient glacier of the Lago d’Iseo—Lacustrine deposits of
the Val Borlezza—Deposits in the basin of Gandino—Lignites of
Leffe—Interglacial age of the lacustrine deposits of Val Borlezza and
Val Gandino—Lacustrine deposits in Val Adrara and Val Forestro
—Deposits in the Upper Val d’Arno—Interglacial deposits of Cen-
tral France—Pumiceous conglomerate and associated deposits at Per-
rier, near Issoire—Glacial and interglacial deposits in the valleys of
the Ain and the Rhone—Successive glacial epochs in the Vosges
mountains — Two glacial epochs in the Pyrenees — Interglacial
deposits at Gibraltar—Probable interglacial age of similar deposits
in Malta : ; ; : . 297-330

XIV

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIV.

CLIMATIC AND GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS OF PLEISTOCENE
PERIOD—-SUMMARY,

Climatic and geographical conditions of Europe during Pliocene times—

Gradual change of climate and commencement of Glacial Period—
Modification of fauna and flora in glacial times—Geographical con-
ditions in Pleistocene Age—Land-connection between Europe and
Africa—Continental condition of British area—Dry land in the
English Channel—Human relics in Pliocene strata—Cut bones in
Italian Pliocene— Human relics in Miocene strata— Geographical
conditions in Europe at the beginning of the last interglacial epoch—
Migrations of plants and animals—Character of interglacial climate
—Geographical conditions at climax of last interglacial epoch—
Gradual deterioration of climate — Geographical conditions towards
close of last interglacial and beginning of last glacial epoch—Last
glacial epoch—NMigrations of plants and animals—Final disappearance
of great glaciers, ete——Distribution of interglacial deposits—Inter-
glacial age of Paleolithic man and mammalia of southern group.
Pages 331-362

CHAPTER XV.

NEOLITHIC, BRONZE, AND IRON AGES,

Difficulty of ascertaining the relative antiquity of Neolithic relics—The

Danish “ kitchen-middens” — Views of Worsaae, Steenstrup, and
Lubbock—Fauna of the “ kitchen-middens ”—Neolithic man—Con-
ditions of life—Shell-mounds of Britain and France—Lake-dwellings
of Switzerland— Dr. Keller on various forms of lake-dwellings—
Human relics—Remains of plants and animals met with in ruins of
lake-dwellings — Conditions of life— Passage from the Neolithic
through the Bronze into the Iron Age—Relics of Neolithic and later
archeological periods in other regions—“ Long-heads” and “ broad-
heads” of British barrows—Celtz, Belge, and Germani—Contrasts
between Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages : : 363-380

CHAPTER XVI.

POSTGLACIAL AND RECENT DEPOSITS OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS,

Physical conditions of late glacial times— Scottish Postglacial beds—

Raised-beaches—Estuarine and river-deposits— Organic remains—

CONTENTS. XV

Submarine forests and peat—Buried forest, etc., of Carse of Gowrie,
ete.—Succession of deposits—Glacial and late glacial accumulations
of 100-feet terrace—Postglacial river detritus—Ancient land-surface
and vegetable remains under Carse-clays—Origin of Carse-clays—
Connection of these clays with torrential gravels—Postglacial deposits
of the Forth valley — Vegetable remains — Kitchen-middens of
45-50-feet beach — Postglacial deposits of the Montrose Basin—Suc-
cession of changes—Date of last elevation of land Pages 381-406

CHAPTER XVII.

POSTGLACIAL AND RECENT DEPOSITS OF THE BRITISH
ISLANDS—Continued.

Larger size of Scottish rivers in Postglacial times—Local glaciers then
reached the sea-level—Recent glaciation in mountain-valleys of
Scotland—Contrasts between glacial phenomena of the Ice Age and
Postglacial times—Examples of postglacial moraines—Interval be-
tween the close of the Glacial Period and the reappearance of local
glaciers in Postglacial Period—Scottish raised-beaches—Peat-bogs of
inland districts—Buried forests in peat-bogs—Correlation of these_
with the submarine forests and peat of the maritime districts—Age
of the Scottish peat-bogs— Alluvial deposits of Scotland— Their
organic remains—Correlation of archzological epochs with geological
stages in Postglacial history of Scotland . . 407-429

CHAPTER XVIII.

POSTGLACIAL AND RECENT DEPOSITS OF THE BRITISH
ISLANDS— Continued.

Submerged forests of English coast—Unconformity between Glacial and
Postglacial accumulations—Submarine forests of Lancashire and
Cheshire—Succession of deposits— General conclusions as to con-
ditions of accumulation—Postglacial and recent deposits of Cornish
coast—Section of Happy Union Works, Pentuan—Sections of Lower
Pentewan Work—Section at Huel Darlington Mine—General con-
clusion as to the succession of changes—Sunk forests and buried
peat of the Fenland—Relation of Fen-beds to glacial deposits—
Character of Fen-beds—General conclusions as to conditions under
which they were accumulated : ‘ : 430-450

xvi

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIX.

POSTGLACIAL AND RECENT DEPOSITS OF THE BRITISH
ISLANDS—Continued.

Correlation of English Postglacial accumulations—Résumé of the evidence

—Raised-beaches of English coasts—Postglacial accumulations of
inland districts—Their unconformability to Glacial and Paleolithic
deposits— English rivers of larger volume in Postglacial times—
Lacustrine alluvia and peat-bogs of England—Their organic remains
—Succession of forest-layers in English peat—Arctic flora at Bovey
Tracey—Postglacial mammals of England—Postglacial and recent
deposits of Ireland—Submarine trees and peat—Raised-beaches—
Neolithic kitchen-middens—Successive tiers of trees in bogs of
inland districts—Mr. Kinahan’s observations on succession of changes
which these imply—Human relics in Irish bogs—Postglacial mam-
malia - : - : ; Pages 451-463

CHAPTER XxX.

POSTGLACIAL AND RECENT DEPOSITS OF THE CONTINENT.

Postglacial and recent deposits of Norway and Sweden—No direct pass-

age from Glacial into Postglacial accumulations—Postglacial shelly
clays, etc.—Character of the molluscan fauna—Contrast between
shelly clays of the east of Sweden and those of Western Sweden and
Norway—Height of Swedish and Norwegian shell-banks above sea-
level— Postglacial freshwater and marine deposits of Finland—Un-
fossiliferous clay and sand above shelly clays of Norway and Sweden
—Postglacial erratics resting on shelly clays of Eastern Sweden—
General conclusions—Submerged peat of Scania—Raised-beaches of
same region—Submerged peat and trees of Denmark ; of Schleswig-
Holstein ; of East Friesland and Holland ; of Flemish coast; of
Somme Valley ; of Normandy and Brittany ; of Arcachon and
Biarritz—Age of the submerged forests of the Channel area—Peat-
bogs of Denmark ; of Norway—Rate of growth of peat—Arctic flora
in Postglacial deposits of Southern Sweden, of Brandenburg, and
other parts of Germany—Peat of Champagne, its organic remains—
Peat-bogs in other regions of Europe—No trace of Paleolithic man
in any Postglacial accumulations—Postglacial deposits of Spitzhergen.

464-498

CONTENTS. xvii

CHAPTER XXI.

CLIMATIC AND GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS OF POSTGLACIAL
AND RECENT PERIODS—-SUMMARY.

Genial conditions in Southern Scandinavia—Mediterranean molluscs in
Northern Seas—Southern forms in Gulf of St. Lawrence—Condi-
tion of Northern Sea in latest glacial epoch—Immigration of South-
ern species in postglacial times— Migration of arctic flora in late
glacial and early postglacial times—Edward Forbes on origin of
British fauna and flora—Contrasts between Britain and Ireland—
Large postglacial lake occupying bed of Irish Sea—lIreland derived
its fauna and flora partly by way of Scotland—Genial climatic con-
ditions—Former greater range of forests—Trees in peat of Ferdée
Islands and Norway—Peat with pine on shores of Wellington Chan-
nel— Origin of floras of Ferde Islands, Iceland, and Greenland—
Former connection of those regions with Europe in postglacial times
—Traces of former genial conditions in Kurland—Gradual disap-
pearance of genial climate and submergence of land in north and
north-west—Formation of 50-feet beach of Scotland—Local glaciers
and swollen rivers—Cold and humid conditions, and increase of peat-
bogs—Retreat of sea and amelioration of climate—Second great
forest-growth—Second peat-forming period—The Present—Southern
Europe in postglacial times—Date of advent of later Prehistoric races.

Pages 499-538

CHAPTER XXIL

CONCLUSION.

XVili CONTENTS.

became of Paleolithic man—Professor Dawkins’s views—Objections
to his hypothesis that the Eskimo are of the same race as Paleolithic
man—Views of M. Quatrefages and other French savants—Climatic
and Geographical conditions of Postglacial Period —Age of the
archeological periods—Dr. Croll’s theory of the cause of glacial and

interglacial climatic changes—Conclusion : Pages 539-562
APPENDIX.

PAGE

Note A.—Table of Sedimentary Formations : 5 . 563

Note B.—Map of Europe at the Climax of the Ice Age . . 564

Note C.—Europe in Early Postglacial Times (First Age of Forests) 568

LIST OF PLATES.

PLATE A.—Patzo.itrHic IMPLEMENTS : . To face page 12
PLATE B.—Map or Guactat System or LAKE Iszo mp 304
PLATE C.—Nnro.itHic IMPLEMENTS : : i 372

PLATE D.—Map or Europe at THE CLIMAX OF THE
Ick AcE . ; ‘ : 3 564

PLATE E.—Evrore in Earty PostauactaL Times
(First AcE or Forzsts) . : =A 568

PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

==
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.

THERE is no chapter in the geological history of Europe more
interesting than that which deals with the physical aspect and
condition of our continent in prehistoric ages. What appear-
ance did our mountains and valleys then present? Was
Europe as extensive in those old times as it is to-day? Are
the shores upon which our seaport towns are built the same
as those along which wandered the earliest races of mankind ?
With what tribes of animals and plants were our ancient
predecessors associated, and under what conditions of climate
did they live? To answer all these and other subsidiary
questions as fully as one might, would involve the consideration
of a much wider range of evidence than it is possible to discuss
adequately in the compass of these pages; nevertheless such an
outline of facts and inferences may be given as shall serve to
afford some notion of the mode in which a geologist views the
subject. It is as well to state at once, however, that there is a
large class of facts which might properly enough come under our
attention in a work like the present, but which I do not purpose
to treat of specially. These have reference to the more or less
local changes and modifications of the coast-line, brought about
B

2 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

by the erosive and denuding action of waves, breakers, and
tidal currents, and by the increase of deltas. Neither do I
mean to give any account of those limited earth-movements,
which have here and there raised and depressed certain mari-
" time districts of no great extent. Such geographical changes as
I shall refer to are those which have aided most considerably
in producing the present distribution of our fauna and flora.
And so with changes of climate, attention will be confined to
those which can be proved to have been more or less general,
and which in conjunction with great oscillations of the sea-
level have left abiding traces, not only in the living world, but
upon the features of the land itself.

It is well known that when we try to trace the history of
any nation back into the past, we sooner or later come to a
period of myth and tradition, beyond which all seems impene-
trably dark. If, for example, we take the case of Britain, how
meagre, doubtful, and obscure, does the story become after it
has carried us back to the days of the Romans! We may be
able to determine with more or less probability whence the
people came who were natives of Britain at the time of the
Roman invasion; but beyond that, who can venture into the
dark and hope to pick his way securely? It is just here, how-
ever, where myth and tradition fail us, that the archeologist
and geologist step forward to point out that all is not so irre-
coverably lost as historians at one time believed. We know
now that many long centuries before the advent of the Romans,
our islands were occupied by a people whose knives and swords
were fashioned of bronze; we know further that this people
was preceded by a race or races ignorant of the use of metals,
who lived during several considerable changes of climate and
_ oscillations of the sea-level; and we have also learned that at
a still remoter period, our country and the neighbouring parts
of Europe were tenanted by tribes of yet ruder barbarians,
during whose occupancy several extensive geological mutations
occurred. It is from a consideration of the extraordinary
vicissitudes of climate and the very considerable changes in the

INTRODUCTORY. 3

configuration and outline of the land which have taken place
within the human era, that geologists have been led to assign a
far higher antiquity to man’s first appearance than the old
chronologies would allow.

When the announcement was made some years ago that
rude stone implements of undoubted human workmanship had
been discovered in certain alluvial deposits in the valley of
the river Somme, under circumstances which argued for the
human race a very great antiquity, geologists generally received
the news with incredulity. That the advent of man was an
occurrence merely of yesterday, as it were, and a matter to be
discussed properly by chronologists and historians alone, most
of us until lately were taught to believe. So ingrained, indeed,
had this belief become, that although evidence of the antiquity
of our race similar to those subsequent French discoveries, which
succeeded at last in routing the sceptical indifference of geologists,
had been noted from time to time in England, and especially
by Schmerling in Belgium, yet it was only noted to be explained
away, and in point of fact was persistently neglected as of no
importance. :

Doubt had been cast upon the conclusions drawn from
certain evidence supplied by the English caves, and it was not
till 1858, when Brixham Cave was explored under the auspices
of the Royal and Geological Societies of London, that English
geologists abandoned their preconceived notions as to the
improbability of man and many extinct mammals having co-
existed in Britain. Meanwhile, M. Boucher de Perthes, a
zealous and enthusiastic French antiquarian, had been insisting
for more than twenty years upon his discovery of “ antediluvian ”
human implements and mammalian remains in undisturbed
natural accumulations of loam, sand, and gravel near Abbeville.
But all his insistence had been in vain—his fellow-countrymen
paid little or no regard to his tale of wonder. It was not till
1859 that attention was at last directed to the enthusiastic
Frenchman’s discoveries by Dr. Falconer, and later on by Mr.
Prestwich, Mr. Evans, Sir C. Lyell, Sir J. Lubbock, and other

4 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

English geologists, who were enabled to confirm to the fullest
extent Boucher de Perthes’ observations.

It is curious to reflect now that while British geologists
were flocking to the Somme valley to inspect the discoveries
there, similar “finds” of human implements and associated
mammalian remains had already been made in England ‘itself
many long years before—namely in 1715, 1800, and 1836. But
these had attracted no attention, and indeed had been completely
forgotten. Let it be remembered also that to the late Dr.
Schmerling of Liége belongs the honour of having been the
first to show (in 1833), that man and the extinct mammalia
were’ contemporaneous, although his work lay neglected and
ignored for a quarter of a century. Such it would seem is the
fate of those who publish “unwelcome intelligence, opposed to
the prepossessions of the scientific as well as of the unscientific
public.”* The Rey. Mr. MacEnery had arrived about the same
time as Schmerling at similar results, and was engaged in the
preparation of a memoir descriptive of his discoveries, when
death cut short his labours, and his MS. was lost sight of for
many years. Both Schmerling’s and MacEnery’s work was con-
fined to cave exploration, but Boucher de Perthes we have to
thank for opening our eyes to quite another line of evidence in
favour of the great antiquity of our race. Since the recognition
of the importance of his discoveries, rude stone implements
commingled with the remains of extinct mammals have been
found in British caves, and in certain ancient river-deposits in
the south-eastern counties of England, as also in similar
positions in many localities on the Continent; so that we no
longer doubt that, in ages long anterior to our own, certain
tribes of cave-dwelling savages, and many large mammalian
animals, which are now either locally or wholly extinct, were
- in joint occupation of Britain and the Continent. And the
more closely the evidence is considered, the farther into the

past does the period at which these cave-men lived seem to
recede,
1 Lyell, Antiquity of Man, 4th edit., p. 71.

ARCHEOLOGICAL PERIODS. 5

CHAPTER II.

ARCHAOLOGICAL PERIODS.

Classification of Human Relics—Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age—Phases of
Civilisation — Gradual transition from Stone Age into Bronze Age, and
Bronze Age into Iron Age—Paleolithic and Neolithic Periods—Palzolithic
Implements—Classification of Paleolithic Cave-relics—Conditions of life in
Paleolithic Period—Human Remains—Break in Succession between Palo-
lithic and Neolithic Periods.

EVERY one is aware that human relics of great antiquity occur,
more or less abundantly, in many parts of Europe. Some of
these can be referred to the early dawn of historical times;
others have been hesitatingly assigned to still more remote
periods, of which the only records that survive are supposed to
be certain semi-mythic legends and poetical traditions ; and how
much of these we should believe it is hard to say. There are
many antiquities, again, that belong to a time so far removed
from our own, that history and tradition alike fail to tell us
anything about them. We find only the relics themselves, and
from these, and their position and mode of occurrence in or upon
our soils and subsoils, we are left to discover what we can of the
life-history of the people to whose former presence they testify,
and to gather what information we may in regard to the physical
conditions under which these people lived, and the geological
mutations that have taken place since they passed away.

The antiquities referred to are of many kinds—dvwelling-
places, sepulchral and other monuments, forts and camps, and a
great harvest of implements and ornaments of stone and metal.
In seeking to classify these relics and remains according to their

6 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

relative antiquity, archeologists have selected the implements
and ornaments as affording the most satisfactory basis for such
an arrangement, and they divide prehistoric time into three
periods, which are termed respectively the Stone Age, the Bronze
Age, and the Iron Age. Of these periods the earliest was the
Stone Age, when implements and ornaments were formed ex-
clusively of stone, wood, horn, and bone. The use of metal
for such purposes was then quite unknown. To the Stone
Age succeeded the Age of Bronze, at which time cutting-
instruments, such as swords and knives and axes, began to be
made of copper, and an alloy of that metal and tin, When in
the course of time iron replaced bronze for cutting-instruments,
the Bronze Age came to an end and the Iron Age supervened.
This classification has received the strongest support from inde-
pendent geological investigations, and is now generally accepted.
But apart altogether from these and other considerations, the
arrangement suggested by archeologists must commend itself to
every one who shall give the subject any attention. Those at
all events who believe in the progressive development and
improvement of our race will readily admit that a long time
must necessarily have elapsed before men acquired the art of
reducing metals from their ores. It is most natural to suppose
that in the earliest times stones chipped or ground to an edge
would continue for an indefinite period to be used for all kinds
of purposes. The smelting of ores implies a further advance on
the road to civilisation. But it seems at first sight strange that
the use of bronze should have preceded that of iron, the ores of
which are so much more abundantly and widely diffused than
those of copper and tin. The former, however, though more
plentiful, are, as Sir John Lubbock remarks, much less striking
in appearance than those of copper. Moreover, while copper is
often found in the metallic state, iron very seldom occurs in
that condition, being met with only in meteorites. The extreme
malleability of copper would also be as much an advantage as
the intractable nature of iron would be a disadvantage to the
primitive makers of weapons and tools.

ARCHHZOLOGICAL PERIODS. 7

How the alloy of tin and copper came first to be used we can
only conjecture. Sir John Lubbock suggests that the ores of
tin may have early attracted notice on account of their great
heaviness. However this may be, it was probably quite by
accident that an alloy of tin and copper came to be made. But
when it was found that such a mixing of the metals produced a
material much better adapted for cutting-instruments, we may
be sure that the results of such a happy accident would soon
become noised abroad.

From the fact that implements of pure copper are rarely met
with in Europe, it has been inferred that the art of making bronze
was introduced into our continent before copper came to be used.
The rarity of copper implements, however, may be partly owing,
as General Lane Fox has suggested, to their having been subse-
quently converted into bronze, when the advantageous properties
of the alloy came to be generally recognised.

Just as it might have been inferred that the age in which
bronze implements were made would prove to be of more recent
date than the primitive period when man fashioned all his
weapons and tools of stone, horn, bone, and wood, so we might
reasonably conclude that the art of working intractable iron
would be acquired later on than that of beating native copper
into shape, and of forming instruments of the easily-cast alloy
of copper and tin. And this, as archeologists assure us, is pre-
cisely what took place—an Age of Iron succeeded to one of
Bronze.

From these few remarks it will be seen that the archeological
periods are simply so many phases of civilisation, and it is con-
ceivable that Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages might have been
contemporaneous in different parts of one and the same con-
tinent. But although there is nothing inherently improbable in
such a supposition, nevertheless it has been perfectly well ascer-
tained that, so far as Europe is concerned, a true Stone Age to
which the use of metals was quite unknown endured through-
out the continent for a period so prolonged that we can but
vaguely grasp its immensity. And it has likewise been proved

8 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

that long after the knowledge of bronze had become general in
Europe, our ancient predecessors continued through many cen-
turies perfectly ignorant of the use of iron.

It is not to be supposed, however, that the close of the
Stone Age was marked by the total abandonment of stone for
bronze implements. On the contrary, stone continued to be
used for some kinds of implements far on into the Bronze Age,
and even down to historic times. Indeed the substitution of
metal for stone cutting-instruments might have been very
slowly effected in some parts of Europe; and one can readily
believe that in certain countries bronze might come to be almost
exclusively employed for such purposes, while elsewhere it
remained much longer either only partially in use or quite
unknown. One can hardly doubt, for example, that long after
the natives of Southern Europe had commenced to cut and stab
their enemies with bronze swords and daggers, and to decorate
their own persons with trinkets of the same alloy, the inhabitants
of the wild mountain-valleys of Scotland and its outlying islands
might still be living in a “Stone Age.” It must be under-
stood, therefore, that there was no abrupt transition from an
age in which only stone implements were used to one in which
bronze was exclusively employed. Moreover, it would be a
mistake to suppose that the Stone and Bronze Periods of one
country are necessarily strictly contemporaneous throughout
with the similar stages in the archeological history of all other
parts of Europe. It is quite possible that the closing scenes of
the true Stone Age in North-western Europe may be synchron-
ous with the earliest stage of the Bronze Period in the south-
east of the Continent. This would necessarily follow if it be
the case, as many archeologists believe, that the knowledge of
metals was introduced from the East. The difference in point
of antiquity, then, between the commencement of the Bronze
Age in two such countries as Greece and Britain, let us say,
would simply be measured by the length of time the natives of
the latter country remained ignorant of bronze after those of
the former had acquired a knowledge of that alloy. But that

ARCHZOLOGICAL PERIODS. 9

time, however long it may have been, is much too trifling to be
taken into consideration when periods of such duration as those
of archeology are being dealt with. Moreover, the passage
from the true Stone Age into the Bronze Age may have been
actually somewhat sudden, if, as is not altogether improbable,
metallurgical knowledge came in with one of those great folk-
waves which have successively swept over Europe. But in
whatever manner that knowledge was acquired it is certain
that, long after cutting-instruments of bronze had come into
use in every region of our continent, stone implements con-
tinued to be employed for many purposes, and are found com-
mingled with relics of bronze in the “finds” that belong to
that period. Thus the presence of a single bronze weapon, if
it occur along with relics of stone in such a way as to leave
no doubt that it was buried along with them, is sufficient
proof that the relics in question cannot pertain to the true
Stone Age. And for the same reason we must not assign any
assemblage of bronze implements to the Bronze Age, however
numerous they may be, if a single iron implement has been
found in like manner along with them. For just as stone
implements were largely made use of long after the knowledge
of casting bronze had been acquired, so bronze continued to
be employed, especially for trinkets and ornaments, far on into
the true Iron Age.

With the aid of these ancient stone and metallic implements
it has now become possible to ascertain the relative age of
many other interesting objects of antiquity, such as stone circles,
and other megalithic monuments, barrows, forts, camps, dwelling-
places, and so forth. For example, if upon examining some
sepulchral chamber, such as usually occurs in the so-called
barrows, we should find only bronze implements, or a mixture
of these with relics of stone, and if there was no appearance of
the place ever having been disturbed since the stones and earth
were heaped above it, we should conclude that the interment
belonged to the Bronze Period. But if one or more instruments
of iron occurred amongst the others we should refer the burial to

Io PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

a later age. Our conclusion would be still further strengthened
if, after examining a large number of similar interments, we
should find that they all possessed many features in common.
Again, should our explorations discover not a trace of either
iron or bronze, and should the implements and ornaments we
come upon consist exclusively of stone, horn, and bone, the
presumption will be in favour of the true Stone Age of the
“find.” And this presumption will gather strength according
to the number of those discoveries we make. It would be an
additional argument in favour of such “finds” pertaining to the
Stone Age if amongst the implements cutting-instruments were
well represented. Of course there are other and additional
methods of ascertaining the relative antiquity of these and pre-
historic remains generally, but the methods referred to will
necessarily come before our attention when we are considering
the mode of occurrence of these remains from a geological point
of view.

With the Bronze and Iron Ages the geologist has compara-
tively little to do; for we shall find in the sequel that the
Europe of the later Bronze Period was very much the same as
it is to-day. No great geological revolutions have come about
in our continent since then, and hence these pages will be
occupied chiefly with an account of the climatic and geographical
changes which supervened during the true Stone Age.

It has been found necessary within recent years to subdivide
the Stone Age into two periods, called respectively the Old
Stone and New Stone Ages ; or, to employ the terms suggested
by Sir John Lubbock, and now generally adopted, the Palzo-
lithic and Neolithic Periods. The stone implements belonging
to the older of these periods show but little variety of form,

* It must be borne in mind, however, that now and again a commingling of
implements pertaining to two or more ages may have been brought about in cases
where the same spot was utilised for interments at different times. Thus it is
known that not unfrequently interments of the Stone Age have been disturbed by
subsequent burials in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Hence sometimes we may
have implements belonging to distant and distinct periods confusedly commingled
in one and the same place, just as if they had all been contemporaneous.

ARCHHZOLOGICAL PERIODS. II

and are very rudely fashioned, being merely roughly chipped
into shape, and never ground or polished. The weapons and
instruments of the later period, on the other hand, are extremely
varied in form. They are often beautifully finished, and fre-
quently ground to a sharp point or edge, or polished all over.
But the simplicity and rudeness of its implements are by no
means the only distinguishing characteristic of the Paleolithic
Period. We shall see in subsequent chapters that the relics of
this earlier Stone Age are most frequently met with in positions
that plainly argue for them a much greater antiquity than can
be assigned to the oldest remains of Neolithic times. And not
only so, but Paleolithic man was associated with many great
mammals that became either locally or wholly extinct before
the appearance of his Neolithic successor in Europe. The
animals with which Neolithic man was contemporaneous, be-
long, for the most part, to species that are still indigenous to
our continent—the forms in short are familiar, although not a
few of them are now locally extinct, such as the wild-boar, wolf,
and beaver in Britain, all of which, as is well known, have
vanished within historic times.

Some characteristic forms of Palzolithic implements’ are
shown in the accompanying Plate A, which may be compared
with the drawings of Neolithic implements in Plate C, Chapter
XV. Fig. 1 (Plate A) represents an implement from the lowest
deposit in Kent’s Cave, Devonshire. It has been formed by
operating on a well-rolled nodule of flint, a portion of the
original surface of which is seen at the convex butt-end of the
implement.” The other drawings (Figs. 2-8) represent various
forms of Paleolithic implements. Fig. 2 is a flint implement
found by Mr. Prestwich at a depth of about 20 feet in ancient
river-gravel deposits at St. Acheul, near Amiens. It represents

1¥For a particular account of Paleolithic and Neolithic implements, see Dr.
Evans’s well-known work on Ancient Stone Implements. Excellent figures are also
given in Reliquie Aquitanice ; Sir J. Lubbock’s Prehistoric Times; Lyell’s
Antiquity of Man ; and other general treatises.

2 This figure is copied from an interesting paper by Mr. Pengelly in the
Journal of the Plymouth Institution, read in 1875.

12 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

a form commonly met with in those beds. Figs. 3 to 8 are all
from caves in the Dordogne, and are copied from Reliquie Aqui-
tanice. Fig. 3 was probably used as a drill for piercing holes.
Fig. 4 may have been a lance-head; Fig 5 is a lanceolate tool
or weapon of some sort; and Fig. 6 is evidently a saw. Fig. 7
is supposed to be a harpoon-head, “carved out of antler, broken
at one end, and furnished with a lancet-shaped point (imperfect),
and a single barb at the other.” The carvings represent a horse’s
head, a deer (the head and neck alone being carefully executed),
and what appears to be intended for a fish. Fig. 8 is the handle
of a poniard, shaped as a reindeer. The original illustration in
Reliquice Aquitanice shows the whole weapon—handle and
blade—which are cut out of the beam of a reindeer’s horn.
(With the exception of Fig. 1, which is half the size of the
original, all the drawings represent the actual dimensions of the
objects portrayed.) With regard to the mode in which these
and others were used, only conjectures can be offered. Some
may have been hafted like the stone axes of certain modern
savages; while others may have been held in the hand, and
used as scrapers for dressing skins, for smoothing wooden
handles, and horns, and bones. With some, Paleolithic man
may have grubbed up esculent roots, and others he may have
employed as wedges for splitting wood; while some of the
smaller ones, Dr. Evans suggests, may have been missiles. The
larger ones (Fig. 1, Plate A), which occur sometimes plentifully
in certain ancient river-gravels, have been supposed by Professor
Prestwich to be possibly implements used for cutting holes in
the ice when the rivers were frozen over, for the purpose of
fishing or of obtaining water. Besides these worked tools,
Paleolithic man also used certain stones, such as granite,
indurated red sandstone, and quartzose grit, as hammers or
pounders, probably for mashing roots, breaking and crushing
bones, and other purposes. Such stones usually show the marks
of battering on one or more faces.

It is remarkable that nearly all the Paleolithic worked
implements are formed of flint and chert, and chiefly of the

PLATE.A

PALAOLITHIC IMPLEMENTS

ARCHAZOLOGICAL PERIODS. os

former; the instances of any other kind of stone being extremely
rare. In this respect they differ from those of Neolithic age,
which are formed of many varieties of hard stone, although
flint from its extremely tractable nature was still in general
demand, especially for arrow-heads, and any instrument for
which a cutting edge or sharp point was desired.

Other implements of Paleolithic age are formed of bone and
horn. Among these are harpoon-heads, barbed on one or both
sides, awls, pins, and needles with well-formed eyes. But by

Fig. 1.—Etching of Cave-bear found in the Cave of Massat (Ariége), 4.

far the most noteworthy objects of this class are the fragments
of bone, horn, ivory, and stone, which exhibit outlined and even
shaded sketches of various animals. These engravings have
been made with a sharp-pointed implement, and are often
wonderfully characteristic representations of the creatures they
portray. The figures are sometimes single, in other cases they
are drawn in groups. We find representations of a fish, a
seal, an ox, an ibex, the red-deer, the great Irish elk or deer,
the bison, the horse, the cave-bear (Fig. 1), the reindeer (Fig. 2),
and the mammoth or woolly elephant. Besides engravings, we
meet also with sculptures, a good example of which is shown in
Plate A, Fig. 8.

14 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Fig. 2.—Reindeer, engraved on antler, 3. From the Kesserloch, Schaffhausen (Heim).

It is impossible to say to what use all these objects were put.
Some of them may have been handles for knives, while others
are mere fragments, and only vague guesses can be made as to
the nature of the original implements. It is highly probable,
however, that many of these works of art may have been
designed simply as such, for the pleasure and amusement of the
draughtsman and his fellows. A curious carved implement of
reindeer horn, figured by M. Dupont, is termed by him a “ baton
du commandement,” but is perhaps, as Professor Dawkins has
suggested, an instrument used for straightening arrows, like the
sculptured “arrow-straighteners” of the Eskimo. Besides these
objects, “whetstones” have now and again been met with in
Paleolithic “finds,” and these are supposed to have been used
for imparting the final smoothing and polishing to the horn and
bone implements, and for giving a sharp point to such as
required it. Pieces of iron-ore (red hematite and oligiste),
which occur now and again associated with Paleolithic remains,
are supposed by some to have been used as pigments for painting
the body. Other traces of personal decoration are found in the
presence of shells and teeth of various wild animals, which have

ARCHAHZOLOGICAL PERIODS. 15

been drilled evidently for the purpose of being strung and used
as bracelets or necklaces.

The implements we have been referring to unquestionably
belong to very different stages of the Paleolithic Period. The
simple forms and rude finish of the worked flints seem to
indicate a low type of barbarism, but some are more primitive-
looking than others. The more primitive forms are now and again
found in cave-deposits in positions which prove them to belong
to a very early stage of the Paleolithic Period, while weapons and
tools of more varied design and better make occur at higher levels
in the same caves. From this it may perhaps be inferred that
some progress took place even in Paleolithic times. Attempts
have indeed been made to classify the cave-relics according to
their prevailing characteristics. Thus De Mortillet has arranged
the caves of France in four groups, each of which is distinguished
by certain features which are more or less peculiar to the imple-
ments that belong to it. In his classification we find that the
oldest group embraces those caves which contain what appear
to be the most primitive-looking implements, and in which
worked bones are rarely or never present. Each of the later
groups has its distinguishing characteristics, but it is not needful
for the purpose I have in view to mention these in detail. It
is enough to say that, while implements of bone and horn are
scarce, and no engraved objects occur in the second group, in
the third group lance- or dart-heads and other instruments of
horn and bone are not only far more numerous, but some of
these are engraved with the representations of animals. In the
fourth and youngest group of caves works of art are somewhat
common. It is from the caves of this last group that the
most interesting engravings and carvings have been obtained.
Whether this classification will ultimately be accepted in its
entirety may be doubted, but it appears in the main to be so
reasonable that it has commended itself to many of the most
eminent archeologists.

But although it cannot be questioned that some of the tribes
or races of Paleolithic times were a little farther advanced than

16 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

others—so far at least as the fashioning of their implements is
concerned—it does not necessarily follow that the men who
used the better-made instruments always succeeded in time to
those whose implements are somewhat ruder. It is conceivable
that they may have lived contemporaneously in different parts
of the Continent. “For,” as Professor Boyd Dawkins remarks,
“there is no greater difference in any two of the Paleolithic
caves than is to be observed between those of two different
tribes of Eskimos, while the general resemblance is most strik-
ing. The principle of classification by the general rudeness
assumes that the progress of man has been gradual, and that the
rude implements are therefore the older. The difference, how-
ever, may have been due to different tribes or families having
co-existed without intercourse with each other, as is now
generally the case with savage communities; or to the supply
of flint, chert, or other materials for cutting-instruments being —
greater in one region than another.” However this may be, it
seems at first sight not unreasonable to believe that the artistic
people, at all events, who occupied their leisure time in carving
and engraving those’ wonderful life-like representations of
animals, must belong to a later date than the savages who have
left nothing behind them save flint implements of the rudest
form and a few simple relics of bone. Nevertheless, it is not
impossible that artistic and non-artistic tribes may have co-
existed during Paleolithic times in Europe. Sir John Lubbock
reminds us that “there are still instances among recent savages
of a certain skill in drawing and sculpture being accompanied
by an entire ignorance of metallurgy.” And he refers particu-
larly to the case of the Eskimo, many of whose bone implements
are covered with sketches, representing animals such as reindeer,
geese, and dogs; hunting-scenes, houses, boats, and other sub-
jects. The contrast between the artistic and non-artistic relics
of the Old Stone Period, therefore, may point rather to ethno-
logical peculiarities than to any difference in the relative anti-
quity of the remains. But even with all these possibilities kept
in view, there are certain other circumstances which lead to the

ARCHAOLOGICAL PERIODS. 17

conclusion that the artistic tribe or people really pertained to
the closing stage of the Paleolithic Period. The consideration
of this question, however, must be deferred to a subsequent
chapter.

Fragmentary as are the relics of the Paleeolithic Period, they
yet enable us to form certain conclusions as to the conditions of
life in that far past age. The men who carved the bone and
ivory implements appear to have been a race of fishers and
hunters. The reindeer, the musk-sheep, the mammoth, and
other animals, were slain by them in the chase, and they pro-
bably clad themselves in the skins thus obtained. No trace of
any vestment has been preserved, as indeed could hardly have
been expected, but the presence of numerous bone needles shows
that tailoring of some kind was in vogue. The bone awls were
probably used for piercing holes in the tougher skins, an opera-
tion for which perhaps the needles were hardly strong enough.
The latter would thus be used simply for carrying the thread,
which, on the analogy supplied by modern races like the Eskimo
and the Lapps, we may reasonably conjecture was formed of
sinews. “ A bone pin (3? inches long), which was found in
Kent’s Cave, is supposed by Dr. Evans to have been employed’
as a fastener of the dress. It bears a high polish, he says, as
if from constant use. It is probable also that the artistic tribes
wore gloves, for we have what appears to be the representation
of a long glove with three or four fingers, etched upon the canine
tooth of a bear found in one of the caves of the Pyrenees. The
earlier Paleolithic races—those who occupied North-western
Europe before the appearance of the art-loving people—have
left nothing to show that they were acquainted with the art of
tailoring. All that we know of them in fact is that they used
rudely-worked flints, and lived on the proceeds of the chase.

We have good reason to believe that the Paleolithic carvers
and draughtsmen, notwithstanding their artistic ability, yet
lived in a low state of barbarism. There is nothing to indicate
that they cultivated the ground, and they seem to have had no
domesticated animals. Neither is there any unequivocal proof

18 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

forthcoming that they were acquainted with the potter’s art.
M. Dupont has indeed recorded the occurrence in certain Belgian
caves of coarse unbaked pottery associated with Palzeolithic
implements, while M. Fraas has described a similar occurrence
in a cave near Blaubeuern in Wiirtemberg, and M. de Ferry
has noted the like in the cave of Vergisson (Sadne-et-Loire).
The caves of Chiampo and Laglio in the north of Italy are also
said to have yielded Paleolithic pottery. It is probable, how-
ever, that in all these cases the potsherds are accidentally pre-
sent, and really belong to a later date than the Palzolithic
implements. Certain it is that no trace of pottery occurs in
the Paleolithic cave-deposits of England or of Périgord—and
those of the latter have yielded the relics of the artistic
people in greater abundance than elsewhere. In the caves of
the south of France the carved and worked implements are not
only very numerous, but they attain a considerably higher
degree of finish than the similar relics which occur in the Belgian
caves. It would be strange, therefore, if the occupants of the
latter should have been familiar with an art which was totally
unknown to the more advanced tribes in the south of France.
Moreover, if it be true (as I will by and by endeavour to prove
was the case) that the last occupation of the Belgian caves dates
back to earlier times than that of the caves of Périgord—that,
in fact, the artistic folk migrated southwards from England
and Belgium to France, carrying their simple arts with them, it
would be more than strange if they had left that of the potter
behind. So useful an art once acquired was certain never to
be lost again. For the present, then, it seems most reasonable
to conclude with Sir John Lubbock and others that Paleolithic —
man appears to have been unacquainted with the art in question.

Whether the tribes of the Old Stone Period had any polity
or social organisation we cannot tell. Some writers have indeed
supposed that the more richly engraved and carved implements
were state arms, and these, it has been conjectured, might belong
to chiefs. But all this is mere guess-work. Again, it has been
inferred from the fact that ornaments, implements, and arms

ARCHAOLOGICAL PERIODS. 19

have been found in association with certain skeletons which
seem to have been interred in late Paleolithic times, that the
artistic people had some belief in a future state, and looked
forward to happy hunting-grounds beyond the grave. It has
even been suggested that some of the small perforated objects
found in many Paleolithic deposits may have been worn round
the neck as amulets, thus suggesting the existence of a belief in
unseen powers; and M. Piette has gone so far as to conclude,
from the appearance presented by the ornamentation on one of
these “amulets,” which may possibly have been meant to repre-
sent the sun, that the artistic folk of the Pyrenees worshipped
that body. Whether these surmises are true or not future
explorations may perhaps decide; but it is obvious that the
simple facts admit at present of other and less elaborate
explanations.

Paleolithic man was unquestionably a true troglodyte, the
caves which he is known to have inhabited being very numerous.
In these we frequently come upon the old blackened hearths,
round which the people gathered to cook and eat their meals;
and the abundance of bones, split as only man could split them,
testifies to the liking of the ancient savages for savoury marrow.
No doubt, however, they did not live continually in caves, but
in following the chase must often have camped out in the open
field. And now and again such old camping-places have been
detected, buried underneath more or less thick accumulations of
flood-loam and sand. It is highly probable also that Palzeolithic
man may have constructed rude huts or tents when caves were
_not within reach, and on some occasions he may even have
occupied temporary snow-houses, like those made by the
Eskimo. We can hardly doubt that the character of his dwell-
ings would be determined to a large extent by the nature of the
climate. If this were mild and genial he may have wandered
about during the greater part of the year in the pursuit of
game—sheltering at night and during storms under trees or
hastily improvised coverings of branches and rushes; while for
the winter season he may have retired to some more permanent

20° PREHISTORIC EUROPE. .

abode—and for this purpose caves would be well suited. But
if the climate were severe—the summer being short and the
winter prolonged—then of course a permanent dwelling-place
would be more necessary. And it is evident from various
circumstances that the artistic tribes, at all events, occupied
caves as regular places of abode all the year round, issuing from
them on hunting expeditions, and returning to them to feast
upon the spoils. In bad weather they probably stayed at home
and occupied their time in the manufacture of implements, as
we may infer from the frequent presence in the cave-accumula-
tions of numerous flint flakes, cores, and chips, and imperfect or
unfinished tools. But the artistic folk sometimes at least
wandered far afield. This is shown by the drawings of seals and
a large cetacean which have been discovered in certain Pyrenean
caves, and by the presence in the same caves of sea-shells, some
of which have come from the Atlantic coast and others from
the Mediterranean. We may therefore be quite sure that the
Palzolithic reindeer-hunters occasionally visited the sea-shore,
or carried on a kind of traffic with coast-dwellers.

Of the people themselves we know comparatively little, for
very few skulls and skeletons have been preserved. From this
circumstance it has been supposed by some that Paleolithic
man did not pay much respect to his dead—an inference which,
whether true or the reverse, is certainly not entirely proved by
the evidence. For, even if burial had been a common custom
among the Paleolithic tribes, so many changes have taken place
since their disappearance—the surface of the ground has been
so greatly remodelled by the action of frost, rain, and running-
water—that we could hardly expect now to meet with any trace
of their remains, or the graves in which these may have been
laid. The only places where bones or complete skeletons are
likely to have been occasionally preserved are caves and lake-
and river-deposits. But caves, as we have seen, were in request
as dwelling-places, and it is only such as were unfitted for this
purpose that would possibly be used for interments. Again, as
man would naturally be more wary than the animals by which

ARCHAEOLOGICAL PERIODS. 21

he was surrounded, he would only at rare intervals be drowned
in lakes and rivers, or fall a victim to inundations. Considera-
tions such as these should lessen our surprise that remains of
Paleolithic man are not more frequently encountered.

Isolated bones, and now and again skulls, and skeletons
more or less complete, have been met with in a number of caves.
Among the most famous of the crania is that found by Dr.
Fuhlrott in a limestone-cave in the Neanderthal, near Hochdal,
between Diisseldorf and Elberfeld, and the Engis cranium, dis-
covered by Dr. Schmerling in a cave near Liége, where it was
associated with bones of the cave-bear. Some French caves
have more recently furnished similar remains. Of these the
best known example is that of the rock-shelter of Cro-Magnon,
in the valley of the Vézére, in which were found the bones of
three men, a woman, and a child, described by MM. Broca and
Pruner Bey. The complete skeleton of a man was likewise
obtained by M. Riviere in a cave near Mentone, and M. Massé-
nat made a similar discovery at Laugerie-Basse. MM. Lartet
and Chaplain-Dupare also record the occurrence of a human
skull along with Palzeolithic implements in the Cave of Duruthy,
near Sorde, in the Western Pyrenees. In several of the Pyren-
ean caves, as in that of Gourdan, human bones of Paleolithic
age appear to have been not infrequently met with. Some of
these were probably interred, others from their broken condition,
and the marks upon them of blows and cuts or stabs, doubtless
tell of violent death. Thus in the cave of Gourdan, M. Piette
discovered several fragmentary skulls which bore evident indica-
tions of such treatment, and he infers that they are probably the
remains of men slain in fight, whose heads were cut off and
brought to the cave, where the brains may have been taken
out and mixed in some kind of pottage, as is the custom of
certain modern savages. But there is no evidence to show
that Paleolithic man was a true cannibal. Amongst the
enormous quantities of bones of various animals which occur
in the cave-deposits, and which have been split to extract the
marrow, those of man are never found in that condition, a

22 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

strong proof that human flesh formed no part of a Paleolithic
repast.

In fluviatile and lacustrine alluvia remains of Paleolithic
man are of much rarer occurrence than in caves, They have
been recorded, however, by various observers from the ancient
léss or flood-loam of the Meuse and the Rhine. Professor
Crahay of Louvain, so far back as 1823, described a human
lower jaw which was dug up along with abundant remains of
mammoths during the process of excavating a canal between
Maestricht and Hocht. The jaw occurred underneath a depth
of nineteen feet of ancient river-accumulations. M. Ami Boué,
in the same year, disinterred human bones from the undisturbed
flood-loam of the Rhine at Lahr, and the same deposit at Eguis-
heim, near Colmar, has yielded to the researches of Dr. Faudel
a notable cranium, which was found at a depth of eight or nine
feet. A human skull was got in flood-loam of the same age at
Mannersdorf, and similar discoveries of human remains have
been made at Clichy, in the valley of the Seine, and at Grenelle,
in the valley of the Somme. Again, Professor Cocchi mentions
that at Olmo, near Arezzo, in the valley of the Arno, a cranium
was obtained, at a depth of nearly fifty feet, in lacustrine marl,
and the tusk of an extinct species of elephant (Zlephas meri-
dionalis) occurred a few feet higher up in the same deposits.

Various and contradictory views have been held by anthro-
pologists as to the character of the type or types of Paleolithic
man, but, according to the recent researches of MM. de Quatre-
fages and Hamy, two dolichocephalic (long-headed) races occu-
pied Europe during the Old Stone Period. Of these the earliest to
appear was what they term the “Canstadt race,” which is repre-
sented by crania found in the Neanderthal, the Val d’Arno, the
Pyrenees, etc. This race was characterised by the more or less
extraordinary prominence of the superciliary ridges, and by a low,
narrow, and receding forehead. The orbits were very large and
almost circular, the nasal bones were prominent, and the nasal
orifices wide, while the upper jaw projected and the chin
retreated, “In short,” says M. de Quatrefages, “the face and

ARCHAOLOGICAL PERIODS. 23

cranium of the Canstadt man must, as a rule, have pre-
sented a strangely savage aspect. The body appears to have
harmonised with the head. The few bones of the limbs, pre-
served more or less intact, indicate a stature of only 1 m. 68 to
1 m. 72 (5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 8 inches), yet their proportions
are athletic.” The second race is called by the same anthro-
pologist the “Cro-Magnon race”—the skull of the old man
found in the rock-shelter at that place being taken as the
type. This race was marked by its finely-proportioned skull,
which is distinguished from that of the Canstadt type by its
large and prominent forehead, and well-arched cranial vault,
and by the absence of strongly-marked superciliary ridges.
The upper part of the face was very broad in proportion to the
lower, the nose projected boldly forward, as did also the upper
jaw, and the slightly-triangular chin, The race was tall, and the
bones indicate remarkable strength and muscularity. M. Hamy
gives 5 feet 10 inches as the mean height. The Cro-Magnon
woman measured 5 feet 5:3 inches, the old man of the same
place 5 feet 11°6 inches, while the Mentone man was as much
as 6 feet 0°8 inches. It is to this race that the artistic hunters
of Périgord and the Pyrenees belonged.

I have incidentally referred to the fact that Paleolithic
_man was contemporaneous with the mammoth and other extinct
or migrated species. The fauna of the Old Stone Period differed,
as we shall see by and by, very much from that of the succeed-
ing Neolithic Age. Among the animals were lion, hyena,
elephant, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, mammoth, bear, musk-sheep,
glutton, reindeer, urus, and others, which are either locally or
wholly extinct. The Neolithic fauna, on the other hand, com-
prised a group of animals essentially the same as that which
now occupies Europe. Thus, the Paleolithic is marked off, as
it were, from the Neolithic Period not only by the very distinct
character of its human relics, but also by the strong dissimi-
larity of its mammalian remains. We can trace a gradual
passage from Neolithic times into the succeeding Bronze Age,
but no such transition has yet been detected between the relics

24 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

of the New and the Old Stone Periods. The implements of the
two periods in question are sharply contrasted. Even in the
rare instances where the forms of the implements are analogous,
a practised observer will readily detect a difference in the work-
manship. In the exceptional cases referred to, “the difference is
such,” as Dr. Evans remarks, “that though possibly a single spe-
cimen [of Neolithic age] might pass muster as of Palzolithic
form, yet a group of three or four at once strikes an experienced
eye as presenting other characteristics.” Theimplements of the
one period are never found commingled with those of the other,
nor do the characteristic faunas of the two ages ever occur
together in one and the same undisturbed deposit. This remark-
able circumstance must be kept in view when we are speculating
on the lapse of time that separates the Neolithic from the Paleo-
lithic Age. It will be my endeavour in the sequel to point out
what seems to me to have been the cause of that gap or hiatus,
but before doing so there are many other lines of evidence which
I have yet to indicate ; among these, not the least important is
the question of climate. It is evident, indeed, that until we
ascertain what kind of climate characterised the Paleolithic
Period, we can form but a vague idea of the conditions under
which the men of Canstadt and Cro-Magnon lived. In the
two following chapters, therefore, I propose to discuss this ques-
tion, taking for my data the mammalia and the land plants and
mollusca which are found in those Pleistocene deposits to which
Palzolithic man likewise belongs.

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 25

CHAPTER IIL

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD—TESTIMONY OF MAMMALIA,

Geographical distribution of Mammals—Southern, Northern, and Temperate
Group—Evidence of Mammalia as to Climate—Present climatic conditions in
Europe, Northern Asia, and boreal regions of North America—Region of
Tundras and Barrens—Arctic Forest Zone—Annual Migrations in Siberia—
Similar Migrations cannot take place in Europe —Influence of the Gulf
Stream on European Climate—Probable effect of its withdrawal—Alterna-
tions of Climate during Paleolithic Period.

AmonG the most remarkable animals which are now well known
to have been contemporaneous with Paleolithic man in Europe
are the lion, the hyena, the serval, the Caffer cat, the hippopo-
tamus, the rhinoceros, the elephant, the mammoth, the woolly
rhinoceros, the musk-sheep, and others. Besides these there
were many species which still inhabit our Continent, but their
range at present is greatly restricted as compared with what it
was in the Old Stone Age. It is this latter circumstance, indeed,
that forms one of the most remarkable characteristics of the
mammalian fauna of Paleolithic times. We cannot doubt that
the climatic conditions which permitted such a fauna to roam
over Europe must have differed very much from those of our
own day. And this will appear indisputable after we have
taken a glance at the present geographical distribution of some
of the more prominent species. The ossiferous remains occur in
such abundance and in so good a state of preservation that
osteologists have had no great difficulty in recognising those of a
number of animals which still survive in extra-European regions ;
and it is of the utmost importance, therefore, that we should

26 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

consider the present range of such species, as there can be no
question that this will throw considerable ight upon our inquiry.

The Lion (Felis leo)—This carnivore is at present confined
to Africa and the south-west of Asia. Its range in Africa
appears to have been within recent times co-extensive with that
continent, but it has now disappeared from a large part of Egypt
and the Mediterranean coast, and from the Cape of Good Hope,
and the Gaboon and Niger districts. It even lived in Europe
within historical times, for it is stated by Aristotle that the lions
of Thessaly attacked the camels attached to the army of Xerxes,
The maneless lion of Asia, which is only a variety of the African
species, has also been considerably restricted in its range within
recent years. It occurred at one time over wide areas in Central,
West, and North-west India, but is now confined in Hindostan
to the peninsula of Guzerat. It still livesin Asia Minor, and in
Persia, along the borders of the Persian Gulf, it is common. The
Cave-lion (Felis spelea) of the Paleolithic Period was of some-
what larger dimensions than the living African species (F. leo),
and was at one time believed to be a tiger. It had a very wide
range in Europe, its remains occurring in many of the bone-
caves of Sicily, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium,
and England.

The SABRE-TOOTHED TIGER or Lion (Machairodus latidens).
—tThis is an extinct species, belonging to a distinctly southern
type, which has been met with very sparingly in deposits of the
Paleolithic Period. It occurs in what is called the Pliocene
formation,' where it is associated with a number of species that
indicate genial climatic conditions, from which it may be in-
ferred that the climate of England was probably of this character
at the time it lived in England.

The CarFER Cat (Felis caffra) is met with in Egypt and West
and South Africa. In Paleolithic times it was distributed over
a wide area in Europe, extending from the borders of the Medi-
terranean north as far as England.

The Lzoparp (Ff. pardus) had a similar wide range in

1 See Table of Sedimentary Formations, Appendix A.

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 27

Paleolithic Europe; at the present day it ranges over all Africa,
and Southern Asia, Sumatra, and Borneo.

The SERVAL (Ff serval) is a South African species which has
been met with in some of the bone-caves of the Mediterranean
coast, as at Gibraltar.

The Hyana.—There are two species of hyena, the striped
hyena (Hyena striata) and the spotted hyena (H. crocuta).
The former is distributed over a wide area in North Africa and
South-western Asia, while the latter is restricted to South
Africa. Both species have been recognised in the bone-caves of
Europe—the remains of H. crocuta being especially abundant.
The spotted hyzena of Paleolithic times (ZZ. spelea) was of
larger size than its living representative. It ranged over a great
part of Europe, from the Mediterranean up to Northern England,

The ELEPHANT.—Several species of elephant have been met
with in deposits of Paleolithic age. The African elephant (Z.
africanus) has left its remains in Southern Europe, but no trace
of it has yet been found north of the Pyrenees and the Alps.
The remains of an extinct dwarf species (Z. melitensis) occur in
Malta, Sicily, and Candia. It averaged four and a half feet or
so in height at the shoulder.. Associated with this dwarf species
there appears to have been a yet lesser pigmy elephant (Z.
Falconert) as determined by Mr. Busk. The average height of
this animal could not have exceeded two feet six inches to three
feet. Remains of these pigmy species are very abundant in the
eaves and rock-crevices of Malta. Dr. Leith Adams believes
that Malta had even a third species of elephant (Z. mnazdrensis),
the average height of which was about seven feet. An extinct
species of large size (Z. antiquus) is met with frequently in the
bone-caves and ancient river-gravels of Europe. It had a very
wide range—from the Mediterranean north as far as Yorkshire.
It also lived in North Africa. Another extinct form was JZ,
meridionalis, met with in the preglacial deposits of Norfolk, and
Pleistocene alluvia in France and Italy. A most characteristic
species of Palzolithic times was the mammoth (Z. primigenius),
now extinct, which had a most extensive range—its remains

28 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

having been found in nearly every country of Europe. They
have not been met with farther south, however, than Spain and
Central Italy. As every one knows, entire carcasses of this enor-
mous animal have been preserved so perfectly in the frozen
earth of Northern Siberia that we are very well informed as to
its nature. It was of great size, much exceeding the largest of its
modern representatives, and was provided with a covering of long
black hair, mixed at the roots with a thick fleece of reddish wool.

The Hippopotamus (H. amphibius) is confined to Africa,
where its range has been considerably restricted within historical
times, for it formerly abounded in the Delta of the Nile. It is
common to most of the rivers in the south of the Continent,
and is found in the Niger, the Senegal, and the Nile. A smaller
species (HZ. liberiensis) occurs in the River St. Paul, in Liberia.
The remains of a large species (H. major) which is believed to
be identical with the African form (H. amphibius) have been
found in ancient river-gravels and bone-caves in Europe as far
north as Yorkshire. It is remarkable, also, that the bone-caves
of Italy, Sicily, and Malta have yielded the remains of a small
species of hippopotamus (H. Pentlandi) in great abundance.

The Rainoceros.—The living species of rhinoceros are
southern forms, being distributed over Africa south of the
Sahara, and over wide regions in India, Burmah, and Sumatra.
No fewer than four species, all of them extinct, have left their re-
mains in the Pleistocene alluvia and bone-caves of our continent.
Of these the most common is the woolly rhinoceros (R. ticho-
rhinus) a carcass of which was found many years ago (1771) in
frozen ground on the banks of the Vilni, a branch of the Lena.
This rhinoceros had a range probably as extensive as that-of the
mammoth, but hitherto its remains have not been met with south
of the Alps and Pyrenees. Of the three remaining species, 2.
hemitechus (h. leptorhinus, Owen) is the more common; it is found
both in bone-caves and old river-gravels, and ranged north from
the Mediterranean coast as far as Yorkshire. 2. megarhinus is
of much less frequent occurrence, but it ranged north from
Southern Europe into England. &. Merckii (Jaeger and Kaup)

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 29

occurs sparingly in Pleistocene deposits in Middle Europe. It
is possible that two different species have been described under
this name, M. Lartet having been of opinion that R. Merckii
of De Meyer is the same as R. e¢ruscus, Fale., a species found in
the Upper Pliocene. Professor Brandt, again, thinks that R.
etruscus is merely a variety of R. Merckii, Jaeg.

The Bear.—Three species of bear lived in Europe in Palzo-
lithic times, of which only one is now indigenous, namely the
brown bear (Ursus arctos), The others were the grisly bear (U.
ferox), now confined to the west half of North America, and the
great cave-bear (U. spelcus), now extinct, which was nearly
allied to the brown bear. All these had a considerable range in
our continent—the remains of the cave-bear occurring in most
of the bone-caves of England, and being common also in those
_ of Central Europe, while those of the grisly bear are met with
in England, Belgium, Germany, and even as far south as
Gibraltar and Sicily. The brown bear was also a common form
in Central Europe, and its remains occur even in the caves of
Palermo.

The Musk-SHEEP (Ovibos moschatus) is a characteristic Arctic
species, being restricted to Melville Island, Greenland, and the
adjacent regions in North America. Formerly, however, it ranged
into England, Belgium, Germany, and Southern France.

The REINDEER (Cervus tarandus) ranges over a vast region in
North America, Northern Europe, and Siberia, its southern limits
corresponding very nearly to the isothermal line of 32°. It is
gradually being driven north in Europe before the advance of
civilisation, and there are some slight grounds for believing that
it lived in the extreme north of Scotland down to early his-
torical times. Its remains occur abundantly in Paleolithic
deposits over a large part of Europe, even as far south as
Aquitaine in France.

The WOLVERENE or GLUTTON (Gulo borealis) inhabits all
the northern parts of both hemispheres. It spread south in
Paleolithic times to the shores of the Mediterranean (Mentone).

The Arcric Fox (Canis lagopus) which, as its name implies,

30 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

is a truly boreal species, occupying the higher latitudes of Europe,
Siberia, and North America, has been widely met with in
Palzolithic deposits, and appears to have had a range hardly
less extensive than that of the glutton.

The Common Marmot (Arctomys marmotta) and the PoucHED
Marmot (Spermophilus citillus) have a very wide range at the
present day, stretching from Central Europe through Siberia to
North America. They are generally found in mountainous dis-
tricts, and often at lofty elevations, where the climate is neces-
sarily severe. The pouched marmot lived in the low grounds of
Europe as far south as Southern France in Paleolithic times,
and its remains have been detected in English and Belgian caves,
in the latter of which the common marmot also occurs. Remains
of the marmot have also been got at Mentone and in the low
grounds of Piedmont at the foot of the Moncalieri-Valenza hills.

The Lemminc.—Three species of lemming have been re-
corded from Paleolithic deposits, namely Myodes lemmus, Pall.,
the common or Norwegian lemming, J. torquatus, Pall, the
torquated lemming, and JZ. obensis, the Siberian lemming. The
first is a native of Russian Lapland, Norway and Sweden; the
second occurs in circumpolar regions—in Siberia, North America,
and Greenland; while the last-named is met with in Siberia and
Arctic North America. In Paleolithic times lemmings ranged
south to Bohemia, Saxony, Upper Franconia, and Central France.

The Tarttess HARE or PiKA (Lagomys pusillus) is another
living boreal species the remains of which are met with in bone-
caves in England and Belgium. The form JL. corsicanus occurs
in breccia in Corsica, and Z. sardus in cave-deposits in Sardinia.

The [sex (Capra ibex) is found living in the Alps, and an-
other species (C. pyrenaicus) inhabits the Pyrenees; an ibex is
also met with in the mountains of Andalusia. The ibex lived
plentifully in the region of the Jura, the south of France, and
Northern Italy, in Paleolithic times. Great quantities of the
bones of this animal also occur in the Gibraltar caves.

The Snowy VoLE (Arvicola nivalis), now a native of the
higher Alps, formerly lived in the low grounds of Lombardy.

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 31

The CHamois (Antilocapra rupicapra) is another species
which is now restricted to the Alps and the Pyrenees. Its
remains are met with in the bone-caves of Belgium and the
south of France.

Among other animals of the Paleolithic Period in Europe
were the Lynx, the Wild-cat, and other living carnivores, and
the Aurochs or Lithuanian Bison, the Urus, the Great Irish
Deer, the Saiga, the Stag, the Roe, and so forth. Of these the
Great Irish Deer, now extinct, was formerly widely distributed
over Middle Europe, and survived the Paleolithic Period. It is
even supposed by some writers to be referred to in the Niebe-
lungen Lied as the “fierce schelch.” There can be little doubt
that it lived under climatic conditions similar to those that
characterise the temperate latitudes of Western Europe. The
Aurochs or Lithuanian Bison is preserved by the Czar in one of
the forests of Lithuania, otherwise it is no longer feral in
Europe. It still lives, however, in the Caucasus. The Urus
appears to be represented solely by the white cattle of Chil-
lingham and Hamilton, but it exceeded these considerably in
size. Among other species of Pleistocene times whose presence
indicates a temperate climate are Otter, Beaver, Hare, Rabbit,
Marten-cat, Stoat, Weasel, Wolf, Fox, Horse, and others, some
of which have been already mentioned.

Before we proceed to the discussion of the climatic and
geographical conditions of Europe during the Old Stone Age,
it may be well to summarise the results of our inquiries into
the present geographical distribution of those species which are
recognised as still living. We find, then, that the animals
which were contemporaneous in our continent with Palzolithic
man, may be grouped as follow :—

1. SourHeRN Group,’ comprising those species that are now
found living in latitudes south of the Black Sea and the
Mediterranean :—

1 To this group Professor Dawkins adds the porcupine, remains of which have
been met with in the caves of Belgium. It is now a native of Southern Europe,
but ranges south into Africa.

32 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Hippopotamus. Serval.
African Elephant. Caffer Cat.
Spotted Hyzena. Lion.
Striped Hyzena. Leopard."

2. NORTHERN AND ALPINE GROUP, comprising those species
which are now met with only in northern latitudes, or in
mountain-ranges where similar climatic conditions obtain :—

Musk-sheep. Alpine Hare.
Glutton. Marmot.
Reindeer. Spermophile.
Arctic Fox. Tbex.
Lemming. Snowy Vole.
Tailless Hare. Chamois.

3. TEMPERATE GROUP, comprising species which are char-
acteristic of temperate latitudes :—

Urus. Stoat.

Bison. Weasel.
Horse. Marten.
Stag. Wild-cat.
Roe. Fox.

Saiga. Wolf.
Beaver. Wild-boar.
Hare. Brown Bear.
Rabbit. Grisly Bear.
Otter.

Of the extinct species of elephant, we may reasonably infer
that H. meridionalis, EL. melitensis, HE. Falconeri, EF. mnaidrensis,
and LF. antiquus, belonged to the southern group of animals, while
the hairy mammoth may be set down in the northern group,
although it is highly probable that it ranged far into the
territories occupied by the temperate group. The woolly
rhinoceros is so frequently found in conjunction with the
mammoth, that we must regard it also as being essentially a
north-temperate species. The other three species of rhinoceros

1 For fuller details than I have been able to give, the reader is referred to Boyd
Dawkins’s Cave-hunting and Early Man in Britain.

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 33

(R. megarhinus, R. Merckii, and R. hemitechus) were no doubt
members of the southern group, as also were the sabre-toothed —
tiger (Machairodus latidens) and the dwarf hippopotamus (HZ.
Pentlandi). The Irish deer was most probably a temperate
species, and the cave-bear is with some reason also relegated
to the temperate group. Thus of these extinct species, not less
than ten belonged to types whose nearest analogues at the pre-
sent day must be sought for in southern regions.

The animals that were contemporaneous with man in the
Old Stone Age, form, as we have seen, a somewhat motley
assemblage, comprising representatives from many widely
separated zones. Arctic and boreal are strangely commingled
with temperate and southern species, and we may search the
whole living world in vain for any similar concourse of groups
so discordant and unlike. If we confine our attention to the
forms with which we are most familiar, we should say that they
betokened climatic conditions not unlike those of our own and
similar latitudes. But then we are confronted by the northern
species, such as musk-sheep and reindeer, which in Paleolithic
times were distributed over all Northern and Middle Europe as
far south at least as Southern France. Now it is quite im-
possible that these animals could have ranged to this low
latitude unless the climate of prehistoric Europe had differed
greatly from the conditions that now obtain. How could the
climate of France have been other than cold and ungenial
when the reindeer and the musk-sheep were hunted by Paleeolithic
man in the low grounds of Aquitaine? We are reminded,
however, that during the same Old Stone Age, the hippopotamus
and its southern congeners visited England and North-western
Europe ; from which we are surely to infer that those regions
then experienced a mild and genial climate. Thus the evidence
of one group seems to contradict that of the other. The con-
tradiction, however, is only apparent.

Europe, owing to its geographical position, enjoys what may
be termed an insular climate. It is bathed along the whole
western coast-line by the waters of the wide-stretching Atlantic,

34 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

the mild and moist winds from which modify alike the heat of
summer and the cold of winter. And this of course is more
especially the case with the countries of Western and North-
western Europe. As we recede from the Atlantic coast-line,
and pass inland along the -same parallel of latitude to the
central and eastern regions, we find that the difference between
the seasons becomes more and more strongly marked, until
when we cross into Asia we meet with the greatest contrast
between summer and winter. The extremes of temperature
experienced in Europe on the same or nearly the same parallel
of latitude, are well shown by comparing the summer and
winter temperatures of the following places :—

In Northern Asia and the corresponding latitudes of North
America, we encounter ranges of temperature which are greatly
in excess of those that are experienced in Northern Europe.
Thus at Jakutsk the mean temperature of July is + 62°8,
while that of January sinks to —40°4, a difference of as much
as 103°2; yet Jakutsk is in nearly the same latitude as
Aalesund in Norway, where the July temperature only reaches

+ 54°5, and that of January does not fall below + 28°8, a
difference of 24°°7. Again, at Fort Confidence on the shores of
Great Bear Lake, the mean temperature of summer (June, July,
and August), is + 48°2, and that of winter (December, January,
and February) —22°9—a difference of 71°1, or taking the July
and January temperatures, we have for the former + 52°9, and
for the latter —26°°7, giving a range of 79°6. Now Fort Con-

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 35

fidence is in nearly the same latitude as Bodé in Norway, where
the temperature of July is + 54°:5, and that of January + 26°6,
a difference of only 27°9. This greater range of temperature
in Northern Asia and North America naturally affects to a very
considerable degree the vegetable and animal products. Thus,
as every one knows, there are vast tracts in those regions which
are subject to a climate that forbids the growth of trees. In
these wide “barren grounds” mosses and lichens form the
prevailing vegetation, and next to these come grasses, sedges,
and rushes, and dwarf willows. This treeless zone presents a
very irregular margin towards the south. Thus in North
America it descends to Labrador in latitude 57°, from which,
as we follow it across that continent, it gradually rises to
higher and higher latitudes until it reaches the delta of the
Mackenzie River in 69° N. lat. After leaving the Mackenzie,
it trends more towards the south, and terminates on the shores
of Behring Strait in 65° N. lat. On the opposite or Asiatic
coast, the boundary line between the tundras or barrens and the
region of trees begins in 63° N. lat., and sweeps away in a north-
westerly direction till it reaches the Lena in 71° N. lat., after
which it again extends more to the south and crosses the Obi a
little beyond the Arctic Circle. It now sweeps farther and
farther to the north as it traverses Europe, so that only a
narrow fringe of “treeless ground” appears in Lapland and the
north of Russia.

Immediately south of the “barrens” of North America and
the “tundras” of Siberia comes the belt of Arctic forests, which
are composed almost exclusively of coniferous trees. These
forests cover an immense territory, and extend with hardly any
interruption across the three northern continents, forming a zone
which is 15° to 20° in breadth. The limits of arboreal vegeta-
tion are of course determined by climatic conditions, the area to
the north being swept in winter by cold winds coming from the
ice-laden Arctic seas, before the breath of which every green
thing shrivels up. Vast areas of the barren grounds during
that season are covered with thick snow—lake and river and

36 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

morass are frozen—and hardly a trace of animal life is to be
seen. But soon after the return of spring, when the ground
begins to thaw and the snow to vanish, lichens and herbs and
grasses reappear, and the summer heat by and by becomes
almost as intolerable as the winter cold. The tundras are now
enlivened by the presence of great herds of reindeer and other
animals, and by vast flights of wild birds which find a plentiful
harvest of food in the waters of river and lake and sea.

Thus, owing to the strongly-contrasted conditions of summer
and winter in these Arctic regions, both birds and beasts are
compelled to perform great migrations. In winter the reindeer
seek the shelter of the woods, where they trespass upon the
territory of the elk or moose-deer, and in which they frequently
fall a prey to wolves and bears. As soon, however, as the
milder weather begins, they return in large bands to the tundras
and barrens, feeding on the lichens that are softened by the
melting snow.

The area over which the reindeer-migrations take place is
vastly more extensive in America and Asia than in Europe, its
southern limits corresponding very nearly to the isothermal of
32°. No doubt this area extended farther south in Norway
within recent years; but even were the disturbing influence of
man to be entirely withdrawn, we cannot believe that under
present climatic conditions the reindeer would ever reach in
Western Europe the same low latitudes that it now attains in
Asia and America, for it ranges into Kamtschatka as far south
as the parallel of 50° N. lat., which it will be remembered
passes through the north of France.

The climatic conditions that induce great migrations, like
those of the northern regions of Asia and North America, do
not obtain in the corresponding territories of North-western
Europe. Our prevalent winds are westerly and south-westerly,
and come to us laden with the warmth and moisture of the Gulf
Stream, and thus, as I have said, we enjoy a kind of insular
climate, with no great extremes of heat and cold. Such being
the case, and it being perfectly well ascertained that during

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 37

Paleolithic times the European coast extended only a little
distance farther into the Atlantic, we may well ask how the
presence of the reindeer in the south of France and the hippo-
potamus in the north of England can be accounted for. Owing
to their geographical position, the north-western regions of our
continent could not possibly have been subjected to a climate at
all comparable with that of Siberia. The influence of the neigh-
bouring Atlantic would effectually prevent the occurrence of
strongly-contrasted seasons. We may therefore at once dismiss
the hypothesis of great annual migrations which some writers
have advanced to account for the startling association in Paleo-
lithic deposits of such discordant species as reindeer and hippo-
potamuses, musk-sheep and elephants. The fauna of Palo-
lithic times comprised, as we have seen, not only northern and
temperate forms, but a well-marked group of southern animals.
According to the migration-hypothesis, therefore, we are to
suppose that in summer huge pachyderms like the elephant
and hippopotamus migrated from the south of Europe as far north
as England, and that on the approach of winter they returned
to their “head-quarters,” and were followed by the reindeer and
its congeners as far as the foot of the Alps and the Pyrenees.
Such a supposition, however, is manifestly unreasonable, inas-
much as it is opposed to all that we know of the habits of hip-
popotamuses, elephants, and rhinoceroses ; and the same might
be said of several other species that belong to the southern
group of Palzolithic times. How impossible, indeed, does it
seem that those unwieldy pachyderms could in one year tra-
verse the whole breadth of Europe, so as to trespass on the
territory of the reindeer and the musk-sheep, and then retreat
with sufficient rapidity to escape the severity of a winter before
which the arctic mammals were forced to flee to the south of
France.

The anomalous commingling of northern, southern, and
temperate forms points, not to one prolonged period character-
ised by extreme summers and winters, but to changes of climate
very gradually effected through a long course of time. We may

38 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

be quite sure that when arctic and alpine animals were living in
the low grounds of France, the climate of all Europe, especially
the middle and northern regions, was cold and ungenial, and
that when hippopotamuses frequented the rivers of England,
very different climatic conditions prevailed. Let us try and
realise what those varying climatic conditions may have been.
We have seen that the southern species are now restricted
to regions where, as a rule, the yearly temperature is consider-
ably in excess of that now experienced even in the south of
Europe. We have no reason to suppose, however, that such
a high temperature is absolutely necessary to their existence.
Could we but get rid of the inclement winters of the north, so
that no chilling frosts should affect the vegetation, it is evident
that the Arctic forests would gradually invade and spread over
the barrens and tundras, The north-temperate and temperate
regions would also support a more abundant growth, and wide
areas which are now incapable of cultivation, either by reason
of their elevation or their high latitude, might readily be made
to yield good harvests. It is quite possible, indeed, that Scot-
land might, under certain conditions, acquire a winter tem-
perature approximating to that of the south-west of France,
A change like this might be brought about without any revolu-
tion in the geographical position of our continent. Were the
ocean currents that even now so greatly modify our winters to
be very largely increased in volume, they would of course raise
the general temperature of the Atlantic and Northern Oceans
to a still higher degree, and so would effect a corresponding
amelioration of the climate of the neighbouring lands over
which the westerly winds distribute their warmth and moisture,
There are many good grounds for believing that considerable
changes in the volume of warm ocean currents have occurred
in the past; and as, owing to various causes, such currents may
be made to flow with a greatly increased breadth and depth, so,
on the other hand, they may be reduced, and even turned out
of their course and forced to go in some other direction. But
no changes in the direction or the volume of ocean currents in

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 39

the North Atlantic could ever give rise to a Siberian climate in
North-western Europe. Were the Gulf Stream, which so pro-
foundly modifies the winter temperature of Europe, to be with-
drawn, the winters in our islands would become colder than
they are at present by more than 25°." Nor would this fall of
temperature be counterbalanced, as it were, by a corresponding
increase of temperature in summer. On the contrary, we might
look for quite an opposite result. Superficial currents of cold
water coming from the Arctic regions would cool the summer
temperature along all the west coast of Europe, just in the same
way as the Labrador Current affects the summer temperature of
the coast lands of British America and the New England States.
A glance at the following Table, in which are given the mean
winter and summer temperatures of places in the same latitudes
of North America and Europe, will show what effect the Gulf
Stream has in modifying our European climate. Were that
current to disappear, our coasts might well be washed by as
cold water as that of the Labrador Current; and thus not only
the winter, but the summer also, over all Western and North-
western Europe would be considerably affected.

Mean Mean Mean Mean
East Coast of West Coast of
N. eee: N. Lat. pee ee ORteope: oC N. Lat. ats ee
Lichtenau . | 60° 30'| +23°5| +46-4| Bergen. . | 60° 23’| +32°6| +536
Hebron. .!| 58 16 -51| +4671) Wick . .|58 25 | +3885} +565
Killybegs . | 54 38 | +4174) +587
rose | 55 15: | 449- |) Newcastle || 54 58 | 438-7 | +58°1
Kénigsberg | 54 42 | +24:2} +62°8
St. John .| 47 27 | +23°5| +56° Nantes. .|47 13 | +41°2| +7171
Halifax. .| 44 39 | +22°6| +63°5| Bordeaux .| 44 50 | +41° | +6971
1

a a eS a a ee ee ieee ee ee

1 The normal temperature of the latitude of London is 40°, which is 30°
higher than it would be were all oceanic and aerial currents to be stopped.
And Dr. Croll calculates that the actual rise of temperature at London due to the
influence of the Gulf Stream, over and above all the lowering effects produced by
Arctic currents, is as much as 40°.—See Climate and Time, p. 43.

2 The winter temperature is that of the January isothermal line, which
reaches the Labrador coast in lat. 55°. The July isotherm of 50° passes through
lat. 53° 30', the July temperature of 49° given above being only approximate.
The temperature for that month at Nain on the same coast, in lat. 56° 22’, is
48°-2; and the mean of January is 2°°4.

4o PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

With a mild and genial winter prevailing as far north as
Scotland and Norway, it is evident that the present distribution
of flora and fauna would be very considerably affected. We
might well have characteristic temperate forms, such as the stag,
oxen, bisons, horses, and others living all the year round in
Lapland, and even in the country of the Samoyedes, while the
northern species were restricted to the lofty mountain-tracts, or
banished out of Europe altogether. The climate of England and
France under such conditions as we have supposed would sup-
port a vigorous vegetation, and might readily be occupied by
many animals that are now restricted to more southern latitudes.
There is really nothing in the habits or mode of life of the
hippopotamus, for example, that would lead us to suppose that
for it a tropical climate is indispensable. A country that fur-
nished plenty of succulent plants, and whose winters were suffi-
ciently genial to keep the streams and lakes and rivers free from
ice, might very well suit the hippopotamus and not a few of his
present associates. Indeed, one might almost infer from the
great size attained by many of the southern forms during the
Old Stone Age that these animals throve better under the tem-
perate climate of Europe than they do now in the warm regions
of Africa. The large size of many of the temperate species—
the cervine, bovine, and other animals that were contemporane-
ous in our continent with the great pachyderms, and whose
dwarfed descendants still live in these latitudes—is also remark-
able. Many causes, certainly, may have combined to bring
about this change in the size of these animals. They have all
experienced more or less of a hard struggle for existence, and
their feeding-grounds have been greatly limited since the time
when they were hunted by Paleolithic man. It is doubtful,
however, whether the diminished size of the pachyderms and
their associates can be entirely accounted for in this way, and
whether it may not be due in part to the less favourable climatic
conditions under which they now live.

It was certainly not under tropical conditions that the old
pachyderms occupied our continent, The climate of all North-

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 4l

western Europe at that time must have been essentially tem-
perate, so that what we now call our temperate fauna ranged
then from the shores of the Northern Ocean down to and even
south of the Pyrenees and the Alps. Carnivorous animals like
the lion, the hyena, and the leopard, would be also widely dis-
tributed, finding abundant food in nearly every part of the
Continent. Thus at the time hippopotamuses wallowed in the
rivers of France and England, and great herds of cervine and
bovine animals wandered from glade to glade, our caves and
forests were haunted by fierce carnivores. The reindeer and its
associates could not flourish under such climatic conditions, and ~
their range in Europe must therefore have been extremely
limited. Marmots and lemmings would retire to the alpine
heights, and reindeer might possibly linger upon the lofty
plateaux of Northern Scandinavia. It is more probable, how-
ever, that they lived beyond the precincts of Europe, and may
have occupied territories that are now drowned in the icy waters
of the Northern Ocean. For we know very well that Europe
and Asia within a recent geological period have extended much
farther into the Polar Seas, and that a wide stretch of Arctic
land, of which Novaia Zemlia and Spitzbergen formed a part,
has been recently submerged.

We have now only to suppose that, after enduring for some
prolonged period, such climatic conditions gradually changed.
The warm ocean currents became more and more reduced
in volume, and the winters in consequence waxed colder and
colder. Such a change might have taken place at so slow a
rate that generations might have come and gone before any
decided difference in the climate could have been recognised.
But as the winter cold increased, both flora and fauna would
begin to testify to the change—the hippopotamus, and doubtless
other animals, gradually disappearing from Britain and Middle
Europe. Many of the hardier temperate forms, however, would
continue for a time to tenant the lands which the bulky pachy-
derms had vacated. But when the winters had become so
intense as to favour the existence of reindeer and musk-sheep

42 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

in the south of France, we may well believe that the major
portion of Middle and Northern Europe would be a dreary
desert waste. The temperate fauna would be living in the
southern districts of our continent and North Africa, but it
is very doubtful whether the hippopotamus would be able to
endure the winter cold which must then have characterised the
shores of the Mediterranean.

We have seen that archeologists have good reasons for
thinking that the men who lived in the south of France in the
latest stage of the Paleolithic Period were associated with the
reindeer and the mammoth. The fact that the climate was then
cold and ungenial is curiously illustrated by the circumstance
pointed out by the late Mr. Christy that heaps of bones and
other garbage could be safely left by the Palzolithic hunters to
accumulate on the floors of the caves where they lived. Had
the climate been other than frigid it is not likely that this would
have been the case, for under a mild temperature such refuse-
heaps would putrefy, and their exhalations become unbearable.
Nor are the reindeer and the mammoth the only animals whose
presence testifies to the former rigour of the climate in the south
of France and North-western Europe. Small animals, such as
marmots, lemmings, and tailless hares, occupied at the same
time the low grounds of England, Belgium, and France; and
whatever we may think of the evidence yielded by the reindeer,
we cannot but admit that the presence of the smaller animals
points to a settled occupation of the land that endured for a
prolonged period. Even if we conceded the possibility of the
reindeer having migrated from Norway and the Highlands of
Scotland down to the south of France in one season, we should
still be unable to allow that marmots and pikas could have per-
formed the same annual journey. The lemmings of the Old
Stone Age doubtless lived very much in the same way as their
descendants in Lapland do at the present day, namely on roots,
grass, the shoots of dwarf willow and birch, and largely on
lichens, for which they burrow in winter time under the snow.
They, with their congeners the marmots, tailless hares, arctic

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 43

foxes, musk-sheep, gluttons, and other alpine and northern
species, were settled inhabitants of those low grounds of Europe
that are now occupied only by the temperate group. It does
not by any means follow, however, that the arctic or northern
group of animals was distributed over all Europe, from the ex-
treme north down to France, at one and the same time. The
cold climatic conditions that forced them from their head-quarters
must have come on gradually, pushing them slowly farther and
farther to the south; so that when at last they came to occupy
the low grounds of France and the south of England, it may well
have been that the regions farther north were too inhospitable
even for them. Indeed, we can hardly escape from this con-
clusion when we bear in view the geographical position of
North-western Europe. But to this point we shall return after
we have considered certain geological evidence which will come
before our attention in the sequel.

44 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

CHAPTER IV.

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD, continued—TESTIMONY OF
PLANTS AND MOLLUSCS.

Preservation of land-plants exceptional—Plants in the Travertine of Massa Marit-
tima in Tuscany—Plants in tufas of Provence ; in tufas of Montpellier, ete. ;
in tufa of La Celle near Paris—Views of Count Saporta—Plants in tufa of
Canstadt—Pleistocene lignite of Jarville near Nancy; its plant and insect
remains—Mr. Nathorst on Arctic flora in peat of Switzerland, Germany, ete. a
M. Tournouér on shells in tufa of La Celle—M. Bourguignat on shells in
‘‘diluvium gris” of Paris—Shells in tufas of Canstadt ; in English Pleisto-
cene deposits—Dr. Sandberger on shells and mammalian remains in loss of
Wirzburg—M. Locard on shells in Corsican breccias—Summary of evidence.

THE conclusions to which we have been led by a study of the
mammalian groups characteristic of the Pleistocene Period are
strongly supported by the evidence derived from an examina-
tion of those plants and shells which from time to time have
been discovered in freshwater accumulations belonging to the
same age. Just as we found among the mammalia well-marked
northern and southern species, together with many temperate
forms, so we encounter amongst the groups of plants, and land-
and freshwater-shells which we are about to examine, many
species which could not possibly have lived side by side. Thus
in Central Europe the Pleistocene deposits have in some places
yielded arctic and northern plants, whilst in other places the flora
they contain has a temperate or even a preponderating southern
facies. And the same holds true of the mollusca, Let us
glance for a little at some of the more interesting “finds” of
land-plants, taking first in order those which appear to indicate
mild and genial climatic conditions.

It is generally only under exceptional circumstances that

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 45

land-plants are preserved; they occur far less frequently in a
recognisable condition than the shells of molluscs and the hard
parts of mammals. The fossiliferous Pleistocene deposits, as
we shall learn in subsequent chapters, consist chiefly of river-
gravels and loams, and of accumulations formed in caves and
rock-fissures. But the river which carries along sand and gravel
will as a rule sweep the débris of land-plants out to sea. The
few plants which may now and then become embedded will
often be macerated, rubbed, and water-worn, those tender parts
upon which botanists chiefly rely for the determination of
species being as a rule destroyed. Again, loose deposits of
gravel and sand are not good preservers, for they allow water
to soak through them more or less freely, and thus any plants
they may contain will tend to decompose past recognition.
Thus it is only now and then that plant-remains are found in
the river-deposits of Pleistocene times, and these consist chiefly
of water-worn sticks and logs. In cave-accumulations it is by
the merest accident that plants could become preserved, and in
point of fact almost the only traces that occur in such deposits
consist of the more or less charred relics which mark the sites
of ancient Palzolithic hearths. Occasionally, however, we come
upon beds of vegetable matter buried under lacustrine accumu-
lations, and from these much important evidence has been
gathered. And not less noteworthy are those masses of cal-
careous tufa or travertine which have been formed upon the
borders of incrustating springs and cascades, for they have fre-
quently preserved leaves, seeds, fruits, and other remains of
plants, together with quantities of shells. Among the most
interesting of those tufa deposits are those of Lipari and Tus-
cany, described by M. Ch. Th. Gaudin ;? those of Castelnau and
other places, near Montpellier, examined by M. G. Planchon ;?
those of Provence, made known to us through the admirable

1 Mem. de la Soc. Helv. des Sci. Nat. t. xvii.; Bull. de la Soc. Vaud. des
Sei. Nat., t. vi. p. 459.

? Bull. Soc. Bot. France, t. iv. p. 582; Etude sur les Tufs de Montpellier,
1864.

46 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

researches of Count Saporta,’ who, along with M. Tournouér,
has recently given an interesting account of the fossiliferous
travertine near Moret? (Seine-et-Marne). Another most im-
portant tufa is that of Canstadt in Wiirtemberg, the shells of
which have been studied by Klein,® and the plants by Professor
Heer.*

The travertines of Massa Marittima in Tuscany have yielded
a number of plant-remains, amongst which we find indigenous
species commingled with forms, some of which, although still
European, are not now natives of Tuscany, while others are
exotic, and yet others are extinct. Amongst these last are
several well-known Tertiary species, such as Liguidambar ewro-
peum, Al. Br., Platanus aceroides, Al. Br., Planera Ungeri, and
Betula prisca, and some peculiar forms, as an arbor vite (Thuja
saviana, Gaud.), allied to the living 7’. occidentalis, and a walnut
(Juglans pavieefolia, Gaud.) One of the most noteworthy
plants is the laurel of the Canary Islands (Lawrus canariensis,
Webb), a variety of the common laurel (Lawrus nobilis). It does
not now grow spontaneously in Italy, and until recently was
believed to be an extra-European species. But Saporta describes
it as growing wild on the banks of the Gapeau, near Toulon,
on the French shores of the Mediterranean, where the orange is
cultivated in the open air. Professor Marion has seen it in
the gorges of Chiffa, near Blidah in Algeria, but its head-quar-
ters are the Canary Islands, where it is found flourishing luxu-
riantly in the woody regions with a northern exposure, between
a height of 1600 feet and 4800 feet above the sea—regions which
are nearly always enveloped in steaming vapours, and exposed
to the heavy rains of winter. Snow, which falls now and then
in an extra rigorous season, melts even at the upper limits of the

1 Compt. Rend. de la 33° Session du Congres Scientifique de France; Bull. Soc.
Bot. France, t. xiv. p. 179; Annuaire de V Inst. des Provinces, t. xx. p. 9.

2 Saporta: Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 3° Sér., t. ii. p. 439; Compt. Rend. du
Congres Internat. @ Anthrop. et Archéol. Préh., 1874, p. 80; Compt. Rend. Assoc.
Frang. pour ? Avance. des Sci. 1876, p. 640° Tournouér: Bull. Soc. Géol. France,
3° Sér., t. ii. p. 443; t. v. p. 646.

_ 8 Jahreshefte des Vereins fiir vaterl. Naturk. in Wiirttemberg, Bd. ii. p. 60.

4 Die Urwelt der Schweiz, 2te Aufl., p. 534.

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 47

district in question almost as soon as it appears. The temper-
ature indeed keeps above 69° F. during the greater part of the
year, in the winter months (November, December, and January)
rarely falling below 59° or 60°, and only on the coldest days
reaching 49°. The common laurel and the beech are frequently
found associated in the Tuscan tufas, showing that they formerly
grew side by side in that region. This, however, is no longer
the case; the laurel requires more shade than it could find
under present conditions, while the beech has retired to the
northern flanks of the Apennines to obtain the fresh cool climate
which is now denied to it in the low grounds of Tuscany.
In the same deposits occur also the elm, the white-beam
(Pyrus aria), the gray willow (Salia cinerea), the ivy, etc. Other
species are evergreen oak (Quercus ilex), pubescent oak (Q.
pubescens, Wild.), Greek -periploca (Periploca greca), laurustinus
(Viburnum tinus), European nettle-tree (Celtis australis), fig-
tree (Ficus carica), vine (Vitis vinifera), judas-tree (Cercis sili-
quastrum), manna-ash (Fraxinus ornus), sarsaparilla (Smilax
aspera), and various maples which still characterise the flora
of the Mediterranean region. The tufas of Lipari are marked
by a similar assemblage of species, amongst which the common
laurel and its variety (Lawrus canariensis) are conspicuous ; but
the Tertiary and extinct forms mentioned above are wanting.
According to Saporta they are absent also from the tufas of
Provence—the flora of which corresponds in all other respects
with that of the Italian deposits. Among the species enumer-
ated by him are the Canary laurel, which is associated, as in
the Italian tufas, with the common laurel, European nettle-tree,
fig-tree, vine, laurustinus, judas-tree, oak, hazel, white poplar,
various willows and elms, Montpellier maple, common maple
(Acer campestre), clematis, ivy, dogwood, spindle-tree, and fustic,
a group very nearly the same as that which flourishes at
present within the same limits. But commingled with these
species are others no longer natives of Provence, such as Salz-
mann’s pine (Pinus Salzmanni, Dun.), the Pyrenean pine (Pinus
pyrenaica, Lap.), and the dwarf or mountain-pine (Pinus pumilio),

48 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

which have abandoned that region and sought refuge in the
mountains, where they occupy limited areas often widely sepa-
rated. Salzmann’s pine grows naturally now only in the Forest
of Saint Guilhem, in a mountain-gorge situated at the foot of
the Cevennes, beyond the zone of olives, at a distance of about
twenty-five miles from Montpellier, while the Pyrenean pine has
retired to a valley in the Pyrenees. The dwarf pine occurs in
the mountainous regions of Central Europe, where it is found
occupying calcareous soils at an elevation of 1300 to 2500 métres
above the sea. It is a tree which prefers humid situations—
growing in wet rocky ground, and even along the banks of
streams in the bottoms of valleys.

It is further noteworthy that these species are associated in
the tufas of Provence with the lime (Zilia europea), a peculiar
maple (Acer opulifolium), and raspberry (Rubus ideus), which,
although still natives of Provence, are no longer really sponta-
neous upon the margins of streams in the low-lying parts of that
region. It is only in forest-clad hilly districts, and chiefly in
situations with a northern exposure, where they can obtain in
Provence the requisite shade and coolness. Saporta further calls
attention to the fact that the Aleppo pine and the olive—species
which demand considerable summer heat rather than a humid
climate, and are so characteristic of the Mediterranean region of
to-day—are entirely wanting in the tufas. Even the evergreen
oak is absent from the deposits of Provence, and is very rare
in the tufas of Southern Europe. The presence of the vine and
the fig-tree further shows, according to M. Planchon, that these
were formerly indigenous to France before they were reintro-
duced by man as cultivated plants, a conclusion which Saporta
thinks holds equally true of the walnut. The judas-tree occurs
very sparsely at present in France, and appears chiefly in gar-
dens, so that Saporta is doubtful whether it is really indige-
nous. In Pleistocene times, however, it grew abundantly in
Southern France, and, as we shall see presently, ranged even
as far north as the neighbourhood of Paris. It is the same
with the manna-ash (Fraxinus ornus), now confined to Corsica

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 49

and Italy, but formerly a widely-spread species in Southern
France.

The tufas near Montpellier have yielded much the same assem-
blage of species as those of Provence; they evidently form part of
one and the same flora, but Planchon mentions twelve species
which Saporta has not yet detected in the tufas of Provence.”

From the above summary it will be gathered that the most
remarkable characteristic of the Pleistocene flora of Provence
and Montpellier was the intimate association of still indigenous
species with species which have ceased to be so—some of these
last having retreated because unable to support the cold of
winter, while others have retired to the mountains to escape the
dryness of summer. We must therefore conclude with Count
Saporta, that at the time when all those species lived together
in the same region the climate must have differed from that of
the present. It was necessarily somewhat cooler, or at least
more equable, in order that Lawrus canariensis might flourish
abundantly, and at the same time more humid to enable Salz-
mann’s pine, the Pyrenean pine, the dwarf pine, the wych elm
(Ulmus montana), the gray willow (Salis: cinerea), the beech, the

11 give here Count Saporta’s list of the plants discovered in the tufas of Pro-
vence :—

I. Cryprocamia.—Pellia epiphylla? Nées; Scolopendrium officinale, Sm. ;
Adiantum capillus-veneris, L.

II. Monocoryiepons.—Cyperacee ?—impressions of leaves like those of Carex
maxima, L. ; Typha latifolia, L.

Ill. DicoryLepons. —Pinus pumilio, Haenke; Pinus Salzmanni, Dun. ;
Pinus pyrenaica, Lap. ; Corylus avellana, L. ; Ulmus campestris, Sm. ; U. mon-
tana, Sm. ; Celtis australis, L. ; Ficus carica, L. ; Populus alba, L. ; Salix
cinerea, L. ; S. alba, L. ; Lawrus nobilis, L. ; L. canariensis, Web. ; Fraxinus
ornus, L. ; Viburnum tinus, L.; Hedera helix, L. ; Vitis vinifera, L. ; Cornus
sanguinea, L. ; Clematis flammula, L.; Tilia ewropea, L. ; Acer opulifolium,
Vil. ; 4. monspessulanum, L.; A. campestre, L. ; Ewonymus ewropeus, L. ;
Juglans regia, L. ; Rhus cotinus, L. ; Pyrus acerba, D.C. ; Crategus oxyacantha,
L. ; Rubus ideus, L. ; Cercis siliquastrum, L.

'_M. Planchon gives a list of thirty species, amongst which the following have
not been obtained in the Provengal tufas :—Fegatella conica, Cord. ; Pteris aqui-
lina ; Smilax aspera; Alnus glutinosa; Quercus ilex ; Buxus sempervirens ;
Phillyrea angustifolia ; P. media; Fraxinus excelsior ; Rubia peregrina ; Ilex
aquifolium ; Cotoneaster pyracantha, It may be added here that the tufa of the
valley Aygalades, near Marseilles, has yielded remains of Elephas antiquus, which
were determined by Falconer and Lartet.

50 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

lime, and others to live along with the laurel. In other words,
the summers were not so dry, and the winters were milder. The
flora of the Italian tufas betokens a similar climate. At the
time when that flora occupied the low grounds of Central Italy
the climate must have been exempt from extremes. It is well
that the reader should keep these conclusions in mind. Had
the Pleistocene Period been characterised by strongly-contrasted
summer and winter seasons, as some geologists maintain, it is
obvious that the tufas should have furnished us with a very
different suite of plants.

Coming north to the valley of the Seine, we find still more
striking botanical evidence in favour of an equable climate
having prevailed in Pleistocene times. Near the village of La
Celle, not far from Moret, above the confluence of the Seine
and Loing, occurs an accumulation of tufa which, from the char-
acter of its fossil contents and from its relation to the Pleistocene
river-deposits of the Seine which it overlies, is unquestionably
of Pleistocene age. It has yielded to the researches of M.
Chouquet many plant-remains and shells, the former of which
have been described by Saporta, who gives this list of species :—

1. Scolopendriwm officinale. 10. Hedera helix, L., common ivy.
2. Oorylus avellana, L., common | 11. Clematis vitalba, L., clematis.
hazel. 12. Buaxus sempervirens, L., box.
3. Populus canescens, Sm., common | 13. Acer pseudo-platanus, L., syca-
white poplar. more.
4. Salix cinerea, L., gray willow. 14. Huonymus europeus, L., Euro-
5. Salia fragilis, L., brittle willow. pean spindle-tree.
6. Ficus carica, L., fig-tree. 15. Huonymus latifolius, L., broad-
7. Laurus nobilis, L., var. canari- leaved spindle-tree.
ensis, Webb, Canary laurel. 16. Prunus mahaleb, L., perfumed
8. Fraxinus excelsior, common ash. cherry-tree.
9. Sambucus ebulus, L., Dane-wort | 17. Cercis siliquastrum, L., judas-
or dwarf-elder. tree.

This group, as Saporta proceeds to point out, indicates a
former geographical distribution very different from that which
now obtains, The fig-tree, the Canary laurel, the box, and
others, are no longer indigenous to the region round Paris. In

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 51

France the box at present hardly passes north beyond the
environs of Lyons, and certainly does not grow spontaneously
north of the rocky plateau of the Céte d’Or,' the broad-leaved
spindle-tree is arrested at the Jura, the judas-tree does not
occur north of Montélimart, the fig-tree is not indigenous beyond
Provence, and the Canary laurel exists in a wild state, as already
stated, only near Toulon, in the most southern part of the
Department of Var. Mingled with all these species are others
which serve to distinguish the flora of Moret from that of the
tufas of Southern France. Among these is the sycamore (Acer
pseudo-platanus), a tree of Central and Northern Europe, which
occurs in the Alps but does not extend south into the Mediter-
ranean region, where its place is taken by Acer opulifoliwm,
Vill. It is widely spread in the shady woods of Central and
Northern France, of Switzerland, and Germany. This tree, the
relics of which occur plentifully in the tufa of La Celle, cannot
be grown successfully in Provence, where many attempts have
been made to introduce it. It languishes under the hot dry
summer of the south, and very rarely reaches an adult stage.
The common ash is another of the trees which, like the syca-
more, is no longer associated with those southern forms along
with which it formerly grew in Northern France. It is almost
excluded from the Mediterranean region, but abounds in Central
France, and extends north to Southern Sweden. In the tufas
of Southern France and Italy its place is taken by the manna-
ash (Fraxinus ornus, L.) Now this very remarkable assemblage
of plants tells a tale which there is no possibility of misreading.
Here we have the clearest evidence of a genial, humid, and
equable climate having formerly characterised Northern France.
The presence of the laurel, and that variety of it which is most
susceptible to cold, shows us that the winters must have been
mild, for this plant flowers during that season, and repeated
frosts, says Saporta, would prevent it reproducing its kind, It
is a mild winter rather than a hot summer which the laurel
demands, and the same may be said of the fig-tree. The olive,

1 According to Hooker the box is indigenous in Belgium.

52 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

on the other hand, requires prolonged summer heat to enable it
to perform its vital functions. Saporta describes the fig-tree of
the La Celle tufa as closely approximating, in the size and shape
of its leaves and fruit, to that of the tufas in the south of France,
and to those of Asia Minor, Kurdistan, and Armenia. But if
the winters in Northern France were formerly mild and genial,
the summers were certainly more humid and probably not so
hot. This is proved by the presence of several plants in the
tufa of La Celle, which cannot endure a hot arid climate, but
abound in the shady woods of Northern France and Germany.
It was, as Saporta remarks, a combination of clement winter
with pronounced humidity, which accounts for the association
at La Celle of the fig-tree, the Canary laurel, and the sycamore.
We may note, however, that notwithstanding the equableness
of the climate, the difference of latitude between Paris and Pro-
vence is yet clearly evinced by the flora of the tufas. Thus the
common ash and the sycamore, which are plentiful in the tufa
of La Celle, are wanting in the travertine deposits of the south,
where they are represented, as we have seen, by the manna-ash,
now only indigenous in Corsica and South Italy, and by Acer
opulifoliwm, which has retired from the low grounds of Provence
and taken refuge in the hilly parts of the Mediterranean region.

According to Professor Crié, the flora of the travertine
deposits of Mamers (Sarthe), which likewise owe their origin to
the action of incrustating water, approaches in character to that
of La Celle. The deposits in question have not yet been
exhaustively examined, but M. Crié mentions among the plants
yielded by them the hornbeam (Carpinus betulus, L.), the elm
(Ulmus campestris, L.), the oak (Quercus robur, L.), the gray
willow (Salia cinerea, L.), the hazel (Corylus avellana, L.), and
the hart’s-tongue (Scolopendriwm officinale, Sm.) Besides these
there occurs the impression of a leaf, which appears to be that of
the fig-tree. The general facies of the flora, the same observer
remarks, implies a milder and more equable climate than now
characterises the west of France.)

1 Les Anciens Climats et les Flores Fossiles de U Ouest de la France, p. 61.

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 53

The tufas of Canstadt, near Stuttgardt, have yielded the
following species, which are common to the similar deposits of
Southern Europe :—

Scolopendrium officinale (hart’s-tongue).
Quercus pedunculata (oak).
Fagus sylvatica (beech).
Corylus avellana (common hazel).

= Ulmus campestris (elm).
Populus alba (white poplar).
Salix cinerea (gray willow).
Cornus sanguinea (common dogwood).
Acer pseudo-platanus (sycamore).
Buaus sempervirens (box).
Euonynvwus europeus (spindle-tree).
Tilia grandifolia (lime).

The total number of species is twenty-nine, of which three
are extinct, namely the mammoth oak (Quercus mammouthit), a
poplar (Populus Fraasti), and a walnut tree, which, according to
Heer, resembles the American black walnut (Juglans nigra) and
butter-nut (J. cinerea) in the toothed pinne of its leaves, With
the exception of these extinct forms and the box, all the species
met with in the tufa still occur in Wiirtemberg. The sycamore,
however, and the whortleberry, which is also common to the tufa,
are not found now in the neighbourhood of Canstadt, the former
growing on the mountains and the latter in peat-bogs. Heer thinks
that the climatic conditions implied by the flora of the tufa are
similar to those now prevalent in the same locality, but Saporta
points out that the difference between the Canstadt flora and that
of Southern Europe in the Pleistocene Period was really much
less than it is at present. Several species which nowadays are
found in the Mediterranean region only in the mountains, such
as the beech, the lime, the maple, the sycamore, etc., descended
in Pleistocene times to the low grounds of Middle Italy. The
vegetation of Wiirtemberg was distinguished from that of
Southern Europe chiefly by the presence of firs, and by the
absence of the more southern forms, such as vine, fig, judas-
tree, laurustinus, etc. But, as we have seen, out of a total

54 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

number of twenty-nine species in the Canstadt tufa, no fewer
than twelve are common to the tufas of the low grounds of
Southern Europe. These facts indicate, as Saporta has main-
tained, a climate more equable and humid than the present.
In short, the facts are in perfect keeping with the conclusions
to which the same botanist has come after a careful study of
the Pleistocene floras of Northern France and the Mediterranean
region. If, therefore, we were to draw our inferences solely from
those tufa deposits, we should be compelled to conclude that the
climate of our continent during the Pleistocene Period was
singularly genial. The winters must have been very mild, and
the atmosphere humid, to have permitted that peculiar distribu-
tion of plants which is evinced by the tufas of Central and
Southern Europe. But, as we shall learn presently, there are
certain accumulations of Pleistocene age which appear to con-
tradict these conclusions in the most emphatic manner.

M. P. Fliche has described’ a lignite of Pleistocene age
which occurs at Jarville, not far from Nancy, and thus as near
as may be in the same latitude as the tufa of La Celle. In this
lignite we not only find no trace of any southern species, but
the whole flora has a markedly northern facies. The trees
mentioned by M. Fliche are birch (probably Betula pubescens,
Ehrh.), green-leaved alder (Alnus viridis, Z.), mountain- pine
(Pinus montana, Du Roi), larch (Larix europea), spruce (Picea
excelsa), Pinus obovata, and what seem to be juniper and yew—
all species which occur in Middle Europe only at high elevations
and in northern regions. The same lignite has yielded a number
of remains of insects, which are likewise northern forms. They
are Agonum gracile, Sturm; Bembidiwm nitidulum, Marsh. ;
B. obtusum, Sturm; B. sp.; Patrobus excavatus, Mononychus
pseudacori, Fabr.; Adimonia ?

In Switzerland, near the railway station of Schwerzenbach
(Canton of Zurich), a peat-bog has yielded a flora of a still more
pronounced northern character.2. The peat itself is only a few

z Comptes Rendus de 0 Acad. des Sciences, t. 1xxx. p. 1233.
2 Nathorst, Ofversigt af Kongl. Vetensk.- Akad. Forhandl., 1873, No. 6, p. 15. ~

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 55

feet in thickness, and contains oak in its upper part, with pine
lower down. Between the peat and the clay upon which it
rests occur leaves of Betula alba and pine cones, and in the
uppermost layers of the clay leaves of Myriophyllum, Dryas
octopetala, dwarf birch (Betula nana), and Salices appear, along
with wing-cases of beetles. A little lower down in the clay are
found leaves of the netted-leaved willow (Salix reticulata) and
Arctic willow (Salix polaris), the latter being a characteristic
Spitzbergen plant. Certain peat-bogs of Bavaria have yielded
similar evidence of colder climatic conditions, and we are sup-
plied with still more remarkable testimony to the same effect
by the well-known tufa and peat of Schussenried in Swabia.’
This peat contains northern and high-alpine species of mosses,
such as Hypnum sarmentosum, which ranges north to Lapland
and Greenland; H. aduncwm and H. fluitans var. tenwissiemum,
which is a high-alpine and Arctic American form. Such a
flora is quite in keeping with the character of the shells and the
mammalian remains which occur in the tufa commingled with
relics of Paleolithic man. The shells are well-known “1éss”
forms, of which I shall speak later on, while the mammalian
remains belong to reindeer, glutton, Arctic fox, ete.

Mr. Nathorst,’ a well-known Swedish geologist, has followed
the spoor of the old arctic flora from Southern Sweden into
Denmark and England, and through Germany to Switzerland.
’ In Mecklenburg, as in Switzerland and Bavaria, he has detected
in certain freshwater clay-deposits leaves of the dwarf birch
(Betula nana), and the white or common birch (B. alba),
associated with shells of northern forms. But the peat-bogs of
Northern Europe belong to a somewhat later date than those
lignites and turbaries of the central and southern regions to
which I have specially referred, and they need not therefore be
considered at present.

The tufas of the south of Europe, as already described, give

10. F, Fraas, Wiirttemb. Jahreshefte, Bd. xxiii. (1867), p. 48; Archiv fir
Anthropologie, Bd. ii. (1867) ; Compt. Rend. du Congres d’ Anthrop., 1869, p. 286.
2 Ofversigt af K. Vet.-Akad. Férh., 1873, No: 6, p- 11 et seq.

56 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

evidence of a more equable and humid climate than the present,
which allowed certain trees, now banished to the uplands, to
flourish in the low grounds, but they nowhere contain an arctic
flora. Nevertheless, we are not without botanical testimony in
favour of a colder climate having obtained in Italy in Pleistocene
times, for trunks of the Siberian or Cembran pine (Pinus cembra)
occur in the old peat-bogs of Ivrea, The same species has been
found also in certain deposits near Mur in Styria. Again, the
Scots fir (Pinus sylvestris) occurs in peat, beside Lake Varese,
and in travertine in the Abruzzi, but nowadays it is well nigh
restricted to dry localities in the Alps, that range from 300 to
2000 métres of elevation. But the testimony of the plants is
supplemented by that of the mollusca, and the whole evidence
leads up to one conclusion, from which, as it seems to me, there
is no possibility of escaping.

The tufas and marls of La Celle, which have yielded so
interesting a series. of vegetable remains, contain also many
shells which have been studied in detail by M. Tournouér, who
gives the following list of species :—?

* 2° 1, Limaz sp. ?; common.
2. Eges of . . ?
** 2 3. Hyalinia, sp.?

Pea? 7A. — cf. & glabra, Stud. ?; common.
*?2 5. — _— ef. H. dutaillyana, Mab.?
6. — radiatula, Alb.
Up — erystallina, Mill.
** 8. Zonites acieformis, Klein ; common.
9. Helix (Patula) rotundata, Mill., var.
10. — (Anchistoma) obvoluta, Mill. ; rare.
11. — (Theba) pulchella, Mill.
* 12. — (Petasia) bidens, Chemn. ; rare,
13. — (Trichia) hispida, Linné.
* 14. — (Monacha) limbata, Drap. ; rare.
** 15, — (Lulota) chouquetiana, Tourn. ; common.
16. — (Chilotrema) lapicida, Linné ; rare.

1 Sordelli, Atti Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat., t. xvi. p. 350.
* In this list those species which are preceded by an asterisk (*) are no longer
indigenous ; two asterisks (**) signify that the species is extinct.

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 57

17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
ek 94.
1 PAs
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
Sls
32.

33.

34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
xe 40.
4l.
42,
* «43.
#7 44,
45.

— (Arionta) arbustorwm, Linné ; abundant,
— — — ___, var.
— — — _, var.
— (Pentatenia) nemoralis, Linné ; common.
— _ — , var,
_— — hortensis, Mill.
— (Helicella) ericetorum, Miill., var.
— (Candidula) Radigueli, Bourgt.? ; common.
Bulimus montanus, Drap. ; rare.
Zua lubrica, Mill.
Pupa (Pupilla) muscorum, Linné.
— (Sphyradiwm) doliolum, Brug.
Vertigo sp. ?,
Clausilia (Marpessa) laminata, Mont.

— (Iphigenia) dubia, Drap.? ; rare.
— — parvula, Stud. ; abundant.
—- — — , var,

Succinea putris, Linné, type ; rare.
— — , var.
— — , var.
— — , var. limnoidea, Picard ; abundant.
— — , var. gigantea, Baudon.
— Pfeifferi, Rossm.?, var. contortula, Baudon.
— joinvillensis, Bourg, ; rare.

Limnea ovata, Drap.

— sp. ?

Pomatias septemspirale, Razoum.

Cyclostoma elegans, Mill., var. lutetiana, Bourgt.?; abundant.
—_— — _ , opercula,

This list shows at a glance that the molluscous fauna of La
Celle presents strong contrasts to that which is now charac-
teristic of Northern France. The number of extinct forms, and
of species and varieties which have emigrated, and the absence
of certain forms which are characteristic of the fauna now
occupying the same region—alike conspire, as M. Tournouér

remarks, to

present day.

separate the fauna of La Celle from that of the
The species are arranged by him in four groups

as follows :—

1. Species still living in the district where the tufa occurs,

58 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

2. Species which have retired from the district, but are still
natives of France.

3. Species which do not now occur in France, but are living
in other parts of Europe.

4, Species which are extinct or entirely exotic.

The great majority of the shells belong to the first group, the
most common and most characteristic by reason of its abundance
being Helix arbustorum. Group 2 is represented by Helix
limbata, which is common in the lower Pyrenean region, and in
the south-west of France, but much rarer in the region of the
Loire and Normandy. It has not been cited as occurring in the
neighbourhood of Paris. Another migrated species is Bulimus
montanus, which has retired to the hillier parts of France; it is
found also in the Jura, the Alps, and the Pyrenees. Clausilia
dubia has a similar distribution; Pomatias septemspirale has not
been met with in the region round La Celle; it occurs, however,
in the valley of the Oise, etc., and is common in all the hilly
regions of the east. It is noteworthy, says M. Tournouér, that
these three last-mentioned species have their present head-
quarters rather towards the east, and outside of France than in
France itself. Under the third group comes Helix bidens, a
form which is no longer met with in Western Europe. It has
been cited as occurring in the Alps, but M. Tournouér thinks
this determination is more than doubtful. It is widely dis-
tributed in Eastern and North-eastern Europe, from Croatia,
Hungary, and Transylvania to Sweden and Russia. One of the
most remarkable forms of the fourth group is the large zonites
(Zonites acieformis). This shell belongs to a group which is
foreign to Northern France and similar latitudes in Europe, and
is no longer represented in the western regions of our continent.
The forms to which it most nearly approaches (Zonites verticillus,
Fer., and Z. croaticus, Partsch) are natives, the one of Austrian
Tyrol, from which it extends into Bavaria, and the other of
Croatia. Other extinct species are Succinea joinvillensis, Helix
chouquetiana, H. Radigueli, Cyclostoma lutetiana, ete.

The inferences drawn by M. Tournouér as to the climatic

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 59

conditions implied by the molluscan fauna of La Celle are
precisely the same as those deduced by Count Saporta from a
study of the flora. The geographical distribution of the shells,
so different from that which now obtains, and the former wider
diffusion of certain forms, lead to the conclusion that the climate
of Northern France was formerly more equable, so as to permit
species, now widely separated, to live together. That it was
also a humid climate is proved by the general facies of the shells,
nearly all of them terrestrial, and the great majority such as
live in damp and shady places, some in humid woods about the
foot of trees, others upon marsh-plants and mosses, under stones,
or in moist earth.

A somewhat similar suite of shells occurs in certain ancient
river-deposits of the neighbourhood of Paris, which are known
to geologists as “diluvium gris.” M. Bourguignat gives a list
of 76 species, of which 36 are land-shells—the most abundant
forms being Helix nemoralis, H. arbustorum, Helix pulchella,
Succinea putris, Bulimus montanus, Pupa muscorum, etc., all of
which occur in the beds at La Celle. They are associated as at
La Celle with Succinea joinvillensis, Cyclostoma lutetiana, and
other extinct forms, and with exotic species such as Helix
bidens.'

The calctufa and alluvial deposits of Canstadt in Wiirtem-
berg, contain, according to Klein, 50 species of land-shells,
and 21 of river-shells. Of these 50 species he recognises 36
as still living in the same region, 10 as occurring beyond it,
but still indigenous to Europe, and 4 as extinct. The species
which are most abundant are Helix arbustorum, H. nemoralis,
H. obvoluta, H. pulchella, H. hispida, etc., Succinea putris,
Bulimus montanus, Clausilia parvula, Pupa muscorum, Pomatias
septemspirale, etc., which occur along with Helix bidens, and
some extinct species, such as Zonites acieformis, and Succinea
elongata, Braun,—a form closely approaching to S, joinvillensis,

1 For lists of shells in French river-deposits, see Mémoire sur le diluvium de
Viry-Noureuil et les fossiles qwil renferme (Paris, 1864), by Abbé Lambert ;
Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 2 Sér., t. xvii. p. 68; Belgrand’s La Seine, t. i. p. 202.

60 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

There is thus a strong analogy between the deposits at La Celle
and Canstadt, as M. Tournouér has pointed out. Their faunas
are characterised by the similar proportion of the same elements,
and by the presence especially of the extinct Zonites and the
Succinea, together with Helix bidens.

In the Pleistocene fluviatile deposits of England occur three
well-known river-shells, Cyrena fluminalis, Unio littoralis, and
Hydrobia (Paludina) marginata, which are common also in the
beds of the same age in northern France. None of those three
species is extinct, but they have all disappeared from the living
fauna of Britain. Cyrena fluminalis, indeed, is now no longer
a native of Europe, but still lives in the Nile, the Lake of Tibe-
Trias, and the streams of Cashmere. Unio littoralis is found in
the waters of the Seine and the Loire, but Hydrobia marginata
has forsaken the rivers of Northern France and retired to those
of the south and south-west, and to the Jura and Switzerland.

We have thus strong testimony furnished by the land- and
freshwater-shells as to the former prevalence, during some part
of the Pleistocene Period, of a more humid and equable climate
than the present ; a climate characterised above all by the mild-
ness of its winter. But just as an examination of the old flora
has compelled us to admit that the climatic conditions were not
continuously genial throughout Pleistocene times, so shall we be
led presently to similar conclusions by a study of the mollusca.

Professor F. Sandberger, who is a well-known authority in
the study of land- and freshwater-shells, supplies us with a
number of facts, which seem at first to be strongly at variance
with the results obtained by MM. Klein and Tournouér. He
has recently given an interesting account* of certain Pleistocene
deposits in the neighbourhood of Wiirzburg, in Franconia, from
which I take the following list of shells -—

1. Limneus truncatulus, Mill.; very rare. Living in Franconia,
Europe generally, and Siberia ; in Heligoland it is the only snail,

? Verhandl. der physicalisch-medicinischen Gesselschaft in Wirzburg, N. F.,
Bd. xiv. 1879.

———EEEEE———os—‘_S_

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 61

2. Pupa parcedentata, A. Braun; rare. Extinct ; akin to the high-
alpine form, P. Sempronii, Charp.

3. Pupa muscorum, L. sp.; abundant. Living in Franconia. Europe
generally and Siberia.

4, Pupa columella, G. v. Martens ; rare. High Alps, Lapland, and

Russia.

5, Clausilia dubia, Drap. ; very rare. Living in Franconia. Middle
Europe.

6. Clausilia pumila, Ziegl.; very rare. Living in Franconia. Middle
Europe.

7. Clausilia parvula, Stud. ; abundant. Living in Franconia, Middle
Europe generally,

8. Clausilia laminata, Mont.; very rare. Living in Franconia.
Europe, with the exception of the Arctic Regions.

9. Cionella lubrica, Mill. sp. ; very rare. Living in Franconia.
Europe generally and Siberia.

10. Chondrula tridens, Mill., sp. ; rare. Living in Franconia. Middle
and Southern Europe.

11. Helix arbustorum, L.; abundant. Living in Franconia, Middle
and Northern Europe.

12. Helix sericea, Drap. ; very abundant. Living in Franconia, Middle
and South Germany (Alps).

13. Helix striata, Miill., var. nilssoniana, Beck ; rare. Middle and
North Germany, Sweden ; the variety in Oeland.

14. Helix strigella, Mill. ; very rare. Living in Franconia. Europe
generally, Siberia.

15. Helix pulchella, Mill. ; rare. Living in Franconia. Europe gener-
ally, Siberia, North America.

16. Helix tenwilabris, A. Braun ; very rare. Siberia, Alps, Swabian
Alb.

17. Helia fruticum, Mill. ; very rare. Living in Franconia. Europe
(with the exception of British Islands), Ural, Altai.

18. Succinea oblonga, Mill.; very abundant. Living in Franconia.
Rare in Middle Europe, with the exception of the higher mountains
(Black Forest, Alps) ; very common in Scandinavia and Russia.

19. Succinea putris, L.; rare. Living in Franconia. Europe generally,
and Siberia (here it attains its largest size).

20. Limaa agrestis, L. ; rare. Living in Franconia. Europe generally,
Siberia, and North America.

Of these twenty species there are seventeen which still live
in Franconia; but many of the latter, Dr. Sandberger says, are
varieties which differ greatly from those that characterise the

62 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Pleistocene deposits (loss) of Wiirzburg. The Helix fruticum,
for example, which now lives in Franconia, is much larger and
has a thicker shell than the sub-fossil variety, and the same
holds true of Helix strigella. On the other hand, Cionella lubrica
and Pupa muscorum are now represented by smaller forms. It
is only in high mountains and in northern latitudes that we meet
with the varieties of these and other species which appear in
the Wiirzburg deposits. But the cold climatic conditions thus
implied are rendered still more apparent when we learn that
Helix striata occurs only in the Swedish form, that Helix
tenuilabris and Pupa columella are now restricted to northern
regions, and that the extinct Pupa parcedentata comes nearest
to a high-alpine species.

Man is represented in the same deposits by only one small
finger-bone, and the associated mammalian remains do not
contradict the evidence supplied by the shells. Dr. Sandberger
chronicles 36 species, which he arranges as follows :—

Not yet sufficiently determined . - c : : . 8 species.
Cervus tarandus (reindeer).
Gulo luscus (glutton).
Myodes obensis’ (Siberian lemming).
Hyperborean » torquatus (torquated lemming).

Arvicola ratticeps (northern field-vole).
gregalis (Siberian social-vole).

”

”
Spermophilus altaicus (Altai pouched-marmot) |
East Alactaga jaculus (jerboa)
European { Arctomys (? bobac) (marmot). \ He
( Hyena spelea* (cave-hyzena).
Ursus speleus (cave-bear).
Bos primigenius (urus).
Bison priscus (extinct bison).
Elephas primigenius (mammoth).
Rhinoceros tichorhinus (Siberian rhinoceros),
Living now or within historical times in Franconia . 13

Extinct

+ Added in MS. by Dr. Sandberger since the publication of his paper.
* The cave-hyzna is believed to be the progenitor of the living Hyawna crocuta,
from which it differs chiefly in size.

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 63

The same author has given us an account of the fauna
discovered in the Pleistocene deposits of the Rhine valley." In
that region the léss has yielded an assemblage of shells somewhat
similar to that of the Wiirzburg list. Many of them are high-
alpine and hyperborean forms, and the general facies of the
group is decidedly northern. Mr. Prestwich, a number of years
ago, drew attention to the fact that certam high-level river-
deposits of Pleistocene age in the valleys of Southern England
and Northern France furnish a group of shells which have not
only a very wide range, but one more in a northern than a
southern direction ; and he remarked that the general absence of
southern species from the deposits in question was also not
without its significance.’

M. Locard has recently shown that in the Quaternary or
Pleistocene deposits of the neighbourhood of Lyons northern
forms of molluscs preponderate, the boreal species being com-
mingled with many which are still indigenous to that part of
France.”

1 Ausland, 1873, p. 984; Geological Magazine, Dee. ii. vol. i. p. 215.

2 Philosophical Transactions, Part II., 1864, p. 279.

3 See Description de la Faune Malacologique des Terrains Quaternaires des
Environs de Lyon. The species he mentions are as follows :—

Limazx, species undetermined. H, hispida, L.

Testacella haliotidea, Drap. H., locardiana, P. Fagot.

Succinea putris, L. H. neyronensis, P. Fagot.

S. elegans, Risso. H steneligma, Bourg.

S. oblonga, Drap., var. ragnebertensis, H, elaverana, Mabille.
Loe. HH. carthusiana, Mill.

S. joinvillensis, Bourg. H. ericetorum, Mill.

Hyalina lucida, Drap. HH. costulata, Ziegl.

H. nitida, Mill. Hi. striata, Drap.

H. septentrionalis, Bourg. H, unifasciata, Poiret.

H. subnitens, Bourg. HH, lapicida, L.

H. hyalina, Féruss. HT. arbustorum, L.

H. crystallina, Mill. H. nemoralis, L.

Helix rotundata,; Mill. H. hortensis, Mill.

H. obvoluta, Mill. H. sylvatica, Drap.

H. pulchella, Mill. ? H. pomatia, L. (very doubtful).

ZH, costata, Mill. Bulimus montanus, Drap.

H. fruticum, Mill. B. detritus, Mill.

H. strigella, Drap. B. tridens, Miill.

H, new species. ? B. quadridens, Mill.

64 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

I shall refer to only one other example—the fossiliferous
breccias of Corsica, which have been described by the same
author.’ He gives a list of nineteen land-shells as occurring in
the breccias which extend along the east coast of the island,

from Furiani, south of Bastia, to Cape Corso.

Helix aspersa, Mull.

» aperta, Born.

» nuculoides, Debaux.

» vermiculata, Mill.

» LRaspailliri, Payr.

» oreccardiana, Dutailly.

» hospitans, Bonelli.

» halmyris, Mab.

» variabilis, Drap.
apicina, Fér.

They are :—

Helix galloprovincialis, Drap.
» hydatina, Fer.
» hispida, Mull.
Zonites obscuratus, Porro.
», Blauneri, Shuttl.
», lathyri, Mab.
Pupa quadridens, Drap.
»» cinerea, Drap.
Claustlia Kusteri, Rossm.

All these are still living in Corsica, but some of the species
which occur very abundantly in the breccia are now met with

sparingly in only a few limited localities.

Thus, among others,

Helix broccardiana, which is extremely common throughout the

Ferussacia lubrica, Mill.

Cecilianella acicula, Mull.

Clausilia parvula, Stud.

Pupa muscorum, I.

P. frumentum, Drap.

Vertigo columella, G. v. Martens.

Carychium minimum, Miill.

Planorbis albus, Mill.

P. crosseanus, Bourg.

P. nautileus, L.

P. arcelini, Bourg.

P. carinatus, Mill.

P. marginatus, Mull.

P. vortex, L.

P. rotundatus, Poiret, var. rhodani-
cus, Loe.

P. contortus, L.

Limneea auricularia, L.

L. limosa, L.

L. gerlandiana, new species, closely
approaching L. frigida, Charp.

L. peregra, Mill.

LL stagnalis, L.
L. palustris, Mull.
L. truncatula, Mill.
Ancylus lacustris, L.
Cyclostoma elegans, Mill.
Bythinia tentaculata, L.
B. similis, Drap.
Amnicola? sp.
Valvata alpestris, Brauner.
V. piscinalis, Mill.
V. obtusa, Studer.
V. arcelini, Bourg.

. minuta, Drap.
V. planorbulina, Palad.
V. cristata, Mill.
Neritina fluviatilis, L.
Spherium corneum, L.
Pisidium henslowianum, Shep.
P. amnicum, Mill.
P. casertanum, Poli.
P. nitidum, Jenyns.
P. pusillum, Gmel.

1 Archives de Muséum d Histoire Naturelle de Lyon, 1873; Bull. Soc. Géol.

France, 3 Ser. t. i. p. 232,

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 65

breccias, is found at present only in a few cold and shady spots.
The breccia at Toga has yielded also human bones associated
with abundant remains of a pika or tailless hare (Lagomys
corsicanus), a fact which strongly favours M. Locard’s view that
the climate of Corsica during some part of the Pleistocene Period
was colder and wetter. The bones of this lagomys are found at
a height of less than 250 feet above the sea, yet it belongs to a
family which is now restricted to boreal regions, or to the lofty
mountains of warm and temperate climates. A few marine
shells occur in the breccia, where they have evidently been left
by man, According to M. Locard, the breccia of Bonaria, near
Cagliari, in the south of Sardinia, in which Sig. Studiati has
found Lagomys sardus similarly associated with marine shells,
has been accumulated under precisely the same conditions as the
breccia of Toga, .

Thus a general review of the evidence afforded by the plants
and molluscs of the Pleistocene deposits strongly supports the
conclusions that seem forced upon us by an examination of the
mammalia. We have distinct proofs that the Pleistocene Period
was characterised by very considerable changes of climate. At
one time the conditions were mild and genial, at another time
they were very much the reverse. The hypothesis of violently-
contrasted summers and winters which some writers have sup-
ported! is thus seen to have no foundation in fact, Even if
we could suppose it possible that hippopotamuses and reindeer
might have wandered to and fro across the whole breadth of

1 See Lyell’s Antiquity of Many pp. 207-209. W. B. Dawkins: Popular
Science Review, 1871, p. 388; Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxv. p. 192 ; xxviii.
p. 410; Cave-hunting, p. 397. In later writings Professor Dawkins seems to
have lost faith, to some extent, in the theory of seasonal migrations, and to have
partially adopted that of secular migrations ; see especially Harly Man in Britain,
p. 112, where, if I do not misunderstand him, he now endeavours to maintain
both views at once. For additional arguments against the view of seasonal or
yearly migrations, see Lubbock’s Prehistoric Times, 4th ed. p. 315; J. Geikie,
Geol. Mag., vol. ix. p. 164; x. p. 49; Great Ice Age, chap. xxxviii. Professor
Prestwich has maintained that the ossiferous and Paleolithic river-deposits were
accumulated during colder conditions than the present—see Phil. Trans., 1864,
p. 277,—while an opinion exactly opposite has been supported by several French
writers, as by M. d’Archiac (Legons sur la Faune Quaternaire).

66 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Europe in one season, we should yet be compelled to admit that
no such theory of migrations can account for the presence of two
widely-divergent floras and molluscous faunas in the Pleistocene
deposits of Middle Europe; they, at least, could not have in-
dulged in such feats of travel. The flora and fauna of La Celle
introduce us to conditions of climate such as are only par-
tially reproduced now along the borders of Western France,
where, in the same and even higher latitudes, thanks to the
genial influence of the ocean, many southern species of plants
are successfully cultivated. Thus we meet with the fig-tree of
Brittany, the evergreen oak of Noirmoutier and of Quimper, and
the arbutus of Vendée. Along the whole coast of Brittany, even
as far as Brest, not only the fig-tree and the laurel, but the
myrtle, grow in the open air, attain a good size, and ripen their
fruits. The presence of the delicate Canary laurel at La Celle,
however, shows that in Northern France the winter season of the
genial period during which that laurel flourished must have been
as clement as that of Var in the extreme south. Count Saporta
has described a picturesque scene which met his view near
Montmeilan (Var), where the Fontaine-l’Evéque tumbles into
the Verdon. The conditions, he says, vividly recalled those
which must at one time have obtained at La Celle. Wild
fig-trees of small stature overhung the water, which threw itself
down a rock decked with a rich vegetation. The leaves of this
tree exactly resembled those of La Celle, and the figs which still
remained on the wood of the preceding year were of small size,
and dropped away at the least touch into the water. The group
of plants around the waterfall closely approached to the flora of
La Celle. Besides the fig-tree, Saporta noted common hazel,
gray willow, elder-tree, ivy, clematis, box, and spindle-tree. The
common ash and the sycamore, however, were both wanting, for
neither occurs in that part of Provence at so low an elevation.
The laurel (Lawrus canariensis) was also absent, its northern limit
as an indigenous plant stopping much farther to the south. The
genial climate which nourished the flora of La Celle extended,
as we have seen, east into Germany, nor can there be any doubt

CLIMATE OF PLEISTOCENE PERIOD. 67

that the climate of Europe generally at that time was equable
and humid. Clement winters and cool summers permitted the
wide diffusion and intimate association of plants which have
now a very different range—temperate and southern species like
the ash, the poplar, the sycamore, the fig-tree, the judas-tree, the
laurel, etc., overspread all the low grounds of France as far north
at least as Paris. It was under such conditions that the ele-
phants, rhinoceroses, and hippopotamuses, and the vast herds of
temperate cervine and bovine species ranged over Europe, from
the shores of the Mediterranean up to the latitude of Yorkshire,
and probably even farther north still; and from the borders of
Asia to the Western Ocean. Despite the presence of numerous
fierce carnivora—lions, hyeenas, tigers, and others—Europe at
that time, with its shady forests, its laurel-margined streams, its
broad and deep-flowing rivers,—a country in every way suited
to the needs of a race of hunters and fishers——must have been
no unpleasant habitation for Paleolithic man,

This, however, is only one side of the picture. There was a
time when the climate of Pleistocene Europe presented the
strongest contrast to those genial conditions—a time when the
dwarf birch of the Scottish Highlands, and the Arctic willow,
with their northern congeners, grew upon the low grounds of
Middle Europe. Arctic animals, such as the musk-sheep and
the reindeer, lived then, all the year round, in the south of
France ; the mammoth ranged into Spain and Italy; the glutton
descended to the shores of the Mediterranean ; the marmot came
down to the low grounds at the foot of the Apennines; and the
lagomys inhabited the low-lying maritime districts of Corsica
and Sardinia. The land- and freshwater-shells of many. Pleis-
tocene deposits tell a similar tale; boreal, high-alpine, and
hyperborean forms, are characteristic of these accumulations in
Central Europe; even in the southern regions of our continent
the shells testify to a former colder and wetter climate. It was
during the climax of these conditions that the caves of Aqui-
taine were occupied by those artistic men who appear to have
delighted in carving and engraving.

68 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

I have already pointed out that severe conditions supervened
towards the close of the Pleistocene Period, so that a cold climate
followed after one that had been eminently mild and genial,
We are not to suppose, however, that the change was sudden,
It was brought about, in all probability, in the most gradual and
imperceptible manner throughout a long course of years. The
climate would become slowly deteriorated, the southern flora
retreating south, the arctic advancing from the north. Of the
mammalia, the hippopotamus, we may reasonably suppose, would
be amongst the first to retreat from the valleys of England,
France, and Germany; but the hardier temperate forms would
linger on so long as they had sufficient food-supplies, and where
deer and oxen abounded, the carnivora would not be wanting.
Some of the upholders of the migration-hypothesis lay much
stress upon the circumstance that bones of the reindeer have
been found with the marks of hyzenas’ teeth upon them. If
these marks be really due to the hyzna and not to some other
carnivore, the fact will only help to prove that the cave-hyzna
was endued with the same elasticity of constitution as the lion
and the tiger, and would be likely to occupy any territory
where there was a good supply of beef and venison.

We must now turn our attention to the more purely geo-
logical evidence, when I hope to show that the conclusions we
have now arrived at are not only not contradicted but amply
supported by an impartial consideration of the physical conditions
under which the Pleistocene deposits were accumulated.

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS, 69

CHAPTER V.

CAVE-DEPOSITS OF THE PLEISTOCENE PERIOD.

Caves of different kinds—Mode of their formation—Absence of Pliocene organic
remains in European caves—General character of cave-accumulations—Com-
mingling of human relics with remains of extinct mammalia—‘‘ Break”
between Paleolithic and Neolithic times—Stalagmite, its formation and rate
of growth—Mr, Pengelly’s observations on stalagmitic accretion in Kent’s
Cavern—Stalagmitic growth not continuous—Calcified earth, sand, and
gravel in caves—Angular blocks, débris, and breccia in caves—Succession of
deposits in Brixham Cave—Professor Prestwich on the geological history of
that Cave—Contemporaneity of man and the old mammalia—Extreme anti-
quity of Pleistocene Period.

HAVING glanced at the general character of the relics of the Old
Stone Period, and acquired some knowledge of the various
groups of animals which are believed to have been contem-
poraneous with our Paleolithic predecessors, we may now
proceed to consider the nature of the evidence upon which that
belief is based. With this question is naturally involved that
of the antiquity of the deposits in which the Old Stone imple-
ments and mammalian remains are entombed.

These deposits occur very frequently in caves and rock-
fissures, and they are also met with covering considerable areas
in certain river-valleys, both in this country and the Continent.
We shall consider first the evidence supplied by the cave-accu-
mulations, after which we shall be better prepared to understand
what geologists have to tell us about the ancient fluviatile ac-
cumulations of the Pleistocene Period.

For my purpose it is not necessary to go into the subject of
the formation of caves. Most of the large and important caves
occur in calcareous strata, those which have been excavated in

70 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

other kinds of rock being as a rule of little consequence. Nearly
all owe their origin to the chemical and mechanical action of
the subaerial forces—rain, frost, and running-water, while a few
have been formed in other ways. There are some rare instances,
for example, where a lava-stream has flowed over and solidified
above a mass of snow and ice, and the subsequent melting of
the latter has left a hollow behind. Again, during earthquakes
rocks are frequently rent asunder, and when these fall rudely
together, irregular cavities are left between the disjointed masses.
Similar results often take place when great landslips occur. But
such cases are exceptional, and need not at present occupy our
attention ; the caves which are of most interest to the student
of Paleolithic times are those which have been more or less
slowly excavated in the body of the rocks themselves. Caves
of this character are of two kinds ;—there are some which have
been formed at the surface and in the light of day, while others
have been hollowed out at various depths by the action of under-
ground water. Those of the former class are generally of
smaller size than the others, and are typically represented by
the hollows that occur at the base of many inland cliffs, and
by the sea-caves that are so commonly met with along the
present coast-line, and in the rocks at higher levels where the
waves and breakers in former times have been busy at their
work of erosion. Asa rule the hollows at the base of inland
cliffs mark the outcrop of some softer or more easily disinte-
grated rock than the others with which it is associated. When
a hard unyielding stratum overlies a softer or more readily
decomposed bed, the latter will crumble away and be worn back
by the mere action of the weather, and hollows of this nature
may of course occur either at the base of a cliff or steep slope, or
at any intermediate level between the base and the top. Should
such a soft rock happen to be washed by some stream a hollow
of considerable size may be scooped out, and this will continue
to be enlarged so long as the weather acts and the water flows,
until the overhanging harder stratum gives way and topples
down, and the cave is, for the time being, obliterated. For the

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. wa

formation of such hollows, however, it is not necessary that the
strata should consist of unequally-yielding materials. Cliffs of
homogeneous composition are often undercut by streams, simply
by mechanical erosion, but this action of the running-water is
frequently much intensified by the influence of frost. Of the
mode of formation of sea-caves it is not necessary to speak.
They and the more or less shallow rock-shelters and hollows,
that occur in the face and at the foot of inland cliffs and steep
slopes, may of course be excavated in almost any kind of
rock,

The second class of caves includes all the most extensive
underground galleries, many of which ramify in almost every
direction, winding tortuously about, and often opening on either
side into similar intricate hollows, which in like manner com-
municate with lateral extensions of the same character. All
these cavities owe their origin to the action of underground
water. The chemical composition of mineral springs might
have led us to expect that the more soluble strata must fre-
quently be honeycombed and excavated to a very considerable
extent, for the amount of mineral matter which many of those
springs carry to the surface in solution is simply astonishing.
We cannot be surprised therefore when we find that here and
there the surface of the ground has subsided, the rocks having |
been undermined by the continuous action of underground water,
Subsidences of this nature are most commonly met with in
districts where the prevailing strata are calcareous, but they also
occur in regions where rock-salt is plentiful. But since cal-
careous strata are more widely diffused, and as a rule occupy
more continuous tracts than any other kind of readily-soluble
rock, it is in countries where the former abounds that under-
ground cavities attain their greatest development. These have
been excavated by the chemical action of acidulated water,
assisted doubtless in many cases by contemporaneous and sub-
sequent mechanical erosion; that is to say, the cavities have
been enlarged by the filing action of the sand and gravel which
the underground streams have swept along. For a large pro-

72 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

portion of our great limestone-caves are simply the deserted
channels of subterranean streams and rivers. Many such water-
courses are well known at the present day, and the direction of
some of them can be traced by the swallow-holes, chasms, and
“sinks,” which indicate where the roofs of the cavities have
given way, or have been pierced by acidulated water. In certain
regions almost all the drainage is thus conducted underground—
rivers after flowing for a considerable distance at the surface
suddenly disappear below the ground, and follow a hidden course
for it may be many miles before they reappear. Sometimes,
indeed, they never come to the surface again, but enter the sea
by subterranean channels. Should anything occur to interrupt
such a system of underground drainage, and the streams and
rivers be compelled into new channels, the old subterranean
courses will then become more or less dry galleries, which may -
be accessible by one or even by several openings. And although
in time these entrances may become blocked by the fall of
débris, yet atmospheric erosion—rain, frost, and running-water—
will by and by open up new ones, either by the gradual disinte-
gration and removal of rock, or by inducing more or less sudden
falls and landslips.

It would be interesting to ascertain, if that were possible,
the age or date of origin of our great limestone-caves. But that,
it is to be feared, we shall hardly be able to accomplish. We
may indeed infer with much probability that some caves are
older than others, but no geologist can say with certainty at
what particular time the larger caverns in this and other countries
were first open to the light of day, and fitted to become the
resort of wild beasts and men. Ever since the limestones have
been permeated by water trickling down from the surface, the
excavation of caves has been going on, and there is no reason,
therefore, why some of the underground galleries in the more
ancient limestones (such as those of Devonian and Carboniferous
age) may not date back to a period anterior to the deposition
of the younger Tertiary formations. Nevertheless, it is remark-
able that none of our great caverns has yet yielded deposits of

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. 73

older date than the Pleistocene Period—that is to say, the time
when Europe was tenanted by Paleolithic man and the old
mammalia. We cannot doubt that those caves were in existence
in the precéding Pliocene Age, and that many (perhaps most)
were as open to the day then as in early Paleolithic times.
Yet if this were so, why is it that they do not contain abundant
remains of the old Pliocene mammalia, or even of the animals
that were characteristic of the still earlier Miocene Period ?
Professor Boyd Dawkins has suggested that the caves which
were accessible in Miocene and Pliocene times may have been
destroyed by the agents of erosion before the beginning of the
Pleistocene Period, and certainly the thickness of rock, which
has been peeled off the face of the country and carried in the
form of gravel, sand, and mud into the sea since the close of the
- Miocene Period, is so enormous that there may well be much
truth in Mr. Dawkins’s suggestion. Indeed, as regards any bone-
caves of Miocene age, it may be strongly doubted whether they
could possibly have existed down even to Newer Pliocene
times; for the denudation which can be shown to have taken
place before the beginning of the Pleistocene Period would more
than suffice to account for the total disappearance of many
extensive caves, carved out of much more durable rocks than
limestone. But I do not think that Mr. Dawkins’s hypothesis
accounts equally well for the total absence from our caves of
Pliocene bone-accumulations. The Pliocene Period was not
separated by any prolonged interval from the succeeding
Pleistocene Age. Quite the contrary, as we know, was the case,
for some of the mammals of the former period lived on into the
latter, and their remains are found commingled with those of
typical Pleistocene species in the floor-deposits of the caverns,
Although we admit as a possibility that the caves which were
accessible in early Pliocene times may have disappeared prior to
the advent of the great body of the Pleistocene fauna, yet we
find it hard to believe that the same could have been the case
with all the caves which may have been visited by the Pliocene
mammals during the later stages of that period. It would be

74 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

very strange indeed if denudation should have removed every
Pliocene cave, and at the same time opened out a completely
new suite of caverns for the use of the Pleistocene fauna. The
appearances presented by the oldest accumulations in our great
limestone-caves shows that these latter were not only in exist-
ence, but had attaimed pretty much their present dimensions
before they were resorted to by Paleolithic man and his con-
geners; and we can hardly resist the conclusion, therefore, that
many of them must have been as accessible in Pliocene times as
they subsequently became. And if they were thus accessible
at that early period, it is almost certain that they must at one
time have contained accumulations of Pliocene age. No trace of
these, however, has yet been detected ; but this need not surprise
us, because, as we shall presently learn, there is every reason to
believe that the caves have frequently been invaded by running-
water, and their floor-deposits broken up and swept away.
Before the neighbouring valleys had been excavated to their
present depth such accidents would be liable to occur whenever
the streams and rivers rose in flood. We know that some of the
valleys in question were deepened to the extent of fifty and
even of a hundred feet and more during the Pleistocene Period,
so that in the preceding Pliocene Age and in early Pleistocene
times the caves opening into these valleys would be more
exposed to irruptions of water than they were at a later date.
When the Pleistocene Period was far advanced many of the
caves seem to have remained permanently dry, and the accumu-
lations of floor-deposits continued with little or no interruption.
Had the rivers continued to flow at the same level all through
the Pleistocene Period, it is more than probable that no con-
siderable floor-deposits would have escaped destruction. In the
sequel we shall find that there is abundant evidence to show
that some of the older cave-accumulations have experienced no
little denudation. The caves would appear to have been cleared
out again and again. And if this has been the actual fate of
Pleistocene accumulations, we need not wonder at the apparently
entire absence of Pliocene cave-deposits. It is quite possible,

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. 75

however, that some vestiges of these may yet be detected, when
some of the larger caves have been exhaustively explored.

The floor-accumulations present in most cases very much
the same kind of phenomena. Lying at the immediate surface
are usually found relics of modern and archaic times—tools,
implements, and ornaments of iron, bronze, or polished stone;
and with these are often associated remains of ox, deer, sheep,
dog, horse, and other animals that are still indigenous to Europe.
Such modern and archaic relics and remains frequently rest
upon an undisturbed pavement of stalagmite, underneath which
again often occurs a variable thickness of earth, more or less
abundantly charged with the bones, teeth, and horns of extinct
or no longer indigenous mammals, and now and again yielding
Palzolithic implements in larger or smaller numbers. Occa-
sionally the floor-deposits underlying the modern superficial
layer may consist of a vertical succession of half-a-dozen different
beds, lying perfectly undisturbed, one above another; in all of
which Palzolithic implements and remains of the extinct mam-
malia may be found. When a cave is completely filled up, the
upper or more modern layer is often wanting. Sometimes the
only deposit covering the floor of a cave consists of a rude breccia
of limestone and earth, disseminated through which relics and
remains of the Old Stone Age may be detected. But in each
and every case where Neolithic, Bronze, or Iron implements are
present they invariably occur at the very surface. It is true
that now and again the cave-deposits have been disturbed in
Neolithic and more recent times, and relics belonging to different
periods have thus got mixed. But such cases are not so common
as one might have expected, and with the wider experience we
have now gained, they are always more or less easily detected.
When the layers show no trace of disturbance the Paleolithic
deposits invariably occur underneath those of Neolithic and later
times, and not only so, but the one set of deposits is sharply
marked off from the other. When we clear away the superficial
layer with its Neolithic and more modern relics, and dig into
the underlying Paleolithic deposits, we pass, as it were, into

76 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

quite a different world. The domestic animals—ox, sheep, dog,
and horse—disappear, and we are confronted by elephants,
rhinoceroses, hyzenas, mammoths, reindeer, and so forth.

Thus in Britain and North-western Europe there appears
to have been no gradual passage from Paleolithic into Neolithic
times. We know that the men of the Old Stone Age occupied
our continent along with many large pachyderms and carnivores,
and that a time came when all these animals, together with
Paleolithic man, vanished from the European area, and were
abruptly succeeded by Neolithic man and the present indigenous
fauna. There is thus a gap or hiatus in the cave-history,—the
floor-accumulations contain apparently no record of the period
that intervened after the departure of Paleolithic man and
before the advent of his Neolithic successor. But this remark-
able fact will come out more clearly as we further consider the
evidence.

The fact that human relics are commingled in many caves
with the remains of extinct animals has long been known to
geologists, But for a number of years it was a disputed point
whether man had actually been. contemporaneous with such
animals or not. And though several investigators, who had
made careful examinations of the cave-accumulations, stoutly
maintained that he had, yet geologists generally continued
sceptical and unbelieving. But after such caves as that at
Brixham (Torbay), and the still more famous cavern near Tor-
quay, called Kent’s Hole, had been subjected to long and care-
ful examination under the auspices of the Royal and Geological
Societies, and the British Association, even the most sceptical
hammerer threw aside his doubts. But while giving all due
credit to the Exploration Committees for their admirable and
exhaustive work, we must not forget that the main result of
their labours has been merely to verify and confirm the conclu-
sions arrived at by the earlier investigators. It is needless to
say that those who have taken the most active share in cave-
exploring are the readiest to admit this; and none more will-
ingly than. Mr. Pengelly, who has personally superintended the

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. 7

investigations carried on in the two famous Devonshire caves.
It was in one of these (Kent’s Hole) that the first discovery in
cave-deposits of the association of human implements with the
remains of the extinct mammalia was made. This important
“find” occurred to the Rev. J. MacEnery, who, between the years
1825 to 1841, seems to have explored Kent’s Cavern with great
assiduity. It is not my intention, however, to enter into the
history of discovery in this most interesting department of geo-
logy. At present I am concerned merely with the general results
arrived at. Those who are desirous of acquiring fuller details
than can be given in these pages may consult the treatises men-
tioned in the note below.’ In some of these works references
will be found to the labours of the earlier investigators, and the
reader will be able to form an opinion as to what extent the
conclusions of such men as MacEnery, Buckland, Schmerling,
Marcel de Serres, Christol, Tournal, and others have been borne
out by the more detailed and systematic researches of later days.

The mode in which human relics and mammalian remains
are associated in the undisturbed floor-deposits of the caverns
leaves one in no doubt that man and the extinct animals were
actually contemporaneous—that is to say, that they occupied
the European area during one and the same period. Human
relics and mammalian remains occur commingled in certain
cave-earths that are sealed up by an overlying, unbroken, and
continuous layer of stalagmite. Below this upper cave-earth,

1 Buckland’s Reliquice Diluviane ; Lyell’s Antiquity of Man; Lubbock’s
Prehistoric Times ; Dupont’s L’ Homme pendant les Ages de la Pierre ; Lartet’s and
Christy’s Reliquice Aquitanice ; Le Hon’s L’Homme Fossile en Ewrope, and Boyd
Dawkins’s Cave-hunting. A general account of the English bone-caves is given
in the last edition of Ramsay’s Physical Geology and Geography of Great Britain.
For more detailed accounts of the mode of occurrence of cave-accumulations, see
Mr. Pengelly’s Annual Reports to the British Association on the excavations
which are now being carried on in Kent’s Cavern; and Mr. Tiddeman’s Reports
on the Victoria Cave, near Settle. Another most elaborate and valuable Report
is that by Professor Prestwich on the exploration of Brixham Cave. See Philoso-
phical Transactions, vol. clxiii. 1873, p. 471. Mr. MacEnery’s manuscripts were lost
for a number of years; an abstract of them, however, was published in 1859 by
Mr. Vivian, and ten years later so much of the MSS. as had been preserved was
printed in full by Mr. Pengelly in the Transactions of the Devonshire Association.

78 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

again, may occur a second cave-earth containing similar relics
and remains, and separated from the “earth” above by a second
uninterrupted pavement of stalagmite. It is perfectly certain,
therefore, that the caves were occupied alternately by wild
beasts and savage men for longer or shorter periods. And as if
to make assurance of their contemporaneity doubly sure, we have
the strong evidence of the Palzolithic carvings and etchings,
to which reference has already been made. No one now ques-
tions the fact that man lived through all those remarkable
geographical and climatic changes to which the old mammalia
bear testimony. ‘This is one of the questions which has passed
out of the category of mere ingenious conjecture and plausible
inference into that of well-assured and demonstrated fact. I
need not, therefore, pause to recontrovert the views of those who
have maintained that the stone celts are mere natural produc-
tions ; that the “worked flints” have been chipped into their
present forms by the action of frost, or by knocking about in
the beds of rivers, or by any of the manifold modes in which
rocks are broken up and disintegrated by natural forces. To
those who have been used almost daily during many years to
handle naturally-broken stones of all kinds, and to break and
chip them for themselves, such views necessarily appear futile
and inconsequent, the peculiar chipping to which the flints have
been subjected pointing unmistakably to man’s handiwork.
“No man,” Professor Ramsay remarks, “ who knows how chalk-
flints are fractured by nature would doubt the artificial character
of these ancient tools or weapons.” Several eminent geologists,
however, compassionating the difficulties of less experienced
observers, have replied in detail to the objections which were at
one time raised to the human origin of the “ worked flints.”
That task having been accomplished, no one now doubts the
artificial origin of these implements any more than one disbe-
lieves that man’s hands made the bone-needles, awls, and har-
poons, or etched the remarkable outline-sketches of mammoth
and reindeer.

Let us now glance at the evidence which the cave-accumu-

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. 79

lations furnish as to the prolonged duration of the Old Stone
Age. I have mentioned the fact that frequently the floors of
the great limestone-caverns are paved with a material called
stalagmite, in and underneath which the relics of Paleolithic
man and his congeners are often met with in abundance. The
general appearance of this deposit must be familiar to most. It
is a carbonate of lime which may be loose and friable in texture,
or harder and more coherent, but in many cases it is dense and
erystalline. It varies also in colour from creamy white to
yellow and red, being stained by the oxides of iron and vegetable
matter. The mode of its formation is very simple. Rain-water
invariably contains some proportion of carbonic acid, and as it
sinks through the soil, which is often enough charged with
decaying organic matter, it may take up more before it reaches
the underlying rocks. Such acidulated water filtering down-
wards into the cracks and crevices that seam a bed of lime-
stone, immediately attacks the rock, and carries away a certain
portion in solution. By and by the now calcareous water oozes
out on the roof of a cave, where as the drops gather and fall
they are of course subject to evaporation. Thin shells or pel-
licles are thus deposited on the roof, and corresponding accre-
tions form on the floor. By the continual prolongation of the
tiny shells from above long pendent stalactites are formed, while
cakes and rounded bosses, domes and mammillated heaps, grow
upwards, as it were, from the ground. If this process goes on
uninterruptedly, the time comes when the stalactites and stalag-
mites meet, so as to form fantastic pillars reaching continuously
from floor to ceiling.

In most cases these calcareous accretions are of slow growth,
an inch or two requiring, asa rule, many years for their forma-
tion, but sometimes they form more rapidly. A good deal
depends upon the quantity and quality of the percolating
water, and also upon the character of the limestone. Where
the soil is well charged with organic matter, the water that
finds its way down into the rocks being highly acidulated will
dissolve limestone rapidly. But if the rainfall in such a case

80 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

be not great, then the dissolution of the rock may not take place
so briskly as in another district where the percolating water,
although less acidulated, is yet more plentiful.

Again, owing to differences of composition and structure, all
calcareous rocks are not equally acted upon by carbonated
water, some being more readily dissolved than others. Hence it
is evident that we cannot take the rate at which stalagmite
accretes in one particular cave as a standard of measurement by
which to judge of the time required for the accumulation of a
certain thickness of stalagmite in any other cave, unless we are
quite sure that the conditions are now and have for a long time
been the same in both, which it need hardly be said is never
likely to be the case, For instance, it is a well-known fact that,
owing to the humidity of our climate, marble monuments exposed
to the weather, especially in or near our manufacturing towns,
are very soon corroded ; while in other countries, with more favour-
able atmospheric conditions, the same stone may be subjected for
a much longer time to the action of the weather without showing
much appreciable wear. And if this be true of the calcareous
rocks exposed at the surface of the ground, it must also hold good
for the limestone, chalk, and marble that are buried below our
feet. Were the climate of Britain drier than it is, there can
be little doubt that our limestones would decay, and stalac-
tites and stalagmites would form, more slowly than they do at
present. But even under such conditions the calcareous rocks
would weather away, and stalagmites would accrete at very
diverse rates, owing, as I have said, partly to differences in the
quantity and quality of the percolating water, and partly also to
differences in the composition, porosity, and structure of the
limestones, Observations have put it beyond doubt that the
rate at which stalagmite increases is very variable. In some
instances the drip has taken many years to forma mere thin
glaze ‘the fraction of a line in thickness, while in one case
(Ingleborough Cave) a layer nearly a quarter of an inch in thick-
ness has accreted in one year. This latter, however, is probably
very exceptional. Had stalagmitic accretions generally increased

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. 81

at this rate, all our caves ought to have been long ago filled up
with them.

Obviously, therefore, no reliable conclusion can be drawn as
to the rate at which stalagmites have grown in caves generally,
from measuring the rate of growth in any particular cave at the
present time. To form an adequate conception of the age of a
given bed of stalagmite we ought to measure, if possible, the
rate at which that individual bed is now accreting. This, if it
be carefully determined, will not necessarily give us a perfectly
true result; but when certain considerations, to be mentioned
presently, are kept in view, it will enable us to make some
approximation to that end. It is well known that during the
exploration of Kent’s Cavern near Torquay a number of names
and dates, carved upon the uppermost bed of stalagmite, have
been detected, and some of these go back to the beginning of the
seventeenth century. Yet,as Mr. Pengelly tells us, “though
the stalagmitic matter has been continually accreting on them
ever since, it has been at so slow a rate that the inscriptions are
still perfectly legible.” On the surface of a large boss of stalag-
mite which rises up from the general level of the floor, and thus
marks a spot where the drip has been more continuous, and the
growth, therefore, more rapid than in many other parts of the
cave, there is this inscription, “ Robert Hedges, of Ireland, Feb.
20, 1688.” The film of stalagmite which has formed over it is
not more than the twentieth of an inch in thickness, nor have
we any direct evidence to show that the accretion of this parti-
cular boss was more rapid in earlier times. The bed of which
it forms a part is of very variable thickness, being hardly an
inch in some places, while in others it swells out to as much as
five feet. If, therefore, we took the rate at which the large boss
in question has accreted during the past two centuries as a
standard of measurement, we should infer that the upper layer
of stalagmite began to form about 240,000 years ago, while the
underlying layer, which occurs in the same cave and attains a
thickness of twelve feet, would at a similar rate require some
576,000 years for its growth. But these rates are certainly ex-

82 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

cessive, for they are based on the assumption that past climatic
conditions did not differ from the present. As we shall see in
the sequel, however, this is very far from having been the case,
for we have every reason to believe that at certain epochs during
the Pleistocene Period the rainfall was considerably greater than
it is now. At present the rainfall near Torquay is about 35
inches, but in former times it may have been three or four times
as much, or even greater still. With a rainfall of 140 inches
the stalagmites would accrete, other things being equal, four
times as rapidly, so that one inch might form in 1000 years.
At that rate the upper stalagmite would require 60,000 and the
lower bed 144,000 years respectively for their growth.

In other parts of the cave, however, we have evidence to
show that the stalagmite has sometimes accreted at a more rapid
rate. Thus, overlying a superficial layer containing remains of
Romano-Saxon times, we find a thin interrupted cake of stalag-
mite which nowhere exceeds six inches in thickness, and is
generally much thinner, or absent altogether. Assuming, there-
fore, that six inches as a maximum have accreted in 2000 years,
and using this comparatively rapid rate as a standard of measure-
ment for the older stalagmitic pavements, we should still have a
period of 20,000 years for the formation of the upper layer, and
of 48,000 years for the lower. But on the supposition that,
owing to an excessive rainfall, the stalagmites formerly increased
four times more rapidly than they do now, the first period would
be reduced to 5000 years, and that of the lower stalagmite to
12,000 years.

We have no grounds, however, for believing that the Pleisto-
cene Period was characterised throughout by such an excessively
wet climate. I shall have occasion to refer in the sequel to the
evidence bearing upon the former occurrence of a rainy climate,
- and hope to be able to show that a succession of wet and less
humid periods alternated during Pleistocene times. Now,
although the rainfall in some of those wet periods may have
been considerably in excess of what I have supposed merely for
the sake of illustration, yet on the other hand it may have come

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. 83

short of it, while the intervening drier periods might well have
experienced a rainfall not much greater than that of the present.
Thus it is evident that the present rate of stalagmitic accretion
in Kent’s Cavern cannot be safely relied upon as a standard by
which to judge of the time required for the formation of the old
pavements, underneath which the Pleistocene cave-earths lie
buried. The question of age, as we see, is not so easily settled,
for we have to take into account the effects produced by previous
climatic conditions; and as we can form only a more or less
uncertain estimate of these effects, it is impossible that our con-
clusions can be other than vaguely approximative. Even on the
most extravagant assumption, however, as to the former rate of
stalagmitic accretion, we shall yet be compelled to admit a period
of many thousands of years for the formation of the stalagmitic
pavements in Kent’s Cavern.

There is another consideration, however, which must not be
forgotten when we are endeavouring to form some adequate
conception of the time required for the accretion of such stalag-
mitic pavements. We have no reason to suppose that their
growth has always been continuous; on the contrary, we know
very well that in many cases the accretion on the floors has fre-
quently been interrupted. Sometimes the caves were filled,
or partially filled, with water, and their former occupants ex-
pelled for prolonged periods, during which no growth of stalag-
mite could take place. At other times, when the caverns were
the frequent resort of large predatory animals like the bear, such
pellicles of stalagmitic matter as formed upon the floor would
often be trampled on and commingled with earth and clay, which
might be readily removed when, now and again, flood-waters
found access to the caves, so that any particular bed of stalag-
mite can seldom or never represent the entire quantity of car-
bonate of lime that dropped in solution upon the floor from the
time when the stalagmitic pavement first began to accrete.

This is clearly indicated by the structure of the stalagmitic
pavements themselves. Sometimes these are remarkably pure
and homogeneous, indicating a prolonged and perhaps continuous

84 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

period of deposition. Now and again, however, we find them
showing numerous intercalations of earth—some of which cer-
tainly point to the former presence of muddy water. An
excellent example of this was met with during the exploration
of Brixham Cave, in one part of which six or seven plates of
crystalline, compact, soil-stained, finely-laminated stalagmite,
varying from half an inch to upwards of an inch and a half in
thickness, extended horizontally from wall to wall, one over the
other, and alternated with an equal number of interstratified
layers of earth of similar thickness. Again, stalagmites, so far
from being always comparatively pure, are often so highly im-
pregnated with earthy ingredients as to assume the character of
calcified earths. Such impurities may have been introduced in
various ways. Most limestones when they are dissolved in car-
bonic acid leave a red residue behind, and there can be little
doubt that much of the earthy matter in stalagmitic accretions is
of this nature, and to that we may add the red earth, mud, and
silt introduced by rains and freshets through fissures in the roofs
and sides of caves, and even in many cases by their more open
mouths. Some of the caves in the Rock of Gibraltar bear
evident marks of having been invaded in this manner. The
heavy rains that fall on the western slopes of that ridge rush
down the rocky declivities, sweeping before them considerable
quantities of red earth, derived from the subaerial decomposition
of the limestone, and much of this muddy water escapes into
underground cavities through narrow fissures, and now and then
pours into the caverns by their chief entrances. Finally, when
we conceive of the caves as having frequently been the actual
_abodes during long periods of various wild beasts and men, we
can have no difficulty in understanding how stalagmitic accre-
tions might come to be soil-stained, even although rain and
- freshets never found access to them at all.

I have mentioned the fact that stalagmites often pass into
what might be termed calcified earths, and from what has been
said about the origin of such impurities the reader will be pre-
pared to learn that frequently the floors of our old limestone-

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. 85

caves are buried under considerable accumulations of gravel,
sand, and earth or clay. The presence of these deposits shows
that sometimes the caves after they had been resorted to by
animals again became the channels of engulphed streams, either
intermittently or for long continuous periods; while, in other
cases, they were ever and anon liable to be inundated by floods
carrying into them quantities of mud and silt. Moreover, it
can be shown that sheets of stalagmite have occasionally been
broken up and removed from certain caves, in whole or in
part, so that we cannot always be sure that this may not have
happened in the case of many other caves.

Throughout all the cave-deposits occur, more or less fre-
quently, large and small angular fragments of limestone that
have evidently fallen from the sides and roof. Sometimes these
are scattered pretty equally through the floor-accumulations, at
other times they are perhaps more numerous at some levels than
at others. They seem also to be present most abundantly in the
chambers or galleries that open directly to the day, or which can
be shown to have formerly had some such direct connection
with the external atmosphere. It is also to be noted that the
uppermost layer in which any traces of Pleistocene mammals
and Palzolithic man are met with, is not unfrequently sprinkled
with numerous fallen masses, and sometimes with a more or less
thick breccia of large and small fragments of limestone, by which
the mouth or entrance to the cave is occasionally blocked up.

The fragments may have been detached from the roof in
various ways. It cannot be doubted that, as Mr. Pengelly has
pointed out,’ the gradual widening of the joints in limestone by
the corrosive action of percolating water must occasionally loosen
large blocks, and allow these to fall away ; and as percolation is
always going on, such accidents as the sudden dislodgment of
fragments may take place at any moment, in any part of a
eave, and under any conditions of climate. Again, it is not
improbable, as some have suggested, that the tremor of the
ground during an earthquake might shake down many half-

1 Trans, Devon, Assoc., vol. vii. 1875, p. 315.

86 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

loosened blocks and fragments. But such will hardly account
for all or even for any great proportion of the scattered blocks
and thick aggregations of limestone-débris that are met with in
so many caves. I am inclined to believe that very many of
these fragments may have been dislodged by the action of frost,
which at some epochs during the Pleistocene Period was cer-
tainly more intense in our latitude than it is now. This would
account for the more abundant presence of fallen blocks and
débris at and near the entrances of caves, for in the deeper
recesses the cold would necessarily be less intense, and less
capable therefore of rupturing the limestone and detaching
angular fragments. If the dislodgment of all these fragments
had been due solely to the corrosive action of percolating water
or to the vibrations of earthquakes, we should be at a loss to
understand why the greatest falls should have so frequently
taken place in those portions of the caves that are most acces-
sible to the influence of the external atmosphere.

Reference has been made to the fact that deposits of gravel,
sand, and earth frequently occur in caves, sometimes underlying
and not uncommonly intercalated with sheets or pavements of
stalagmitic matter. The history of these accumulations often
impresses us fully as much as that of the stalagmites themselves
with the length of time required for their formation. One or
two examples may suffice to show what is meant. The first I
shall cite is that of Brixham Cave, which has been carefully
explored by a committee of well-known geologists and arche-
ologists.1 This cave occurs ona little hill overlooking the small
fishing-town of Brixham, Torbay, and its entrance is about 95
feet above high water. The deposits met with consisted of the
following accumulations, which are named in descending order:—

1. Stalagmitic Floor of irregular thickness, varying from a few inches
to upwards of one foot.

2. Breccia, consisting of small angular fragments of limestone, cemented
together by carbonate of lime. This deposit filled up the northern entrance

1 “Report on the Exploration of Brixham Cave, etc.,” by Joseph Prestwich,
F.R.S., F.G.S., etc. Philosophical Transactions, 1874, p. 471.

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. 87

to the cave, from which it thinned off rapidly inwards, so that its surface
formed an inclined plane.

3. Black Bed; a thin layer of blackish matter, which Professor Prest-
wich describes as “ peaty calcareous earth (or leaf mould 2.2” It contained
some angular fragments of limestone, and did not exceed one foot in thick-
ness. It was met with immediately under the breccia, but occurred
nowhere else throughout the cavern.

4. Cave-earth, from two to four feet thick,—a reddish-brown, tenacious,
clayey loam, with many angular and sub-angular fragments of limestone,
which varied in size from very small bits up to blocks weighing a ton.
Rounded pebbles of trap, quartz, and limestone, were also of common
occurrence, and nodules of iron-ore were occasionally met with. Frag-
ments of stalagmite, apparently portions of an old “ floor,” likewise
appeared here and there.

5. Shingle, consisting mainly of pebbles of quartz, greenstone, orit, and
limestone, mixed with small fragments of shale. With the sole exception
of the limestone, all these pebbles are foreign to the hill in which the
cave is excavated. Here and there the shingle is cemented into a con-
glomerate.

Throughout a considerable part of one of the main galleries
appears what Mr. Pengelly has termed a “ stalagmitic ceiling,”
which varies from six inches to upwards of a foot in thickness.
It extends horizontally from wall to wall, and through the large
holes that occur in it an unoccupied space of two feet or so is
seen to separate it from the solid limestone-roof of the cavern.
Firmly adherent to its under surface, were observed in several
instances angular, sub-angular, and well-rounded fragments of
old stalagmite, together with small pieces of quartz and lime-
stone.

With the exception of the black bed, all the other accumula-
tions on the floor of this cavern proved to be more or less fossili-
ferous, but the cave-earth was by far the richest repository of
bones. Associated with the mammalian remains were found a
number of “worked flints.” The bones belong, according to Mr.
Busk, to twenty or twenty-one species, namely, mammoth, woolly
rhinoceros, horse, great ox, shorthorn ox, great red-deer, rein-
deer, roebuck, cave-lion, cave-hyzena, cave-bear, grisly bear,
brown bear, common fox, common badger, hare, rabbit, lemming,
water-rat, shrew.

88 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Professor Prestwich, after carefully weighing all the evidence,
comes to the following conclusions :—The shingle, which forms
the basement-bed, may have been introduced by water flowing
over the slates, grits, and shales that occur to the westward of
Brixham. Owing to the small drainage-area and the impermeable
nature of the rocks, this old stream would occasionally become
dry ; and at such periods the remains of the mammoth, horse,
and ox, which occur in the shingle, might have been brought in
at intervals by lions and hyzenas and devoured on the spot—the
bones showing evident marks of having been gnawed. At this
period in the history of the cave, “the valley of Brixham and
its tributaries, which then as now formed the channels of drain-
age of the district, must have been from 70 to 80 feet less deep
than at present.” “After the cave had become choked with
shingle,” continues Professor Prestwich, “the stream, either from
that cause, or from the deepening of the channels outside, kept
more in the main valley, and a period of quiet succeeded, during
which a first bed of stalagmite was deposited immediately upon
the bed of shingle.” This is the stalagmite which Mr. Pengelly
calls a “stalagmitic ceiling.” Ere long it was broken up and the
surface of the shingle-bed, upon which it rested, was lowered to
the extent of from six to ten feet—effects which may have been
produced, according to Professor Prestwich, “either by an
irruption of water carrying away part of the shingle, and so
undermining the stalagmite, or by the breaking-up of the stal-
agmite, and the settling-down of the shingle deeper into the
fissures by earthquake-movements.” In whatever way the
change took place, there can be no doubt that the succeeding
accumulation of cave-earth bears witness to very different hydro-
graphical conditions. No shingle-bearing streams now entered
the fissures, but the cave was habitually dry. Occasionally,
however, it was visited by floods from the main stream of the
Brixham valley, which deposited their silt upon the floor, and
thus during successive inundations the so-called “cave-earth”
gradually accumulated. The breaking up of the first bed of
stalagmite, and the lowering of the surface of the shingle-bed,

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. 89

gave greatly increased room in the cave, and hence it became a
place of resort for such animals as hyzenas and bears, and was
occasionally visited by Paleolithic man. By and by, when
flood-water no longer reached the cave, the formation of stalag-
mite, which had been going on during the intervals between
successive inundations, proceeded without interruption, and the
remains of such predatory animals as continued to frequent the
cave, together with the bones of their prey, became sealed up in
the calcareous drip. Eventually, however, the entrances to the
cave were closed with an accumulation of débris, and “from
that time it ceased to be accessible, except to the smaller rodents
and burrowing animals, and remained unused and untrodden
until its discovery in 1858.”

Here then we have evidence, first, of the contemporaneity of
man and the old mammalia; and, second, of the extreme antiquity
of the period during which they were in joint occupation of
Southern England. At the time when the cave first began to
be visited by the mammalia and Paleolithic man the valley of
Brixham was 70 or 80 feet less deep than now; in other words,
so long a time has elapsed since then, that the streams of that
district have been able to excavate their beds in hard rock to a
depth of not far short of 100 feet.

ele) PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

CHAPTER VI.

CAVE-DEPOSITS OF THE PLEISTOCENE PERIOD—Continued.

Succession of deposits in Kent’s Cavern—Conditions during their accumulation—
Evidence for prolonged duration of Paleolithic Period—Hyzena-dens in
England—Kirkdalé Cave and Wookey Hole—Bone-caves never tenanted by
man or wild beasts—Victoria Cave, near Settle in Yorkshire—Succession of
deposits in that cave—Glacial beds associated with Pleistocene deposits—
Bone-caves of Belgium—General succession of deposits in these—Trou du
Sureau—Relative position of Neolithic relics.

REFERENCE has already been made to the stalagmitic pavements
in Kent’s Cavern, and we have learned something of what they
have to teach us. Let us now glance for a little at the general
succession of the beds amongst which those pavements are inter-
calated, and we shall find that the earth and mechanical
accumulations of this cave are not less eloquent of changes
implying the lapse of time than the similarly-formed deposits
at Brixham,

In digging down into the floor-accumulations of Kent’s
Cavern the following beds were passed through, beginning with
the uppermost or newest :—*

1. A layer of Black Mould, consisting to a large extent of vegetable
débris, and varying in thickness from three inches to twelve inches. This

1 This cave is being explored at the instance of the British Association, under
the personal superintendence of Mr. Pengelly, to whose yearly reports (Brit. Ass.
Reps. trom 1865) and other papers (published chiefly in the Transactions of the
Devonshire Association) I am indebted for the notes given above. General
accounts of the cave will be found in Lyell’s Antiquity of Man; Lubbock’s
Prehistoric Times ; Evans’s Ancient Stone Implements of Britain ; Boyd Daw-
kins’s Cave-hwnting ; and other works.

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. gt

mould lay between and amongst large blocks of limestone, some of which

rested upon it.
2. Granular Stalagmite, frequently containing large blocks of limestone.

Thickness, one inch to five feet.

3. Black Band, four inches thick, consisting mainly of small fragments
of charred wood ; occurred only in one part of the cave, where it occupied
an area of about 100 square feet. :

4. Oave-earth; a light red clay, with many small angular fragments
and some large blocks of limestone ; of variable thickness ; excavated to
a depth of four feet.

5. Crystalline Stalagmite, reaching in places about twelve feet in
thickness.

6. Breccia, composed of sub-angular and rounded pieces of dark red
grit, with some quartz pebbles, embedded in a sandy matrix of the same
colour. This is the lowest and oldest of the deposits so far as yet known,
but its base has not yet been reached by the explorations.

The uppermost deposit, the black mould, is of comparatively
recent origin. It contains articles of stone and bronze, and
remains of a number of animals, all of which are still found
living in England. None of the human relics needs date much
beyond Romano-British times, while many are certainly more
recent. With the underlying beds, however, the case is very
different. In the. granular stalagmite were found “stones of
various kinds, shells of cockles and cuttle-fish, impressions of
ferns, charcoal, bones and teeth of bear, elephant, hyzena,
rhinoceros, horse, fox, and man, with flakes and cores of flint.”
Human relics also occur plentifully in the black band, such as
numerous flint tools and some implements of bone, namely an
awl, a harpoon, and a needle having a well-formed eye. With
these were associated burnt bones, and remains of ox, deer,
badger, rhinoceros, hyena, etc. The cave-earth abounds in
animal remains, both of extinct and living species, and it also
contains numerous relics of man’s handiwork. Here occur bones
and teeth of lion, bear, mammoth, rhinoceros, hyzena, etc., along
with remains of reindeer, Irish elk, red-deer, wolf, fox, badger,
glutton, beaver, and other animals. The crystalline stalagmite
and the breccia have yielded numerous traces of the cave-bear,
and in the latter deposit were found implements of flint and

92 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

chert, “much more rudely formed, more massive, and less
symmetrical in form,” than those obtained from the cave-earth
and black band. They have been made, says Mr. Pengelly, “by
operating not on flakes, but directly on nodules, of which
portions of the original surface generally remain.” (See Plate A,
Fig. 1, p. 11.)

A study of the mechanically-formed accumulations on the
floor of Kent’s Cave reveals the fact that between the time of
its earliest and latest known occupation by Paleolithic man
and his congeners, considerable changes must have taken place
in the drainage-features of the neighbourhood. The breccia tells
us of a time when the cave was now and again occupied by bears,
and occasionally visited by savage men. During that period it
would appear that water, flowing from some of the adjacent
higher hills, ever and anon carried into the cave many fragments
of red grit—a rock which does not form any part of the hill into
which the cave opens ; but before the crystalline stalagmite began
to accrete, this process had altogether ceased—the drainage had
been diverted, and no mechanical sediment found its way into
the cave. Then, long subsequently, came a time of re-excavation,
when the crystalline stalagmite was undermined to some con-
siderable extent, and broken up—much, both of it and the
underlying breccia, being carried away. After this the cave was
again visited by predatory animals and by Paleolithic man; and
now and then flood-waters, bearing fine mud and silt, found
their way into the cave and spread their sediment over the floors
of chambers and galleries. Such inundations were intermittent,
and perhaps irregularly recurrent—long intervals of comparative
quiescence allowing the drip from the roof to commingle with
and calcify the floor-earth. During the slow accumulation of
this earth, hyzenas seem to have occupied the cave for long
periods, and it was certainly also the haunt of other predatory
animals, such as lions, bears, and the extinct tiger-like machair-
odus. Man was likewise at intervals a visitor, and possibly a
resident while the cave-earth was forming. At all events he
certainly was so during the accumulation of the black band—for

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. 93

this bed is neither more nor less than the old hearth on which
his wood-fire burned, where he cooked his meals and warmed
himself. Mr. Pengelly is of opinion that the men of the black
band and cave-earth were a race further advanced in civilisation
than the barbarians whose implements are got in the old breccia.
The former, he reminds us, “made bone tools and ornaments—
harpoons for spearing fish, eyed needles or bodkins for stitching
skins together, awls perhaps to facilitate the passage of the
slender needle through the tough, thick hides, pins for fastening
the skins they wore, and perforated badgers’ teeth for necklaces
or bracelets.” But nothing of this kind occurs in the breccia;
the only implements found at that low level consisting of flint
or chert, and being of a much ruder character than the worked
flints of the cave-earth.

Thus all the evidence conspires to show the prolonged
duration of the Old Stone Age, so far as that is represented in
Kent’s Cavern. We have first to take into consideration the
time required for the gradual introduction of the basement-
deposits of red grit and sand by running-water; then we have
to conceive of a change in the hydrographical conditions of the
neighbourhood, when the stream that now and then entered the
cave was no longer able to do so; next we have to realise as best
we can the length of time that is implied by the thick crystal-
line stalagmite. How many long centuries rolled past while that
old pavement was slowly accreting no one can say, but that it
represents a lapse of ages compared to which the time embraced
by all tradition and written history is but as a few months, who
that is competent to form an opinion can doubt? After a pro-
longed period of quiescence, water once more entered the cavern
and re-excavated the older deposits; and after this process had
ceased, mud and silt were spread at intervals over the floor of
the cave by intermittent inundations. From this time on to the
accumulation of the upper bed of stalagmite, the cave, as we
have seen, was frequented by many animals, whose remains are
not met with in the old breccia, while the men who now and
then occupied the place appear to have been further advanced

94 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

than the poor savages whose relics are found associated with
the bones and teeth of bears in the bottom-deposits. All these
changes imply time, and are indicative, perhaps, of great geo-
graphical mutations. Mr. Pengelly thinks it probable that
during the occupation of the cave by the great bears of the
breccia, Britain was an island, and that the hyena and its con-
geners came at a later date, when our country formed part of
the Continent. This is a question, however, to which we shall
return by and by. For the present I am content if I can aid
the reader in realising the fact of the prolonged duration of the
Palzolithic Period.

I have made special reference to Brixham Cave and Kent’s
Hole because they were the first to be investigated with such
care and scientific caution as were required to set at rest the
vexed question as to man’s contemporaneity with the extinct
mammalia of Pleistocene times. Many other English caves have
been examined, with the result of increasing our knowledge of
the old mammalian fauna, and adding a few more touches to the
picture of Palzolithic savage life. But the main features of the
evidence may still be read in the successive floor-accumulations
of the famous Devonshire caverns. We have seen that those
caves now and again were occupied by hyznas, who dragged
thither their prey, and left the floor encumbered with heaps of
gnawed bones. Frequently their coprolites are very abundant,
and now and again the walls of the narrower passages of a cave
are rubbed smooth, as if by the constant passing to and fro of
the hyenas, while the jaws and other bones that lay sunk in the
floor are smoothed and polished by their tread. Hyzena-dens have
been discovered in various parts of England, among which the -
most interesting are Kirkdale Cave, described by Dr. Buckland,?
and Wookey Hole, near Wells, on the south side of the Mendip
Hills, of which a graphic account is given by Mr. Boyd Dawkins.?
The latter cave furnished abundant evidence of the former pre-

1 Reliquie Diluviane, p. 38.
2 Cave-hunting, p. 295; see also Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xix. p. 260;
Proc. Manch. Lit. and Phil. Soc., vol. ix. (1870), p. 181.

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. 95

sence of Paleolithic man, who seems now and then to have driven
out the hyzenas, and occupied their den. A number of rudely-
chipped flint and chert implements, and two bone arrow-heads,
were found, and ashes and carbonised bones indicated the place
where fires had been kindled and food cooked. “One fragment
of bone in particular, belonging to the rhinoceros, had been
calcined, and its carbonised condition bore unmistakable testi-
mony that it had been burnt while the animal juices were
present.” During the alternate occupation of Wookey Hole by
man and hyenas there appear to have been recurrent floods,
which deposited mud upon the floor, and eventually completely
blocked up the cave.

It must not be supposed that all the bones in ossiferous caves
have been introduced by man and wild beasts. In very many
cases they have been washed in by water, and often enough
some of the animals that roamed our country in Pleistocene
times fell victims to natural pitfalls. For it must be remem-
bered that subterranean galleries frequently communicate, by
means of narrow crevices, pipes, and swallow-holes, with the
surface, and in a country the rocks of which are largely calcare-
ous such pitfalls are a fruitful source of loss to unfortunate
cattle-owners in our own day. That many animals may have
been trapped, as it were, in this way we may well believe, and
the appearances presented by their remains is sometimes highly
suggestive of such a fate. But as the subterranean cavities into
which they fell were often swept either intermittently or conti-
nuously by engulphed streams, it is not surprising that entire
skeletons are but seldom met with, and that ossiferous accumu-
_ lations in such cavities as could hardly ever have been occupied
either by man or beast usually consist of a pell-mell and
tumultuous débris of earth, stones, and bones, many of which
’ show traces of having been rolled about. It is by no means
necessary to suppose, however, that all these have been introduced
through natural pitfalls. It is a well-known fact that when
beasts are sickly they often repair to streams to quench their
thirst, and of course they often die there. Thus their bodies

96 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

would frequently be floated off by the water in flood time, and
carried into underground channels. Again, as we shall afterwards
see, the Pleistocene Period was, at several epochs, characterised
by extreme humidity, when all the small streams and larger
rivers were subject to great inundations. Hence any remains
lying loose at the surface would frequently be swept away and
carried into subterranean channels, in the unequal depressions of
which they would tend to accumulate. Afterwards, when such
inundations became rare, or altogether ceased, and when, owing
to changes in the drainage-system of a country, the old subter-
ranean cavities were deserted for new channels, the ossiferous
and earthy débris would gradually become sealed up by stalag-
mitic accretions.

e Before leaving the English caves reference may be made to
the very interesting Victoria Cave, near Settle, in Yorkshire,
which exhibits at least four stages or layers, each with its own
peculiar character. It occurs at a height of about 1450 feet
above the sea and 900 feet above the river Ribble, which flows
at the foot of the hill in which the cave occurs. The deposits
met with in this cave are as follow :—!

1. Romano-Celtic Stratwm, with Roman coins, pottery, and various
objects of bone, such as spindle-whorls, beads, spoon-brooches, a tooth
comb, etc., and numerous articles and ornaments in bronze, some of them
enamelled in red, blue, yellow, and green. With these were associated
bones of the Celtic shorthorn, goat, pig, horse, roedeer, stag, wild-duck,
grouse, and domestic fowl. Professor Dawkins assigns this layer with
much probability to the time of the evacuation of Britain by the Romans,
when the Romanised Celts were forced to flee from their homes, “ with
some of their cattle and other property, and were compelled to exchange
the luxuries of civilised life for a hard struggle for common necessaries.”

2. Neolithic Layer.—“ Five or six feet of what had at one time been
loose talus, but was now bound together, though not very firmly,” with
calcareous matter. Underneath this old talus were found a bone harpoon,

} The exploration of Victoria Cave has been conducted under the auspices of
the British Association, and is reported on by Mr. Dawkins and Mr. Tiddeman.
See British Association Reports, 1873 (by Mr. Dawkins), and 1874-1878 (by
Mr. Tiddeman). See also Geol. Mag., vol. x. p. 11, and another paper by Mr.
Tiddeman in Journ. Anthrop. Inst., 1878.

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. 97

an ornamented bone bead, and three flint flakes—all of which are refer-
able to the Neolithic Age.

3. Upper Cave-earth.—This is a buff-coloured, rather stiff clay,
abundantly charged with angular blocks and small fragments of limestone
and stalactite ; and here and there it contains beds of stalagmite. The
animal remains in this deposit were those of fox, grisly bear, brown bear,
badger, horse, pig, reindeer, red-deer, goat or sheep.

4, Laminated Clay, thin at the entrance of the cave, but thickening
inwards to as much as twelve feet. It is worthy of note that glaciated or
ice-scratched boulders have been found embedded in it.

5. Lower Cave-earth, having the same general character as the upper
bed. Its mammalian remains represent the following : hyzena, fox, badger,
brown bear, grisly bear, Hlephas antiquus, Rhinoceros leptorhinus, hippopo-
tamus, Bos primigenius, bison, goat, red-deer. One bone met with in this
bed has given rise to much discussion. On its discovery it was identified
by Mr. Busk as a human fibula, and had its place of sepulture been Kent’s
Cave, or indeed any cave but that in which it was found, perhaps
Mr. Busk’s identification would never have been challenged. But as its
position in Victoria Cave implied, according to Mr, Tiddeman and others,
the existence of man in England before what is called the Ice Age or
Glacial Period, grave doubts have been thrown upon its human character ;
or, as Professor Ramsay remarks, “some eminent osteologists have lately
declared that though they cannot assert that the fragment is not part of
the bone of a man, on the other hand they cannot deny that it may just
as well be part of the fibula of a bear.”! The former presence of man,
however, is apparently indicated by the discovery of certain bones which
look as if they had been hacked by some instrument.

I have said that the cave-earths and intervening laminated
clay occur inside the Victoria Cave, while the overlying Neolithic
and Romano-Celtic layers were found just at the entrance, rest-
ing partly on the older deposits, and partly on a talus of débris
that obscures the truncated ends of the true Pleistocene beds.
When this talus of blocks and rubbish, which had fallen down
from the cliff and concealed the entrance to the cave, had been
cleared away, it was found to rest upon a peculiar deposit
called “glacial drift,” of which I shall have much to say in the
sequel, From its position it was evident that this “glacial drift”
was of younger date than the lower cave-earth, and was probably
connected in its origin with the overlying laminated clay.

1 Physical Geology and Geography of Great Britain. 5th edition, p. 466.
H

98 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

The succession of changes which is evidenced by the
phenomena exposed during the exploration of this interesting
cave Mr. Tiddeman has shown to be as follows: First, we have
the occupation of the cave by hyznas, and now and then by
bears, by whose agency it is probable that most of the other
bones found in the lower cave-earth were introduced ; for it may
fairly be inferred, from the presence of hyzenas’ coprolites, and
the abundant osseous remains of this animal and bears, that
these were actual denizens of the cave. Since doubt has been
cast upon the character of the fibula, which was at first believed
to be human, Mr. Tiddeman rejects it altogether, but the pre-
sence of the cut bones he holds to be a proof that man was a
native of Yorkshire at this period. And as the bones met with
in the lower cave-earth belong to species with which it has
been demonstrated that man was certainly contemporaneous in
many other parts of England and the Continent, it is in the
highest degree probable that man did live in the north of
England at the time the Victoria Cave was a den of hyznas.

The “glacial drift” and laminated clay, according to Mr.
Tiddeman, prove that after the cave had been the abode of
hyzenas for a prolonged time, it was at last abandoned, and the
valley of the Ribble was occupied by a large glacier or part of
an extensive sheet of land-ice, which, creeping down the valley,
deposited its morainic débris in front of the cave, while from
the melting ice muddy water flowed into the cavern, and spread
out the silt or laminated clay. By and by this glacier dis-
appeared, and then the remains of another group of animals

1 Such laminated clays are frequently found in connection with boulder-clay
or ‘‘glacial drift,” not only in the British Islands, but in Switzerland and
Northern Italy. They represent the action of the water which is nearly always
circulating underneath a glacier. The few ice-scratched stones which the lami-
nated clays sometimes contain have been derived from the under-surface of the
glacier. I have seen fine examples of these deposits at various places in the
railway cuttings between Mendrisio and Balerna (Como and Lugano railway),
and I have observed them also in the till of the valley of the Arve, and other
places in Switzerland. They are extremely common in Scotland, and have been
described by Scandinavian glacialists as being frequently met with in Sweden

and Norway. They seem to be in like manner abundant in the glacial deposits
of North America.

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. 99

were introduced, and gradually accumulated in what is now the
upper cave-earth. This upper bed is distinguished from the
lower by the marked absence of such animals as hyena,
elephant, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus, and by the presence of
certain animals which are confined to it, namely horse and pig.
To these species peculiar to the upper cave-earth may prob-
ably be added the reindeer, for it seems doubtful whether the
remains of that animal said to have been obtained from the
lower earth really belonged to that deposit. Remains of the
reindeer, however, certainly occur in the upper bed. From
the presence of the pig, and the absence of the more character-
istic Pleistocene species that are common in the lower stratum,
we seem justified in classing the upper cave-earth as of early
Post-pleistocene age.

The so-called Neolithic layer is separated from the Romano-
Celtic stratum by some thickness of talus, showing probably
that the cave had been unoccupied by man for some considerable
time before the Romanised Britons were forced to take refuge
there.

The most interesting point in connection with the deposits
of this cave is the evidence which shows that after the dis-
appearance of the old Pleistocene fauna of Yorkshire—the
hyeenas, elephants, rhinoceroses, and hippopotamuses, with which
Paleolithic man was contemporaneous—there ensued a pro-
longed period during which an intensely cold climate supervened,
and thick glacier-ice filled the valley of the Ribble. When
that ice had melted away, and the land again became fitted to
support a mammalian fauna, it was not carnivores such as the
hyzena, or pachyderms such as the elephant and hippopotamus,
that immigrated thither, but an assemblage of animals more or
less characteristic of Post-pleistocene and Neolithic times. The
faunas of the two cave-earths could hardly in fact be more
strongly contrasted.

The caves of Belgium, Germany, France, and other countries,
have yielded, speaking generally, very much the same kind of
evidence as that supplied by the cavern-deposits of England.

100 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

In certain of the river-valleys in Belgium, particularly in those
of the Lesse, the Molignée, and the Samson, which are tribu-
taries of the Meuse, a number of fine caves and rock-shelters
occur. They have all proved more or less interesting to the
archeologist and geologist, and the evidence they furnish as to
the contemporaneity of man and the old mammalia, and the
prolonged duration of the Pleistocene Period, is most complete.
Of late years they have been very carefully examined by
M. Dupont, director of the Royal Museum in Brussels.' No
fewer than forty-three caverns in the valleys of the Lesse and
the Molignée have been scientifically examined, and of these
twenty-five have yielded traces of man. M. Dupont’s con-
clusions, therefore, based as they are upon such a broad founda-
tion of personal experience, could hardly fail to be both interest-
ing and suggestive. It is a very great advantage that so many
caves should have been examined by one man, because he is
able to say what features of the evidence are invariable, and
what may be looked upon as accidental. Thus, if such an
observer shall find that certain phenomena are present in every
case, he will accord to these a due importance in his endeavours
to arrive at the meaning of the evidence; while an equally
careful observer, whose attention had been directed to only one
or two caves, and these perhaps widely separated, might likely
enough fail to give needful weight to some parts of the evidence,
and even miss their meaning altogether.

The caves described by M. Dupont vary considerably in size,
some being large and roomy, and more or less easy of access,
while others are mere narrow crevices and rock-shelters. They
occur in the rocky escarpments at different levels above the
streams, from a few yards up to nearly 200 feet. The floor-
deposits consist generally of alternations of fluviatile sediment,
with layers of stalagmite, and what we may term bone-beds,
These are the more ancient accumulations, and they abound in
relics and remains of the Paleolithic Period. Above the Palzo-

! The descriptions given above are taken from M. Dupont’s interesting volume
already cited.

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. IOI

lithic deposits comes a mass of yellow clay and angular stones,
which is often covered with deposits of loam and brick-earth.
Relics and remains of the Neolithic Age occur at and near the
surface of these superficial accumulations, but are never met
with in an underlying position. The yellow clay, therefore,
takes its place in the series between the accumulations belong-
ing to the Old Stone Age and those which mark the later or
New Stone Period.

M. Dupont recognises two stages in the Paleolithic Period,
one of which is called the Mammoth period, and the other,
which is the more recent, the Reindeer period. These names
are also employed by French geologists to mark similar stages
in the floor-deposits of the caves in their country, but they have
never met with much acceptance in England. The names
indeed are unfortunate, for it is quite certain that the reindeer
occupied Belgium and France in the so-called Mammoth period,
and we have no reason to doubt that the mammoth lived down
to the very close of the Paleolithic Age. It is quite an open
question whether it did not even survive in Europe to Neolithic
times. But while the mere names may be cavilled at, there can
be no doubt that M. Dupont and others have brought forward
evidence sufficient to show that the closing stage of the Palzo-
lithic Period was marked by the abundance of the reindeer and
other northern forms, and by the presence of the extinct species
in greatly reduced numbers. The implements belonging to the
so-called Reindeer period of Belgium are also indicative, upon
the whole, of more advanced conditions than obtained during
the earlier phases of the Palzeolithic age, as these are repre-
sented in the caves of that country.

The fluviatile deposits which oceupy the floors of the Belgian
caves have of course been carried into them by the streams, but
many of the caves are now far removed beyond the reach of
even the highest floods. It is clear then, according to M.
Dupont, that such caves bear witness to the gradual erosion or
excavation of the valleys, and that river-deposits which occur in
caves at the highest levels must be the most ancient of the

102 PREHISTORIC EUROPE,

Paleolithic series. Near Montaigle, for example, there are
several caves the fluviatile deposits in which must belong to very
different stages. Of this group the Trou de VErable occurs at a
level of nearly 200 feet (60 métres) above the river Molignée,
the Trous du Sureau, du Chéne, and .du Lievre, are between 98
feet and 115 feet (30 and 35 métres), while the Trou de Philippe
is not more than 33 feet (10 metres). The loam that lies in the
Trou de l’Erable was introduced at a period when the river was
flowing at a very high level—at least 197 feet above the present
stream. In the course of time the valley was gradually deepened,
and the river was no longer able to flood the Trou de l’Erable,
but just succeeded in now and then reaching the caves at the
lower levels. The river’s bed had in fact been lowered in the
interim by about 170 feet, and this of itself implies the lapse of
a very long time indeed. Hence the loam in the Trou de
VErable is justly considered to be much older than the similar
deposit that forms the floor of the caves at a less elevation. Its
contents show that man, mammoths, bears, hyzenas, reindeer, and
other animals, were even at that distant date living in Belgium ;
but it is in the caves at lower levels where the most numerous
and interesting relics of the Paleolithic Period are found.

One of these, the Trou du Sureau (108 feet above the river
Molignée), appears to have been long occupied, at successive
times, as a place of abode by Paleolithic man—the successive
occupations being represented by old “surfaces,” or “floors,”
which are marked by precisely the same kind of features. Each
is made up of quantities of bones, split, broken, and burnt, com-
mingled with which are flakes and fragments of flint—the débris
resulting from the manufacture and breakage of stone imple-
ments. Traces of fire were seen in the burnt or baked earth of
the floor, and in the mixture of cinders and charcoal that
appeared in the middle of the cave. The bones and implements
were always most abundant in the vicinity of the old hearth.

The flint implements are of rude make, and somewhat
triangular in form. They consist of a poor kind of flint, got in
the neighbourhood, and show usually one plane surface, the

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. 103

other side being roughly chipped so as to obtain a more or less
sharp edge. Along with these occurred pointed implements
made of reindeer-horn, which are supposed to be javelin-heads.

The animal-remains include those of mammoth, rhinoceros,
horse, common stag, urus, aurochs, reindeer, chamois, great cave-
bear, grisly bear, fox, wolf, lion, hyena. Remains of the cave-
bear were most abundant.

The old floors which have yielded all this débris of ancient
life were separated from each other by deposits of stratified
loamy silt, pointing to times of flood when the river swelled
above its normal level and filled the caves with muddy water,
from which a deposition of fine silt took place. Three floors
separated by intervening accumulations of silt and mud were
observed in this cave—all of them being referred by M. Dupont
to the Mammoth period. Immediately overlying these older
deposits were found flint implements, with bones of the reindeer,
horse, wild-boar, roebuck, goat,’ badger, fox, dog, and hare.
This accumulation is assigned to the Reindeer period. The bones
were scattered about the floor of the cave,? and were covered
over by an accumulation of yellow clay containing many stones
and blocks.

Above the yellow clay comes a loose débris of stones which
have tumbled and rolled down from time to time. Amongst
these have been detected polished stone implements and frag-
ments of pottery, along with the bones of ox and badger. The

1 The goat is frequently mentioned by Dupont as occurring in the caves of
Belgium. Other osteologists have doubted this determination—the goat never
having been obtained in the Pleistocene deposits of France or England. Mr.
Tiddeman, however, records it from the lower cave-earth of Victoria Cave, York-
shire, in close proximity to Hlephas antiquus.

2 At one place opposite the principal entrance to the cave occurred a heap of
bones belonging to several small mammifers, birds, batrachians, and freshwater
fish. These M. Dupont also assigns to the Reindeer period, and the presence of
lemming, lagomys, and Arctic fox seems in favour of this view. Many of the
other bones belong to burrowing species, such as mole, field-rat, field-mouse, ete.
There is some difficulty in accounting for such a miscellaneous collection. No
flint implements and no remains of those animals which formed the food of the
folk who occupied the Trou du Sureau in Palzolithic times, occur in the heap,
which therefore probably does not owe its origin to man.

104 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

same is the case in another cave, the Trou du Chéne, where a
mass of yellow clay with stones separates the deposits of Paleo-
lithic age from those that contain the relics of Neolithic and
more modern times. In the Trou de Pont-a-Lesse (which is a
mere shallow rock-shelter, situated some little distance from the
Trou Magrite, to be described in the following chapter) the
same yellow clay with stones is found. It is overlaid with a
loose superficial débris of fallen stones, amongst which occur two
bone-beds containing human bones and relics, which are referred
by M. Dupont to the Neolithic Age.

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. 105

CHAPTER: VIE

CAVE-DEPOSITS OF THE PLEISTOCENE PERIOD—Continued.

Bone-caves of Belgium—The Trou Magrite—Contrast between lower and upper
deposits—Trou de la Naulette—Human bones associated with remains of
extinct animals—The Cavern of Goyet—The Trou du Frontal—Age of sepul-
chral cavity—Caves of Germany and France—General conclusions as to
caves—Evidence of progress during Paleolithic Period—Reindeer period in
Belgium and France—Cold climatic conditions during the closing stage of
Paleolithic Period—Alternations of genial and cold climates in earlier stages
of same period—Break between Palolithic and Neolithic Ages.

In the valley of the Lesse, nearly all the caves occur towards the
middle of the escarpment at a height of between 65 feet and
115 feet (20 and 35 métres) above the river. One of the most
important is the Trou Magrite at Pont-a-Lesse. The deposits
in this cave consist of a basement-bed, eight feet thick, of gravel
and water-worn stones, over which comes the usual stratified
silt, containing intercalated with it four distinct layers of broken
bones, which evidently represent the débris or refuse strewed
over the floor at so many successive periods when the cave was
tenanted by man. The stratified silt that separates one refuse-
heap from another indicates, on the other hand, the occurrence
of so many inundations by which the human occupation of the
cave was interrupted.

There are some remarkable differences between the lower
and upper “floors.” In the former, remains of the extinct
animals are very numerous, while in the latter they are less so,
those floors being characterised by the abundance of bones of
reindeer and horse. Again, the stone implements in the lower

106 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

levels are analogous to those found at Montaigle; they are
rudely shaped and finished, and half-finished specimens occur
in large numbers. Many of these spoiled implements are made
of the black marble of the district—the others are of flint.
Points or arrow-heads fashioned of reindeer’s horn are also met
with. The implements got in the upper bone-beds or “floors”
are not of the rude form and finish of the Montaigle type, but
consist of long well-shaped flakes of flint (so-called “knives ”).
Others again are furnished with a “peduncle,” as if they were
meant to be sunk into a shaft of wood and used for spearing
purposes. Their workmanship indicates decidedly more skill
than that of the implements obtained from the lower levels in
the same cave. But the most remarkable “finds” in the upper
floors consist of portions of reindeer’s horn showing etchings or
engravings, which have been traced by some sharp point—no
doubt, by a flint implement. One small bit of horn has been cut
or scraped so as to present the rude outline of a human figure.
Another of the more interesting caves that occur in the
valley of the Lesse is the Trou de la Naulette, which has been
-occupied at separate times by men and wild beasts. The en-
trance to this cave is about 90 feet above the level of the river.
The floor is covered with 36 feet of fluviatile silt—the lower
portion of which was deposited at a time when the Lesse flowed
at the level of the entrance, while the upper portion consists of
flood-accumulations carried into the cave at a time when the
river at its normal level had ceased to reach the entrance.
These flood-accumulations consist of seven separate beds or
layers which are separated by an equal number of stalagmitic
pavements. The latter of course indicate periods of more or
less duration during which there were no inundations, and the
cave remained dry. Bones are met with above the first, second,
and seventh stalagmitic floors. Those of the first layer indicate
that the cave was at that time a hyzena’s den, which is proved
by the presence of remains of that animal together with abun-
dance of gnawed bones of various ruminants. The second bone-
bed affords evidence that during its accumulation the Trou de

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. 107

la Naulette was the abode of Paleolithic man. This is shown
by the heaps of bones which have been split longitudinally for
the sake of the marrow—many of them showing the marks of
blows made doubtless with stone implements. Besides these
were found a human lower jaw and other bones. The animal
remains associated with them indicate a group of animals cha-
racteristically Pleistocene. Among these were mammoth, rhino-
ceros, horse, wild-boar, small-ox, goat, chamois, reindeer, common
stag, roebuck, marmot, squirrel, mole, water-rat, hare, brown
bear, pole-cat, wolf, fox, dog, wild-cat, and some birds, bat-
rachians, and freshwater fish.

The Pleistocene deposits are overlaid as usual with an accu-
mulation of yellow clay charged with angular stones.

The cavern of Goyet occurs in the valley of the Samson,
another tributary of the Meuse, at a height of about 50 feet
above the level of the stream. It contains five bone-layers
alternating with six beds of alluvial deposits. The fifth or
lowest level contained remains of the lion commingled with those
of the cave-bear which occurred in great abundance. The fourth
level indicated that during the time it formed the floor hyzenas
and bears occupied the cave. The bones of their prey were
those of man, lynx, pole-cat, wolf, fox, rhinoceros, mammoth,
horse, chamois, wapiti, the great Irish deer, reindeer, and ox.
Remains of the lion, hyzna, and cave-bear occurred in great
abundance, and the evidence showed that these animals had
occupied the cave at successive periods. During the accumula-
tions of the fifth bone-bed it would appear that the lion was the
first occupant, and that he was succeeded by the bear. In like
manner during the formation of the fourth bone-bed the cave
was first a hyzena’s den and afterwards became the haunt of
bears. The third floor was occupied by Paleolithic hunters, the
relics of whose feasts occur in abundance. The flint implements
are of the primitive type found at Montaigle. The animal
remains of this level belong to the following species—cave-
bear, brown bear, badger, weasel or ermine, dog, wolf, common
fox, blue fox, hyzena, lion, hare, marmot, rhinoceros, mammoth,

108 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

horse, goat, chamois, bouquetin, stag, roebuck, reindeer, ox, urus,
and some birds. Human bones were found among the others,
In the second layer occurred flint implements approaching in
form the types found at Montaigle and in the Trou Magrite.
Besides these were a number of implements and carved and or-
namented objects formed of reindeer’s horn, resembling those
discovered by MM. Larty and Christy in the caverns of Péri-
gord. The animal remains of this level belonged to cave-bear,
badger, wolf, common fox, blue fox, hyzena, lion, hare, rhinoceros,
mammoth, horse, wild-boar, goat, chamois, stag, reindeer, ox, and
birds. The first or highest level was rich in human relics in
flint and horn, which evinced better workmanship than the
similar relics found in the other caverns. The flint implements
consisted principally of well-shaped blades and flakes; and
there were numerous bodkins or awls, javelin- or arrow-heads,
and harpoons in bone and horn, besides teeth of wolf, fox, stag,
horse, and ox, which were drilled, as if for the purpose of being
suspended by way of ornament. The species whose remains are
met with in this upper level consist of cave-bear, brown bear,
polecat, wolf, common fox, blue fox, hyzna, rhinoceros, mam-
moth, horse, wild-boar, hare, goat, chamois, stag, reindeer, ox,
and various birds. A few human bones were also found.

I shall refer to only another Belgian cave—the Trou du
Frontal, which occurs in the valley of the Lesse, near the village
of Furfooz. M. Dupont gives a section of this cave, which is:
here reproduced (Fig. 3). The lowest deposits consist of clay
(4), over which come beds of gravel (3) and alluvial silt (2).
These represent, of course, the older accumulations of the river.
At H H were found many broken bones belonging to lemming,
reindeer, lagomys, stag, urus, beaver, chamois, horse, and other
animals ; and at F burnt bones and charcoal indicated an old
hearth. A number of human skeletons occurred in what
appears to have been a sepulchral cavity (S), the entrance to
which had been closed by a slab of stone (D). At the entrance
to the cavity was found an urn, along with flint implements,
perforated shells, and a piece of fluorine, which was likewise

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. 109

perforated, and had doubtless been used as an ornament. The
human remains were confusedly mingled with clay and angular

Fig. 3.—Section of Deposits in the Trou du Frontal. (Dupont.)

stones, and a mass of the same materials (1) covered over the
old hearth and the bone-debris (H H), and extended down the
slope of the hill so as to dip underneath the modern alluvium
of the Lesse. The bone-débris and the hearth must have been
in existence before the stony clay began to accumulate, and M.
Dupont has no doubt that the human skeletons are likewise of
older date than that superficial covering. Indeed, he does not
hesitate to connect the bone-débris at H H with the human
remains in the sepulchral cavity, and is of opinion that the
former are the relics of the feasts which took place at the
burials. In this, however, he may be mistaken, and, as Pro-
fessor Boyd Dawkins has pointed out, the burial-place may have
belonged to one people, and the refuse-heaps outside the slab to
another. We may suppose that the cavity was in use for a
burial-place after the clay with stones had accumulated, and

110 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

that therefore it may belong to a much later date than the
Paleolithic refuse-heaps at H H. Another objection to this
sepulchral cavity with its contents being of Paleolithic Age is
the character of the human remains and relics. “The form of
the urn,” as Mr. Dawkins says, “is remarkably like some of
those which have been obtained from the Neolithic pile-dwell-
ings of Switzerland, and therefore may possibly imply that the
interment is of that age.” The skulls also “seem to be of the
same general order as the broad skulls from the Neolithic caves
and tombs of France, and from the round barrows of Great
Britain, as well as those from the Neolithic tombs of Borreby
and Moen in Scandinavia.”

From the foregoing descriptions of English and Belgian
caves, the reader will gather a fair notion of the kind of
evidence that Paleolithic cavern-deposits usually supply. A
description of the cave-accumulations of France, Switzerland,
and Germany would, in large measure, be a repetition of the
same tale. It is not necessary for my purpose to do more than
merely indicate the general gist of the evidence, and this may
be done very briefly. The caves and rock-shelters which we
have already passed in review contain, as we have seen, relics
pertaining to different stages of the Paleolithic Period. The
same holds true with the caves of France and other countries.
' French archeologists, indeed, have classified their caverns
according to what they conceive is the relative antiquity of
the relics and remains which they contain. In the oldest series
are included those caves which have yielded remains of the
cave-bear in greatest plenty, and in which the human relics of
rudest form and finish occur; while the newer series comprises
those caverns in which remains of the reindeer are most abun-
dant, and where the human implements evince the greatest skill
and perfection of workmanship. Among the former come such
caves as that of Valliéres (Loir-et-Cher), discovered by M. de
Vibraye, which contains bones of rhinoceros, hyzena, megaceros,
urus, horse, etc. along with flint implements of the rudest
types. Another example is that of the Grotte des Fées at

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. III

Arcy-sur-cure (Yonne), in which M. de Vibraye discovered
bones of mammoth, cave-bear, rhinoceros, and hyzna, with
rude flint implements and a human vertebra. In the cavern of
Pontit (Herault), the lower deposits contained remains of rhino-
ceros, cave-bear, urus, etc., while in the upper layers were char-
coal and implements of flint, bone, and horn, commingled with
bones of horse, urus, etc. The uppermost layer was of Neo-
lithic Age, and yielded polished stone implements, pottery, etc.
But one of the most interesting caves is that of Moustier
(Périgord), described by MM. Lartet and Christy. It has
yielded remains of hyzena, cave-bear, and mammoth, with flint
implements which approach in character to those discovered at
Valliéres, and in certain ancient river-gravels at Abbeville,
which will be referred to in the following chapter. The caverns
and stations belonging to the later stage of the Paleolithic
Period, or so-called Reindeer epoch, are the most abundant in
France. They are especially numerous in the steep rocky banks
and cliffs of the valleys of the Dordogne and the Vezére in Péri-
gord, where they have been studied by the late MM. Lartet and
Christy, who have furnished us with many most interesting
details of the conditions that obtained during the closing scenes
of Paleolithic times. From the caves of Périgord and some of
those in the Pyrenees have come the most numerous and best
finished examples of carved and engraved horns, and bones and
ivory! The character of these and other human relics, and the
fact that they are invariably associated with plentiful remains of
the reindeer, show that the caves of Périgord and the lower val-
_ leys of the Pyrenees were occupied towards the close of the Palzeo-
lithic Period by a race of hunters and fishers who lived under
cold climatic conditions; and the close analogy presented by
these French caves to those of Belgium renders it in the highest
degree probable that both belong approximately to the same
age. Among the more important French caves and stations of
this age are those of Massat (Ariége), La Vache, near Tarascon
(Ariége), Bruniquel, on the borders of Aveyron (Tarn-et-Garonne),

1 Fine engravings have also been discovered in the Kesserloch, a Swiss cave.

112 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Eyzies, near Tayac (Périgord), Laugerie (Périgord), La Made-
leine (Périgord), Gourdan (Haute-Garonne), Duruthy (Pyre-
nées), Sartenette and La Salpétriere in the lower valley of
Gardon, etc.

Although these caves are said to belong to the Reindeer
period, it must not be supposed that the caves pertaining to the
so-called epoch of the Cave-bear and the Mammoth contain no
traces of the northern fauna. On the contrary, even those caves
which are assigned by archzologists to the earliest stages of
Paleolithic times often contain representatives from the northern,
southern, and temperate groups. But in the older caves remains
of the extinct forms predominate—such as cave-bear, mammoth,
rhinoceros, etc.—while the reindeer and its immediate associates
are less frequently met with. In the caves of the so-called
Reindeer period, the extinct forms are less numerous, and the
reindeer, on the contrary, very abundant.

The caves of Germany and Switzerland have likewise sup-
plied us with plentiful remains of the mammalian fauna of
Paleolithic times. Among the best known are those of Gailen-
ruth and Muggendorf in the valley of the Wiesent ; Baumanns-
hohle, Bielshdhle, and others in the Harz; and those which
occur in the limestone-districts of Westphalia between Diissel-
dorf and Iserlohn. They are not uncommon in the northern
part of the Jura Mountains (Franconian Alb), and they occur
now and again in the same hilly tract between Schaffhausen and
Coburg. The Kesserloch near Thiaingen, in the canton of
Schaffhausen, and the cave of Veyrier, near Geneva, are famous
Swiss caves in which relics of the Reindeer period occur in
great abundance.

The caves of Southern Europe are also rich in animal débris,
but they differ from those of Central Europe in never having
yielded remains of the reindeer or the musk-sheep. So far as
we yet know, neither of these animals ever went south of the
Pyrenees and the Alps. Certain other species, however, which
are now confined to high latitudes or alpine elevations, appear
at one time to have lived at low levels in the Mediterranean

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. 113

regions. Thus M. Riviere has discovered the remains of the
glutton in caves near Mentone,' and a lagomys or tailless hare
is not uncommon in the breccias of Corsica and Sardinia.2, The
marmot, which is now confined in the Alps nearly to the borders
of perpetual snow, formerly lived, according to Gastaldi, at the
foot of the southern slopes of the Moncalieri-Valenza hills, where
its remains have been met with on several occasions. The
mammoth also at the same time frequented Spain and Central
Italy. But the general facies of the mammalian fauna in the
ossiferous deposits of Southern Europe is, as we might have
expected, rather southern than northern. We miss the reindeer
and the musk-sheep, and at the same time encounter certain
animals of southern habitat which are either wanting or very
rare in the cave-accumulations of North-western Europe. It
must be noted, however, that animals which are more or less
characteristic of a temperate climate are plentiful. Red-deer,
roe, fallow-deer, ibex, urus, horse, wild-boar, rabbit, cave-bear,
brown bear, grisly bear, wolf, fox, etc., were associated in the
same region with lion, leopard, lynx, Caffer-cat, serval, hyzna,
rhinoceros (2h. hemitawchus), elephant (£. antiquus and africanus),
hippopotamus (H. major and Pentlandi), etc. Although there
is nothing, therefore, in the evidence furnished by the caves and
breccias of the south that would lead us to infer that the
Mediterranean region was ever subject to conditions as cold as
those which obtained in Southern France during the Reindeer
period, yet we are not without indications of a less genial climate
than the present having formerly prevailed. The presence at
low levels in Italy of such animals as tailless hares and marmots,
and the occurrence of the glutton at Mentone and the mammoth
in Spain and Italy, is in perfect harmony with the appearance
of a northern fauna in Southern France.

The more noted caves, ete., of Southern Europe are those of

1 Compt. Rend. Assoc. Frang. pour V Avance. des Sciences, Paris, 1878, p. 622;
Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 3° Sér. t. vi. p. 621.

2 Locard: Archiv. du Mus. d’ Hist. Nat. de Lyon, 1873.

® *Intorno ad alcuni resti fossili di Arctomys e di Ursus speleus,” Atti R.
Accad. Scienze, Torino, 1871.

114 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Gibraltar, Provence, Mentone, Sicily, and Malta. The Sicilian
caves abound in remains of the pigmy hippopotamus, which
occurs also very plentifully in the Maltese caves,’ where it is
associated with species of dwarf or pigmy elephant. Remains
of the pigmy hippopotamus have not until recently been obtained
in situ on the mainland of. Europe. Professor Capellini, how-
ever, now records them from the cave of Santa Teresa, near
Spezia.? Human remains and relics and traces of man’s presence
occur in various caves in Southern Europe, and there can be no
doubt that the ossiferous deposits in those caves are of the same
age as the similar accumulations in Central and North-western
Europe.

The facts now briefly passed in review enable us to arrive at
certain conclusions which it may be well to sum up before we
turn to the next stage in our inquiry. I have already dwelt
with sufficient emphasis on the great antiquity of the cave-
deposits. This is proved by a variety of considerations, such as
the thickness of the stalagmitic pavements, the very considerable
changes which were effected in the drainage-systems during the
course of the Paleolithic Period, the great depth to which many
valleys were eroded by their streams, so that caves which in
early Pleistocene times were liable to constant or intermittent
flooding became by and by quite dry, the streams, even when
most swollen, being unable any longer to reach the openings
into the caverns. Such are some of the more evident proofs of
the antiquity of the Old Stone Age. But the changes of climate
and physical conditions to which the mammalia bear witness
are not less eloquent of the prolonged duration of that remark-
able epoch. To whatever cause those climatic mutations may
have been due, we cannot believe that they came upon our con-
tinent all of a sudden, and then passed as rapidly away. Such
great changes are only brought about very gradually, and there-
fore they necessarily imply a long lapse of time. But, leaving

1 The Maltese breccias are referred to more particularly in Chapter XIII.
2 Mem. dell’ Accad. delle Scienze dell’ Istituto di Bologna, Ser. 3. tom. x.
1879,

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. 115

these and other general considerations for the present, I would
merely recapitulate a few points which seem to be of special
importance.

The first of these is the fact that in many bone-caves of
Palzolithic age, the upper deposits contain relics which evince
more skill, and, upon the whole, a -greater degree of advance
than those that are common in the lower accumulations. Are
we to believe that we have, in this case, proofs of a gradual
advance in the same people from a very low state of savagery
to a less barbarous condition? Or may the difference between
the implements of the lower and upper deposits simply show
that one tribe was dispossessed by another coming later in time
into Western Europe? Again, have we any reason to believe
that the cave-deposits of the so-called Reindeer period are, in
all cases, of later date than those cave-accumulations which con-
tain more abundant remains of the extinct species, and which
are assigned by some archologists to what is called the Mam-
moth period? May not.it be that one set of caves was inha-
bited contemporaneously with the other; in other words, may
not the men who fashioned the rudest flint implements have
lived at the same time as the artistic tribes of the Dordogne and
other places? I have already quoted some remarks made by
Professor Dawkins to the effect that any attempt to classify cave-
deposits according to the relative rudeness of their implements
cannot be relied upon, because “the difference may have been
due to different tribes or families having co-existed without
intercourse with each other.” And the same osteologist has
pointed out that the northern, southern, and temperate species
of mammalia are so associated together in the Pleistocene
deposits of Europe, that no classification can be founded upon
the relative predominance or scarcity of any particular species in
the caves. “The difference,” says Professor Dawkins, “between
the contents of one Paleolithic cave and another, is probably
largely due to the fact that man could more easily catch some
animals than others, as well as to the preference for one kind of
food before another. And the abundance of the reindeer, which

116 < PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

is supposed to characterise the Reindeer period, may reasonably
be accounted for by the fact that it would be more easily cap-
tured by a savage hunter than the mammoth, woolly rhinoceros,
cave-bear, lion, or hyena.” ?

There is much force in these remarks, and one cannot but
feel that the considerations urged by Professor Dawkins would
be to a great extent unanswerable if the relative antiquity of
cave-deposits were to be decided solely by an appeal to the
evidence which he calls in question. But when we discover, in
such caves as contain a succession of several deposits, that the
higher beds are frequently charged with human relics of better
finish and more varied design than those of the lower strata,
while the reverse appears never to occur, we cannot in such
cases admit that his objections have much weight. We have
seen that in Kent’s Cave the implements obtained from the
lower stages were of a much ruder description than the various
objects detected in the upper cave-earth and the black-band.
And a very long time must have elapsed between the formation
of the lower and upper Paleolithic beds in that cave. Precisely
the same phenomena are met with in several of the bone-caves
in Belgium and France, and the conclusion is forced upon us
that in these particular cases the caves were tenanted in late
Paleolithic times by tribes considerably farther advanced than
the savages who occupied them at an earlier date. Whether the
latest Paleolithic tribes were the same race as the latter, who
in the course of the ages had gradually attained a somewhat
more advanced stage; or whether, as there is some reason for
thinking, they may have been immigrants from some other region
who dispossessed the older inhabitants, we cannot yet say, but
future discoveries will probably decide.

Again, it may well be admitted that the mere abundance of
the reindeer in the deposits of the so-called Reindeer period is
no proof that the extinct mammalia such as mammoths, woolly
rhinoceroses, and so forth, were not living in great numbers
during that period. No doubt all those animals that were

1 Cave-hunting, p. 352.

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. 117

capable of occupying the same feeding-grounds as the reindeer,
might be as abundant in late Pleistocene times as they ever
were at any earlier period. But when we find that the true
southern species—the hippopotamus, the elephant, and the
rhinoceros—are conspicuous by their absence from the deposits
of late Paleolithic times, it seems more reasonable to suppose
that their absence was due rather to changed climatic conditions
than to any difficulty the old savages might have had in cap-
turing them. All the evidence conspires to show that towards
the close of the Old Stone Age the climate of Europe was cold
and arctic, so that animals which are now met with only in
northern regions, or at high altitudes in alpine districts, occu-
pied the low grounds as far south as Périgord in France. The
folk of that closing period lived very much in the same way as
the Eskimo live now, fishing in the cold waters and hunting in
the “barren grounds ;” the refuse of their feasts was allowed to
accumulate on the floor of their dwelling-places, and they pro-
bably suffered no more inconvenience from the presence of the
unsavoury heaps than similarly-cireumstanced tribes in our own
day. We can picture them to ourselves feasting round their
fires on reindeer-flesh, or splitting up the bones and sucking the
juicy marrow. At other times, when perhaps reindeer-hunting
had proved unsuccessful, they were content to catch such fish
as they could in the rivers, or to capture lemmings, weasels,
water-rats, and other small animals, and birds. Their tastes do
not seem to have been very eclectic, and from the relics of their
feasts we gather a pretty fair idea of the mammalian fauna of
the lands they lived in. But, as we have seen, they seem to have
had no domestic animals, nor have we any reason to believe that
they knew anything of agriculture. The potter’s art appears
likewise to have been unknown. The most distinguishing
characteristic of the reindeer-hunters, however, was their love
of art, a characteristic which, as we know from the analogy
of the living Eskimo, may co-exist with a very low state of
civilisation,

In the earlier stages of the Paleolithic Period we have

118 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

proof in the commingled remains of animals that belong to
widely-separated zones of considerable changes of climate.
Cold and genial conditions had alternated long before the time
when the caves of Périgord were tenanted by the artistic
reindeer-hunter ; for plentiful remains of northern, temperate,
and southern species occur in deposits, that go back to much
earlier dates. Whether we shall ever be able, from a study of
the bone-caves alone, to discover how many such changes took
place during the Old Stone Age, is extremely doubtful; we
might even say, highly improbable. But there are various
collateral lines of evidence, which, if followed up, will, I believe,
greatly aid us in our endeavours, and eventually help us to
decipher much that is at present enigmatical and obscure.

Not only do the cave-deposits bear witness to past vicis-
situdes of climate—to changes in the relative position of land
and sea,—to considerable modifications in the physical features
of our river-valleys—and to the prolonged duration of that
period during which man was contemporaneous with the
extinct or no longer indigenous mammalia,—but they also
testify to the remarkable fact that the Old Stone Age did not
graduate as it were into the New Stone Age. The records of
the latter epoch are separated very markedly from those of the
former. No sooner do we pass from the uppermost deposits of
Pleistocene age to the more modern accumulations, than all at
once we find ourselves in quite another world. The hyznas
and lions, the rhinoceroses and mammoths, have disappeared,
and we are now face to face with a group of animals that we
recognise as being the common indigenous European forms of
our own day. Paleolithic man has likewise vanished, and his
place is supplied by races considerably farther advanced on the
road to civilisation. Neolithic man was not only a hunter and
fisher like his predecessors, but he possessed some knowledge
of agriculture, and of the arts of weaving and making pottery.
His implements show more variety of design and are upon the
whole much better finished, being frequently ground at the
edges, and often smoothed and polished. He was also accom-

PLEISTOCENE CAVE-DEPOSITS. 11g

panied by domesticated animals, and in some cases occupied
well-constructed houses, which doubtless for security’s sake
were built in lakes; and in many other respects he was
decidedly in advance even of the artistic hunters of the Rein-
deer period.

The geological position in which the relics of Neolithic
times are found, bears emphatic testimony to the lapse of time
that separates the close of the Old Stone Age in Europe from
the beginning of the succeeding New Stone or Neolithic Period.
The implements belonging to the latter epoch occupy invariably
a superficial position—they occur either lying loosely at the
surface or embedded at no great depth, in accumulations which
can be shown to be of very recent date, geologically speaking.
In undisturbed cave-deposits they are never commingled with
the relics of the older period, but are not infrequently separated
from these by sheets of stalagmite, accumulations of earth and
débris, or beds of clay, silt, sand, gravel, and other materials.
Several good examples of this character have already been
given. Thus in Kent’s Cave we have seen that the archaic
and more modern remains rested upon a bed of granular
stalagmite, in and underneath which only did Paleolithic
implements and the bones of the extinct mammalia occur.
All these had been sealed up and the cave had been long
abandoned before it was again tenanted by man. In the
interim many large and small blocks had fallen from the roof
and accumulated upon the floor. Again, after the cave at
Brixham had been for a long time open to the visits of Palzeo-
lithic man and of hyenas and other animals of the period, it
was finally deserted, and an accumulation of stones, dislodged
by the action of the weather, gradually blocked up the entrance,
so that the cave was never subsequently tenanted by man.
But the evidence supplied by the Victoria Cave at Settle is still
more remarkable, for we there discover that after the land had
been for a long time occupied by hyzenas, elephants, hippo-
potamuses, and other animals, a cold climate supervened, and
a great glacier crept down the valley of the Ribble ; and it was

120 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

not till long after that glacier had melted away that Neolithic
man entered Yorkshire.

The Belgian caves in like manner afford abundant proof of
the break or hiatus that divides in Europe the Paleolithic
from the Neolithic Age. M. Dupont has brought forward _
copious evidence to show that a mass of yellow clay, more or
less plentifully charged with large and small angular stones,
separates the newest deposits of the Reindeer period from the
Neolithic accumulations. This clay with stones, he says, is
widely spread over the country, and he is inclined to attribute
its formation to the action of a great débdcle or flood. Others
again have suggested that it may owe its origin simply to the
long-continued action of the weather. In whatever manner it
was formed it undoubtedly indicates a period of longer or shorter
duration. The Reindeer epoch came to a close, and, thereafter,
the clay and stones began to accumulate, and the accumulation
had apparently come to a close before Neolithic man appeared
upon the scene, for his relics are now found resting either upon
the surface of the clay or in the débris of loose stones that has
subsequently gathered above it.

Did space permit, reference might be made to other examples
of caves, especially in Southern France, where the evidence of
a distinct separation between Paleolithic and Neolithic times
is more or less strongly pronounced. But those now given
may suffice, more especially as I shall presently bring forward
copious collateral proofs which have been furnished by certain
river-deposits, both in this country and the Continent. Mean-
while, such evidence as we have glanced at puts it beyond doubt
that a considerable interval of time must have supervened after
the departure of Paleolithic man and before the arrival of his
Neolithic successor,

PLEISTOCENE RIVER-DEPOSITS. 121

CHAPTER VIII.

RIVER-DEPOSITS OF THE PLEISTOCENE PERIOD.

M. Boucher de Perthes’ discoveries—Professor Prestwich on origin of the ossi-
ferous and implement-bearing ‘‘drifts”—Fluviatile origin of the so-called
‘* drift””—Erosion of river valleys during Pleistocene times—Time required
for excavation of valleys—Professor A. Geikie on modern denudation—
Flooded condition of Pleistocene rivers— Professor Prestwich on relation
between ancient river-gravels and loams—Absence of well-marked river-
terraces accounted for—River ice and ice-floated erratics—Professor Prest-
wich on climatic conditions implied by Pleistocene river-deposits—Com-
mingling of different groups of mammals—Sir C. Lyell’s views—Mr. Darwin
on angular gravels of Southern England.

THE evidence we are now about to consider is in certain re-
spects more satisfactory than that derived from the study of
cave-deposits. The latter, indeed, teach us in the most impres-
sive manner that the Paleolithic Age is separated from our own
by a great interval of time—an interval that may well be
measured by hundreds of centuries ; but taken by themselves
alone they do not tell us to what particular stage in the geolo-
gical record they ought to be referred. We have seen that
their fossil contents have enabled geologists to class them as of
Pleistocene age. But the term Pleistocene embraces a great
variety of accumulations of diverse formation. Besides cave-
deposits, there are lacustrine, fluviatile, and marine strata, some
of which attain a considerable thickness, and spread over wide
tracts of country. Again, there are enormous sheets and heaps
of glacial detritus that cover a large part of the British Islands
and Northern Europe, and gather abundantly upon the low
grounds that sweep out from the base of every mountainous or

122 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

alpine region in our continent. All these varied deposits and
accumulations are referred by geologists to the Pleistocene Period,
and it is clearly a matter of importance to discover, if we can, to
what particular stage of that period the ossiferous layers of our
caves belong. Must we relegate them to the beginning, the
middle, or the end of Pleistocene times? What relation do
they bear-to the so-called Glacial Period or Ice Age? The only
instance in which we find cave-deposits brought into actual
contact with accumulations which are undeniably of glacial
origin is that of the Victoria Cave, in Yorkshire. In that cave
we have evidence to show that a cold climate, characterised by
the presence of large glaciers in the north of England, super-
vened after the departure of hyznas, elephants, and their con-
geners. Does it follow, then, that all similar cave-accumula-
tions in which the remains of these animals occur must belong
to the same age as those of the Victoria Cave, or may not some
be of earlier and others of later date ?

It is clear that the caves themselves can give us no decisive
reply to all these questions; they yield us no direct informa-
tion as to the climatic and geographical conditions that obtained
in Europe before the introduction and formation of their earths,
silts, breccias, and stalagmites.| We have seen, however, that
some caves certainly contain deposits of more recent Pleistocene
age than others, and that the closing stage of the Paleolithic
Epoch was characterised by an extremely cold climate. But
we have still to learn what exact relation our cave-deposits
as a whole bear to the Pleistocene Period. In a word, we have
to ascertain whether the so-called Old Stone Age belongs to
Preglacial, Glacial, or Postglacial times.

Fortunately for geologists, the links in the evidence which
the caves fail to supply have been discovered elsewhere. In
England and the Continent the fauna so characteristic of the
older cave-accumulations has left its remains in certain super-

? This is generally true, according to our present knowledge ; but there are
exceptional cases, such as the caves of Gibraltar, in which the relation of the
bone-bearing beds to deposits pertaining to the Glacial Period is clearly shown.
See Chapter XIII.

PLEISTOCENE RIVER-DEPOSITS. 123

ficial deposits of loam, sand, and gravel, the relations of which,
both to older and younger geological formations, can be more or
less distinctly traced. And along with these osseous remains
have been found immense numbers of worked flints of the same
general character. as those which occur in our caves. We must
now for a little glance at the evidence of the ancient deposits in
which these remarkable relics of primeval times lie entombed.
It is to M. Boucher de Perthes of Abbeville that the honour
must be assigned of having been the first to direct the attention
of scientific men to the occurrence of worked flints along with
bones of extinct animals in beds of undisturbed sand and gravel.
His discoveries, however, were for long years neglected both by
French and English geologists; and it was not until after the
exploration of Brixham Cave had overturned our preconceived
notions of the antiquity of man, and his contemporaneity with
the extinct animals, that the investigations of the Abbeville
antiquarian began to attract notice. Perhaps one of the reasons
why the French discoveries were so long passed over by English
scientific men was the general conclusion arrived at by Boucher
de Perthes, that the flint implements and mammalian remains
were entombed together by the waters of the Noachian deluge.
By geologists in this country the idea of a general deluge had
long been discredited; and so deeply had uniformitarian doc-
trines been imbibed, that débdcles and deluges of any kind had
come to be looked upon with considerable disfavour. It could
be shown that the slow, continuous action of frost and rain
and running-water was capable in time of effecting enormous
changes on the surface of the globe; and it was considered un-
philosophical to call in the agency of such accidents as débdcles
and deluges to account for appearances which could be well
explained without their aid. When an author, therefore, seemed

1 So far back as 1797, however, an English antiquarian, Mr. John Frere, had .
described the occurrence of flint ‘‘weapons of war” and some ‘‘extraordinary
bones” in undisturbed strata of gravel and sand at Hoxne, in Suffolk. Archio-
logia, vol. xiii. p. 204. Mr. Frere’s interesting letter is given in extenso by Mr.
Prestwich in the ‘‘ Author’s Copies” of his famous paper, read to the Royal
Society in 1859, Philosophical Transactions, Part II., 1860, p. 277.

124 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

to ignore the common agents of change, and to rely chiefly upon
the supposed occurrence of a tumultuous rush of waters in his
endeavours to decipher the meaning of certain geological phe-
nomena, it is perhaps not surprising that problem and solution
alike failed to attract attention. Be that, however, as it may,
it is unquestionably true that the chief reason for our neglect of
the evidence of man’s antiquity lay in the simple fact that we
were prejudiced against it. It was against their wills that
most geologists were at last convinced, and numerous were the
objections raised before the majority could divest themselves of
their old persuasion, and accept the new views. But so cogent
and abundant has the evidence now become, that the sole non-
contents who venture to appear in print are writers who have
merely a certain literary acquaintance with the subject, and
whose objections often are, in a certain sense at least, un-
answerable.

It was Mr. Prestwich who some twenty years ago first
drew the attention of English geologists to the discoveries made
by Boucher de Perthes, and so admirably did he expound the
phenomena that his conclusions at once made a profound im-
pression. He completed a careful examination of many localities
in the north of France and the south-east of England, and
proved to demonstration that the flint implements were un-
doubtedly the work of man’s hand, and had been buried in
sediment contemporaneously with the remains of the Old
Pleistocene mammalia. He showed, moreover, that the sand
and gravel in which these relics lay entombed were not the
result of any sudden débdcle or deluge, but had been formed
and deposited by streams and rivers in the process of excavat-
ing their valleys. He pointed out, moreover, that some of the
sediments spoke to the former occurrence of intermittent or
periodical floods of vast extent. In short, he interpreted the
phenomena on uniformitarian principles, and so clearly and
cautiously did he reason out his conclusions, that his views
have deservedly met with very general acceptance. They were
adopted by Sir Charles Lyell in his well-known work The

PLEISTOCENE RIVER-DEPOSITS. 125

Antiquity of Man, and the example of this eminent geologist
was of course soon followed by the greater number of his
disciples. Extended observations and the evidence obtained
during collateral inquiries have only tended to confirm the
general truth of Professor Prestwich’s conclusions. My limits
will not allow me, however, to give a detailed account of those
investigations, which may be said to have revolutionised Pleis-
tocene geology. All I can do is to sketch in outline the main
features of the evidence, and to note the chief results arrived at.

The occurrence of great sheets of gravel, loam, and sand on
the slopes of many valleys in the south of England and the
north of France had long been known to geologists, and many
were the explanations, advanced from time to time, to account
for their presence. Few could believe that such water-worn
materials—often appearing at heights of more than 100 feet
above the valley-bottom—could have resulted from the action
of the present streams and rivers. It was thought possible
that this might well be the origin of the gravel and sand at
low levels, but the more elevated deposits were assigned some-
times to the action of the sea, during a comparatively recent
period of submergence, and at other times they were supposed
to be due to the sweep of great cataclysmic rushes of water.
Considerable doubt also existed as to the age of the gravels in
different valleys, and even of those in one and the same valley.
This uncertainty arose chiefly from the nature of the palzonto-
logical evidence —the fossils appearing to indicate various ages.
Thus, for example, it was thought that the deposits at Brent-
ford, in the valley of the Thames, were newer than those of
Grays. Professor Prestwich, however, had on physical grounds
long been satisfied of the contemporaneity of these deposits, and
contended for their posteriority to the “Boulder Clay.” In
other words, he had come to the conclusion that they were
posterior in date to the Glacial Period or Ice Age. This latter
point I will not now consider, as it falls to be discussed in suc-
ceeding chapters. For the present we are concerned simply with
the origin of the valley-gravels—high- and low-level deposits

126 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

alike. These, Professor Prestwich was the first to show, all
belong to one series, and the wide-spread “loss” or loam and
brick-earth, he likewise included as part of the same pheno-
mena.

An exhaustive examination of the gravels and loams ina
number of the valleys in the north of France and the south of
England enabled this geologist to demonstrate that they had
been formed by river-action. This was shown by the pebbles
themselves, all of which had been derived from the strata in
which the valleys are excavated. Not only so, but they had
also travelled in the same direction as the present streams.
The fluviatile origin of the gravels in question was still farther
proved by the notable fact that land- and freshwater-shells were
often met with in high- and low-level deposits alike, while
marine remains, save in the immediate neighbourhood of the
sea, were entirely wanting.

From these old “ river-drifts” flint implements of undeniable
human workmanship have been obtained in large numbers, and
associated with them, in the same undisturbed strata of sand
and gravel, numerous remains of the Pleistocene mammalia have
been found. The observations of Boucher de Perthes have thus
been verified by Professor Prestwich, as also by many French
and English geologists. There can be no doubt, therefore, that
man and his congeners, the extinct and no longer indigenous
mammalia, were in joint occupation of France and Southern
England during the deposition of the ancient valley-deposits
whose origin we are now considering.

One of the most remarkable characteristics of these gravel-
and loam-beds is the height they frequently attain above the
present levels reached by the streams and rivers. They are
traced in patches and often in more or less continuous sheets
up to a height in some cases of as much as 150 feet above the
bottoms of the valleys. It-is evident, therefore, that the rivers
at one time flowed’ at elevations which they do not now attain
even during the heaviest floods. Professor Prestwich has shown
very clearly how impossible it is that the formation of the higher

PLEISTOCENE RIVER-DEPOSITS. 127

oravel-terraces can be due to the action of the present rivers
under existing conditions. “The greatest flood of the Seine on
record,” he remarks, “is that of the year 1658, when it rose to
a height of 29 feet. Even in this case a flood of nearly sixty
times that magnitude would be required merely to fill the valley
to the level of the high-level gravels, without taking into con-
sideration the more rapid discharge. But neither in this nor in
the other cases of modern times are we aware of an increase in
the volume of water, during floods in these regions, to many
times the ordinary mean average, whereas we see that in a case
such as is presented at Amiens a flood having a volume five
hundred times that mean would be required to reach the beds
of St. Acheul.”* The conclusion to which this sagacious
observer came, therefore, was that the gravels had been laid
down by the rivers during the gradual excavation of their
valleys; that is to say that the gravels indicate the various
levels at which the rivers formerly flowed. Thus the high-level
terraces are those which the streams formed when they were
flowing 100 or 150 feet, as the case may be, higher than at
present, while the lower terraces on the slopes of the valleys
mark out the various stages in the slow process of excavation.
When we bear in mind the fact that, between the time when
the higher terraces began to be formed, and the period when
the deposition of the lowest-lying Pleistocene beds had been
completed, the valleys were excavated in rock to depths ranging
from 50 to 150 feet, and to widths that sometimes reach and
even exceed a mile, we must be forcibly impressed with the
protracted duration of the Pleistocene Period, and the extreme
antiquity of its commencement. In the long time that has
elapsed since the deposition of the lowest-level Pleistocene beds
the valleys have suffered comparatively little denudation, and
did we measure the rate at which they were deepened in Pleisto-
cene times with that at which they are now being excavated, we
should be compelled to infer for them an almost inconceivable
age. There are abundant reasons, however, for believing that

1 Philosophical Transactions, 1864, p. 266. .

128 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

their excavation proceeded more rapidly in the past than at
present. But even after all due allowance has been made on
this score we must still concede for the process of excavation a
very prolonged time indeed. It is true that the Cretaceous and
Tertiary strata through which so many of the valleys in the
south of England and the north of France are cut are by no
means so durable as the older rocks of Wales, for example, and
the north country generally. Nevertheless, it is obvious that
the removal of a-mass of Chalk and overlying Tertiary beds, 50
to 150 feet in thickness, and a few yards to upwards of a mile
in breadth, throughout the course of a valley 50 or 60 miles or
more in length, must have occupied, even at the most rapid rate
of denudation, an immense period. We have to conceive of the
rocks being gradually undermined, and their fallen débris
triturated on the bed of the river into gravel, sand, and mud,
and rolled gradually seawards. The mere rounding of the flint
pebbles, which form a large portion of the old gravel-beds, must
of itself have taken a very long time. However rapid, therefore,
we may suppose the former rate of excavation to have been, we
cannot escape the conviction that the work effected implies an
extremely old date for the commencement of the Pleistocene
Period.

Some idea of the rate at which a valley is excavated might
be gathered by carefully estimating the quantity of sediment
carried annually by its river into the sea. To get as near the
truth as possible it would be necessary to measure first the
mean annual discharge of water, and then to ascertain the
amount of material held in chemical solution and mechanical
suspension, together with that which the water pushed forward
on its bed. Unfortunately only a few measurements of this
kind have been made, but these, so far as they go, help us to
form a more or less adequate conception of the rate at which
denudation progresses under present conditions. My brother,
Professor A. Geikie, has collected all the available data bearing
upon this subject, and comes to the conclusion that those rivers,
concerning which he has been able to obtain information, remove

PLEISTOCENE RIVER-DEPOSITS. 129

one foot of rock from the general surface of their basins in the
following ratio :—
The Mississippi removes one foot in 6000 years.

» Ganges iy Fe 235804;
» Hoang Ho s Ps 1464 __,,
» Rhone hy L528 In;
» Danube Ao FS 6846. _,,
LO 53 ze EZR ie:
» Nith 5: cf PB aR

The Mississippi, therefore, is lowering the surface of the great
area it drains at the rate of one foot in 6000 years, which would
give 100 feet in 600,000 years. At the rate at which the Po
works 100 feet would be removed in 72,900 years. Of course it
will be understood that the whole surface of a country does not
suffer denudation to an equal degree. Some districts, owing to
a variety of circumstances, such as differences in the composi-
tion and geological structure of the rocks, inequalities of rain-
fall, variations in the configuration of the ground, and so forth,
are lowered at a more rapid rate than others, the chief amount
of waste going on along the course of the valleys. According
to the calculations, it appears that the mean annual quantity of
detritus carried to the sea may with some probability be regarded
as equal to the yearly loss of gopp of a foot of rock from the
general surface of the land, the larger proportion of the loss
being sustained by the valleys and sloping surfaces. To appor-
tion this loss between the different parts of a land-surface
can of course only be done in a rough-and-ready manner. For
the sake of illustration we may assume, with my brother, that
the erosion of the surface is nine times greater over the valleys
than over the plains and tablelands ;—while the more level parts
of the country have been lowered one foot, the valleys have
lost nine feet. ‘“ Apportioning this loss over the surface in the
ratio just given, we find that it amounts to 3 of a foot from the
more level grounds in 6000 years, and five feet from the valleys
in the same space of time. Then if 3 of a foot be removed from
the level grounds in 6000 years, one foot will be removed in
K

130 PREHISTORIC EUROPE,

10,800 years ; and if five feet be worn out of the valleys in 6000
years, one foot will be worn out in 1200 years. This is equal to
a loss of only 74, of an inch from the tableland in 75 years,
while the same amount is excavated from the valleys in 8}
years.”! Hence at a rate which may with some reason be taken
as the present mean average rate of erosion in valleys, a valley
as deep as the Somme, say 150 feet, might be excavated in
180,000 years.

But, as I have said, we have reason to believe that during
certain periods of the past the erosion of valleys has proceeded
more rapidly than at present, so that the Somme and other
ancient river-valleys may have been scooped out in less time
than the mean average rate of denudation now in progress
would allow. There is abundant evidence to show that the
rivers of the Pleistocene Period frequently flowed in much larger
volume than the streams of to-day,—that they very often as-
sumed a torrential character, and ever and anon rose in flood
and inundated wide tracts of country. Their torrential character
is shawn by the coarseness of much of the gravel—the flints
being often very little rolled—by the absence of mud-sediment,
and by the confused and irregular disposition of the bedding
—all bespeaking the action of tumultuous waters that hurried
along promiscuous heaps of stones and scattered them in confu-
sion over the slopes and bottoms of the valleys, while the finer
sediments were swept away in suspension. Where the water of
the flooded river was in less commotion the finer sediment
held in suspension would be deposited, and this, as Professor
Prestwich points out, has doubtless been the origin of many of
the so-called brick-earths and loss of such valleys as the Thames,
the Somme, the Seine, and their tributaries. They are simply
the flood-loams laid down by the same rivers that deposited the
valley-gravels. Thus the higher deposits of brick-earth, which
rise 60 or 80 feet above the upper gravel-terraces, were formed
during floods, when the valleys were beginning to be excavated,

1 Student’s Manual of Geology, Jukes and Geikie, p. 430; see also Trans.
Geol. Soc. of Glasgow, vol. iii p. 153,

PLEISTOCENE RIVER-DEPOSITS. 131

while the similar deposits at lower levels were accumulated
after the valleys had been deepened to a greater extent. Pro-
fessor Prestwich illustrates his theory of the origin of the
gravels and their accompanying flood-loams by a diagram which

Fig. 4.—Diagram representing one side of a valley, with a series
of gravel- and léss-beds. (Prestwich.)

I borrow from his paper (Fig. 4). The diagram is meant to
represent one side of a valley with a series of gravel- and brick-
earth-beds. When the river flowed on the level d it formed the
gravel-bed indicated by that letter. During flood-seasons, how-
ever, when the water reached to the dotted line 0, its loamy mud
was deposited at b. Lower down the slope, that is to say between
the loamy mud 0 and the gravel-bed d, the scour of the river
would prevent any of the finer sediment accumulating. By
and by the river excavated its channel to a greater depth, and
flowed at the level c, where of course another bed of gravel was
formed. Being still subject to floods, it is evident that when
such was the case, and the surface of the water rose to the dotted
line n, a second deposit of loam (0) would be laid down upon
the old river-bed d, and would slope up against the side of the
valley to the level of the line n. The river still continuing to
deepen its channel, a time would come when it would be flow-
ing on the level ¢’, and when loam would be deposited at 0” on
each occasion that the flood-waters rose to m, or to any point
between ¢’ and m.

Thus we see how a deposit of loam would eventually come
to be spread over all the gravels from the highest to the lowest
levels. It may be as well, however, to warn the reader that he

132 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

must not expect always, or even often, to meet in nature with
the regular succession of beds that is indicated upon the
diagram. Although it is common to speak of high-level and
low-level terraces, the one series really passes down into the
other. Neither do these terraces occur continuously on the
valley-slopes, forming a series of broad steps or platforms
ascending from lower to higher levels. On the contrary, it is
often hard or even impossible to distinguish anything like a
terrace either in the gravels themselves or in the Cretaceous or
other strata upon which they chance to lie. It is doubtful,
indeed, whether the gravels would often be spread out so equally
as to form flat-topped terraces. It seems much more probable,
judging from what we know of rivers that are subject to period-
ical floods, that they would be distributed very irregularly over
the valley-slopes and bottom, forming shoals here and banks
there. We must remember, moreover, that while the lower
terraces were being formed, the upper ones would tend to be-
come partly obscured by the scouring action of flood-waters,
and partly also by the deposition upon them of loam or brick-
earth. Again, we should not forget that so long a time must
have elapsed between the formation of the upper or oldest and
lower or youngest valley-gravels, that the former, after they had
ceased to be inundated by floods, would be subjected to the
slow but continuous and therefore effective action of the atmo-
spheric agents of waste. Thus, in course of time, it might well
be that all trace of a distinctly-terraced feature would disappear,
and the gravels would then be reduced to mere patches or
interrupted sheets cloaking the slopes of the valleys. Notwith-
standing all these changes, however, platforms excavated in the
older strata and covered by Pleistocene gravels and loam may
now and again be detected.

The size of the stones and the quantity of the material
constituting what are called high- and low-level gravels suf-
ficiently indicate, as we have seen, the great transporting
power of the Pleistocene rivers, while the brick-earths, with
their delicate land-shells, covering all the gravels, and running

PLEISTOCENE RIVER-DEPOSITS. 133

up the valley-slopes so as to cap the summits of hills far above
the level reached by the highest river-gravels, proves the for-
mer existence of floods, as Professor Prestwich has pointed out,
of extraordinary magnitude. The same geologist has described
the occurrence in the valley-gravels of large transported boul-
ders or erratics, some weighing as much as four to five tons,
which have been often carried for considerable distances ; and
besides these he records many examples of contorted or con-
fused bedding which seem to be confined to the higher gravels
and loams. The erratics, he believes, have been transported by
river-ice, and the disturbed bedding he ascribes to the action of
masses of the ice running aground, and digging into the soft
deposits upon the river’s bed. The fact that the river-ice was
so thick as to be capable of carrying blocks of stone weighing
several tons renders it more than probable that in Pleistocene
times the winter temperature was sometimes at least severe.
And this inference, Mr. Prestwich thinks, is further borne out
by the character of the fossils met with in the old river-deposits.
Thus in regard to the high-level drifts he is of opinion that
although the shells which they have yielded have “ nothing suf-
ficiently specific in the individual species to indicate a climate
different from that of the present day, there is at the same time
nothing to require restriction to an identical climate. If,
further,” he continues, “we look at the group as a whole, we
shall find it to have not only a very wide range, but one more
in a northern than in a southern direction.” The few plant
remains which have been met with in these higher beds afford
somewhat similar evidence—they all belong to species which,
although common in our latitudes, have yet a considerable
northern range, and there appears to be an absence of southern
forms. The evidence supplied by the mammalian relics (which
include remains of the mammoth, Hlephas antiquus, the woolly
rhinoceros, the horse, the urus, the reindeer, etc.) does not seem,
according to the same authority, to militate against that fur-
nished by the testacea and the land-plants. All the recent
species of molluscs and plants “are such as are now to be found

134 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

within the limits of the temperate zone, but they appear to agree
better with the fauna and flora of its northern than of its south-
ern provinces. The fossil mammalia may also, from their general
association and distribution, be considered to have inhabited
cold countries, so that there is a balance in favour of a severer,
but not of an extreme, climate.”

As regards the low-level gravels the fossil evidence is some-
what more abundant. The shells upon the whole maintain
their general northern character, but the group contains a few
more southern land and freshwater species, which seem to indi-
cate a less extreme climate. “The profusion also of the land
and freshwater testacea, and the greater variety and abundance
of animal life, support this latter view.” The mammalian
remains include the species mentioned above as occurring in the
high-level gravels, as also Rhinoceros megarhinus, cave-bear,
cave-hyzena, cave-tiger or lion, bison, musk-sheep, hippopota-
mus, etc. Mr. Prestwich thinks that there is nothing in this
assemblage of animals that would lead us to infer other than a
rigorous climate. He suggests that the hippopotamus may have
been furnished with a woolly coat to protect him against the
cold, just as was the case with the mammoth and the ticho-
rhine rhinoceros. I have already discussed the evidence of
the mammalia as to the climate of Pleistocene times, and shown
that all the animals could not have occupied the same feeding-
grounds at the same time. One fatal objection to Mr. Prest-
wich’s suggestion in regard to the hippopotamus is based upon
the aquatic habits of the animal. It is hardly possible that it
could live in a country whose rivers were liable to be frozen
over every winter. The presence of the northern forms is clearly
indicative of cold climatic conditions, during the continuation
of which the vegetation must have been poor and scanty, not
more varied and abundant than that which characterises the
“barren grounds” of North America and the tundras of
Northern Europe and Siberia. The hippopotamus was not
likely to occupy a country with such a climate. Mr. Dawkins
well remarks, “It could not have endured a winter sufficiently

PLEISTOCENE RIVER-DEPOSITS. 135

severe to cover the rivers with a thick coating of ice without
having its habits profoundly modified ; and such an alteration
of habits would certainly leave its mark in other modifications
in the fossil skeleton than those minute differences which have
been observed when it has been compared with that of the
living Hippopotamus amphibius.’* The occurrence of remains
of the cave-haunting bears, lions, and hyznas, and of the bison
and other herbivores, is further indicative of a climate capable of
nourishing vegetation sufficiently abundant to sustain the herds
of oxen, deer, and other animals upon which the great car-
nivora preyed. And the truth of this inference is greatly
strengthened, and even as it seems to me entirely confirmed, by
the facts already set forth in regard to the land-plants and mol-
lusca which have left their remains in such deposits as that of
La Celle, which clearly belongs to the ancient Pleistocene
accumulations of the Seine valley, overlying as it does the so-
called diluviwm gris, or gray gravel, and belonging, according to
M. Tournouér, to a late stage of the Pleistocene Period. In
short, the evidence supplied by the old “ river-drifts”—those of
high and low level alike—is of precisely the same character as
that of the caves. It speaks to us of alternations of mild or
genial and cold climatic conditions. If the evidence of a cold
climate seems to predominate, it is only what we might have
expected. It was during the continuance of such a climate
that the rivers would be most energetic, ploughing into the
rocks through which they flowed, and pushing enormous quan-
tities of detritus down their valleys. As each spring returned,
wide tracts of country would be inundated, and many animals
might be drowned, and their disjointed skeletons eventually
come to be entombed in silt and sand. In like manner such
loose bones or other waifs as lay bleaching on the ground
would often be swept away, with other débris, by the floods.
For floods and inundations are the rule in all countries which
are subject to severe winter cold; whereas they are the excep-
tion in genial temperate climates. Hence the river-deposits of

1 Cave-hunting, p. 374.

136 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

a cold period would be thicker and more widely spread than
those which were accumulated at a time when the climate was
genially temperate. And again, the remains of arctic and
northern animals would be distributed through a wider range of
deposits, and might in some cases be relatively more abundant
than those of southern and temperate species.

It has sometimes been urged against these views that if the
northern and temperate and southern species had occupied a
country at different periods, their bones would always occur in
separate and distinct deposits. We ought, it has been said,
to meet with beds containing remains of the northern animals
alone, overlying or underlying, as the case might be, strata in
which only the relics of southern or of temperate species
should occur. Now, if it were true that rivers did nothing but
pile one layer of gravel, sand, or mud upon another—always
depositing, and never rearranging what had already been laid
down—we might well have looked for some such arrangement
as that which I have referred to. Or again, if the period during
which one group of mammalia occupied the ground was so pro-
longed that the rivers were able to erode their valleys to a
great depth, so as to leave the slopes covered with successive
deposits charged here and there with animal remains, it might
happen that, after the old group of animals had disappeared,
and another group had succeeded, the last series of alluvial
terraces would not contain a single relic of the former, but
only remains of the latter. There is not the slightest reason,
however, for believing that the alternations of climate were
each of such protracted duration. Moreover, the rivers, even
up to the close of Pleistocene times, were able to flood their
valleys to a very great height, and so to bring the older gravel-
deposits under their influence.

No one who shall examine any well-developed river-deposits
of Pleistocene age, such as those of the Thames, or of the
valleys in the north of France, can fail to see that they all form
part of one and the same series. They point to the long-con-
tinued action of erosion and deposition, and doubtless the river

PLEISTOCENE RIVER-DEPOSITS. 137

that transported the sediments, and spread them out where we
now see them, behaved in precisely the same manner as any
other river at the present day. Gravel was laid down here,
sand there, and mud in some other place; then, owing to
changes in the direction or velocity of the current, these de-
posits were disturbed, broken up, wholly or partially, and their
materials distributed over another part of the river’s bed. After
a considerable accumulation of such deposits had taken place—
many feet or even yards in depth,—the river might again
gradually undermine and re-arrange them. The gravel would
be pushed along and come to rest farther away, and so would
it be with the sand and silt. Any animal remains, such as
bones or teeth, which these older deposits may have contained
would in like manner be rolled along and embedded in another
position. Thus ina series of fluviatile strata like the Pleistocene
gravels and sands, it is often quite impossible to tell whether
the animal remains that lie side by side in the same stratuin
belong to species that were exactly contemporaneous, in the
sense of occupying the same country at the same time. Sir
Charles Lyell has some remarks upon this subject which are so
apposite that I cannot do better than quote them in full. He
says :' “In attempting to settle the chronology of fluviatile
sediments, it is almost equally difficult. to avail ourselves of the
evidence of organic remains, or of the superposition of the
strata, for we may find two old river-beds on the same level in
juxtaposition, one of them perhaps many thousands of years
posterior in date to the other. I have seen an example of this
at Ilford, where the Thames, or a tributary stream, has at some
former period cut through sands containing Cyrena fluminalis,
and again filled up the channel with argillaceous matter,
evidently derived from the waste of the Tertiary London-clay.
Such shiftings of the site of the main channel of the river, the
frequent removal of gravel and sand previously deposited, and
the throwing down of new alluvium, the flooding of tributaries,
the rising and sinking of the land, fluctuation in the cold and

1 Antiquity of Man, 4th edition, p. 206.

138 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

heat of the climate—all these changes seem to have given rise
to that complexity in the fluviatile deposits of the Thames,
which accounts for the small progress we have hitherto made
in determining their order of succession, and that of the em-
bedded group of quadrupeds. It may happen, as at Brentford
and Ilford, that sand-pits in two adjoining fields may each
contain distinct species of elephant and rhinoceros; and the
fossil remains in both cases may occur at the same depth from
the surface, yet may be specially referable to different parts of
the Pleistocene Epoch, separated by thousands of years.” We
cannot therefore infer from the occurrence of the horns of a
reindeer and the remains of a hippopotamus, in juxtaposition
in a Pleistocene deposit, that these animals have lived under
similar climatic conditions. It must not be supposed, however,
that such intimate commingling of strongly-contrasted species
is the rule. Not infrequently we find remains of several
northern animals lying associated in the same strata to the
entire exclusion of any of the southern forms; and in like
manner the latter often appear quite unaccompanied by any
trace of the northern species. Thus at Gray’s Thurrock in
Essex, the old Pleistocene alluvia of the Thames have yielded
Elephas antiquus, Rhinoceros leptorhinus, Hippopotamus major,
horse, bear, ox, stag, etc.,.but not a trace of any northern species.
In the same beds occur Cyrena fluminalis, Unio littoralis, and
Paludina (Hydrobia) marginata, which is no longer a British
shell, but still lives in the south of France.

But although it is unsafe to rely exclusively upon super-
position as a test of the relative antiquity of fluviatile accumu-
lations, yet as a general rule it still holds true that the beds
which occupy the lower portion of any thick series will be, in
the main, the oldest ; while, on the other hand, those at the top
will commonly be the youngest. Again, in the case of those
river-deposits that cloak the slopes of a valley, we may feel sure
that those at the highest levels will be the oldest, and that the
younger accumulations will occupy the lower levels; but the
latter will frequently overlap upon the former, and the two will

PLEISTOCENE RIVER-DEPOSITS. 139

even in many cases be inextricably commingled. Nevertheless,
the general rule will still obtain, the high-level beds will in the
main belong to the oldest stage of the series. Now as it would
appear that remains of musk-sheep and reindeer, mammoth,
woolly rhinoceros, hyena, lion, elephant, hippopotamus, bison,
and other animals belonging to the northern, temperate, and
southern groups, occur at all levels in the Pleistocene river-
deposits, it seems only reasonable to conclude that these groups
must have occupied the ground alternately throughout the
whole of the Pleistocene Period.

The general glance which we have taken at the more salient
features of the evidence presented by our Pleistocene river-
deposits, makes clear, as it seems to me, the following points :—

1. They are the products of fluviatile action, and were
formed during the excavation of the valleys in which they lie.

2. They were laid down under varying conditions, some of
the deposits indicating quiet and orderly accumulation, others
bespeaking tumultuous torrential waters and vast inundations.
But the wider spread of torrential gravels and flood-loams does
not necessarily imply that a cold climate predominated during
Pleistocene times.

3. Their fossil organic remains point to alternating climatic
conditions—to periods more or less prolonged when the cold of
winter was severe, and the land was occupied by northern and
arctic forms, and to warmer periods (enduring, perhaps, for as
long a time as the colder ones), when the winters were extremely
mild and genial, so that laurels and fig-trees grew on the banks
of the Seine, while an abundant mammalian fauna occupied the
land, the hippopotamus being enabled to live as far north as the
latitude of Yorkshire.

4, The depth and width attained by many of the valleys
which were excavated during the Pleistocene Period, and the
time required for great continental changes of climate, such as
are implied by the presence of the old mammalia, are proofs of
the long duration of the Pleistocene Period, and the remote
antiquity of its commencement.

140 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

5. During the prevalence of cold climatic conditions the
erosion of valleys would proceed at a more rapid rate than is
the case in our latitude at present, and any calculation of the
antiquity of Pleistocene fluviatile deposits which should be based
upon the rate of denudation now in progress would most pro-
bably be exaggerated, not necessarily to such an extent, however,
as might at first sight appear ; for, during the milder periods, or
period when hippopotamuses lived in the north of England, de-
nudation would proceed less rapidly than when the climate
was arctic, and thus the one rate might to a certain extent
balance the other.

But while it may be admitted that the views so ably ex-
pounded by Mr. Prestwich are capable of a wide application,
and will explain the phenomena presented by the Pleistocene
valley-gravels throughout Europe generally, yet they fail to
account for the origin of certain gravelly accumulations which
have yielded both mammalian remains and Paleolithic imple-
ments. I refer to those sheets of coarse gravel and detritus
which spread often continuously over wide districts in Southern
England. They are not confined to valley-slopes, but sweep up
and over hill-tops, valley-partings, and watersheds ; extend
across plateaux and platforms between separate valleys ; and, in
short, bear little or no relation to the present drainage-systems
of the country. It is not possible that those gravels could have
been laid down by rivers in the process of deepening their
valleys,—their distribution and general appearance show that
the surface had already received much of its present contour
before the deposits were scattered broadcast over the country.
I should mention that the deposits in question are frequently
very coarse and rudely bedded. They often show a confused
and tumbled appearance, consisting of sand, grit, angular débris
and blocks, and well-rounded stones, promiscuously heaped and
jumbled together. And what is particularly noteworthy, many
of the stones are often standing on end, and not lying in the
position they might have been expected to assume had they
been laid down by ordinary river-action.

PLEISTOCENE RIVER-DEPOSITS. 141

The origin of these gravels has always been a difficult ques-
tion, but a suggestion which Mr. Darwin some years ago (1876)
did me the honour to communicate gives what appears to be
the true explanation of the somewhat puzzling phenomena.
Having since had an opportunity of testing the value of the
suggestion referred to, I have found it extremely helpful, and
believe that my co-workers will agree with me in this opinion.
Mr. Darwin, after remarking that his observations were made
near Southampton, writes as follows:—“I need say nothing
about the character of the drift there (which includes Paleo-
lithic celts), for you have described its essential features in a few
words (Great Ice Age, p. 506). It covers the whole country,
even plain-like surfaces, almost irrespective of the present out-
line of the land. The coarse stratification has sometimes been
disturbed; and I find that you allude to ‘the larger stones often
standing on end,’ which is the point that struck me so much. Not
only moderately-sized angular stones but small oval pebbles often
stand vertically up, in a manner which I have never seen in ordi-
nary gravel-beds. This fact reminded me of what occurs in my
own neighbourhood in the stiff red clay, full of unworn flints, over
the chalk, which is no doubt the residue left undissolved by
rain-water. In this clay flints as long and as thin as my arm
often stand perpendicularly up, and I have been told by the
tank-diggers that it is their ‘natural position’! I presume that
this position may safely be attributed to the differential move-
ment of parts of the red clay, as it subsided very slowly from
the dissolution of the underlying chalk, so that the flints arrange
themselves in the lines of least resistance. The similar but
less-strongly marked arrangement of the stones in the drift near
Southampton makes me suspect that it also must have slowly
subsided, and the notion has crossed my mind that during the
commencement and height of the Glacial Period great beds of
frozen snow accumulated over Southern England, and that
during the summer gravel and stones were washed from the
higher land over its surface, and in superficial channels. The
larger streams may have cut right through the frozen snow, and

142 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

deposited gravel in lines at the bottom. But at each succeeding
autumn, when the running-water failed, I imagine that the lines
of drainage would have been filled up with blown snow, after-
wards congealed ; and that owing to the great surface-accumu-
lations of snow it would be a mere chance whether the drainage,
together with gravel and sand, would follow the same lines
during the next summer. Thus, as I apprehend, alternate
layers of frozen snow and drift in sheets and lines would ulti-
mately have covered the country to a great thickness, with lines
of drift probably deposited in various directions at the bottom by
the larger streams. As the climate became warmer the lower beds
of frozen snow would have melted with extreme slowness, and
during this movement the elongated pebbles would have arranged
themselves more or less vertically. The drift would also have been
deposited almost irrespective of the outline of the underlying
land. When I viewed the country I could not persuade myself
that any flood, however great, could have deposited such coarse
gravel over the almost level platforms between the valleys.”

Mr. Darwin writes me again recently to say that subsequent
observations near Southampton and elsewhere have only tended
to strengthen him in his conclusion. Referring to the structure
of his own neighbourhood (Beckingham, Kent), he says the chalk-
platform slopes gently down from the edge of the escarpment
(which is about 800 feet in height) towards the north, where it
disappears below the Tertiary strata. “The beds of the large and
broad valleys, and only of these, are covered with an immense
mass of closely-packed, broken, and angular flints, in which mass
remains of the musk-sheep and woolly elephant have been found.
This great accumulation of unworn flints must therefore have
been made when the climate was cold, and I believe it can be

accounted for by the large valleys having been filled up to a great
depth during a large part of the year with drifted frozen snow,
over which rubbish from the upper parts of the platforms was
washed by the summer rains and torrents, sometimes along one
line and sometimes along another, or in channels cut through
the snow all along the main course of the broad valleys.”

PLEISTOCENE LOAMY DEPOSITS. 143

CHAPTER IX.

LOAMY DEPOSITS OF THE PLEISTOCENE PERIOD.

Liss of German geologists—Its distribution throughout Europe—Organic remains
of the léss—Dr. Nehring on loamy deposits of Thiede and Westeregeln—
Mammalian and human remains in loss—Changes in composition of léss—
River-gravels and lignite underlying loss—Loss of Northern France—Its
relation to Diluvium gris and Diluvium rouge—Terre a briques and Limon
grossier —Fossils of French léss— Belgian ioss—Its organic remains—M.
Dupont on Belgian léss and associated deposits—Tchernozem, or black-earth
of Russia—Theories of the origin of loss—Views of Bennigsen-Férder, Hib-
bert, Giimbel, Lyell, Prestwich, Tylor, A. Geikie, Belt—Murchison on origin
of black-earth—De Mercey on origin of French limon—D’Acy’s views on
same—Baron Richthofen’s loss-theory—Mr. Pumpelly’s views.

ALTHOUGH Professor Prestwich’s observations are restricted to
the old river-drifts of the south of England and the north of
France, they nevertheless hold true, to a large extent, as I
believe, for many similar accumulations in other countries. All
the great rivers of Europe flow through valleys which are clothed
more or less continuously with sheets of gravel, sand, and loam
that rise to heights far beyond the reach of the heaviest floods of
modern times. And the same is the case with very many of the
tributaries of these rivers. Indeed, there is perhaps no considerable
river-valley that does not bear evidence of having been subjected
at some geologically recent period to inundations of much greater
magnitude than are ever experienced now. The more widely-
spread deposits, which are supposed to bear witness to these
floods, are known under various names, such as ancient alluvium,
loam, brick-earth, etc., in this country, liss, lehm, etc., in Germany,
limon, terre a briques, etc., in France and Belgium. Mr. Prest-

144 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

wich, as we have seen, considers these sheets of loam as forming
part and parcel of the ancient river-accumulations of the Pleisto-
cene Period. But they attain so great a development in various
parts of Europe, that many geologists have hesitated to accept
this explanation of their origin. Nor can it be denied that the
phenomena are sometimes produced on so grand a scale that
even the most exaggerated river-action seems hardly to account
for them. Geologists, therefore, have very generally discussed
the question of the origin of the great loamy deposits of the
Pleistocene Period apart from that of the ancient gravels, with
which the former are usually associated in the valleys. I
believe, nevertheless, with Professor Prestwich, that the expla-
nation of the one set of phenomena is bound up with that of the
other—that the loams and gravels in short are terms of one and
the same series. For the present, however, I shall follow other
geologists in considering the loamy deposits by themselves, and
shall reserve what I have to say about their origin to a sub-
sequent chapter.

One of the most representative and typical of the accumula-
tions now under review is the Jéss of German geologists. This
may be shortly described as a yellow or pale grayish-brown,
fine-grained, and more or less homogeneous, consistent, non-
plastic loam, consisting of an intimate admixture of clay and
carbonate of lime. It is frequently minutely perforated by long
vertical root-like tubes which are lined with carbonate of lime
—a structure which imparts to the loss a strong tendency to
cleave or divide in vertical planes. Thus it usually presents
upright bluffs or cliffs upon the margins of streams and rivers
which intersect it. Very often it contains concretions or
nodules of irregular form, which are known in the Rhine dis-
trict as Lissmdnnchen or Lésspiippchen, and in that of the
Danube as ZLésskindeln. Land-shells and the remains of land-
animals are the most common fossils of the loss, but occasionally
freshwater shells and the bones of freshwater fish occur. Such
is the typical character of loss. It is not, however, always an
unstratified mass, Often enough lines of bedding, a foot or

PLEISTOCENE LOAMY DEPOSITS. 145

more apart, may be traced running horizontally across the face
of a deep cutting; and now and again intercalated layers and
laminze of sand make their appearance. Here and there too we
may encounter stones either isolated or in little patches and
groups, and in places where the accumulation abuts against a
cliff or rock-slope, it not infrequently contains intercalated lines
and layers of fragments which have evidently been detached
from the adjacent rocks and embedded during its formation.
Again the loss of some regions loses to a large extent its car-
bonate of lime, becomes more argillaceous and passes into a
plastic clay, in which condition it would cease to be called léss
by sticklers for precise terminology. Or it may graduate into a
loam, distinguished from loss merely by the paucity or absence
of carbonate of lime. As the léss is a deposit of mechanical and
not of chemical origin, we are prepared to meet with such changes
in the character of the accumulation. The definition of the
typical loss given above applies more particularly to that of
Central Europe—to the great loss-deposits of the valleys of the
Rhine, the Rhone, and the Danube. In northern France and in
the south of England accumulations which occupy the same
geological horizon often differ very considerably from the loss of
the Rhenish districts, and the same is the case with vast sheets
of loam that overspread the south of Russia. The one character
which all these deposits have in common is their extremely fine
texture. In other respects they frequently offer considerable
contrasts. As a rule they form admirable soils, and it is to
them that many of the most productive regions of Europe owe
their fertility.

Loss, as I have said, is typically developed in the regions
watered by the Rhine and its tributaries. From the margins of
the modern alluvial flats which form the bottoms of the valleys it
rises to a height of 200 and 300 feet above the streams—sweep-
ing up the slopes of the valleys, and imparting a rich productive-
ness to many districts which would otherwise be comparatively
unfruitful. From the Rheinthal itself it extends into all the
tributary valleys—those of the Neckar, the Main, the Lahn, the

146 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Moselle, and the Meuse, being more or less abundantly charged
with it. It spreads, in short, like a great winding-sheet over
the country—lying thickly in the valleys and dying off upon
the higher slopes and plateaux. Wide and deep accumulations
appear likewise in the Rhone valley, as also in several other
river-valleys of France, as in those of the Seine, the Saone, and
the Garonne, and the same is the case with many of the valleys
of Middle Germany, such as those of the Fulda, the Werra, the
Weser, and the upper reaches of the great basin of the Elbe.
It must not be supposed that the loss is restricted to valleys
and depressions in the surface of the ground. It is true that it
attains in these its greatest thickness, but extensive accumula-
tions may often be followed far into the intermediate hilly
districts and over the neighbouring plateaux. Thus the Oden-
wald, the Taunus, the Vogelgebirge, and other upland tracts, are
cloaked with loss up to a considerable height. Crossing into
the drainage-system of the Danube, we find that this large river
and many of its tributaries flow through vast tracts of loss.
Lower Bavaria is thickly coated with it, and it attains a great
development in Bohemia, Upper and Lower Austria, and Moravia
—in the latter country rising to an elevation of 1300 feet. It
is equally abundant in Hungary, Galicia, Bukowina, and Tran-
sylvania. From the Danubian flat-lands and the low grounds
of Galicia it stretches into the valleys of the Carpathians, up to
heights of 800 and 2000 feet. In some cases it goes even higher
—namely, to 3000 feet, according to Zeuschner, and to 4000 or
5000 feet, according to Korzistka. These last great elevations,
it will be understood, are in the upper valleys of the northern
Carpathians. In Roumania loss is likewise plentiful, but it has
not been observed south of the Balkans. East of the Car-
pathians, that is to say, in the regions watered by the Dniester,
the Dnieper, and the Don, loss appears also to be wanting, and
to be represented by those great Steppe-deposits which are
known as “Tchernozem” or black-earth, and to which I shall
refer presently.

Continental geologists speak of “ hill-loss” and “ valley-léss,”

PLEISTOCENE LOAMY DEPOSITS. 147

by which they indicate merely a difference of level and not of
composition. All those tracts of léss which occur within the
valleys proper come under the designation of valley-léss, while
the term “hill-léss” is applied to those masses which are less
closely connected with the valleys, and sometimes extend over
plateaux and hilly ground between separate drainage-areas.
As already pointed out, loss attains its greatest thickness in the
valleys ; as we leave these and follow it up the slopes it becomes
thinner, until it more or less suddenly disappears. Upon the
higher slopes and plateaux it rarely exceeds a few feet in
thickness.

A list of léss-shells has been already given (see p. 60),
and it may be taken as eminently characteristic. It will be
remembered that the shells imply colder and wetter conditions
‘of climate than now obtain in Middle Furope. Amongst the
mammalian remains which have been recorded from the léss
are reindeer, glutton, lemming, various species of rat and mouse,
jerboa, marmot, pouched marmot, horse, hyeena, cave-bear, urus,
bison, mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, etc. As a rule these
Species are represented by only detached bones, tusks, horns,
etc. Perfect, or nearly perfect, skeletons of the larger animals
seem rarely or never to occur. -But now and again some of
the smaller species have been met with in a tolerably perfect
condition, Among the most interesting discoveries of the kind
are those recorded by Dr. Nehring from Thiede and Westeregeln}
Thiede lies a little to the north-west of Wolfenbiittel in Bruns-
wick, and Westeregeln about midway between Magdeburg and
Halberstadt in Saxony. As the fauna obtained from those two
localities may be considered typical of the loss, I shall give a
brief digest of the facts which Dr, Nehring has made known.
The deposits at Thiede show three stages, which in descending
order are as follow :—

1. Uppermost Stage, extending from the surface down to

? “Die quaternaren Faunen yon Thieden und Westeregeln, nebst Spuren des
vorgeschichtlichen Menschen,” Archiv fiir Anthropologie, Bd. x. and xi., 1878
Verh. der k.-k. geol. Reich., 1878, p. 261,

148 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

about fourteen feet. The beds of this series consist of loam with
a general léss-like character, which is most strongly pronounced
towards the bottom, where the colour of the deposit is bright
yellow. At that horizon it is strongly calcareous, has the well-
known tubular or capillary structure, is very fine in the grain,
shows little or no trace of bedding, has very little or even no
plasticity, and contains characteristic léss-shells, such as Pupa
muscorum, Succinea oblonga, Helix hispida, etc. The uppermost
portion, from one to nine feet down, is rendered more or less
dark-coloured by the presence of carbonaceous matter ; some
parts when wet are even quite black. About seven feet or so
from the surface many pieces of oak occur, but other organic
remains are not common. Lower down come remains of a
large ox, lion, ete.

2. The Second or Middle Stage extends from the bottom of
the overlying beds down to twenty-two feet from the surface,
giving a thickness of eight feet. The beds of this stage are not
true loss but rather calcareous clays, containing not a few rounded
and angular stones, chiefly flint, but quartz, granite, and other
varieties also occur, some of the fragments having evidently
been derived from the so-called “Northern Drift,” of which I
shall speak in a later chapter, while others may have come
from the Harz Mountains and districts to the south or south-
west. One fragment of red granite must have weighed over
twenty pounds. The most abundant organic remains in this
bed are those of the mammoth and woolly rhinoceros, and
next to these are the horse and a kind of ox. The hyzna and
the reindeer are rarer.

3. The Third or Lowest Stage, consisting of alternations of
thin sandy and loamy layers, begins at about twenty-two feet
from the surface, and extends to the bed-rock of the neighbour-
hood at a depth of from thirty to thirty-five feet, and sometimes
as much as forty feet from the soil. The line of demarcation
between it and the clays of the overlying middle stage is clearly
defined. The most abundant remains in this stage are those of
lemmings—WMyodes lemmus (common or Norwegian lemming)

PLEISTOCENE LOAMY DEPOSITS. 149

being particularly abundant in the upper layers, while JZ. tor-
quatus (torquated lemming) predominates in the lower-lying beds.
The other species associated with the lemmings are Arvicola
gregalis (Siberian social-vole), and old and young individuals of
the Arctic fox and reindeer. Confined to the upper part of the
stage are Hquus caballus (horse), Arvicola ratticeps (Northern field-
vole), A. amphibius (water-vole), and species of lagomys, sper-
mophile, and bat. The beds contain a considerable admixture
of lime, which often forms concretions round the bones, and now
and again gravel-stones make their appearance. In this lowest
stage occurred various relics of man—old hearths and flint
implements. Although a clearly-marked line separates the
lowest from the middle stage, it is to be observed that remains
of the lemming occur sporadically in the lower portion of the
mammoth-beds (Stage 2), while traces of the mammoth in like
manner are met with in the upper portion of the lemming-beds
(Stage 3).

The section at Westeregeln also shows three stages, which,
however, do not correspond precisely with those at Thiede. The
upper and middle stages at the former locality consist of bedded
deposits, which have a more or less loss-like appearance ; but
they are generally coarser in the grain than typical loss. They
contain, besides several characteristic loss-shells, a number of
mammals, including Alactaga, Spermophilus, Arctomys bobac, La-
gomys pusillus, and several species of Arvicola. These are most
common at a depth of from 12 to 18 feet ; above and below this
horizon they occur only at intervals. Along with the species
just mentioned come also mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, and rein-
deer, and other so-called “diluvial” animals. The lowest beds
of Westeregeln, occurring at a depth of 20 to 30 feet, are dis-
tinctly stratified, and consist of alternations of sand and clay.
They contain such shells as Cyclas (cornea ?) and Planorbis cari-
natus, and occasional stones. If we except their calcareous nature
the beds have nothing apparently in common with true loss ;
they have yielded remains of the lemming, but not so abun-
dantly as the beds at Thiede. Other species associated with the

150 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

lemming at Westeregeln are woolly rhinoceros, horse, reindeer,
hyena, and sometimes mammoth. Rodents and bats are rare.
Nehring correlates the upper and middle stages at Westeregeln
with the highest stage and the upper part of the middle stage
at Thiede—the lowest stage at Westeregeln corresponding to
the mammoth-beds of Thiede. He considers, therefore, that the
lowermost stage (the lemming-beds) of Thiede has no represent-
ative in the Westeregeln series.

The lower beds at Westeregeln have yielded traces of man,
such as flint-flakes, charred wood, and heaps of smashed and
crushed bones of various animals.

It is seldom that so rich a series of organic remains has been
obtained from the léss of any one locality. As a rule mamma-
lian relics occur only at wide intervals, and they are generally
in a very fragmentary condition; but in the cases so admirably
described by Nehring they are most abundant, and many of the
skeletons are tolerably perfect, showing that they could not have
come from any distance, an inference which is in keeping with
the generally unrolled character of the stones, and the state of
preservation of the fragments of wood.

Mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, reindeer, horse, ox, etc., have
been recorded from the léss of many other parts of Central
Europe. Prinzinger and Czjzek mention mammoth, woolly
rhinoceros, and Cervus dama gigantea as occurring in the loss of
Upper and Lower Austria; Zeuschner has observed a similar
fauna (mammoth, rhinoceros, and Bos priscus) im some of the
valleys of the North Carpathians; according to Dr. Roemer,
mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, Bison priscus, and urus occur in
the loss of Silesia ; and Hauer and Stache state that the two
pachyderms appear in association with the reindeer and the
horse in the loss of Transylvania. The same species, along with
ox, characterise, according to Dr. Littel, the loss and lehm of
Bavaria, and a similar tale might be told of the equivalent
accumulations in many other parts of the Continent. Dr. Sand-
berger’s catalogue of the mammalian fauna from the loss of
Franconia has been given above (see p. 62), and it may be taken

PLEISTOCENE LOAMY DEPOSITS. I51

as typical of the loss of the Rhenish districts. The only relic
of man, noted by Sandberger, is one of the bones of the finger ;
but human remains were found many years ago by M. Ami
Boué in the léss near Strasbourg, and the well-known “ Eguis-
heim cranium” came from léss, in which it was associated with
remains of mammoth, lion, stag, horse, etc. Again, a human
jaw was obtained underneath loss near Maestricht, at a depth
from the surface of 19 feet, and a human skull is said to have
been obtained in loss near Mannersdorf. One of the most inter-
esting discoveries of human relics in loss is that made by Count
Wurmbrand near Zeiselberg, at the mouth of the Kamp valley.
At that place the undisturbed loss yielded a rich deposit of
bones, underneath which occurred a blackish stratum, abounding
with fragments of charcoal and worked flints. The associated
mammalian remains included mammoth, rhinoceros, reindeer,
horse, ox, wolf, and bear ; and from the general appearance pre-
sented by these and the human relics, it was evident that they
could not have been transported from any distance.

Such is the general character of the loss of Central Europe.
In all the great valleys which directly or indirectly drain the
Alps, the deposit is remarkably homogeneous and alike in almost
every respect, and the same is to a large extent true of the loss
in tributary valley-systems. But in the upper reaches of the
latter some difference may often be detected. Thus in that of
the Neckar, near Tiibingen, Lyell observed that the loss was very
distinct in colour and composition from ordinary Rhenish loss,
being mottled with red and green. These appearances are only
explicable on the supposition that the main body of the loss of
such valleys as the Rhine and the Danube has been derived in
large measure from the wearing away of the Alps, the material
obtained from other sources being commingled with and lost, as
it were, in the superabounding detritus of Alpine origin. Only
in the upper reaches of the tributary valleys does a local char-
acter impress itself upon the loss. Its mottled appearance in
the neighbourhood of Tiibingen, for example, is evidently due
to the fact that it owes its origin in great part to the degradation

152 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

of certain variegated red sandstones which are common in that
region.

The loss almost invariably rests upon gravel. This is the
rule in valleys, and these gravels are unquestionably of fluvia-
tile origin. They are indeed of the same age and origin as the
ancient river-gravels of Northern France, and have, like them,
yielded numerous remains of the old mammalia, as at Mosbach
near Biebrich, and Schierstein. More than this, we find that the
fauna comprises representatives from all the three groups—
northern, temperate, and southern. Now and again valley-loss
is underlaid by a kind of lignite or brown coal. Here, for
example, is a section of the loss and lignite-beds of Steinbach
near Baden-Baden, as given by Dr. F. Sandberger :—*

SrEcTIon, 200 feet above RHINE.
Feet. Inches.
1. Loss with Helix arbustorum, and its var. alpestris,

Helix hispida, Pupa dolium, P. columella, P
muscorum, Clausilia dubia, Suceinea oblonga
. Coarse sand
. Yellow loam or clay .
. Coarse sand .
. Yellowish gray clay : j
. Light grayish blue clay ; 10
“Moor coal,” with leaves, trunks, and iranelee
of Betula pubescens, seeds and leaves of Men-
yanthes trifoliata . ; ; reed 0

IO of w bo
pooon
SoomMNHO

But when the loss is followed to levels higher than those
reached by the highest valley-gravels, it may come to rest
directly upon glacial deposits.

The loss of the French river-valleys has a general resem-
blance to that of the Rhine and other valleys of Central Europe.
And this is more particularly the case with the Rhone, as we
might have expected. In the north of France the léss, while
retaining the character of a sandy calcareous loam, yet frequently

1 ‘Geol. Beschreibung der Gegend von Baden-Baden,” Beitr. z. Statistik der
innern Verw. d. Grossh. Baden, Heft. xi. p. 7; Die Land- und Stisswasser-Conchy-
lien der Vorwelt, p. 761.

PLEISTOCENE LOAMY. DEPOSITS. 153

becomes more or less argillaceous, and even passes into a regular
brick-earth. Or it may consist of a succession of alternate
layers of brick-earth and calcareous loam or loss properly so
called. In the valleys of the Seine, the Somme, and other
streams in the north, it overlies those ossiferous and implement-
bearing gravels, which are known to French geologists as dilu-
vium gris and diluviwm rouge. The gray calcareous diluvium or
gravel, as we may call it, from its prevailing character, differs
from the overlying red non-calcareous diluvium chiefly in colour.
In point of fact the red diluvium is often only the discoloured
upper portion of the gray gravel. It is also certain that the so-
called “red diluvium” which is found resting directly upon the
chalk over wide areas in Northern France is not of fluviatile
origin at all, but simply the insoluble residue of red earth and
flint which has resulted from the long-continued action of
acidulated rain-water upon the chalk. This “red diluvium”
may be followed through extensive districts in every country
where Cretaceous strata are well developed. But the reddish-
coloured gravel and earth that overlie the gray diluvium of the
valleys and valley-slopes are unquestionably fluviatile—their
colour and present condition being simply the results of
chemical changes, which have influenced the calcareous gray
diluvium in the same way as they have acted upon the Creta-
ceous strata. Sometimes, indeed, we may observe a similar dis-
coloration in the upper part of the léss, which in these cases
appears to be overlaid by a later deposit of red earth. This
appearance, however, is deceptive, and like the others is due to
the chemical action of acidulated water soaking into the loss
from the surface. The line between the red earth and the yellow
loss is generally very uneven, but occasionally it may approach
horizontality, when the acid-water has been stopped in its descent
by some lamina or layer of impermeable argillaceous matter.!
Loss or loam may be said to cloak all the plains or plateaux of

1 On the origin of the red-coloured gravel or diluvium and léss of Northern
France, see papers by MM. Meugy (Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 3° Sér, t. v. p. 226)
and Vanden Broeck, Op. cit., pp. 298, 326.

154 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

the north and north-east of France up to heights of 600 or 700 feet
above the sea. In the valleys, as I have said, it reposes upon
gravels, but above the level to which these extend it lies either
upon so-called “diluviwm rouge” or upon the basement-reck,
which in those regions is generally chalk. The French loss
usually consists of an upper very fine-grained, non-calcareous
reddish portion (terre & briques), which is extensively used for
brickmaking, and a lower lighter coloured portion (limon grossier)
which is coarser, more or less calcareous, and seldom or never
plastic or suitable for bricks. Frequently the under part of this
limon grossier is charged with broken and cracked flints, which
have not been rolled about, but are sharply angular, and have
evidently not travelled far.

The fossils of the French léss consist chiefly of land-shells,
with here and there (in the valley-léss) a river-shell. Most of
the species are still natives of Northern France, some, however,
having now a more northerly range. The mammalian remains,
like those of the German loss, are chiefly of temperate, boreal,
and alpine forms, such as mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, horse,
urus, saiga, reindeer, marmot, ibex, etc. Paleolithic implements
have likewise been discovered in and underneath the loss of the
Seine, the Somme, and other valleys. I may add that as a rule
the loss or limon of the plateaux is poor in organic remains of
any kind.

Although the loss occurs upon the plateaux and hills up to
a height of nearly 350 feet above the bottoms of the larger
river-valleys, such as that of the Seine, it is yet always bounded,
as Mr. Prestwich remarks, by higher hills flanking the plains
and the lower ranges. Beyond its limits the only superficial
accumulation we encounter is a reddish ochreous earth charged
with flints, which is merely the decomposed upper surface of
the Chalk, and to which the name of diluwviwm rouge has often
been applied.

Passing into Belgium we are confronted with similar pheno-
mena. The ancient Pleistocene gravels with their mammalian
remains are confined as in France to the valleys, where they are

PLEISTOCENE LOAMY DEPOSITS. 155

overlaid by loamy deposits (Limon hesbayen), which sweep up to
higher levels and extend across the plateaux. These latter con-
sist of a lower yellowish, unstratified, fine-grained, calcareous
loam or loss, from 6 feet to 30 or 40 feet in thickness, and an
upper reddish or brown, unstratified, non-caleareous, and argil-
laceous loam, which is often sufficiently plastic to be used for
the making of bricks. Above the limits of the ancient valley-
gravels these loamy deposits are often underlaid by sandy earth
and stones, which correspond to the similar accumulations
occupying a like position in the plateaux of the north of France.
Occasionally also beds of coarse sand appear on the same
horizon, but they are of little extent, and occur for the most part
in depressions or hollows. The lower portion of the léss-beds
has all the characters of Rhenish léss. It is yellow in colour,
unstratified, and more or less calcareous, and it shows the
characteristic vertical capillary structure; it likewise con-
tains land- and freshwater-shells of the usual species, such as
Helix hispida, Pupa muscorum, Clausilia laminata, Bulimus
obscurus, Succinea oblonga, etc. The upper portion, as just stated,
differs from the lower in colour and composition. It does not
effervesce with acids and is frequently plastic, which is not the
case with the lower. The shells it contains are chiefly helices,
such as H. nemoralis, H. hortensis, H. lapicida, and H. rotundata.
According to the Belgian geologists this upper clay is distin-
guished by the presence of remains of the reindeer, while those
of the mammoth occur in the lower or léssic portion. I may
note also that Professor Malaise has recorded the discovery of
Paleolithic implements under the loss in the neighbourhood of
Spiennes, south-east of Mons.

M. Dupont, it will be remembered, has described the occur-
rence in certain caves in the province of Namur of clay with
angular blocks. He likewise mentions the interesting fact that
this stony clay is occasionally overlaid by loss, as in the following
section, which gives the results obtained from an examination
of several caverns :—?

Bull. Acad. de Belg., 2° Sér. t. xx. —p. 284.

156 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

. Loss.

. Yellow clay with angular fragments of limestone.
. Stalagmite,

. Argillaceous sand with thin layers of gravel.

. Rolled stones, derived from the Ardennes.

. Sand with peat.

. Red clay.

IS oO BP & WD eH

The same geologist has correlated the deposits in the caverns
with those which occur outside in the following manner :—

Exterior. Caves. Stages.

1. Loss with or without 1. Léss with or without

stones and blocks. stones and blocks.

2. Yellow clay with blocks. 2. Yellow clay with blocks, Upper or Rein-
with remains of rein- deer Stage.
deer, etc., flint imple-
ments, etc.

3. Argillaceous sand, irre- 3. Argillaceous sand, irre- }

gularly stratified, with gularly stratified, with

intercalations of gravel intercalations of gravel

and rolled stones ; cal- and rolled stones ; cal- Middle nace
careous concretions and careous concretions ; re- bear iRtane
land-shells. mains of cave-bear and ps

flint implements.
4, Gravellysandwithriver- 4. Traces of sand.

shells.
5. Rolled stones withmam- 5. Rolled stones.

moth. Lower or Mam-
6. Gravelly sand. 6. Gravellysand with peaty f moth Stage.

matter,

The loss is thus of more recent date, it will be observed, than
any of the other deposits with which it is associated in the
caves. It occupies, in short, the highest level.

From the facts now adduced it is evident that the loss of
Central and Western Europe cannot be considered as a separate
and independent formation. We find it again and again closely
associated with river-gravels, and containing intercalations of
clay, sand, and stones. It is true that in the Rhine valley it
retains a remarkably homogeneous character throughout a wide

PLEISTOCENE LOAMY DEPOSITS. 157

area, and a great thickness, and it is little wonder that geologists,
whose theories of the origin of loss have been based chiefly upon
the phenomena presented by that deposit in the larger valleys
of Central Europe, should have held the view that loss is some-
thing quite by itself, having little or no connection with the
other Pleistocene accumulations with which it is associated.
But, as we have seen, in Belgium, and more especially in
Northern France, it loses much of its typical character, and this
is still better exemplified in the valleys and low grounds of the
south of England, where the ldss-beds are composed in large
measure of brick-earth, in which sand, and even gravel, are
frequently intercalated. In short, the volume and composition
of the loss-beds are directly related to the extent of the drainage-
areas in which these deposits occur, and to the geological cha-
racter of the rocks from the degradation of which they have
been derived.

Great as is the extent of area in Central and Western
Europe, which is covered by léss and brick-earth, it is yet
inconsiderable when compared with the vast tracts which in
Southern Russia are clothed with the “ Tchernozem” or black-
earth—an accumulation which occupies the same geological
horizon as the loss, and the origin of which is undoubtedly
closely bound up with that of the former. The black-earth
extends over the Steppes and low-lying plateaux that border on
the Black Sea, the Sea of Asov, and the depressed area to the
north of the Caspian, with a breadth from north to south of
from 200 or 300 to nearly 700 miles. It may be said to con-
tinue with little interruption from the regions watered by the
Pruth and the Dniester to the foothills of the Ural Mountains,
between Ufa and Orenburg, thus comprising an area of not less
than 500,000 square miles. Throughout this wide tract the
black-earth shows a singularly uniform character. Like the
léss of Central Europe, it has an extremely fine texture, and is
usually devoid of well-marked stratification. It varies in colour
from dark brown to black, and in thickness from a foot or two
up to twenty, and occasionally, it is said, even to sixty feet.

158 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

According to analyses by Phillips, Daubeny, and Payen, which
are given by Murchison and his eminent associates Verneuil
and Keyserling,' the black-earth is composed of siliceous sand
(about 70 per cent), alumina, and other mineral ingredients (23
per cent) and organic matter (about 7 per cent), the latter con-
taining nearly 2°5 per cent of nitrogen. A nearly similar result
was obtained by Hermann from three analyses, the amount of
organic substances being 10°42 per cent.? Professor Gcebel some
years before had analysed two specimens of black-earth from
the neighbourhood of Saratov.? One of these yielded 22 per
cent of combustible and vegetable ingredients, and the other 23
per cent, the former yielding 6:25 per cent, and the latter 145
per cent of humic acid. The other ingredients consisted chiefly
of silica and alumina, etc., but while one specimen contained
only 4°50 per cent of carbonate of lime, the other showed not
less than 30°12 per cent. Murchison and his colleagues state
that the black-earth is wholly unfossiliferous, not a trace of any
organism, either plant or animal, having been detected by them.
Gebel, however, states that in subjecting one of his specimens to
a mechanical separation he found, in one hundred parts, 9°7 per
cent of stony ingredients with “coarse organic remains,” and 90°3
per cent of fine sifted earth. The other specimen contained
neither stony ingredients nor “coarse organic remains.” Of
the 9°7 per cent of coarse-grained matter, 4:19 was made up of
vegetable débris, and 5°51 of clay. Unfortunately, Goebel does
not tell us from what depth the specimens were taken, but it is
probable that they were obtained at or close to the surface : he
describes them indeed as being “ Ackerkrume” (mould).

According to Murchison, etc., the black-earth “occupies the
centre of a trough, large as an European empire, having the
detritus of the crystalline and older rocks for its northern, and
the low granite Steppes and Caspian deposits for its southern,

1 Geology of Russia in Europe and the Ural Mountains, vol. i. p. 559.

2 Cited. by Bischoff, Elements of Chemical and Physical Geology (English
edition, 1854), vol. i. p. 185. The reference there given is Journ. fiir pract.

Chemie, Bd. xii, p. 290.
3 Reise in die Steppen des siidlichen Russlands, 1838, Bd. i., p. 297.

PLEISTOCENE LOAMY DEPOSITS. 159

limits.” It is found at all levels up to heights of 300 and 400
feet above the valleys. In some places it overlies ancient river-
gravels, while along its northern limits it appears to rest upon,
and now and then to be covered by certain accumulations which
are known as “Northern Drift,” and of which I shall speak
farther on. Murchison and his associates state that the materials
of this “drift,” consisting of stones derived from the north, are
reduced to small size, and mixed with the débris of local rocks
as they approach the northern margin of the black-earth, by
which deposit they are succeeded if not overlapped. At one
place, however, they observed “erratics” or travelled stones of
northern derivation superimposed on the black-earth.

Many theories have been advanced in explanation of the
phenomena presented by the various accumulations—the loams,
loamy clays, loss, and black-earth—which we have now passed in
brief review. The léss of Central Europe especially has given
rise to many speculations, and will probably continue to exercise
the ingenuity of geologists for years to come. At one time it
was supposed to be of marine origin, a view advanced by Bennig-
sen Forder, but which has long been abandoned, and the lacustrine
hypothesis in its various forms has shared no better fate. The
earliest exponent of the latter was Hibbert,' who believed that
the Rhenish loss had accumulated in a wide freshwater basin that
formerly occupied the broad and open part of the Rhine valley
above Bingen, prior to the time when the present outlet had
been sufficiently deepened to permit any overflow in a northerly
direction. The hypothetical lake was supposed indeed to have
then drained to the south. After its bottom had received a
great accumulation of fine mud, the Alps were, according to
Hibbert, suddenly upheaved, and the drainage of the lake was
thereby instantaneously reversed. The whole of its contents
were now discharged in one enormous diluvial rush, and swept
through the straits at Bingen, which were deepened as the

1 History of the Extinct Volcanoes of the Basin of Newwied on the Lower Rhine,
chap. xxv. For an account of the reversal of the drainage in that region, see
an interesting paper on the origin of the valley of the Rhine by Prof. Ramsay
Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxx. p. 81.

160 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

débdicle passed; a large proportion of the muddy contents of
the basin being carried far down the valley, and scattered over
a wide area. Another view, suggested by Giimbel in his great
work on the geology of Bavaria, endeavoured to account for the
loss by a rapid melting of the extensive snow-fields and glaciers
of the Alps, which was supposed to have taken place towards
the close of the Glacial Period of geologists, and to have been
induced by a sudden depression of the mountains. Vast volumes
of water thus set free, descending in irresistible torrents and
débdcles, strewed all the low grounds with sand and gravel, and
soon forming a wide inland sea, allowed the deposition of fine mud
(léss) to take place quietly and continuously. Sir Charles Lyell,
on the other hand, was of opinion that the léss had been de-
posited as a fine alluvial silt by the present rivers at a time
when their fall was considerably lessened by a gradual sub-
sidence of the Alps. Their power of transporting sediment
being thus reduced, much of the mud and silt which they
formerly carried to the sea was now allowed to accumulate in
the valleys themselves, and this process is supposed to have
continued until the rivers had deposited a thickness of several
hundred feet of 16ss—until, in short, wide valleys like that of
the Rhine above Bingen had become well-nigh filled up. The
Alps and the upper reaches of the valleys having become
subsequently re-elevated, the rivers re-excavated their loams, and
cleared out the basins which they had previously filled to
repletion.

Each of the views now mentioned postulates the former occur-
rence of some movement of the earth’s crust—a demand not in
itself unreasonable if it otherwise satisfies all the conditions of
the problem. But this is just what each of the theories fails to do.
The geographical distribution of the loss and its associated de-
posits, and the elevation often attained by them above the valleys
are fatal not only to every form of the lacustrine hypothesis, but
also to the ingenious view supported by Lyell. A depression of
the Alps and the surrounding regions would doubtless diminish
the fall of the rivers that take their rise in those mountains,

PLEISTOCENE LOAMY DEPOSITS. 161

and cause them to accumulate much sediment in their valleys ;
but we have no reason to believe that loss ever filled up the
valleys in the manner supposed. On the contrary, all the
evidence goes to show that the accumulation in question is a
mere superficial covering, spread over the surface of the ground,
the original features of which it disguises but does not conceal.
There is no proof that the Rhine valley was ever filled across
its whole breadth, and throughout its entire length, from Basel
say to its mouth, with a depth of 300 or 400 feet of loss. The
léss is a mere envelope which cloaks the slopes of the valleys,
and was probably never much thicker than it is now. More-
over, it is obvious that Lyell’s theory will not account for the
presence of léss in valleys, the drainage of which could not
have been affected by any subsidence of the Alps. To explain
the occurrence of loss in such valleys we should on the same
principle be compelled to suppose that the Pyrenees, the
plateaux of Central France, the Vosges, the Thiiringer-Wald,
the Erz mountains, and the Carpathians, had likewise been
depressed with reference to the surrounding low grounds, and
again elevated. And a similar inference would be necessitated
for the limited and little elevated watersheds in the south of
England. Nor would all these local movements of subsidence
and re-elevation account for many considerable areas of loss,
amongst which I may mention that narrow zone which extends
in Northern Germany along the southern margin of the great
“Northern Drift.” It is likewise obvious that we should still
have to account upon some other principle for the enormous
development of the black loamy deposits of southern Russia.
There is one opinion upon which geologists are pretty
generally agreed, namely, that the loss of the great valleys of
Central Europe consists for the most part of glacial mud. It is
believed to be the finely-levigated material derived from the
grinding of glaciers upon their rocky beds, and transported to
the low grounds by torrents and fluviatile action. And it is
likewise admitted by most that this distribution of fine silt took
place at a time when the mountain systems of our continent
M

162 PREHISTORIC EUROFE.

supported more extensive snow-fields and glaciers than are now
met with in Europe. But as loss occurs in some valleys which
do not appear ever to have contained glaciers in their upper
reaches, the loss in such cases is believed to be the result simply
of melting snow and a heavy rainfall. Mr. Tylor has indeed
advanced the view that a Pluvial period accompanied and
succeeded the disappearance of great snow-fields and enormous
glaciers. Professor Prestwich, as we have seen, conceives the
léss to be the result of river-floods commencing at the period of
the highest valley-gravels, that is to say at a time when the
present valleys were beginning to be excavated, and continuing
down to the end of that of the lowest valley-gravel. Mr. Tylor,
on the other hand, appears to be of opinion that both the gravels
and the léss were laid down by vastly swollen rivers after the
valleys had attained very nearly their present depth and breadth,
and he would therefore draw no distinction as regards age
between the high-level and low-level deposits. It is quite
impossible, however, to conceive that any river-floods could
have reached the enormous height which such an hypothesis
demands. Professor Prestwich may have under-estimated the
extent of the ancient floods, and my own observations have led
me to believe in the former existence of inundations on a con-
siderably more extensive scale than those to which he ascribes
the formation of the loams of Northern France and the south of
England; but all the evidence, so far as I am able to read it,
appears to bear out his view that the hill-loss and high-level
gravels, speaking generally, are of greater antiquity than the
valley-loss and low-level gravels.

The late Mr. Belt advocated a view of the origin of loss
which I believe was first suggested by my brother, Professor
A. Geikie, who pointed out to Dr. Croll that the excessive
accumulation of loss in the Rhine valley may have been due to
the presence in the North Sea of a great mer de glace which
may have impeded the egress of the rivers to the north and
caused them to flood wide regions in the Netherlands. Mr.
Belt went farther than this, and maintained the opinion that

PLEISTOCENE LOAMY DEPOSITS. 163

the advance of a great polar glacier or ice-sheet upon Northern
Europe and Northern Asia blocked up the drainage of the rivers
. flowing to the north, and converted the low grounds of Northern
France, Southern England, the Netherlands, Northern Germany,
vast areas in Russia, and all Northern Siberia, into wide inland
seas of fresh water, in which extensive deposits of silt took place
—an opinion which does not appear to have met with any sup-
port. It is in fact contradicted by the evidence of the loss itself
—the distribution and character of which refuse to be so
explained. Nevertheless, it is highly probable that the Euro-
pean rivers flowing north actually were impeded by the presence
in those regions of a great ice-sheet, as I shall point out in suc-
ceeding pages. But whether that obstruction gave rise to the
loss of Central Europe is another question. Be that, however,
as it may, it is certain that vast deposits of loss have been formed
in regions where no such damming of the rivers can be supposed
to have taken place. The great loss-deposits of the Missouri
and Mississippi, for example, certainly cannot owe their origin
to the ponding back of those rivers by glaciers. Neither can
we account for the presence of the Russian “ Tchernozem” by
any such hypothesis. Murchison and his colleagues maintained
that the black-earth was accumulated in the sea by diluvial
currents sweeping from the north—a view which does not
receive support from the occurrence of any marine organic
remains. In whatever manner it may have been formed—
whether in the sea or in fresh water—it is clear that neither cur-
rents nor rivers could have been dammed back as Belt supposed
was the case with the rivers of Northern Europe and Siberia.
M. de Mercey, after having for some time upheld the
theory of the “diluvial” origin of the dimon of the plateaux
of the north of France,’ has of late given up that view and advo-
cated a very different one. He is now of opinion that the
lower portion of the limon (limon biéfeux or limon grossier) is of
glacial origin, and that it indicates the former existence in the

1 Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 2° Sér. t. xxii. pp, 75, 76, 84, 102.
* Bull. Soc. Linn. du Nord de la France, t. ii.-p. 834.

164 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

north of France of an ice-sheet like that which covers Green-
land. In proof of this he points to the fact that the limon bié-
feux is abundantly charged with angular fragments of flint,
besides a number of whole flint-nodules. But these last are so
much cracked and fissured internally, that they generally fall
into pieces while they are being extracted from the loam.
Their cracked condition he attributes to the action of frost, and
as they now lie buried beyond the influence of atmospheric
changes, he infers that they must have been split by frost at the
time of their entombment in the limon. Again, the loam
which encloses them is composed of very unequally-sized grains,
which he thinks could not have been deposited at one and the
same time by water. Had the /imon been an aqueous accumu-
lation, he believes that the coarser and finer granules would have
been laid down at different times and in different places. The
upper part of the deposit (¢erve & briques), on the other hand, is
composed of uniformly-sized grains, and is thus in his opinion
the result of aqueous levigation. It owes its origin to the
washing and re-arranging of the limon biéfeux. The latter, he
thinks, was accumulated in the state of clay, and along with the
broken flints was formed by the action of frost and ice. It has
been derived from the destruction of the rocks upon or near to
which it occurs, and changes its character as these change theirs.
M. de Mercey then points out that the flint-bearing loam pre-
sents a very irregular surface of contact with the rocks upon
which it reposes—this surface being quite unlike one which
aqueous erosion would have produced. The Chalk and other
strata have been irregularly trenched and excavated, so that the
loam descends ever and anon into pockets and cavities. Again,
he shows that the stony loam spreads like a sheet over the sur-
face of the rocks, and is not disposed in terrace-shaped accumu-
lations. It follows all the undulations of the ground—covering
hollows, slopes, and elevations alike. He alludes further to the
form of the ground, which frequently presents the appearance of
parallel ridges and intervening hollows, of a character which
-betokens some other mode of origin than that of erosion by the

PLEISTOCENE LOAMY DEPOSITS. 165

waters either of the sea or of violent inundations and débdeles.
In his opinion only glacier-ice could have produced the peculiar
contour to which he refers. The limon biéfeux, he concludes, is
a true glacier-mud which has been formed underneath ice and
left lying upon the surface at the time when the glaciers or ice-
sheet melted away. It is essentially of local origin, and in its
composition always reflects the character of the strata in the
immediate neighbourhood of which it occurs. The limon biéfeux
of Picardy, according to M. de Mercey, corresponds to the yellow
clay with stones and blocks which M. Dupont has described as
covering certain regions in Belgium. The overlying brick-clay
he would assign, as already mentioned, to the subsequent
action of water, etc., washing, sifting, and re-arranging the mate-
rials of the limon biéfeux.

M. de Mercey’s views have been controverted at considerable
length by M. E. d’Acy,' who maintains that both the lower and
the upper loams of the north of France are the result of a
ereat diluvial cataclysm, as M. Belgrand has maintained,? and
that this cataclysm took place in Pleistocene times and after the
valleys had been excavated. He appears to me to have shown
that Mercey’s contention that the limon biéfeux is of the nature
of a moraine profonde or subglacial mud is hardly well sup-
ported, but he has not satisfactorily disposed of the evidence
which, as M. de Mercey has indicated, goes to prove that the
limon biéfeux was accumulated under cold conditions of climate.
But to this point I will return in the sequel.

An entirely novel view of the origin of loss has been ad-
vanced by Baron Richthofen, and amply illustrated in his great
work on China. A deposit similar in all respects to the Rhenish
and Danubian léss covers vast areas in that country. It differs
from the loss of Europe only in its greater vertical and hori-

zontal extent. Richthofen describes it as forming cliffs or bluffs
on the Yellow River, which in some places rise to a height of

1 Le Limon des Plateaux dw Nord dela France et les silex travaillés qu'il ren-
Serme (1878).

2 La Seine, I. Le Bassin Parisien aux Ages Antéhistoriques, p. 216; Compt.
Rend. Congr. Intern..d Anthrop., etc., Bruxelles (1872), p. 131.

166 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

500 feet. In many places, he says, it reaches a thickness of
1500 feet. It extends inland over all the high plains, from the
alluvial flats of the Gulf of Tshili over the Taihhang-shan
Mountains up to plateaux 1800 metres high, and even to an
elevation of 2400 métres above the sea in the Wu-tai-shan
Mountains in Northern Shansi. It stretches south of the hilly
grounds beyond the valley of the Yangtze, and up that valley
in a westerly direction for an unknown distance. It can be
followed up the course of the Han to the watershed of that
river, and it is known to extend up the valley of the Yellow
River without interruption into the province of Kansuh. This
enormous deposit, according to Richthofen, is solely the result
of atmospheric waste and wind-action; and he has brought
forward a large body of interesting and important evidence
to prove the correctness of his theory.

The winds that blow across a great continent like Asia are
to a large extent drained of their moisture by lofty mountains,
elevated plateaux, etc., before they can reach certain regions in
the interior, which as a consequence become desiccated and
deprived of springs and rivers. The materials which are the
result of atmospheric waste, and which in well-watered regions
would eventually find their way to the sea, are allowed to
accumulate upon the surface of such dry desert areas, and the
rocks, bared of their vegetable covering, crumble away, more or
less rapidly, to loose grit and sand. Occasional rains and torrents
help to carry the products of superficial waste down to the lower
grounds, where they become still further reduced in size, and are
sifted by the action of the wind. Vast quantities of dust and
fine sand are thus produced, and during storms these are swept
up and scattered over extensive areas, and in this manner
adjoining territories, such as the grassy steppes, are ever and
anon receiving increments to their soil. The finely-sifted
material thus obtained is highly fertile, and offers no impedi-
ment to the growth of the grasses, which, on the contrary, con-
tinue to flourish ; and so every addition brought by the winds
becomes in this way fixed, and the Steppe-formation goes on

PLEISTOCENE LOAMY DEPOSITS. 167

increasing in thickness. It is this continual growth of the
grasses, keeping pace as it were with the periodical accumula-
tion of soil, which, according to Richthofen, produces that peculiar
porous capillary structure which has been described above as
characteristic of typical léss. He also insists upon the fact that
the organic contents of the Chinese loss pertain exclusively to
terrestrial forms—to land-shells and land-animals—the remains
of which occur at all depths in the accumulation.

As the shells met with in the Chinese loss belong exclusively
to living species, and the deposit is unquestionably of a recent
geological age, this theory of its origin implies an amount of
atmospheric disintegration and wind-transport and accumulation
which it is hard to conceive could have taken place within the
time required. Nor is this difficulty much lessened if we allow
with Professor Pumpelly that the materials of the loss had
already been prepared for the wind during the lapse of long ages
by the action of rain and rivers, frost, snow, and ice ; so that all
the wind has done has been merely to redistribute alluvial and
other similar materials, and to remove the loose insoluble pro-
ducts of a previously long-continued disintegration of the rocks.
It may be that we have hitherto underestimated the action of
winds as geological agents in dry continental areas like those of
Central Asia, and that aerial currents have played a much more
important réle in the past than has been generally supposed.
“No one,” Mr. Pumpelly remarks, “can realise the capacity of
wind as a transporter of fine material who has not lived through
at least one great storm on a desert. In such a simoom the
atmosphere is filled with a driving mass of dust and sand, which
hides the country under a mantle of impenetrable darkness, and
penetrates every fabric ; it often destroys life by suffocation, and
leaves in places a deposit several feet deep.”* But such rapid
accumulation occurs, I presume, only in the desiccated desert
itself or its immediate neighbourhood. Deserts of shifting sand
increase their bounds by a gradual encroachment, the dunes of
the peripheral regions continually advancing in the direction of

1 American Journal of Science and Art, vol. xvii. (1879), p. 139.

168 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

the prevailing winds. The lighter dust, which is carried on the
wings of the wind and frequently transported for distances of
several hundred miles, leaves but a slight film upon the surface
of the ground where it falls. And if this be so, one cannot but
be amazed at the length of time required for the subaerial sifting
of material, and for the transport from the dry central regions of
Asia of that finest dust with which so large a portion of China
eventually became covered to a depth varying from 50 or 100
feet up to 2000 feet. There are many other difficulties that
seem to stand in the way of Richthofen’s theory of the origin of
the Chinese loss, but these need not be urged ;’ and we may
well admit that the accumulations so admirably described by
him in his beautiful work have been very considerably modified
by the action of winds. But however satisfactory his theory
may be as an explanation of the loss of China, it appears to me
to be quite inapplicable to that of Europe. Our loamy accumu-
lations refuse, as I believe, to be so explained. My reasons for
thinking so I shall venture to bring forward ; but before doing
so, and in order to carry my reader with me, I must first give a
rapid outline of the principal features of that remarkable epoch
in the world’s history which geologists speak of as the Ice Age
or Glacial Period.

1M. Abbé David has stated his objections to the theory in question.—See
Journal de mon troisiéme voyage d exploration dans ’ Empire Chinois, t. i. p. 94 ;
and Mr. Kingsmill has likewise combated Baron von Richthofen’s views. (See
Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., 1871, p. 376; The Border Lands of Geology and History :
an Inaugural Address, delivered to North China Branch Roy. Asiat. Soc., 1877).
In place of the wind-theory Mr. Kingsmill will have it that the Chinese léss is a
marine deposit, a view which seems on the face of it as difficult of belief as that
which he opposes.

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 169

CHAPTER X.
THE GLACIAL PERIOD.

Early views of glacial phenomena—Agassiz’s glacial theory—Glacial phenomena
of Scotland —Origin of rock-strie, roches moutonnées, till or boulder-clay, ete.
—Intruded till and great erratics—Direction of glaciation in Scotland—
Glaciation of Ireland ; of English Lake District ; of Lancashire ; Wales, etc.
—Glacial phenomena of north-east of England ; of Midland districts and East
Anglia—Great erratics—Glaciation of Norway and Sweden ; of Finland and
Northern Russia ; of Germany—Contorted and disturbed rocks under boulder-
clay—Great erratics—Direction of the northern mer de glace—Course followed
by ‘‘under-tow” of ice-sheet.

THROUGHOUT vast areas in the low grounds of Northern Europe,
and in all the mountain-tracts of the central and southern regions
of our continent, we encounter the clearest and most abundant
evidence to show that a much severer climate than the present
has formerly obtained. I have already adduced a number of
facts which must have convinced the reader that towards the
close of the Paleolithic Age the ancient inhabitants of Aquitaine
lived under conditions such as now characterise only the higher
latitudes. When the temperature in Central and Southern
Europe was so depressed as to allow reindeer and musk-sheep to
live in the low grounds that sweep north from the base of the
Pyrenees, and the glutton, the marmot, and the tailless hare to
frequent the shores of the Mediterranean, what, we may well
ask, must have been the condition of those tracts to which these
animals are now restricted? Fortunately we are able to give a
very definite reply to this question. The evidence brings before
our vision scenes that are in strangest contrast to the present—

170 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

vast regions of Northern Europe buried under perennial snow
and ice, huge glaciers deploying upon the low grounds of France
and Italy, and creeping down the mountain-valleys of southern
Spain ; ice, in like manner, choking the upland valleys of
Corsica; snow-capped mountains everywhere. Cold currents
flowing out of the Polar Ocean then laved the shores of North-
western Europe, bringing with them many arctic forms of life,
which occupied the area vacated by the temperate species as
these last found their way south to the coasts of Spain and the
Mediterranean. The walrus, now one of the rarest visitors to
Ultima Thule, frequented the English Channel,’ where ice-rafts
were common, and into which rivers, flowing from perennial
snow-fields and glaciers, discharged their muddy waters.

To give an adequate description of the facts upon which
these conclusions are based would lead me far beyond the
scope of this work, and I can find space for only a meagre out-
line of the subject. The history of the Glacial Period or Ice
Age is read in certain peculiar markings upon rock-surfaces ; in
the configuration of hills, the form of valleys, and the multi-
tude of lakes in alpine and northern regions ; in the character of
certain superficial accumulations of clay, gravel, sand, boulders,
and débris, which in those regions are more or less abundantly
developed ; in the presence of arctic and boreal shells and other
marine forms in the clay-deposits of low latitudes like our
own; in the appearance of high-alpine and hyperboreal plants
in ancient peat-bogs ; and finally, in the present distribution
of the flora and fauna of Europe. These phenomena and the
mode in which they are interpreted have been discussed some-
what fully in the work mentioned below,’ to which the reader
who wishes to study the subject in detail may refer. The
general results arrived at are all that I can attempt to give in
this place.

The more conspicuous traces of the great glaciers and seas
of ice which formerly existed in Europe, are so prominent that

1 See a paper by M. G. A. Defrance, Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 3° Sér. t. ii. p. 164.
paper by Pp
2 The Great Ice Age, etc., 2d ed.

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. TPE

they had long excited wonder before any serious attempt was
made to account for them in a natural way. Numerous are the
myths and legends connected with the great boulders of our
own country. They are the “giant’s putting-stones,” the
“deil’s burdens,” the “witch’s hearth-stones,” of the fanciful
peasantry. Zealous antiquaries have occasionally claimed them
as monuments set up by man in some long-forgotten age. In
later times they have been ascribed by serious observers,
amongst others by Deluc, to the underground forces of nature—
the shattered fragments resulting from the explosion of im-
prisoned gas. Others again have attributed them to the action
of sudden torrential floods, pouring in vast volumes down
mountain-valleys to the low grounds—a view which was
speedily abandoned when the distances which the boulders
must have travelled came to be better known. The enormous
size attained by many of the blocks was also a difficulty which
- this hypothesis could not remove. It was found, for example,
that some of the great boulders lying upon the slopes of the ~
Jura, and which had come from the upper reaches of the
Rhone valley, measured upwards of 10,000 cubic feet. The
famous Pierre 4 Bot, above the Lake Neuchatel, is a block of
granite estimated to weigh 1500 tons. It is needless to say
that there is no river which could possibly move masses so
enormous as these. The very general distribution of erratic
blocks by and by suggested another explanation of their origin.
They had been traced across uearly the whole breadth of
Northern Europe, from Holland to St. Petersburg and Moscow—
they swarmed upon the low grounds bordering on the Baltic,—
they were hardly less abundant in Middle Germany, they were
sprinkled plentifully over Scotland, Ireland, and a large part of
England. Their occurrence in the alpine regions of Switzer-
land and the Pyrenees was notorious, and they had been
observed also as far south as Granada. The general directions
in which they had travelled had likewise been ascertained.
Thus it was known that many of the large blocks scattered
over the surface of Northern Germany had been derived from

172 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Scandinavia. The underground forces had been found altogether
insufficient to account for those phenomena, and the idea of enor-
mously-flooded: rivers had likewise failed to afford an adequate
solution of the problem. The next theory was that of deluges
or inundations which were supposed to have swept over the
Continent. This view was ably supported by the well-known
experimental geologist Sir James Hall, who, after carefully
exploring the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, concluded that the
direction of the débdele in Central Scotland had been from west to
east. No one can read Hall’s interesting descriptions without
being impressed with his penetration. He was not content
merely with tracing out the trend taken by the stones, but he
was the first to show that the markings on the rocks had been
produced, and that the prominent features of the land itself
gave evidence of having been greatly modified, by some force
coming from the west. Similar observations carried on in other
regions with as much care and intelligence as Hall bestowed
upon his work, could hardly have failed to anticipate the theory
with which the name of Agassiz is now indissolubly associated.
As it was, they soon effected the demolition of the very view
in support of which they had been adduced. The great
difficulty was how to account for such deluges. Some were of
opinion that the inundation was universal, and had its origin
in the far north, from which a series of great waves were
precipitated over Europe, sweeping large blocks and débris and
everything before them. Others again, who knew that all the
erratics had not travelled in one and the same direction, thought
that instead of one great deluge there had been a number of
smaller but still powerful irruptions of water. But where did
the water come from? Some said from the sea, others, such
as Lamanon and Sulzer, from lakes which had burst their
barriers. But where had those lakes existed, the bursting of
which could have scattered Scandinavian boulders broadcast
over Denmark, Holland, and all Northern Germany? And
how had the sea been compelled suddenly to forsake its bed
and sweep in giant waves across the Continent? It was vaguely

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 173

suggested that perhaps some mighty earthquake-shock or sudden
upheaval of a mountain-chain, or of the sea-bottom, had been
the cause of the deluges. Few, however, had the boldness to
enter into particulars, and in this respect they were more
cautious than Pallas, who, in order to account for the presence
of bones, tusks, skeletons, and carcasses of elephants, in the
alluvial deposits of Northern Siberia, had made the extraordinary
suggestion that a tremendous débdcle might have swept them
north from India—a débdcle which he attributed to the great
eruptions that had produced the Moluccas, Philippines, and
other islands of volcanic origin in the Indian Ocean. But we
must remember that a century has elapsed since Pallas wrote,
and his theoretical notions, however wild they may appear to
us, would not seem so to his contemporaries. In the many
“theories of the earth” which were current in his time, one
may read of still more startling hypotheses. We are told, for
example, by St. Pierre, that the Deluge was caused by the
simultaneous sudden melting of two vast and towering cupolas
of ice that covered the Poles, the waters from which, rushing in
two enormous débdcles from north and south, overwhelmed all
the low grounds of the world. “Complete islands of floating
ice,” he says, “loaded with white bears, ran aground among the
palm-trees of the torrid zone, and the elephants of Africa were
tossed amidst the fir-groves of Siberia, where their large bones
are still found to this day.’ Ata more recent date we encounter
another curious view advanced by the celebrated French geolo-
gist, Elie de Beaumont, who accounted for the transport of
erratic débris from the Alps by means of enormous currents
derived from the sudden meltings of the snows upon the lofty
heights of the Eastern Alps— qui ont di étre fondues en un
instant par les gaz auxquels est attribude l’origine des dolomies
et des gypses.”’ This strange notion also commended itself to
Collegno, who endeavoured by similar means to explain the
glacial phenomena of the Pyrenees.”

2 Sur les Revolutions de la Surface du Globe, p. 285.
2 Ann. des Sci. Nat., t. ii. p. 191; Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 1° Sér. t. xiv. p. 402.

174 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

It was not until Agassiz visited Scotland and pointed out
the evidence for the former existence of glaciers in that country*
that British geologists were put upon the right scent. For some
years before this time, however, it had been ascertained that a
cold climate had prevailed in Scotland during a very late Tertiary
period. The late Dr. Thomas Thomson had discovered and
described those beds of fossil mollusca on which so much of the
evidence of the Glacial Era depends, and four years later appeared
the first of a series of well-known papers by Mr. Smith of
Jordanhill, in which the same phenomena are discussed, and an
allusion made to Thomson’s discovery. After this time our
knowledge of the glacial phenomena, thanks to the labours of
Buckland,? Lyell, J. D. Forbes,’ Maclaren,’ Chambers,’ and
others, rapidly increased. The theory of débdcles was laid aside,
but a belief that a large part of the phenomena could only be
accounted for by enormous submergences of the land continued
for many years to hold possession of geologists, and still lingers
on amongst some observers whose attention has perhaps been too
exclusively confined to the low grounds of England. But the
notion of “ waves of translation” has long disappeared. Those
who still cling to the view that much of the clay with far-
travelled stones which covers such wide areas in the lowlands
of Britain and the Continent is of marine origin, readily admit
the former existence of glaciers in the hillier regions ; but they
maintain that a large proportion of the erratics and stony clay
has been distributed during a period of submergence through

1 Proc. Geol. Soc., vol. iii. p. 827 ; Edin. New Phil. Jowr., vol. xxxiii. p. 217.

2 See Obituary Notice of Dr. Thomson by Sir Joseph Hooker, Journ. Royal
Geogr. Soc., vol. xlviii. p. cxxxvii. Thomson’s paper appears in Records of General
Science, vol. i. p. 131, February 1835. Glacialists are indebted to Sir Joseph
Hooker for calling their attention to this paper, which has been quite overlooked.

3 Proc. Geol. Soc., vol. iii. pp. 382, 845 ; Hdin. New Phil. Journ. vol. xxx. pp.
194, 202.

4 Proc. Geol. Soc., vol. iii. p. 337 ; Edin. New Phil. Journ., vol. xxx. p. 199.

5 Edin. New Phil. Journ., vol. xl. p. 76.

8 Tbid. vol. xl. p. 125 ; vol. xlix. p. 333 ; Brit. Assoc. Rep., p. 90; and other
papers.

7 Many papers in Edin. New Phil. Journ., Brit. Assoc. Rep., and Proc. Royal
Soc. Hdin., from 1850.

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 175

the agency of floating-ice. It is not my intention to combat this
view here ; it has already, as I believe, received the coup de grdce
at the hands of many glacialists,' British and foreign, and may be
allowed to die in peace. It has been abandoned in Switzerland,
where all the phenomena of glaciation are so well developed; it
has become equally extinct in Scandinavia. In our own country,
notwithstanding our insular position and supposed affection
for the sea, its supporters are rapidly diminishing in number ;
and of American observers the same tale may be told. I would
not have the reader to suppose, however, that modern glacialists
have discarded the notion that any part of the land during the
Glacial Period was submerged, or that they refuse to believe that
any of our erratics have been transported by floating-ice. On
the contrary, the evidence that large areas have been submerged
is overwhelming, and not a few erraties occur at low levels in
our maritime regions which there is every reason to suppose
have been carried there by ice-rafts. But the more salient
features of the phenomena, such as the rounded rocks, the
smoothed, polished, and striated surfaces, we do not believe ice-
bergs had any share in producing; and they are just as inadequate
to explain the formation and distribution of those ‘vast sheets
and mounds of stones, clay, gravel, sand, and erratics, of which I
shall speak by and by.

The spoor of the old glaciers, which formerly existed in the
British Islands, has been followed successfully by a large band
of enthusiastic observers, and the results they have come to are
certainly, when baldly stated, enough to take one’s breath away.
But however astonishing they may seem to those who hear of
them for the first time, they are yet based upon abundant facts
which are not local or confined only to a few isolated areas,
but general throughout all Ireland, Scotland, and a large portion
of England. Neither are these facts such as can be explained

1See Ramsay, Old Glaciers of Wales; Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xviii. p.
202 ; Jamieson, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xviii. p- 164; vol. xxi. p. 162;
A. Geikie, Trans. Geol. Soc., Glasgow, vol. i. pt. ii. ; Croll, Climate and Time, p-
273; Dana, American Journal of Science and Art, 1873 ; Manual of Geology,
2d ed., p. 534. For other references see Great Ice Age.

176 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

in various ways. They lead only to one conclusion, and, as a
recent writer has remarked,’ “correspond so wonderfully in
every detail to this conclusion, and this only, as to amount to
absolute demonstration.” Among the most remarkable pheno-
mena are the smoothed and scratched rock-surfaces which are
so common a feature in upland-valleys, and which are met with
again and again upon hill-tops and hill-slopes, and on many
exposed rocks in the low grounds. These markings agree pre-
cisely, even to the smallest minutiz, with the similar appear-
ances which have been observed underneath the overhanging
sides of a glacier, and they are familiarly known upon the
bottoms and flanks of every valley in the Alps, and many other
regions which still support glaciers. No one doubts that such
smoothed and striated rocks as one sees in the valley of the
Unter Aar glacier and in the neighbourhood of the Grimsel,
were produced by the grinding action of that glacier during
some period of the past when it attained much larger proportions.
The striae are engraved by the stones and grit which are rolled
forward under the ice, and the rocks receive their smoothed and
polished surface from the finer material—the sand and mud—
which results from the grinding process itself. It was his
familiarity with these facts, and his knowledge that the glaciers
of Switzerland had in ancient times extended far beyond their
present limits, which enabled Agassiz to discover the true
meaning of the so-called “diluvial” phenomena in Scotland.
Another feature which receives an equally satisfactory explan-
ation is that of the rounded or mammillated rocks of our country.
These correspond exactly to the roches moutonnées of Swiss geolo-
gists, so called from their having a fancied resemblance, at a
distance, to sheep lying down. One sees that they have been
produced by some heavy body passing over them in a determi-
nate direction. They represent what must once have been rugged
tors and knobs and angular excrescences, which the abrading
action of a glacier has softened down. Where they have not
suffered too severely from the influence of the weather they

1 Quarterly Review, July 1879, p. 229.

faa ee

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 177

exhibit parallel striz, ruts, and grooves, often in great perfection.
It is also easy to tell from them in what direction the ice has
moved ; for it is the side facing that direction which shows the
most marked glaciation, and which, in allusion to the severe abra-
sion it has experienced, is called by the Swiss geologists the Stoss-
seite (lit. pushing- or thrusting-side). The leeside (Lce-seite)
of roches moutonnées is generally less rubbed and worn, and, in
many cases, is even quite rugged and free from glacial markings.
Standing at the head of a valley in the Scottish Highlands and
looking down, the hill-sides on either hand present a somewhat
smooth and undulating surface, an appearance which vanishes
when we walk down the valley and then turn to look back. The
rocks which seemed rounded off when we viewed them from the
upper reaches of the valley, now assume a much more broken
and rugged aspect, a phenomenon which must be attributed to
precisely the same cause as that which produced the planed
and striated surfaces and the roches moutonnées. The observer in
such a mountain-region soon becomes aware also of another
appearance which is sufficiently remarkable. In some of our
higher mountain-valleys he sees the striated rocks and the
smoothed hill-slopes extending for a considerable distance up-
wards until they reach a certain elevation, above which the
mountains show no traces of abrasion, but all is harsh and
severe. Reflecting upon these facts, he concludes that the val-
leys have been at some period filled to a less or greater depth
with ice, which flowed down towards the low grounds, smoothing
and striating the rocks, removing asperities, and producing
roches moutonnées after the very same manner as the glaciers of
Switzerland and Norway. And by measuring the height to
which the glaciated rocks extend, he is enabled to form an
estimate of the thickness attained by the ice. By following out
similar observations, we have now not only ascertained the
thickness of the ice and the direction in which it flowed, but
we have also acquired some definite notion of the degree at
which its upper surface sloped away to the horizon.

All the valleys of the Highlands and Southern Uplands

178 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

of Scotland are now known to have contained glaciers. It is fur-
ther known that those glaciers attained so great a thickness that
in many cases their upper strata overflowed the limits of the
valleys, and became confluent across the summits of the inter-
vening high grounds, which are striated in precisely the same man-
ner as the lower slopes. These unmistakable glacial markings
have been traced up to a height of more than 3000 feet, and the
general evidence shows that during the climax of the Ice Age
only the highest hill-tops projected above the level of the great
sheet of ice which overwhelmed all the mountainous regions of
the country. More than this, glacial striz, furrows, and roches
moutonnées have been traced throughout all the lowland districts,
and the trend of these indicates, in a manner not to be mistaken,
that the districts referred to have been ploughed over by glacier-
ice coming from the more elevated tracts of the country. And
the thickness of that ice may be inferred from the fact that
isolated hills and hill-ranges, such as the Sidlaws, the Ochils,
the Lomonds, the Pentlands, the Campsies, and the rolling trap-
pean uplands of Lanarkshire and Ayrshire, are glaciated up to
and across their highest summits. All Scotland, in short, was
enveloped in ice, which levelled up the valleys, so that its higher
strata were enabled to grind across the tops of hills that rise to
within heights of 2000 and 3000 feet above the present sea-level.
Now it is evident that a mass of ice so thick as that could not
float off in shallow seas like those which immediately surround
us. We might have expected, therefore, to find that the islands
lying off our coast should afford some trace of glacial invasion.
And such is actually the case. The island of Bute, for example,
has been overflowed from end to end by ice streaming out from
the mountain-land of Argyleshire. Colonsay, in like manner,
disappeared underneath the glacier-ice that choked up the Firth
of Lorne—in a word, not one of the Western Islands escaped.
Even the Outer Hebrides were swept across by the massive
mer de glace that pressed outwards to the ocean.

The markings upon the rocks show us that, although all the
hilly district of Central Scotland, and every island, were thus

eS ee ee

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 179

smothered in ice, they yet greatly influenced the direction of
the ice-flow. As we approach some prominent hill that stood
fronting the glacial current, we find the strize begin to change
their direction, bending round as it were to escape the obstruc-
tion. These hills and the smaller islands appear thus to have
played much the same part as large submerged boulders in the
bed of a river. They turned aside the ice that beat against
them, buried deep though they were beneath the upper surface
of the mer de glace. It must be remembered that it is not only
level or approximately level surfaces which bear the marks of
glacial abrasion. Sloping faces and sometimes even vertical
faces are distinctly striated by ice which has been pressed up
and over them. Thus the flanks of the Sidlaws and the Ochils,
which look towards the Highlands, are grooved and striated by
ice which has crossed Strathmore and Strathearn respectively,
and thereafter made its way up and over both ranges, forced
forward by the ice continually advancing from behind. The
direction taken by the ice, therefore, does not always coincide
exactly with the configuration of the ground—minor features
such as those I have mentioned were practically disregarded,
although as already remarked they always influence the trend
of the striz in a greater or less degree. The ice streamed out
in all directions from the dominating ridges, and thus followed
the line of what is still the main drainage of the country. For
example, the general direction in the lowlands of Forfar, Perth,
and Stirling was towards the south-east. In Linlithgowshire
and Midlothian itis more easterly. The mer de glace from the
Highlands encountered that which pressed northwards from the
Southern Uplands, and thereafter the two streams united to
flow east by way of Linlithgow, Midlothian, and Haddington,
and south-west across the district that extends from the Clyde,
near Hamilton, to the sea at Ayr. Deflections of the main
current were thus produced by the conflicting motions of the
great mer de glace itself. The most remarkable deflection of the
kind, however, still remains to be noticed. But the evidence
for this will be better appreciated after I have said something

180 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

about the most important member of the glacial deposits—the
Till or Boulder-clay.

The grinding of this enormous mass of ice, exceeding
3000 feet in its deeper parts, resulted in the general smoothing
away of asperities and sharply-projecting rocks. And the result
is seen now in the flowing contour which distinguishes all the
hill-ranges of Central Scotland, the greater portion of the
Southern Uplands, and all but the loftier peaks and ridges of
the Highlands and mountainous islands of Arran and the Inner
and Outer Hebrides. As a consequence of all this erosion and
abrasion, immense quantities of stony débris gathered underneath
the ice, and were slowly dragged and rolled forward. In the
glacier-valleys of the Alps and Norway similar débris forms
below the ice, but since a good deal of water circulates between
that ice and the rocky pavement over which it flows, the finer
sediment—the sand and mud—is washed out and carried away
by the discoloured rivers that leap out at the terminal fronts of
the glaciers. That similar streams and torrents and rivers flowed
underneath the old mer de glace of Scotland admits of no doubt,
for their water-worn gravel and shingle are here and there con-
spicuous enough in the heart of the glacial deposits. There
appear even to have been what we might call sub-glacial lakelets
—hollows underneath the ice in which fine clay slowly acctimu-
lated, and into which now and then stones were dropped from
the over-arching roof of ice. But such streams and lakes pro-
bably bore a smaller proportion to the area covered by the ice
than the rivers and lochs of the present land-surface do to the
dry ground over which they are distributed. And consequently
the coarse débris and clay and sand were allowed in most
places to accumulate undisturbed by the modifying action of
water. The stones which were in this way forced along under-
neath the ice came in time to have their angles rubbed off, and
their faces smoothed, striated, and polished. The accompany-
ing illustration (Fig. 5), which is drawn from nature by my friend
Mr. B. N. Peach, represents a typical boulder-clay stone. It will
be observed that the stone is smooth, and scratched principally

THE GLACIAL PERIOD, 181

Fig. 5.—Striated Stone from Till or Boulder-clay.

in the direction of its length. This is most usually the case
with stones that are decidedly longer than they are broad.
When they come to measure much the same in all directions,
then the strize follow no particular trend, but cross and recross

182 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

each other at all angles. The reasons for this are obvious ; the
stones which were being dragged forward under the ice would
naturally arrange themselves in the line of least resistance, and
this, in the case of the specimen here figured, would be length-
ways. Now and again, however, such a stone would be turned
over and get scratched to some extent in other directions.
Stones that had no particular shape would not of course travel
more easily in one position than another, and hence their
irregular striation. The boulders seem to have received their
finer polishing from being squeezed forward in the clay, which
acted upon them like emery. And doubtless the pavement
over which the stony clay was dragged was smoothed and
polished by the same agent. Not only hard rocks like granite,
but even soft black shales, which one may scratch with one’s
finger-nail, have been rolled forward in their matrix of clay,
and in this position have acquired a finely-smoothed surface
upon which one may detect striz as delicate as the hairs of a
pencil- brush.

Now, if boulder-clay has been formed in the manner I
have thus briefly described, we might expect that its origin
should be clearly shown by the mode of its distribution, by its
colour, and by the direction in which it has travelled. In
rugged mountain-glens, and on steep hill-slopes and hill-
tops—wherever, indeed, the ice moved with a quicker motion
than it could in broad straths and upon the open Lowlands, we
should certainly not meet with tillin any quantity. It should also
be absent, or sparingly present, in all positions where, from the
configuration of the ground, there must have been enormous
force exerted by the ice. Thus, at the base ofa steep hill front-
ing the direction from which the ice flowed, there should be little
or none—for the same reason that sediment gathers sparingly
in front of a boulder in the bed of a stream. But in the rear
of such a hill as I speak of, it is clear that, if our theory be true,
there ought to be a more or less considerable accumulation of
glacial débris, just as we expect to find gravel and sand heaped
up in the lee of boulders and submerged rocks in streams

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 183

and rivers. Again, it is evident that in great valleys like the
basin of the Forth, and wide spaces like Strathmore, and the
low-lying districts generally, the ice would have a sluggish
motion, and would, in such places, tend to accumulate sub-
glacial débris to a much greater extent than in regions where the
slope of the ground was considerably greater. All these expect-
ations we find fully realised throughout the length and breadth
of Scotland,—the till is distributed exactly as it ought to be,
upon the supposition that it marks the bottom-moraine of an
old mer de glace. And, what is still more suggestive of its
origin, it is frequently arranged in the form of long broad
smoothly-outlined ridges or “drums” and “sow-backs,” as they
are called, the trend of which exactly coincides with the direc-
tion of the striz upon the underlying rocky pavement. These
drums are especially conspicuous in the lower reaches of the
Tweed in Roxburghshire and Berwickshire, and are well brought
out upon the shaded one-inch map of the Ordnance Survey.
The Drums of Nithsdale are also a fine example of the same
phenomena. No one, however ignorant of glacial geology, can
look at those maps without feeling convinced that the whole
region has been acted upon by some great agent moving in one
and the same determinate direction. In Teviotdale and Tweed-
dale all the ridges, whether of boulder-clay or solid rock, are
seen sweeping down the main valley in exactly parallel lines.
Here and there are prominent hills shooting abruptly upwards,
each showing a steep face towards the region whence the abrad-
ing force moved, but sending out along and narrow sloping
bank of detritus behind. The drums bore the same relation to
the old-ice-sheet that the long ridges of gravel and sand in the
bed of a river do to the current that heaps them up and is con-
tinually modifying them.

That boulder-clay consists of the débris of the rocks is
sufficiently evident. The stones are the more or less worn and
abraded fragments which have been detached during the grind-
ing of the ice and the slow rolling-forward of its bottom-
moraine. Many of these fragments have been carried a long

184 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

distance ; others have not travelled so far; while frequently we -
may see blocks lying quite close to the parent mass from which
they have been wrenched. I have described the rocky pave-
ment over which the ice flowed as often showing a planed,
smoothed, and striated surface. In many cases, however, we
find, instead of all this planing and polishing, only a jumbled
accumulation of large blocks and broken débris under the till.
The bed-rock has been smashed and crushed, and large masses
have been pushed out of place, the boulder-clay often appear-
ing tightly rammed between the blocks. This frequently char-
acterises much-jointed rocks, like certain sandstones and igneous
rocks. And one can see that the dislocated fragments have
been dragged along in the same direction as that followed by
the trend of the glacial strie and drums of till in the same
neighbourhood, Here we observe the beginning of the process of
boulder-clay-making. As we follow the fragments of the same
disrupted rock which occur in the till farther down the valley, we
note how they become smaller in size; while the sharp corners
at the same time get rubbed away, and the surfaces assume the
characteristic glacial markings. The stones and boulders in
the till thus vary much in size—from mere erit and small frag-
ments no larger than a hazel-nut up to great blocks measuring
many feet and even yards across. These last, however, are the
exception, and are generally met with at no distance from their
parent stratum. Large, far-travelled boulders in the till are
always well abraded, and invariably consist of some hard,
durable rock. Considerable lumps of soft sandstone and friable
shale, on the other hand, have never been able to stand a long
journey under the ice. They rapidly broke up into small
pieces, and were ground and rubbed down into sand and clay.
The enormous pressure exerted by the ice is well shown in
these and other phenomena—more especially in the appearance
which the till not infrequently presents of having been forcibly
intruded into the strata over which it was dragged and rolled
by the superincumbent ice. Veins and tongues appear squeezed
between the interstices of the rocks, and sometimes sheets of

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 185

till seem as if actually interstratified with the old strata. Per-
haps the most striking example of this peculiar phenomenon
which has been recorded is that shown in the quarry of Links-
field, near Elgin, which has been described by Captain Bricken-
den.! This quarry has been opened in limestone underneath
an overlying thickness of forty feet of Oolitic strata, which were
separated from the limestone by a sheet of boulder-clay two to
four feet thick. In order to raise the limestone it was found
necessary to remove the boulder-clay and strata resting upon it,
which, since the opening of the quarry up to the time when
Captain Brickenden examined the place (1851), had been done
to the extent of 120 yards in a direction at right angles to the
course pursued in the excavation of the limestone, the transverse
line or section of the quarry extending to 270 yards. Now,
over all this area the boulder-clay maintained its position
between the Oolitic strata above and the limestone below; and
Captain Brickenden was “assured by an intelligent old man,
who had visited the quarry very constantly since it was first
opened, that at the distance of more than 100 yards from where
it now is the clay was observed to be about the same depth,
and overlaid, as now, by the same series of Oolitic strata in
their undisturbed position. On the north-western boundary of
the quarry the thickness of the intercalation increases consider-
ably, and there can be little doubt that in this direction the
clay obtained an entrance.” The surface of the boulder-clay
and that of the strata between which it occurs is hardened,
abraded, polished, and marked with striz, indicating the direc-
tion in which the ice-movement took place, which is nearly
from north-west to south-east. Captain Brickenden was of
opinion that the boulder-clay had been intruded into its present
position. It is more probable, however, that the whole mass of
the Oolitic strata has been pushed out of place, and dragged
forward bodily over a pavement of boulder-clay under the
enormous mer de glace which pressed outwards by way of the
Moray Firth and overflowed all the low grounds of Elgin.

1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. vii. p. 289.

186 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

The “carry” of the stones in till is another indication of the
direction of ice-flow ; and the evidence thus supplied confirms
‘that afforded by all the phenomena of glaciation touched upon
in the preceding paragraphs. The stones are scattered about
promiscuously in the clay, but they nevertheless show a method
in the mode of their occurrence, the meaning of which is ob-
vious. We do not in the till of one place meet with an assem-
blage of blocks and boulders which may have come from any
and every part of the country. On the contrary, the contents
of the accumulation bear a strict relation to the geology of the
neighbourhood in which that deposit occurs. Thus, in a district
composed of Carboniferous strata, most of the stones in the
boulder-clay consist of fragments of sandstone, limestone, black
shale, coal, and other rocks pertaining to the surrounding neigh-
bourhood. And not only so, but the clay itself acquires a dark
dingy gray or blue colour, just such a hue as those various
members of the Carboniferous formation would assume were
they all pounded up and mixed in a mortar. Hence, as we
traverse the country we become aware that the colour, the tex-
ture, and the stony contents of the till vary as we pass over
different geological formations. If, for example, we set our-
selves down, say at the head of the Tweed, in the heart of the
Silurian Uplands, we find the till of that district crammed with
fragments of Silurian rocks alone, and we note that the colour
is generally a pale brown. Till of this character continues far
down the valley, until, by and by, after we have passed certain
of the lateral streams that enter the Tweed from the north,
we encounter occasional boulders of sandstone and porphyrite
which have come down the valleys of the Lyne and the Eddle-
stone waters. But Silurian fragments continue to form the
great bulk of the stones all the way down to where, a little
beyond Galashiels, we enter upon the Old Red Sandstone area.
Very soon after passing the boundary-line between the two
formations, we notice that boulders of red sandstone make their
appearance, at first sparingly, and then in rapidly increasing
numbers. The clay at the same time gradually loses its grayish

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 187

brown tint, and acquires a redder hue, which by and by deepens
into a red as pronounced as that of the Old Red Sandstone
itself. Owing, however, to the superior hardness of the Silurian
fragments, which could resist crushing and grinding much more
effectually than the softer sandstones, the boulders derived from
the regions above Galashiels are always present in large num-
bers. As we continue on our way down the valley we pass numer-
ous knolls, hills, and wider sheets of various igneous rocks, and
no sooner do we pass one of these than fragments of it appear
in the till. Search the whole wide valley from its source to
its termination, and we shall not find a single example of a
boulder-clay stone which has travelled wp the valley, or in
any other direction than that followed by the trend of the
strize and the drums. And the same holds true of every region
in Scotland.

There are many other facts connected with the stones in the
till, and which all point to the same conclusion, namely, that the
till is the bottom-moraine of the old ice-sheet ; but these I need
not discuss in this place. I may merely refer in a word to the
occurrence here and there, in and underneath the till, of patches
and irregular layers and beds of coarse shingle, large boulders,
earthy angular or sub-angular gravel, waterworn stones, sand,
and laminated clay—all these point to the fact that during the
accumulation of the till water circulated to some extent under-
neath the ice. The deposits in question mark the sites of
sub-glacial channels and lakelets which formed from time
to time, and were doubtless often shifted by movements in
the ice overhead. This is shown by the manner in which
the beds are usually abruptly cut asunder, contorted, con-
fused, bent back upon themselves, and even frequently coiled
up and involved with the till in such a way as to prove
that they have been rolled forward with the boulder-clay
en masse.

In remarking upon the fact that the direction of movement
of the Scottish ice-sheet was determined by the form of the
ground, I referred to a great deflection of ice-flow caused by

188 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

the meeting of the mers de glace of the Highlands and Southern
Uplands. A much more striking example of this kind of deflec-
tion remains to be mentioned. In Caithness the boulder-clay
has yielded many broken sea-shells, not a few of which are
finely striated. Perfect shells are rarely met with. The broken
fragments are scattered about in precisely the same manner
as the stones, and they belong to a heterogeneous mixture of
arctic, boreal, and southern forms.'' For a long time the origin
of this shelly clay was a puzzle, but the solution of the puzzle
was at last furnished by my colleague Dr. Croll,? who pointed
out that the clay was the bottom-moraine of a mer de glace which
had overflowed Caithness from south-east to north-west, to do
which it must first have traversed the Moray Firth, and hence
came the shelly débris and certain stones that, so far as we know,
could have been derived from no other direction. This bold
suggestion met with considerable opposition when it was first
made, for it involved a most remarkable conclusion. Dr. Croll
showed that the ice which overflowed Caithness had been
deflected out of its normal path by the presence of another
immense mer de glace flowing outwards from Scandinavia, and
he further maintained that the Islands of Orkney and Shetland,
when they came to be thoroughly examined, would prove to be
striated from east to west. This conclusion has been subse-
quently borne out by the observations of my brother, Professor
Geikie, and Mr. B. N. Peach, in Caithness,? and by a detailed
examination of the Shetlands* by the latter in company with
Mr. J, Horne, and similar results have been obtained by the
same geologists in Orkney. Not only are the Shetlands striated
across in a general east and west direction, but the till covering
the western part of the islands is crammed with stones derived
from the east. My friend, Mr. Amund Helland, of Christiania,
has also visited these islands, and confirmed the observations
made by my colleagues. The strize and the carry of the

1 See Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. (Jamieson), 1866, p. 261.

2 Geol. Mag., vol. vii. p. 209. 3 Great Ice Age, p. 179.
4 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., v. xxxv. p. 778.

5 Zeitschr. deutsch. geol. Ges., Bd. xxxi. (1879), p. 63.

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 189

stones in the till along the whole eastern seaboard south from
Aberdeenshire tell the same tale. They indicate the presence
in the area of the North Sea of some obstacle to the outflow of
the ice from Scotland, which, instead of going right out to sea,
was deflected and compelled to hug the Scottish shores in a
south-easterly direction.’

Thus are we driven to conclude that during the climax of
the Glacial Period all Scotland was drowned in a wide-spread
mer de glace, which coalesced in the north and east with a simi-
lar sheet of ice that crept outwards from Scandinavia. To the
west the Scottish ice, meeting with no impediment to its course,
overflowed the Outer Hebrides to a height of 1600 feet, and
probably continued on its path into the Atlantic as far as the
edge of the 100-fathom plateau, where the somewhat sudden
deepening of the sea would allow it to break off, and send adrift
whole argosies of icebergs. The height reached by the upper
surface of the ice that overwhelmed the Outer Hebrides enables
us to ascertain the angle of slope between those islands and
the mainland. This was 1 in 211, that is to say, the inclina-
tion of the surface of the ice-sheet was about 25 feet in the
mile—an inclination which would appear to the eye almost
like a dead level.”

I have been thus particular in my sketch of the salient
features of the general glaciation of Scotland during the cul-
mination of the Ice Age, because in describing them I am
practically describing the similar glacial phenomena of Ireland,
and a large part of England, of Scandinavia, Finland, Den-
mark, and Northern Germany. It will, therefore, not be neces-
sary to do more than give a brief sketch of the limits reached
by the great mer de glace in Northern Europe, so far as these
have been definitely ascertained by an appeal to such facts as
those I have mentioned in connection with the glacial phe-
nomena of Scotland.

Glacial striz and boulder-clay have been followed over all

Great Ice Age, p. 180.
? J. Geikie, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., v. xxix. p. 861.

190 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Treland, and the admirable researches of a long list of Irish
geologists, including Griffiths, Oldham, Portlock, Jukes, Hull,
Du Noyer, Kinahan, Close, Hardman, Campbell, and many
others, have conclusively established the fact that our sister
island was buried under an ice-sheet hardly less extensive than
that which overwhelmed Scotland. Two sketch-maps, showing
the general trend of the striz in Ireland, have been published—
the first by Rev. Maxwell Close, than whom no one has con-
tributed more to our knowledge of Ivish glacial geology,’ and
the second, which being the more recent, contains the largest
amount of information, by Professor Hull.? From these maps
we gather that the ice flowed off Ireland in all directions save
to north-east in Antrim, upon the coast of which it encountered
the Scottish mer de glace, which forced it to turn away to north-
west and south-east ; but along the whole western and southern
shores, where no obstacle to its passage intervened, it seems to
have swept in one broad and continuous stream out, probably
as far as that of Scotland, into the Atlantic. The thickness
attained by the ice that flowed into the Irish Sea from Scotland,
where it coalesced with the mer de glace coming from the
eastern sea-board of Ireland, and also, as we shall presently see,
with that creeping out from England and Wales, makes it quite
certain that the area now occupied by that sea must at that
time have been filled with glacier-ice.

The phenomena of glaciation are well developed throughout
extensive areas in England and Wales. Those of the Northern
Lake District and Lancashire and Cheshire have been studied in
great detail, and the movements of the ice, as determined by
the direction of roches moutonnées and strie, by the distribution
of the till, and by the carry of the stones in that deposit, have
been well ascertained by many enthusiastic workers, following
in the wake of Agassiz? and Buckland,* among whom are

1 Geol. Mag., vol. iv. p. 284.
2 Physical Geology and Geography of Ireland, p. 211. The general reader
_who desires a well-digested summary of what is known of the old ice-movements
in Ireland, would do well to consult this interesting treatise.
3 Proc. Geol. Soc., vol. iii. p. 328. 4 Thid., pp. 332, 345.

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 1g!

Binney,' Bryce,” Hull,? Morton,* Mackintosh,> De Rance,®
Tiddeman,” Ward,® Goodchild,? and others. Mr. Tiddeman
gave the first connected account of the phenomena as developed
in North Lancashire and adjacent parts of Yorkshire and West-
moreland, and established the fact that the mer de glace which
covered those regions was compelled to flow against the “ grain”
of the country, crossing wide and deep valleys in a SSE.
direction. This he showed was due to the fact that the great
ice-stream flowing outwards from the Lake District barred the
passage of the Lancashire ice in the direction of the basin of
the Irish Sea. In short, as already stated, the Scottish, Irish,
and English mers de glace coalesced. The course of this united
ice-sheet is further indicated by the glacial phenomena of the
Isle of Man, long ago studied by Rev. J. Cumming,” and
by those of Anglesey, as described by Professor Ramsay.”
This latter island is striated from N.N.E., and its boulder-
clay contains stones which have come all the way from
Cumberland.

Turning our attention now to the north-eastern borders of
- England, we find that the rock-strie, and the carry of the stones
in the till of the maritime districts of Northumberland and
Durham, tell the same tale as those of North Lancashire—the

1 Mem. Lit. and Phil. Soc. Manchester, 2d Ser. vol. viii. p. 195.

Brit. Assoc. Rep. 1850, pp. 76, 112; 1855, p. 80.

* Edin. New Phil. Journ., 2d Ser. vol. ix. p. 31; Mem. Lit. and Phil. Man-
chester, 3d Ser. vol..i. p. 181; Mem. Geol. Surv. Gt. Britain, 1864.

4 Proc. Geol. Soc. Liverpool, vols. xiv. (1860) p. 35 ; viii. (1867) p. 4; Brit.
Assoc. Rep. 1870, p. 81.

° Geol. Mag., vols. ii. p. 299; vii. pp. 349, 445, 564; viii. pp. 250, 303; ix.
p- 399; Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vols. xxv. p. 407 ; xxviii. p. 388; xxix. p. 351;
xxx. p. 174; xxxi. p. 692.

5 Geol. Mag., vols. vi. p. 489 ; viii. ‘pp. 107, 412; Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.,
vol. xxvi. p. 641.

7 Quart, Journ, Geol. Soc., vol. xxviii. p. 471.

8 Ibid., vols, xxix. p, 422; xxx. p. 96; xxxi. p. 152; ‘‘Geology of the Lake
District,” Mem. Geol. Surv. England and Wales.

® Geol. Mag., Dee. ii. vol. i. p. 496; Quart. Jowrn. Geol. Soc., vol. xxxi. p. 55.

1 Guide to the Isle of Man, p. 249.

1 Quart. Journ. Geol, Soc., vol. xxxii. p. 116.

192 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

ice to which they owe their origin, instead of flowing straight
out to sea, kept on a S.E. course. In fact it flowed in a direction
as near as may be parallel to the trend of the present coast-line.
It will be remembered that along the eastern sea-board of Scot-
land the ice was deflected from its path and compelled to flow
in the same direction. Despite the pressure exerted by the
massive sheet that made its way outwards from the Pennine
Chain, the English ice could not escape into the basin of the
North Sea, and consequently we find stones from Scotland, North-
umberland, and Durham plentifully present in boulder-clay all
along the eastern maritime districts of England. More than
this, when we get as far south as the Humber, and follow the
spoor of the ice as indicated by the carry of the boulder-clay
stones, we are led across Lincolnshire into the Midland Counties,
by Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. The rocks in these
districts are too soft as a rule to have preserved any strie, but
the general trend of the stones is in the direction I have in-
dicated. The North Sea was filled with a massive mer de glace
continually advancing in a general S.S.W. direction—the pre-
sence of which is distinctly traceable in the remarkable deflec-
tion of the glaciation all along the sea-board of Scotland, from
Stonehaven southwards. It was simply owing to the superior
elevation and extent of the Scottish mountains that the narrow
strip of low-lying ground in the eastern maritime districts of
that country was not invaded by an alien ice-stream. When we
pass into England the hills become lower, and the area of low
eround between the hills and the sea increases in breadth. There
was thus less and less opposition offered to the southward advance
of the North Sea mer de glace as it pressed upon the eastern
shores of England, until eventually it overflowed bodily and
crept south-west across the Midland tableland on its way to the
valley of the Severn and the Bristol Channel. This remarkable
glacial invasion is proved not only by the carry of local stones,
and stones which have come south from the northern counties
and Scotland, but by the appearance in the till at Cornelian
Bay and Holderness of boulders of two well-known Norwegian

Scr ae ae Ye Re a ea

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 193

rocks, which were recognised by Mr. Amund Helland! And
Mr. Plant mentions the occurrence in boulder-clay farther
inland, at Leicester, of certain “hornblendic-looking masses,
neither dolerite nor diorite, but fibrous or slaty rather than
”* which are possibly also of Norwegian origin.
Doubtless, when the geologists of the Midland Counties have
exhausted the investigation of the older glacial deposits of these
districts, we may expect to hear of many similar “ finds.”

The ice which would thus appear to have streamed trans-
versely across England eventually coalesced with that which
overflowed from the basin of the Irish Sea south-east through
Cheshire, together with that which streamed east from the
Welsh Uplands, and the united mer de glace thereafter made its
way into the Bristol Channel. Here it joined the thick ice
that flowed out to sea from the high grounds of South Wales—
the bottom-moraine of which is conspicuous not only in the
mountain-valleys of that region, but also upon the low-lying
tracts that extend from the hills to the sea. In the south-
eastern counties, so far as we know at present, the ice-sheet at
the climax of the Glacial Period did not extend farther than
the valley of the Thames, beyond which no trace of its bottom-
moraine has been met with.’

The pressure exerted by the ice-sheet as it crept over
England is well shown by the size of the great erratics of chalk,
which are here and there enclosed in the boulder-clay of East
Anglia. These have evidently been displaced and carried for-
ward along with the sub-glacial débris with which they are
associated. Some of the blocks referred to are so large that
they have been quarried. Many occur in Norfolk, where they

granular,

1 Zeitschr. deutsch. geol. Ges., 1879, p. 67; Archiv Jor Mathematik og Natur-
videnskab., 1879, p. 287. See further on this subject Appendix B.

* Brit. Assoc. Rep., 1874, p. 197.

% For fuller details I may be allowed to refer to Great Ice 4 ge, chaps. Xxviii.-xxx,
where references will be found to various authorities for the facts upon which the
above conclusions are based. Mr. 8. V. Wood’s papers on the glacial geology of
East Anglia will be found particularly instructive, and I say this not the less
readily, because I find myself compelled to dissent from some of his theoretical
views.

194 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

have long been known, but one of the most noted by reason of
its great size is that which is exposed in the clay-pit, called
Roslyn Hole, near Ely. This erratic is composed of a mass of
Chalk, Gault, and Upper Greensand, and measures over 480
yards in length by 44 yards in width. The Rev. O. Fisher
was the first to recognise its true character,’ Mr. Seeley having
previously accounted for its presence by a fault or dislocation.’
But Professor Bonney has shown that Mr. Fisher’s interpreta-
tion of the phenomena is correct *—a conclusion which is like-
wise supported by the testimony of Mr. Skertchly, who states
that he has seen boulder-clay underlying all the various rocks
of which this enormous erratic is composed.* Similar large
detached masses of marlstone are described by Mr. Judd as
appearing in the boulder-clay of Lincolnshire,*® and Professor
Morris mentions the occurrence in the drift of the same county
of a large erratic of Oolitic rock measuring 430 feet long by 30
feet thick at its deepest part, which he saw exposed in the rail-
way cutting at the south end of the tunnel (Great Northern
Railway).

The lower part of the boulder-clay in Cretaceous districts is
frequently crammed with masses of chalk and chalk-débris, and
these are so often crushed and kneaded together that it is diffi-
cult sometimes to distinguish between the broken upper surface
of the undisturbed chalk and the highly chalky till that overlies
it. And not only so, but occasionally we find the till and the
chalk appearing to alternate in successive irregular layers, some
instructive examples of which were pointed out to me by Mr.
Skertchly in the neighbourhood of Brandon and Thetford in
Sussex.

Nowhere in Europe are the old glacial phenomena developed
on so imposing a scale as in Scandinavia. If we except the
higher mountain-tops, the whole of the great peninsula has
been wrapped in ice, the erosive effects of which are seen in the

1 Geol. Mag., vol. v. p. 407. * Lbid. vol. ii. p. 529. 3 Tbid. vol. ix. p. 408.
4 Geology of the Fenland (Mem. Geol. Surv. Engl. and Wales), p. 236.

5 Explanatory Memoir of Geol. Survey's Map (England), Sheet 64.
8 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. ix. p. 320.

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 195

severely glaciated aspect of the exposed rock-surfaces, and the
massive sheets of boulder-clay which cover so large a portion
of the low grounds of Sweden. The investigations of many
geologists in Norway —of Keilhau,’ Durocher, Martins,
Scheerer,* Horbye,® Kjerulf,° Sexe,’ Reusch,® Helland,’ 8, A.Sexe,!°
Pettersen,!! and others, have familiarised us with the fact that
the deep fiords of Norway were filled to overflowing during the
Ice Age with vast glaciers. And the remarkable fact that the
high grounds, which form the boundary-line between Norway
and Sweden, were traversed in the region lying south-east of
Trondhjemsfjord by ice flowing across the. watershed towards
the north-west, was indicated more than twenty years ago by
Horbye. This and many other facts have led to the conclusion
that the whole Scandinavian peninsula was formerly enveloped
in a great mer de glace, and the direction followed by the ice
has been traced in sufficient detail to enable us to form a definite
view of the principal movements. In the mountainous regions
of Norway the ice flowed invariably in the direction of the
main fiords and principal valleys—the irregularities of the
ground giving rise, as in Scotland, to numerous local deflections.
In Sweden the prevalent trend of the strize corresponds likewise
with the average inclination of the ground, but as large tracts

1 Nyt Mag. for Naturvid., Bd. i. 1888 ; Tbid., iii. 1841; Tbid., iv. 1845.

2 Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 2° Séx. t. iii. p. 65; t. iv. p. 29 ; Comptes Rendus
de U Acad. des Sci., t. xxi. p. 1158; t. xxii. p. 116; t. xxiii. p. 206; Voyages de
la Commission Scientifique du Nord en Scandinavie, Laponie, etc.

3 Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 2° Sér. t. iii. p. 102; t. iv. p. 891; Hdin. New
Phil. Journ., vol. xliii. p. 109.

4 Annalen der Physik und Chemie (Poggendorf), Bd. xvi. (1845) p. 269;
Nyt Mag. for Natwrvid., Bad. vi.

> Universitets-Program (Christiania), 1857.

6 Thid. 1860 and 1870 ; Udsigt over det sydlige Norges Geologi, 1879.

’ Universitets-Program, 1864 and 1866.

8 Vidensk. Selsk. Forhandl. (Christiania), 1868.

q Ofversigt af Kongl. Vetenskaps- Akademiens Forhandlingar, 1875, p. 53 ;
Om de isfyldte Fjorde og de glaciale Dannelser i Nordgrinland ; Quart. Journ.
Geol. Soc., 1877, p. 142 ; Archiv for Mathematik og Naturvidenskab, 1878, p. 387.

10 Universitets - Program (Christiania), for 1874; Archiv for Mathem, og
Naturvid., 1877, p. 469.

1 Arch. for Mathem. og Naturvid., 1877, pp. 272, 318.

196 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

bordering on the Baltic have only a small elevation, the ice
was enabled to traverse those regions in a direction that has
frequently no reference to the present lines of drainage. Thanks
to the labours of the older school of Swedish geologists, amongst
whom Sefstrém? stood conspicuous, and to the later works of
Holmstrém, A. Erdmann, Torell, Tornebohm, E. Erdmann,
Nathorst, Hummel, Gumelius, Lindstrom, Holst, and others,”
we know that the ice flowing from Scandinavia was sufficiently
thick to fill up the basin of the Baltic Sea, and to override all
the islands — Aland, Gottland, Oland, Bornholm, etc. The
investigations of geologists in Finland and Northern Russia*®
have further proved that the Scandinavian mer de glace advanced
in force, and flowed south-east across Finland. Forchhammer
long ago described the striated rocks of Faxé (Denmark),
and Johnstrup’s® observations lead us to conclude that the
great Scandinavian ice-sheet crossed from Sweden, and spread
its bottom-moraine over Denmark.

How far south the mer de glace extended into Germany no
one until very recently has attempted to prove. So far back as

1 Konigla Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar, 1836, p. 141.

2 Holmstrom, “Jagttagelser ofver Istiden i sddra Sverige,” 1866, Lunds
Univ. Arsskrift., t. iii. For an excellent résumé of Swedish glacial phenomena
see Professor A. Erdmann’s Exposé des Formations Quaternaires de la Suéde,
1868. Papers of later date are numerous, see especially Torell, ‘‘ Undersék-
ningar Ofver Istiden,” Ofversigt af K. Vet.-Akad., 1872 and later years; also
papers by Tornebohm, Erdmann, Nathorst, Holst, and others, in Geologiska
Féreningens i Stockholm Férhandlingar, Bd. i. -iv.; and various memoirs by
members of the Swedish Geological Survey (Sveriges Geologiska Undersékning),
—Gumelius, Ofver. af K. Vet. - Akad. Forh., 1871; Nathorst, Ibid., 1878 ;
Hummel, Bihang till K. Svenska Vet. - Akad. Handlingar, 1874; Gumelius,
Ibid., 1874 and 1876.

3 Bohtlingk, Edin. New Phil. Journ. (1841), vol. xxxi. p. 103; Nils de
Nordenskiéld, Beitrag zur Kenntniss der Schrammen in Finland, 1863; Graf
Keyserling, Bull. de ? Acad. des Sci. de St. Pétersbourg, t. v. p. 505 ; Schmidt,
Ibid., t. viii. p. 348 ; Helmersen, Mem. de ? Acad. Imp. des Sci. de St. Péters-
bourg, 7 Sér., t. xiv., No. 7; Comptes Rendus de I Acad. des Sci., t. Ixx. p. 51;
Jernstrém, ‘‘Om Qvartarbildningarna,” Bidrag till Kannedom af Finlands
Natur och Folk, No. 20.

4 Oversigt over det Kgl. Danske Vidensk.-Selsk. Forh., 1843, p. 103.

5 Beretningen om Méodet af 1lte Skandinaviske Naturforskerméde i Kjében-
havn, 1873, p. 69; Zeitschr. deutsch. geol. Ges., 1874, p. 533.

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 197

1832, however, Professor A. Bernhardi speculated on the pro-
bability that the polar ice had formerly invaded Germany, and
spread as far south as the most southerly limits reached by the
glacial deposits, which he recognised as nothing less than the
morainic detritus left behind it by the ancient mer de glace.)
But this sagacious observer was nearly half-a-century before his
time, and it is no wonder that his work should have remained
buried in oblivion until it was recently unearthed by Professor
G. Berendt. Agassiz likewise has speculated about the possi-
bility of a mer de glace having overflowed Germany. He was
of opinion, indeed, that the British Islands, Sweden, Norway
and Russia, Germany and France, the mountainous regions
of the Tyrol and Switzerland down to Italy, formed but one
ice-field, the southern limits of which remained yet to be de-
termined. My friend Dr. Croll in a sketch-map showing the
path of the ice-sheet in the area of the North Sea has also
indicated the Scandinavian ice as overflowing Germany farther
south than Berlin.” Indeed the probability that the glacial
detritus, so enormously developed in Northern Germany, is the
product of land-ice rather than the random droppings of ice-
bergs has often been suggested in conversation by glacialists in
this country, and I gave expression to these surmises in the
first edition of my Great Ice Age. But detailed proofs could
not then be adduced in support of that view. Geologists had
completely forgotten Bernhardi’s investigations, and those of
Sefstrom and Naumann had likewise been overlooked. I believe
it was generally understood, at least by British geologists, that
no glacial strize had up till a year or two ago been detected
anywhere in the low grounds of Northern Germany. Yet
Sefstroém, as early as 1836, mentions that Professor Rose had
informed him of the occurrence of a striated rock-surface in a
limestone-quarry at Riidersdorf to the east of Berlin. The
markings had been exposed upon the removal of some thickness
of undisturbed superficial soil, and seem greatly to have as-

1 Leonhard and Bronn—Jahrbuch, 1832, p. 257.
* Climate and Time, p. 449. 3 See pp. 390, 505.

198 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

tonished the intelligent overseer of the quarry. Unfortunately,
before Rose arrived upon the scene the rock had been blasted
and broken up, and so he missed the opportunity of being the
first geologist to examine and describe glacial striz in Germany.
This good fortune was reserved for Naumann, who some eight
years later detected them near Wurzen in Saxony.’ This dis-
covery, however, was soon forgotten, and German geologists
continued to hold to the opinion that all the drift-phenomena
of the low grounds were due to the action of icebergs and
marine currents, until in 1875 Professor Otto Torell, recalling
the observations of Sefstrém and Rose, boldly formulated the
view that the whole of Northern Germany had been overflowed
by the Scandinavian mer de glace.’

This theory met with much opposition, but it has had the
desired effect of awakening amongst German geologists a livelier
interest in the study of the glacial phenomena of their country.
Those who know how thickly North Germany is clothed with
drift-deposits, and how seldom the rock-surface is exposed, need
feel no surprise that the true character of the boulder-clay of
that region should have remained so long undetected, or that
in such a country many geologists should still hesitate to admit
the sufficiency of Torell’s theory. Early in 1879 Professor
G. Berendt in an able paper® attempted to combine the glacier-
and iceberg-theories, much in the same manner as geologists
here have tried to do. He admits the existence of a great mer
de glace covering Scandinavia and the high grounds of Finland
at the same time that Northern Germany was submerged.
With him the boulder-clay of the northern regions, which were
covered by glacier-ice, is a true ground-moraine ; while the
boulder-clay and other drift deposits of Germany represent the
droppings of icebergs, and the work of marine currents. Very
shortly afterwards, however, appeared a remarkable paper by
Professor H. Credner,* in which he described the occurrence of

1 Neues Jahrbuch, ete., 1844, pp. 557, 561, 680.
2 Zeitschr. deutsch. geol. Ges., 1875, p. 961.
3 Ibid., 1879, p. 1. 4 Tbid., 1879, p. 21.

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. — 199

rounded and striated rocks in the vicinity of Leipzig. A few
miles east and north of that town several bosses, knolls, and
rounded ridges of quartz-porphyry project for some 30 or 40
feet above the general level of the surrounding flat country,
which is everywhere clothed with boulder-clay and gravel, All
these prominent knolls have evidently been subjected to glacial
action, and show the characteristic rounded and smoothed
surfaces. Not only so, but in some places, as upon the hill
called Kleine Steinberg, there are polished faces exhibiting well-
marked parallel strize and grooves, which point from N.N.W. to
S.S.E. The boulder-clay of the neighbourhood contains many
stones which could only have come from the north, and amongst
them are fragments of certain characteristic Scandinavian rocks.
Dr. Penck has also detected another similar knoll of porphyry
(Dewitzer Berg) near Taucha, eight miles distant from that just
referred to, which likewise shows a mammillated, polished, and
striated surface—the scratches agreeing in direction with those
upon the glaciated rocks nearer Leipzig. MM. Torell and
Helland, who visited this locality in company with Professor
Credner, agreed with him that the roches moutonnées, the polish-
ing and striation, were undoubtedly the work of land-ice, and
they had no difficulty in deciding from the position of the Stoss-
seite that the glaciating agent had flowed into Saxony from the
north-west. As to the character of the boulder-clay there could
be just as little doubt. It was as usual an unstratified mass,
crammed with angular and sub-angular stones, not a few of
which could be certainly recognised as of Scandinavian origin.
Credner, Torell, Helland, and Penck, were all agreed as to its
having formed the bottom-moraine of a mer de glace. More
recently glacial striz have been noticed on the Galgenberge
near Halle (on the Salle), and on the Rainsdorfer Berge, and the
Pfarrberg, near Landsberg.

It is impossible to enter into details here, but I may refer
very briefly to certain other facts which serve to confirm the
view that the great boulder-clay deposits of Northern Germany

10, Luedecke : Newes Jahrbuch fir Min. Geol. und Pal., 1879, p. 567.

200 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

are true ground-moraines.' In many places the rock upon which
the boulder-clay reposes, instead of being smooth and polished,
shows a smashed and jumbled surface—precisely similar to that
which I have mentioned in connection with the glacial pheno-
mena of Scotland. The boulder-clay is, in fact, mixed up with
the shattered rock, and in some places appears even to have
been intruded between the strata, so as to assume the aspect of
an intercalated bed. By far the most remarkable example of
these striking phenomena which has yet been described is that
of Méens Klint (Denmark). The wonderful exposure of chalk
and boulder-clay which appears upon the north-east coast of the
island of Méen has long excited the surprise of geologists. The
phenomena have been described by Puggaard, and a résumé of
the chief features of interest is given in Lyell’s Antiquity of
Man. The island is composed of white chalk, for the most
part horizontally bedded, and covered by a series of glacial
deposits lying in a similar undisturbed position. But along the
north-east coast, where the cliffs reach to a height of 400 feet,
the most extraordinary contortions and displacements of the
strata are exhibited. The chalk is fissured, dislocated, and dis-
placed—twisted, bent, and convoluted from top to bottom, and
the boulder-clay partakes of the same disturbance. At one
place, according to Lyell, the folds of the strata are “so sharp
that there is an appearance of four distinct alternations of the
Glacial and Cretaceous formations in vertical or highly-inclined
beds ; the chalk at one point bending over, so that the position
of all the beds is reversed.”? Here and there irregular-shaped
masses of boulder-clay are actually surrounded on all sides by
chalk, and so striking indeed is the behaviour of the boulder-
clay that Forchhammer may well be pardoned for having specu-
lated upon its eruptive origin. Puggaard was of opinion that all

1 Two admirable papers (the one by A. Helland, and the other by A. Penck)
on the glacial phenomena of Northern Germany, etc., appear in the same volume
of the German Geological Society’s Journal as that last cited (1879, pp. 63, 117).

“In these will be found an exhaustive account of all that is known upon this sub-
ject, with many interesting proofs of the former existence of the great mer de
glace. 2 Antiquity of Man, p. 391, 4th Edit.

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 201

this confusion was due to movements of the earth’s crust—to
convulsions and “faults” caused by the action of the subterranean
forces, and in this view he was followed by Lyell. But Johnstrup
has since reinvestigated the evidence and come to quite a different
conclusion. He shows, in his interesting papers already referred
to, that the disturbances can only be attributed to the enormous
pressure and disrupting force of the Scandinavian mer de glace,
which filled up the basin of the Baltic and overflowed Denmark.
Chalk is just one of those rocks which would be most readily
ruptured and displaced under the crushing weight of the advan-
cing ice-sheet, and many good examples of this striking pheno-
menon have been recorded. Chalk boulders of large size are met
with in many districts in Denmark, Holstein, and Germany.
Thus Bruhns describes a chalk erratic in the boulder-clay of
East Holstein (Pariner Berg), which measured 86 feet in length,
10 feet in breadth, and 123 feet in thickness But even harder
and less easily ruptured strata than chalk occasionally show a
highly-broken surface below till. Thus, the limestone (Muschel-
kalk) at Riidersdorf, near Berlin, is smoothed and striated in
some places, while in other places it is much broken up, and
the shattered débris and displaced blocks are incorporated in the
bottom-part of the boulder-clay.?_ Similar appearances are met
with in the till that overlies the hard Silurian greywacké of
Saxony, as we shall see presently. But the phenomena cer-
tainly occur on the largest scale with such strata as chalk and
the various Tertiary formations, which yielded more readily to .
the pushing and crushing of the ice-sheet. Thus, at Teutschen-
thal, near Halle, in Saxony, the boulder-clay is described by
Helland? as appearing often like veins and patches in the Brown
Coal formation, underneath the main mass of the boulder-clay—
the Tertiary strata are frequently bent and broken, the coal-beds
being sometimes caught up and included en masse in the till.
Here and there, also, large detached fragments of the Tertiary
beds appear scattered through the boulder-clay in the same

1 Zeitschr. deutsch. geol. Ges., Bd. i. p. 111.
2 Penck. Op. cit. 3 Zertschr. deutsch. geol. Ges., 1879, p. 72.

202 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

manner as other erratics, and some of these are veined with
boulder-clay. More than this, wide stretches of the coal-bearing -
strata appear intercalated in the glacial deposits as if they
formed part and parcel of one and the same series, in which
position they have actually been mined. Similar phenomena
characterise the glacial deposits of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, as
described by Professor F. E. Geinitz. He tells us that so large
are some of tlie erratics of chalk which occur in the boulder-
clay (Blockmergel), that they were at one time mistaken for
protruding hillocks of the rock in place. Further examination
of this province has proved that the Cretaceous strata are often
much broken, disturbed, and displaced—the boulder clay appear-
ing as if interstratified with the chalk in such a manner that a
boring-rod passed down through the Cretaceous rocks would go
through alternating beds of chalk and glacial deposits. Many
borings in the chalk of the Diedrichshagener Bergen have proved
that the Cretaceous strata there are underlaid by boulder-clay,
and are thus themselves only a gigantic boulder. They have
been pushed out of place, and dragged forward by the ice.

Professor H. Credner, in a most instructive paper, has recently
described many similar appearances in connection with the
boulder-clay of Saxony. He shows that frequently the Silurian
rocks are broken and ruptured, and the resulting débris enclosed
in the lower part of the boulder-clay. The sections he gives
as illustrations of this are sufficiently remarkable, but the most
striking examples of disruption, contortion, and displacement are
supplied, he says, by the Brown Coal formation (Oligocene).
Boulder-clay and glacial gravel are confusedly commingled with
the brown-coal beds, the latter being often crumpled up and
contorted, and so squeezed that long tongues are seen protruding
into the boulder-clay. The same phenomena, he shows, are
characteristic of the gravel-beds associated with the till—they

1 Beitrag zur Geologie Mecklenburgs (Neubrandenburg, 1880), pp. 20,39. For
another interesting example, see Boll’s description of the bed of chalk near
Malchin, in Mecklenburg. This layer is some 35 feet in thickness, and rests
upon a dark-coloured boulder-clay, which has been pierced in ome? to a depth
of 43 feet. Geognosie der deutschen Ostseeldnder, 1846, p. 136.

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 203

are twisted, abruptly truncated, displaced, and fantastically
jumbled, in such a way as to suggest that the deposits have
been dragged forward under great pressure. In the sections
given by him to illustrate the aspect assumed by the disturbed
Oligocene strata, it may be observed that the contorted coal-beds
are bent over in one determinate direction, thus indicating the
path followed by the disturbing agent.’

These and other appearances bear testimony to the enormous
pressure exerted by the ice-sheet, and are totally inexplicable
on the iceberg-hypothesis. We have, in short, every reason for
concluding that the northern mer de glace advanced as far south
as the most southerly limits reached by the great “ Northern
Drift.”

Upon the map of Europe (Plate D) which accompanies this
volume, I have indicated the area covered by the ice-cap—the
southern boundary-line corresponding very nearly with that
which Murchison and his colleagues have given,? as the ex-
treme limits reached by the “erratic formation.’ The fine
lines are meant to show the principal directions in which
the upper strata of the ice flowed. These, as a rule, correspond
to the average trend of rock-striations, roches moutonnées, and
the carry of the stones in the till. In other words, the whole
body of the ice pressed forward in certain general directions.
Nevertheless, there is abundant evidence to show that the
under strata of the ice, influenced by the configuration of the
ground, frequently moved in directions quite at variance with
what must have been the flow of the upper strata. The long
bent red arrows upon the map indicate the trend of the lower
strata in one or two places. Upon a larger map more might
have been inserted, but those given will sufficiently illustrate

1 Zeitschr. deutsch. geol Ges., 1880, p. 75. Credner’s paper contains numerous
references to the literature of this interesting subject, and gives by far the most
complete account of the phenomena which has yet appeared. The facts brought
forward by him appear to me sufficient of themselves to demonstrate the sub-
glacial origin of the till, and to show that Saxony was formerly overflowed by the
great mer de glace. 2 Geology of Russia and the Ural.

204 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

the phenomena in question. Let me briefly state the grounds
for believing that the under strata of the mer de glace flowed
round the south coast of Norway. At various points upon that
coast, as near Dybvaag, at Bliksund between Lillesand and
Christiansand, and even as far north as the district of Jederen,
occur several erratics of zircon-syenite, and other rocks which
could only have been derived from Skien, Laurvig, and Fred-
riksveern in Langesundfjord near the opening into Christiania-
fjord. These are the rocks which have already been referred
to as having been obtained by Mr. Helland in the boulder-
clay of Holderness. Now the Admiralty’s charts show that a
deep hollow extends all round the south coast of Norway—
the limits of which are indicated upon my map by the two
dotted lines. In Bohus Bay, we find depths ranging from 700
up to nearly 2000 feet. Opposite Arendal the depth is even as
much as 2580 feet. The trough seems to become shallower off
the coast of Jeederen, where, however, it is still more than 1000
feet deep. In the Skaggerak, just outside of the trough, the sea
does not average more than 150 feet in depth, so that in Bohus
Bay the hollow is some 2400 feet deeper. Even as far west
as Jederen the bed of the great hollow is still 700 or 800
feet below the average level of the sea-bottom immediately
to the south and south-west. Now it is evident that the lower
strata of the great mer de glace could not ignore this profound
hollow, but would naturally tend to follow it in its course
to west and north-west; and thus boulders and morainic
material derived from the Christiania district would tend to
travel in a direction at right angles to that followed by the
upper strata of the ice which flowed (as the striz in the
fiords and on the high grounds of Southern Norway attest)
towards the south. Notwithstanding that westerly determina-
tion of the under strata, however, the influence of the upper
strata could not but be propagated to a great depth in the mer
de glace, and thus the ice below would gradually tend to be

1 Kjerulf: Udsigt over det sydlige Norges Geologi, p. 31.

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 205

dragged up the southern slopes of the trough, until eventually it
made its escape and flowed on with the general mer de glace
of the North Sea. I have indicated the probable path of the
bottom ice by the diverging arrows. A portion would spread
away to north-west, while another part seems to have swept on
with the ice that flowed south-west towards the English coast.
It is by this circuitous route that I believe the Norwegian
boulders in the till of Cornelian Bay and Holderness have
come.' While such was the course followed by a portion of the
bottom-ice that flowed from the Christiania district, there
can be little doubt that this was only a local deflection due to
. the configuration of the ground, and that the main mass of
the ice, from base to surface, flowed S.S.W. from Christiania-
fjord, and crossed Denmark into Germany, for we find erratics
of the same origin as those above referred to, in Jutland, in
the island of Laaland, in the island of Urk in the Zuider Zee,
and at Hamburg.

To support an ice-sheet extending over twenty degrees of
latitude, and showing a width of little less than 3000 miles, great
humidity and extreme cold were required. It is quite impossible
that the vast sheet of ice which overwhelmed all Northern
Europe could have been fed by the snows that fell upon the
mountains of Scandinavia and the British Islands. The precipi-
tation must have been excessive over the whole area, and the
cold which enabled the snow to accumulate and become perennial
upon the low grounds of England and Northern Germany could
not have been other than severe in the extreme. Some geolo-
gists have supposed that the great mer de glace poured down
upon Europe from the polar regions. But this is disproved by
the direction of the striz in the north of Norway, in the Shetland
Islands, and the Outer Hebrides. The mer de glace must have

* For further remarks upon the deflections of the European mer de glace, see
Appendix, Note B. Ineed hardly remind the geological reader that in this chapter
I refer only to the ice-sheet at the period of its greatest extension. Of the smaller
ice-sheet of the latest glacial epoch I speak in a subsequent chapter.

206 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

terminated in a steep ice-wall facing the Atlantic. It did not,
all events, reach the Ferde Islands, for, as Mr. Helland and I
found during a recent visit, these islands supported a local and
independent ice-sheet of their own, which flowed outwards in all
directions into the surrounding ocean.

i ai

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 207

CHAPTER XI.

THE GLACIAL PERIOD—Continued.

Ancient glaciers of north and south sides of the Alps, of the Jura Mountains, of
the Black Forest, of the Vosges, of the Carpathians, of the Ural, of the
Pyrenees and the Cantabrian Mountains, of Central and Southern Spain, of
Corsica, of the Apuan Alps, of the Caucasus, of the Lebanon, of the Atlas
Mountains—Erratics in the Azores—Limestone-breccias of Gibraltar—Brec-
cias, ete., of Malta—Loam with flints of Northern France—‘‘ Head” of
maritime districts of the Channel area—Stanniferous gravels of Cornwall—
Glacial phenomena of North America—Angular earthy débris of North
Carolina—Volume of water discharged from ancient glaciers—Quantity of
mud in water coming from glaciers—Origin of léss and loamy deposits of
Rhine, Danube, etc., of Central Europe— Origin of the Tchernozem or
“hlack-earth” of Southern Russia—Objections to Baron Richthofen’s liss-
theory—Summary of conditions during Glacial Period.

Ir has long been a familiar fact that the glaciers of Switzerland
formerly assumed gigantic proportions, and the first to recognise
this was Venetz,' a Swiss engineer, whose observations date back
so far as 1821, thus making him the father, as it were, of glacial
geology. He was followed by a long line of illustrious men—
Charpentier,” Agassiz,® Desor,* Guyot,’ Ch. Martins,° Escher von

1 Bibliotheque Universelle de Genéve, t. xxi.; Denkschr. der Schw. Gls. Sir
die gessumt. Natwrwissensch., Bd. i., 1833. See also an interesting posthumous
paper, ‘‘ Mémoire sur l’extension des anciens glaciers,” etc., Nowveaua Mémoires
de la Soc. Helv. des Sci. Nat., 1861, vol. xxiii.

2 Essai sur les Glaciers et sur le Terrain Erratique du Rhéne, 1831,

3 Btudes sur les Glaciers, chap. xvii.

4 Comptes Rendus de 0 Acad. des Sci., t. xiv. (1842), p. 412; Bull. Soc. Géol.
France, 1846, t. iii. p. 528; Jbid., 1851, t. viii. p. 64.

5 Bull. Soc. des Sciences Nat. de Neuchatel, 1847, t. i. pp. 477, 507.

8 Edin. New Phil. Journ., 1847, vol. xliii. p. 54.

208 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

der Linth,! and others—who succeeded in demonstrating that
the low grounds of Switzerland during the Glacial Period were
totally overwhelmed by great glaciers descending from every
mountain-valley. The old glacier of the Rhone we now know
covered all the area presently occupied by the Lake of Geneva,
and reached to a height of very nearly 4000 feet upon the
slopes of the Jura.2_ In some places, indeed, it even overflowed
through passes in those mountains at a height of over 3000 feet,
a long stream of ice advancing north-west through the French
Jura by way of Pontarlier, and reaching to beyond Ornans in
the valley of the Loue, a tributary of the river Sadne.® The
main trunk of the Rhone glacier, as we learn chiefly from the
researches of MM. Falsan and Chantre,* made its way out of
Switzerland and flowed far south into the plains of France, its
spoor having been traced down to Lyons and Vienne in the
valley of the Rhone. In like manner all the valleys that open
north from the Alps and the Tyrol were filled with great glaciers,

which spread themselves far out upon the low grounds of Baden, -

Hohenzollern, Wiirtemberg, Upper Swabia, and over wide areas
in Upper Bavaria and Upper Austria.?

1 Ueber die Gegend von Ziirich in der letzten Periode der Vorwelt, 1852.

2 Professor Renevier has recently traced the frontal moraine of this ancient
glacier, which is perfectly continuous, along the flanks of the Jura for a distance
of six miles between Mauborget and Ste. Croix. It reaches a breadth that varies
between 500 and 1500 métres, and attains a culminating point of 1233 métres.—
Bull. Soc. Vaud. Sciences Nat., t. xvi. (81) p. 21.

3 Benoit: Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 3° Sér. t. v. p. 61.

4 Tbid., 2° Sér. t. xxvi. p. 860; Mem. de lV Acad. des Sciences, Belles-Lettres,
et Arts de Lyon, 1869 ; Bibliotheque Universelle de Geneve, 1870; Compt. Rend.
Assoc. Franc. pour V Avance. des Sciences, 1873 ; Monographie géologique des anciens
glaciers et du terrain erratique de la partie moyenne du bassin du Rhéne (1879).

5 For descriptions of glacial phenomena on north and east side of Alps—
Baden, Wiirtemberg, Swabia, Upper Bavaria, Tyrol, and Austrian territories—
see Gerwig: Verh. der naturw. Vereins, Carlsruhe, Bd. v. p. 89; Simony: Jahrb.
der k.-k. geol. Reichsanst., Bd. ii. p. 153 ; Verh. der k.-k. geol. Reichsanst., 1869, p.
296 ; Mitth. des osterreich. Alpenv., Bd. i. (1863) p. 178; Denkschr. der k. Akad.
der Wissensch. Wien, 1871, p. 501; Probst: Jahresh. des Vereins fir vaterl.
Naturk. Wirttemberg, 1866, p. 45; Ibid., 1874; Steudel: Zbid., 1866, p. 104,
and 1869, p. 40; Archives des Sciences Phys. et Nat., 1867, t. xxix. p. 209;
Gredler: Programm der k.-k. Gymnasiums in Botzen, 1867-68; Trinker:
Jahrb. der k.-k. geol. Reichsanst., 1851, Bd. ii. p. 74; Gotsch: Zertschr. des

ea) eee

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 209

Enormous ice-streams at the same time occupied all the
main valleys on the southern side of the Alps, and, descending
to the plains of Piedmont, Lombardy, and Venetia, piled up
huge moraines of gravel, sand, blocks, and debris, some of which
would in this country pass for considerable hills. The beautiful
lakes of Northern Italy during the climax of the Ice Age had no
existence, their basins being occupied by massive glaciers. From
the Stura in the Maritime Alps of Sardinia, east as far as the
Mur in Styria, we find abundant traces in almost every valley
of the former presence of great glaciers! The ice-streams which
descended from the northern slopes of the Alps appear in some
cases to have become confluent upon the low grounds, so as to
form a more or less continuous mer de glace, sloping outwards
from the base of the mountains, and the same was the case with
some of those which flowed towards the south, especially in
Lombardy.”

The smaller mountain-groups of Central Europe had also at
the same time their perennial snow-fields and glaciers. Numer-
ous moraines of local glaciers occur in the Jura, as was first
indicated many years ago by MM. Pidancy and Lory,? and

deutsch. wnd dsterreich. Alpenv., Bd. i. p. 583; Stark: Ibid., 1873, p. 67;
Pichler: Neues Jahrbuch fiir Mineralogie, etc., 1872, p. 193 ; Giimbel : Sitzungsb.
der math. -phys. Klasse der kinigl.-bayerisch. Akad. der Wissensch. Miinchen,
1872, p. 224; Zittel: Ibid., 1874, p. 252; Hilber: Jahrb. der k.-k. geolog.
Reichsanst., Bd. xxix. p. 537. A good general description and sketch-map of the
ancient glaciers of Switzerland is given by Dr. F. Kinkelin, Bericht iiber die
Senckenberg. naturforsch. Ges., 1874-75, p. 77 ; see also Heer’s Urwelt der Schweiz,
and Fayre’s Recherches Géologiques, ete.

1 Dr. Pilar mentions that even in the Agram hills traces of glacial action are
met with: Verhandl. der k.-k. geolog. Reichsanst., 1876, p. 233.

* For descriptions of ancient glaciers of south side of Alps, see Martins and
Gastaldi: Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 2° Sér. t. vii. p. 554; Omboni: Atti della
Soc. Ital. di Scienze Nat. in Milano, vol. ii. p. 6, with map of the ancient glacier-
system of Lombardy ; see also Op. cit., vol. iii. p. 337 ; Mortillet: Ibid., vol. iii.
(1861) p. 44, with a general map of the ancient Italian glaciers ; Stopanni: G¢o-
logia d'Italia, Pte. 2% The ancient glacier of the Drave is described by Hofer :
Neues Jahrbuch fir Mineralogie, ete., 1873, p. 128 ; see also Dr. Taramelli’s paper :

Atti Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat. Milano, -vol. xiii. (1870) p- 224. A general map showing

the extent of glacial deposits on both sides of the Alps accompanies Riitimeyer’s
paper: Ueber Pliocen und Eisperiode auf beiden Seiten der Alpen, 1876.
3 Ch. Martins: Annales de la Soc. d’ Emulation des Vosges, t. vi. (1847). A
more detailed description of the glaciers of the Jura is given by Dr. Benoit : Actes
P

210 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

there are similar accumulations met with in some of the valleys
in the Black Forest.’ The moraines and the morainic gravels of
the Vosges have been rendered familiar to geologists through
the writings of Hogard, Collomb, Benoit, and Grad,? from whom
we learn that those mountains were formerly covered with
perennial snow-fields that nourished many important ice-flows,
although, like the Black Forest and the Jura, their valleys now
contain no glaciers, nor is there any tradition of their former
existence. According to M. Grad, however, temporary glaciers
now and again form in the upper cirques of the valleys in the
Vosges between 1200 and 1300 métres of elevation*® Well-
marked moraines are met with in the Carpathian mountains,
showing that they also formerly supported ice-streams. Thus
Professor Zeuschner* has noted the occurrence of moraines in
the valley of Biaty Dunajee in the Tatra, and similar phenomena
have been observed in the same part of the range by the Austrian
Geological Survey.2 They have been recorded also from the
Czerna Hora in the East Carparthians by MM. Paul and
Tietze,’ and from the Theiss Valley by Messrs. R. L. Jack and
J. Horne, who show that this valley has been filled with a
glacier upwards of 45 miles in length.” Again, we learn from M.
Poliakoff that the Ural Mountains, which were supposed to bear
no trace of glacial action, do nevertheless show unmistakable
rock-striations, moraines with scratched stones, and erratics.

de la Soc. Helvétique des Sciences Nat. (Porrentruy) 1853, p. 231; Bull. Soc. Géol.
France, 2° Sér. t. xx. p. 321.

1 C, Vogt and Dolfuss-Ausset: Cowrse dans la Forét-Noire en 1846 ; Ramsay :
Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., 1862, p. 186 ; Gillieron: Archives des Sciences Phys. et
Nat., 1876, p. 32; Platz: Neues Jahrbuch fir Mineralogie, etc., 1878, p. 56.

2 Hogard: Annales de la Soc. d’Emulation d’Epinal, 1840, p- 91; 1842, p.
524: Bull. Soc. Géol. France, t. ii. p. 249. Coup d Gil sur le Terrain Erratique
des Vosges, 1851; Collomb: Preuves de 1 Existence d’ Anciens Glaciers dans les
Vosges, 1847 ; Benoit: Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 2° Sér. t. xv. p. 688 ; Bull. Soc.
Hist. Nat. de Colmar, 1862; Grad: Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 3° Sér. t. i. p. 514.

3 Comptes Rendus del Acad. des Sci., t. xxiii. (1871), p. 390.

4 Sitzwngsb. der math.-naturw. Klasse der k. Akad. der Wissen., Bd. xxi.
(1856), p. 259.

> F. von Hauer: Geologie der ésterr.-ungar. Monarchie, p. 122.

8 Verh. der k.-k. geol. Reichsanstalt, 1876, p. 296; Ibid., 1877, p. 85; Ibid.
1878, p. 142, 7 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxiii. p. 673.

Ee ee ae

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 211

He observed these in crossing the range by Ekaterinburg on his
way to the Obi. Just before reaching Ekaterinburg many
trainées of immense boulders running in parallel directions
were conspicuous, while farther east, on the shores of the Obi
(near to the mouth of the Irtysch), the superficial sands con-
tained in their lower portions many well-polished and striated
boulders.

Still more remarkable, however, are the evidences of glacial
action in Western and South-western Europe. MM. Collenot
and J. Martin have shown that in the Morvan, near the sources
of the Seine, there is an abundant development of rock-striations,
striated stones, and erratics, which indicate the former presence
of very considerable nappes of ice.2 Similar appearances show
themselves in the plateau of Central France. Not only have
many of the valleys of that region been filled with glaciers, but
extensive sheets of ice have overflowed the low grounds at the
base of the hills—scouring, striating, and polishing the rocks,
and covering them with a thick deposit of moraine profonde.
Large glaciers have descended from Mont Dore and the Puy de
Dome, and from the heights of Cantal, and their terminal and
lateral moraines are now conspicuous at the base of the moun-
tains and in such valleys as those of Allagnon, the Couze
d Issoire, the Couze de Champeix, the Dordogne, etc. Traces of
the same nature occur in the neighbourhood of Clermont Ferrand,
which bespeak the former existence of several glaciers of the
second order, as in the valleys of the Auzon and of Romagnat.
In short, it is evident that the great plateau of crystalline rocks
“upon which are superposed the volcanic cones and masses of
Auvergne, has been covered with a mer de glace from which
glaciers protruded on all sides into the valleys. From the crests
of Forez and Mezeuc, and from the basaltic plateaus of Aubrac
and Vivarais, glaciers of more or less importance have descended.’

1 Nature, 1877, p. 306.

2 Collenot: Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 2° Sér. t. xxvi. p. 173 ; Jules Martin;
Ibid., 2° Sér. t. xxvii. p. 225.

3 For old glaciers of Central France, see Ch. Martins: Comptes Rendus de
? Acad. des Sci. t. xvii. p. 993; Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxv. p. 46; Lecoq:

212 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Even the hills of La Madelaine, which drain into the Loire, are
thought to have supported perennial snow and ice."

But none of the old glaciers of Central France could vie with
the great ice-flows of the Pyrenees, several of which attained
colossal proportions, and deployed upon the low grounds at the
base of the mountains. According to MM. Martins and Collomb,
the ancient glacier of the valley of Argelés flowed from a height
of about 3000 métres for a distance of 53 kilométres, and depo-
sited its moraines upon the low grounds within 15 kilométres of
Tarbes, at an altitude of only 400 métres. The ice was not less
than 850 métres thick in a part of its course. The ancient
elaciers of the valleys of La Pique and the Garonne, as described
by M. Piette, were equally extensive, and their history, like that
of the Argelés glacier, is read in striated surfaces, roches mouton-
nées, perched blocks, lateral and frontal moraines, and wide-
spread sheets of till or boulder-clay—the moraine profonde of
the glaciers. On the Spanish side of the Pyrenees the glaciers
did not apparently attain so great a development. I may add
that the Cantabrian mountains, which are a continuation of the
Pyrenees, exhibit in the valleys that open to the north many
traces of considerable glaciers.”

The mountains of Central and Southern Spain also con-
tain relics of the Ice Age, glacial deposits having been noticed
in the Sierra Guadarrama to the north of Madrid, and by
MM. Schimper and Collomb in the Sierra Nevada, where large

Les Périodes Geologiques de V Auvergne, 1867 ; Delanotie: Bull. Soc. Géol. France,
t. xxv. p. 402; Julien: Phénoménes Glaciaires dans le Plateau Central, 1869 ;
Marcou : Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 1870, p. 361; Das Ausland, 1872, pp. 460,
512; Fabre: Comptes Rendus de V Acad. des Sci., t. lxxyii. p. 495; Hooker :
Nature, vol. xiii. p. 31; Symonds: Jbid., vol. xiv. p. 179.

1 Tardy : Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 2° Sér. t. i. p. 514.

2 For descriptions and notices of glacial phenomena of the Pyrenees see—Char-
pentier : Essai sur les Glaciers, 1841; Bibliotheque Universelle de Genéve, t. ly.
(1845), p. 126; De Collegno: Ann. des Sci. Nat., t. ii. p. 191; Garrigou: Bull.
Soc. Géol. France, 2° Sér. t. xxiv. p. 577 ; Martins and Collomb : Jbid., 2° Sér. t.
xxv. p. 141; Brit. Ass. Rep. 1866, p. 52; Piette: Buil. Soc. Géol. France, 3° Sér.
t. ii. p. 498 ; Comptes Rendus de? Acad. des Sci., t. Ixxxiii. p. 1187.

3 Don Casiano de Prado: Descripcion fisica i geologica de la Provincia de
Madrid, p. 164.

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 213

erratics are so numerous and conspicuous that they long ago
attracted the attention of travellers. Perhaps as striking as
these glacial phenomena are those described by M. Desor as
occurring in the Maritime Alps and the neighbourhood of
Nice.’ And equally remarkable are the relics of the Ice Age
in the island of Corsica, which were first noticed by Collomb
nearly thirty years ago.” In the valley of the Tavignano he
observed the moraine profonde of an extinct glacier, which,
as the nature of the stones in the moraine showed, had de-
scended from the slopes of Monte Rotonda (2763 métres). The
moraine was deeply trenched and denuded, and occurred at a
height of 430 métres. Six years later Mr. Pumpelly discovered
polished rock-surfaces and roches moutonnées, together with large
erratics and terminal moraines, in the valleys coming down from
the mountain of Baglia Orba (2650 métres). The lateral moraines
rose to a height above the bottoms of the valleys of 100 feet, and
the frontal moraines were some 40 or 50 feet high.? Again, M.
Tabariés de Grandsaignes detected moraines and huge erratics in
the region of Monte Cinto, which testified to the former presence
of two glaciers.*

Seeing that Corsica has thus supported its snow-fields and
glaciers, we might have expected that the Apennines could
hardly fail to exhibit similar traces. A number of years ago
(1866) Professor Cocchi stated his belief that glaciers had
formerly existed in the Apuan Alps, and their moraines have
been more recently described by Stopanni as_ being well

1 Compt. Rend. de V Acad. des Sci., t. 1xxxviii. (1879) p. 760; see also “ Sur
les Terrains Glaciaires Diluviens et Pliocénes des Environs de Nice :” Bull. Soc.
Nicoise des Sci. Nat. et Hist., 1879.

* Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 2° Sér. t. xi. p. 66.

3 Tbid., 2° Sér. t. xvii. p. 78.

‘ Tbid., 2° Sér. t. xxvi. p. 270. Waltershausen notes the occurrence on the
west coast of Elba of fragments of a peculiar kind of gabbro, which does not be-
long to that island. Were these brought thither by tidal action from Corsica, or
could they possibly have been transported by floating-ice —See Nat. Verh. Holl.
Maat. Weten. Haarlem, D1. xxiii.

® Atti Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat., t. ii. (1866); Boll. R. Com. Geol. d'Italia (1872),
t. iii. p. 187.

214 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

developed in the Val d’Arni* Professor Moro has likewise
given an admirable account of the ancient glacier that formerly
occupied the valley of the Serchio and covered a large part of
Tuscany.” Even in the Apennines proper it would seem that
glaciers have formerly existed, Sig. Ferrero having noted the
occurrence in the vicinity of Monte Majella of moraines, glacial
lakes, and huge erratics.2 That similar relics of the Ice Age
will yet be discovered in other mountainous regions of our con-
tinent which have not been particularly examined may be
confidently expected.

The Terek-thal and other valleys of the Caucasus, as we learn
from M. Abich,* were formerly occupied by very considerable
glaciers ; and, according to Palgrave, the mountains in the pro-
vinces of Trebizond and Erzeroum likewise nourished glaciers
of no mean size.” Coming farther south we find similar traces
of former ice-action in the Lebanon—the famous cedars, as Dr.
Hooker tells us,° growing upon old moraines; and on reading
the accounts given by travellers in other parts of Asiatic Turkey,
one cannot help surmising that in the mountain-regions of those
countries glacial phenomena are probably more abundantly
developed than is at present supposed.’

1 Rendiconti del Reale Istituto Lombardo, t. v. p. 783 ; Atti Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat.,
t. xv. p. 183 ; Geologia d'Italia, pte. 2%, p. 127.

* Il gran Ghiaccio della Toscana, 1872; see also Stefani, Boll. R. Com. Geol.
@ Italia, 1874, p. 86; Ibid., 1875, p. 1.

3 Antico Ghiacciajo della Majella, 1862.

* Mem. de V Acad. des Sci. de St. Pétersb., 6 Sér. t. vii. p. 515; Etudes sur les
Glaciers actuels et anciennes du Caucasus, Tiflis, 1870; Bull. de ? Acad. Imp. des
Sciences de St. Pétersb., 1871, p. 245. See also Freshfield’s Travels in the Central
Caucasus and Bashan.

5 Nature, vols. v. p. 444; vi. p. 536,

6 Nat. Hist. Review, Jan. 1862.

7 The Rey. E. J. Davies, in Life in Asiatic Turkey, makes frequent reference
to the occurrence of dome-shaped smoothed rock-surfaces, observed by him in the
mountainous district of Marash. In one place (p. 111) he says: ‘‘ After an hour’s
riding over rocky slopes of this kind (described as ‘sheets of smooth limestone
lying at a considerable inclination’), we entered a district of stiff yellow clay,
tenacious as pitch, and filled with great angular pieces of black lava, which rang
like metal under the horses’ feet. Into this pudding-like mass of tenacious clay,

mud, and stones, the horses plunged up to the knees, at times up to the belly.”
Can this be a boulder-clay of glacial origin ?

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 215

In the Great Atlas terminal moraines 800 or 900 feet in
vertical height were observed by Sir Joseph Hooker, and Messrs.
Ball and Maw,’ at an elevation of 6000 feet. They describe also
the occurrence of a remarkable series of ridges and rolling hum-
mocks and masses of angular débris, 300 or 400 feet in height,
and some 3000 feet above the sea-level, which extend along
the base of the great escarpment that rises abruptly from the
wide plains or table-lands of Marocco. The mounds do not rest
directly against the escarpment, but occur as “isolated mounds
200 or 300 feet in advance, sloping down towards the escarp-
ment in one direction, and in the other rolling away in great
wave-like ridges and undulating sheets, which terminate at a
well-marked line of demarcation, just where the level portion of
the plain commences.’ Where the internal structure of those
mounds was visible, the angular blocks of which they consisted
showed a disposition in layers sloping away from the escarp-
ment toward the plain. The stones had evidently been derived
from the lofty escarpment (1000 feet), and Mr. Maw thought
the mounds were “the result of glaciers covering the escarp-
ment, leaving on their recession the intermediate depression.”
More recently M. Ch. Grad noticed what he took to be moraines
at the mouth of the gorge of El Kantara, on the southern side
of the Atlas in Algeria. These he describes as accumulations
of erratic débris, but he saw no polished rocks and no striated
stones.2, I may note here in passing that Mr. Hartung observed
in the Azores a number of erratics of granite, which have evi-
dently been carried there by floating-ice. Even at the present
day icebergs go as far south as the latitude of those islands, but
they keep to the mid-ocean between the Azores and the Ameri-
can coast. When northern erratics were transported to the
Azores it is most probable that the Arctic Current extended
farther to east than it now does.?

1 Journal of a Tour in Marocco and the Great Atlas. See also Quart. Journ.
Geol. Soc., vol. xxviii. p. 85.

? Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 3° Sér. t. i. p. 87.
5 Origin of Species, 6th ed. p. 328.

216 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

But glacial moraines and rock-striz are not the only physical
evidence of a former general refrigeration of climate in Europe.
There are certain superficial phenomena which, although they
cannot be referred to the action of glaciers, are yet sufficiently
suggestive of colder conditions than the present. Of such a
nature are those massive “ breccias” or agglomerations of angular
débris, and those more or less loose heaps and sheets of earthy
rubbish and rock-fragments, which occur in such bulk and in
such positions, as to show that they could not have been formed
under present conditions. A very good example of this is
furnished by the massive limestone-breccias of Gibraltar, which
have been described by Professor Ramsay and myself.’ The
famous Rock is composed almost entirely of limestone-strata,
which generally dip at a high angle. It rises, as is well known,
‘in the form of a narrow sharp ridge, that shoots nearly south
into the Mediterranean. Inland it terminates in an almost per-
pendicular wall that rises to a height of 1349 feet. To the east
it presents “a bold escarpment, which is for the most part in-
accessible, and in places almost vertical, the cliffs where they
are lowest having a drop of not less than 300 or 400 feet, and
of more than 1000 feet where they approach the sea on the
north. From their base the ground falls rapidly away to the
coast-line, at angles that vary from 30° to 40°.” The slopes
facing Gibraltar Bay are not so steep, as will be seen from the
accompanying section (Fig. 6), which gives the profile on a
true horizontal and vertical scale. The dominating point of the
Rock is 1396 feet.

It will be observed that the limestone-strata (Z) dip steeply
to the west, where they are succeeded by beds of shale and thin
bands of grit and limestone at S. The “faults” or dislocations
I need not consider, as they are of older date than the phe-
nomena we are about to discuss. Resting upon the surface of
the shale (S) will be observed a deposit marked B. ‘This con-
sists of a heterogeneous accumulation of angular fragments and
blocks of limestone, embedded in a matrix of calcareous grit

1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., 1878, p. 505.

THE GLACIAL PERIOD.

and earth, the whole
forming a rock-mass
as solid as the lime-
stone of Gibraltar
itself. It varies in
thickness from a few
feet up to 30 or 40
yards, and it may be
thicker than that
where it enters the
sea, for the base of
shale and limestone
on which it rests
is not there visible.
It covers wide areas
of the low grounds,
especially in the dis-
trict of Buena Vista
and Rosia, and in
the neighbourhood
of the South Bar-
racks, attaining its
greatest thickness
towards the sea, and
thinning off as it ap-
proaches the steeper
slopes of the Rock.
All round the Rock
similar masses of
breccia occur. There
can be no possible
doubt that these
breccias have been

ara’s Tower (1370 Ft.)

New Mole Parade

1oag
atti

500

1000

2000

2
=
%

derived from the Rock itself; they consist exclusively
angular fragments of limestone, not a single stone foreign
the place being visible.

217

Fig. 6.—Section across Rock of Gibraltar.

of
to

It is also equally certain that what-

218 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

ever their origin may be, they are not now accumulating.
On the contrary, since the time of their formation they have
experienced very considerable “ denudation ;” they have been
furrowed and worn and trenched by rain and torrents, in
precisely the same manner as the limestone from which they
have been derived. And not only so; but the sea during
some period of submergence has carved out horizontal ter-
races in them which are continuous with similar ledges ex-
cavated in the highly-inclined calcareous strata. The breccias
are obviously of subaerial origin, but they indicate the former
existence of conditions very different from the present, for they
can only be the result of severe frosts. It is evident that
such were needed to wedge out the larger blocks that occur in
the breccia, some of which measure several yards in diameter,
and must weigh 20 or 30 tons at least. Moreover, the sharply-
angular shape of the stones is further proof that these have not
been subjected to the action of torrents or the sea. There was
a time, then, in the geological history of Gibraltar when the
winters were so severe that the limestone-beds were ruptured
and shattered, and the slopes of the Rock became covered over
with sheets of loose, angular débris and large blocks. But some
force other than frost was needed to carry this débris down the
gentler slopes, and to spread it over the low grounds that
extend outwards to the sea. Hard frosts might no doubt dis-
integrate the limestone, and scatter the fragments over the
steeper slopes ; but the impetus with which these rolled down-
wards would not suffice to carry them across the low grounds, a
distance of 550 yards at least, over which the average inclina-
tion of the ground is not more than 8° or 9°, while in some
places the slope does not exceed 2° or 3°. What appears to be
the true explanation of the phenomena may be observed in
most alpine regions, where hard frost and heavy snowfalls
occur. If we suppose that in former times thick snow mantled
the slopes of the Rock, we shall have all the conditions neces-
sary for the origin of rock-débris, and its translation over the
low grounds to what is now the sea-bottom. The limestone

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 219

would break up all along the sharp ridge, and the loose débris,
falling upon the snow, would be slowly carried downward by
the movement of the névé. Vast quantities of débris would
thus tend to collect at the base of the Rock, and when the snow
melted in summer, the rubbish, becoming saturated, would tend
to move forward en masse, like the so-called “earth-glaciers ” of
the Rocky Mountains.’ Thus in time all the low grounds would
become more or less completely buried.

Similar irregular masses and sheets of calcareous breccia
and loose angular débris occur at low levels in other parts of
the Mediterranean region, as in Corsica, Malta, and Cyprus, which
are not now accumulating, but evidently belong to some past
period, when the subaerial forces acted with more intensity
than at present. Some of these have been attributed to de-
vastating torrents, others to violent inroads of the sea, just in
the same manner as it was formerly attempted to account for
the erratic phenomena of alpine regions and Northern Europe.
They deserve, however, to be reconsidered with the light which
recent advances in our knowledge of the Glacial Period have
thrown upon such questions. In the extremely interesting
account of the Maltese breccias given by Professor Leith
Adams,” we read of accumulations of great blocks, mixed with
angular débris and fine loam, which it is difficult to believe can
be due to the action of occasional deluges such as he attributes
them to. When one remembers the limited drainage-area of
the island and the small height of the watershed, it is hard to
understand how torrents sufficiently powerful to sweep along
blocks “fully fifteen feet in circumference” could have origin-
ated in Malta, unless under very different conditions of climate.
It is quite possible, however, that when Malta formed part of
the Continent, it may have experienced winters as severe as
those which cloaked the slopes of Gibraltar with heavy snow.

1 Hayden: Geological and Geographical Survey of Colorado, 1873, p. 46. The
phenomena observed by Mr. Maw and his fellow-travellers at the base of the great
escarpment of the Atlas, bear a strong resemblance to those of the Gibraltar

breccias. May not they have a similar origin ?
2 Notes of a Naturalist in the Nile Valley and Malta, 1870.

220 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

At present the winter temperature (January) of Gibraltar is
54°7 F., while that of Malta is 54°5 F., so that it is not un-
reasonable to suppose that during the Glacial Period heavy snow
in winter may have covered the more elevated parts of Malta,
and hard frost may have ruptured the rocks in the same manner
as at Gibraltar. Much angular débris and masses of broken
limestone and sandstone would thus tend to gather and be
swept down into hollows and over the faces of cliffs, so as to
form long, sloping taluses.

In the same way I would account for much of that loose
earthy rubbish with angular blocks which one may observe
in the lower valleys of the Apennines and the Apuan Alps, and
indeed in nearly every part of Europe. The quantities of more
or less loose angular débris which one encounters almost uni-
versally in districts where no such débris is now accumulating
or travelling forward, speak to conditions of transport which
now obtain only in more elevated and northern regions. “Such
drifts deserve,’ as the Rev. W. S. Symonds has remarked,!
“especial attention ;” and I quite agree with him that “they
appear to owe their origin to a period when there was greater
transportation of angular and sub-angular débris by rain-wash
and melting snow, or névé, than there is at present.” It is
highly probable, for example, that much (I do not say all) of
that coarse loamy clay with angular flints which M. de Mercey
has described as being so widely spread in Picardy may be due
to the action of frost and the movement of heavy sheets of
névé, which in some places, perhaps, may have passed into ice,
and exerted considerable erosive action upon the rocks over which
it crept. Of the Pleistocene age of this particular deposit there
can be no doubt. But in other areas of Northern France we find
similar wide-spread sheets of clay and sand which have been
assigned by French geologists sometimes to the Pleistocene, and
sometimes to Tertiary periods) Among the most remarkable
examples of such superficial accumulations are those which
overlie the Cretaceous strata of the Paris Basin. They have

1 Nature, vol. xiv. p. 179.

THE GLACIAL PERIOD, 221

been frequently described, and their origin has been a much
disputed question. M. de Cossigny has recently renewed the
interest of French geologists in the subject, and presented them
with a very clear description of the phenomena as displayed in
the southern part of the Paris Basin, from which we learn that
there are two separate layers of superficial débris—the lower one
an unstratified clay with flints, and the upper a deposit of sand
also containing flints. The lower bed, which rests immediately
upon the chalk, consists of a confused mass of flints, the inter-
stices between which are filled with a white or yellow clay,
which, on account of its refractory properties, is much used for
the making of the ovens or kilns in which porcelain is baked.
All the flints come from the chalk—not only from the Lower
Cretaceous strata which are now all that remain of the forma-
tion in the region described by M. de Cossigny, but also from
different stages of the upper division, as is proved by the fossils
which the flints contain. “These flints,” he says, “are quite
unaltered ; they have preserved their natural colour, their tex-
ture, their white porous surface ; they are only, for the most
part, more or less broken, but the fractures are always fresh,
the angles perfectly sharp, and when they are washed and
divested of the clay that adheres to their surface, a mineralogist
could not distinguish between them and the flints recently
extracted from one of the chalk-quarries of Normandy. This
state of perfect preservation is due without doubt to the im-
permeable nature of the clay in which they are imbedded,
which has protected them from atmospheric influences, But
what is most worthy of notice is the fact that they show
no trace of wearing, and have evidently never been rolled
about by water.” Those of a spheroidal form are frequently
entire, while those of irregular shape have nearly always been
divested of their projecting knobs and tubercles. Again, of
those which are about the size of one’s fist, and which have
not preserved their original shape, the greater number appear
to have been reduced by having a succession of large flakes
struck from them, which has caused them to assume a rudely

222 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

spherical form. It is the same, M. de Cossigny remarks,
with the smaller fragments. Sharp splinters abound, and
even the most minute débris is made up of little flakes and
splinters, pointed and cutting. These fragments, he has no
doubt, have been derived from the breaking and flaking of the
larger flints, and as they are never reduced to the state of
sand, he is of opinion that they cannot owe their origin to the
action of impetuous torrents of water. The clay is not exactly
plastic, but dry, and rather hard than unctuous to the touch.
M. de Cossigny thinks it has been deposited in the interstices
between the stones by the muddy water derived from the wash
of strata, the demolition of which supplied the flints. He is of
opinion that the accumulation cannot possibly be the result of
torrents, currents, or the waves of the sea, and he likewise
shows that it cannot owe its origin to chemical action, after the
manner of the “pipes,” which are so frequent a phenomenon in
Cretaceous regions, and which, as Mr. Prestwich and others have
shown, are due to the percolation of acid water dissolving the
chalk, and thus forming pipes and funnels into which the over-
lying sand, gravel, etc., gradually sink. Rejecting these and
other explanations, M. de Cossigny has not hesitated to suggest
that the phenomena of the clay with flints may be the result of
glacial action—that it may be the moraine profonde which col-
lected between the ice and the superjacent rocks all the material
produced by the grinding of the glacier—the clay that envel-
opes the shattered stones being perhaps no other than a boue
glaciaire. He points out that the appearances presented by
the clay with flints are just such as would result from the action
of a glacier, and that the absence of striz from the flints is not
any real objection to this view. All the circumstances were
unfavourable for striation,—the homogeneity and equal hardness
of all the stones which came into contact, their tendency to
give way or flake immediately under pressure, their surfaces
often rough and irregular with concavities and knobs that were
obstacles to slipping. M. de Cossigny enters into further
details to show that all the physical features presented by

ci Ril

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 223

this remarkable accumulation are more readily explained and
accounted for by a glacial hypothesis than by any other view of
their origin. The overlying sands with flints betray the action
of water ; the flints are all more or less altered and discoloured,
and their sharp angles have been removed. They are often
indeed rounded. The deposit, according to Cossigny, is the
result of torrential action. It is covered in turn by another
sand-bed of much the same composition, but which contains
here and there boulders of a Tertiary quartzose conglomerate,
similar boulders being sprinkled over its surface. The position
of this last bed shows that it was not laid down until after the
other deposits had been much denuded,—until, in short, the
surface had attained its present configuration. M. de Cossigny,
as I have said, relegates all these deposits to the Tertiary Period,
but the evidence upon which he relies is perhaps hardly conclu-
sive. But whatever their age may be, it is certainly very
remarkable to meet with accumulations of such a character in
the low-lying regions to the south of Paris. Cossigny is of
opinion that the glaciating agent, if such it were, must have
come from the north, since there are no mountains or high-
grounds in the neighbourhood of Paris from which glaciers
could have flowed. But mountains are not necessary to the
formation of an ice-sheet, neither are we compelled to infer that
the ice was continuous with any great northern mer de glace.
During a period of extreme glacial conditions it is probable that
wide regions in the low grounds would be covered with massive
sheets of snow and névé passing into glacier-ice, which would
have a motion of their own. The dissolution of these local ice-
sheets would give rise to more or less copious floods and tor-
rents, to which we might attribute the origin of the sand with
flints that overlies the older morainic accumulation. The more
recent sand with erratics of conglomerate may pertain to some
long subsequent epoch when fluvio-glacial conditions returned!

1 For accounts of these and similar accumulations, see Laugel : Bull. Soc. Géol.
France, 2° Sér. t. xvii. p. 316 ; [bid., 2° Sér. t. xix. p. 153; Ebray : Ibid., 2° Sér. t.
Xvil. p. 695 ; Hebert: Ibid., 2° Sér. t. xix. p. 445; Ibid., 2° Sér. t. xxi. p. 58; De
Mercey : Lbid., 3° Sér. t. i. pp. 184, 193 ; De Cossigny : Jbid., 3° Sér. t. iv. pp. 230

224 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Tn the maritime districts of Southern England and Northern
France loose superficial accumulations attain a considerable
development. They occur as more or less wide-spread cover-
ings that vary in thickness from a few feet up to many yards,
and extend from the sea-coast inland to a less or greater dis-
tance. They were long ago noticed by Dr. Borlase, who
described their essential features, and since his time they have
given rise to some interesting discussions as to their origin.
In the south of England they are known under the general
- name of “head.” They consist of a more or less coarse agglom-
eration of angular débris, and large blocks set in a matrix of
earthy matter. Sometimes the “head” has an appearance
of rude bedding, but not such as could be attributed to sub-
aqueous arrangement. No included water-worn stones or
pebbles, according to Mr. Godwin-Austen and others, are ever
to be found, Asa rule, the deposit is quite unfossiliferous, but
Mr. Prestwich has detected in the sections of it which are
exposed in the neighbourhood of Weymouth several land- and
freshwater-shells. The stones and blocks are all of local origin,
and have generally not travelled far, Some, however, have
evidently been carried farther than others, but not a single frag-
ment belongs to other drainage-areas than that in which any
given mass of the “head” occurs. Mr. Godwin-Austen, to
whom we are indebted for a very interesting and suggestive
description of this peculiar formation,’ reflecting upon the fact
that no such accumulation is now taking place in the districts
where it occurs, comes to the conclusion that the “head” has
resulted from long-continued subaerial waste under severer
conditions of climate than now obtain in regions bordering on
the English Channel. To obtain such conditions he supposes
the land to have been formerly elevated to such an extent as to
bring the whole of the higher portions of this country into
regions of excessive cold.

675; J. Martins: Ibid., 3° Sér. t. iv. p. 653 ; Collenot : Zbid., 3° Sér. t. iv. p. 656 ;

Delafond : Jbid., 3° Sér. t. iv. p. 665; De Lapparent: Jbid., 3° Sér. t. iv. p. 671.
1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vols. vi. p. 97 ; vii. p. 121; xii. p. 40.

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 225

Mr. Prestwich, who has also furnished geologists with an
admirable account of the “head” as seen in the neighbourhood
of Weymouth," does not agree with “those who consider this an
old talus, or with Mr. Godwin-Austen, who regards it as a talus
formed at high altitudes under great cold.” He points out that
“if the deposit were a mere subaerial accumulation it would in
all cases be in close connection with the slope or cliff supplying
the materials, would dip from it at a high angle, and never be
carried far beyond the range which that angle would subtend ;
whereas at Sangatte and Brighton, although the layers are turned
up at a high angle against the old cliff, they are prolonged in a
gradually diminishing angle to a considerable distance from it.”
Thus at Chesilton, where the escarpment is 400 feet high, the
angular débris spreads over the ground to a distance from the
base of the cliff of 1600 feet, which, as Mr. Prestwich remarks,
is “very far beyond that to which any materials falling from the
cliff, had it even been originally double the height, could possibly
have extended.” At Portland Bill this appearance is still more
striking, for the angular débris in that neighbourhood extends
south for a distance of nearly a quarter of a mile at the small
angle of 4° or 5°. Such inclinations are so slight that we
cannot but admit with Mr. Prestwich that they are quite insuffi-
cient to keep loose rubbish and rocks in motion ; something
more than the mere gravity of the stones was required to cause
them to travel down slopes so gentle. Accordingly he tries to
account for the phenomena by supposing that after the land had
been subjected for some considerable time to the ordinary action
of the weather, the low grounds bordering on the Channel were
temporarily submerged, and that the “head” probably owes its
origin to the inundations brought about during the subsequent
more or less sudden emergence of the land. He infers, to use his
own words, “that the emergence, at first gradual, was marked by
short oscillations, which, according to their relative force and
duration, swept down the soil with its land-shells and softer
beds, alternately with the coarser materials and the bones of

* Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., 1875, p. 29.
Q

226 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

animals drowned by the inundation, spreading first one and then
the other in irregular beds and lenticular masses ; while the
final emergence, more sudden and consequently of greater effect,
swept down the overlying débris.” “Or again,” he says, “it is
possible that a succession of waves caused by earthquake-move-
ments may have swept at short intervals over the adjacent land.”

There are several objections which might be urged to this
theory, not the least forcible of which is the fact that deposits
similar in all respects to the “ head” occur in many places which
are far enough removed from the sea. They are forming now
in the Rocky Mountains and other alpine regions. Thick
sheet-like accumulations of angular blocks, débris, and rubbish,
which are not of morainic origin, may be observed covering low
grounds in the Southern Uplands and Northern Highlands of
Scotland in places where they have long ceased to accumulate.
I have referred to the limestone-breccias of Gibraltar, and to the
general abundance of angular débris and drift in many regions
where no such deposits are now taking place. If we consider
the fact that during the height of the Glacial Period all Northern
Europe was covered with a vast ice-sheet, and that at the same
time snow-fields and glaciers existed in almost every hilly region
not only in the central but even in the southern regions of our
continent, we need have little difficulty in accepting Mr. Godwin-
Austen’s view that the “head” is due to the action of severe
climatic conditions. The transport of the materials outwards
from the base of the cliffs I would explain in the same manner
as that of the angular débris which has travelled from the base
of the Rock of Gibraltar and overspread the low grounds of
Buena Vista and Rosia. Besides hard frosts, the “head” betrays
the former action of névé, of melting snows and floods. It is
quite in accordance with this view that we find on both sides of
the Channel evidence of floating-ice during the Glacial Period.
Several large erratics of granite, syenite, and other rocks, occur
at Pagham, on the Sussex coast, which must have been transported
to their present position by floating-ice coming from Brittany.
And Dr. Barrois has described a coarse conglomerate at Kerguillé,

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 227

on the shores of the latter region, which, according to him, could
only have accumulated at a time when those maritime districts
were some 10 métres lower than at present, and when ice formed
in the rivers and upon the coast of that part of France, and
scattered along shore the various kinds of stone with which it
was charged. M. Tribolet, indeed, is of opinicn that small
glaciers actually existed in Brittany at that time,’ and the large
erratics noticed by Mr. G. Doe? and Mr. Pengelly* in Devon,
some of which measure from 500 to more than 3800 cubic feet,
also testify to a former severe climate. It is true that these
erratics have not travelled far, but this only shows that they
could not have been carried by icebergs. Bearing these facts in
mind, and keeping in view the conditions which prevailed
generally throughout Northern Europe and in all the hillier
regions of our continent, it seems to me unnecessary to suppose
with Mr, Godwin-Austen that the severe climatic conditions
which produced the “ head” on both sides of the Channel were
brought about by an extreme elevation of the land. It is certain
that at the time the “head” was formed the shores of England
extended farther into the sea than now, for the deposit in
question caps cliffs which are being assaulted by the waves.
But we have no reason to believe that any such excessive eleva-
tion as would be required to carry up the low maritime districts
of the Channel into regions of extreme cold has ever taken place.
It is also well worth remembering that the regions in which the
“head” occurs are just those districts which were never over-
flowed by the ice-sheet, and that consequently their subaerial
deposits have been left undisturbed, while those of glaciated
regions have been swept away ; the loose débris which occurs in
such countries as Scotland being merely the subaerial waste
which has accumulated since the ice vacated the low grounds
and vanished from the mountain-glens, The “head,” therefore,
is the representative, as Mr. Godwin-Austen has remarked, of
the glacial deposits of the north.>

1 Ann. de la Soc. Géol. dw Nord, t. iv. p. 186, 2 Thid., t. v. (1878).
3 Brit. Assoc. Rep., 1876, p. 110. 4 Ibid., 1877, p. 85.
> For descriptions of ‘‘ head” see Sir H. de la Beche’s Report on the Geology of

228 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

It is interesting to note that in Cornwall, where the “ head ”
is well developed, we encounter at the base of certain post-
glacial deposits, to be described in the sequel, torrential gravels
which are well known from the fact that they have been long
worked to get at the lumps of tin-ore which they contain.
This tin-bearing accumulation is composed of a confused mass
of sand, gravel, pebbles, blocks, and boulders, some of which
have weighed as much as 200 lbs. and upwards. It is just
such a deposit as might have been formed by torrents more or
less suddenly discharged from melting snow and ice. Mr.
Ussher has shown that it is posterior in age to certain ancient
raised beaches upon which the “head” reposes, and it is
therefore of approximately the same age as the “head ” itself.
The latter, in short, will represent the angular débris moved
forward by the action of frost, melting snows, etc., while the
stanniferous gravels will denote that portion of the subaerial
waste which was swept into gullies and stream-courses, and
hurried along by the tumultuous waters of spring and summer.

With the cause or causes that induced the Glacial Period
we are not at present concerned, but we may at least conclude
from the facts so briefly set forth in this and the preceding
chapter, that whatever the origin of the glacial climate may
have been, it certainly cannot be attributed to any mere
elevation of the land. The phenomena are much too general
to be thus accounted for. Not only has Europe passed through
its Glacial Period, but abundant evidence is forthcoming to show
that North America has experienced similar climatic conditions.
A great ice-sheet covered all the northern regions of that
continent and flowed as far south as the latitude of New Jersey,
and still farther south in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri.
At the same time the valleys of the Rocky Mountains and the
Sierra Nevada were filled with gigantic glaciers, compared with

Cornwall, Devon, and West Somerset ; and W. A. E. Ussher’s papers on the
‘* Recent Geology of Cornwall” (Geological Magazine, 1879), in which copious
references will be found to other sources of information. The same writer gives a
further account of ‘‘ head” in his Post-Tertiary Geology of Cornwall.

a ee

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 229

which their modern representatives are the merest pigmies.
Even in regions far south of the limits reached by the ice-sheet
of the north, great deposits, and wide-spread sheets of angular
débris, rock-rubbish, and coarse gravel, are found occupying
positions where no such deposits are now taking place, and
which cannot possibly have been formed under present con-
ditions. Very often remains of an ancient soil, with leaves,
fruits, and stumps of trees in sitw, togther with elytra of beetles,
squirrel-gnawed hickory-nuts, ete, are found buried under
depths of 15 or 20 feet of these superficial accumulations in
North Carolina, where they have been studied by the State
Geologist, Mr. W. C. Kerr.'| They often mask to a considerable
extent the contour of the underlying strata, so that the present
ravines are excavated partly in the superficial drifts, and partly
“along or across the crests of the old buried hills and rocky
ledges.” Such is the general character of the gold-bearing beds
which are extensively spread over the flanks and low ridges
of the Uwharrie Mountains. Their position and the carry of
their included rock-fragments, some of which have travelled six
miles, shows that they must have descended from the mountains,
“at whose bases or on whose lower and gentle inclines they are
found.’ According to Mr. Kerr, the force which impelled
them cannot have been water,—“ neither are they moraines—
accumulations at the base of descending ice-masses.” They
“have crept down the declivities of the hills and mountains,”
he says, “exactly as a glacier descends an alpine valley, by
successive freezing and thawing of the whole water-saturated
mass, both the expansion of freezing and gravitation contribut-
ing to the downward movement; and with each thawing and
advance the embedded stones and gold particles dropping a
little nearer the bottom. If these beds are followed down the
slopes into the valleys and bottoms of the streams to the flood-
plain, they will be found to have changed character with every
rod of advance, all the gold having been dropped either on or
near the foot of the slopes, the pebbles being more exclusively

1 Report of the Geological Survey of North Carolina, vol. i. p. 156.

230 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

quartz, and more and more rounded, and accumulated in a
stratum at the bottom of the bed, or constituting the whole
of it.”?

The glacial phenomena of Europe are, in short, reproduced
in North America. Similarly it is well known that in Asia the
valleys of the Himalaya formerly supported enormous glaciers,
and that traces of ice-action occur in China in regions which
are certainly very far from being glacial now. All this, as I
have said, points to some widely-acting cause, a conclusion in
which geologists are now pretty well agreed. But while I
reject the view that the Glacial Period of Europe, or of any
portion of Europe, was directly induced by an elevation of the
land, I do not doubt that here and there the intensity of glacia-
tion may have been locally influenced in some measure by
changes in the relative level of land and sea.

Hitherto we have confined our attention to phenomena
which are more or less directly due to the action of frost, of
snow, and glaciers. We must now glance for a little at the
general character of those aqueous deposits which we have
every reason to believe were accumulated upon certain areas in
the low grounds of Europe contemporaneously with the erratics,
moraines, and angular débris of other districts. And among
these must be included those angular gravels in the southern
districts of England, which have been described and explained
by Mr. Darwin. The fact that perennial snow and ice were so
widely distributed over the northern latitudes of our continent,
and that so many of the hilly regions, even in the extreme
south, supported large glaciers, sufficiently proves that during
the Glacial Period the winter must have been severe, but it
also indicates the prevalence of great humidity. There must
have been excessive evaporation, and a more copious distribu-
tion of moisture, over the length and breadth of our continent

i Mr. Kerr’s explanation of these superficial phenomena, it will be observed,
does not differ greatly from that adopted by Prof. Ramsay and myself to account
for the origin of the Gibraltar breccias. When our paper was written we did not

know of Mr. Kerr’s investigations in this matter, otherwise we should have made
special reference to them.

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 231

than is now the case, for many of the regions which were
formerly covered with perennial snow have at present a very
small rainfall. It is, therefore, to say the least, not improbable
that during the Glacial Period the amount of heat received from
the sun in summer may have been as great or even greater than
it is now in that season ; in other words, the seasons may have
been more strongly contrasted than they are at present—less
heat reaching our latitudes in winter, but more in summer, than
is now the case. The summers in Central and Southern Europe
were probably very humid, and the abundance of snow and ice
upon the mountains would tend to chill the air, so that although
more heat may have been received directly from the sun, it is
doubtful whether the climate during the warm part of the year
would be, upon the whole, as genial as it is with us. Upon the
mountains and in the regions covered by the ice-sheet, a large
proportion of the moisture would be precipitated in the form of
snow. Notwithstanding this we cannot doubt that in summer
there would be copious rain, while enormous quantities of snow
would be melted, and the rivers flowing from the ice-sheet and
the local glaciers of the mountain-regions would be swollen to a
prodigious degree. We might, therefore, from such considera-
tions expect to find abundant traces of floods and inundations
over all the low grounds of Europe to which the swollen rivers
could find access. M. E. Collomb has made some interesting
calculations which serve to give one some faint idea of the
volume of water discharged from the glaciers of the Ice Age.’
These calculations are based upon the observations of MM.
Dolfus and Desor on the Aar glacier in 1844 and 1854.’ These
glacialists found that the amount of water discharged from this
glacier between 20th July and 4th August averaged 1,278,738
cubic métres daily—the minimum being 780,000 cubic metres,
and the maximum 2,100,000 cubic métres. The area occupied
by the glacier is estimated at 52 square kilométres. Now,
supposing that the old glacier of the Rhone (the area of which

1 Comptes Rendus de V Acad. des Sciences (1868), t. lxvii, p. 668 ; Cosmos, t.
iii. (1868) p. 407. * Agassiz: Nowvelles Etudes sur les Glaciers, p. 370.

232 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

M. Collomb estimated at 15,000 square kilometres, but which
is actually under the truth) discharged its water at the same
rate, it must have yielded a daily supply of 605 millions of cubic
metres. But if it be true, as all the facts would lead us to
believe, that in the summers of the Glacial Period more heat
was received directly from the sun,—then the daily discharge
from such a glacier must have been greatly in excess of that
amount.

The rivers which escape directly from a glacier are invariably
turbid and discoloured with the fine mud which they hold in
suspension, this sediment being derived from the pounding and
erinding of the rocks under the moving ice. MM. Dolfus and
Desor found that a litre of water from the Aar glacier con-
tained 0°142 gram. of fine mud, so that according to Collomb’s
estimate of the area and daily discharge of the ancient Rhone
glacier, the water escaping from the latter must in summer
time have transported 86,000,000 kilogrammes, or about 8500
tons (English) per diem—an estimate which, considering the
circumstances already referred to, is probably much under the
actual truth.!

Bearing all this in mind, we are prepared to learn that traces
of water-action should be met with at very considerable heights

1 According to Helland the quantity of mud in the rivers that issue from the
glaciers of Greenland is very variable, as may be seen from the table given by

him, which is as follows :—
Grams. of mud
in 1 cubic métre

of water.
River of the glacier of Jakobshayvn . duly 9, 1875 : 104
5 - Alangordlek . dobaiieaie Page 0 ioe . 2374
- Py Tlardlek 5 SMT, 1 Es : 723
35 sf Tuaparsuit . = PAIS Gis fs A 678
3 ‘3 Umiatorfik . Fl eadays Os ea : 75
a, a3 Assakak . : ee De es, : 208
53 YF, Rangerdlugssuak .. oy Pal Spies : 278

Similar observations by the same geologist on the water issuing from the snow-
and ice-field of Justedalsbreen likewise showed that the quantity of mud varied
in the different streams, and even in the same river. The result of ten different
observations in the months of June and July gave a mean of 147-9 grams. of mud
in 1 cubic métre of water.—See Quart. Jowrn. Geol. Soc., 1877, p. 157 ; Om *de
isfyldte Fjorde og de glaciale Dannelser i Nordgrénland, p. 53,; Geol. Féreningens
4 Stockholm Férh., Bd. ii. No. 7.

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 233

in all the great valleys that hold communication with snow-
covered mountain-regions, and not only so, but that vast quan-
tities of muddy deposits should be met with in places where
the form of the ground is such as would admit of quiet deposition
from inundating waters. Those great deposits of loss which
cover such extensive areas and reach to such heights in the
valleys of the Garonne, the Rhone, the Sadne, the Seine, the
Rhine, the Danube, the Theiss, the Drave, the Save, and other
rivers flowing from the mountains of Central and Southern
Europe, represent the mud borne down by the great inundating
waters that escaped from the ancient glaciers. But the accumu-
lations which are known under the general terms of léss, lehm,
brick-earth, etc, have not all been formed in the same way,
Some are the result of mere subaerial waste—others have arisen
from the chemical action of acidulated water upon Cretaceous
strata—and superficial beds like these must frequently have
been re-arranged, redistributed, and often washed down from
higher to lower levels by rain and melting snow. It is not
necessary, therefore, to suppose that every high-level accumula-
tion of loam, silt, or clay, such as much of the brick-earth of
Northern France, is of fluviatile origin. The severe winter
frosts of the Glacial Period would penetrate some depth into the
ground, and tend to disintegrate the rocks and render these
more easily assailable by rain and melting snow. During spring
and summer much water would be set free, and quantities of
silt and loam would be transported down the slopes to accumu-
late in the hollows and depressions. And in regions where the
rock-bottom was composed of the same strata throughout, the
superficial accumulations taking place at the surface would
naturally assume a great sameness of character.

But we cannot so account for the presence of the wide and
deep masses of loss which characterise such valleys as those of
the Rhine and the Danube. The considerable elevation attained
by the deposits in question, and their vast extent, have led
many geologists to believe that they could not have been laid
down by flooded rivers, and an outline has been given (Chapter

234 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

IX.) of some of the more noted hypotheses which have been
advanced to explain the phenomena. The old lacustrine theory
has been generally abandoned, and the view advocated by Lyell
has likewise proved insufficient. It is quite clear, in fact, that
the theory, which shall ultimately be accepted, must take
cognisance of all the more widely-spread loamy deposits de-
scribed in Chapter IX. We cannot have a special explanation
for the loss and lehm of each particular region. They evidently
pertain to one and the same period, and must owe their origin
to some widely-acting cause or causes. They occur in so
many different regions that we are precluded from supposing
that elevations and depressions of the land can have had any-
thing to do with their formation. Do they owe their origin
then to aqueous action, or can they be the result of great dust-
storms as Baron von Richthofen maintains? The former of
these views appears to me to harmonise most closely with the
evidence, and the great bulk of the loamy deposits I would
assign in common with the majority of glacialists to the action
of vast inundations. I do not, however, deny that here and
there the loss and other aqueous deposits pertaining to the
Glacial Period may have been subsequently modified by the
action of wind, but I can find no evidence which would lead me
to suppose that any of our widely-spread sheets of loss have
been accumulated by storms of wind transporting the finely-
sifted materials from dry central regions. Some of the principal
objections which may be urged against Richthofen’s theory I shall
presently specify, but, meanwhile, what I take to be the actual
origin of the loamy deposits will first be set forth, and as shortly
as possible.

According to Mr. Prestwich there are cogent reasons for
believing that the loam of the plateaux and upper slopes of the
valleys of Northern France have been laid down contempo-
raneously with the high-level gravels. The loams in question
are in short flood-deposits, which were accumulated at a time
when the rivers flowed at a much higher level than they did in
subsequent ages. I believe the same rule holds true for all the

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 235

great river-valleys of Europe, and that we are not called upon
to suppose that the vast sheets of Rhenish and Danubian loéss
only began to be accumulated after the valleys had been ex-
cavated to their present depths. These deposits are the results
of the great floods that took place doubtless at stated times all
through the Glacial Period—those at the higher levels having
been laid down at a much earlier date than the loams which we
find overlying the low-level gravels towards the bottoms of the
present valleys. But even with this consideration in view we are
under the necessity of inferring the former frequent occurrence
of floods and inundations, which it would be hard to parallel at
the present day. I have referred to the suggestion made by my
brother, and to the view supported by Mr. Belt, that when the
great ice-sheet extended south as far as the latitude of the
Thames, the large rivers that flowed north from Central Europe
would be dammed back so as to inundate vast areas, which
might thus become overspread with glacial mud. It is hardly
possible to escape from this conclusion. But even without any
such dam to the passage of the water northward, the valleys of
the Rhine and similar rivers must have been filled to overflow-
ing. The waters pouring in at the upper ends of these valleys,
supplemented by the torrents and floods received from tributaries,
and the water derived from melting snow on the low grounds
and from excessive rains, could not escape at once in a great
tumultuous current. The rivers frozen over in winter would
themselves tend to choke a passage to the north, just as is the
case with the great rivers of Siberia at present. Thick ice
might continue to bind them in the north for some time after
their icy covering had melted in the south: and wide areas in
the upper reaches of the valleys would thus become inundated.
Again, if we consider the enormous quantities of water which
would be discharged from the melting snows in spring and
summer, we must see that the valleys themselves would be
insufficient to carry these waters immediately away. Even in
our own little country we may observe how after unusually
heavy rains all the rivers rise in flood, and wide areas become

236 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

inundated ; and this inundation-water is not a tumultuous
raging torrent, but very frequently assumes the aspect of a wide
lake-like expanse of quiet water, from which fine sediment is
deposited, forming a film of mud more or less continuous. It
is only here and there that we observe coarse sand and gravel
strewn over the fields to mark the course taken by the thread
of the current, which eventually succeeded in draining the
flooded area.

The homogeneous character of the Rhenish and Danubian
loss is well explained by this theory of its origin. Composed in
chief measure of the fine silt derived from the glaciers of the
Alps, it is not surprising that it should show such a sameness in
all the great valleys which were charged with water descending
in vast volumes from the glaciated areas. The waters of the
Rhine invaded the lower reaches of most of its tributary valleys,
and deposited there the same kind of mud as that which accumu-
lated in the main line of drainage. But farther up these lateral
valleys the mud would assume more of a local character, com-
posed as it would be of materials derived from the disintegration
and denudation of the adjacent rocks. In other regions, such as
the plateaux of Northern France and the low grounds of
Southern England, mud and silt would likewise be widely dis-
tributed, but these would be derived chiefly from the wash of
the Cretaceous and other strata by rain, by the water coming
from melting snow, and in the valleys doubtless by deeply-
flooded streams and rivers. But it is in those regions that

drained more or less directly from glacier-regions where we find
the deepest and broadest accumulations of loamy deposits. The
Garonne was flooded by the melting snow and ice of the
Pyrenees, the Rhone by the waters coming from the vast ice-
fields of the Alps, the Saéne by those derived from the Jura, the
Seine by the dissolving snow and ice of the Morvan and neigh-
bouring hilly tracts. Muddy inundations likewise choked many
of the valleys of the Carpathians, and a like fate befell such
valleys as those of the Drave and the Save that received the drain-
age of the Eastern Alps. On the south side of the Alps there was

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 23%

no space for the accumulation of.silt. The muddy waters carried
down vast quantities of gravel and shingle, but the finer materials
were swept right out to sea. It will of course be understood
that in all the river-valleys of Central Europe enormous sheets
of gravel and shingle were swept along the bottoms of the
valleys, the loss only accumulating in places where the inundat-
ing waters were comparatively tranquil.

The occasional occurrence in the loss of sporadic stones and
boulders, which are sometimes striated, points to transportation
by river-ice ; and the presence of lines of gravel and sand, which
here and there have been observed, indicate unquestionably the
action of water ; and the same may be said of such alternations
as those described by Dr. Nehring which occur at Thiede and
Westeregeln, and of the bedded loss of Heiligenstadt, near
Vienna, referred to by Dr. Jentzsch. Again, at Nussdorf and
Hungelbrunn, in the same region, the loss, according to Th.
Fuchs, contains freshwater-shells in a distinct bed ; at Nuss-
dorf the bed was a bluish-green silt with Hypnum, while at
Hungelbrunn it was a white marly deposit. Such instances of
stratification, however, are not common in the ldss, which, like
the flood-deposits (mud and silt) of rivers such as the Mississippi
and the Ganges, generally shows little or no trace of bedding.
The calcareous concretions of the léss also find their counterparts
in the recent alluvia of the same rivers. The origin of the
vertical capillary structure is less easily accounted for, Some
writers believe that the minute tubes represent grasses and other
plants which were gradually buried as the loss accumulated
about them. But I am not aware that any trace of vegetable
matter has ever been found in the tubes, and the capillary
structure, like the concretions, may be of inorganic origin.
Chemical analyses, at all events, have shown that léss contains
little or no organic matter, which we might have expected to
meet with in much greater abundance had plants given origin
to the innumerable vertical pores which are so commonly pre-
sent in the typical deposit of the Rhine and the Danube.

The character of the shells and other organic remains found

238 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

in the loss is quite in keeping with the theory which attributes
that deposit to the action of muddy inundation-waters, a view
which is strongly supported by Professor F. Sandberger and
others who have made a special study of the question. The
shells, as Sandberger has shown, bespeak colder conditions of
climate, and belong to species which for the most part occupy
damp and shady places. They are just such forms, indeed, as
may have lived in woods and meadows near the borders of
streams, rivers, and lakes, and which therefore would be lable
to be swept away during floods and inundations, Moreover,
they probably represent only a fraction of the terrestrial
molluscous fauna of the period. Thus in the lists given by F.
Sandberger, A. Braun, Gysser, Leydig, and Heynemann, of shells
obtained from the loss of the valleys of the Main, the Neckar,
and the Upper Rhine, there is only one freshwater-shell (Lim-
neus truncatulus) to some eighteen species of land-shells. Dr.
Sandberger tells us that in the mud brought down by the flood-
waters of the Main on February 19, 1876, he observed 52 species
of shells, namely—land-shells, 38 species ; freshwater-shells, 14
species. The contrast was still more striking when the numbers
of individuals were taken into account. Thus, while freshwater-
univalves and bivalves numbered only 69 individuals, the land-
shells were no fewer than 10,747. The species which were
most abundantly represented were as follow :—

Felix pulchella and H. costata : 4228 examples.
Pupa muscorum : : < 3550 “
P. pygmea . ; . : 654,
Cecilianella acicula . : - 5D Gaus
Cionella lubrica , : : 574 aE
Chondrula tridens . : 209;

The smaller species are thus by far the most abundant in
the inundation-muds of the present day, just as they are in the
old valley-léss. The wide diffusion of these forms in the loss
offers no difficulty. Their extreme lightness would insure their
dispersion to great distances. Even larger species might under
certain conditions be transported a long way. Captain Feilden,

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 239

for example, tells us that in the autumn of 1874, after a long
continuation of rainy weather and north-west winds, he found in
sheltered coves on the coast of Malta, facing the island of Sicily,
great numbers of land-shells, which were certainly not indige-
nous to Malta. ‘On examination they proved to be all dead
shells, plugged at the mouth with a tenacious blue clay which
converted them into floats. These had doubtless been washed
down by the flooded rivers of Sicily, and discharged in vast
numbers into the Mediterranean. The prevalent north-west
winds had wafted them, along with fragments of pumice-stone
and broken reeds, to the coast of Malta.”?

The mammalian remains characteristic of the loss belong to
the northern group, and accord perfectly with the facies of the
mollusca. They betoken decidedly colder climatic conditions
than are at present experienced in Central Europe, and may
quite well have subsisted in regions exposed to severe winter
cold and considerable humidity.

The conclusion we come to, then, is simply this, that the
loss of the great river-valleys of Central Europe is merely the
flood-loam of the Glacial Period. The upland- or hill-léss belongs
upon the whole to an earlier date than that which is found
within the valleys themselves. It is the inundation-mud which
was laid down by the rivers when they flowed at higher levels.
After these rivers had succeeded in deepening their beds suffi-
ciently, their flood-waters were unable to overflow upon the
plateaux, and the deposition of loss was then confined to the
valleys themselves, The ldss and the ancient river-gravels are
therefore, as Mr. Prestwich has maintained, merely terms of one
and the same series.

Hitherto I have spoken only of the flooded rivers that
descended from alpine regions ; but what about the water which
must have escaped from the ice all along the borders of the
massive mer de glace which extended in Germany down to the
50th parallel of latitude? It is extremely probable, nay, I will
even venture to say, certain, that a very large proportion of the

1 The Zoologist, May 1879.

240 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

water derived from the melting of that ice-sheet in Northern
Europe, would find its way by underground channels along the
natural slope of the ground into the Polar Ocean and the basins
of the Baltic and the North Sea. The phenomena of the till
have disclosed the fact that streams and torrents flowed under-
neath the ice, the general course of which, however much it
might be influenced by the obstruction of the overlying ice,
would nevertheless tend to follow the inclination of the ground.
There would thus be many large sub-glacial streams and rivers
running in directions quite opposed to that of the mer de glace.
The sub-glacial representatives of the Messen and the Dwina,
for example, would flow directly into the Arctic Ocean ; those
of the Diina, the Nieman, the Vistula, the Oder, and other
North German rivers, would go by way of the Baltic and the
North Sea, as would also those of Sweden, Southern Norway,
and East Britain. And thus I would infer that the water
escaping into North Germany from the ice-sheet, however
actually copious it might be, would yet be relatively small in
amount. It would in fact be derived chiefly from the superficial
melting of the ice-sheet. It is quite true that there would be
an abundant flow of water all over the surface which would
tend in the direction of the ice-flow; but much of it we may
suppose would disappear in crevasses, or into such great holes
as Nordenskiéld observed in the inland-ice of Greenland.’ So
far as we know from observation, the quantity of water pouring
from the surface over the terminal front of the Greenland ice is
much less considerable than that discharged by such glacial
rivers as the Mary Minturn described by Kane.” This river
flows all the year round, but becomes greatly swollen in
summer. The superficial streams, on the other hand, are sealed
up at night in summer, and in winter they vanish entirely.
Then, again, we must remember, that the water flowing upon
the mer de glace would be distributed in myriads of little

1 Geological Magazine, vol. ix. p. 360.
2 Arctic Explorations: The Second Grinnell ge im Seunth of Sir J.
Franklin, vol. i. p. 97.

DHE GLACTAL PERIOD. 241

channels, which would have no permanency, while that under-
neath the ice would tend to collect into larger currents which
might keep an open course for themselves for long periods of
time. Thus the water pouring off the surface of the ice would
descend upon Germany in innumerable cascades, but would sel-
dom or never discharge at any one point such enormous floods
of water as those carried north by rivers coming from regions
of alpine snows and glaciers. Moreover, we must remember
that it would be comparatively pure water—it would hold in
suspension an infinitely less amount of sediment than such rivers
as the Rhine or the Danube. But the case would be very differ-
ent with the water flowing out from under the ice-sheet in Russia.
A glance at the map of Europe (Plate D) will show that a very
large section of the extensive area which is drained by the Dnieper,
the Don, the Volga, and their numerous affluents, was covered
by the mer de glace. The ice-sheet flowed out of the Gulf of
Finland, ascended the long slopes that drain towards the Baltic,
crossed the water-parting, and thereafter pressed forward for a
distance of not less than 300 miles in the direction of the Black
Sea. South of the water-parting referred to, the sub-glacial
drainage would therefore be in the same general direction as
the present rivers. Consequently we should expect to find in
Southern Russia abundant evidence of vast inundations—inun-
dations on a much grander scale than any that could possibly
have taken place in Middle and Western Europe. Large rivers
and innumerable torrents, laden with glacial mud, would issue
from the terminal front of the ice-sheet, and literally deluge the
gently - undulating ground and low flats and plateaux which
extend south to the Black Sea and the Caspian. In winter the
waters would be greatly reduced in volume, while the rivers to
the south of the ice-sheet would doubtless be frozen over.
Snow might then gather over extensive areas in what are now
the Steppes, and here and there be swept by violent winds into
great heaps and wreaths, just as is the case at present in those
regions and the tundras. When spring returned such wide
sheets and hummocky masses of snow would begin to melt
R

242 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

more or less rapidly, and thus add their quota to the vast
volumes of water that poured southwards from the terminal
front of the ice-sheet.

Now it is precisely in the low-lying regions of Southern
Russia that we encounter the most extensive deposits of loam
in Europe. They form the subsoils of the Steppes—those vast
grassy plains which, within the drainage-area of the Don, the
Dnieper, and the Volga, comprise nearly 200 millions of acres.
The soil is generally a more or less rich dark or black loam
which yields heavy crops when it is cultivated, and which
would no doubt support an abundant forest-vegetation were it
not for the great droughts of summer, which scorch the ground
and forbid the approach of trees; the principal vegetation of
the Steppes, in short, consists of grasses which often grow to a
height of five or six feet.

Murchison and his colleagues, in their great work on the
geology of Russia, were of opinion that the black-earth of the
Steppes may have been to some extent “derived from the
destruction of the black Jurassic shale, so uniform in its colour
over all Northern and Central Russia.” They also pointed out,
in proof of the correctness of this inference, the suggestive fact
that the black-earth is absent to the south of certain tracts
where there is reason to think the black Jurassic shale never
existed. “In truth,” they remark, “the black-earth is in this
respect exactly like the Northern Drift of Russia, which invari-
ably contains many materials of the formation immediately
north of it.” According to the same authors it is wholly
unfossiliferous, but chemical analyses show that it contains
organic matter and traces of humic acid. Goebel states that he
detected vegetable débris in the black-earth, but the specimens
examined by him appear to have been taken from the surface,
which may also account for the quantity of carbonate of lime
found by him—a substance which, according to other analyses,
would appear usually to be wanting in the black - earth.
Bischoff is of opinion that the view held by Murchison and his
associates is very probably correct, inasmuch as the black

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 243

Jurassic shale contains a large amount of bituminous matter,
which would account reasonably enough for the considerable
percentage of organic substance met with in the black-earth. It
is not improbable, however, that here and there the blackness of
the earth may have arisen from the decomposition of grasses
and other plants. But if this were so, it is strange that traces
of vegetable débris should appear to be so completely absent
from the deposit. The absence of plant-remains, however, is
quite in keeping with the non-appearance of shells or animal
relics of any kind, and is readily explicable on the theory of the
aqueo-glacial origin of the black-earth. It is hardly likely
that either plant- or animal-life would be well represented in
those low-lying regions of Southern Russia which were liable to
be more or less completely inundated every spring and summer,
and which in winter must have experienced an excessively cold
climate.

The black-earth would appear never to reach the great
thickness attained by the léss of the Rhine and the Danube.
This is what we might have expected from the configuration

-and position of the regions over which it is distributed. The

wide open valleys and broad plateaux would not permit of the
same heaping-up and ponding-back of the flood-waters as must
have taken place again and again in Central Europe. The
route to the south lay open, and the inundation-waters would
thus be drawn off more rapidly than if they had been discharged
in a northerly direction, where the outflow was impeded not
only by the presence of glacier-ice, but by the freezing-over of
the rivers themselves.

Some geologists have suggested a marine origin for the
black-earth, but no one has ever succeeded in discovering in
this deposit a single trace of any marine organism. And those
who hold that the Northern Drift with its large erratics has
been transported southwards by means of icebergs and currents
are equally at a loss to account for the sudden disappearance
of boulders not far from the northern limits of the Steppes,
If icebergs during the Glacial Period sailed over the watersheds

244 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

of the great rivers that flow into the Black Sea and the Caspian,
and even floated for some 300 miles farther south, why should
their journey have been so suddenly arrested? Why should
not they be scattered over the whole breadth of the Steppes,
or disclosed to view in the beds of the numerous rivers by
which those wide regions are intersected ?

In the foregoing remarks upon the origin of the loss and
other loamy deposits pertaining to the same or approximately
the same period, I have dwelt upon various phenomena which
seem to me to bear strongly against the wind-theory advanced
by Richthofen. There are many other objections which might
be urged to that view, but I shall specify only one or two.

1. The physical conditions of our continent during Pleis-
tocene times would not permit of the existence of a desiccated
central area, like those arid deserts of Asia referred to by
Richthofen. The loss unquestionably forms part and parcel of
the glacial accumulations, and the climate at the time of its
deposition, as its shells alone prove, must have been not only
colder, but more humid than the present. Even if Europe
generally had stood at a higher elevation then than now, still
that could not have converted any part of our area into a dry
desert. In point of fact, as we shall see in the sequel, genial
and humid conditions prevailed generally throughout Europe
at a period when the land stretched considerably farther into
the Atlantic, the British Islands then forming part of the
Continent, and the area of the Mediterranean Sea being con-
siderably reduced. The dry sandy tracts of Central Asia and
of the great basins and plains in the Western Territories of the
United States have no analogues in Europe. We have nothing
here comparable with the phenomena of wind-erosion described
by Mr. Clarence King and others as characteristic of the sandy
plains of Western America, where the wind has undercut and
gradually demolished masses of rocky strata by the filing action
of the sand driven before it. Mr. King informed Mr. Pumpelly
that the prevailing westerly wind, carrying sand, has carved and
polished the rocky crest of the Sierra Nevada, and formed long

Ss ai aia

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 245

“wind-stream deltas” which extend as lofty sand-ranges from
each pass in the mountains eastward far out on the desert. If
we except the dunes of our coast-regions, the only considerable
areas of wind-driven sand which occur in Europe are those of
Olkucz, Schiewier, and Ozenstockau in Poland, around which
stretches a seemingly boundless wilderness of shifting sand.
During storms this sandy plain appears like a tumbling and
rolling sea, the sand-hills rising and dipping like the waves of
the ocean.? These sands are part of the Northern Drift, and
were deposited by the flood-waters descending from the mer de
glace at the time of its retreat. Occasionally, also, in the
Russian Steppes patches of drifting sand appear, and doubtless
there are many other sandy tracts in Europe which might drift
under the action of the wind were they not fixed by vegetation.
But these expanses of sand have not been transported by wind
from one part of the Continent to another. Most of them are
flood-deposits of the Glacial Period, while others represent the
lake-bottoms and sea-beds of Tertiary times. They are, in short,
proofs rather of former humidity than aridity.

2. The geographical distribution of the loss is incomprehen-
sible on the supposition that it owes its accumulation to the
action of wind. Why should it occur so commonly in the
valleys, and die off upon the plateaux? And why, as Dr.
Jentzsch has asked,® should it be wanting in the Erzgebirge, the
Thiiringerwald, and other hilly districts of Middle Germany,
while the regions on either side are more or less thickly covered
with it? The same geologist refers to the occurrence of that
narrow zone of loss which fringes the southern borders of the
Northern Drift in Northern Germany, and in places attains
a considerable thickness; and he asks how it is possible to
believe that dust-storms could have worked only within that
narrow zone. In point of fact the distribution of loss in Europe
bears no relation whatever to the track of prevalent winds. On

1 Amer. Jour. of Science and Arts, vol. xvii. (1879), p. 139.
* Naumann’s Geognosie, Bd. ii. p. 1173.
3 Verh. der k.-k. geol. Reichs. (1877), Bd, xxvii. p. 254.

246 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

the supposition of its zeolian origin, we should be compelled to
believe that the winds blew outwards in all directions from the
mountain-regions, and were careful to confine themselves as
much as possible to the valleys ; we should further be forced to
conclude that they accumulated loss just in those very areas
which were liable to inundations of muddy water during the
Glacial Period, and that at the same time they neglected to
strew with dust those particular districts in which, for many
good reasons, glacial mud could not be deposited.

3. The mammalian remains in the loss do not indicate a dry
climate. It is true, as Dr. Nehring has shown, that the fauna
of Thiede and Westeregeln has a prevalent steppe-character, but
commingled with pouched marmot, marmot, pika, jerboa, and
other animals characteristic of the Steppes occur hyzena, lion,
lemming, Arctic fox, reindeer, mammoth, and rhinoceros. These,
it is true, are represented by only a few remains, while relics of
the true steppe-fauna abound ; but mammoth and woolly rhin-
oceros, reindeer and other northern and cold-temperate forms,
are the most common forms met with in the léss generally, and
we cannot, therefore, look upon their occurrence at Thiede and
Westeregeln as exceptional. The presence of lion and hyzna
does not militate against this view. These carnivores may have
lived wherever their prey was in sufficient abundance. <A dry
and dust-covered country, with a climate like that of the Russian
Steppes, does not seem essential to the wants of the jerboas,
pouched marmots, marmots, and pikas, which are now met with
in those places. These animals certainly endure the aridity of
summer and the cold of winter, but there is apparently nothing
in their habits or constitution that renders them unfit to live in
regions of greater humidity. At a time when what are now the
Steppes of Russia and the low grounds of the Rhine and the
Danube were liable to be inundated for months every year, many
animals which are now widely distributed over temperate and
boreal regions would necessarily be restricted in their range;
and not only so, but species that now occupy different provinces
must formerly have lived in one and the same region. The

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 247

association of a steppe-fauna with reindeer, mammoth, hyena,
etc., at Westeregeln and Thiede is by no means singular. A
similar mixture of species has been recorded from many other
places in Central and Western Europe.

Such are some of the general considerations which might be
urged against the ingenious theory so ably set forth by Baron
von Richthofen. When we descend to details objections crop
up at almost every step, and some of these have been well stated
by Dr. Jentzsch in his paper already referred to. But as the
inapplicability of Richthofen’s theory is implied in the descrip-
tion and explanation of the European loss given in this and a
preceding chapter (pp. 143 to 168), I may spardé the reader
further controversy.

I have now traced in meagre outline the principal physical
phenomena which would seem to have characterised the Glacial
Period at its climax. All Northern Europe down to the valley
of the Thames in England, and to even a lower latitude in Ger-
many, was covered with an ice-sheet, the terminal front of which,
as we gather by following the limits reached by the morainic
débris in Poland and Russia, gradually turned away to the north-
east and north, passing by Nijnii Novgorod and Nikolsk, sweep-
ing round the upper reaches of the Vichegda river, and thereafter
striking north-north-west to the Tchesskaja Gulf. The limited
extension of the ice-sheet in an easterly direction was doubtless
due to the smaller snowfall in those regions, just as was the case
during the Glacial Period in the comparatively rainless tract
between the Missouri and the Rocky Mountains. But the
greater humidity and cold are evinced by the presence in the
Urals of moraines which tell of the former presence of glaciers
where now there are none. At the same time the Alps and all
the considerable hilly tracts of Central Europe supported mers
de glace, many of which flowed out from the mountain-valleys,
and advanced to almost inconceivable distances upon the low
grounds. Even within the Mediterranean region glaciers of
considerable size existed in valleys where no perennial ice now
appears. The winters were so severe, that the rocks at levels

248 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

and in latitudes where at present the temperature rarely or never
descends to the freezing-point were broken up, fractured, ana
displaced, and long trains of coarse angular débris gathered upon
the hill-slopes, from which névé and melting snow and torrents
carried them down to the plains and caused them to overspread
wide areas. Everywhere the forces of denudation were energeti-
cally at work. In summer the valleys were filled to overflowing
with vast floods discharged from melting snows and glaciers.
Enormous stretches of low ground, especially in Southern Russia,
were converted into broad inundation-lakes, from the muddy
waters of which an abundant precipitation of fine sediment took
place. All these facts compel us to admit that the climate of
Europe during the Glacial Period experienced a general refri-
geration. The winters were unquestionably more severe, but
we are not to suppose that the conditions were equally extreme
throughout the Continent. The northern latitudes and the
higher elevations were then as now subject to keener cold than
the lower-lying and more southern regions. The temperature
of the air in summer would be kept low by the presence of the
great snow-fields and glaciers and ice-cold rivers and inundation-
waters, so that although the heat received directly from the sun
during that season may have considerably exceeded that which
reaches us now, still the climate would not be such as to encou-
rage the growth of a temperate flora in Central Europe. Looking
at the physical conditions which then obtained in our continent,
we may reasonably infer that the only flora which could have
occupied Central Europe during the climax of the Ice Age must
have been the Arctic willows and dwarf birches, the mosses,
lichens, and saxifrages, which are now banished to mountain-
heights and high latitudes. The pines and firs which adorn so
many of our alpine regions must have descended then to the low
grounds at the base of the mountains, while the great body of
the temperate flora—the oaks, beeches, elms, poplars, etc., with
their humbler congeners—driven in large measure from the lati-
tudes which they now characterise, would spread into more
southern climes, It would be with the animals as with the

LHE GEACIAL PERIOD. 249

plants. Arctic, northern, and alpine forms—reindeer, musk-
sheep, gluttons, marmots, tailless hares, and others no longer able
to live in countries and districts which were permanently sealed
in snow and ice—would advance towards the south, and, leaving
the upper parts of the Alps and other mountain-ranges, would
come down to inhabit the low grounds. The land-molluscs we
should expect would also be compelled to “migrate ;” so that
when the cold had reached its climax and rivers were overflowing
ever and anon wide areas in Middle Europe, the waters would
Sweep away groups of land-shells differing considerably from
those that now tenant similar positions in the same latitudes.
They would comprise many forms that are, in our day, confined
to high elevations and more northern regions, while the general
facies of the species would bespeak a colder and more humid
climate.

Let me now ask the reader to recall the account given in
Chapters TIT. and IV. of the fauna and flora of Pleistocene times.
He will remember that distinct evidence was there adduced to
show that during some part of the Pleistocene Period such a
distribution of animals and plants as I have briefly indicated
above did actually obtain. We found that reindeer and musk-
sheep were at one time occupants of Southern France, that the
woolly elephant lived in Spain and Italy, that the glutton fre-
quented the shores of the Mediterranean, that marmots and tail
less hares came down to the low grounds in Corsica, Sardinia,
and Northern Italy. I also mentioned the fact that traces of
an arctic flora had been met with at various points in the low
grounds of Central Europe, that pines and other trees of northern
and alpine habitats formerly grew upon the plains of France in
the latitude of Paris, and that the Cembran pine, now a native
of the higher Alps, descended to the low regions of Piedmont.
Again we found that the land-shells of Central Europe in
Pleistocene times implied climatic conditions which strongly
contrasted with those of the present, and their evidence pointed
in the same direction as that of the mammalia and the land-
plants. In all this we see that the Pleistocene Period and the

250 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Ice Age are closely bound together, so much so as to lead to
the conviction that the latter can be nothing less than merely
a stage or phase of the former. All the evidence, palzonto-
logical and physical alike, points in this direction, and assures
us beyond the possibility of any doubt that the advent of an
arctic flora in Central Europe, and of reindeer and musk-sheep,
etc., in Southern France, coincided with the appearance of a
vast mer de glace in Northern Europe, and with the great
extension of glaciers in Switzerland and other mountainous
regions in the middle and southern portions of our continent.
And since we know that Paleolithic man lived with the
northern mammalia while they were in occupation of low
latitudes in Europe, we must perforce admit that man was
certainly contemporaneous with the Glacial Period.

But it will not be forgotten that the Pleistocene Period was
also marked during one of its phases by extremely genial con-
ditions, when southern species of plants advanced far north of
their present range, and when hippopotamuses, elephants, rhino-
ceroses, and other southern forms, commingled in North-western
Europe with a group of mammalia like that which characterises
the present more temperate latitudes of our continent. Further-
more, we found reason for believing that cold climatic conditions
prevailed towards the close of the Pleistocene Period. It is
from a consideration of the facts upon which these conclusions
are based that many geologists, particularly in France and
Germany, have concluded that the Pleistocene Period began
with a mild and genial climate, which gradually became deterio-
rated, until eventually it was brought to a close with the Ice
Age. They therefore maintain that Paleolithic man and the
Pleistocene mammalia belong to preglacial and glacial times.
In England, on the other hand, the views which were, and per-
haps still are, generally held by geologists, differ in essential
respects from those of many Continental writers. English
geologists quite admit that Paleolithic man may have lived in
North-western Europe in preglacial times, although they think
this has not yet been demonstrated. But many, following

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 251

Prestwich, have strongly maintained that the ancient river-
drifts which occur in the south of England (and by implication
_ those of the north of France also) must be of postglacial age,
since in some places the English deposits have been proved by
superposition and other tests to be of later date than a particular
boulder-clay in East Anglia. Which, then, of these two appa-
rently conflicting views is true? It cannot be denied that certain
ossiferous and implement-bearing beds in England are younger
than the boulder-clay or morainic material they rest upon ; but,
on the other hand, it is a fact equally beyond question, that
relics and remains of Paleolithic man, together with bones of
the extinct and no longer indigenous mammalia, have been met
with in and underneath the loss or ancient flood-loams of the
Glacial Period. Did Paleolithic man inhabit North-western
Europe before the advent of the Ice Age, and, surviving all the
chances and changes of that period, did he live on in our con-
tinent after the severity of the climate had disappeared and
given place to conditions which enabled the hippopotamus to
range as far north as Yorkshire? These queries I will now
attempt to answer, but in order to do so we must return to our
study of the glacial deposits, for, as we shall find, it is only
after a close analysis of their evidence that we can hope to
obtain a satisfactory explanation of those apparently contra-
dictory facts which have so exercised the ingenuity of palzeonto-
logical students.

252 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

CHAPTER XII.
INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS.

Earliest recognition of interglacial deposits—Interglacial beds of Scotland—Sec-
tions at Hailes Quarry, near Edinburgh—Alternating arctic and genial climatic
conditions—Succession of glacial and interglacial deposits in England—Paleo-
lithic implements in interglacial deposits at Brandon, Suffolk—Changes of
climate during Glacial Period in British area—Glacial deposits of Scandinavia
—Ancient strand-linier or horizontal rock-terraces of Norway—Theories of their
origin—Their possible interglacial age— Interglacial deposits of Northern
Germany—Section at Rixdorf, on the Spree—Section at Démitz, on the Elbe
—Interglacial beds at Tempelhof—Boring near the Schwielow-See—Traces of
interglacial submergence—Glacial and interglacial deposits of Saxony; of
Holstein and Denmark—Sand, gravel, and superficial erratics of Northern
Europe—Dr. Penck’s views of climatic and geographical changes—Preserva-
tion of beds under till or boulder-clay.

Somes five-and-twenty years ago M. Morlot pointed out that
after the ancient glaciers of Switzerland had for a long time
occupied the low grounds of that country, they retired again to
the mountain-valleys, and allowed streams and rivers to erode
and re-arrange the ancient bottom-moraines and other débris
which had been left strewed over the deserted bed of the mer
de glace. After some considerable period of time, however, the
glaciers, according to Morlot, again advanced and overflowed the
low grounds, here and there ploughing out the superficial river-
alluvia, and elsewhere burying them under a newer accumulation
of boulder-clay or moraine profonde.' The bearing of these inter-
esting observations upon the glacial history of other regions,

1 Bull. de la Soc. Vaud. des Sciences Nat. (1854), t. iv. pp. 39, 41, 58, 185;
Edin. New Phil. Journ., vol. ii. (New Series), p. 14. :

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 253

however, was not recognised for a number of years. Mean-
while, Professor Ramsay had simultaneously worked out the
succession of changes which had obtained in North Wales
during the Ice Age, and showed that a period of great glaciation
had been succeeded by one of submergence, when the sea rose
to a height of 1300 feet or thereabout. This very considerable
submergence of the land was in turn followed by re-emergence,
and by the re-advance of the glaciers, which, grinding down the
valleys, swept out the marine deposits that had accumulated in
the interval of depression." As it was formerly the general
belief that the cold of the Glacial Period in Britain and Northern
Europe was induced by a great elevation of the land, geologists
naturally assumed that the milder conditions which followed
were directly due to the lowering of the land, while the subse-
quent re-advance of the glaciers was no less reasonably inferred
to have been the result of a second considerable elevation. The
discovery made some years later that the lignites of Diirnten
and other places in Switzerland were intercalated between
glacial deposits added very considerable strength to M. Morlot’s
contention that the Ice Period in Switzerland had been charac-
terised by considerable oscillations of climate. In 1863, my
brother, Professor A. Geikie, described a number of sections in
various parts of Scotland which showed a similar intercalation
of freshwater beds and peat in boulder-clay. He pointed out
that these beds having been formed upon a land-surface, indi-
cated that the boulder-clay was not the result of one great
catastrophe, as was then generally understood in Britain, “but of
slow and silent, yet mighty, forces acting sometimes with long
pauses throughout a vast cycle of time.” Morlot had suggested
that the facts described by him in Switzerland might possibly
point to some cosmical cause, and was of opinion that “the idea
of general and periodical eras of refrigeration for our planet,
connected perhaps with some cosmic agency, may eventually

1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. viii. p. 371. See also, by the same author,
The Old Glaciers of Switzerland and North Wales.

2 “On the Phenomena of the Glacial Drift of Scotland,” Trans. Glasg. Geol.
Soc., 1868. .

254 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

prove correct.” But this view received no support, English
geologists maintaining with Lyell that all the vicissitudes of
climate to which the earth’s crust bears witness might quite
- well result from changes in the distribution of land and sea.
The Glacial Period was therefore held to owe its origin to a
former wider extent and greater elevation of the land in northern
and temperate latitudes, and any indications of oscillations of
climate which might appear to present themselves in the pheno-
mena of the glacial deposits were either ignored or thought to
be entirely local, and due to some inconsiderable changes in the
relative position of land and sea. But the appearance in 1864
of Mr. Croll’s remarkable paper “ On the Physical Cause of the
Change of Climate during Geological Epochs” threw a new
light upon the question, and, by increasing the interest of geolo-
gists in the study of the Glacial Period, led the way to many
subsequent discoveries of interglacial beds, both in this country
and abroad. I have elsewhere endeavoured, at considerable
length, to show that Croll’s theory is the only one which
explains the phenomena,’ and I do not mean to re-discuss the
subject here, but shall confine myself to such a statement of
facts as may serve to indicate the nature and extent of those
climatic changes which took place during the Glacial Period.
We shall see that Morlot’s suggestion that the facts might point
to some cosmical agency must be true, while the views upheld
by Lyell and many of his followers entirely fail to account for
them.

In glancing over the evidence supplied by the interglacial
beds of Europe, it will be most convenient to begin with our
own islands, Scandinavia, and Germany—that is to say, with
those regions which, as we have seen reason to believe, were
overwhelmed by the great northern mer de glace. I shall then
take up the evidence of the Swiss, Italian, and French inter-
glacial deposits, and conclude with some remarks on certain
cognate accumulations which appear upon the borders of the

Mediterranean.
1 Great Ice Age, passim.

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 255

It will be remembered that Scotland, during the climax of
the Ice Age, was smothered in a thick sheet of ice, which coa-
lesced in the east and north-east with the Scandinavian mer de
glace, while towards the west it occupied what is now the bed
of the sea, overflowed the Outer Hebrides, and extended into the
Atlantic Ocean for an unknown distance, but probably as far as
the present 100-fathom line. The bottom-moraine of this ice-
sheet is the well-known till or boulder-clay so abundantly
developed, especially in the Lowlands. It is very remarkable
that this ancient bottom-moraine contains now and again patches
of river- and lake-alluvia, together with beds of peat: and from
these have been obtained remains of mammoth, great Irish deer,
horse, urus, various insects, sticks of oak, birch, etc., and frag-
ments of other plants, and freshwater entomostraca. In other
places, we find in beds between the till, marine shells; and in
certain localities the till itself contains sea-shells scattered
through it. If the till be a bottom-moraine, how can we possibly
account for the presence of those remarkable intercalated fossili-
ferous beds? ‘The inferences to be drawn are obvious—the
freshwater beds are relics of old land-surfaces—while the interca-
lated shell-beds represent what was formerly the sea-bottom.
But these inferences draw after them certain conclusions, which,
however startling they may appear, follow no less surely as a
perfectly logical sequence. In the work already referred to, I
have described a number of interglacial beds, and pointed out
their meaning. From the position occupied by some of the
deposits, it can be proved, 1st, That the great ice-sheet melted
away from the Lowlands ; 2d, That there supervened a climate
capable of nourishing sufficient vegetation to induce mammoths,
Irish deer, horses, and great oxen to occupy the country ;
3d, That the climate again became arctic, and another immense
mer de glace overflowed the Lowlands and buried under a new
accumulation of boulder-clay or bottom-moraine such parts of
the land-surface as it did not erode. Ifwe reflect for a little, we
can hardly fail to be impressed with the magnitude of the cli-
matic changes which are thus indicated. We must first consider

256 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

the conditions which obtained during the accumulation of the
older boulder-clay—a period of intense arctic rigour, when the
country was buried in ice to a depth in the Lowlands of 3000
feet or more. Then we have to think of the time required for
the gradual change of climate which brought about the dissolu-
tion of that enormous mass of ice, and the long lapse of ages
involved in the slow advance, first of an arctic and boreal and
then of a more temperate flora, before the land was fitted to
support the large mammals whose relics have come down to us.
Lastly, we have to reflect that these temperate conditions must
have continued for some period more or less prolonged before
the climate again began to cool down to such an extent that
snow and ice eventually resumed their empire, and a mer de
glace, little less extensive than the first, drowned the mainland,
filled up the adjacent seas, and overflowed the islands of the
Outer Hebrides.

To illustrate these remarks I may describe a section at
Hailes Quarry, two miles west of Edinburgh, to which my
attention was called by Dr. Croll. This section was well ex-
posed in 1878 when I visited it, but I have not seen it since.
On the 9th July of that year the general succession of the
deposits was well shown in one part of the quarry, of which I
took the following sketch (Fig. 7). The lower boulder-clay (1)
was the usual blue, hard, tough till commonly met with in the
district. Above it came an irregular bed of coarse earthy
and gritty sand (2), with a few large boulders of dolerite which
were most numerous at and near its upper surface. Resting
upon this bed was a layer of peat (3), varying from an inch to
a foot or eighteen inches in thickness. It contained many frag-
ments of wood—sticks, roots, etc., of what appeared to be
principally birch. I detected some wing-cases of small beetles,
but unfortunately they had crumbled to dust when I got
them home. Mr. Bennie, however, afterwards obtained many
more, amongst them being one of Geotrupes stercorarius,
as determined by Dr. Purves. Above the peat came a
bed of pale blue sandy clay from two to four inches (4), which

dealt alia

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 257

in other parts of the quarry-section was intercalated with the
peat; while in some places the peat entirely disappeared, its

Fig. 7.—Section of Glacial and Interglacial deposits, Hailes Quarry, near Edinburgh.

place being occupied by sand and silt, abundantly charged with
vegetable débris. Sometimes the bed above the peat thickened
out to five or six feet, the lower portions containing many roots
and twigs which were wanting in the uppermost part of the
deposits. Immediately above these fine-grained deposits were
two or three feet of a coarse sandy clay containing many angular
and sub-angular stones and boulders (5), and this in turn was
covered by a mass of tumultuous till of variable thickness (6),
from a few feet up to several yards. To complete my account
of these interglacial beds, I give the following section taken from
another part of the same quarry (Fig. 8). This section shows a
thickness of 60 feet of glacial and interglacial deposits. Here,
as in the preceding section, we observe two masses of till, both
of them being of the same character. At its upper surface the
newer of the boulder-clays was somewhat discoloured, but only
for a foot or so. Below this depth it was a tough, dark blue,
amorphous till, crammed with sub-angular, blunted, striated, and
polished stones and boulders, The lower till (B") was underlaid
at one place (not shown in the illustration) with coarse shingle
and angular débris of sandstone and other rocks, the former
iS)

258 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

predominating. Immediately above the
till came an irregular bed of similar
coarse shingle (Sh), which was succeeded
by diagonally-bedded sand and gravel (8),
passing here and there into a very coarse
shingle and “alpine diluvium” or con-
fused assemblage of rounded and sub-
angular and angular fragments. Upon
the denuded surface of these false-bedded
accumulations rested a layer of sandy
silt (Sc), gray above and passing into yel-
low below. It varied from two to four feet
in thickness, and contained many root-
lets. Immediately upon it came a bed
of peat (P), one inch to eight inches thick,
of the same description as that already
mentioned. It was covered by gray silty
sand or sandy clay (Sc), one to two feet, and
that in turn by coarse earthy sand and
shingle (Sh). The overlying till (B), it
will be observed, cuts down through all
the beds, and rests eventually on the lower
till and the Carboniferous strata (C).
These instructive sections justify us in
coming to the following conclusions :—
Ist, The lower till is a true bottom-
moraine, and could only have been laid
down in its present position when Scot-
land generally was covered with a great
ice-sheet. It cannot possibly be due to
a mere local glaciation of the low grounds
of Midlothian, This is evident from
the fact that all the Lowlands lying be-
tween the Southern Uplands on the one
hand, and the Highlands on the other,
must have been covered with ice before the particular neigh-

Fig. 8.—Section of Glacial and Interglacial deposits, Hailes Quarry, near Edinburgh.

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 259

bourhood in which our sections occur could have been over-
flowed. It is further made clear by the fact that the lower
till contains stones which could only have been derived
from the west. This till, therefore, is the bottom-moraine
of an ice-sheet which flowed from that quarter, and this
eastward motion of the ice in the vale of the Forth, near
Edinburgh, was determined, as I have already pointed out, by
the mutual pressure of the two ice-sheets which flowed from
the Highlands and Southern Uplands respectively. In point
of fact, then, the lower till of our sections proves that at the
time of its formation all Scotland lay buried in ice. The coarse
shingle which underlies it in one place belongs to the lower
till; it probably owes its origin to the action of sub-glacial
torrents, or it may represent some of the loose shingle which
was scattered over the face of the country before the ice-sheet
began to overflow that particular district. The beds resting
immediately on top of the till are of a somewhat variable
character, as will be gathered from the two sketch-sections.
In some places they show considerable false-bedding, and con-
sist of well-washed sand and gravel; in other places they are
more or less earthy, and abound with angular and sub-angular
stones and boulders. They rest upon an eroded or worn surface
of the till, and are undoubtedly of aqueous origin; and since
they perfectly resemble the deposits which are formed by streams
and torrents in the glacier-valleys of Switzerland and Norway,
they tell of a time when the ice-sheet melted away, and when
the waters derived from dissolving ice and snow washed up and
rearranged the old sub-glacial and other morainic materials
which the ice-sheet had left scattered over its deserted bed.

2d, The next succeeding deposits bespeak changed condi-
tions. The flood-waters escaping from the retreating ice-sheet
had ceased to deluge the low grounds, and in the hollows of
the old glacial deposits appeared lakes, into which brooks
and streams carried fine silt and sand. By and by the climate
had become so far altered for the better that mosses and grasses
and birch-trees migrated slowly into the country, and insect-

260 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

life also made its appearance. The remains in the peat, so
far as they have yet been examined, would lead one to infer
somewhat temperate climatic conditions. It is true that from
this particular bed no bones, horns, or teeth of any mammalia
have come, but the presence of large animals in the country is
suggested by the occurrence of Geotrupes stercorarius, a dung-
feeding species. The peat itself appears to consist largely of
twigs and branches—a good deal decomposed ; and from the
presence of rootlets penetrating the underlying sandy silt we
may suppose that we have here an old land-surface. From
the general appearance of the beds it might be inferred that
they mark the margin and bed of a shallow lake, or that they
were accumulated in some lake-like expansion of a stream.
In Fig. 7 we observe how the underlying “alpine diluvium”
has been denuded and washed—the finer materials having been
removed and the large stones left behind. We may suppose
that the peat which gathers round and over these stones repre-
sents the marshy bank of the old lake or stream. Traced in
some directions, the peat died out and was succeeded, as I
have said, by silt, sand, and clay—deposits evidently contem-
poraneous with the peat, and indicating either a lake-bottom or
the bed of some quiet back-water in a stream. In short, we
have here evidence of a land-surface supporting trees, and of
streams that carried away vegetable debris and insects, and
buried them in its silt and sand.

3d, The peaty bed with its overlying silt and clay is suc-
ceeded above by coarse earthy sand and gravel, with angular and
sub-angular stones and boulders which imply very different
conditions. The orderly deposition of fine-grained sediment in
quiet water was followed by the action of torrential water, and
the accumulation of materials of precisely the same character
as those which underlie the old lake-beds. To this tumultuous
accumulation succeeds a second mass of tough boulder-clay,
whose included stones prove it to have been rolled forward
underneath a mer de glace flowing in an easterly direction. The
phenomena presented by this till lead to precisely the same

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 261

conclusion as those suggested by the boulder-clay at the base of
the section. Once more a great ice-sheet enveloped the country
and rolled forward its bottom-moraine. Underneath this second
advance of the ice the loose superficial deposits which had
formed in the interval were demolished—only a few patches
having been here and there preserved. The section Fig. 8 shows
how the ancient lacustrine beds have been cut through and
the newer till rolled into the gaps and hollows made by the
ice-plough.

In other cases we find beds of clay with sea-shells inter-
calated between a lower and an upper mass of till—the presence
of which in like manner compels us to infer that the accumula-
tion of boulder-clay was not continuous but interrupted by one
or more long pauses, during one of which a considerable sub-
mergence of the land took place.

In England similar evidence is forthcoming. Thus in
Lancashire and Cheshire we encounter considerable deposits of
sand and gravel, containing gea-shells and other exuvie of
marine organisms, which rest upon and are covered by boulder-
clay. In other places, as near Hull, we see estuarine deposits,
from which remains of the Pleistocene mammalia have come,
occupying a similar position. It is well known, indeed, that
there are several distinct beds of boulder-clay visible in the
East Anglian districts, which are separated the one from the
other by intercalated deposits, some of which are unquestionably
of freshwater origin. Mr. S. V. Wood jun. describes a succes-
sion of no fewer than four boulder-clays, which, beginning with
the oldest, are as follow :—1, The Cromer clay; 2, The Great
chalky boulder-clay ; 3, The Purple clay of Holderness; 4, The
Hessle clay.

The oldest of these clays, that of Cromer, rests upon the so-
called “ forest-bed” of Norfolk, associated with which have been
discovered many mammalian remains, including those of ele-
phant, hippopotamus, horse, cave-bear, urus, Irish deer, and
many other cervide. The fauna is remarkable as showing a
commingling of Pliocene and Pleistocene species. Thus we

262 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

have among the former a bear (Ursus arvernensis), a rhinoceros
(BR. etruscus),’ and a deer (Cervus polignacus), which have not yet
been met with in any deposits of more recent age. Again,
several of the forms which appear in the “forest-bed” are com-
mon Pliocene species that seem to have vanished from the
European fauna in early Pleistocene times. Among these are,
Machairodus, and others which occur in the older Pleistocene
deposits, but have not been dug up in beds pertaining to the
latest stage of the Pleistocene Period. Nevertheless the charac-
teristic Pleistocene fauna is well represented in the “ forest-bed”
of Norfolk by such animals as cave-bear, wolf, fox, wild-boar,
urus, mammoth, Irish deer, roe, stag, beaver, and mole. The
fauna of the “forest-bed” is thus intermediate between that of
the Pliocene on the one hand and of the Pleistocene on the
other, and is more closely allied to the latter than the former.
Here, then, we have evidence to show that the Pleistocene
mammalia—those animals with which, as we have seen, Paleo-
lithic man was contemporaneous—were already in occupation
of England before the accumulation of the oldest boulder-clay
of that country. In those early preglacial times we are con-
fronted with certain animals, some of which seem to have died
out with the advent of the first glacial epoch, while a few
lingered on, but eventually vanished before the close of the
Pleistocene Period, the hippopotamus being the only one of the
true Pliocene forms which has survived. Overlying the “ forest-
bed” comes a series of fluvio-marine beds which have yielded
many plant-remains, amongst them being the Arctic willow
(Salix polaris), and an arctic and high-alpine species of moss
(Hypnum turgescens). These plants were detected in the upper
part of the fluvio-marine series immediately below the Cromer
boulder-clay, by Mr. Nathorst. Their evidence is quite in
keeping with that supplied by the overlying till. They show
that before that till was deposited the climate had become very

1 According to Professor Brandt, the R. Merckii, which occurs in the Pleis-
tocene deposits of Diirnten in Switzerland, is only a variety of the R. etruscus of
Falconer, See postea, p. 299.

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 263

cold, supporting only a meagre arctic flora. Eventually an
extensive ice-sheet overflowed the land, and crept south into
Norfolk and probably even into Suffolk.

The Cromer boulder-clay and its associated deposits of loam,
sand, and gravel, with large erratics, are overlaid by certain
gravel-beds, which are believed to be the continuation of a series
of sand- and gravel-deposits somewhat widely spread over East
Anglia, These are usually supposed to be exclusively marine,
and they have yielded marine shells which, according to Mr.
S. V. Wood, have a preponderating southern facies. Here and
there, however, as near Ipswich, they are associated with beds of
brick-clay, which seemed to me to be of freshwater origin, and
in which fragments of wood, sticks, and logs, have been found.
Similar brick-earths occur in the neighbourhood of Brandon,
Suffolk, where they have yielded to the researches of Mr.
Skertchly implements of characteristic Paleolithic types, along
with freshwater-shells and fragments of bones. This is by far
the most important discovery of Paleolithic beds which has
been made since Boucher de Perthes first detected the flint im-
plements in the ancient river-drifts of Abbeville. And it is
more especially gratifying to me as it confirms by direct evidence
the views I had been previously led to form as to the inter-
glacial age of many of the implement-bearing deposits of England.

Thus we have evidence to show that after the ice-sheet
which laid down the Cromer till had melted away mild con-
ditions of climate ensued. The sea, which then covered some of
the low ground of East Anglia, gradually became tenanted with
a group of shells which indicate plainly a temperature not lower
than that of the seas which now wash the English coast. More-
over, the Brandon freshwater loams and brick-earths show that
Paleolithic man had now become a resident in England, and
doubtless he would be accompanied by many of the Pleistocene
mammals which had been driven south on the approach of the
preceding glacial epoch.

Overlying the Brandon beds, with their flint implements,
comes the great chalky boulder-clay, or bottom-moraine of an

264 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

ice-sheet formed during the climax of glacial cold. It is this
poulder-clay which has been traced south to the valley of the
Thames. Resting upon it occur sands, gravels, and loams of
much the same character as those that immediately overlie the
Cromer boulder-clay. These deposits are the flood-accumulations
formed during the subsequent dissolution of the mer de glace,
which was brought about by another change of climate. To
these deposits succeeds a third boulder-clay, that which is known
as the purple clay,—the presence of which points to a third
advance of the ice-sheet. Overlying the purple-clay, again, we
encounter a series of sands and gravels which in the valley of
the Humber have yielded remains of Pleistocene mammalia,
together with many shells, conspicuous amongst which, by
reason of its abundance, is Cyrena fluminalis—a shell which no
longer lives in British waters. Lastly, these beds are covered
in their turn by a fourth sheet of boulder-clay, the Hessle
boulder-clay. Such is the general succession of the drift de-
posits which are exposed in the sea-cliffs and other sections in
Holderness. It proves that these deposits were accumulated
under very variable physical and climatic conditions. The great
chalky boulder-clay is the moraine profonde of the mer de glace
which flowed south as far as the valley of the Thames. By and
by a change of climate ensued, and the ice-front retreated to-
wards the north. To what extent this great covering of ice
melted away in Britain before the incoming of the succeeding
mer de glace which deposited the purple boulder-clay we cannot
tell. There are certain patches of shelly clay that occur above the
great chalky boulder-clay which lead us to believe that, after
the retreat of the ice underneath which that till was formed, the
North Sea was tenanted by an arctic fauna. Recently, Mr.
Lamplugh has described the occurrence in a till near Bridlington
Harbour of patches of freshwater beds, with peat and many shells
of a variety of Lymnea peregra, which appear to be intermediate
in age between the great chalky boulder-clay and the purple

boulder-clay.!. But whether these freshwater beds be older or —

1 Geological Magazine, Dee. ii. vol. vi. p. 393.

INTERGLACIAL EPOCGHS. 265

younger than the clays with arctic shells cannot be well made
out. They tell us, however, that between the accumulation of
the two tills referred to, a land-surface existed in Yorkshire, and
this of itself implies a very considerable lapse of time, not less
than a great change of climate. Plants once more crept north,
and molluses found their way into the streams and pools. Again,
however, the climate changed, and another vast ice-sheet over-
flowed the country, and ploughed out marine and freshwater
deposits, which we now find confusedly commingled with the
lower part of the purple boulder-clay. This third ice-sheet went
south as far at least as Lincolnshire. The beds which succeed
to the bottom-moraine of this ice-sheet afford very convincing
evidence of a complete change of climate, They have yielded
remains of the Pleistocene mammalia and estuarine and marine
shells—the general facies of which implies climatic conditions as
favourable as those of the present day. Yet once more those
glacial conditions vanished, and a fourth and last ice-sheet over-
whelmed the land, flowing south into Lincolnshire, but perhaps
not extending so far as that of the third glacial epoch.

Thus we have evidence in these English sections of no fewer
than four glacial epochs separated by intervening epochs of
mild climatic conditions. During the mild interglacial epochs
the Pleistocene mammalia made their appearance, and Palzo-
lithic man was likewise an occupant of English soil.

In the north-west of England and in the east of Ireland there
occurs a triple series of drift-deposits, as was first clearly indicated
by Professor Hull, consisting of a lower and an upper boulder-
clay, with an intervening group of marine deposits, which attain
in some places a thickness of several hundred feet. These, as I
believe, are the equivalents of the upper part of the glacial
series as developed upon the Yorkshire coast. The lower
boulder-clay of Lancashire and Cheshire and Ireland corresponds
to the purple boulder-clay of Yorkshire ; the middle sands and
gravels of the north-west of England and the northern and
central districts of Ireland are represented in Yorkshire by the
Hessle estuarine beds ; and the upper boulder-clay on both sides

266 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

of the Irish Sea corresponds to the Hessle boulder-clay of
Holderness. Bearing this correlation in mind, let us now
attempt to sum up the general physical and climatic changes
which obtained in the British area during the last interglacial
and concluding glacial epochs.

The dissolution of the mer de glace underneath which the
purple boulder-clay accumulated was followed by the appearance
of a wide land-surface in England. The British area formed at
that time a part of the Continent, and the Pleistocene mammalia
—horse, mammoth, ox, deer, etc.—invaded the land. Eventually
a gradual submergence ensued, and the sea by and by overflowed
wide regions. Traces of this ancient submergence have been
met with up to a height of over 1200 feet in Ireland, of more
than 1300 feet in Wales, and of 500 feet in Scotland. During
the earlier stages of that submergence the climate was mild and
genial, as is shown by the presence of Cyrena fluminalis and other
shells in the estuarine beds near Hull. But the temperature of
the sea fell as the submergence continued, the general facies of
the fossils which occur in the north-west of England and in
Ireland indicating upon the whole colder conditions than now
obtain in the adjacent waters. This conclusion is borne out
by the character of the shells in the high-level Scottish beds
which have yielded Tellina calcarea and Cyprina islandica, the
former a shell which does not now live in British seas, but
ranges north from the Danish shores of the Baltic to Spitzbergen.
It is evident then that during the deposition of the “middle
sands” of England and Ireland, the British Islands must have
formed an archipelago of islets. Although no marine deposits
occur in Scotland above a height of 500 feet, we must not
assume, for reasons that will presently appear, that the depres-
sion of the land was not so great in that direction. But the
submergence appears certainly to have decreased towards the
south to about 40 feet in the Fenland, and some 20 to 60 feet or
so along the borders of the English Channel. In Cornwall,
Devon, Dorset, etc., and at various points on the opposite French
coasts, occur deposits of marine gravel and sand, extending from

a i

‘ie
y

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 267

10 to 20, and in some places exceptionally to 60 feet above the
sea, which mark the limits reached by the submergence of the
epoch in question. The shells indicate a climate very much
like that of the present, but they have upon the whole a some-
what more northern facies. How long our area continued
depressed to the extent now indicated can only be conjectured,
but time was required for the erosion of beaches, and for the
accumulation of the massive beds of sand and gravel that
extend over considerable areas in the north-west of England,
and in Ireland.

By and by, however, as the climate continued to deteriorate,
the land began to re-emerge, and eventually attained a higher
level than the present, but how much higher it is impossible to
say. Snow now gathered thickly upon the mountains, and
glaciers crawled down the valleys and deployed upon the low
grounds ; the last glacial epoch had fairly set im. In Scotland
the ice-streams became confluent, and the snow, precipitated
heavily over all the Lowlands, gradually accumulated to form an
ice-sheet hardly less massive than any of those which had gone
before. We know from the direction of the rock-striations and
the carry of the stones in the youngest boulder-clay of Scotland,
that the Scottish and Scandinavian mers de glace of this epoch
were coalescent. The ice, ploughing over the surface of the
country, swept out the more or less loose deposits of freshwater
and marine origin, which had formed during the preceding
interglacial epoch, and left only a few patches here and there
as monuments of what had once been. The ice-stream that
crawled down the Moray Firth was forced to overflow Caithness,
and in doing so it rolled forward with its bottom-moraine a
confused assemblage of shells belonging to different zones, which,
during the preceding interglacial epoch, had gathered upon the
submerged low grounds and what is now the bed of the Moray
Firth. Hence the bottom-moraine of the mer de glace, which
overwhelmed Caithness, contains many broken, crushed, and
striated shells, scattered through its mass in the same manner
as the stones and boulders. We meet with the same phenomena

268 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

in the north of Lewis, where the bottom-moraine of the ice-sheet
that crept over that island is abundantly charged with shelly
débris, derived from the bed of the Minch.

It is the bottom-moraine of this latest great mer de glace
which appears at the surface all over Scotland and the north of
England, In the eastern counties of the latter country it has
been followed south as far at least as North Lincolnshire ; in the
west it forms, as I have said, the upper boulder-clay of Lanca-
shire and Cheshire, and it is the superficial till of North Wales.
It covers also a wide region in the central and north-eastern
districts of Ireland. - Although much yet remains to be done
before the southern limits of this latest ice-sheet are definitely
ascertained, yet the evidence is sufficient to enable us to form a
rough approximation to the truth. The basin of the Irish Sea
was filled to overflowing by ice coming from each of the three
kingdoms, while at the same time the Scandinavian mer de glace
occupied the bed of the North Sea, and pressed back the ice
creeping out from Scotland and England. The high grounds of
Northern England were deeply buried, but when we come south
as far as Derbyshire traces of recent glaciation disappear, and
the hills begin to show fewer marks of abrasion. It is probable
that, during the latest glacial epoch, the Peak and other hills
in that part of England were not overwhelmed by the general
mer de glace. A broad stream of ice, however, flowed out of the
Irish-Sea basin into Cheshire, and was probably coalescent there
with ice creeping down from the Welsh mountains. Charnwood
Forest appears at the same time to have supported a little ice-
sheet of its own, which, flowing out in all directions, carried
boulders north, south, east, and west. In the basin of the Irish
Sea the ice, being of enormous thickness, probably extended
south as far as Wicklow and Pembroke.

In the south of England it is doubtful whether any true
glaciers existed at that time, but the angular débris which over-
lies the raised-beaches on both sides of the Channel, and which
bespeaks, as Mr. Godwin-Austen long ago pointed out, cold
climatic conditions, is in all probability the subaerial equivalent

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 269

of the latest boulder-clay of Scotland, Ireland, England, and
Wales. Of the southern extension of the North Sea mer de glace
I will speak farther on.

The final dissolution of the latest ice-sheet in Britain was
followed as usual by the accumulation of vast quantities of sand
and gravel, boulders and angular débris. Flooded rivers, tor-
rents, and inundations, spread sand and gravel in wide sheets
over the low grounds, which reach to such heights and are dis-
tributed over so wide an area that they have sometimes been
attributed to the sea, although they have no particular resem-
blance to marine deposits, and are quite destitute of marine
organic remains. It cannot be denied, however, that some of
the gravel-deposits are with difficulty to be accounted for by
mere flood-action. They occur upon valley-slopes, and are
spread over the intervening plateaux between valleys in such a
way as to suggest that some other explanation of their origin
must be forthcoming, and such an explanation has been furnished
by Mr. Darwin (see supra, p. 141). Doubtless the phenomena
described by him were reproduced more or less extensively with
every return of glacial conditions, all through the Ice Age. One
can readily understand how, during the latest cold epoch, the
floods and torrents would frequently undermine and redistribute
alluvial deposits of interglacial age —how they would sweep
together all relics lying loose upon the surface, and again scatter
these broadcast—so that flint implements and the bones both of
arctic and southern mammals might come to be commingled in
those pell-mell accumulations of angular gravel which after-
wards gradually settled down as the frozen snow with which
they had been interbedded melted slowly away.

While such changes were taking place in the low grounds of
Southern England, the northern ice-sheet continued to retire
towards the heights, strewing hill-slope and valley-bottom with
its superficial moraines and erratics. Eventually a time came
when it ceased to invade the Lowlands, withdrawing, as it were,
to the mountains, where it broke up into a series of local
glaciers, and ere long finally vanished. In Scotland the closing

270 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

scenes of this latest. glacial epoch are more fully represented
than is the case either in Ireland or England. In neither of the
latter during or after the melting of the ice would the sea appear
to have gained to any extent upon what is now land ; there are
no late glacial shell-beds like those of the Scottish maritime
districts? The ice melted off the low grounds of Scotland, and
was followed shortly afterwards by the sea, which rose to rather
more than 100 feet above its present level. To this partial sub-
mergence belong those marine and estuarine deposits of the
Clyde, the Forth, and the Tay, which are characterised by the
presence of arctic shells, the Arctic seal, and many ice-floated
blocks and stones. Farther north the submergence appears to
have increased to as much as 200 feet, my colleague, Mr. Horne,
having detected late glacial marine beds up to that height above
the sea in Morayshire.

Crossing over to Scandinavia, we learn that notwithstanding
the severe glaciation which that region has experienced, patches
of freshwater interglacial beds have been preserved. These
interesting relics, described by Holmstrém, E. Erdmann, Na-
thorst, and others, are eloquent of great physical and climatic
changes. Hitherto such “finds” have been encountered only in
the south of Sweden,.and, so far as I know, not a trace of any
interglacial epoch has been recognised in Norway. There are
certain phenomena, however, connected with the “ gamle strand-
linier” or old beach-lines of that country which may possibly
be connected with interglacial changes. But before referring
to these I may first sum up in a few words what is known of
the late glacial deposits of Scandinavia. The final dissolution
of the ice-sheet was accompanied there, as in Britain, by the dis-
tribution of much gravel and sand and morainic débris, and by
the scattering of large erratics over hill-side and valley-bottom.
In many places the old bottom-moraines were much eroded and
their materials re-arranged and re-distributed. The melting of
the ice was likewise attended or followed by the gradual sub-

2 With the somewhat trifling exception of the ‘‘ Nar Valley beds” of East
Anglia.

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 271

mergence of the land in Southern Norway to a depth of 640 to
700 feet. From these heights down to the level of the sea, beds
of clay, sand, and gravel, charged with the remains of an arctic
marine fauna, are met with more or less abundantly. As I
shall point out in a subsequent chapter, they are overlaid by a
newer set of strata of postglacial age. Now, it is somewhat
remarkable that these high-level shelly clays and beach-deposits
appear to be restricted to Southern Scandinavia. At all events
no trace of them would seem as yet to have been observed in
Northern Norway. But, as is well known, many old beach-
lines, cut in the living rock, occur plentifully along nearly the
whole. coast, from Skonevig in the extreme north to Christiania
in the south; and some of these beach-lines, if such they be,
attain a greater elevation than is reached by any of the glacial
shell-beds.” Thus Kjerulf and Mohn record heights ranging

1 According to Kjerulf, clays with Arctic shells reach a height of 400 to 460
feet above the sea, while shell-banks of the same age go up to 530 feet. He
allows 40 fathoms or so (240 to 250 feet) as the depth at which the high-level
clays were accumulated, which, added to 400 to 460 feet, will give us 640 to 700
feet. The shell-banks would require some 90 feet of water for their formation,
and this, added to 530 feet, gives 620 feet. In Sweden, according to A. Erd-
mann, the submergence was greater, but he includes the dsar or drift-ridges
amongst the marine deposits, a view which is now generally abandoned by
Swedish geologists. ;

* For descriptions of the ‘‘ gamle strandlinier” of Norway see Keilhau: Nyt
Mag. for Naturvidensk., Bd. i. (1837) p. 105; Bravais: Comptes Rendus de
VAcad. des Sci., t. x. (1840) p. 691, and Voyages de la Commission Scientifique
du Nord en Skandinavie, en Laponie, etc. (1842); R. Chambers: Ancient Sea
Margins (1848), p. 289, and ‘‘Tracings of the North of Europe,” Chambers’s
Edinburgh Journal, 1849-1850 ; Kjerulf: Universitets-program (Christiania) for
forste Halvaar, 1870; Ibid. for andet Halvaar, 1872; Udsigt over det sydlige
Norges Geologi, 1879, p. 17; 8. A. Sexe: Paper accompanying Index Scholarwm
of the University (Christiania) for first season, 1872; Universitets-program
(Christiania) for forste Semester, 1874; Forhandlingar i Videnskabs-Selskabet i
Christiania, 1874, p. 185 ; Archiv for Mathem. og Naturvidensk., Bd. i. (1876)
p- 1; H. Reusch: Forh, Vidensk.-Selskab. (Christiania), 1874, p. 284; Ibid.,
1878, p.1; Nyt Mag. for Naturvidensk., Bd. xxii. (1876) p. 169; H.Mohn: Nyt
Mag. for Nat., Bd. xxii. (1876) p. 1; K. Pettersen: Archiv for Mathem. og
Naturvid., Bd. iti. (1878) p. 182; Bd. iv. (1878) p. 167; Tromsée Musewms
Aarshefter, Bd. i. (1878) p. 66. An excellent résumé of the present state of
our knowledge of the “gamle strandlinier” is given by Dr. Richard Lehmann in
the Programm der Realschule I. Ordnung im Waisenhause zu Halle fiir das
Schuljahr 1878-1879.

272 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

between 500 and 569 Norwegian feet (=515 to 586 English
feet). Nearly all those who have described the “gamle strand-
linier” attribute their origin in some way to the sea; they are
generally believed, in fact, to mark former sea-levels. There are
difficulties, however, in the way which this view does not
entirely remove. In the first place, they hardly resemble the
beaches which are being now formed in Norway. Indeed,
according to S. A. Sexe, no such rock-shelves occur at the pre-
sent water-level. “I cannot say,” he remarks, “that I have
seen any such incision there which I could imagine as a future
ancient coast-line in case the land should rise in the future,
although I have travelled not a little both on our fiords and
along the coast facing the open sea.” In the second place, the
strand-lines in closely adjoining fiords seldom agree either in
number or in relative height. Thus Professor Mohn found that
the strand-lines in the neighbourhood of Tromsée could be
arranged in six groups, of which the average levels were as

follow :—
lst group, 62 feet above sea.
2d 89 ,, ”
3d ” 124 ,, ”
4th 159, ”
5th ,, 194, ”
Gti BoA
mth “Ly Spots yh by

The strand-lines of the first group varied in level between 53
and 72 feet ; those of the second between 82 and 90 feet ; those
of the third between 114 and 132 feet; those of the fourth
between 154 and 162 feet; those of the fifth between 190 and
202 ; those of the sixth were noticed only in two places, and
stood at practically one and the same level ; and those of the
seventh ranged between 301 and 308, but they likewise occurred
only at two localities. These differences of level may perhaps
be more or less readily accounted for, partly by the configuration
of the ground where they occur, which would doubtless have its
influence upon the rise and fall of the tide, and. partly upon the

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 273

set of the tidal current itself. Every one knows that even on
our own shores the tides attain unequal heights, and the same
held good when our maritime regions were partially submerged
in postglacial times, as we know from the testimony of the
raised-beaches that fringe our coast-lands. It is quite possible
also that a more rigid system of measurement than has yet been
applied to the “ gamle strandlinier” may materially reduce some
of the present apparent discrepancies. But how are we to
account for the capricious distribution of the strand-lines? In
some fiords they are more or less well marked and occur at
several successive levels, while in others either one or more of
the series may be wanting, or strand-lines may be altogether
absent. Helland has suggested an explanation which gets rid
of the difficulty so far. He infers that during the period of sub-
mergence some of the fiords would continue to be filled with
deep glaciers like those of Greenland, and that the sea being
thus excluded no strand-lines would be formed in such fiords.
But this ingenious suggestion still leaves unaccounted for cases
of closely-adjoining fiords in which are found groups of strand-
lines that do not correspond either in number or elevation. To
explain such anomalies unequal movements of elevation and
depression of the land are out of the question, and even if they
were permissible, they would not account for the phenomena.
The fiords in which the conflicting and contradictory evidence is
found lie much too near to allow us to have recourse to this
favourite mode of solving such problems. Professor 8. A. Sexe
has advanced another view which is directly opposed to the
theory of the marine origin of the strand-lines. According to
him they date back to the Ice Age, and were cut out by the
great glaciers that flowed out by the fiords, in which their move-
ment must have been approximately horizontal. And in proof
that glacier-ice has had to do with their formation, he points to
the occurrence of glacier-carried stones upon a strand-line
described by him, and to the yet more remarkable appearance
of ice-worn rocks and glacial strie upon another strand-line (45
feet over the sea-level) in Osterfjord. These striz, however, did
T

274 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

not trend horizontally like the strand-line itself, but dipped down
towards the opening of the fiord in the same direction as the
general glaciation of the hill-slope. It was only at the lowest
level close to the water that a second system of horizontally-
disposed strize was observed. I confess it is difficult to conceive
how a glacier could excavate horizontal benches in a hill-side ;
but, admitting that it could, surely some of the strand-lines occur
in positions opposed to the direction followed by the ice-flow ?
I have not visited Norway for many years, and my examination
of the old strand-lines was very cursory, but if I remember
rightly some which I saw between Tromsde and Hammerfest
ran along the coast-lands that faced the open sea. Those, at all
events, described by Mohn as occurring on the west coast of
Kvaloe, it is hard to believe could owe their origin to glacial
erosion. Again, if such were their origin, we might expect to
meet with similar horizontal rock-ledges in all mountain-tracts
which have in former times been severely glaciated, as in the
Alps, the Pyrenees, and the mountains of our own islands,

Mr. Karl Pettersen has advanced yet another view. In his
opinion the rock-ledges have been cut out by the scouring action
of floating-ice carried along by tidal currents. To this theory
also objections arise. Strong currents would probably flow
between the islands just as they do at present, but surely in a
quiet fiord—a regular cul de sae—such scouring action would
not be at all likely to take place. I might refer, for example, to
the strand-lines in the Jokulsfjord, which I examined in com-—
pany with Mr. Whitaker and my brother, and which the latter
has suggested might “have been due in large measure to the
effects of the freezings and thawings along the old ‘ice-foot,’
and to the rasping and grating of coast-ice.” ?

I feel that I should not be justified in expressing any positive
opinion on a question, for the satisfactory solution of which,
perhaps, more exact and exhaustive data are required ; but so
far as Iam able to follow the evidence it seems to point, first,
to the marine origin of the “gamle strandlinier,” and, second, to

1 Proc. Royal Soc. Edin., 1866, p. 548.

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 275

the great probability that frost or floating-ice has had a share in
producing some of them at least. But even after admitting so
much there still remains for explanation the capricious distribu-
tion of the ledges, their presence in one place, their absence from
another, where the conditions would seem to be as near as may
be alike. Certain observations in Scotland have led me to
suggest an explanation of the phenomena, which I throw out here
for the consideration of my Norwegian friends. At several places
on the Scottish coast, particularly in the neighbourhood of
Ballantrae in Ayrshire, I have observed rock-ledges of precisely
the same character as those which I saw in the north of Norway.
They occur at a greater elevation than is attained by any of
the late glacial and postglacial shelly clays, which is suggestive,
therefore, of their greater antiquity. But what settles this
point is the fact that they have been glaciated at a time
subsequent to their excavation—they are distinctly moutonnées.
In connection with this, I note the fact that I found till with
striated stones lying here and there in holes and hollows of the
surface, all of which puts it beyond doubt that the rock-terraces
in question were overflowed by the ice of the last glacial epoch.
I have little doubt, indeed, that they mark old sea-levels which
were excavated during the last interglacial epoch, and that they
are thus contemporaneous with the “middle sands” of Ireland and
the north-west of England. Now it seems not improbable that
many of the ancient strand-lines of Norway may belong to this
period. The glacial strize observed upon the strand-line in
Osterfjord by Sexe, seem to me to tell the same tale as the
roches moutonnées and till on the Ayrshire rock-terraces. The
glaciation is certainly more recent than the formation of the
strand-line. If we might suppose, therefore, that many of the
old sea-margins of Norway pertained to the same interglacial
epoch as those of Scotland, we should explain in a natural way
some of the apparently conflicting phenomena to which reference
has been made. The absence of sea-shells, etc., and of sand and
gravel, or shingle, upon the rock-ledges, would no longer offer a
difficulty, for all such loose material would tend to be swept

276 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

away by the ice. To the unequal erosive action of the glaciers
might likewise be attributed the capricious manner in which
the ledges appear now to be distributed. Thus in some places
they might be partially or entirely effaced, while in others they
would escape with only some inconsiderable abrasion. I do
not conceal from myself that there are still difficulties which
this suggestion may not help to remove. Thus it might be
objected that the shelly deposits of Southern Scandinavia have
not been demolished. These beds, however, are believed by all
who have studied them both in Norway and Sweden, to belong
without doubt to a period subsequent to the last great extension
of the mer de glace,—there has been no general glaciation of
Scandinavia since these beds were accumulated. Are we to
believe then that the submergence which carried Southern
Scandinavia in late glacial times down to a depth of 500 to 600
feet, was not prolonged into the north of Norway? That is by
no means improbable. On the other hand, we might possibly
explain the absence of high-level shell-beds in Northern
Norway, by supposing, with my friend Mr. Helland, that the
great fiords were up to a late period still filled with large
glaciers like the ice-choked fiords of Greenland. We should
thus have two periods of submergence for Scandinavia—the
first during the last interglacial epoch, when Wales and Ireland
were drowned to a depth of more than 1000 feet, and when
Scotland also was deeply submerged ; and the second in late
glacial times, when the ice was melting away, and a highly
arctic fauna lived over the submerged parts of southern
Norway and Sweden,—a stage corresponding to that of the
late glacial marine and estuarine beds of Scotland.

The great Erratic formation of Northern Germany has
yielded notable examples of interglacial deposits, the true
character of which, however, has only recently been recognised.
As I have indicated in a previous chapter, the drift accumula-
tions generally are supposed by many geologists to have
gathered upon the sea-bottom at a time when all the low
grounds of Denmark, Holland, Northern Germany, Poland,

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 277

and a wide region in Middle Russia, were submerged, and ice-
bergs laden with the débris of Scandinavian rocks sailed over the
drowned countries. The occurrence of marine shells here and
there in the boulder-clay of Prussia seemed to afford strong
confirmation of this view. But, on the other hand, the
discovery of land- and freshwater-shells under similar circum-
stances appeared directly to contradict the evidence furnished
by the presence of the marine mollusca. And the evidence
was still farther complicated by the appearance of marine- and
freshwater-shells commingled in one and the same section of
boulder-clay. Thus in the boulder-clay near Berlin we find
such sea-shells as Mactra solida, along with freshwater forms,
as Valvata piscinalis, The freshwater-shells abounded here,
and with them were associated remains of the Pleistocene
mammalia. In other places solitary specimens of sea-shells (as
Cardium edule and Buccinum undatum) have now and again
been detected ; and the same is the case with the freshwater
forms Valvata piscinalis and Paludina diluviana.’ It is little
wonder that this curious commingling of marine and terrestrial
relics in the till should have greatly puzzled geologists.
Berendt, thinking more especially of the marine fossils, has
speculated about the former existence of a wide-spread
“diluvial” sea; while others, overlooking or not knowing of
the occurrence of the marine forms, have supposed that the
drift-deposits were accumulated in a great freshwater lake.
Jentzsch, again, was of opinion that the phenomena would be
better explained if we could suppose that a large lake formerly
occurred in close proximity to a sea; and Kunth improved
upon this suggestion by inferring that there might have been
many inland lakes which by and by would become filled with
sea-water as the submergence of the land increased. Lastly,
Roth put forward the view that the freshwater molluscs may
have lived in inlets and shallow bays of the sea which were

1 References to the various authorities for these statements will be found in
Dr. Penck’s paper on the erratic formation of North Germany, Zeitschr. deutschen
geol. Ges., 1879, pp. 125, 141.

278 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

freshened by the influx of water (streams and rivers) from the
land.

It is to be noted that most of the shells that occur in the
German till are, according to Penck, so broken and abraded
that the species is often difficult to determine ; and Berendt
has figured a specimen of Cardiwm edule which is distinctly
striated. Penck found a similar specimen in the boulder-clay
of Marienburg in West Prussia, and the geological collection
in the University of Breslau, he says, contains another. The
same geologist mentions another noteworthy fact ; the shells are
sometimes filled with a material differing entirely from that of
the till in which they lie embedded. Thus a specimen of
Paludina diluviana in the coarse boulder-clay of Rixdorf, which
lies a few miles east of Berlin, was filled with a fine ductile
clay, and a Nassa reticulata from the boulder-clay of Dirshau
in West Prussia, with fine sea-sand. It is evident, indeed,
that all these sporadic specimens of molluscs are merely
erratics like the glaciated stones amongst which they occur.
They have been derived from some pre-existing beds which
the mer de glace has demolished and commingled with its
bottom-moraine. The question now arises whether we can
tell anything about the history of those beds which have thus
been so highly broken up and destroyed. Were they of pre-
glacial or interglacial age? Fortunately some portions have
been preserved, the position of which, intercalated between
two distinct sheets of boulder-clay, settles at once their inter-
glacial age.

On the valley-slopes of the Spree, in the neighbourhood of
Rixdorf, there is a line of sandpits in which the following sec-
tion is laid bare :—

1. Upper boulder clay : é . 6 to 10 feet.
2. Sand, with gravel and rolled stones in under

portion é ; ; (380) ,,, 40) ;;
3. Lower boulder clay : : se tO a
4. Sand.

From the sand (No. 2) many remains of the Pleistocene

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 279

mammalia have been disinterred. The species are Elephas pri-
migenius, LH. antiquus, Rhinoceros tichorhinus, R. leptorhinus, Bos
priscus, Cervus megaceros. Freshwater-shells accompanied these
remains.. Out of a bed of sand at Kreuzberg, occupying a
similar interglacial position, remains of the musk-sheep (Ovibos
moschatus) have been obtained. Thus, we have clear evidence
that the Glacial Period in North Germany, like that of Scandi-
navia and our own islands, was not a long uninterrupted period
of severe arctic cold. The ice which had at one time overflowed
the great plains down to the high grounds of Saxony melted
away, and the Pleistocene mammalia occupied the area from
which, doubtless, they had been driven before the advance of
the snow and ice. It is highly probable that the Rixdorf inter-
glacial beds belong to the last interglacial epoch, and to the
same era we should probably assign the interglacial infusoria-
beds near Domitz (Mecklenburg-Schwerin) on the Elbe. Pro-
fessor F, E. Geinitz has described* a section exposed in the
brickworks at Wendisch-Wehningen, which shows the following
succession :—

. Thick overlying mass of boulder-clay.

. Layer of finely-laminated clay ; a few inches thick.
. Band of black infusoria-earth ; eighteen inches.

. Layer of finely-laminated clay ; a few inches.

. Yellow boulder-clay of variable thickness.

. Fine sand.

ao P WD

The black-earth is rich in humus, and abundantly charged
with freshwater diatoms, which are also plentifully present in
the thin layers of clay between which the “infusoria-earth”
occurs. The freshwater beds are bent and distorted, and thus
partake of the disturbances which are a common feature of the
drift deposits throughout all Mecklenburg.

1 Beyrich: Zeitschr. deutsch. geol. Ges., 1868, p. 647; Dames: Jbid., 1875,
p. 481. Professor Berendt showed to Mr. Helland a reindeer’s horn, which, he
said, had come from the same place. Zeitschr. deutsch. geol. Ges., 1879, p. 92.

2 Roemer: Zettschr. deutsch. geol. Ges., 1874, p. 601.

3 Beitrag zur Geologie Mecklenburgs, 1880, p. 40.

280 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

On the same geological horizon as the ossiferous sands of
Rixdorf occur the freshwater sands of Tempelhof (Mark Bran-
denburg), which have yielded Paludina diluviana, Kth., Bithynia
tentaculata, L., Valvata piscinalis, Mill., and Pisidium amnicum,
Mill.

It was formerly supposed that only two boulder-clays occurred
in North Germany, which were ranged, along with associated
beds of clay, sand, and gravel, in two groups, termed respect-
ively Upper and Lower Diluvium; but it is now known that
the lower boulder-clay which appears under the ossiferous beds
of Rixdorf and the freshwater shelly deposits of Tempelhof is
not the oldest till. In the neighbourhood of Potsdam it is
underlaid by an older set of freshwater deposits, which contain
the same species of shells as those at Tempelhof, with the addi-
tion of Succinea amphibia, while immediately underneath these
beds comes a third boulder-clay. That this last boulder-clay
may possibly represent the ground-moraine of more than one
ice-sheet is shown by a boring made near the Schwielow-See,
which, according to Berendt, gave the following results :—

Métres. Métres.

Boulder-clay . : A «26

Stoneless clay . ; OG | sot : “5 eas
Boulder-clay . : ‘ Oa

Sand . : a ad)

Boulders : : : . 08 | sna etc. : - 2:5.”
Gravel . : : : 1057

Boulder-clay . : : - 05

Sand . P 5 : F #4)

Boulder-clay . ; F - O05 | Boulder-clay é 19Gb. IC:
Sand . ; : : G- VFii

Boulder-clay . ! : . 30]

Sand . : : : tO

Gravel . : : P eG

Gravel-and boulders. eg: hee ei i cite Ne
Boulders and gravel : 2 2:3

Boulder-clay . 2 Z eno, ‘ : ; : E.

It is quite possible that the sand-beds B and D may represent
interglacial beds ; on the other hand they may be merely: lenti-

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 281

cular masses belonging to the boulder-clay itself, due perhaps
to the action of subglacial waters. Be this as it may, we have
in the evidence given above clear proof, as Dr. Penck has ad-
mirably shown, of the existence of at least three boulder-clays,
separated the one from the other by intercalated deposits of
freshwater origin.

But if we have evidence of the existence of a land-surface
in North Germany during interglacial times, we have no less
certain proof that the same land-surface has also been submerged.
Between the upper and lower clays of the province of Prussia
come beds of sand and gravel, which, according to Berendt, have
yielded a number of shells of marine molluscs, such as Cardium
edule, Nassa reticulata, Cyprina islandica, Mactra solida ; and from
the same beds Jentzsch has recorded Yoldia (Leda) arctica, and
the fresh- or brackish-water form Paludina diluviana. This
commingling of discordant species, and the fact that the speci-
mens of Yoldia are all much rolled and worn, have led some to
doubt whether they really occupy their original bedding-place.
But Jentzsch points out that they are widely distributed through
the beds in which they occur, and thinks there can be no doubt
that they are in place and have not been derived from any pre-
existing strata. In these beds we have, according to Penck, a
marine littoral accumulation; they mark the shores of an inter-
glacial sea upon which the shells were cast up and rolled about
by the waves, and the few freshwater forms that make their
appearance have been washed down, he thinks, by streams and
freshets from the land. The lower blue boulder-clay of the
same province, which is very abundantly charged with well-
scratched boulders, has yielded at Elbing sporadic shells and —
fragments of Dreissena sp. and Yoldia arctica, and it is under-
laid in the neighbourhood of the Frisches Haff by a bed of fine
stoneless clay, which attains a thickness of nearly 200 feet.
Yoldia arctica occurs throughout this clay sparsely, in strings
or thin lines. The specimens are thick-shelled like those in the
Norwegian glacial clays, and they are well preserved, some of
them having still their epidermis. Besides these, Cardiwm edule

282 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

also occurs, together with many more or less comminuted frag-
ments, some of which appear to belong to Cyprina islandica.
Entire specimens of these shells have not yet been found, all,
with the exception only of Yoldia, being crushed and broken.
That the clay in which they occur has experienced enormous
pressure is shown, says Penck, by the extraordinary confusion
and disturbance of its bedding. In fact it has been so firmly
compressed and squeezed, and is now so hard that at the tileries
they blast it with gunpowder.

Freshwater beds of sand with Dreissena sp. and Valvata sp.
were detected by Penck in association with this Yoldia clay.
They were characterised by the presence of small fragments of
northern rocks, such as bits of Silurian from Gottland, and
fragments of felspathic and crystalline rocks. These he thinks
could only have been derived from some pre-existing mass of
boulder-clay in Germany—probably on the same horizon as that
of the third or lowest boulder-clay of Mark Brandenburg.

Passing south into Saxony we find that the upper boulder-
clay of Prussia and North Germany is wanting, the two boulder-
clays which do occur corresponding to the second and third
boulder-clays of Mark Brandenburg. The succession of deposits
given by Penck is as follows :

Drirt-FoRMATION OF SAXONY.

1. Upper boulder-clay, containing isolated sporadic specimens of Paludina
diluviana, ‘This bed corresponds to the second
boulder-clay of Mark Brandenburg.

2. Flood- and River-

gravel and sand—On same horizon as the freshwater interglacial
beds of Potsdam, and the marine stoneless clay
of Elbing, near the Frisches Haff.

3. Lower boulder-clay, representing the third or lowest boulder-clay of
Mark Brandenburg.

4, Sand with northern

materials . . . Corresponding to the sand and northern materials
which underlie the lowest boulder-clay of Mark
Brandenburg.

One of the most interesting points in connection with the drift-

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 283

deposits of Saxony is the commingling, in certain of the beds,
of stones which have come partly from the north and partly
from the south. This curious fact has been noticed by many
observers—by Cotta, Beyrich, Girard, Lasard, Orth, Credner,
Dathe, Penck, and Jentzsch. The Leipzig gravels, in which
chalk-flints derived from the north are common, are yet full of
stones which could only have come from the hilly districts to
the south ; and according to Dathe, south materials predominate
in the district between Dobeln and Dahlen close to the Prusso-
Saxon boundary. Southern stones also appear still farther east,
at Grossenhain, and in the country north of Dresden, between
Radeberg and Kamenz. In this latter district the majority of
the stones are local or from the north, but among these an
occasional truant from the south may be detected. Such stones
of southern origin are restricted as a rule to the gravels (No. 2
of the preceding table); but now and again specimens are
found in boulder-clay. The origin of these phenomena is thus
explained by Penck. The lower sand with northern materials
pertains to the first glacial epoch at the climax of which the
northern mer de glace approached the base of the Harz and Erz
mountains, and covered Saxony with a sheet of boulder-clay.
Then came a change of climate when the ice-sheet melted away,
and when rivers and streams flowing north from the Saxon
highlands denuded and re-arranged the lower boulder-clay, and
commingled its stones and boulders with gravel and shingle
derived from the south. This was the first interglacial epoch.
After some time a second glacial epoch ensued, when a
northern ice-sheet again advanced into Saxony, and rolled its
bottom-moraine over the country. The interglacial gravels
were then ploughed out in many places, and their materials
thus became incorporated in the second boulder-clay.

The drift-deposits of Holstein and Denmark, like those of
Germany, are divided into Upper and Lower Diluvium. Each of
those countries contains an upper and a lower boulder-clay,
separated by intervening deposits of gravel, sand, and clay. At
Fahrenkrog in Holstein a clay between the upper and lower

284 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

boulder-clay has yielded Mytilus edulis, Tellina balthica, Mactra
subtruncata, Mya (fragments), Littorina, Littorinella, Chenopus
(Aporrhais) pes-pelicani, Bulla, Balanus, Valvata, Oythere lutea.
The presence of the freshwater Valvata clearly indicates the
proximity of some land-surface from which it was washed down.
In connection with this it is worth noting that. Mobius has
chronicled the discovery of an atlas of Bos primigenius in the
upper boulder-clay at Ellerbeck.' Underneath the lower boulder-
clay occur well-bedded clays (Bdnderthone) containing only a
few sporadic stones, most of them angular and consisting of red
felspar, granite, and gneiss. These stones, according to Penck,
have probably been derived from the wreck of a still older
boulder-clay, on the same horizon as the third boulder-clay of
Mark Brandenburg. It is remarkable, he says, that the beds
underlying the second boulder-clay should yield similar evidence
over so wide a region. The Bénderthone of Danzig, Pomerania,
Berlin, and Holstein, all contain fragments of northern rocks,
and some of the clays at least are of freshwater origin. He
therefore would assign their formation to an interglacial epoch
following after the dissolution of the first ice-sheet, when the
ancient bottom-moraine was highly denuded, and its materials
re-arranged and re-distributed, gathering here and there in
lakes, and also perhaps in the sea.

According to Forchhamther? there are no fewer than four
boulder-clays in Denmark, separated by intercalated beds of
sand and clay ; and Puggaard has shown that there are three
tills displayed in Méen. From beds between the two lower
boulder-clays of that island the last-named geologist obtained
Lellina balthica, Venus ovata, Cyprina islandica, Cardiwm edule,
and Ywrritella sp. As I have already stated, it was Puggaard’s
opinion that the great confusion visible in the sea-cliffs at
- Moens Klint was caused by subterranean movements, but that
it is due to the grinding and crushing action of the last ice-

1 Schriften des naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins fir Schleswig-Holstein, 1878.
2 Oversigt over det Kgl. Danske Vidensk.-Selskabs Forh., 1843, p. 103; Bull.
Soc. Géol. France, 1847, p. 1178.

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 285

sheet, as Johnstrup maintains, appears to be clearly made out.
The succession of changes evinced by the drift-deposits of Moen,
as given by Dr. Penck, is extremely interesting. After the ice
of the first glacial epoch had melted away, the Cretaceous strata
of Moen lay undisturbed, and covered with a sheet of boulder-
clay. At this time a shallow sea overspread this part of
Denmark, and sand with molluscan remains gradually gathered
over the surface of the old bottom-moraine. Then ensued the
second glacial epoch, when glaciers began to descend to the
Baltic, the bottom of which became cloaked with the fine mud
carried down by sub-glacial waters, Thereafter the ice gradually
advanced, rolling up this mud with its bottom-moraine, and
overflowing the Danish country as before. The Cretaceous
deposits of Moen being thickly covered by older drifts, were to
some extent protected from the grind of this second ice-sheet,
as is shown by the fact that the second boulder-clay contains no
chalk fragments until we pass westwards of Mien. After the
disappearance of this second ice-sheet Moen and the rest of
Denmark appeared as a low flat land, which in the course of
time was deeply incised by streams and rivers, and eroded by
the waves and breakers until it came to present lofty cliffs to
the sea, like those which are now to be seen at Stevens Klint.
When the ice of the last glacial epoch next advanced upon
Denmark, its passage was thus opposed by long precipitous
walls of chalk, against which it pressed with enormous force,
rupturing and smashing the rock, dragging huge masses of it
out of place, squeezing tongues of boulder-clay into the fissures ;
and in short producing all the wild confusion and disturbance
which is now so conspicuous a feature at Moens Klint.

The drift-deposits of Faxée offer a similar succession of
boulder- clays, and, like those of Moen, betoken three glacial
epochs separated by interglacial eras of milder climatic condi-
tions ; and precisely the same results have been obtained by a
study of the glacial phenomena in Southern Sweden.

The youngest of all the glacial deposits are those enormous
erratic blocks and boulders, and wide-spread sheets, hummocks,

286 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

and ridges of gravel and sand which appear almost everywhere
over the low grounds of Northern Europe.. They belong to the
time when the ice-sheet was melting away. The erratics were
doubtless transported upon the back of the mer de glace, and
carried southward to its terminal front. They are found covered
by, embedded in, or perched upon, the surface of diluvial and
morainic sand and gravel. Sometimes they rest directly upon
boulder-clay, or, when that is absent, upon some of the older
rocks. I have described the mode in which the loss appears to
have been formed. Its deposition doubtless continued so long
as muddy water overflowed the low grounds of Europe, and
hence it belongs to all stages of the Glacial Period ; and its
enormous development in Southern Russia, as compared with its
sparser appearance upon the plains of Northern Germany, I have
already endeavoured to account for. The great accumulations
of “ Decksand” and “Geschiebesand,” which cover such broad
areas in Germany, Denmark, Southern Sweden, and Russia, are
due partly to the action of diluvial waters derived from melting
snow and ice which swept across the low grounds as these were
vacated by the mer de glace. But much of the materials may
have been derived from the surface of the mer de glace, upon
which it is most probable that considerable quantities of water-
worn morainic detritus would tend to accumulate, and to be
shot over the terminal front of the ice-sheet.

From this short review of the evidence we gather that the
Glacial Period of Germany and Denmark was characterised by
several great changes of climate. Dr. Penck has shown us that
there are at least three boulder-clays, and there may be more,
lying deeply buried under the drift accumulations of Middle
Germany. English geologists are especially fortunate in having
the secrets of their glacial formations laid bare in magnificent
sea-coast sections. Their brethren in Middle Germany, where
the drifts probably attain their greatest thickness, must be con-
tent with what is revealed to view in river-banks and artificial
exposures. The succession made out by them, however, is suf-

—_ —eey

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 287

ficiently remarkable, and the general results obtained may be
thus briefly summed up :—

1. Lowest Boulder-clay and associated sand and gravel.—
These are the accumulations of the first recognised glacial
epoch, during the climax of which the mer de glace advanced
to the foot of the Saxon uplands.

2. Sand and gravel with freshwater shells, and clay with
marine shells.—The first ice-sheet had disappeared from Ger-
many and Denmark when these deposits were laid down. They
show us that a wide land-surface existed in Northern Germany,
the shores of which probably extended to the neighbourhood of
the Baltic in Prussia, where we find occasional freshwater-shells
in marine littoral deposits. Denmark at this time was under
water.

3. Middle Boulder-clay.—This indicates the readvance of the
ice-sheet in the second glacial epoch. Again it extended as far
south as Saxony.

4, Ossiferous and shelly sands of Rixdorf and Tempelhof, and
marine beds of North Prussia.—Again the mer de glace had
vanished, and a wide expanse of land appeared in Germany,
over which the Pleistocene mammalia wandered. The presence
of Hlephas antiquus and Rhinoceros leptorhinus, together with
the musk-sheep and the reindeer, betokens change of climate.
The two pachyderms must have lived in Germany when the
climate of the interglacial epoch had become mild and genial,
and the latter when it was colder. The musk-sheep and its con-
gener might thus have entered the country either during the
disappearance of the second mer de glace, or shortly before the
advent of the last. The sand of Gerdauen, with its sea-shells of
arctic type, which occurs upon this geological horizon, shows us
that towards the close of the second interglacial epoch a some-
what cold sea overflowed the low-lying regions of North Prussia.

5. Upper Boulder-clay.—For the last time the great Scan-
dinavian mer de glace occupied the basin of the Baltic, overflowed
Denmark and Holstein, and advanced as far south at least as
Berlin.

288 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

6. Sand, gravel, erratics, etec—The melting of the last ice-
sheet resulted in the wide distribution of erratic blocks, and
the heaping-up of sand and gravel hills, which cover enormous
areas in all the low grounds of Northern Germany, Poland, etc.

It may have occurred to the reader who has followed me so
far that the phenomena which have been attributed to the
action of this great mer de glace appear to be contradictory.
How, some one may ask, can we believe that the ice which
tumbled up the enormous chalk-masses of Méen could at the
same time overflow more or less incoherent deposits of sand and
gravel like those at Rixdorf without sweeping them entirely
away? To which it may be replied, For the same reason that
we believe flowing water does in some places erode and exca-
vate, while in other places it accumulates the detritus that
results from its own denuding action. One may surely hold that
a certain deep ravine or glen, in the upper part of a river-valley,
has been excavated in the course of ages by the stream one sees
at the bottom, and at the same time assert, without the fear of
being considered self-contradictory, that the broad alluvia (over-
lying, it may be, incoherent marine strata), in the lower and
more open reaches of the valley, have been deposited by the
very same river that dug out the deep ravine above. What we
maintain is simply this: first, that, in regions where the erosive
action of the ice-sheet was great, little or no boulder-clay was
allowed to gather, and hollows of smaller or larger dimensions
were scooped out, when the nature of the ground was favourable
to that end ; and secondly, that, in places where the grinding-
power exerted was less, thick boulder-clay frequently accumu-
lated, and sub-glacial and interglacial beds were often preserved.

The ice-sheet flowed, we cannot doubt, with a differential
motion: it must have moved faster in some places than in
others. In steep valleys and over a hilly country its course
would often be comparatively rapid, but very irregular—lagging
here, flowing quickly there—while in wide, open valleys that
sloped gently to the sea, such for example as those of the Forth
and the Tweed in Scotland, the whole body of the ice would flow

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 289

with a slower and more equable motion. As the ice-sheet ap-
proached its termination, more especially if that chanced to be
upon a broad and comparatively flat region, like Kast Anglia or
the plains of Northern Germany, the erosive power of the ice
would become weaker and weaker for two reasons : first, because
of its gradual attenuation, and secondly, because of its con-
stantly diminishing motion. These, in a few words, are the
varying effects which one might @ priori infer would be most
likely to accompany the action of a great ice-sheet. And an
examination of the glacial phenomena of this and other countries
shows that the actual results are just as we might have antici-
pated, had it been previously revealed to us that a large part of
our hemisphere was, at a comparatively recent date, almost
entirely smothered in ice. In places where, from the nature of
the ground, we should look for traces of great glacial erosion,
we find rock-basins now occupied by lakes; in broken hilly
tracts, where the ice-flow must have been comparatively rapid
but irregular, and the glaciation severe, we meet with roches
moutonnées in abundance, but with very little boulder-clay ; in
regions where the ice-flow has been opposed by cliffs and escarp-
ments, and where, therefore, the lateral pressure would be enor-
mous, the projecting rocks are either bevelled off and highly
abraded, or very much crushed, broken, confused, and displaced,
and their ruins commingled with the boulder-clay ; in open
lowlands and in broad valleys where. the ice-sheet would
advance with diminished but more equable motion, we come
upon widespread and often deep glacial deposits, and now and
again with interglacial beds; while over regions where the
ice-sheet, gradually diminishing in thickness, crawled slowly to
its termination, we discover considerable accumulations of
boulder-clay, often resting upon apparently undisturbed beds
of gravel, sand, and clay.

The distribution of interglacial deposits, therefore, is really
in itself a proof that they have been overridden by ice. When
they occur in highly glaciated regions, itis only as mere patches,
which, occupying sheltered places, have been preserved from

290 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

utter destruction. In the opener low grounds they are found
in greater force, although in such places they almost invariably
afford more or less strong evidence of having been subjected to
much erosion and crumpling. But the farther we recede from
the principal centres of glaciation, and the nearer we approach
the extreme limits reached by the ice-sheets, the more extensive
and the less disturbed do interglacial deposits become. In
a word, they occur in best preservation where the erosive power
of the ice was weakest ; they are entirely wanting where we
have every reason to believe that the grinding force was
strongest.

If we look at the interglacial beds themselves with any
attention, it is very rarely indeed that we shall not find proof of
their having been subjected to more or less crushing and erosion.
The overlying till or boulder-clay cuts into them again and
again—they are often caught up and involved with the till—
and crumpling and contortion are frequently conspicuous. No
one who has paid much attention to glacial matters will doubt
that all this powerful erosion and confusion is due to the
passage of ice over the beds. It may be taken as proved, there-
fore, that an ice-sheet does under certain conditions ride over
incoherent deposits of gravel, sand, silt, clay, and peat, without
entirely obliterating them. But all interglacial beds, even in
highly-glaciated Scotland, are not equally crumpled and con-
torted. Occasionally the layers of sand and laminated clay lie
quite horizontal, even when the till cuts down, as it were, to the
depth of 20 feet and more into the stratified deposits. We have,
therefore, further proof that ice may roll its bottom-moraine
over incoherent deposits without disturbing the horizontality of
their bedding, although at the same time these same deposits
may here and there be abruptly cut out and truncated.

If such has taken place in the valleys of a well-glaciated
country like Scotland, it surely cannot be unreasonable to infer
that in a less ice-worn country, in a region where the ice was
not so thick, and where its motion was slower, interglacial beds
should be much better preserved. If the ice has spared, in hilly

iil

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 291

Scotland, interglacial deposits that range in thickness from a
foot or two up to twenty yards and more, where is the improba-
bility of its having overridden much thicker and more continuous
deposits in those low-lying parts of England and the Continent
where it approached its termination ?

And here I may remind geologists of one among many
equally suggestive facts, connected with the distribution of
interglacial beds in Scotland, that while we have indubitable
evidence of submergence of the land, during the last interglacial
period, to an extent of upwards of 500 feet, the marine deposits
of that date have yet been all but entirely swept away from the
higher levels and more exposed parts of the country —there
being only one place where they are met with so high up as
500 feet. It is not until we get down to the low country —to
the wide open valleys, and to the borders of some of the great
firths (which are merely submerged valleys) —that we find the
relics of the marine stage of the last interglacial epoch attain-
ing any extent. A good example of this peculiar distribution
of interglacial marine deposits came before me recently in the
Outer Hebrides. Interglacial beds are met with in two places
in the Long Island, namely at Ness and in the Eye Peninsula.
The highest point attained by these deposits is about 200 feet
above the sea. They rest upon an eroded surface of till, and
are themselves overlaid by a second or upper till, underneath
which they show a most irregular surface, as a rule, being cut
into by the till and crumpled, contorted, and confused. In
other parts of the same cliff-section, however, they show little
or no disturbance at all, but the till rests upon them apparently
quite conformably. In the Eye Peninsula they occur as a mere
local patch, which exhibits all the appearance of having been
scooped and ploughed out—the clay being abruptly truncated,
and overlaid by red till. When these interglacial beds were
accumulated, all the low grounds of Lewis, up to a height of 200
feet at least, must have been submerged—and this submergence
could hardly have been local and confined to Lewis, but extended
in all probability to the whole Outer Hebrides. Where, then,

292 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

we may well ask, are the marine deposits which must at one
time have cloaked these low grounds—where are the clay-beds
and sandy deposits and beach-accumulations which must have
been laid down contemporaneously with the interglacial beds at
Ness and Garrabost? The low grounds in question are sprinkled
solely with till, and dotted with morainic rubbish and erratics.
Instead of marine deposits, we see only the marks of a recent
and severe glaciation. Every vestige of the last interglacial
occupation by the sea (with the two exceptions mentioned) has
been swept away by the ice-sheet, whose bottom-moraine was
rolled over the shell-beds at Ness and Garrabost. And the
principal mass of these deposits occurs in the very position
where, as I have pointed out more particularly in another place,
the ice-sheet must necessarily have exerted less grinding power.!

The distribution of the boulder-clay and interglacial accumu-
lations of the Continent furnishes us with abundant evidence
of the same kind. It is not, for example, in the mountain-
regions of Scandinavia that we meet with great sheets of boulder-
clay and intercalated deposits of interglacial age. If our atten-
tion were confined to the mountain-valleys we should probably
never discover that there had been more than one glacial
epoch—the ice of the latest cold period having, as a rule, swept
away every recognisable vestige of the beds pertaining to
the cold and mild epochs that preceded it. But when we ad-
vance southwards into Scania and Denmark—the drift accumu-
lations become thicker—underneath the youngest till many
fragments of earlier glacial and interglacial deposits are pre-
served. And this holds true, likewise, as we have seen, with the
drift accumulations of Northern Germany. These are known
to attain a great depth, for they represent the bottom-moraines
of several successive glacial epochs, together with the marine
and freshwater beds which were formed during mild interglacial
eras. The latter, however, frequently testify to the enormous
weight of the ice which overflowed them—they are compressed
and often violently puckered, twisted, and thrown into inextri-

1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxxiv. p. 862.

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 293

cable confusion—appearances which are well shown in many
places, as, for instance, in the neighbourhood of Elbing in
Prussia, near Domitz in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and again and
again in Mark Brandenburg.

I have drawn attention elsewhere’ to certain remarkable
facts connected with the distribution of interglacial beds in
North America, and have pointed out that the researches of our
fellow-labourers in the States and Canada have proved that
American interglacial deposits occur in the same peculiar
manner as our own :—they are absent or very rarely met with
in the regions north of the great lakes, and they increase in
importance as they are followed south. Mr. G. Jennings Hinde
has recently described some very interesting and important
sections, which are exposed upon the shores of Lake Ontario.”
These sections show no fewer than three separate beds of till
with intervening stratified deposits, the lower one of which
has yielded many plant-remains and freshwater organisms.
The section extends continuously along the shores of the lake
for a distance of nine miles and a half, and the fossiliferous
interglacial beds attain a thickness of 140 feet. Occasionally
they are violently contorted and confused, and in one place the
overlying till cuts down into them to a depth of more than 100
feet, the breach occupied by the till being about 450 yards in
breadth. Yet throughout the greater part of the section this
overlying till rests apparently quite conformably upon the
stratified deposits, which then show perfectly horizontal and
undisturbed bedding. Here, then, we have a case where one
and the same ice-sheet has ploughed out incoherent strata,
driving a deep and broad trench through them, although here
and there it has allowed them to escape with only severe
crumpling, contortion, and confusion, while in yet other places
it seems to have rolled its bottom-moraine quietly over their
surface in such a way as to leave the beds apparently unde-
nuded and undisturbed.

The same geologist writes me that “up to the present time

1 Great Ice Age, p. 466. 2 Canadian Journal, April 1877.

294 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

these interglacial clays, etc., appear to occur only in the lake-
depressions and other localities at low levels. I cannot find
them in the more elevated district, and supposing a fresh glacier
now to creep over this country, it would sweep before and
beneath it the till on the uplands, and cover over the stratified
clays in the present lakes with this material ; and there would
thus be a repetition of the same arrangement of stratified beds
and overlying till as is now seen in the present cliffs facing
the lake.” He thinks that the earliest ice-sheet had more
grinding power than the ice-sheets of later cold periods ; but
the till that overlies the fossiliferous interglacial beds indicates,
nevertheless, the former presence of a very considerable ice-
sheet, for the beds which it has spared are the mere frag-
ments of what must have been widely extended deposits cover-
ing a broad region, from which they have since been entirely
removed.

Mr. Hinde tells me also that he has detected plant-remains
in a similar position near Cleveland, Ohio. The deposits at this
place are described by Dr. Newberry as his “ pebbly Erie clay.”
They consist, my correspondent says, first, of till at the lake-
level; secondly, of about 48 feet of sand and loam, containing
a layer of plants; and thirdly, of good unstratified till, 6 feet
thick, full of striated stones.

I might easily refer to many examples of similar phenomena,
but I need not enter further into details. It is enough for my
immediate purpose to have pointed out that, in considering the
origin of glacial and interglacial deposits, it is needful that more
attention be paid to the distribution of these beds than has
hitherto been done. This is the direction in which, as it seems
to me, we must look for the key to the whole mystery ; indeed,
I do not see how otherwise we are to arrive at any reasonable
explanation of the phenomena. At the first blush it may appear
hard to believe that a great mass of solid ice could ever pass
over the surface of incoherent deposits of clay and sand. But
the appearances presented by these deposits tell their own tale,
and teach us, as we have been taught before, that our precon-

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 295

ceived notions of what Nature’s forces can and cannot do are
often enough wide of the mark.!

It is needless to refer one to the petty glaciers of the Alps
and Norway to prove that glacier-ice cannot both erode its bed
and accumulate débris upon that bed at one and the same time.
A mountain-valley glacier is one thing—a glacier extending far
into the low grounds beyond the mountains, and, it may be,
coalescing with similar extensive ice-flows, is another and very
different thing. No considerable deposit could possibly gather
below alpine glaciers like those of Switzerland and Norway ;
but underneath glaciers of the kind that invaded the low grounds
of Piedmont and Lombardy we know that thick deposits of
tough boulder-clay, crammed with scratched stones, did accumu-
late ; and not only so, but that these glaciers flowed over incoherent
deposits of sand and clay containing marine shells of late Tertiary
age, without entirely obliterating them. The deposits referred to
occur now as little patches within the area bounded by the
great terminal moraines.”

As physicists themselves are not yet quite agreed upon the
subject of glacier-motion, it is not incumbent upon the geologist
to explain the precise mode in which a thick mass of ice can
creep over the surface of incoherent beds without entirely demo-
lishing them. It is enough for him to show how the remarkable
distribution of the interglacial beds, and the various phenomena
presented by these deposits, indicate that ice has overflowed
them. It is needless, therefore, to tell him that the thing is
inpossible. The statement has been made more than once that
an ice-sheet several thousand feet thick is a physical impossi-
bility, but unfortunately for this dictum the geological facts
have demonstrated that such massive ice-sheets have really
existed, and there appears to be one even now covering up the

1 Tt may be doubted whether interglacial deposits, at the time they were over-
ridden by ice, were as loose and incoherent as they are at present. My brother
has suggested that, when the ice-sheet advanced over a land-surface, the loose
superficial deposits might be frozen so hard as to be capable of resisting a very
considerable degree of glacial erosion.

2 See postea, Chapter XIII.

296 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Antarctic Continent. We used also to be told, not so many
years ago, that the abysses of ocean must be void of life for
various reasons, amongst which one was that the pressure of the
water would be too great for any living thing to endure. Yet
many delicate organisms have been dredged up from depths at
which the pressure must certainly be no trifle. Now there seems
to be just as little difficulty in believing that these organisms
existed in a perfect state at the bottom of the ocean, as that
shells imbedded in clay would remain unbroken underneath the
pressure of a superincumbent ice-sheet of equal or greater
weight. If the ice were in motion, the clay with its included
shells might be ploughed out bodily, or be merely crumpled and
contorted ; or it might be ridden over with little or no disturb-
ance ; or, on the other hand, it might become involved with
subglacial débris, and be kneaded up and rolled forward—the
shells in this case being broken, crushed, and striated, just as
we find that the shells in certain areas of till have been. The
fate of the fossiliferous beds would, in short, be determined by
the rate of flow and degree of pressure exerted by the superin-
cumbent quasi-viscous body—the motion of which would be
largely controlled by the physical features of the ground across
which it crept.

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 297

CHAPTER XIII.

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS—Continued.

Interglacial deposits of Switzerland—Interglacial river-terraces at Camischollas—
Glacial and interglacial deposits near Thoron ; at Diirnten and Utznach ; at
the Bois de la Batie—Interglacial beds of Northern Italy—Ancient glacier of
the Lago d’Iseo—Lacustrine deposits of the Val Borlezza—Deposits in the
basin of Gandino—Lignites ot Leffe—Interglacial age of the lacustrine de-
posits of Val Borlezza and Val Gandino—Lacustrine deposits in Val Adrara
and Val Forestro—Deposits in the Upper Val d’ Arno—Interglacial deposits
of Central France—Pumiceous conglomerate and associated deposits at Per-
rier, near Issoire—Glacial and interglacial deposits in the valleys of the Ain
and the Rhone—Successive glacial epochs in the Vosges mountains—Two
glacial epochs in the Pyrenees—Interglacial deposits at Gibraltar—Probable
interglacial age of similar deposits in Malta.

WE discussed in the preceding chapter the general evidence
bearing upon the existence of interglacial deposits in Northern
Europe, and the testimony they furnish as to changes of climate
during the Ice Age. We have now to glance at the proofs which
are supplied to us by the glacial accumulations of the central
and southern regions of our continent in favour of similar cli-
matic vicissitudes having formerly characterised those regions.
Reference has already been made to the fact that M. Morlot,
many years ago, had arrived at the conclusion that the glacial
beds of Switzerland gave proof that there had been two periods
of intense glaciation, separated by an intervening epoch of
milder conditions. He showed that certain terraces, composed
of water-worn gravel and sand, identical in all respects with
modern river-deposits, occurred at heights varying from 50 to
150 feet above the present level of the streams. These terraces,

298 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

there could be no doubt, were of fluviatile origin, and they
indicated a time when the rivers flowed at considerably higher
levels than those of the present day. One of these terraces
borders the Rhine at Camischollas, above Disentis, at 4400 feet
above the sea, and thus demonstrates that, at the time of its
formation, the Alpine lands were free of ice up to that elevation
at least. Now, in many places these ancient fluviatile deposits
are found reposing upon glacial accumulations, and they are
themselves frequently obscured under masses of a similar
character. In the gorge of the Drance, near Thoron, the whole
series is admirably exhibited. At the bottom is tough, compact
boulder-clay, with striated stones, twelve feet thick, above
which come 150 feet of well-bedded river-gravel and shingle,
while these in turn are overlaid by an upper mass of boulder-clay,
charged, like the lower deposit, with erratics and highly-glaciated
stones. More recently, very interesting interglacial deposits
have been detected in the neighbourhood of Zurich. At Diirn-
ten and other places a bed of brown coal or lignite has been
worked for a long time, and was, until recent years, generally
believed to be of preglacial origin, from the fact that it is over-
laid in places with morainic debris and erratics. It has now
been proved, however, to be of interglacial age by the discovery
that it rests upon boulder-clay. The lignites have been described
in his usual luminous manner by Professor Heer.’ They occur
at Utznach in two layers, separated by beds of gravel and fine
sand, and overlaid immediately by coarse shingle and gravel,
surmounted by erratics. According to Heer, the lignites repre-
sent the swampy shores of an ancient interglacial lake, which,
now and again overflowing its limits, deposited sediment above
the vegetable soil, and thus gave rise to alternating beds of peat
and loam, sand, gravel, etc. Among the plants which have
been recognised by Heer are the following —

Pinus abies (same as the common Swiss fir).
P. sylvestris, Scots fir (with trunks as thick as a man’s body).

1 Urwelt der Schweiz, 2te Auflage, p. 513.

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 299

P. montana, mountain pine (agrees most nearly with P. montana,
var. humilis).

P. laria, larch, probably.

Taxus baccata, yew.

Betula alba, birch (very common, most probably the same as
the common Swiss birch).

Quercus robur, oak (uncertain whether Q. pedunculata or Q. sessili-
flora).

Acer pseudo-platanus, sycamore or plane.

Corylus avellana, hazel.

Menyanthes trifoliata, bog-bean or marsh-trefoil.

Phragmites communis, common reed.

Scirpus lacustris, bulrush.

Rubus ideus, raspberry.

Polygonum hydropiper, water-pepper ; doubtful.

Trapa natans, water-chestnut ; doubtful.

Galiwm palustre, marsh bedstraw.

Vaccinium vitis-idea, cranberry ; doubtful.

Holopleura victoria, a water-lily, not referable to any known
existing species.

Besides these there are various mosses, such as Sphagnum
cymbifolium, Hypnum lignitorum, H. priscum, Thuidiwm anti-
quum, ete., and a horsetail reed (Zquisetum limosum ?)

The osseous remains associated with the lignite represent :

Elephas antiquus.

E. primigenius.
Rhinoceros Merckii, Jeg.’
Bos primigenius.

Cervus alces.

Cervus elaphus.

Ursus speleus.

In the same beds occur numerous shells belonging to a few
species: such as Pisidiwm amnicum, Miill., Valvata obtusa, Drap.,
and a variety of V. depressa, Pfr., together with fragments of
Anodonte. Insect-remains are also abundant, and include Don-
acia sericea, D. discolor, Hylobius rugosus, and several predacious
eround-beetles.

The intercalated position of the Swiss lignites leaves no room
for doubt that the beds are of interglacial origin. They show

1 See ante, footnote, p. 262.

300 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

us that after the great glaciers had for a long time occupied all
the low grounds of Switzerland, and even deployed upon the
plains of France and of the Danube, they at length melted away,
leaving the ground covered with boulder-clay and with sheets
and heaps of shingle, gravel, and sand, and sprinkled with large
isolated erratics. The climate gradually became milder, and a
flora resembling that of to-day covered the Swiss lowlands.
Man was at that time probably an occupant of the country, as
is shown by the discovery in the lignite of several small-pointed
rods, which are believed by Riitimeyer and others to have
formed part of some basket- or wattle-work. How long this
mild interglacial epoch lasted we cannot tell. But its protracted
duration may be inferred from the thickness attained by the
brown coal. This, according to Heer, would require some
6000 years for its formation. Whether this estimate be over or
under the truth, it serves to show that the lignite could not have
accumulated between one of the comparatively rapid retreats
and advances which characterise the present Swiss glaciers.
The overlying morainic matter proves that the Linth glacier
again advanced—and that to a considerable distance — for
its terminal moraines are found at the lower end of Lake
Zurich. It ploughed down through the interglacial and older
glacials beds, sweeping them out of the bottoms of the valleys,
and leaving only shreds and patches of them fringing the hill-
slopes. This is very well exhibited at Utznach, where, standing
at the coal-mines which are driven into the hill-slope, we look
down into the valley at the head of Lake Zurich and see the
terminal moraines left during the retreat of the Linth glacier,
forming heaps and ridges. The lignites and freshwater sands and

clays evidently mark a former much higher level of the lake,

which must at one time have extended across the valley to a
similar elevation on the opposite side, where, indeed, patches of
the same old freshwater deposits have been detected. The latest
advance of the glaciers resulted, therefore, in the lowering of the
lake-level, and the demolition of the interglacial land-surface

? For some further account of the occurrence of Pleistocene lignite in and

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 301

Yet another example to show that there have been more
than one great invasion of the low grounds of Switzerland by ice.
At the Bois de la Batie above the confluence of the Arve with the
Rhone, near Geneva, thick boulder-clay is seen resting upon
conglomerate or hardened river-gravel. This latter bed is,
unquestionably, the ancient alluvium of the Rhone. Is it, then,
preglacial? Its contents shall answer for us. Here are a
number of stones which could only have been derived from the
upper valley of the Rhone, such as the euphotide from the
valley of Saas, in Valais. It is quite impossible that the Rhone
could have carried them into their present position, for the deep
cavity of Lake Leman (334 metres) intervenes. We must per-
force agree with M. Tardy, who remarks, that “a glacier is in fact
the only vehicle which could have transported them across the
lake from their parent rocks in Valais.” And that this glacier
was not the same as that which buried the ancient alluvium
underneath its boulder-clay is proved by the fact, mentioned by
Professor Favre, that the ancient river-gravel, at the time of the
last advance of the glaciers, had already been cemented into a
hard conglomerate, and was striated and polished just like any
other indurated rock-mass. Not only so, but it had been cut
down and highly denuded and worn into terraces by running-
water long before the last great mer de glace overflowed it. It
is further worthy of note that the ancient river-gravel rests upon
marly clay with freshwater-shells and traces of plants. These
facts show us that before the formation of the ancient gravel and
its associated deposits, the Rhone glacier must have filled up the
basin of the lake and strewed the ground at its lower end with
morainic detritus derived from Valais. Then came a period
when the glacier disappeared and its morainic deposits were
waterworn and re-arranged, and distributed over a wide area in
the neighbourhood of Geneva. In later ages the ancient allu-
vium was denuded and trenched by the streams cutting their

under boulder-deposits in Switzerland, see Zeitschr. deutsch. geol. Ges., 1880, p.
84, where Professor Credner describes and figures certain sections which were
observed many years ago by Escher von der Linth and A. Heim.

302 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

way down to lower levels. Meanwhile, what was once more or
less loose gravel had become cemented into hard pudding-stone.
Then came the last glacial epoch, when the glacier of the Rhone
re-advanced, and, grinding over the surface of the hardened
“alluvium,” scratched and polished it, and eventually covered it
up with boulder-clay.". The ancient alluvium of the Bois de la
Batie is thus, in all probability, of the same age as the Diirnten
lignite and gravel beds.

Some interesting deposits recently discovered by Dr. Greppin,
near St. Jacob, in the Birsthal, not far from Basel, are believed
by Professor Heer to be likewise of interglacial age. The beds
consist of a considerable thickness of gravel and shingle (80
to 90 feet), with an interstratified layer of clay, over three feet
thick, which has yielded plant-remains, such as pine (Pinus
sylvestris refleca, Hr.), white birch, hazel, hornbeam, two willows
(Salix cinerea and S. aurita, L.), cranberry, bog whortleberry,
bog-bean, privet, common dogwood, black alder, etc.—all the
species being still indigenous to the low grounds of Switzer-
land, and, with the exception of the bog whortleberry, to the
Birsthal. The same bed yields a few insects and many shells,
such as—

Helix hispida. Succinea oblonga.
» arbustorum. Carychium minimum.
», pulchella. Clausilia parvula,
» erystallina. Pupa marginata.
», edentula. » secale,
» montana, Limnea minuta.
Planorbis vortex. Vitrina elongata,
3 spirorbis. Cyclas fontinalis.
% carinatus, » rrvalis,

Physa hypnorum.

From another bed of gravel in the same valley, which is a
continuation of the upper gravel-beds of St. Jacob, Dr. Greppin

1 For descriptions of this interesting section see A. Favre, Bull. Soc. Géol.
France, 3° Sér. t. ili, p. 657 ; Ch. Lory, Lbid., p. 723; M. Tardy, Ibid., t. iv.
p. 182.

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 303

has recorded remains of the mammoth and the urus (Bos primi-
genius), and some land-shells.!

A bed of lignite, similar to that of Utznach and Diirnten,
is found at Chambery and Sonnaz in Savoy. It is interstratified
with beds of clay and gravel, which repose upon an unknown
depth of fine sand, and are covered by 100 feet of glacial
deposits. From the character of the vegetable and insect
remains in the lignite and clay, and from the geological position
of the deposits, they are believed to be of the same age as the
interglacial lignites of Switzerland.

The climate of the interglacial epoch, during which those
lignites were accumulated, appears to have been not unlike that
of the same regions at the present day, and the antiquity of the
deposits is shown by the presence of the extinct forms of plant-
and animal-life.

In certain of the Alpine valleys of Northern Italy we again
encounter lignites associated with old glacial deposits, which
present some very interesting features. The most important,
from our present point of view, are those which occur at Leffe,
in the basin-shaped valley of Gandino that opens upon the
Val Seriana, and the similar but less well-developed lignites of
the Val Borlezza, whose stream discharges into Lake Iseo. The
deposits have been admirably described by Professor Stopanni,
whose observations I have to a certain extent corroborated by a
personal examination of the ground.”

The Lago d’Iseo, as is well known, has formerly been filled
by a great glacier that descended from the higher Alps by the
Valle Camonica, and advanced for some distance into the plains
of Lombardy, where its terminal moraines now form the crescent-
shaped line of hills known as the Colline della Francia Corta
[See Plate B].? When the glacier reached its greatest develop-
ment it sent off a branch which left the main trunk near the foot

1 Urwelt der Schweiz, p. 532.

* Corso di Geologia, vol. ii. p. 657 et seg. ; Geologia d'Italia, per A. Stopanni
et G. Negri, Parte II., p. 248 e¢ seq.

3 Plate B is taken from Stopanni’s Corso di Geologia.

304 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

of the Val Borlezza, and, passing west and south-west by the
Valle Cavallina, descended as far as the village of Entratico on
the banks of the river Cherio, a few miles above Trescorre. At
the foot of the lake the main glacier was divided by the Colle
d Adro, the largest mass flowing south between Iseo and Clusone
towards the Colline della Francia Corta, and the shortest and
narrowest limb extending west by Sarnico down the present
course of the Oglio as faras Calepio. Several of the little lateral
valleys which drain into Lake Iseo do not appear to have sup-
ported glaciers of their own, but were simply dammed up by
the great glacier of the Valle Camonica as it flowed past them
on its way towards the plains. This was the case with the
Val Borlezza, which now opens upon the lake at the gorge of
Castro, not far from the head of the lake; and the smaller
valleys of Adrara and Forestro, near Sarnico, at the foot of the
lake, are examples of the same phenomenon. The valleys referred
to were thus converted into lakes, upon the beds of which
quantities of mud and loam were deposited. While the great
glacier was melting away the lakes in these side valleys were
drained, and the streams, resuming their work of erosion,
eventually cut their way down to the bottom of the old
lacustrine sediments, which are thus exposed to us in fine
sections. One can see at a glance that the Val Borlezza is only
the bed of a dried-up lake, now deeply incised by the stream
which has dug its way down to a depth of more than 200 feet
from the surface to joi the Lago d’Iseo. In the sections dis-
closed by the stream below Pianico the lacustrine strata, con-
sisting of silt, clay, and sand, in horizontal layers, are underlaid
by morainic deposits charged with many glaciated and striated
stones. At Pianico the lacustrine clay and sand are overlaid
by a mass of white marl—a kind of calcareous ¢ripoli, as
Stopanni describes it,—abundantly charged with the limy
skeletons of microscopic organisms. This deposit has yielded
abundant remains of plants and fish, together with those of a
rhinoceros (R. hemitachus, Falc.), determined by Dr. Forsyth
Major. The fish have not yet been studied, and our knowledge

PLATE B.

‘ ‘ To face page 304

GLACIAL SYSTEM OF LAKE ISEO.. .

a ;

Uh C
x

Stanford’ Geog" Estab‘

Fluvio-glacial Alluvium.

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 305

of the plants is still incomplete, but the following have been
recognised by Sig. Sordelli :—

Magnolia, Sp.

Acer pscudo-platanus, L., var. paucidentata, Sand.

Buaus sempervirens, L.

Ulmus campestris, L.

Taxus baccata, L.

Phacidium buxi, Westdp. (parasitic on the leaves of the box),

Above this highly fossiliferous marl come massive accumula-
tions of morainic detritus with large erratics. The complete
section at Pianico is thus in descending series as follows :—

1. Glacial morainic deposits.

2. Lacustrine marl with RA. hemitechus, etc.

3. Clay passing down into silt and sand, which contain

scattered and sporadic stones.
4, Sand, etc., abundantly charged with glaciated stones.

At what was formerly the head of the ancient lake the
river has exposed a seam of impure lignite, intercalated among
deposits of silt and sand.

Stopanni has demonstrated that this ancient lake owed its
origin to the damming up of the gorge of Castro, through which
the river Borlezza makes its way into Lake Iseo. The height
to which the mountain-slopes are glaciated, and the elevation
reached by the lateral moraine of the glacier that dammed the
valley, show that the icy bar rose to a level of more than 300
feet above the present surface of the lacustrine deposits of the
Val Borlezza. Enormous quantities of morainic débris were
toppled over the side of the glacier into the lake of the Val
Borlezza, while quantities of striated stones, along with sand
and mud, were extruded upon the bed of the lake from the
bottom of the glacier. At this time the stream flowing into the
old lake of Borlezza was swelled by muddy torrents escaping
from the ancient glacier of the Val Seriana, which then occupied
the basin of Clusone, and thus the bed of the lake came in time
to be covered with layers of mud and silt and sand, which
gradually attained a thickness of several hundred feet. While

306 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

these conditions obtained, the valley-slopes in the neighbourhood,
according to Stopanni, were clothed with magnolias, sycamores,
box-trees, yews, and so forth,—the rhinoceros wandered along
the margin of the lake, and fish abounded in its waters. This,
however, was before the glacier had reached its greatest develop-
ment. “The glacier,” he says, “continuing to increase, dilated
into the Val Borlezza. The lake, now partially silted up with
its own sediment, had become diminished in extent, and the
morainic débris fell from the side of the glacier upon the surface
of the lacustrine deposits,’ and then the ice finally melted
away and permitted the river Borlezza to drain the lake, and
eventually to cut a deep trench down through the ancient
lacustrine deposits. Thus, in Stopanni’s. opinion, all the
lacustrine beds of the Val Borlezza belong to a period when
the gorge of Castro continued to be dammed with ice, and we are
to believe that a rich flora, indicative of a climate not less, nay,
according to Sordelli, even more, genial than that now enjoyed
by the same valley, clothed the hill-slopes, while the great
glacier of the Val Seriana filled the broad hollow that extends
from Clusone to the river Borlezza. Again, we are to suppose
that this ancient lake—dammed with ice, fed by muddy water
flowing directly from a glacier, and by numerous lateral streams
descending from snow-covered mountains— was nevertheless
tenanted by many fish and microscopic organisms, whose calca-
reous skeletons gave rise to an accumulation of pure white marl.

With these conclusions I cannot quite agree; but before
giving my reasons for this dissent I will describe first the
phenomena presented by the famous lignites of Leffe, in the
basin of the Val Gandino, which drains into the Val Seriana.
The upper section of the Val Seriana has formerly been occu-
pied by a large glacier, which descended as far as Clusone,
where it abutted upon the flanks of the Pizzo Formico, a mas-
sive mountain, which separates the Val Seriana from the Val
Borlezza. Here the ice-flow divided, a portion spreading into the
Val Seriana, but the main mass creeping eastward, so as to
occupy the wide open space that extends from Clusone to the

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 307

Val Borlezza. It was the muddy water derived from this
glacier which, it will be remembered, fed the glacial lake
formed in the last-named valley by the ice-dam of the Camonica
glacier. From that portion of the glacier which dilated into the
lower reaches of the Val Seriana enormous quantities of shingle,
gravel, and sand were carried down by the river, forming banks
and terraces, which are seen fringing the flanks of the valley up
to a great height above its present bed. These can be traced
down the valley beyond the mouth of the Val Gandino, across
which they extend, forming a great bar, which, as viewed from
the road in the Val Seriana, has all the appearance of a huge
moraine. One’s first thought, indeed, is that this lofty bar has
been thrown down as the frontal moraine of an ancient glacier,
which may formerly have occupied the basin of Gandino. But
Stopanni has shown that the bar is made up of shingle, gravel,
and sand, the greater portion of which has come down the Val
Seriana, and could not possibly have been derived from the Val
Gandino. His opinion is, that the embankment was thrown
down by the Serio itself; that in short it is only a portion of
the enormous deposits of fluvio-glacial detritus which were
swept down the valley when its upper reaches were occupied
by the ancient glacier that descended as far as the Ponte di
Nossa. When the glacier was at this point, says Stopanni, the
fluvio-glacial detritus, always strongly developed in the region
which a glacier approaches, extended from the Ponte di Nossa
until well beyond the opening of the Val Gandino ; it rose high
upon the slopes of the narrow valley in which the Serio runs,
between the great moraine of La Selva and the mouth of the
Gandino basin, and thus barred the latter, and converted it into
a lake. My own observations enabled me to confirm these
views of the able Italian geologist. There can be no doubt, I
think, that the bar of shingle, now hardened into conglomerate,
which is thrown across the opening of the basin of Gandino or
Leffe, is only a great céne de déjection of the Serio, formed at a
time when that river was enormously swollen by the water
escaping from melting snow and ice. The embankment pre-

308 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

sents a steep face now to the Val Seriana, for it has been under-
cut by the Serio in the process of lowering its bed. But its
upper surface still slopes in from the Val Seriana towards the
basin of Gandino, and I could notice here and there that the
coarse shingle of which it is made up had the same general
inclination.

Viewed from the top of the embankment, the basin appears
like a concave plain, bounded on every side by rough, steep
mountains ; it has all the aspect, indeed, of an old lake-bottom,
drained by the Romna, which now flows in a rocky glen at a
depth of over 300 feet below the summit-level of the bar, down
through which it has cut its way.

The whole surface of the basin appears to be covered with
shingle and gravel, now for the most part hardened into con-
glomerate, consisting of rocks which are all of strictly local
origin, derived in fact from the limestone and porphyry of the
adjacent mountains. This conglomerate is well exposed in all
the numerous ravines and gorges which the streams have cut
out in the bed of the old lake, and appears to attain a very con-
siderable thickness. In the neighbourhood of Leffe, which is
near the lower end of the basin, I should say it must exceed
150 feet.

Underneath the conglomerate come beds of fine lacustrine
clay, silt, and shell-marl, with one or more seams of brown coal
or lignite, of which Stopanni gives the following section, dis-
closed in one of the pits near Leffe :—

Métres,
1. Vegetable mould. ; = BO
2. Gravel . ‘ . . F250
3. Plasticclay . : 3 - 35
4, Clay with shells : ‘ AUCH)
5. Impure lignite : : ried 0,
6. Shell-bearing clay . : . 20°0
7. White clay: . ‘ ‘ ~e2i0
8. Lignite, principal seam. . 95
9. Black, shelly clay . : . 30

52°=ahout 170 feet.

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 309

The lignites appear to be composed for the most part of the
remains of trees; they are almost black, and somewhat fissile.
Sometimes the upper surface of the principal seam consists of
a mass of trunks and branches confusedly interlaced, which evi-
dently had grown ‘a situ ; at other times the lignite would give
one the impression that it had been laid down in water. The
absence of impurities, however, might perhaps indicate that the
formation took place on the low, marshy shores of a still sheet
of water, which now and again rose in level, and so caused mud
and marl to gather over the surface of its peaty margins ; but
according to Stopanni, the whole is nothing but floated wood,
which has been deposited in the bed of a lake.

Sordelli gives the following list of plants obtained from the
lignites of Leffe :—"

Pinus, sp. Acer tribulatum (?), Stern.
Abies excelsa. Afsculus hippocastanum, L.

» Balsamz, Sord. Juglans bergomensis, Bals.
Lariz europea, D.C. Trapa natans, L,
Corylus avellana, L. Folliculites newirthianus, Mass,

The walnut-tree seems to have grown luxuriantly, and its
remains are perhaps more abundant than those of any of the
other species named by Sordelli. During my visit to one of the
“ opencast workings,” I picked out several walnuts within the
space of a yard or two. The flora of the Leffe lignite does
not contradict that of the Val Borlezza; it indicates a climate
which, according to Sordelli, was certainly not cold, but as
genial as that of the plains of Lombardy and Venetia.

A number of mammalian remains have been found asso-
ciated with the lignite beds, and referred by Dr. Forsyth Major
to the following species :—

Elephas meridionalis, Nesti.

Rhinoceros leptorhinus, Cuv. (=R. megarhinus, De Christol.)
Bos etruscus, Fale.

Cervus ; two species.

Castor ewropeus (2),

Arvicola, sp. (not. A, agrestis),

1 Ati Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat., v. xvi. (1874), p. 350.

310 PREAISTORIC EUROPE.

All the shells belong to species still living in Lombardy (Val-
vata piscinalis and Planorbis complanatus).

Stopanni is of opinion that the lignite and its associated
deposits were accumulated at the very time that the Serio was
engaged in piling up the great embankment across the mouth of
the Gandino or Leffe valley. He thus relegates the growth of
the lignites to a glacial epoch, which is of course consistent with
his views of the origin of the lacustrine deposits of the Val
Borlezza. Referring to the lignite of the principal seam, he
says, “I am of opinion that this wood is nothing but drifted
wood deposited in the bosom of the lake. How could this be
if all the mountains were very precipitous and desolately bare ?
I think that the lacustrine plain would be found sometimes
either entirely or in certain places converted into a marsh,
where the forests of walnuts (I speak of the principal con-
stituents) would be condensed perhaps for ages, until they were
submerged by the waters, which would gradually rise on all
sides as the céne de déjection which dammed the lake continued
to increase in height.” The final filling up of the basin he
attributes to the action of torrents carrying down shingle and
gravel from the surrounding hills, and thus gradually pushing
out their deltas, until little by little they gradually filled up the
hollow, and converted it into a wide alluvial plain.

The overlying conglomerate is no doubt of torrential origin,
but I do not believe it has been formed in the manner suggested
by Professor Stopanni. It is disposed in broad terraces, the
upper surfaces of which are inclined outwards or down the Val
Gandino to the gorge of the Romna, which now separates the
great bar from the mountain-slope, against which, according to
Stopanni, it formerly abutted. The whole surface of the basin
in fact forms an inclined plane that rises gently towards the foot
of the mountains east of Gandino. This plane is deeply cut
and trenched by the numerous feeders of the Romna, in which
_ capital sections of the overlying conglomerate are exposed, and
the beds are there seen to have the same low dip towards the
mouth of the valley. The whole of these ancient shingle- and

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 311

gravel-deposits indeed present the appearance of having been
spread over the bottom of the valley by torrential streams flow-
ing chiefly from the mountain-valleys above Gandino (Val
Tuona, Val Concosola, and Val Piana), swelled by streams coming
from the hills behind Peja and Leffe.

These appearances, and others which will presently be
described, lead me to conclude that the conglomerate belongs to
a period long subsequent to the silting-up of the lake. In the
pits at Leffe its junction with the underlying lignite-beds is
well exposed, and the latter are there seen to have been much
denuded before they became buried under the tumultuous
shingle that overlies them. There is no dovetailing or inter-
osculation of fine and coarse sediment, such as we might have
expected to find had the lake been gradually filled up in the
manner supposed by Stopanni; but the lacustrine beds are
abruptly separated by a clearly-defined line of demarcation from
the coarse deposits above. The annexed sketch-section will
exhibit the general features referred to. Here, it will be
observed, a mass of coarse gravel and shingle, horizontally

Fig. 9.—Section of Lignite, etc., Leffe, near Gandino.
1, Lignite ; 2, Silt, clay, etc. ; 3, Shingle.

bedded, or approximately so, and reaching a thickness of 30 to
50 feet, lies directly upon the truncated edges of the lacustrine
deposits. The lower portions of the conglomerate-beds contain
lines of sand, with fragments of lignite, evidently derived from
the denudation of the underlying strata. The conclusions I

312 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

formed from a study of this and other sections in the neighbour-
hood were shortly as follow :—

1. That the lignite and its associated deposits were accumu-
lated in a lake which they succeeded gradually in silting up.

2. That, afterwards, flooded streams and torrents flowed over
the surface of the dried-up lake, ploughing at first into the
lacustrine sediments, but eventually burying them deep under a
great accumulation of coarse shingle and gravel.

3. That a time came when this extreme torrential action
ceased, and the streams thereafter commenced to erode their
beds, and to cut deep trenches down through the conglomerates
into the lacustrine sediments.

The conglomerates, I have no doubt, are, as Stopanni main-
tains, of precisely the same age as the morainic detritus which
overlies the white marls of Pianico in the Val Borlezza. They
belong, in short, to a glacial epoch, when torrential water,
derived from melting snow and névé, descended in great volumes
from all the hills surrounding the basin of Leffe. Unfortunately
the section at Leffe does not disclose the nature of the bottom
upon which the lacustrine sediments repose. In the Val Borlezza,
as we have seen, the lower part of the lacustrine deposits is
abundantly charged with glaciated stones. No glaciated stones,
however, occur in the neighbourhood of Leffe. I believe, how-
ever, with Stopanni, that the great embankment thrown across
the opening of the valley is unquestionably of fluvio-glacial
origin. To this view Professor Riitimeyer has objected that the
Romna at its exit from the Val Gandino flows over limestone
and not conglomerate.’ This is true, and it is no less certain
that the basement-beds of the lacustrine series must be under
the level of the Romna, where it first begins to flow across the
limestone-strata. But we have no reason to suppose that the
present exit of the river was that which obtained in preglacial
times. When the Val Gandino was dammed up by the céne de
déjection of the Serio and converted into a lake, the old course
by which the Romna escaped into the Val Seriana may have

1 Ueber Pliocen und Hisperiode auf beiden Seiten der Alpen.

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 313

been considerably farther north than the present. Its inter-
glacial and postglacial course would be determined by the
contour of the céne de déjection across which the lake would
overflow at the lowest part, which, of course, need not have
coincided with the preglacial course of the Romna."

But while I agree with Stopanni that the lake was formed
in the way he supposes, I cannot go with him when he main-
tains that all the lacustrine deposits were laid down during the
piling up of the embankment, that is to say, in other words, ~
during a glacial epoch. The character of the flora and fauna of
Leffe and Borlezza will not permit of this supposition. It is
impossible to believe that at a time when all the great valleys
of the Alps were filled to overflowing with enormous glaciers,
many of which deployed upon the plains of Piedmont, Lombardy,
and Venetia, and when all the low grounds of Switzerland were
buried under an enormous mer de glace, which flowed north to
within a few miles of the Danube, and descended in the west to the
low-lying tracts of Dauphiny, it is impossible, I think, to believe
that at such a time the climate of two mountain-valleys like the
Val Gandino and the Val Borlezza could have supported a rich
flora, comprising magnolia, box, walnut, etc., or had for their
occupants elephants, rhinoceroses, oxen, and deer. Nor do the
stratigraphical appearances justify us in holding such a view.
The lignites, with their associated shelly clays and marls, are
of interglacial age—they separate in fact two glacial epochs.
During the first of these epochs we may believe the Serio to
have blocked up the Val Gandino with its cdne de déjection.
The glaciers then melted away, and perennial ice was confined

1 Another view suggests itself as a possible explanation of the phenomena.
The lacustrine deposits may occupy an old rock-basin. The appearances in the
valley below the lignite-workings do indeed seem to indicate as much. But if so,
how was that rock-basin formed? The geological structure of the valley hardly
admits of us supposing that the limestones may have been undermined by acidu-
lated waters, and so have given rise to a rock-hollow by subsidence. Nor have we
any evidence of glacial action to lead us to infer that the hollow might have
been excavated by a local glacier. The mountains surrounding the Val Gandino
show no trace of glaciation ; no erratics occur, neither did I encounter any in
the Val Seriana below the confluence of the Romna with the Serio.

314 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

to the upper reaches of the valleys, as it is to-day. While the
river Serio sank to a lower level, the Romna, escaping from the
Val Gandino, gradually cut its way across the dam or bar, and
thus reduced the level of the Leffe lake, until eventually, partly
by this process of drawing off the water, and partly by the
deposition of fine silt, the lake became restricted in size, and
vegetation ere long crowded its margin. The beds above the
lowest lignite indicate a rising of the lake, consequent, probably,
upon a corresponding increase in the volume of the Serio. The
next bed of lignite points to a pause when the surface of the
lake was again encroached upon by the growth of vegetation.
Once more, however, the waters began to rise, and freshwater
clays were deposited upon the surface of the now submerged
peat. But as the climate deteriorated, and a glacier again filled
the upper part of the Val Seriana, the former conditions returned.
Great torrents derived from melting snow and névé poured
down the Val Gandino, tearing up the lacustrine sediments,
and eventually burying them under great sheets of shingle and
gravel. The Serio at the same time may have partially choked
up the gorge of the Romna with its shingle and gravel, but
it did not succeed in again converting the Val Gandino into a
permanent lake.

The phenomena exhibited in the Val Borlezza are quite in
keeping with these conclusions. The lake of Borlezza unques-
tionably owed its origin to the blockage caused by the glacier of
the Val Camonica and that arm of it which crossed over into the
Val Cavallina. The bottom-beds of the lacustrine series are ~
composed of true glacial clays and silt, containing in the deep
cutting below Pianico scattered glaciated stones, which become
more numerous towards the base of the section, where the sandy
mud or muddy sand is most abundantly charged with them.
All these deposits must have gathered there while the mouth of
the valley was barred by the glacier. Eventually, however,
that glacier melted away, and left behind it an embankment of
morainic detritus, which for some time would continue to act
as a bar; but the lake, as it overflowed, would sooner or later

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 315

cut that impediment across and so drain itself. The process of
excavation would, however, be more tedious than might at first
be supposed. The remains of the bar are still found clinging to
the slopes of the mountains in the form of a mass of indurated
conglomerate and coase débris. It is highly probable that long
before the glacier had disappeared much of its moraine. may
have become thus hardened by the infiltration of superficial
water. Many of the rock-fragments consist of limestone, while
the hills around are composed largely of calcareous strata. We
are not to suppose, therefore, that the bar of morainic detritus
would be as readily removed as one composed of the débris of
crystalline rocks in a country where the superficial water contains
only a very small percentage of calcareous matter. And the same
remarks apply to the bar across the mouth of the Val Gandino,
which is a mass of more or less indurated conglomerate. A
shallow lake, therefore, would continue to exist for some time
during the genial epoch that supervened after the dissolution
of the glacier in the Val Camonica. It was then that a rich
flora crept up the Alpine valleys from the plains of Italy, and
the great Pleistocene mammals found a congenial home in
such secluded vales as that of Clusone and the Val Borlezza.
The lake, no longer turbid with glacial mud, now favoured
the accumulation of pure white marl, and fish abounded in
its waters. But eventually these genial conditions came to
a close; the mammalia retreated, the rich vegetation disap-
peared. Once more the Val Camonica filled with ice, and the
glacier dilating into the Val Borlezza threw its lateral moraine
upon the surface of the interglacial deposits. The advent of
milder conditions and the final dissolution of the glacier then
permitted the river Borlezza to cut its way down into the deep
narrow trench through which its waters now rush to join the
Lago d’Iseo.

The Val Adrara and the Val Forestro each contain relics of
ancient glacial lakes which from Stopanni’s description would
appear to have experienced the same cycle of changes as the
larger valleys which I have just described.

316 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Thus on both sides of the Alps we have evidence to show
that the Glacial Period was not a long uninterrupted period of
cold conditions, but that it was characterised by oscillations of
climate, comparable with those which marked the Ice Age of the
British Islands and Northern Europe. It is true that hitherto
we have discovered evidence in Switzerland and Italy of only
one interglacial epoch. We are not, however, justified in con-
cluding from this that only one such epoch interrupted the
Glacial Period—that the glaciers only twice invaded the low
grounds. The positions in which the Italian and Swiss lignites
have been preserved are wholly exceptional. The Val Borlezza
could only be converted into a lake by a glacier blocking its
mouth, and this happened twice. But there may have been
glacial epochs both earlier and later, when the glaciers did not
extend so far. Of such cold epochs and of the milder eras which
may have separated them, the Val Borlezza might well preserve
no recognisable trace. And the same may be said of the basin
of Leffe. A mountain region, as I have remarked above, is the
least likely in which to look for the relics of interglacial times.
The very places (viz. valley-bottoms) in which freshwater beds
would be deposited, are just those adown which the glaciers of
a succeeding cold epoch would advance, crushing, grinding, and
ploughing on their way. The conditions under which the
lignites of Leffe and the Val Borlezza have been accumulated
were thus, as I have said, quite exceptional—they owe their
origin more or less directly to the former great extension of the
glaciers, but their preservation is due to the fact that the valleys
in which they occur were not ploughed out by glacial action.

? It is still an open question whether the great frontal moraines of the plains
of Piedmont, Lombardy, and Venetia, mark the extreme limits reached by the
glaciers during the climax of the Ice Age. These moraines are underlaid by great
accumulations of coarse gravel and shingle, much of which no doubt was laid
down by rivers flowing from the glaciers at the time of their advance. But all
the shingle-beds, which are frequently hardened into conglomerate, cannot be
so accounted for. I refer especially to those wide-spread masses of conglomerate,
which are called Ceppo by the Italian geologists, and assigned by them to the
Pliocene Period. Through these deposits the glaciers have ploughed their way
in precisely the same manner as the glaciers of the latest glacial epoch in Swit-

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 317

There are certain other Italian freshwater deposits which
have yielded many mammalian remains belonging to the same
fauna as that of Leffe and Borlezza. I refer to the freshwater
beds of the Upper Val dArno between Florence and Arezzo.
There are two series of deposits in that region, the lower of which
is composed of blue clays, whitish sandy marls, and yellow
sands, more or less argillaceous and ferruginous. These beds
have yielded remains of Mastodon longirostris and M. arvernensis,
together with plants and certain freshwater-shells, belonging to
characteristic Pliocene types, and are therefore older than any
of the glacial and interglacial deposits we have been studying.
Above them, however, comes a group of beds of which the most
characteristic is a conglomerate locally known as “Sansino,”
formed of nodules of clay, and other small concretionary masses,
commingled with little angular fragments of various kinds of
rock, and bits of mammalian bones. A bed of this “Sansino”
forms the base of the upper group.’ Above it comes a thick
series of sands, gravels, and various-coloured clays in alternate
layers, which are characterised by abundant remains of the
Pleistocene mammalia—amongst which are Hlephas meridionalis,
Rhinoceros leptorhinus, Hippopotamus major, Ursus etruscus,
Equus Stenoni, Bos etruscus, and several deer, such as Cervus

zerland have dug a course for themselves through the interglacial and glacial
deposits of earlier times. Now the Ceppo is of precisely the same character as the
so-called ‘‘alpine diluvium,” and would thus appear to have had a similar origin.
It would in this view represent the flood-gravels of an early glacial epoch—the
frontal moraines of which have long since been demolished by the action of the
Po and its numerous tributaries, just as those of the ancient Rhone glacier have
to a large extent vanished from the plains of France. It is quite possible, indeed,
that many of the erratics which are scattered over the hills of Turin may have
been carried thither by glaciers during the climax of glacial cold. This possi-
bility occurred to me when I first visited that district some years ago, and subse-
quent explorations have tended to confirm my suspicion that the erratics of the
Superga have not all been derived from the destruction of the great Miocene
conglomerate-beds. When I first made this suggestion (1871), I was not aware
that I had been anticipated by Dr. Julien.—See Des Phénoménes Glaciaires dans
le Plateau Central de la France (1869), p. 50.

1 Professor Mayer insists upon the existence of a clear line of demarcation

between the Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits of the Val d’Arno. See Bull. Soc.
Géol. France, 3° Ser. t. iv. p. 208 et seq.

318 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

dicranios, C. pectinatus, etc.—a fauna, in short, comparable with
that of Leffe and Borlezza. Now, without going so far as to say
that the beds of “Sansino” may be of fluvio-glacial origin, their
occurrence is at least suggestive of powerful aqueous erosion
and transport. And the fact that they are so closely associated
with beds containing the same fauna as that of the interglacial
deposits referred to is not without its significance, as indeed Dr.
A. Julien pointed out some years ago. Before leaving the subject
of Italian Pleistocene, I may note the discovery at Olmo, in the
plain of Arezzo, of the human skull referred to at page 22. It
was found in a bed of blue clay underneath a layer of lignite,
over which came blue clay of the same character as the bed
below. Above the whole are beds of sand. The blue clays
contained many freshwater-shells—all of living species—and
the upper one yielded a tooth of Hlephas meridionalis. In the
overlying sandy deposits were discovered remains of Cervus
megaceros, Equus caballus, and other well-known Pleistocene
forms. The skull thus pertains to Pleistocene times —to
the period during which Zlephas meridionalis belonged to the
European fauna.

At the hill of Perrier, near Issoire, in the valley of the Allier,
are found certain interesting sections, the meaning of which was
first ascertained by Dr. A. Julien.? Deposits of Miocene and
Pliocene age are here found overlaid by a thick “ pumiceous
conglomerate,” the contents and character of which betray its
glacial origin. It is composed of a heterogeneous aggregation of
large and small fragments of different kinds of rock, embedded
in a yellowish loam which weathers very readily, the loam dis-
appearing with every shower of rain, and leaving behind the
sand, grit, gravel, and blocks which it contained. The size of
the blocks is considerable. Bravard measured one of more than
6000 cubic métres, and Julien mentions another which had a

1 Cocchi: L’uomo fossile nell’ Italia centrale, Mem. della Soc. Ital. di Scienze
naturali (1867); Forsyth-Major, Archiv. per Antropologia e la Etnologia, vol.
vi. p. 228.

2 Des Phénoménes Glaciaires dans le Plateau Central de la France, etc., 1869.

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 319

circumference of 27 métres. He states also that fragments a
cubic métre in volume may be counted by thousands. All the
stones, large and small alike, are angular, and many are covered
with glacial strie. Theyare scattered pell-mell, higgledy-piggledy,
through the tuff-like loam in which they occur, and in places
where they are closely aggregated irregular cavities occur between
the blocks, showing that the stones were rudely heaped and piled
up in the same manner as the débris of a moraine. The fragments
consist of many different kinds of rock, such as granite, trachyte,
basalt, and Miocene limestone, all of which have been derived
from Mont Dore and the adjacent neighbourhood. The only rock
of the district which is not represented in the “ conglomerate ” is
the modern lava of Montchalm. On the other hand, some stones,
the parent rock of which is unknown in place, occur in consider-
able numbers. Such are blocks of a peculiar pumice which
abound at Perrier, and fragments of certain trachytes and con-
glomerates. There can be no doubt, however, that all these
belong originally to Mont Dore, the beds of which they once
formed a portion having been destroyed by the glacier which
transported the débris to its present position. The largest blocks
that occur in this remarkable glacial accumulation are all
trachytes which have travelled from Mont Dore, a distance of 25
kilometres. .

The so-called conglomerate is, as Julien has shown, nothing
more nor less than the moraine profonde of a glacier that formerly
descended from Mont Dore ; it is, in short, a “ boulder-clay.”
Two irregular beds of water-worn stones are intercalated in the
mass, and these separate it into three successive sheets. Accord-
ing to Julien, these pebble-beds testify to the action of torrential
waters, and to epochs when the glacier receded and allowed
water to denude and rearrange the materials of its bottom-
moraine. Underneath the whole mass are found the relics of an
old forest.

This glacier must have continued to occupy its ground for a
long time, to judge from the thickness and the extent of its
moraine profonde, but eventually it melted away, and by and by

320 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

the rivers and streams dug deeply through it and the strata upon
which it rests. A genial climate ere long supervened, and horn-
beam, elm, oak, willow, ash, box,-etc., clothed the land, which
was tenanted by elephant (Z. meridionalis), rhinoceros (R. lepto-
rhinus), hippopotamus (H. major), tapir, horse, cave-bear, hyzena
(ZZ. brevirostris), hedgehog, deer, etc., a fauna comparable with
that of the Italian and Swiss lignites.

To this genial era succeeded another cold epoch, when a
glacier once more appeared in the neighbourhood of Perrier and
deposited its frontal moraine above the interglacial beds which
contain the remains of Hlephas meridionalis and its congeners.
Similar moraines belonging to this last period of glaciation have
been traced in many different valleys throughout the great
plateau of Central France, and everywhere they give evidence of
having been preceded at some former time by much more
extensive mers de glace. The older moraines had been washed
down, eroded, and deeply trenched, and the strata upon which
they repose had likewise been worn and profoundly furrowed by
streams and rivers long before the latest glaciers had come into
existence. Everything conspires to show that the genial inter-
glacial epoch was long-continued. I may add that in certain
fluviatile deposits, which M. Pomel has shown to be of the same
age as the youngest moraines of Puy-de-Dome and Cantal,
remains of the mammoth have been detected. Dr. Julien
remarks that the more recent volcanic rocks of Central France
are surmounted by “stations” of the so-called Reindeer period.
No fragments of these rocks occur in the “ pumiceous conglom-
erate,” and the volcanos, therefore, must have broken out after
the disappearance of the earlier and greater glaciers, and before
the close of the Old Stone Age. In other words, the most
recent display of volcanic activity in Central France occurred
during a late interglacial epoch.

In Central France, then, we have the following succession as
determined by Dr. Julien :—

1. Miocene lacustrine beds.
2.- Trachytes and basalts.

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 321

3. Pliocene river-deposits with Mastodon arvernensis, M. Borsoni, etc.

4. Formation of great conglomerate = moraine profonde of extensive
mer de glace. 'Two episodes of fusion.

5. General melting of ice ; deepening of valleys by aqueous erosion.

6. Interglacial beds with Elephas meridionalis.

7. Re-advance of ‘glaciers ; associated freshwater beds with mammoth,

We are not without evidence in other parts of France of a
similar succession of changes. M. Tardy has drawn attention to
the occurrence of two distinct deposits of glacial origin in the
valley of the Ain, separated from each other by a long period of
time, during which great erosion of the land was effected.’ The
same geologist has also pointed out that a similar sticcession is
met with in the valley of the Rhone, not far from Lyons”
Between that city and Bourg a conglomerate of glacial origin, in
which now and then a striated stone may be found, underlies the
old Pleistocene alluvia in which Elephas meridionalis occurs, and.
these alluvia are in turn overlaid by a more recent erratic deposit,
the moraine profonde of the ancient Rhone glacier. The quartzite
conglomerate referred to is made up of stones which show
flattened surfaces such as betray their glacial origin, but it is
only at rare intervals that they are found with the strize preserved.
This is no more than we might expect of an accumulation of the
kind, for the stones have been rolled about in torrential waters.
In one place, however, M. Tardy observed underneath the ancient
interglacial alluvium an erratic deposit, the glacial character of
which was evident. The ancient Rhone glacier would thus
appear to have made two incursions upon the low grounds of
France ; and since the Alpine glaciers of the latest cold epoch
do not seem to have flowed out of Switzerland, it would follow
that we have evidence so far of three successive glacial epochs
in this part of Europe.

In the Black Forest, as in the Alps, we have evidence of two
glacial epochs, during the first of which the glaciers advanced
into the valley of the Rhine, and in all probability coalesced
in part with the Alpine mers de glace. At the second period,

1 Bull, Soc. Géol. France, t. iii., 3° Sér. p. 479. 2 Tbid., 3° Sér. t. iv. p. 285.
Y

322 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

however, the glaciers appear to have been confined to the valleys
of the Black Forest, and did not deploy upon the low grounds
beyond.?

Many years ago M. Collomb described the occurrence of
erratic blocks at lofty elevations in the Vosges, which could
not have been transported into their present positions by any of
the local glaciers, whose moraines now form such conspicuous
objects in the bottoms of the valleys. They are met with near
some of the highest summits, such as the Ballon de Guebwiller,
the Ballon d’Alsace, the Drumont, and the Hoheneck, up to a
height of 1000 métres above the valley. The blocks are
rounded, weathered, and of a different rock from that on which
they rest. They are not striated, and have all the appearance
of being extremely ancient, their surfaces being much eroded.
They cannot possibly have rolled down from above; their
situation on elevated cols quite excludes that supposition.
Their external aspect is so different from that of the erratics of
the lower regions,—from which they are separated by a zone
500 métres in breadth, over which very few erratics are
sprinkled,—that it is difficult, M. Collomb says, to admit that
they can belong to the same period. If they were carried by
ice the glaciers of the Vosges must then have filled the valleys
to overflowing, and, escaping from the mountain-region, must
have deployed upon the great plains of the Rhine, where at
present no trace of their former presence has been detected.”
But such an extension would be quite in keeping with what we
know of the extraordinary development of glacial action in the
Morvan and the Central Plateau of France. The action of the
Rhine and its tributaries in later times might well have
removed any morainic débris which the older glaciers of the
Vosges may have left behind them in the valley of the Rhine
itself.

The same geologist and M. Martins, in their interesting
account of the glacier of the valley of Argelés in the Pyrenees,

1 Mihlberg: Ueber die erratischen Bildungen im Aargau, 1869, p. 82.
2 Preuves de Vexistence d’anciens glaciers dans les Vosges, 1847, p. 141.

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 323

have mentioned similar facts which point in the same direction.
Erratics of granite which have come from the Pyrenees are
found in considerable numbers beyond the limits of the great
terminal moraines described by them. Formerly the transport
of such blocks was attributed without hesitation to the action
of waters, which, however, as M. Julien remarks, is out of the
question. His opinion is that they are the relics of an earlier
glacial epoch than that which is represented by the con-
spicuous lateral and terminal moraines so beautifully illustrated
by MM. Collomb and Martins.

Dr. Garrigou has also recorded his discovery of traces of two
different glacial epochs in the valley of Tarascon (Ariége),?
The morainic débris of the earlier epoch, he says, is easily
distinguished from the moraines and erratics of the later period.
The former are found abundantly at levels of 800 to 900 métres
above the sea; the latter are met with in the bottom of the
valley some 300 metres below the others, and present certain
features which serve to distinguish them. During the first
epoch the glaciers rose above the level of the Cave of Bouichéta,
even to that of Pradiéres, which is filled with morainic matter.
It is probable, Dr. Garrigou says, that it was the water derived
from the melting of the glacier which brought about the
appearances visible in the Cave of Bouichéta,—at that time
perhaps occasionally occupied by man. In the deeper parts of
the cave are found bedded sand and clay containing articles of
human handiwork, all of which might have been carried inwards
by glacial waters—the objects having previously been left lying
at the entrance.

Again, M. Piette tells us that the frontal moraine of the
glaciers of the Pique and the Garonne, which extends between
Barbazan and Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges, reposes upon the
moraine profonde of an older glacier, the materials of which had
previously been denuded and rearranged by the action of
torrential waters. At a depth of 14 métres in this denuded and

1 Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 2° Sér. t. xxv. p. 141; Mem. de Acad. des Sciences
de Montpellier, t. vii. p. 47.
2 Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 2° Sér. t. xxiv. p. 577.

324 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

rearranged moraine profonde were found remains of a small
ruminant, pieces of wood, and a fragment of a reindeer’s horn.
As to the glacial character of the remainée moraine there could
be no doubt ; notwithstanding its treatment by torrential water,
some of its stones still retained their striae, while the rounded
and moutonnée aspect of the contiguous mountain-slopes spoke
to the former passage of a massive glacier. Again, he remarks
that along the right banks of the Neste and the Garonne,
between the Barthe-de-Neste and the Garonne, the hills are
moutonnées up to a height which was certainly not attained by
the glaciers of the latest glacial epoch. In short, it is clear
that during some early glacial epoch, the glaciers of the Pique
and the Garonne extended towards the north considerably
beyond the valley of Labroquére; that subsequently they
retired, and their moraine profonde was denuded and rearranged
by torrential action ; that afterwards they again advanced, but
not to so great a distance into the low grounds.’ The fact
that the terminal moraines of the older glaciers have been
obliterated, as is likewise to some extent the case with those of
the Rhone, upon the plains of France, is further proof of the
length of time which must have intervened between the two
epochs of glaciation. ?

Some account has already been given of the great limestone-
breccias of Gibraltar, attributed by Professor Ramsay and my-

1 Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 3° Sér. t. ii. pp. 503, 507.

2 M. Piette and one or two other French geologists, influenced apparently by
Stopanni’s alleged discovery that the great moraines upon the plains of Northern
Italy are of Pliocene age, have assigned to the same period the oldest moraines of
the Pyrenean region referred to above, as well as those of the ancient Rhone
glacier which occur in the neighbourhood of Bourg and Lyons. Stopanni bases
his opinion on the fact that many shells of Pliocene species occur along with
glaciated stones in the morainic deposits near Como. (See ‘‘ Il mare glaciale ai
piedi delle Alpi,” Rivista Italiana, August 1874; ‘‘Sui Raporti del Terreno
glaciale col Pliocenico nei dintorni di Como,” Aéti; Soc. Ital. di Scienzi Natur.,
April 1875 ; Geologia d'Italia, Pte. 2%, p. 181.) His views have been supported
by several observers,‘ more especially by Desor (Le Paysage Morainique, 1875)
and Renevier (Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 3° Sér. t. iv. p. 187). On the other hand,
they are opposed by Riitimeyer (Ueber Pliocen und Hisperiode auf beiden Seiten
der Alpen, p. 187) and Mayer (Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 3° Sér. t. iv. p. 199),—the
atter of whom especially has shown in the clearest manner that the shells
referred to have been derived from a pre-existing deposit—they are the relics of

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. gan

self to the action of severe frost, which broke up the rock and
permitted the débris to be carried down the slopes and over
the low ground by névé and melting snow and rain. We found
that the formation of this remarkable breccia took place at two
distinct periods, separated from each other by a long period of
milder conditions. The accumulation of the breccia of the first
cold epoch had ceased, and the loose agglomeration of grit and
large and small blocks had become cemented into an indurated
mass long before the formation of the later breccias was effected.
Torrents had worn gullies in the older breccia, and acidulated
water percolating through crannies and fissures had gradually
opened out a series of subterranean galleries and caves, which
penetrated the mass in the same manner as they traversed the
limestone-strata. All this took place at a time when Spain
projected farther into the Mediterranean than it does now, and
when the climate was mild and genial. At the period referred
to Gibraltar must have appeared as a verdure-clad alp, towering
above the surface of a wide expanse of undulating country that
stretched south towards the coasts of Barbary, with which,
indeed, it may actually have been connected. The Rock was
then tenanted by the ibex in great numbers, and visited from
time to time by rhinoceros, elephant, horse, boar, and deer, and by
bears, wolves, hyzenas, lions, leopards, lynxes, and servals, some
of which may have made their lair in one or other of its numerous
Pliocenic strata which were ploughed into by the Pleistocene glacier, and
re-arranged by water escaping from it. Having gone over the sections myself in
1878, and examined the disputed points, I came to the same conclusion as
MM. Riitimeyer and Mayer. The phenomena are merely a repetition of similar
appearances in the glacial deposits of our own islands and Northern Germany,
where in the boulder-clay and its associated glacial sand and gravel, we occa-
sionally detect the shells of marine and freshwater molluscs, together with
fragments of wood, bone, etc.,—the relics of some pre-existing interglacial strata,
which the glacial forces have broken up and commingled with other débris.
M. Falsan had already (1875) suggested this explanation of the phenomena from
from having observed in the neighbourhood of Lyons that the Pliocene contains
many fossils derived from the Miocene, and that the basement- part of the
Pleistocene glacial deposits (morainic detritus of the ancient Rhone glacier) shows
a similar commingling of derivative shells perfectly well preserved and mixed

pell-mell with boulders and striated stones ; see Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 3° Sér,
t. iii. p. 727.

£26 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

caves. Now and again torrents flowing down the slopes of the
mountains swept the skeletons and carcasses of these animals
into gullies and underground galleries, where they gradually
accumulated along with other superficial débris, and became in
time sealed up by the action of carbonated waters. Eventually,
however, a process of submergence ensued, and the land sank
into the sea to the depth of 700 feet or thereabout below its
present level. This movement seems to have been interrupted
by longer or shorter pauses, during which the sea cut terraces
or shelves upon the flanks of the Rock, shelves which have been
eroded partly in limestone and partly in the old limestone-
breccia (see Fig. 6, p. 217, and Fig. 10). By and by the sub-

Monkey's Cave Road

\ \, { Pp
| pi aun \
| ‘Xl | \ \ \S \ Sec

Fig. 10.—Section showing relation of Upper Breccia to Raised Beaches—Gibraltar.
ZI, Limestone ; S, Beach-deposits; §?, Re-arranged beach-deposits ; B, Upper
breccia ; p! p?, Marine terraces.

—

mergence ceased, and the land was again upheaved, probably in
as gradual a manner as it went down. The old sea-shelves were
then partially obscured by shelly sand and gravel which had
gathered over them ; and from the fact that the shells, so far as
can be made out, belong to species identical with those now
living in the neighbouring sea, we gather that the temperature
of the sea at least was at that distant date much the same as it
is to-day. To what extent the land was re-elevated we cannot
tell. It certainly attained a greater elevation than the present,
but whether or not Spain stretched as far to the south as it

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 327

did in the preceding period can only be conjectured. The
sand that clothed the flanks of the Rock, acted upon by the
weather, would sooner or later become “top-dressed,” so to
speak, and would thus form long sloping curtains or taluses, the
surface of which would here and there tend to become indurated
by the action of rain, dissolving the calcareous matter of the
shells, and again re-depositing it between the grains of the grit
and sand. By and by, however, there ensued a second cold
epoch, when the limestones commenced to break up under the
action of frost, while their fragments were carried down as
before to the low grounds. Large blocks and smaller fragments,
toppling from the lofty cliffs that face the east, fell upon the
sand-slopes, here and there plunging into them where the pro-
cess of superficial induration had not been sufficiently advanced
to enable the sand-rock to withstand the force of the impact.
Thus in time the shelly sands came to be completely buried
under a thick accumulation of angular blocks and débris, which,
having since become thoroughly indurated, presents precisely
the same character as the older limestone-breccia. Underneath
this newer breccia the shelly sands are often hardened into rock,
and have been quarried for building purposes. There still re-
mains a long talus of sand, however, sweeping down from the
upper part of the great cliffs that overlook Catalan Bay. This
sand is even yet only partially hardened, for, unlike those in
the neighbourhood of the Governor's Cottage, it contains very
little calcareous matter. The blocks discharged upon this slope,
therefore, merely sank into it, and are now seen projecting above
its surface, while many must have rolled downward to rest at
the base of the Rock in regions that are now submerged. It
is quite possible, however, that considerable masses of breccia
may lie concealed underneath the sand, which even to the
present day is blown about by the wind.

I have not had an opportunity of examining the breccias of
Malta, but from the admirable descriptions given by Professor
Leith Adams, I strongly incline to suspect that they show indi-
cations of climatic changes of a nature similar to those which

328 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

are so clearly evinced by the great breccias of Gibraltar. The
following, for example, is the summary of the section exposed
by Dr. Adams in the Benghisa Gap, a narrow, steep-sided gully
or trench eroded in calcareous sandstone, which he found com-
pletely filled up with sundry deposits and accumulations. The
section is given in its natural sequence, from above downwards :—
1. White calcareous drift, with scattered fragments of sandstone ;
shows faint traces of bedding; six or eight feet thick; no
organic remains.
2. Layer of pebbles and red soil.
3. Layer of rounded blocks of freestone, some measuring fifteen feet
in circumference, with abundant remains of Pleistocene mam-
mals (pigmy elephants, huge freshwater turtle, gigantic dor-

mouse, lizards, birds, etc.)

4, Rich ferruginous red loam; not laminated ; a few pebbles and
freestone-blocks intermixed.

5. Layer of gravel and rounded waterworn freestone-pebbles.

6. Large blocks of the parent rock, mixed pell-mell with red soil and
silt ; occupies the bottom of the “Gap ;” mammalian remains.

Of this section Dr. Adams says—It “displays several dis-
tinct alternations of bands of large waterworn blocks and seams
of loam and pebbles, representing periods of turbulence and of
comparative quiescence, such as would result from violent floods
or freshets pouring down a gorge. I found the elephantine re-
mains identical in every respect with those already mentioned.
Be it observed, however, that no organic remains were found in
the white drift (No. 1), which, indeed, was looser in texture and
more calcareous, and might in consequence have been not so
preservative as the lower beds. Among the large blocks of
freestone, either impacted or strewn in a heterogeneous manner,
were lying seemingly entire skeletons of elephants, some of the
skulls and jaws furnishing good evidence of the rough usage they
had sustained by being broken and crushed flat by blocks which,
with the force of impact, had cracked the others on which they
impinged.” He then gives some examples to show that although
many of the remains were thus smashed, they had evidently not
travelled far, as was indicated by the perfect state of preservation

= OS ————

INTERGLACIAL EPOCHS. 329

of their more fragile and delicate parts. Thus the molar of an
elephant, which had been broken in two by a large block of
stone, still showed the fragile coronoid process and enamel of the
crown uninjured. “Entire skeletons of the dormice were found
between blocks, as if their bodies had sunk into the hollows as
they floated past, whilst fragments of large birds, bones, and
traces of a huge freshwater turtle, and several vertebra and
skulls of lizards, as large as a chameleon, were found, in con-
junction with the same land-shells mentioned elsewhere (all of
living Maltese species). Several detached bones of the elephants
were sun-cracked and honeycombed, as if they had been lying
exposed on the surface before their deposition in the gap. Indeed,
the appearances presented by this remarkable collection of or-
ganic remains seem to me to indicate that water at one time
flowed down the gap, and was subject to occasional extraordinary
deluges, which bore down the large blocks and whatever exuvie
came within reach; moreover, the conditions were such as we
should expect when the land was undergoing a slow subsidence ;
thus, by diminishing the force of the stream a deposition of
detritus would take place which would raise both its bed and
the flood-plain around, and continue so doing as long as the
subsidence continued ; calms and floods decreasing or increasing
the amount accordingly.”! There is some difficulty in under-
standing how a slow subsidence of the land (supposing such to
have taken place at the time the deposits were being accumu-
lated) could diminish the force of the streams, unless, indeed, we
are to infer that the central area or watershed and gathering-
ground sank more rapidly than the lower-lying outskirts. Of
this, however—extremely unlikely in itself—we have no proof.
The size of the blocks, the pell-mell mixture of deposits, the
state of preservation of the organic remains, the enormous masses
of breccia and angular gravel—so out of proportion to the limited
drainage-area in which they occur—all seem to point, as I have
suggested, to extreme winters, to the action of frost and melting
snow, etc. And it does seem not improbable that the indica-

1 Notes of a Naturalist in the Nile Valley and Malta, 1870, p. 191.

330 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

tions of such conditions having alternated may point rather to
secular than to mere seasonal changes—the “ white drift,” with
its large angular blocks, representing the upper limestone-breccias
of Gibraltar, and the moraines of the latest glacial epoch in the
Alps and Northern Europe.

The facts now adduced demonstrate to us that the so-called
Glacial Period was interrupted more than once by interglacial
epochs of long continuance, during which the Pleistocene mam-
malia occupied the low grounds vacated by the glaciers and the
great mer de glace ; elephants, rhinoceroses, and hippopotamuses
living then as far north as England and North Germany. Palzo-
lithic man, as we now know, was also an interglacial resident in
England and Switzerland, and doubtless of many other parts of
Europe at the same time. The climate of those interglacial
epochs was certainly not less genial than that of the present ;
indeed, if we may judge from the assemblages of plants and
animals which occur in the Swiss, Italian, French, and German
deposits, it would seem to have been remarkably equable, the
seasons not being so strongly contrasted as they are now. In
a word, the climatic conditions appear to have been of the same
character as those during which the tufas and travertines of
Tuscany, France, and Germany were accumulated. Thus just
as we found reason for concluding that the Pleistocene river-
and cave-deposits, with their arctic and alpine fauna, must have
been contemporaneous with the former much greater extension
of snow-fields and glaciers in Europe, so does the conviction
grow upon us that the laurels and fig-trees of Northern France,
and the hippopotamuses and elephants so generally distributed
through the Pleistocene beds of North-western Europe, must be
synchronous with the flora and fauna of interglacial ages.

1 Coarse limestone-breccias are well known to occur in various places through-
out the Mediterranean region, the origin of which has never been satisfactorily
accounted for. They are not forming now, but are being furrowed and worn away,
just like the limestones upon or near to which they repose. That many of them
date back to Pleistocene times is not disputed ; what more likely, then, than

hat they are the southern representatives of our glacial deposits ?

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—PLEISTOCENE. 331

CHAPTER XIV.

CLIMATIC AND GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS OF PLEISTOCENE
PERIOD—SUMMARY.

Climatic and geographical conditions of Europe during Pliocene times—Gradual
change of climate and commencement of Glacial Period—Modification of fauna
and flora in glacial times— Geographical conditions in Pleistocene Age —
Land-connection between Europe and Africa— Continental condition of
British area—Dry land in the English Channel—Human relics in Pliocene
strata—Cut bones in Italian Pliocene—Human relics in Miocene strata—
Geographical conditions in Europe at the beginning of the last interglacial
epoch—Migrations of plants and animals—Character of interglacial climate
—Geographical conditions at climax of last interglacial epoch—Gradual de-
terioration of climate—Geographical conditions towards close of last inter-
glacial and beginning of last glacial epoch—Last glacial epoch—Migrations
of plants and animals—Final disappearance of great glaciers, etc.—Distribu-
tion of interglacial deposits—Interglacial age of Paleolithic man and mam-
malia of southern group.

BEFORE we proceed to inquire into the physical conditions which
obtained in Postglacial and Neolithic times, it may be well first
to glance back over the ground we have traversed, for we have
now reached a point from which much that may have appeared
confused and obscure on the way, will no longer, I hope, offer
any real difficulty. We commenced our investigations, it may
be remembered, by passing in review the fauna and flora of the
Pleistocene Period, and thereafter we inquired into the character
and origin of the deposits in which those plant- and animal-
remains have been preserved. We then discussed the subject of
glacial and interglacial epochs, with the result of discovering
that the cave- and river-accumulations, which we had hitherto

332 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

always spoken of as Pleistocene, were really synchronous with
our glacial and interglacial deposits. They were all laid down,
in fact, during one and the same prolonged period; a period
characterised by several extraordinary changes of climate, and
certain considerable modifications in the outline of sea and land.
When therefore I use the term “ Pleistocene Period” in future,
it will be understood as comprehending all the great cycle of
changes embraced in what is known as the Ice Age or Glacial
Period.

In times anterior to the Pleistocene Period, that is to say
during the Pliocene Age, Europe was occupied by a flora and
fauna which were destined to become profoundly modified before
the advent of the first glacial epoch. The rich and abundant
vegetation of the Miocene was still represented by many iden-
tical or nearly allied species, although the palms and other
characteristic forms had disappeared. It was the same with the
fauna. Many of the most typical Miocene families had vanished,
but the mastodon survived down to nearly the close of the
Pliocene Period. The climate, we can safely affirm, was more
genial than the present, and appears to have been extremely
equable. This is clearly evinced by the character of the Pliocene
flora. Not only was this richer in genera than that of our own
day, but some of those genera were richer also in species. The
flora was likewise singularly uniform, according to Count Saporta,
who remarks that the environs of Bologna, Tuscany, the district
round Lyons, and Cantal, were occupied by the same species.
The great forests, he says, seem to have covered vast areas,
occupying the plains, the borders of rivers, and extending up
the valleys even to the crests of the mountains, without much
change of character. The ivy, the platanus, the liquidambar,
various maples, and many walnut trees, elms, hornbeams, laurels,
sassafras, and others, ranged from Central Italy to the heart of
France. It was an abundant vegetation, composed for the most
part of great trees, some of which were Miocene plants, destined
soon to become extinct ; some again were special forms belong-
ing to genera which are now exotic ; others were species which

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—PLEISTOCENE. 333

have survived to the present in more southern and eastern regions,
while yet others are still represented in Europe by identical or
very closely allied species. Thus, according to Saporta, the
flora of the Pliocene is connected both with the past and the
present plant-life of Europe, while, at the same time, it has
relations with the floras of distant southern and eastern regions
—regions now separated by wide stretches of sea—America, the
Canaries, Eastern Asia, Japan, and China.’

During the same period the shores of North-western Europe
were washed by genial waters, in which lived many species of
molluscs, which must now be sought for in the seas of more
southern latitudes. All the paleontological evidence, in short,
implies an equable and uniform climate which permitted the
intimate association in our continent of many types, both
animal and vegetable, now no longer able to co-exist at similar
elevations, or in one and the same latitude.

The European area during the Pliocene Period appears at
one time to have been more extensive than it is at present, and
at another epoch to have experienced no inconsiderable amount
of submergence. The Adriatic and the Mediterranean rose high
upon the slopes of the Apennines—the valley of the Po forming
then a great arm of the sea which penetrated the mountain-
valleys of the Alps. The valley of the Arno, likewise, was under
water, so also were the lower reaches of the Rhone and extensive
tracts in the maritime district of South-western France. In
like manner Sicily was to some extent submerged, and the sea
overflowed wide areas in Belgium and the low-lying parts of
East Anglia.

It is in the ancient deserted sea-bed of the Pliocene that we
detect that gradual deterioration of climate and approach of
colder conditions, which eventually culminated in the first
glacial epoch. In the older marine deposits of the English
Pliocene southern forms are present in great force, but they
gradually become less numerous as we follow them into the

1 Compt Rend. Assoc. pour V Avance. des Sciences, 1873, p. 461; see also Bull.
Soc, Géol France, 3° Sér. t. i. p. 212.

334 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

upper or overlying strata; while at the same time immigrants
from the north make their appearance and continue to increase
in number as we approach the more recent accumulations of
the Pliocene sea. Now and again, too, we come upon isolated
large stones which have in all probability been dropped from
floating - ice. Northern forms, such as the shallow - water
species, Mya truncata, Saxicava norvegica, and Buccinum un-
datum, made their way at this time even as far south as
Sicily. We may be sure that if such changes were taking
place in the water, the land could hardly escape similar ex-
periences. The southern forms of plants and animals would
disappear, some retiring to more genial latitudes, others be-
coming extinct, and as they vanished their vacant places would
be seized upon by the hardier tribes advancing from the north.
That not a few animals and plants became extinct at this time
we have every reason to believe. Amongst the former were
mastodon, hipparion, and many kinds of deer. The splendid
flora too suffered greatly, many of the forms dying out alto-
gether, while of those that survived to later times, the greater
number were more or less modified. The approach of the first
glacial epoch was heralded by the appearance of many animals
characteristic of the Pleistocene Period. Their appearance,
indeed, marks the close of the Pliocene. They were com-
mingled with certain Pliocene species, some of which struggled
on into interglacial times. Thus England in preglacial ages
was tenanted by elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamus, and
machairodus, by bears, Irish deer, and many other cervide, by
urus, wild-boar, wolf, fox, beaver, and so forth. Of these, some
did not survive Pleistocene times, others outlived that period to
become extinct in the Neolithic Age, while yet others endured
all the changes and chances of the Glacial Period, and still form
part of the European fauna.

Underneath the oldest known boulder-clay—that of Cromer
in Norfolk—occur certain fluvio-marine deposits, the plant-
remains in which bespeak the kind of climate that characterised
England at the commencement of the first glacial epoch. That

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—PLEISTOCENE. 335

flora embraced Scots fir, spruce fir, yew, alder, oak, birch,
white and yellow water-lilies, bog-bean, common sloe, etce.—
indicating a climate perhaps a little colder, but not essentially
differing from that of Norfolk at present. But as the plants are
traced upwards through the strata they were found by Mr.
Nathorst to become more and more stunted and meagre, until
in a bed immediately underlying the boulder-clay he came upon
the Arctic willow (Salia polaris), and a moss (Hypnum turgescens)
now confined in temperate latitudes to the highest alps.! The
latter grows in Herjedalen on the Dovrefield, in the north of
Scandinavia, in Bear Island, Spitzbergen, and Greenland. Thus
we learn how the arctic and alpine flora, driven southwards by
the encroachment of the great northern mer de glace, at last
came to occupy the low grounds of temperate Europe.

I shall not attempt here to summarise the history, so far as
that has been ascertained, of each particular glacial and inter-
glacial epoch, but after some general remarks will proceed to
describe the climatic and geographical changes which charac-
terised our continent towards the close of the Pleistocene, that
is to say during the last interglacial and glacial epochs. That
the successive invasions of Northern Europe by vast mers de
glace, and the repeated appearance, in the hilly regions of more
southern latitudes, of perennial snow-fields, must have profoundly
modified the flora and fauna cannot be doubted. It is highly
probable also that the presence of the Mediterranean, by present-
ing a more or less insurmountable barrier to the south, and thus
cutting off the retreat of many species, may have contributed
largely to the extinction of Pliocene animals and plants, which
but for that barrier might have crossed into Africa, and found
there conditions suited to their needs. It is for this reason that
the European flora of to-day differs so much more from that of
Pliocene and Miocene times, than the flora of North America
does from the plant-life of those periods. In the latter continent
there existed a continuous passage to the south, across which
plants and animals alike could make good their retreat. But

1 Antiquity of Man, p. 261; Ofversigt af Kongl. Vet.-Akad. Forh., 1873, p. 18.

336 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

in Europe the Mediterranean, now larger and now smaller,
appears to have endured all through the Pliocene and Pleistocene
Periods. Ever and anon, it is true, land-connections between
Europe and Africa made their appearance, and so afforded
bridges by which the species came and went with the alter-
nation of climatic conditions, but many nevertheless must have
died out upon the northern shores of the Mediterranean.

We have seen that a number of characteristic Pleistocene
animals had made their appearance in England at the close of
the Pliocene Period, or shortly before the advent of the earliest
recognised glacial epoch of Pleistocene times. They were
associated with several Pliocene forms, such as Hippopotamus
amphibius, Elephas meridionalis, Machairodus latidens, Rhinoceros
etruscus, R. megarhinus, Ursus arvernensis, Cervus dicranios, and
C. polignacus. Of these, one, the hippopotamus, is still living,
while others do not appear to have survived in North-western
Europe the first glacial epoch. The southern elephant and
the megarhine rhinoceros, however, struggled on into interglacial
times, when the former occupied the valley of the Rhone, Central
France, and Northern Italy, and the latter ranged from Southern
Europe into England. The sabre-toothed tiger also would seem
to have persisted well on into the Pleistocene Period. Of the
other animals that come into view for the first time in the Pre-
glacial deposits of Cromer, many appear and re-appear in succes-
sive interglacial deposits; but we note as we advance towards
the later stages of the Pleistocene that some of them become
rare, while others vanish altogether. The recurrent glacial
epochs seem to have told severely upon many of the herbivorous
animals. The only two pachyderms that have survived are the
hippopotamus already mentioned and the African elephant.
During each successive glacial epoch those species which could
only exist under a mild climate would be forced to the extreme
south of Europe, where, confined within ever-narrowing limits,
they would gradually die out. Only the more robust types,
such as stag, megaceros, urus, bison, horse, mammoth, woolly
rhinoceros—species capable of enduring some severity of cold—

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—PLEISTOCENE. 337

would live on. The carnivores, however, might be expected to
thrive wherever their food-supply was sufficiently abundant,
they would prey alike on the denizens of the southern regions
and the occupants of less temperate latitudes. Most of them,
therefore, were enabled to endure all the climatic vicissitudes
of the Glacial Period, and many are recognised as still living
species.

Now, it is quite evident that the presence in Europe of such
animals as the lion, the elephant, the hippopotamus, and others,
speaks to a former union between this continent and Africa.
And again, the occurrence of the musk-sheep, the pika, and
other boreal species, either now or in Pleistocene times living in
Europe, proves in like manner the former existence of a land-
connection between Europe and America. That such connec-
tions have obtained within comparatively recent times, geolo-
gically speaking, might easily be inferred from the fact that
many living species of plants and animals are common to the
northern regions of North America, Asia, and Europe, and the
same holds true as regards South Europe and North Africa. In
like manner we know that the British Islands must have been
united to themselves and the Continent before they could have
received their present fauna and flora. .

There are many good reasons for believing that at least two
land-passages existed between Europe and Africa. One of these
extended south from Tarifa Point in Spain to the opposite coast
of Barbary, and the other stretched from South Italy, by way of
Sicily, to the present shores of Tunis. A comparatively small
elevation of the land would suffice to restore the configuration of
Southern Europe that obtained in Pleistocene times. A rise of
only 1000 feet or so would provide a land-passage from Barbary
into Spain, while an elevation of 1200 feet would join Malta to
Italy and Tunis. There can be little doubt that it was by one
or other of these routes, or by both, that southern forms, like
the elephant and hippopotamus, crossed and re-crossed during
alternating climatic conditions. Now, a glance at the Admi-
ralty’s charts of the Mediterranean will show that an elevation

338 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

sufficient to unite the two continents would join Corsica and
Sardinia and Malta to the mainland. If the movement of eleva-
tion were continued east as far as the Archipelago it would also
effect very considerable modifications in that quarter, uniting
many of the small islands to themselves and the adjacent shores
of Greece and Asia Minor. It is quite possible, indeed, that the
old shore-line of the Mediterranean may now be submerged to a
considerably greater depth than 1200 feet, and that the area of
land may have been more extensive during some interglacial
epochs than would now be brought about by an uniform eleva-
tion just sufficient to connect the continents of Europe and
Africa by the two land-passages referred to. There are no good
grounds, however, for supposing that this was the case. All that
we can be quite certain of is simply this, that one or more land-
connections formerly existed. A tooth of the pigmy hippopota-
mus has been discovered in Crete, from which Professor Boyd
Dawkins has inferred that this island joined on to the Pelopon-
nese, where remains of the same animal have been found. And
as the depth of the intervening sea is “400 to 500 fathoms,”* he
concludes that the whole Mediterranean area has subsided some
3000 feet since the Paleolithic Period ; or, in other words, that
Southern Europe and the opposite coasts of Africa stood, during
the Old Stone Age, 3000 feet or so higher than they do now,
But we are not entitled to assume that the subsidence has been
uniform over the whole basin of the Mediterranean. On the
contrary, there are many considerations that would lead us to an
opposite conclusion. It may quite well be that the greater
depth between Greece and Crete is simply due to that region
having been more deeply submerged than the areas farther
to the west; for the configuration of the sea-bottom in the
Archipelago and the neighbourhood of Crete is indicative of very
considerable local depressions—the result, doubtless, of those

1 Cave-hunting, p. 382. According to the charts a considerably less degree of
elevation than 500 fathoms would unite Greece to Crete; and the connection of
that island with the mainland need not have been direct by way of Cerigotto
and Cerigo. See Geological Magazine, vol. x. p. 49.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—PLEISTOCENE.. 339

movements that so frequently characterise a region which, like
that under review, is subject to volcanic action. Thus, even if
the proof were stronger than it is that Crete was joined directly
to Greece at the same time that land-passages extended from
Barbary to Spain, and from Tunis to Sicily and Italy, yet it
would be very unsafe to measure the general loss of land experi-
enced in the Mediterranean area since that time by the present
depth of the sea that lies between the island of Crete and the
Peloponnese.

Turning our attention for a little to the north-western regions
of Europe, we find that there has been a very considerable loss
of land in that direction since Paleolithic times. The evidence
for this is not derived entirely from the occurrence in British
Paleeolithic deposits of the remains of animals that were formerly
common to the area of our islands and the Continent; but, as
we shall see presently, equally convincing proofs of the disap-
pearance of a wide land-area are supplied by quite another line
of inquiry. So far as the evidence of the old mammalia goes, we
need only to admit that the British Islands were united to them-
selves and the Continent, and an elevation of less than 400 feet
would suffice to restore such a connection; for although the
Straits of Dover are not more than 30 fathoms deep, yet the sea
between Wicklow and Pembroke is not less than 50 or 55
fathoms in depth. But an elevation of only 400 feet would yet
lay dry a large part of the German Ocean and the English
Channel, and the remarkable configuration of the sea-bottom
leads us to believe that the present 100-fathom line probably
marks out for us the limits reached by the European coast in
Paleolithic times... The soundings in the British seas and off

1 Mr. Godwin-Austen (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. vi. p. 69) has shown
good grounds for believing that the old coast-line of Britain may have extended
as far out to sea as the present 200-fathom line, and with him Professor Prestwich
is inclined to agree (Phil. Trans., Part II., 1879, p. 690). I do not dispute their
conclusions, and am quite prepared to agree with them that the ancient coast-
line may now be nearer 200 than 100 fathoms under water. But as all the evi-
dence referred to in the text is quite explicable on the assumption of a former
elevation of 100 fathoms, I prefer the more limited estimate. For a former
elevation to that extent, at least, the proofs are as complete as we could expect.

340 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

the west coast of the Continent prove the existence of a broad
submarine plateau, the general depth of which from the surface is
under 600 feet. (See Plate E.) This plateau extends beyond the
shores of Ireland, the Outer Hebrides, and the Orkney and Shet-
land Islands, so that an elevation of only 600 feet would add con-
siderably to the size of Europe. Immediately beyond the margin
of the plateau, however, the sea deepens more or less suddenly
to such an extent that an additional elevation of 2000 feet would
cause the west coast of Europe to advance very little farther
into the Atlantic. But the same amount of upheaval would lay
bare much of the sea-bottom in the extreme north, so as to con-
nect Novaia Zemlia with Norway, while at the same time Ice-
land and the Ferde Islands would unite to form one large island.
Whether the Europe of interglacial times extended so far to
the north we cannot positively assert; but we have, at all events,
very good grounds for believing that much of the sea-bottom in
our own latitudes, which now lies under a depth of 100 fathoms,
was dry land during some part of the Pleistocene Period, so that
in those days neither the North Sea nor the English Channel
had any existence, and the Gulf of Bothnia and the Baltic
may have been freshwater seas. But if we have proof of a
former wider extent of land, we have, on the other hand, no less
good evidence to show that at certain stages in the Pleistocene
Period large areas, both in the north and south of Europe, were
submerged. The occurrence of one and the same terrestrial
fauna in the Pleistocene deposits of England and the Continent
bears witness to the former union of Britain with the latter—
the appearance of existing species of marine mollusca at high
levels in Scandinavia and our own islands testifies just as cer-
tainly to recent submergence and re-elevation of the land.

But it is not from the occurrence of those organic remains
alone that changes in the geographical outline of Europe are
inferred to have taken place. The present position of the ancient

Any greater degree of upheaval and subsequent depression is more or less prob-
lematical, although, as I haye said, the evidence adduced by Mr. Godwin-Austen
is not without its weight. See further upon this subject Chapter XXI.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—PLEISTOCENE. 341

river-deposits of Paleolithic times proves, in the most impressive
manner, that at the date of their formation the shores of England
extended considerably farther out to sea than they now do.
Let us take an example. From the observations of the Rev. W.
Fox, Mr. T. Codrington, and Dr. Evans, it has been ascertained
that during the occupation of Southern England by Paleolithic
man the Isle of Wight formed part of the mainland—connected
to it by a range of chalk-heights extending west from the
Needles to what is now the coast of Dorsetshire. At that period
the hollows presently occupied by the sea, and called the Solent
and Southampton Water, were valleys which collected the tribute
of many streams that now find their way directly to the sea.
England was then, in all probability, joined to the Continent,
and the ancient river of the Solent may have merged its waters
with those of the Seine upon what is now the bed of the English
Channel. Ido not mean to say that the direct evidence furnished
by the gravels of Hampshire and the neighbouring districts
actually proves that such was the case. All that we are entitled
to infer from that evidence is simply this, that the Solent is an
old land-valley. At what particular point the ancient river
discharged into the sea, or whether or not it really joined the
Seine, can only be conjectured. We must remember, however,
that the Hampshire gravels are but a small portion of the
evidence, to which we have to add that of the fauna and flora,
enough of itself, as we have found, to prove that England, during
some stages at least of the Pleistocene Period, formed part and
parcel of the Continent. To restore such a connection only a
small amount of elevation would be necessary, for the Straits of
Dover are not deeper than 30 fathoms or thereabout, while the
depth between the Isle of Wight and the opposite coast of France
hardly exceeds 40 fathoms. Direct evidence, then, in favour of
the ancient Solent river having been an affluent of the Seine
must, in the nature of the case, be wanting. We know, however,
that the bottoms of certain old valleys in Scotland, which are
quite choked up with accumulations of Pleistocene age, are as
much as 200 or even 260 feet below the sea-level, and this, of

342 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

course, indicates a former greater amount of elevation. Similar
buried river-channels occur in the east of England, and doubt-
less many exist that we do not know of. Could all the deposits
of Pleistocene age be taken out of the valley of the Thames so
as to lay bare the older Tertiary and Cretaceous strata, we should
find that the sea would enter far into the country and cover a
broad area. No one, indeed, can study the distribution of the
old Pleistocene “river-drifts” without perceiving that the valleys
in which they lie must at one time have extended much farther
into regions that are now submerged. There is nothing, there-
fore, abnormal in the fact that the hollow occupied by the Solent
was, in Paleolithic times, a land-valley. By referring to the
Admiralty’s charts we find that the average depth of the Solent
is not more than 54 feet, but there are some places where it is
as much as 70 and 120 feet. In Southampton Water depths of
70 and 90 feet occur. If the greatest depths of the Solent be
not due to the action of currents eroding the sea-bottom (which
is unlikely), then it would follow that the ancient submerged
valley might well have continued eastward to a point not far
removed from the present 30-fathom line. Of course in all this
there is an element of uncertainty, and I only state it to show
that there is nothing unreasonable or extravagant in the view
that the old river of the Solent may have been a tributary of the
Seine in Paleolithic times. But that Paleolithic man saw the
Isle of Wight as part of the mainland there cannot be any
reasonable doubt. He and his congeners may have wandered
upon the slopes of the high chalk downs that once extended
between the Needles and the Dorset coast, but have long since
crumbled into the sea; and they may have followed the ancient
river of the Solent down through what is now Southampton
Water to the shores of the sea somewhere opposite Selsea. But
if, as we have many reasons for believing was the case, our
land stood in those days several hundred feet higher, then man
may have hunted the mammoth and the reindeer over the whole
wide area now covered by the waters of the English Channel.

1 For their knowledge of the geographical conditions which obtained in

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—PLEISTOCENE. 343

Although relics or remains of Paleolithic man have never
yet been discovered in deposits which can be demonstrated to be
of preglacial age, yet geologists have long been of opinion that
he arrived in our latitude as early at least as the old extinct
mammals which were his congeners all through the Pleistocene
Period. That he lived in England during the interglacial epochs
cannot be any longer doubted, and since his relics are met with
not only in the oldest Pleistocene river-alluvia, but also in the
lowest accumulations in our caves, some of which are almost
certainly of preglacial age, the general opinion that he was most
probably in occupation of England before the advent of the first
glacial epoch seems, in the highest degree, likely to be true.
Some, indeed, will have it that he entered Europe in Pliocene
times, which is, & priori, not improbable.

The cut and scratched bones of Hlephas meridionalis, Rhino-
ceros leptorhinus, Hippopotamus major, and other animals, dis-
covered in 1863 by M. Desnoyers, in the upper beds of the
Pliocene of St. Prest, have been attributed by him and many
geologists to man’s hand. By others the evidence has been
thought insufficient. More recently, however, M. Abbé Bour-
geois, an enthusiastic archeologist, has discovered, in the same
deposits, worked flints, about the human origin of which there
seems to be no doubt. These gravel-beds, however, although they
are usually considered to belong to the Pliocene, are, by some
competent authorities, held to be rather of early Pleistocene age ;
to be equivalent, in short, to the preglacial deposits which
underlie the boulder-clay of Cromer. Indeed it is not impossible
that they may even be of interglacial age, for their mamma-
lian remains agree closely with those of the interglacial strata
of Mont Perrier.

Professor Capellini has described the discovery in Pliocene
strata of the bones of a whale (Balenotus), which are marked
the Channel-area during Pleistocene times geologists are indebted, in large
measure, to Mr. Godwin-Austen, whose numerous papers, published in the
Quarterly Jowrnal of the Geological Society, are full of valuable information, and

marked by a spirit of philosophical induction, and a breadth of view, which every
student of Pleistocene geology must gratefully acknowledge and appreciate.

344 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

with incisions and cuts such as only a sharp instrument could
have produced. These interesting remains were disinterred from
the Pliocene of Poggiarone, in the valley of the Fine ; and from
the position in which they were found, and the character of the
deposits in which they were embedded, it appeared evident that
the whale had been stranded in shallow water upon the shores
of one of the islands in the Pliocene archipelago of Central Italy.
The manner in which the bones have been cut certainly seems
suggestive of human handiwork. The incisions are entirely
confined to the outside faces of the rib bones, and to the
apophyses of the vertebree; while the internal surfaces are
invariably intact. Professor Capellini informs me that the
shoulder-blade of a little cetacean recently received by him is
marked on one side only with incisions forming nearly a circle.
According to him and others these appearances could only be
produced by the hand of man, and from the position occupied
by the débris of the skeleton the Bologna professor has con-
vinced himself that the animal was stranded when discovered
by man, who, by means of flint knives or other sharp instru-
ments, hacked away such morsels as he wished. It must
have been lying on its left side when it was operated upon,
for it is upon the bones of the right side only that the
sharp incisions and cuts occur. Similar cut bones of ceta-
ceans have been discovered in the Pliocene of other localities,
from which it is inferred that whales, both large and small, fre-
quently ran aground upon the margin of the old Pliocene sea,
just as they do now upon our present shores. These discoveries
appear to have been made invariably in beach-deposits, close to
the margin of the ancient sea—the rocks forming which are
frequently bored by lithophagi, as, for example, near Santa Luce,
in the valley of the Fine, which must have been at that time a
fiord.. The cut bones have been examined by many competent
osteologists, who agree with Capellini that the markings are
man’s handiwork, and who have testified to the authenticity of

1 L’Uomo pliocenico in Toscana, Atti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei, Ser.
2, t. iii

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—PLEISTOCENE. 345

the relics, observing that the cuts are coated with an incrustation
of the same mineral matter which clings to the bones.’ If their
conclusion be true, then the only question that can arise is the
antiquity of the beds in which the bones occur. Are these
of Pliocene age? Of this the Italian geologists, who must be
the most capable judges, entertain no doubt. We may antici-
pate, therefore, the future discovery of human implements, and
probably of human remains also, in Pliocene strata.’

Of a yet more extreme antiquity are the reputed implements
discovered by M. l’Abbé Bourgeois, at Thenay, in strata, the
Miocene age of which is not disputed. According to the Abbé
these implements betray all the evidence of having been fashioned
and used by man. He draws attention to the symmetrical form
of the flakings, to the retouches, to the bulbs of percussion
(which, however, are rare), to the traces of blows and use, to the
marks of fire—some of the stones having been used probably as
“ pot-boilers ”—and lastly, to the multiplied production of cer-
tain well-known forms.? M. Carlos Ribeiro, of the Geological
Survey of Portugal, had already noted similar discoveries of
worked flints and quartzites in the Pliocene and Miocene of the
Tagus,* a collection of which he exhibited at the Anthropological
Congress in Paris in 1879. A worked flint has also been re-

1 Objections, however, have been urged against Capellini’s views. Dr. Evans,
for example, has suggested that the incisions might have been made by the
teeth of fishes (Compt. Rend. Congrés Intern. d’ Anthrop. et d@ Archéol. Préh.,
1876, p. 46). See also Stefani; Atti Accad. dei Lincet, Ser. 3, t. ii, 1878. If
the incisions had been made either by teeth, claws, or other natural armature of
animals, one might well ask, with Capellini, why similar cuttings should not be
visible on most of the bones found in the same bed ?

2 Professor Boyd Dawkins, referring to the fact that flint flakes and fragments
of rude pottery have been met with at the place where the incised bones were
found, has concluded that the latter cannot be of the age assigned to them by
Professor Capellini. ‘‘ Pottery,” he remarks, ‘‘was unknown in Europe in the
Pleistocene, and therefore is unlikely to have been known in the Pleiocene age 3
(Early Man in Britain, p. 92). This objection, however, is based upon a com-
plete misapprehension. Professor Capellini tells me that the flint flakes and
rude pottery were found lying at the surface, and were never for a moment
imagined by him to belong to the same age as the cut bones.

3 Compte Rendu du Congrés International d’Anthrop. et d’ Archéol. Préhist. ,
1873, p. 81. ,

4 Descripgao do Terreno Quaternario das Bacias dos Rios Tejo e Sado, 1866.

346 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

corded from the Miocene of Aurillac (Auvergne) by M. Tardy,
and a cut rib of the Miocene species, Halitherium fossile, has
been found by M. Delaunay at Pouancé (Maine et Loire). But
there is still much difference of opinion as to the probability of
man having existedin Miocene times. At the Congress of archze-
ologists and anthropologists, held in Brussels (1872), opinion
seemed to be equally divided for and against the human origin
of the Miocene “flints” which M. Abbé Bourgeois submitted
for examination. On the one side were MM. Worsaae, d’Omalius,
Capellini, Mortillet, and other experts, who agreed with the Abbé;
on the other side were MM. Steenstrup, Virchow, Fraas, and
Desor, who opposed his views; while some again, like M.
Quatrefages, reserved their judgment, and were content to wait
for additional evidence. “Since then,” says M. Quatrefages,
“fresh specimens discovered by M. lAbbé Bourgeois have
removed my last doubts. A small knife or scraper, among others,
which shows a fine regular finish, can, in my opinion, only have
been shaped by man. Nevertheless, I do not blame those of my
colleagues who deny, or still doubt. In such a matter there is
no very great urgency, and, doubtless, the existence of Miocene
man will be proved, as that of Glacial and Pliocene man has
been, by facts.”* Some paleontologists, in rejecting the evidence
produced by the Abbé, appear to have been influenced by the
consideration that all the mammalia of Miocene times have
disappeared from the living world, and that, therefore, it is very
unlikely that man, related to them so closely in organisation,
could have survived the action of those causes which resulted
in the extinction of all the terrestrial mammals with which he is
inferred to have co-existed. To which Quatrefages has pertinently
replied that although he recognises the force of such objections,
he yet must take into account human intelligence, which some
palzontologists seem to forget. It is evidently owing to this
intelligence, he remarks, that the man of the Pliocene Age was
able to survive two great geological periods. “He protected
himself against cold by fire, and so survived till the return of a

1 The Human Species, 2d edit., p. 151.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—PLEISTOCENE. 347

more genial temperature. Is it not possible, therefore, to imagine
that man of an earlier period should have found in his industry
the necessary resources for struggling against the conditions
which the transition from the later Secondary to the earlier
Tertiary must have imposed upon him?” There is unquestion-
ably much force in what M. Quatrefages says; nevertheless,
most geologists will agree with him that the question of man’s
Miocene age still remains to be demonstrated by unequivocal
evidence. At present, all that we can safely say is that man
was probably living in Europe near the close of the Pliocene
Period, and that he was certainly an occupant of our continent
during glacial and interglacial times. That being so, let us try
to picture to ourselves the climatic and geographical conditions
of which he must have been a witness towards the end of the
Pleistocene Period.

Let us suppose, then, that the penultimate glacial epoch
had come, and was again passing away to give place to the last
interglacial era. The great northern ice-sheet which had over-
flowed the plains of Northern Germany had melted away, the
British area had likewise become divested of its glacial cover-
ing, and in the mountain-valleys of the Alps and other elevated
regions in Central and Southern Europe the glaciers were
dwindling to moderate proportions. The northern fauna and
flora at the same time were gradually retreating towards alpine
heights and boreal regions, while the low grounds of Central
and North-western Europe, slowly acquiring a temperate climate,
were being reclothed and repeopled by those tribes and families
of plants and animals which were now returning to their former
homes. The reindeer, the musk-sheep, and their congeners had ~
forsaken the plains of France, and had retreated northwards from
Germany, Belgium, and England ; the mammoth and the tem-
perate group of mammalia—urus, bison, Irish deer, stag, roe,
horse, saiga, wild-cat, wolf, bear, lion, hyena, and their
humbler associates—pbeaver, hare, rabbit, stoat, weasel, etc.—
were now the common forms to be seen in Central and North-
western Europe. When the meridian of the last interglacial

348 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

epoch was attained, a climate approximating to that of Pliocene
times characterised our continent. More humid than the pre-
sent, it was at the same time much more equable. Severe
winters in our latitude were probably unknown. A dense forest-
vegetation covered all the low grounds, and doubtless invaded
the valleys and hill-slopes of mountain-regions. Plants which
cannot now co-exist in one and the same locality were then
widely diffused over vast regions. From Central Italy up to
Switzerland and Wiirtemberg, and from the shores of the Gulf
of Lyons as far north as Paris, an uniform flora prevailed. The
Canary laurel flourished at once on the banks of the Seine and
the borders of the Mediterranean. In the neighbourhood of
Paris it was associated in one and the same place with the fig-
tree, the judas-tree, the sycamore, and the ash. In the extreme
south of France it grew side by side with pines which have
now retreated to the mountains. The conditions were the same
in Italy. There laurels, magnolias, walnuts, fig-tree, judas-tree,
beech, evergreen oak, laurustinus, manna-ash, and many others,
were commingled—all testifying to the humidity and extreme
equableness of the climate. Of the contemporaneous flora of
England and the north we know but little—only a very few
traces of it have been met with. In Scotland, oaks, pines, alder,
birch, and ash were among the trees, from which it may be
inferred that the climate of our regions was not less genial then
than it is to-day. We can hardly suppose it possible, however,
that the delightful climatic conditions which obtained from the
Mediterranean region up to Central Europe did not also extend
to our own latitudes. Our winters must at that time have been
very much milder, although doubtless our more northerly posi-
tion would tell upon our flora, and cause it to differ as much
from that of Middle Europe as the latter did then from the
flora of Southern France and Tuscany.

The British Islands were united to themselves and the Con-
tinent and one or more broad rivers, carrying the tribute of
the Elbe, the Weser, and the Rhine, the Thames and other
streams of East Britain, flowed down through the vast plains

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—PLEISTOCENE. 349

now covered by the North Sea to fall into the Northern Ocean.
The western coasts of Europe advanced for many miles into
the Atlantic. The Seine with its English tributaries poured
through what is now the Channel, to meet the ocean at a point
probably not less than 100 miles beyond Ouessant Island.
From Argyle in Scotland there extended a deep freshwater
lake which passed south into the basin of the Irish Sea, and
sent its surplus water in a broad stream through the hollow of
St. George’s Channel, then a valley in that wide expanse of
low ground which stretched south-east from the south of Ireland
to the borders of the French Landes. With such conditions
obtaining in the North Sea and Western Europe, it is likely
that the Baltic existed as a freshwater lake. In the Mediter-
ranean region the contrast between the past and the present
was not less striking. A bridge of land connected Italy
and Malta through Sicily to the coasts of Tunis, and Spain in
like manner was joined to Barbary. Corsica and Sardinia,
united to Italy, formed a peninsula; and the Balearic Isles
similarly would seem to have constituted a portion of the
Spanish mainland. Dry land extended over the greater part of
the Adriatic and the Grecian archipelago ; in a word, the shores
of the Mediterranean generally extended farther out to sea than
now.

Such were the geographical conditions of Europe when the
southern mammals—the hippopotamus, the elephant, the rhino-
ceros, and their associates—advanced northward to commingle
with the denizens of temperate latitudes. Elephants and rhino-
ceroses roamed over the same feeding-grounds as Irish deer, oxen,
horses, and bisons ; hippopotamuses frequented the rivers that
flowed through lands where these and other animals of southern
and temperate habitats abounded. Southern and temperate
forms, in fact, ranged together from the Mediterranean region up
to the north of England; the mammoth, the horse, the Irish
deer, and probably many others, lived in Scotland. Many carni-
vores, at the same time, occupied the forests that covered the
land, and preyed upon temperate and southern animals alike.

350 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Lions, hyenas, and bears haunted the caves—and with all these
creatures Paleolithic man was contemporaneous. The land- and
freshwater-shells showed asimilar remarkable commingling of
species—all the evidence, in short, conspires to assure us that the
climate was singularly equable. If laurels, fig-trees, and judas-
trees grew side by side in Northern France with the sycamore
and the ash, and in low-lying countries on the borders of the
Mediterranean with pines, oaks, beeches, poplars, and elms, so also
were elephants, rhinoceroses, and hippopotamuses, horses, oxen,
and deer, hares and rabbits, wolves, foxes, lions, and hyenas, joint-
occupants of the same regions. The humidity of the climate is
evinced by the character of the vegetation no less than by the
peculiar distribution of the mollusca. And the great breadth
and depth attained by the streams and rivers is further testi-
mony in the same direction.

By and by the climate began to change, and the succes-
sion which I have briefly described above was reversed. The
winters became colder—perhaps, too, the rainfall increased. The
tender southern species of plants now commenced to retreat
from Middle Europe and to creep farther and farther south, and
a like migration of the fauna ensued. At the same time the
British area began to subside. The North Sea once more made
its appearance ; the Channel again came between England and
the Continent; slowly the land sank into the water—the sub-
mergence reaching in Wales and Ireland to as much as 1200
to 1300 feet below the present sea-level, and in Scotland prob-
ably to a similar or even a greater depth, although of that we
have no direct evidence. While this downward movement was
in progress, the deterioration of the climate continued, and
northern and boreal molluscs made their appearance in our seas
and increased in numbers as time went on. Whether the Scan-
dinavian peninsula was submerged to the same extent we can-
not tell—if it was, all proofs of that change (unless my sug-
gestion as to the interglacial age of the ancient rock beach-lines
of Norway should prove to be well founded) must have been
removed during the immediately succeeding glacial epoch. The

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—PLEISTOCENE. 351

Channel-area—the borders of Northern France and Southern
England—do not appear to have subsided more than a few
fathoms below their present level. But the depression increased
towards the north or north-west, and seems to have reached its
maximum in Wales, the north-west of England, and in Ireland.
After that maximum was attained a movement in the opposite
direction followed—the land began to emerge and the sea to
retire, and still the cold continued to increase. About this time
we know that the low grounds of Prussia were submerged by a
sea in which Leda (Yoldia) arctica abounded—a faet which may
lead us to suspect that Holstein, Denmark, and Scania, were like-
wise under water. To what extent the re-elevation of the
British area was continued we shall most probably never be able
to ascertain. All we know is that before it had attained even
to its present level, snow-fields and glaciers had already made
their appearance, and an arctic fauna lived round the shores of
Scotland. Steadily encroaching upon the low grounds, those
glaciers at last coalesced, while nappes of snow gathering upon
all the hills of lesser elevation gave rise to little ice-caps, which,
flowing down the slopes, gradually dilated upon the lowlands.
Thus in time all Scotland became enveloped in ice that flowed
west to break off in deep water beyond the Hebrides, and east
to meet the Scandinavian mer de glace which had all the
while been creeping outwards into the basin of the North Sea.
The north of England was likewise shrouded in ice—part of its
sheet coalescing with the Scottish mer de glace in the basin of
the Irish Sea, and part with the united Scottish and Scandi-
navian ice-sheet that filled up the German Ocean. How far
south in England that ice-sheet flowed still remains to be more
rigorously determined. A broad belt of ice overflowed from the
basin of the Irish Sea, and, uniting with the glaciers that de-
scended from Wales, spread in the direction of the Severn Valley.
In like manner the ice that flowed eastward from the Pennine
Chain, to coalesce with the mer de glace of the North Sea, appears
to have advanced into Lincolnshire. But in the high grounds
of Derby the ice-flow may have been more or less independent,

352 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

as it appears also to have been in Charnwood Forest. Ireland,
with its lofty hills and humid climate, was, like Scotland and
Wales, more or less buried in snow and ice, and its immense
glaciers, uniting with those of Scotland and England, must have
filled up the Irish Sea. The Channel-area, which had shared in
the movement of elevation that succeeded the previous sub-
mergence, now also experienced a severe climate. Hard: frosts
split and ruptured the rocks; and névé, snow, and drenching
rains spread the riven débris over the low grounds.

The southern limits reached by the last great ice-sheet in
North Germany and Russia have yet to be defined. It over-
flowed, as we know, all the low grounds bordering on the
Baltic, and advanced as far south at least as the 52d or 53d
parallel of latitude in Germany, after which its terminal front
probably turned away towards the north-east, just as that of the
greatest mer de glace of a former glacial epoch had done.

Meanwhile, in all the mountain-regions of Central Europe
large glaciers had reappeared, but they did not attain so great a
development as those of earlier glacial epochs. The Carpathians,
the Black Forest, the Vosges, the mountains of Central France,
and the Pyrenees, each and all had their nappes of snow and
glaciers; while the severity of the climate is shown by the
quantities of angular frost-shattered debris which are widely
spread over areas where no such detritus now accumulates.
Even so far south as Gibraltar we have evidence of hard frosts
and heavy snows, and probably in Malta a similarly extreme
winter was experienced.

The rivers descending from all the glaciated regions poured
vast bodies of muddy water down their valleys, and in
summer when they rose in flood produced inundations on a scale
far surpassing any débdcle that can now be witnessed in similar
or more northern latitudes. Such, in a few words, were the
climatic and physical conditions that supervened at the climax
of the last glacial epoch. How were flora and fauna affected ?
Long before the winters of Northern France had become even
so cold as they are at present, the southern forms must have

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—PLEISTOCENE. 353

vanished from that region, and as the cold increased the less
hardy of the temperate forms would follow. The alpine plants,
at the same time, would advance from the north and descend
fromthe mountains, whither they had retired during the
preceding interglacial epoch. Thus, by and by, a flora of
polar willows, dwarf birches, and arctic and alpine mosses,
saxifrages, and lichens would occupy the low grounds of Central
Europe, while pines and firs would spread over Northern and
Central France. We know that the arctic flora pushed its way
south into Spain, Italy, and Austria, for a number of character-
istic species are now living in the mountain-regions of those
countries, whither they retreated upon the subsequent disap-
pearance of cold climatic conditions in the low grounds. Among
these are Mulgediwm alpinum, Less. Gnaphaliwm norvegicum,
Gunn., Azalea procumbens, L., Arctostaphylos alpinus, L., Veronica
alpina, L., V. saxatilis, L., Salix reticulata, L., 8. herbacea, L., Jun-
cus triglumis L., Woodsia hyperborea, Br. Few of the arctic-alpine
plants, however, seem to have crossed into Africa ; at all events
they have not been recorded as occurring south of the Mediter-
ranean, although many northern species are common to the flora
of Europe and North Africa. According to Hooker and Ball,
the most remarkable feature of the higher region of the Atlas
is the very large proportion of common plants of the colder
temperate regions of Central and North-western Europe, which
are there found associated with species of very different types.
With the doubtful exception of Sagina Linnwi, not one of the
plants is characteristically alpine, or typical of the arctic or
glacial flora." During the southward advance of the tempe-
rate forms we can readily imagine what changes would take
place in the interglacial flora of Southern Europe. The
fig-tree, the Canary laurel, the vine, the judas-tree, and prob-
ably many others, became extinct in Southern France, some
of them—for example, the fig-tree—dying out in Europe alto-
gether. A similar fate befell the fauna—the great pachyderms
of southern habitats vanished from our continent, and the

1 Journal of a Tour in Marocco and the Great Atlas, p. 231.
2A

354 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

temperate forms eventually took complete possession of the
Mediterranean region. All these changes came about in a
gradual manner, and hence each zone of latitude became in
succession the head-quarters of the arctic and northern fauna and
flora in their advance towards the south. Thus Paleolithic man
must have hunted the reindeer in Southern England, Belgium,
and Northern France, for many generations before the increasing
severity of the climate compelled both to retreat. Step by step,
however, man was driven south ; England and Belgium were
deserted—perhaps even Germany, down to the foot of the Alps,
was left unoccupied—until at last the Paleolithic race or races
reached the south of France. It was at this stage that the
mammoth entered Spain and Italy, the glutton lived on the shores
of the Mediterranean, marmots frequented the low grounds at the
base of the Northern Apennines, and pikas ranged the coast-
lands of Corsica and Sardinia. In the low grounds of Aquitaine
the reindeer roamed in great herds, and the musk-sheep, the
glutton, the marmot, and other animals of northern or alpine
habitats, were its congeners there. How far north the arctic
fauna ranged during the climax of the last glacial epoch can
only be conjectured. The reindeer were probably at that time
summer visitors only in Northern France. England, covered
for the most part with ice and snow, and washed upon its
southern shores by the sea, was probably never reached by them.
The Paleolithic population of Europe would be confined to
the more southern parts of the Continent; but the hunters of
Aquitaine may have followed the reindeer in their summer
migrations to the north.

At last the glacial epoch reached its meridian, and the
severity of the winters began to abate. Gradually the vast ice-
fields of the north melted away, and the glaciers of the Pyre-
nees, the Alps, and other mountain-ranges, slowly shrank up
their valleys. At or about this time, or it may have been
somewhat earlier, the land-connections between Europe and
Africa disappeared, and the Mediterranean, in some places at
least, advanced upon what is now land. Traces of submergence,

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—PLEISTOCENE. 355

some of which are probably referable to this date, have been
detected at various places on the Mediterranean seaboard.1 The
arctic fauna and flora, followed closely by the temperate species,
now crept slowly north again. The reindeer, the musk-sheep,
and their congeners, forsook the south of France—although it is
not improbable that some of these may also have continued to
linger on in the upper valleys of the Pyrenees and the Alps,
long after the main body had vacated Central Europe.

In Scotland and Scandinavia the dissolution of the ice-sheet
was accompanied by a submergence which in the former country
was inconsiderable, hardly exceeding in the east and west of
the central district 100 feet under the present sea-level, but
increasing to 200 feet in the neighbourhood of the Moray Firth.
Southern Scandinavia, however, sank to a depth of not less than
600 feet below the same datum-lne. The seas were still cold, a
highly arctic fauna living in the Scottish waters. In the east
of England there are traces of a slight submergence, probably
referable to this period, but so far as is known the subsidence
was confined chiefly to Scotland and the southern region of
Sweden and Norway, where it appears to have reached its
maximum. ‘The Baltic at this time, as some believe, communi-
cated with the Arctic Ocean, and the climate of all Northern

? As, for example, at Malaga (Ansted: Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xv. p.
599; in Corsica (Hollande: Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 3° Sér. t. iv. p. 186); in
Sicily (Gemmellaro: Atti della Accademia Gioenia, 1859, t. xiv. p. 187); in
Central and Southern Italy, where, according to Stefani, certain strata which
hitherto have always been classed as younger Pliocene, such as those of Ficarazzi,
Monte Mario, Vallebiaia, etc., ought more properly to be ranged with deposits of
the Glacial Period. In these beds, he says, extinct species are extremely rare,
while northern forms, such as Cyprina islandica, occur, which are wanting in the
lower strata or true Pliocene. Itis probable that the beds referred to are the relics
of some earlier stage of the Glacial Period (see ante, p. 334) than that of which I
speak above ; (see Boll. Com. Geol. Italia, 1876, p. 209). Dr. Hoernes mentions
the occurrence of raised shell-beds on the route between Kalamaki and Lumaki
(Isthmus of Corinth) at nine to eleven metres above the sea, and states that
similar deposits are met with at many other places on the Mediterranean seaboard,
such as the Morea, Rhodes, Cyprus, Pozzuoli, Algeria, ete. ; (see Bull. Soc. Géol.
France, 2° Sér. t. xiii. p. 571. They occur on the east coast of Tunis (Pomel:
Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 3° Sév. t. vi. p. 217), and on the Barbary Coast (Ramsay
and J. Geikie: Quart. Journ Geol. Soc., 1878, p. 514).

356 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Europe, notwithstanding the disappearance of the mer de glace
from the low grounds, must have been still very ungenial.

We have now arrived at the closing scenes of the Glacial
Period. Scandinavia and Scotland were re-elevated—the climate
gradually moderated over all Europe—and the first chapter of
Postglacial history began. The tracing-out of this history must
be my task in the pages that follow, but I shall here anticipate
certain conclusions, the reasonableness of which I hope to de-
monstrate in the sequel.

River- and lake-deposits, peat-mosses, and, in short, terrestrial
accumulations of every kind pertaining to the last interglacial
epoch, must have been greatly denuded during that succeeding
and final Ice Age. We may readily understand how underneath
the mer de glace that covered so wide a region in Europe all the
more or less loose beds of clay, sand, gravel, turf, etc., would
tend to be rudely pushed forward and, ground up with the
bottom-moraine of the ice. Here and there, perhaps, a patch
of some river- or lake-deposit might be preserved—but this
would be exceptional—at least in mountainous countries like
Norway, Scotland, and the hilly parts of England and Ireland.
But in lower-lying areas where the ice-flow met with no obstruc-
tion there would be less erosive action exerted, and we might
therefore expect to find in such districts somewhat more plen-
tiful relics of the last interglacial epoch, buried and preserved
under boulder-clay. Again, those regions that lay beyond the
reach of the mer de glace should exhibit their ancient lacustrine
and fluviatile deposits in a comparatively intact condition ; un-
less, indeed, where these have been subjected to the action of
the desolating floods and torrents that escaped from the melting
ice-sheet. In cases where such a fate has overtaken them, we
should expect to find the interglacial beds in great part re-
arranged, and often confusedly commingled with the shingle
and detritus swept forward by the torrents. In other places,
again, where they had been quietly overwhelmed by inundation-
water, they might exhibit no confusion, but appear perfectly
undisturbed below a less or greater thickness of loam, léss, or

ie aie

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—PLEISTOCE NE. 357

brick-clay. Such we might suppose would be the kind of treat-
ment to which interglacial deposits in Northern and North-
western Europe would be subjected during the closing glacial
epoch. And the conditions would be very much the same in
those portions of Central and Southern Europe which were
exposed to the intensity of glacial and fluvio-glacial action.
Even in regions that were neither glaciated nor swept by
torrents and floods, we might yet reasonably expect to find the
interglacial deposits frequently overlaid and obscured by super-
ficial accumulations, formed at a time when the cold of winter
was severer than at present. Now the mode of occurrence, the
state of preservation, and the present distribution of the inter-
glacial deposits, are precisely such as from the foregoing con-
siderations we might have anticipated. Recalling certain
evidence brought forward in preceding chapters, we may observe
that in every instance in which relics and remains of the more
characteristic Pleistocene mammalia and of Paleolithic man
have been detected in countries where the glacial and fluvio-
glacial accumulations of the last glacial epoch are strongly
developed, they invariably occur either in or underneath the
latter. In the more highly-glaciated regions, such as Scotland
and Scandinavia, the interglacial beds appear as mere patches,
more or less crumpled, confused, and abruptly truncated by the
till that overlies them. Farther south, in the lower-lying
regions of England and Northern Germany, where the ice flowed
with an equable motion, the beds occur in a less patchy form
under the boulder-clay, but they continue to give evidence of
the enormous crushing weight to which they have been sub-
jected.

It may be remembered that, during the latter part of the
latest interglacial epoch, Wales and Ireland were submerged to
a depth of at least 1200 feet, and that Scotland likewise was
covered by a sea which overflowed the land up to 500 feet or
thereabout above the present tide-mark. We know that this
period of submergence must have endured for a long time, from
the fact that the beds of sand which were then accumulated

358 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

attain a thickness in England of several hundred feet. In Scot-
land the accumulation must also have been considerable, but
during the succeeding glacial epoch all the Scottish deposits were
scoured out by the ice, only a few patches being left here and there
in the inland districts, while in the low-lying maritime regions,
where, for reasons already given, the grind of the ice was less
intense, the marine beds occur in better preservation, while the
till that overlies them is often charged with shells belonging to
different zones, which are rolled, crushed, broken, and scratched,
just like the glaciated stones with which they are commingled.
Here and there, too, we come upon horizontal rock-ledges cut in
the face of hill-slopes that look out upon the sea—platforms and
terraces which are evidently the work of the waves. But the
interglacial age of these is shown by the fact that they are
glaciated and coated here and there with boulder-clay. In
Norway so intense was the glacial erosion that not a scrap of
any marine deposit pertaining to the last interglacial epoch has
been preserved, but it is possible, as I have suggested, that
many of the ancient strand-lines (which are often smoothed-off
and faintly-marked, while at least one of them shows glacial
strie) may have been formed contemporaneously with the
similar rock-terraces in Scotland and the “middle sands and
gravels” of Lancashire and Cheshire. In Wales the interglacial
beds have been ploughed out by the glaciers, as Ramsay long
ago showed, and in the more elevated parts of Northern England
they have likewise been demolished. The same, too, is the case
in Ireland. But in the lower-lying districts they appear often
in more or less continuous sheets underneath the upper boulder-
clay, which, like that of Caithness and the north of Lewis in
Scotland, is often charged with marine exuvie. It is needless
to say that relics of ancient interglacial land-surfaces have been
even less well preserved. Yet both in Scotland and England
we come upon patches of terrestrial accumulations containing
mammalian, molluscan, and vegetable remains, while in the till
itself bones, tusks, and horns, and fragments of wood have been
detected, which must have been rolled forward under the ice

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—PLEISTOCENE. 359

along with the general wreckage of the land. Precisely similar
facts confront us in North Germany, where underneath the
youngest till we encounter in some places clays with sea-shells,
and in others beds of sand and clay with land- and freshwater-
shells and bones of the Pleistocene mammals.

When we get beyond the southern limits reached by the
upper boulder-clay, we enter a region which was swept by the
floods and torrents coming from the mer de glace—the turbulent
waters sometimes keeping to the valleys, at other times, when
these were choked with frozen snow, overflowing upon the inter-
vening plateaux. In this region, therefore, we often encounter
wide-spread sheets of torrential gravels and sand in which may
occur bones of the Pleistocene mammals and flint implements
of Paleolithic workmanship—the relics of the last interglacial
epoch. Occasionally the whole thickness of the superficial
covering in these districts is composed entirely of such deposits,
but now and again we find them overlying river accumulations
of a more orderly nature, in which both Paleolithic relics and
mammalian remains may occur in abundance.

In the great river-valleys of France the Paleolithic and
ossiferous deposits are covered for the most part with that cloak
of flood-loam or léss which marks the limits reached by the
desolating inundations of the last glacial epoch. So likewise
in the Rhine, the Danube, and other river-valleys of Germany,
the ancient ossiferous gravels and lignites are buried under thick
accumulations of the same loamy deposit. Entering the alpine
lands of Central Europe, we see how the ice of the last glacial
epoch has for the most part cleared out all interglacial accumu-
lations, only a few inconsiderable portions having been preserved
from the ravages of the ice-plough ; and it is precisely the same
in the hills of Central France and the Pyrenees. Even in
regions which were neither glaciated nor subjected to fluvio-
glacial action the ossiferous and Paleolithic deposits are yet
frequently overlaid with massive accumulations of angular
débris, which must have been formed under considerably colder
conditions of climate than now obtain.

360 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Are these facts, thus briefly recapitulated, sufficient to prove
that Paleolithic man did not survive the last glacial epoch?
Well, they go a long way to do so, and when their evidence is
taken in connection with that furnished by the postglacial
deposits, the result appears to me to amount to a demonstra-
tion that the manufacture and use of Paleolithic implements
came to an end in our continent during the last glacial epoch.
This I shall endeavour to make clear in the sequel, meanwhile
I may take note of one objection to this view which has been
urged by some English geologists. They tell us that Paleolithic
implements occur in certain deposits that overlie the great
chalky boulder-clay in Norfolk and other places, and these
deposits are recognised by them as of postglacial age, simply
from the fact that they rest upon boulder-clay. Now this con-
clusion would be inevitable if it were true that the great chalky
boulder-clay had been laid down during the last glacial epoch.
If that were the case no one could dispute their contention that
Paleolithic man lived in England in postglacial times. And
so long as geologists believed that the Glacial Period had been
only one long uninterrupted period of cold conditions which
came on gradually, reached a climax, and then gradually passed
away, the conclusion I refer to was not only natural but one
from which there was no possibility of escaping. We know
now, however, that during the Glacial Period arctic and genial
climates alternated, and that the great chalky boulder-clay is
not the moraine profonde of the last glacial epoch, but belongs
to a much earlier stage in the series. The occurrence of Palzo-
lithic deposits overlying that boulder-clay is therefore no proof
whatever that Paleolithic man lived in England in postglacial
times. In like manner Paleolithic relics occur at Schiissenried
in Wiirtemberg in a deposit that clearly overlies glacial detritus.
But that morainic material is the product of what the Swiss
call their first and greatest glacial epoch—the glaciers of the
last cold epoch never flowed so far out upon the low grounds.
Thus the superposition of the Schiissenried peat and tufa upon
morainic material no more proves the postglacial age of these

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—PLEISTOCENE. 361

deposits, than the occurrence of beds of shale and sandstone
upon the top of Mountain-limestone proves those to be Post-
Carboniferous. To demonstrate the postglacial age of Paleo-
lithic man, we must show that his relics and remains occur in
true postglacial deposits—that is to say, in beds which have
accumulated since the disappearance of the last great extension
of glacier-ice in Europe. But, as I shall point out in subsequent
chapters, there is no case on record of such an occurrence.
Neither of Paleolithic man nor of the southern mammalia—the
elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, etc.—has a single trace
been met with in any postglacial deposit. The most recent
accumulations in which such traces appear are clearly of inter-
glacial age. Thus in Scotland remains of the more characteristic
Pleistocene mammals are met with underneath the upper or
youngest boulder-clay, as at Crofthead, and the same is the case
in England, as near Hull; nowhere do they rest upon that
boulder-clay or upon any of the marine clays with arctic shells
of the Scottish maritime districts. In Central Europe, as at
Tempelhof in Brandenburg and Utznach in Switzerland, they
are in like manner covered by morainic materials. The
same is the case in Italy, as at Leffe in the Val Gandino, and
Pianico in the Val Borlezza. Then let us recall the fact that
while the relics of Paleolithic man and the remains of his
congeners are never found upon the surface of the younger
or valley-léss, they yet frequently occur in and underneath that
deposit ; while, in all the ancient river-drifts of Southern
England and France, the evidence is no less clear that great
and tumultuous floods occurred towards the close of the Palo-
lithic Period—the mud and loam from which invariably overlie
the gravels containing Paleolithic relics. Again, this is in
perfect harmony with the fact that in many caves, both in
England and the Continent, the Paleolithic beds are covered
with a more or less continuous and thick-cake of stalagmite—
which points to the lapse of a long period of time during which
the caves remained unvisited either by man or beast. Take
also in connection with this the frequent occurrence, upon the

362 . PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

top of the upper stalagmitic pavements, of many large blocks
detached from the rock above, or of tumultuous heaps of earth
and angular débris, such as that accumulation of yellow clay
with stones which forms so prominent a feature in the caves
and rock-shelters of Belgium—separating the Paleolithic from
the later Neolithic layers (a position which is also maintained
by the léss in some of the same caves). Let us remember, like-
wise, how at Gibraltar and in Malta similar appearances present
themselves, and the combined evidence becomes so overwhelm-
ing that we are driven to conclude that the Paleolithic Age
came to a close with the last glacial epoch.

“—e

NEOLITHIC, BRONZE, AND IRON AGES. — 363

CHAPTER XV.

NEOLITHIC, BRONZE, AND IRON AGES.

Difficulty of ascertaining the relative antiquity of Neolithic relics—The Danish
“kitchen-middens ”—Views of Worsaae, Steenstrup, and Lubbock—Fauna
of the “ kitchen-middens ”—Neolithic man—Conditions of life—Shell-
mounds of Britain and France—Lake-dwellings of Switzerland—Dr. Keller
on various forms of lake-dwellings—Human relics—Remains of plants and
animals met with in ruins of lake-dwellings— Conditions of life—Passage
from the Neolithic through the Bronze into the Iron Age—Relics of Neo-
lithic and later archeological periods in other regions—“ Long-heads ” and
“broad-heads ” of British barrows—Celte, Belge, and Germani—Contrasts
between Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages.

- THE relics of Neolithic man have been met with in much

greater abundance and over a vastly wider area in Europe than
those of his Paleolithic predecessor. The latter are restricted
to caves in various countries, and to certain alluvial deposits in
France and the south of England, in which they occur more or
less numerously, and to similar accumulations in Germany,
Spain, Italy, and Greece, where, however, they have been less
frequently encountered. But the weapons, implements, and
ornaments of Neolithic times are strewn broad-cast over the
Continent—from the shores of the Atlantic to the borders of
Asia, and from Scandinavia and Russia to the Mediterranean.
Our knowledge of the modes of life—the manners and customs
—in a word, the state of civilisation of Neolithic man, is thus
somewhat ample. We have still much to learn, however, and
there is a great deal which will probably always remain obscure.
It is not unlikely, also, that some of the views now more or less
generally held with regard to the relative antiquity of various

364 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Neolithic remains, may yet undergo considerable modification,
or even be altogether abandoned. Archeologists have found
much difficulty in determining the comparative antiquity of
Neolithic implements by referring to the character of their
workmanship. That the beautifully shaped and highly polished
specimens of stone-work must be assigned to some advanced
stage of the Neolithic epoch admits of little doubt, but then it
is just as true that implements of a very rude character indeed
have been found associated with these in such a manner as to
lead to the conviction that both were used by one and the same
people. Even in cases where all the implements in one particular
“find,” as in many “kitchen-middens,” are rude and simple, it
does not necessarily follow that they pertain to an early part of
the Neolithic Age. So far as the evidence of the implements
alone is concerned, they might belong to the very closing stage
of Neolithic times. It is possible, in short, that they may be
the relics of some poor or comparatively weak tribes who might
have occupied Europe contemporaneously with stronger and
more advanced races. Unfortunately the student of Neolithic
archeology is in large measure deprived of the help which
geology accords to the investigator who essays to interpret the
records of Palzolithic times. It is only in rare cases that we
find any superposition of later Neolithic upon earlier Neolithic
accumulations. And even when such does occur it is often open
to us to suggest that the difference between the implements of
the two stages may not indicate the progress of any particular
race, but rather point to the dispossession of one tribe by another.
The succession of Paleolithic deposits testifies to the lapse of
long ages, during the progress of which immense climatic and
geographical changes took place, and we feel certain that the
human implements obtained from the bottom layers are of much
greater antiquity than those of the topmost beds. But it is
seldom that the evidence of superposition in the case of Neolithic
deposits is of such a decided character. For however protracted
the Neolithic Age may have been, it was very inconsiderable
indeed when contrasted with the prolonged duration of the pre-

NEOLITHIC, BRONZE, AND IRON AGES. 365

ceding Paleolithic Period. Nay, the time which has elapsed
from the close of the latter age even up to the present day can-
not for a moment compare with the zons during which the men
of the Old Stone Period occupied Europe. The deciphering of
the relative antiquity of Neolithic remains is thus in large part
the province of the archzologist and the anthropologist rather
than the geologist. A close comparison of the human relics
and remains has already cleared up much that was obscure,
and we may hope that as time advances our knowledge of
the different phases through which civilisation progressed dur-
ing the New Stone Period will be considerably increased, and
that we will yet learn much more of the various races
which then occupied Europe contemporaneously or succes-
sively. For my present purpose, however, it will be sufficient
to give a very brief account of some of the more interesting
“finds” of Neolithic relics, with the view of showing the
contrast that obtained between Neolithic and Paleolithic
times. .
Amongst the accumulations of Neolithic age which are
thought by many archeologists to be oldest are the well-known
“ Kjokkenmédiner,” or kitchen-middens of Denmark. These
are heaps and mounds composed principally of shells of edible
molluscs, of which the most abundant are oyster, cockle, mussel,
and periwinkle. Commingled with the shells occur bones of
mammals, birds, and fish in less or greater abundance, and like-
wise many implements of stone, bone, and horn, together with
potsherds. The middens are met with generally near the coast,
and principally on the shores of the Lymfjord and the Kattegat ;
they would appear, indeed, never to be found on the borders of
the North Sea. They form mounds or banks that vary in height
from three or five feet up to ten feet, with a width of 150 to 200
feet, and a length of sometimes nearly 350 yards. Where the
shores are low and shelving, the mounds occur at only a few
feet above high-tide mark, but they reach a somewhat higher
level when the coast is more abrupt. They very often show
hollows or depressions on the top, and such of them as have

366 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

been excavated have disclosed layers of charcoal and small
platforms of flat stones, which are evidently old hearths. The
Danish savants (Forchhammer, Steenstrup, and Worsaae) who
first examined these curious shell-mounds, came to the conclu-
sion that they were the refuse-heaps which had accumulated
round the dwellings of some ancient coast-tribe, and the de-
pressions or hollows at the surface are supposed to indicate
the position of the huts or tents, while the hearth-stones of
course mark the sites of old fireplaces. Immense numbers of
implements have been obtained from the middens, all, with-
out exception, formed either of stone, horn, or bone; not a
single trace of metal has yet turned up. The flint implements
and weapons are very different in form from those fashioned by
Paleolithic man, but they are nevertheless rudely finished, and
seldom or never polished. Only a very few well-worked imple-
ments, most of them, too, broken or imperfect, have been met
with, and this remarkable scarcity has given rise to some dis-
cussion, Professor Worsaae maintaining that the almost total
absence of well-finished implements is good proof that the men
of the Danish kitchen-middens lived in very early Neolithic
times before great skill in the manufacture of stone implements
had been acquired; while Professor Steenstrup, on the other
hand, is of opinion that the rude denizens of the coast-lands
were contemporaneous with other tribes occupying the inland
districts who knew how to grind and polish their implements,
and were in many respects farther advanced in civilisation. It
is one of those nice cases in which Sir Roger De Coverly’s de-
cision—there is much to be said on both sides—must commend
itself to the cautious archeologist. Sir John Lubbock remarks
that he is unable altogether to agree with either, but he appa-
rently leans to Professor Worsaae’s view, for after an admirable
summary of the evidence he concludes as follows :—* On the
whole, the evidence appears to show that the Danish shell-
mounds represent a definite period in the history of that country,
and are probably referable to the early part of the Neolithic
Age, when the art of polishing flint implements was known,

NEOLITHIC, BRONZE, AND IRON AGES. 367

but before it had reached its greatest development.”! In a
subsequent chapter I shall return to this question, when certain
geological evidence will be adduced to show that the Danish
kitchen-middens, although doubtless of great antiquity, most
probably belong to a late Neolithic period ; at all events that
they can hardly be referred to the early age which Professor
Worsaae claims for them.

It is worthy of note that the cockle, mussel, and periwinkle
shells which compose so large a part of the kitchen-middens
are larger than those of the same molluscs that now live upon
the coast, while the oyster, formerly so abundant, has entirely
disappeared—facts which point to the former salter condition of
the Baltic Sea. It may have been, as Lyell has remarked, that
“the ocean had freer access than now to the Baltic, communi-
eating probably through the peninsula of Jutland, Jutland
having been at no remote period an archipelago.” We must
remember, however, that the position of the shell-mounds shows
that the relative level of sea and land in that part of Denmark
has remained apparently stable from the time of their forma-
tion to the present day. The total absence of shell-mounds
along the west coast of Denmark is explained by the fact that
the sea has made great encroachments there, and that any shell-
mounds which may once have existed have probably been
demolished along with the ground they rested upon.

The fish-remains found in the shell-mounds include those of
herring, dorse, cod, flounder, and eel; and there are also bones
of several birds. Of these last the most interesting are those
of the capercailzie and the great auk (Alea impennis), a species
which would appear to be now extinct. The mammalia are
represented most abundantly by stag, roedeer, and wild-boar ;
but, besides these, were urus, dog, fox, wolf, marten, otter,
porpoise, seal, water-rat, beaver, lynx, wild-cat, hedgehog, bear
(Ursus arctos), mouse, and a small ox. The dog was domesti-
cated, as was shown by the curious fact that those bones or

1 Prehistoric Times, 4th edit., p. 253.
* Antiquity of Man, 4th edit., p. 14.

368 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

parts of bones which a dog will devour are almost invariably
wanting in the shell-mounds. No trace of any other domestic
animal, such as ox (Bos taurus), sheep, goat, or hog, occurs,
and the northern mammals of the so-called Reindeer period
are likewise wanting. —

No human skulls have been obtained from any of the mounds,
but those which are met with in certain tumuli, and here and
there in the peat of Denmark, are believed to belong to the same
date. They are small and round with prominent ridges over the
eyes, and the facial angle is well developed. The type, in short,
presents characters more or less analogous to that of the Lapps.
The character of the relics and débris of the shell-mounds gives
us a pretty good notion of the kind of life led by the old coast-
tribes of Denmark. Ignorant, apparently, of agriculture, or of
the use of textile plants, their highest art showed itself in the
production of coarse hand-made pottery and chipped flints, for
it is doubtful whether the very few polished stone implements
that have been detected amongst the others were really fash-
ioned by the shell-mound builders, or “conveyed” by them
from some neighbouring people. Their only garments consisted
probably of the skins of animals snared or killed in the chase.
As to their food, oysters, cockles, and mussels doubtless formed
a part, but it is not unlikely that these and other molluscs were
also largely used for bait—the quantities of bones of herring,
cod, and other deep-sea fish, showing that the fishermen were
not afraid to trust themselves in their canoes for some distance
from the shore. At other times they hunted, and the catalogue
of birds and beasts secured by them evinces both skill and
courage, and probably no small degree of cunning. Perhaps it
was only when trapping, hunting, and fishing did not prove
successful that they had resource to a molluscous diet. That
they were sometimes, at all events, put to straits seems to be
shown by the fact that they occasionally ate their dogs, the
bones of which have been found split, for the sake of the mar-
row, in the same manner as those of other animals. We can
picture to ourselves the little round-headed people coiled up

Se ee ees

NEOLITHIC, BRONZE, AND [TRON AGES. 369

under their skin-tents, or squatting round their fires, toasting
fishes and roasting bones, very much as certain coast-tribes do
at the present day. And perhaps Heine’s graphic, if not very
complimentary, description of the modern Laplanders gives us
a faithful enough portraiture of the ancient fishermen of Den-

mark— —
“In Lappland sind schmutzige Leute,
Plattkopfig, breitmaulig, und klein ;
Sie kauern ums Feuer, und backen
Sich Fische, und quiken und schrein.” !

Shell-mounds of similar character occur in other countries,
as upon the opposite coasts of the Kattegat in Scania. In Scot-
land they are not uncommon, but are certainly of very various
ages, some being as old at least as those of Denmark, while
others belong to very recent times. They occur from levels of
2 or 3 feet up to 50 feet or so above the sea-level, and are met
with on the shores of the Firth of Forth, of St. Andrews
Bay, of Forfarshire, of the Moray Firth, in the Outer Hebrides,
etc. Many of these are interesting from a geological point
of view, and some reference to them will be found in a later
chapter. No shell-mounds have been observed on the east
coast of England, probably for the same reason that they are
wanting on the west coast of Denmark. They occur, however,
upon the west coast, and they are also met with in Ireland.
Again, Delesse mentions the occurrence at Saint-Michel-en-
Lherm (on the coast of Poitou north of La Rochelle) of mounds
or heaps of oysters and other shells at 10 métres above the sea,
and 6 kilométres from the shore, which are probably of the
nature of kitchen-middens.”

Among the most interesting relics of antiquity which have
yet been discovered are the famous lake-dwellings of Switzer-
land, described by Dr. Keller and others. They evince a con-

1Jn Lapland are dirty people,
Flat-pated, broad-mouthed, and small ;

They cower round the fire, toasting fishes,
And chatter, and screech, and squall.

2 Lithologie des Mers de France, etc,, p. 436.
2B

370 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

siderably more advanced phase of civilisation than the kitchen-
middens, and are further important from the -fact that they
reveal the successive stages through which the primitive in-
habitants of Switzerland passed from the Neolithic through the
Bronze into the Iron Age. Dr. Keller has given us an elaborate
and detailed account of these remarkable dwellings,’ and has
arranged them in three groups according to the character of
their substructure. Those of the first group, the Pile Dwellings,
are, he tells us, by far the most numerous in the lakes of
Switzerland and Upper Italy. In these the substructure con-
sists of piles of various kinds of wood, sharpened sometimes by
fire, sometimes by stone hatchets or celts, and in later times by
tools of bronze, and probably of iron, the piles being driven into
the bottom of the lake at various distances from the shore.
Upon the heads of the piles platform-beams were laid and
fastened by means of wooden pins ; in other cases, however, the
cross-beams were fitted into mortises cut in the heads of the
vertical piles. Occasionally cross-timbers united the piles below
the platform, to steady and strengthen the structure. The
platform consisted generally of one or two layers of unbarked
stems laid parallel one to another, but in a few cases it was
composed of boards split out of the trunks of trees, Frequently
the outer row of piles appears to have been protected by a kind
of hurdle-work of small twigs or branches. The dwellings were
probably connected with the shore by means of a narrow plat-
- form also laid on piles, the remains of which have in some cases
been detected. Dr. Keller remarks that, so far as can be
ascertained, the same mode of construction characterised the
pile-buildings of each of the three Ages of Stone, Bronze, and
Iron, the only difference being that those which were occupied
during the Bronze Age appear frequently to have been farther
from the shore and deeper in the lakes than those which belong
to the Age of Stone. Occasionally large numbers of stones were

1 The Lake Dwellings of Switzerland and other parts of Ewrope, by Dr.
Ferdinand Keller (translated and arranged by John Edward Lee). 2d edition,
1878.

NEOLITHIC, BRONZE, AND TRON AGES 371

employed in strengthening the foundations of the dwellings.
These are believed by Keller to have been brought in boats and
thrown down between and around the piles, and he mentions
that at Peter’s Island in the Lake of Bienne a boat filled with
stones is to be seen in the spot where it had sunk with its too
heavy freight. The Frame Pile-Dwellings are very rare. “The
distinction between this form and the regular pile-settlement
consists in the fact that the piles, instead of having been driven
into the mud of the lake, had been fixed by a mortise-and-tenon
arrangement into split trunks, lying horizontally on the bed of
the lake. This plan was chiefly followed where the bottom of
the lake consisted of very soft mud, such as would hardly allow
of a hold for the piles.” In the Fascine Dwellings, as Dr. Keller
terms his third group of lake-habitations, the substructure con-
sisted of successive layers of sticks or small stems of trees built
up from the bottom of the lake till they reached above the lake-
level. Upright piles occur commonly in this curious foundation ;
they did not, however, support the platform, but appear to have
been used simply as stays or guides for the great mass of sticks,
which were built up between and around them. The founda-
tions of the lake-dwellings are, as might be supposed, better
known than the superstructures, of which, however, enough has
been ascertained to give us a more or less definite idea of their
character. The platform upon which they stood was covered
over with clay, probably tramped or beaten down upon the
rough surface of wood, and sometimes the clay enclosed a layer
of pebbles. The walls or sides of the huts were formed of a
wattle- or hurdle-work of small branches woven in between
upright piles or stakes, and covered with a thick coating of clay.
According to Keller, all the evidence hitherto obtained proves
that the huts were rectangular, although some may possibly have
been round. It is not known, he says, whether they were
divided into several rooms or not. They would appear to have
been thatched with reeds and straw, the remains of which are
abundantly met with in every lake-dwelling. “Every hut had
its hearth, consisting of three or four large slabs of stone ; and

ie A PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

it is probable, from the almost universal prevalence of clay-
weights for weaving, that most, if not all, of them were furnished
with a loom.”

Lake-dwellings have been met with in many other regions
of Europe besides Switzerland and Italy, as in Bavaria, Austria,
Hungary, Mecklenburg, Pomerania, France, Wales, Ireland, and
Scotland. The “Crannoges” of Ireland and Scotland were
rather artificial islands than dwellings like those described
above. They come nearest in character to the Fascine Dwell-
ings, some of them being built up in the same manner with
layers of sticks strengthened and surrounded by vertical piles,
while others were composed of earth and stones, or of a mixture
of these with branches and stems of trees, Mention may be
made also of the traces of log-houses which have been found in
certain peat-bogs in Ireland, and of the curious pit-like dwell-
ings or “hut circles” which have been met with in various places
in England. Some of these no doubt go back to Neolithic times,
but many were in use down to a much more recent period.

Immense numbers of implements (see Plate C),! weapons,
fragments of pottery, and bones of various animals, have been
discovered in the débris of the old lake-dwellings, the character
of which gives us some notion of the kind of life led by the
ancient Lakemen. During the Neolithic Age they were so far
advanced that they knew how to till the ground and to cultivate
wheat and barley, which seem to have formed a principal article
of food. Flax also was grown by them, and largely employed
in the manufacture of cord, netting, ropes, and of mats, coverings,
and cloth, many pieces of which have been preserved to testify
to their skill as weavers. Quantities of potsherds are found on
the sites of the old dwellings, some portions showing patterns
and ornamentation, and the designs of the various cups and
vessels which have been discovered prove that, although igno-

1 The illustrations in Plate C are from Dr. Evans’s Ancient Stone Implements,
Weapons, and Ornaments of Great Britain. Fig. 1 represents the face (a) and side
(6) of a flint celt, which is ground at the edge only. Fig. 2 (a and B) isa polished

celt of a tough jade-like stone. Fig. 3 is an axe-head of felstone. Fig. 4 is a
flint arrow-head. All the implements are British, and characteristically Neolithic:

PLATE C.

To face page 372

Ye FIG. |.

FIG. 3.

FIG. 4.

BiG:

NEOLITHIC IMPLEMENTS

NEOLITHIC, BRONZE, AND [RON AGES. 373

rant of the potter's wheel, the lake-dwellers were yet not unskilled
in the manipulation of clay. Of stone implements there is like-
wise a great abundance, but flints are not nearly so numerous
as in the Neolithic “finds” of Western Europe. For their celts
and chisels they selected many different kinds of stone, a pre-
ference being of course given to those which combined toughness
with hardness. That they did not employ flint more commonly
is explained by the circumstance that this variety of stone is
met with only very sparingly in Switzerland. Implements of
horn, bone, and wood, were also in common use. But the con-
trast between Neolithic and Paleolithic times is still further
emphasised by the fact that the lake-dwellers were accompanied
by domesticated animals—by sheep, goat, ox, horse, pig, and
dog, and some of these were accommodated in stalls adjoining
the huts occupied by their owners. In the heaps of refuse
which accumulated on the bottom of the lakes underneath and
in the immediate neighbourhood of the platforms, are found
many remains of wild mammals, birds, fishes, and reptiles, from
which we learn that the lake-dwellers snared and hunted such
animals as fox, marten, polecat, wolf, wild-cat, beaver, elk, urus,
bison, stag, roedeer, and boar. Amongst the birds are the golden
eagle, falcons, owls, starling, crows, pigeon, grouse, stork, heron,
crane, coot, gulls, swan, goose, ducks, etc., the water-birds, as
might have been expected, predominating. The amphibians and
fish were all of common indigenous species, such as frogs, perch,
bleak, pike, ete. Not a trace of any of the characteristic Pleis-
tocene mammalia appears, even the reindeer seems to have
been unknown, although it occurs in postglacial and Neolithic
accumulations in Britain.

Professor Heer has shown that some of the plants culti-
vated by the lake-dwellers are not indigenous, but must have
been introduced. Such are the Egyptian wheat (Triticum
turgidum) and the six-rowed barley (Hordewm hewastichon).
Along with these there is found a South European weed (Silene
cretica), which was doubtless introduced accidentally at the same
time. This, taken in connection with the fact that the swine,

374 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

sheep, goat, and probably some of the oxen, are descended not
from indigenous European but from Asiatic species, renders it
in the highest degree probable that the Neolithic inhabitants of
Switzerland came originally from the east, bringing with them
their cereals and domestic animals.

According to Dr. Keller, the passage from Neolithic times to
the Age of Bronze was effected peacefully and gradually. There
is no evidence to show that a bronze-using people suddenly in-
vaded Switzerland and overwhelmed their Neolithic predecessors.
All the facts would seem to point toa gradual introduction of
metal. At first, owing probably to its actual scarceness and the
want of metallurgic knowledge on the part of the lake-dwellers,
it was very little used. Perhaps the earliest implements of
bronze were obtained by barter and imported. By and by, how-
ever, the ores themselves would be introduced, and the people
would little by little acquire more dexterity in the manufacture
of such implements and weapons as they were in need of. But
stone certainly continued to be employed contemporaneously
with bronze. The pottery of the Bronze Age shows some ad-
vance upon that of Neolithic times, but the potter’s wheel had
not yet apparently come into use. The remains of the domes-
ticated animals occur more numerously in the settlements per-
taining to the Bronze Age, from which it has been inferred that
flocks and herds were more abundant then than in the preceding
Age of Stone. The conditions of life, however, would appear
not to have differed in any essential degree. The possession of
metal implements would no doubt be of great service to the
people, but they still continued to be a race of agriculturists,
fishers, and hunters. Of the people themselves we know but
little, human remains being very rarely met with in the lake-
dwellings. It is most probable, however, that they were of the
same types as those whose remains occur in the numerous
tumuli or burial-mounds and cromlechs which are distributed
over so wide an area in Europe. We are equally ignorant of
their religion, and there is nothing to indicate what kind of
government and social order they had. Amongst the relics per-

NEOLITHIC, BRONZE, AND IRON AGES. 375

taining to the Bronze Age are certain crescents of earthenware
which are supposed by Dr. Keller to be sacred emblems of the
moon, “ by means of which, as with the branches of the mistletoe,
they imagined they were able to avert and to cure diseases.
This panaceum was probably erected in some open space, perhaps
over the doors of the dwellings, so that the ornamented side was
exposed to view.” Sir John Lubbock, however, thinks it is
more probable that they were pillows. “Though this,” he says,
“seems at first very unlikely, and they must, one would think,
be very uncomfortable, still we know that several barbarous
races at the present day use wooden pillows or neck-rests of the
same kind, as, for instance, the Figians, who, having enormous
heads of hair, sacrifice comfort to vanity, and use a mere wooden
bar for a pillow. The very long bronze pins found with these
‘crescents’ indicate that during the Bronze Age the hair was
worn very long, and was carefully arranged.”

The lake-dwellings continued in use down to the Iron Age,
and even to the times of the Romans, as we know from the fact
that Roman implements have been found commingled with those
of stone and bronze on not a few of the old sites.

Memorials of the Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages are scat-
tered plentifully over Europe. Amongst the most striking of
these are the barrows, cromlechs, standing-stones, and other
“rude stone monuments.” An examination of the barrows has
shown that these in the great majority of cases are sepulchral
mounds, the contents of which have yielded to archzologists
much interesting information as to the various people who have
successively occupied the land. It has been shown that those
ancient tumuli belong to very different ages, some of them dating
back to Neolithic times, many pertaining to the Bronze Era,
while not a few have been assigned to the Iron Age, and even
to the post-Roman period. In Britain there are two kinds of
tumuli, the long barrows and the round barrows, the former of
which are of Neolithic Age, while the latter are referred partly
to the Bronze Age and partly to more recent times. The people
who constructed the long barrows were a dolichocephalic or

376 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

“Jong-headed” race, while those by whom the round barrows
were raised were brachycephalic or “ broad-headed.” The “long-
heads” of Britain were unacquainted with the use of metal,
which would appear to have been introduced by their “ broad-
headed” conquerors, who constructed the round barrows. In
Switzerland, however, a knowledge of metals was apparently
acquired in a peaceful way by tribes who had formerly used
only stone, wood, and horn. Of the relics met with in the more
ancient tumuli it is not necessary for me to speak further than
simply to say that they are strongly marked off in character
and appearance from the rude and simple relics of Palzolithic
times. Remains of various domesticated animals are frequently
encountered in Neolithic burial-places, and hand-made pottery
is also occasionally met with.

It is believed by some that the “long-heads” are represented
in Europe at the present day by the Basques of North-western
Spain, the swarthy Frenchmen in Aquitaine, and the small dark
Welshmen of Denbighshire, and the dark-haired people in the
south-west of Ireland. If this be true, then we may believe
that the “ long-heads” were a short-statured folk, with dark hair
and eyes, and a complexion to match. Whence they came can
only be conjectured. Some say from Africa, but Professor
Dawkins suggests, with what seems greater probability, that
they entered Europe from the east, starting “from the central
plateau of Asia, from which all the successive invaders of Europe
have swarmed off.” The “broad-heads,’ who pushed back and
dispossessed the “long-heads,” have been identified by Mr.
Dawkins with the Celtz, who would thus date back in Britain
and France to the close of the Neolithic Age. They held their
own in North-western Europe all through the Bronze Age down
to the dawn of history, when, according to the same writer, they
had to bide the shock of a new folk-wave, that of the Belge, just
as the Belgze in Ceesar’s time were assailed by the Germani.

Neolithic man was frequently a cave-dweller, his hearths

1 For a clear and interesting account of these migrations see Boyd Dawkins’s
Cave-hunting, p. 220 et seq. ; and Early Man in Britain, chaps. ix.-xii.

NEOLITHIC, BRONZE, AND IRON AGES. 377

and the débris of his feasts having been met with in many caves
in England, Belgium, France, Spain, and other countries. In all
these regions the animal remains with which the Neolithic relics
are associated belong to species which are indigenous to the
same districts in which the caves occur, or are known to have
been living there in historical times. Thus in the caves of the
Pyrenees in Ariége, explored by MM. Garrigou and Filhol, are
found remains of oxen (Bos primigenius, B. frontosus, B. brachy-
ceros), a sheep like that which is often met with in the peat-
bogs, goat, stag, roe-buck, wild-boar (Sus scrofa ferus and
palustris), brown bear, wolf, dog, fox, chamois, and many birds,
The same authors mention a number of facts which lead them
to suspect that cannibalism may have been a custom with the
Neolithic cave-dwellers of Ariége.’ In certain tumuli of our
own country Dr. Thurnam thought there was evidence in the
appearance presented by the burnt, broken, and scattered frag-
ments of skulls and human bones of the same horrible custom
having prevailed among the “long-heads” of Britain. But Mr.
Greenwell, who was for some time impressed with the force of
Dr. Thurnam’s argument, now concludes from subsequent careful
analyses of the evidence that this view cannot be maintained.’
There can be no doubt, however, that the Neolithic peoples
quarrelled, fought, and killed with as much readiness as the
savage tribes of Africa do at the present day. Many of their
implements can only have been intended for weapons of war,
and their fortified dwelling-places and camps show that “the
good old rule, the simple plan,” was well understood and acted
upon in Neolithic times. It may be inferred also that the
people had a belief in a future state from their custom of bury-
ing weapons, implements, and ornaments in graves, and of placing
a vessel supposed to have contained food beside the dead, customs
which still prevail amongst many modern savage tribes. But
with regard to their religious ideas we can only indulge in vague
guess and conjecture.

1 Age de la Pierre Polie dans les Cavernes des Pyrenees Ariégeoises, p. 61.
2 British Barrows, p. 544.

378 PREATSTORIC EUROPE.

It is of course quite impossible in very many cases to cor-
relate the Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages of one country with
the similar stages in the history of other regions. We may say
in a general way that the Neolithic cave-dwellers of Wales,
Belgium, the Pyrenees, and other areas, and the constructers of
the long barrows in Britain, were contemporaneous with the
Neolithic lake-dwellers of Switzerland. But the subsequent
Bronze Age would, no doubt, commence in some places earlier
than in others. We cannot tell how or in what way a know-
ledge of metals was introduced. In Switzerland, as we have
seen, 1t would appear to have been acquired in a peaceful way.
But we can readily believe that before the universal diffusion
of metallurgical knowledge, those tribes who had possessed
themselves of bronze weapons might now and again invade
and overcome people, who, owing to poverty, ignorance, or the
inaccessibility of their country, had remained for a much longer
time in the Neolithic phase of civilisation. We know, indeed,
that this was actually the case, and that people in the north of
Scotland were living very much after the same manner as the
Danish shell-mound builders, destitute apparently of metallic
implements, long after the Bronze Age had been succeeded by
the Age of Iron.

This very short and imperfect outline of the later archzo-
logical periods will yet suffice to show how great the gap is that
separates Paleolithic from Neolithic times. During the closing
scenes of the Paleolithic Period Europe passed through its
last excessive glacial epoch—man was then associated in the
south of France with the arctic mammalia; but when we first
meet with Neolithic man we find him surrounded by a group
of animals that differs in no essential degree from the present
fauna. Paleolithic man had no knowledge of agriculture ; he
was ignorant of weaving and the potter’s art, nor does he
appear to have had any domestic animals. Neolithic man on
the other hand was deficient in none of these respects; he
seems to have excelled his Paleolithic predecessor in everything
save in art. There are no sculptures, no etchings or outline-

NEOLITHIC, BRONZE, AND [RON AGES. 379

drawings of animals, pertaining either to the Neolithic or the
Bronze Age that can equal the marvellous work of the reindeer-
hunters of Périgord and the Pyrenees. Even the drawings of
the modern Eskimo are stiff and poor when placed in com-
parison with the more perfect etchings of the Reindeer period.
Notwithstanding his wonderful artistic gift, however, Palo-
lithic man lived very much in the same state as the wild
animals which he hunted. The accomplishments of Neolithic
man, if less striking, were certainly more conducive to his comfort.
It is a fine thing to be endowed with artistic capabilities ; but
after all, were we to be deprived of the good things which
came in with our Neolithic progenitors—had we no looms, no
earthenware dishes, no corn, no horses, dogs, cows, nor sheep—
I fear we should hardly feel ourselves recompensed for the
want of these by the possession of a notable artistic talent.
Between Paleolithic and Neolithic man there is thus a wide
gulf of separation. From a state of utter savagery we pass
into one of comparative civilisation. Was the Neolithic phase
of European archeological history merely developed out of
that which characterised Paleolithic times? Was the European
Neolithic man the lineal descendant of his Paleolithic pre-
decessor.? There is no proof either direct or indirect that this
was the case. On the contrary, all the evidence points in quite
an opposite direction. When Neolithic man entered Europe he
came as an agriculturist and a herdsman, and his relics and
remains occur again and again immediately above Pleistocene
deposits in which we meet with no trace of any higher or better
state of human existence than that which is represented by the
savages who contended with the extinct mammalia.

I have already made some reference to the physical evidence
of this break or hiatus, and I shall have something further to
say about it in succeeding pages. Meanwhile, it is clear that
even if that evidence were altogether ignored, we should yet be
compelled to admit that a long interval was required for the
great change that took place in the fauna and flora of Europe.
Nearly all the more characteristic southern mammals which

380 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

occupied Europe along with Paleolithic man during the last
interglacial epoch, disappeared from our fauna before the close
of the succeeding glacial era—some of them retiring to more
southern climes, others dying out altogether. Even the arctic
or northern group, which at the climax of glacial cold had
sought refuge in the south, had slowly migrated north again
with the return of more clement climatic conditions, so that
when Neolithic man made his appearance the temperate fauna
had once more come into possession of Central Europe. The
last glimpse we obtain of Paleolithic man is in Southern
France, where the reindeer and its alpine and northern
congeners were his companions ; the first glimpse we get of
his Neolithic successor is in Middle Europe, from which the
northern fauna and flora had already taken their departure.
“Speaking in general terms,” says Professor Dawkins, “the
wild fauna of Europe as we have it now dates from the begin-
ning of the Prehistoric [Neolithic] Age, and consists merely of
those animals which were able to survive the changes by which
their Pleistocene congeners were banished or destroyed. The
arrival of the domestic animals under the care of man in the
Neolithic Age, and their extension over the whole of Europe in
a wild or semi-wild state, coupled with the disappearance of the
wild species [which were contemporaneous with Paleolithic
man], constitute a change as important as any of those which
define the Meiocene from the Pleiocene, or the Pleiocene from
the Pleistocene Periods.”

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 381

CHAPTER XVI.

POSTGLACIAL AND RECENT DEPOSITS OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS.

Physical conditions of late glacial times—Scottish Postglacial beds— Raised-
beaches—Estuarine and river-deposits—Organic remains—Submarine forests
and peat—Buried forest, etc., of Carse of Gowrie, etc.—Succession of deposits
—Glacial and late glacial accumulations of 100-feet terrace—Postglacial river-
detritus—Ancient land-surface and vegetable remains under Carse-clays—
Origin of Carse-clays—Connection of these clays with torrential gravels—
Postglacial deposits of the Forth valley— Vegetable remains— Kitchen-
middens of 45-50-feet beach—Postglacial deposits of the Montrose Basin—
Succession of changes—Date of last elevation of land,

WE have now to inquire into the climatic and geographical con-
ditions which obtained during Postglacial and more recent times,
We have seen that the latest phase of the Ice Age was severely
glacial, and that the youngest deposits of that period tell us of a
time when the Scandinavian peninsula was submerged for some
600 feet or thereabout below its present level; while in like
manner the sea overflowed considerable tracts in the low-lying
maritime districts of our own islands. A cold ocean, stocked
with arctic and boreal shells, washed the shores of Scotland,
while large snow-fields covered the higher grounds, and glaciers
of no mean size occupied the mountain-valleys, and even in
some cases descended to the sea-level. Snow-fields and glaciers
likewise existed in the hilly districts of England, Wales, and
Treland. In Norway, too, very large glaciers still filled certain
of the fiords and calved their icebergs in the sea, Again, in the
alpine regions of Middle Europe, great snow-fields also continued
to feed extensive mers de glace, and the rivers of the Continent

382 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

carried down in flood-time immense quantities of fine mud, with
which they covered wide areas in the low grounds. Such, ina
few words, were the physical conditions of “ late glacial times.”
For reasons which will become obvious as we advance in
our inquiries, the passage from those times to the Postglacial
Period cannot always be traced. There would often appear to
be a gap or hiatus in the evidence, for frequently we pass at once
from true glacial beds into overlying accumulations of postglacial
age, which give proofs of very different climatic conditions.
Sometimes, for example, we find that clays well charged with
arctic shells are overlaid directly with peat containing abundant
roots and trunks of large oaks and other trees. In this case it
is clear that certain evidence is wanting. "We may be sure that
the climate could not have changed in the twinkling of an eye.
The bed of an arctic sea has been converted into dry land, and
the climate has become temperate, but the deposits in which the
gradual amelioration of climate might have been traced are
wanting. Numerous examples of this phenomenon occur in our
maritime regions, as I shall point out presently. In the inland
districts there is often a similar appearance of a want of conti-
nuity between late glacial and postglacial times. But the want
of continuity is in such cases only apparent, as certain discoveries
made in recent years have clearly demonstrated. This will come
out clearly, I hope, in the sequel: meanwhile, we must take a
glance at the evidence supplied by the postglacial deposits of
our islands and the Continent before we attempt to grapple with
the more general questions which such a review of the facts
will suggest. Confining myself first to a mere description of
details, I shall briefly indicate the conclusions to which these
directly lead, and, thereafter, I shall sum up the general evidence
and endeavour to discover what light it throws upon the succes-
sion of climatic and geographical changes which characterised
Europe in postglacial times. It will be most convenient to
begin with the evidence supplied by our own country, and as the
succession of postglacial deposits and the relation of these to
accumulations of glacial age are perhaps better displayed in

So Tee Se

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 383

Scotland than in other parts of the British area, I shall commence
with a short account of the Scottish series.

The Scottish beds consist of gravel, sand, clay, silt, and peat,
or of marine, estuarine, freshwater, and terrestrial formations.
The marine deposits are represented by benches and terraces of
gravel and sand, which are more or less well charged with the
relics of a fauna closely approximating in character to that still
living round our shores. ‘They are, in short, raised-beaches,
marking former levels of the sea. Upon the exposed sea-coasts
the postglacial raised-beaches do not attain a greater elevation
than 45 or 50 feet. But when these are followed inland along
the course of the larger estuaries they are found to rise to a some-
what greater height. Twenty-five feet or so lower down occurs
the best marked of all the raised-beaches—that upon which
most of the seaport towns and villages are built. Sometimes
this beach is represented by a mere narrow rock-ledge, at other
times it forms a broad plain rising inland with a gentle gradient
until it terminates suddenly against what appears to have been
the old coast-line. Along the margins of the large estuaries this
beach also rises imperceptibly as we trace it inland until it
merges with old alluvial flats of fluviatile origin, the surface of
which may be as much as 45 or 55 feet above the mean level of
the sea. Thus in the estuary of the Tay we have the wide plains
known as the Carse of Gowrie, the similar “ haugh-lands” of the
Earn, an affluent of the Tay, and the broad flats or “Inches ” at
Perth. The average elevation of the Carse of Gowrie does not
exceed 30 feet above the sea, but as we follow the flat land
towards Perth we find that it gradually rises until it attains a
height above the same datum-line of 38 or 40 feet. Proceeding
still farther up the valley the same terrace gradually merges into
river-alluvium and gravel at 50 feet or so above the sea. Similar
more or less extensive plains occur along the borders and at the
heads of most of the Scottish estuaries and firths, such as the
Carse of Falkirk and Stirling in the Forth valley, the flats that
margin Inverness Firth, Beauly Firth, Cromarty Firth, Dornoch
Firth, Solway Firth, Wigton Bay, the Clyde, etc. Wherever,

384 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

indeed, a considerable valley opens more or less directly upon
the sea, we find the lower reaches of its river almost invariably
flowing through tracts of flat country, the upper surface of which
may reach from 5 or 10 to 20 or 30 feet above the level of the
sea. These flats, however, when they are followed inland begin
in a shorter or longer distance from the sea-coast to rise with a
more or less gentle gradient, and so pass gradually into what we
at once recognise as old terraces of fluviatile formation. Along
the margins of the open sea the raised-beaches are generally
narrow, and this is most markedly the case where the coast is
more or less abrupt. Thus, in many places, the sea is bordered
by a mere narrow strip of flat ground not exceeding a hundred
yards in breadth, and abutting abruptly against rock-cliffs, the
under portions of which often show old sea-worn caves and
gullies. In other districts, again, where the land descends
with a gentle gradient to the shore, the raised-beaches some-
times attain a width of one or two miles or even more.

The organic remains occurring in these beaches and estuarine
flats consist of the common forms that are still indigenous to our
coasts, such as cockle, mussel, oyster, periwinkle, Scrobicularia
piperata, Hydrobia ulve, Tellina balthica, etc. The presence of
the large Greenland whale, however, remains of which have been
met with in the great estuarine flats of the Forth, is not without
its significance, and may possibly point to a somewhat colder
sea than the present. But on the other hand we find on the
borders of the Firth of Clyde a postglacial accumulation of shells,
some of which seem to bespeak milder conditions of climate than
the present. Mr. Crosskey has drawn special attention to this
deposit. “It contains such shells,” he says, “as Psammobia fer-
roénsis and Tellina incarnata (tenuis ?), of larger size and in
greater numbers than they at present occur living in the neigh-
bouring seas,” a fact indicating, he thinks, conditions of climate
possibly more genial than those which exist at the present day.

The postglacial deposits of Scotland frequently rest directly
upon glacial accumulations, and between the two series there
is unquestionably a “break.” We find no “passage-beds” be-

— eS ett

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 385

tween the two sets of deposits; no appearance of a gradual
change from arctic to boreal and temperate conditions, The
beds which seem to afford some such evidence belong entirely
to the postglacial series. I thought at one time that we had
some trace of a passage from arctic to temperate conditions in
the brick-clays and Carse-deposits of the Forth, but the Carse-
clays have since been found in several places to rest unconform-
ably upon the arctic shell-beds.

Dr. Gwyn Jeffreys has indeed described the occurrence at
Fort-William of old beach-deposits in which occur a number of
species of molluscs, such as Lacuna divaricata, Pleurotoma tur-
ricula, etc., that have a somewhat northern range, commingled
with the common forms of our present coasts, and one species,
Pecten islandicus, which is no longer a native of our seas, but is
widely distributed in the Arctic Ocean. But there is reason to
believe that there are really two deposits at Fort-William—the
one being of late glacial, and the other of postglacial age. I
am inclined, therefore, to believe that the unconformity between
the glacial and postglacial deposits, upon which Messrs. Cross-
key and Robertson have insisted,’ will be found to hold true for
Scotland generally.

Among the most interesting and important of the Scottish
postglacial beds are the so-called “submarine forests and peat.”
These vegetable-layers have been observed at many different
places at and below high-water mark. They vary in thickness
from a few inches up to four or five feet, and are made up prin-
cipally of the remains of trees and other land-plants. Sometimes
they repose directly upon true glacial deposits, in other places
they are underlaid by river-sand and gravel, and alluvial silt
and clay. In the estuaries of the Forth and Tay they clearly
belong to an older date than the raised-beaches and great Carse-
lands, since they everywhere pass underneath the marine and
estuarine postglacial beds. As there is no district perhaps where
they can be studied to better advantage than in the lower reaches

1 ‘Monograph of the Post-Tertiary Entomostraca.” — Palwontographical

Society, 1874.
2c

386 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

of the Tay and the Earn, a short description of that region will
serve to show the general mode of their occurrence, and the
nature of the deposits with which they are usually associated.
The accompanying illustration brings into one view the more
prominent features of the late glacial and postglacial accumu-
lations as these are developed in the valleys of the Tay and the

(=) oe,
So LU

Fig. 11.—Diagrammatic section across Carse of Gowrie. 1, Till; 2, Late glacial
clays, ete. ; 8, River-shingle, gravel, etc. ; 4, Peat and forest-bed; 5, Carse-clay ;
6, Recent alluvia.

Earn. Resting upon the strata of Old Red Sandstone age comes
first a mass of tough reddish boulder-clay (1), overlying which
we find a considerable thickness of gravel, sand, and brick-clays
(2). Next in ascending order are beds of gravel, sand, and silt
(3), resting upon an eroded surface of the underlying deposits.
Above these younger sand- and gravel-beds appears a stratum of
peat (4), surmounted by a widespread accumulation of silt and
clay (5). To a still later period belong the alluvial deposits
(6). Let us now glance at the more salient characteristics of
each of these divisions in succession, and see what they have
to tell us of physical and climatic changes.

1. The Till or Boulder-clay need not detain us. It is a
highly typical glacial accumulation, and represents the bottom-
moraine of the last ice-sheet which overflowed all the low grounds
of Scotland.

2. Resting upon the denuded surface of this boulder-clay
comes a series of aqueous deposits, consisting in some places of
shingle and boulders, or of gravel and sand, and in other places
of fine brick-clays. The upper surface of these deposits is com-
paratively flat, and reaches 100 feet above the sea-level. They
appear at one time to have filled up to that level the whole of
the lower reaches of the valleys of the Tay and the Earn, and
their denuded remains still form a more or less well-marked

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 387

terrace, which may be traced often for miles along the slopes of
the valleys. They fringe most of the so-called Inches in the
Carse of Gowrie, and spread out in broad sheets and plains in
the Earn valley above Forgandenny, and in that of the Tay a
little to the north of Old Scone. Their upper surface, as I have
said, is just 100 feet above the sea-level, and they maintain the
same level all the way from near Dundee to some miles above
Dalreoch in the valley of the Earn, and to Luncarty above
Perth in that of the Tay. But when we trace them farther in-
land, we find they gradually rise in elevation and pass into flats
and terraces of river-gravel andsand. Judging, therefore, merely
from the mode of their occurrence, we should say that the depo-
sits of the 100-feet terrace were of estuarine formation. In the
upper reaches of the valleys they consist principally of gravel,
shingle, and sand, but in the wider and opener areas they are
made up to a large extent of brick-clay, which is usually finely
laminated, and often contains scattered stones and large erratics.
Along the margin of the deposits such large erratics occur here
and there in great abundance. Near Errol, in a brick-clay be-
longing to the series under review, marine shells have been
obtained in considerable numbers, They belong to species which
are now characteristic of high northern latitudes, and include
such extremely arctic forms as Pecten grenlandicus, Leda arctica,
Tellina myopsis, etc.

From these facts we gather that after the disappearance of
glacier-ice from the lower valleys of the Earn and the Tay, the
sea encroached upon the land, and reached to a height of 100
feet or so above its present level. The climate was still very
cold; glaciers probably continued to occupy the upper reaches
of the valleys ; and great bodies of muddy water derived from
the melting snow and ice flooded the low grounds in summer,
and swept down to the estuary heaps of shingle, gravel, and
sand. Similar freshets descending from small lateral valleys in
the Ochils formed great cénes de déjection of detritus, as they
escaped from their gullies to mingle their waters with those
of the estuary. Much river-ice, carrying gravel, stones, and

388 : PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

occasional large erratics, floated out to sea, and now and again
dropped their burdens on the way. No trace of land-plants or
land-animals has yet been met with in these ancient estuary-
deposits, as we may be sure they would have been had either
abounded. The intensely arctic character of the marine fauna,
the common occurrence of ice-floated stones and boulders, the
tumultuous aspect of the flood-gravel and shingle of the swollen
torrents which poured into the estuary on every side, all testify
strongly to the severity of the climate. The upper reaches of
the estuary must have been greatly freshened by the influx of
ice-cold water, and that is perhaps the reason why no marine
organic remains occur in the estuarine deposits above Errol.
We must not forget, however, that over wide areas the deposits
in question are concealed under newer accumulations, and were
they better exposed to observation they might possibly be found
to contain a more abundant fauna than they have yet yielded.

» Such, then, appear to have been the conditions under which
the late glacial deposits of the Tay and the Earn were accumu-
lated. They are contemporaneous with the great kames and
gravel-flats which cover extensive areas in the low grounds that
sweep up to the base of the Grampians. A gradual passage can
be traced from the true estuarine beds into flood-gravels of
fluviatile and torrential origin, and these latter are closely
associated with coarse shingle, and rounded boulders, and earthy
débris, and angular erratics, which cumber the lower reaches of
the mountain-valleys, where they assume the form of true
moraines. The last continuous ice-sheet had melted away from
the low grounds, and the glaciers which still occupied the
mountain-valleys were gradually retreating under the growing
influence of milder climatic conditions.

3. The beds which immediately overlie the late glacial
deposits of the Tay and Earn carry us with a leap into a very
different condition of things. They consist of river-gravel, sand,
and silt, and rest upon a highly denuded surface of the older
deposits, As a rule the sand and gravel are clean and not
commingled with clay, and here and there they show false-

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 389

bedding. From the inclination or dip of the deposits, and the
lie of the gravel-stones, it is evident that they have been laid
down by a current of water flowing persistently down the
valley, in other words they are true fluviatile accumulations.
They prove, therefore, that the sea eventually retreated, and so
allowed streams and rivers to plough their way down through
the thick sheets of clay, sand, and gravel, which had been
spread out by the floods of late glacial times, and had gathered
over the floor of the old estuary. They further tell us that the
land must have stood at that time at a higher level than it does
now, for we find them here and there passing below the present
beds of the rivers. How deep they go I cannot say, but various
phenomena lead me to believe that their actual thickness cannot
be great. Probably the ancient postglacial bed of the Tay
does not lie more than a few fathoms below the bottom of the
present stream, and thus the old coast-line at the period I refer
to may not have stretched much farther out to sea than it does
now. But however that may have been, this we do know,
that the ancient Earn and Tay ploughed a deep and broad
course through the late glacial deposits, which when the sea
had retreated must have extended at first as a broad and
approximately level plain over all the lower reaches of the two
valleys. Through this plain the rivers cut their way to a
depth of more than 100 feet, and gradually removed all the
material over a course which can hardly be less than two miles
in breadth below Bridge of Earn, and is considerably more
than that in the Carse of Gowrie. Thus we are not only assured
that the land then stood at a somewhat higher level than now ;
but we are compelled to conclude also that a very long time
must have elapsed between the disappearance of the old estuary
and the accumulation of the buried forest. For incoherent |
although the late glacial deposits are, and incapable of resisting
the powerful erosion of running-water, yet a prolonged period
of time was necessarily required for all the denudation they
experienced before the trees of the buried forest began to grow.
As the ancient river-deposits have not as yet yielded any

390 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

organic remains, the evidence they supply as to climatic con-
ditions is only negative. Thus, they afford no trace of the
action of ice, they contain no brick-clays like those of late
glacial age, neither do they show any ice-floated stones and
boulders. They closely resemble, in fact, the river-deposits of
the present day.

4, The next bed in ascending order is the buried forest and
peat. It is well exposed at various places in the bluffs of the
present rivers, and its position has been further proved by
numerous well-borings which show that it is present over a
wide area. It rests usually upon the surface of the old river-
deposits just described, but sometimes when these are absent
we find it overlying directly the red and parti-coloured brick-
clays of the late glacial series. Although it may be said to
occur approximately at the same level, namely at or about that
of mean-tide, it by no means rests upon a perfectly horizontal
surface. Thus in some places its bed is flush with the surface
of the river at high-tide, as in the Earn opposite Abernethy.
In other places down the valley it is covered even at low-tide.
Mr. Durham, Newport (Fife), tells me that he has seen it
extensively exposed upon the low shores in the neighbourhood
of Wormit Bay. He also informs me that in building the jetty
at the south end of the unfortunate Tay Bridge the contractors
cut through a bed of clay abundantly charged with twigs, leaves,
nuts, and other vegetable-remains, and that in founding the
piers of the bridge a bed of what the workmen called “ peat”
was frequently cut through. From the samples shown to him,
however, Mr. Durham says it was clearly not peat, but a bluish
sandy clay full of vegetable débris, The most interesting trace
of the old land-surface he had observed was at the Stannergate,
about half-way between Dundee and Broughty-Ferry, where a
bed of the alluvial clay or silt was seen cropping out from
below the gravel of the beach. On digging into the bed
abundant remains of plants were exposed, amongst these being
the trunk and a large branch of what appeared to be an oak.
It was buried in a mass of well-preserved leaves and twigs, and

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 391

the clay was plentifully charged with hazel-nuts. In the upper
reaches of the Carse-land, as at Bridge of Earn, the peat-bed is
a few feet above the surface of the river. Still farther to the
west, as opposite Easter Balgour, it reaches six to nine feet
above the ordinary level of the Earn; and the same is the
case in the valley of the Tay at Perth. In short, it generally
rests upon the old alluvia described above, the upper surface of
which, as might have been expected, is not horizontal, but has
a perceptible slope down the valley.

The peat consists, as I have said, of a mass of vegetable
matter, which varies in thickness from a few inches up to three
or four feet. In some places it seems to be made up chiefly of
reed-like plants and sedges, and occasional mosses, commingled
with which are abundant fragments of birch, alder, willow, hazel,
and pine. In other places it contains trunks and stools of oak and
hazel, with hazel-nuts—the trees being rooted in the subjacent
deposits. Itis generally highly compressed and readily splits into
laminz, upon the surface of which many small seeds now and
again appear. Here and there also Dr. Buchanan White and I
have detected the wing-cases of beetles. The twigs, branches, and
trunks, are likewise compressed, but are usually in a very good
state of preservation, having when freshly broken a reddish tint.
The colour of the peat itself is usually a dark brown inclining
to black. It strongly recalled to me in general appearance the
interglacial lignites of Diirnten and Leffe, but when broken up
it had not the same indications of extreme age. As a rule
the bed is sharply marked off from the silt and clay which
immediately overlie it, but occasionally this is not the case—
the peat interosculating to some extent with the lower portions
of those deposits. But this appearance quickly terminates
upwards, as I shall point out presently. In the brick-clay pit
at Friarton, Perth, the peat occurs under a thickness of ten or
eleven feet of clay. Lying upon and in the peat-bed at this
place, and sometimes partly penetrating the underlying river-
sand, occur now and again large trunks of pine (Pinus sylvestris)
which have much the appearance of having been drifted into

302 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

their present positions. As showing the condition of those
trees, I may mention that the workmen usually cut them up for
firewood. I have described elsewhere! the discovery in this pit
of an ancient “ dug-out” canoe of pine which occurred on the
same horizon as the trees. It lay upon its bottom underneath
the whole thickness of the superjacent clay.”

That this peat indicates a former land-surface is abundantly
proved by the fact that the old soil upon which it rests is
usually more or less full of rootlets. Many of these penetrate
to a depth of several feet, and are specially numerous when the
pavement of the buried forest happens to be a silt or silty sand.
The writer of the Old Statistical Account of the district also
states that in sinking wells in the Carse-lands “ deers’ horns,
skulls, and other bones,” have frequently been found associated
with the buried peat, which is quite in keeping with the view
that that bed marks an ancient land-surface. At the same time
I think it is probable that many of the logs, branches, and twigs
of pine which occur frequently in the peat, or resting upon its
surface, have been drifted down the valley by water. The fact
that the upper surface of the peat in some places contains lines
and layers of silt, and that isolated twigs and branches are
sometimes scattered through the lower three or four feet of
overlying clay and silt, sufficiently demonstrates that all the
materials which go to make up the peat-bed did not grow
in situ.

The position of the buried forest and peat at and below the
present sea-level shows us very clearly that at the time the
vegetation was growing the sea must have been much farther
off than it is now—in other words, the land stood then at a
relatively higher level. We have seen that the ancient river-
deposits, upon the surface of which the old trees flourished, tell

1 The Scottish Naturalist, vol. v. p. 1.

? For further particulars of the interesting ‘buried forest” of the Earn and
Tay valleys, see G. Buist’s ‘‘ Geology of the South-east of Perthshire,” Trans. of
Highland Society, vol. vii. p. 17; also Sinclair’s Statistical Accownt of Scotland,
vol. xvi. p. 556; and Jamieson ‘‘On the History of the Last Geological Changes
in Scotland,” Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxi. p. 184.

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 393

a similar tale. But it is not only the geological position of the
forest-bed, but the character of the trees themselves that imply
a former wider extent of land. We can hardly suppose that a
dense arboreal vegetation would present itself along the im-
mediate margin of the sea. Such a position would be highly
unfavourable, and hence we may conclude that when the trees,
whose roots are found at and below the sea-level in the lower
reaches of the Carse of Gowrie, were flourishing, the sea-coast
must have been at a much greater distance than now—but at
what distance it may have been we shall not at present inquire,
as that is a question which falls to be considered later on.

As to climatic conditions not much can be said. All the
plants hitherto observed in the peat are still indigenous to
Scotland, but we may certainly infer that the climate could not
have been less genial than it is to-day. As we shall presently
see, the probabilities are that it was even more genial, but since
this is a conclusion which is only arrived at upon a general
review of all the facts relating to the buried forests and sub-
marine peat of the British Islands and the opposite shores of the
Continent, we shall leave it to be discussed along with other
matters in the sequel.

Confining ourselves, then, to the evidence supplied by the
buried forest of the Tay and Earn, we find that we have every
reason to believe that the elevation of the land or retreat of the
sea, which marked the era immediately succeeding the depo-
sition of the estuarine beds of late glacial times, was equally
characteristic of what we may call the Age of Forests. Before
those forests had taken possession of the valleys the ancient
rivers had ploughed out and removed vast quantities of glacial
material, and their alluvial plains formed broad flats overlooked
on one or both sides by the bluffs of the old 100-feet terrace.
All those wide plains became in time densely wooded—while a
thick growth of reed-like plants shot up upon the low alluvial
banks of the river. Large pine-trees and groves of birch grew
upon the neighbouring hill-slopes, while alder and willow formed
a thick copse on the lower and damper flats. At this time man

394 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

was a native of the land, and in his rude canoes, dug out of
great pines, boated up and down in the ancient Tay.

5. Deposits of clay and silt—the so-called Carse-clays—im-
mediately overlie the old forest-bed, and vary from ten or fifteen
feet up to fully forty feet in thickness. In a few places the
beds which directly cover the buried forest consist of gravel and
sand ; these, however, are almost invariably overlaid with thick
accumulations of clay, silt, and loam.

The surface of these deposits, which form the greater portion
of the Carse of Tay and the flats of the Earn valley, is usually
stated to be about 25 or 30 feet above the sea; but this is rather
the minimum than the maximum. Only a small area is under
30 feet ; indeed the mean level between Monorgan and Errol
can hardly be less than 32 feet. From the railway to the foot of
the Sidlaw Hills, against which the Carse-lands abut, the ground
rises with a very gentle gradient, so as to attain a height at the
margin of the Carse of not less than 45 feet. Thus a wide district
between Errol and the Braes of Gowrie averages more than 40
feet above the sea. The boundary of the Carse, followed along
the foot of the hills from Longforgan up to and even beyond
Perth, is as near as may be horizontal and persistently 45 feet
in height. Above Perth it gradually merges with old river-
terraces of silt, sand, gravel, and shingle. The wide flats in the
lower reaches of the Earn valley are merely a continuation of
those of the Carse of Gowrie, with which they correspond pre-
cisely in elevation. A considerable part of the flats of the Earn,
like much of the Carse of Gowrie, does not average more than
32 feet above sea-level, but in many places it exceeds 40 feet.
The upper margin of the Earn flats is also approximately hori-
zontal, and continues at an elevation of 45 feet as far inland
as Dalreoch, beyond which it shortly passes into true river-
alluvia.

Such facts suffice to show that these upper deposits of the
Carse are of estuarine origin, and their connection with a former
lower level of the land, and consequent incursion of the sea, is
demonstrated by the appearance of marine shells in the clays.

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 395

These, however, appear to be restricted to the lower reaches of
the Carse of Gowrie. Thus Mr. Jamieson mentions the occur-
rence of Scrobicularia piperata in the silt and clay which overlie
the old buried forest at Polgavie ; and I have seen quantities of
the same shell turned up during the digging of a deep drain in
the Carse near Inchture. But I have not observed any marine
organic remains in the Carse-clays farther up the valley,’ al-
though there appears no reason why sea-shells should not occur
now and then as far up the valley at least as Glencarse. There
are, however, comparatively few good exposures, and the shells,
for various reasons, were probably never very abundantly distri-
buted through the deposits. When they do occur, it is usually
in thin, lenticular beds, which seem to be quite local, so that,
in the absence of deep cuttings and continuous sections, our
chances of coming upon such isolated patches are small.

I have mentioned the fact that when the Carse-clays are
followed up the valleys, they eventually pass into true river-
deposits. ‘The same we have seen is the case with the clays of
the 100-feet terrace. The true Carse-beds, however, differ in
many respects from these older estuarine accumulations. Thus
they as a rule contain no scattered stones and boulders, and are
not generally true clays, but rather silts. But although this is
their usual character, yet they are not so entirely stoneless as
some geologists have stated them to be. Here and there I have
detected small stones embedded in the fine silt and clay, some
of which measured as much as 6 inches across; and occasion-
ally I have met with angular boulders a foot and more in
diameter. The largest block I have noticed was one which
measured 4 feet across. But stones and boulders of any kind
are certainly quite exceptional. Now and again the deposits
consist of tough, tenacious brick-clay, which does not differ
in appearance from similar brick-clays of glacial age. Their

1 Mention is made in Sinclair’s Statistical Account, vol. xvi. p. 555, of the
frequent recurrence in the Carse-clay of ‘‘ sea-shells,” but no special localities are
given. A polished stone implement is also said to have been found at Errol
along with shells,

396 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

general colour is a dull brown or dirty gray ; in some places
inclining to pale yellowish gray, and grayish blue.

Taking all these facts into consideration, we arrive at the
conclusion that the Carse-clays are estuarine deposits, and were
accumulated at a time when the Firth of Tay reached consider-
ably farther inland than it does now. The upper margin of the
Carse-clays represents the old water-level, which stood then 45
feet above the present mean-tide. After the ancient forests had
flourished for a long period, the sea began slowly to gain upon
the land, and the ancient Earn and Tay, which, during the age
of forest-growth, were probably streams of no greater size, and
perhaps were even smaller than the present rivers, acquired a
larger volume, and commenced to overflow the low-lying tree-
covered plains. Sheets of gravel and sand, and alluvial silt and
mud, were thus gradually spread over the site of the ancient
forests ; while in some places all relics of the old land-surface
wete swept away. The torrential character which the rivers
assumed at this time is shown by the masses of coarse shingle
which they carried along. The trees which grew close to the
water were often undermined, and, falling into the streams,
were floated away down the valley. Ere long, however, the
lower reaches of the valleys were converted into a broad estuary,
and the destruction of the forest-bed in those regions was arrested.
The muddy rivers still continued to flow with undiminished
volume, but the coarser sediment they swept along was arrested
soon after it entered the estuary—only the finer mud being
carried farther, and distributed over the whole wide surface of
the drowned low grounds.

The presence of the isolated stones and boulders which occur
at rare intervals in the Carse-clays shows that floating-ice was
not unknown at this late period. The stones may have been
frozen into shore-ice, forming in winter along the margins of the
estuary, or they may have been carried down by river-ice. The
largest boulder I have observed, however, hardly could have
been derived from any region north of Perth. It is a fragment
of porphyrite of precisely the same character as the rock of

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 397

Kinnoul Hill and that neighbourhood.’ However that may be,
it is evident that the ice which lifted and floated off a boulder
measuring 4 feet in diameter must have been of considerable
thickness. Nevertheless, the mere occurrence of those few
sporadic erratics can hardly be appealed to as conclusive evi-
dence of colder climatic conditions than now obtain. During
the winter of 1878-79 I saw ground-ice forming rapidly on the
bed of the Tay at Perth ; and shortly afterwards the river, which
is tidal at that place, was frozen over to a depth of 12 and
14 inches. When the ice broke up and floated away, it must
have carried seaward a goodly number of small erratics, for I
noticed gravel-stones in several blocks of ice which were
stranded on the banks opposite Kinfauns. It is rather the
general character of the Carse-deposits themselves than the pre-
sence in these of a few sporadic erratics which appears to indi-
cate colder climatic conditions. The fine, tenacious brick-clays,
and even the less cohesive silty or loamy clays, cannot be
likened to the dark sludge and slimy silt and mud which are
now gathering upon the estuarine bed of the Tay, but they
closely resemble, and even in many cases are identical in
character with, those laminated clays of true glacial age which
contain Arctic shells. The rivers which flowed into the ancient
estuary of the Tay at the time the Carse-beds were forming
appear to have been abundantly charged with finely-levigated
matter. They must have been, in short, extremely muddy
rivers ; and some idea of the quantity of material they carried
in suspension may be gathered from the fact that the Carse-
clays cover an area of not less than 35 square miles, to a
depth varying from 10 to 40 feet and more. And to this we
must add also the material which was swept out to the open
sea, as well as the great loss by denudation which the clays
have experienced since the sea finally retreated to its present
level.

1 Porphyrites occur also along the foot of the Grampians, near Dunkeld ; and
it is just possible that the boulder in question may have been drifted by ice down
the ancient Tay from that neighbourhood.

398 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

It is in keeping with the evidence furnished by the Carse-
clays that the ancient river-terraces into which they pass as
they are followed inland, should betoken a much larger volume
for the rivers than these now attain. Not only did they formerly
overflow a broader area, but, despite the fact that their course
was at that time considerably shorter than now, they yet often
had quite a torrential character. This is seen in those broad
stretches of high-level sand, gravel, and shingle, with their fre-
quent tumultuous bedding, which extend over wide areas in the
upper reaches of the Tay above Stanley, and in the Earn above
Dalreoch.

These appearances, taken in connection with the character
of the true Carse-deposits, seem to me to point to a period of
greater rainfall than the present, and also to a lower winter-
temperature. The Carse-clays I consider to be in large measure
made up of the fine “flour of rocks” derived from the grinding
action of glaciers which then occupied the mountain-valleys of
the Highlands, and from which muddy water escaped in large
quantities, especially during summer. The melting of the snow
and ice, and the more or less sudden disengagement in the warm
season of great bodies of water, account very well for the wide-
spread and thick deposits of sand, gravel, and shingle which
occur in the upper reaches of the valleys. Receiving the tribute
of so many swollen glacial streams and rivers, the estuary of the
Tay, we may well suppose, would be considerably freshened in
its upper reaches; and the conditions at and for some distance
below Perth might thus be quite unfavourable to marine life.
It is perhaps for this reason that sea-shells appear to be absent
from that part of the old sea-bottom.

Iam thus led to believe that the accumulation of our Carse-
clays coincided with a period of local glaciation in our mountain-
valleys—a view which we shall presently see is supported by
another line of evidence.

6. The deposits next in succession consist of river-gravel,
sand, and silt, which form terraces along one or both sides of
the present rivers. They point to a time when the sea gradually

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 399

retired from the district to its present level. During its retreat
the streams and rivers busied themselves with excavating the
old estuarine deposits, and as they worked their way down to
lower levels, benches and terraces of alluvial matter were left
behind to mark the positions they successively occupied.

If now we pass to the valley of the Forth, we shall there
meet with a similar succession of changes. The late glacial
deposits of the Forth form what is known as the 100-feet
terrace. Near Falkirk, the upper limits of this terrace are
marked out by the 100-feet contour line, but as we trace the
deposits up the valley they gradually rise to higher levels, until
at last they pass into ancient river-gravels. Within this great
terrace, and separated from it by a steep bluff or cliff, lies a
second extensive flat, the upper margin of which coincides nearly
with the 50-feet contour line. This is the well-known Carse.
The deposits of which it is composed consist principally of mud,
silt, clay, and sand, with beds of recent sea-shells, such as
Cardium edule, Ostrea edulis, Mytilus edulis, Cyprina islandica,
Inttorina litorea, Trophon clathratus, Buccinwm undatum, etc.
This wide marine flat, according to Mr. B. N. Peach, is “in great
measure a platform cut out of the older drift deposits ; and in
some places, indeed, projecting ridges of the underlying rock
have been reached.”? Layers of peat and much drifted vegetable-
matter, consisting of trunks, branches, and twigs of trees (birch,
hazel, pine, oak), occur at various levels in the Carse-deposits.
But none of the peat-beds, Mr. Peach tells me, indicates an
old land-surface. In some of the peat-beds, which are made up
of matted and tangled masses of sticks, twigs and branches of
trees, oyster-shells occur in abundance, as in a peat-bed near
Bridge of Allan. Remains of the whale,’ canoes,? and rude

? Memoirs of the Geol. Survey, Scotland, Expl. of Sheet 31 (One-inch Map), p.54.

? For accounts of whale-remains got in Carse of Forth, see Hdinburgh Philoso-
phical Journal, vol. i. p. 895 ; vol. xi. pp. 220, 415 ; Transactions of the Wernerian
Society, vol. iii. p. 827; vol. v. pp. 487, 440.

3 Bibliotheca Topog. Britan., No. I1., Part iii. p. 242; Beauties of Scotland,
vol. iii. p. 419 ; Bot. Nat. Hist. Soc. Glasgow, vol. i. p. 168 ; ii. p. 65 ; Geological
Magazine, vol. vi. p.37 ; Brit. Ass. Rep., vol. xxiv. p. 80.

400 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

weapons and implements have also been discovered, sometimes
at considerable depths in the Carse-deposits. It is extremely
interesting to learn that old refuse-heaps or kitchen-middens
appear frequently along the inner margin of the Carse. “All
the middens observed,” Mr. Peach says, “occur on the bluff
itself or just at its base, as if, when it was the limit of high-
water, the people who formed the middens, after searching the
shores during low-water, had retreated thither to enjoy their
feast while the tide covered their hunting-ground.” Remains of
fireplaces are plentiful among the shell-heaps.

When the Carse-beds are followed up the valley, they are
found rising with a gentle gradient, until eventually they pass
into freshwater alluvial deposits of fluviatile origin. Followed
down the valley to the shores of the present estuary, the level
of the Carse-land falls more or less gradually away to a height
of 25 or 30 feet, and still lower terraces succeed down to the
most recent alluvium. All these later platforms have evidently
been eroded in the estuarine-marine deposits of the Carse—
partly by the waters of the estuary itself when they stood at a
higher level than at present, and partly by the river Forth and
its tributaries during and after the final retreat of the sea.

Thus in the wide valley of the Forth we have simply a
repetition of the phenomena which are presented by the late
glacial and postglacial deposits of the Tay and the Earn. After
the accumulation of the late glacial beds of the 100-feet terrace,
the sea disappeared from the district of Stirling and Falkirk,
and left a broad platform of clay and sand exposed to the action
of streams and rivers. Owing to the great thickness attained
by the Carse-deposits of the Forth, it is not often that the
junction between these and the glacial beds can be seen. But
along the upper margin of the 50-feet terrace the Carse-beds,
which thin off upon the ancient beach, can be observed resting
directly upon true glacial deposits. No old river-gravels and
overlying forest-bed, such as those of the Tay and Earn, have
yet been detected occupying a similar position between the
Carse-clays and the glacial deposits of the Forth. But that

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 401

similar stages did exist may be reasonably inferred. The 100-
feet terrace must first have been eroded, and a wide, broad
trough scooped out of it, before the overlying Carse-clays could
have been laid down ; and it is unlikely that this erosion was the
work of the sea. The sea in which the Carse-clay was deposited
simply occupied an old land-valley, the bottom of which it
levelled up with silt and clay, while at the same time it cut
back the glacial deposits that formed its margin. Although no
ancient land-surface or forest-bed is known to occur at the
bottom of the Carse-clays, it is not unlikely that such a buried
forest does nevertheless exist. The character of the old valley
which lies concealed is very imperfectly known to us, for it is
only in a few places where its surface has been reached, and it
may quite well be that considerable remains of forest-vegetation
occupying the place of growth, may be buried under the vreat
Carse-lands of the Forth. We know, at all events, that a sub-
marine peat with tree-remains occurs at Largo, on the shores of
Fife, resting upon glacial deposits and evidently of older date
than the recent raised-beach of that neighbourhood. Be that,
however, as it may, the Carse-deposits of the Forth contain
frequent intercalated layers of tree-remains and sporadic logs
and snags, all of which point to the fact that an arboreal vege-
tation, similar to that which now covers the country, clothed the
hill-slopes and valley-bottoms at the time the Carse-clays began
to be laid down. A great change of climate must therefore
have supervened after the close of the Glacial Period and before
the Carse-clays were accumulated. Not only had the sea
retreated and the land acquired a larger area, but the arctic cold
had been succeeded by genial climatic conditions which induced
a luxuriant forest-vegetation.

The shells of the Carse-beds are all of recent British species,
but the presence of the whale, which belongs to the large
Greenland species, may possibly indicate a somewhat colder
climate than the present. And this indication derives greater
force from the fact that the Carse-beds, when they are followed
up the valley, gradually merge with extensive river-deposits,

402 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

the character and extent of which demand the former flow of a
much greater body of water than now circulates in the Forth
and its tributaries. In short, these gravels and sands have the
same appearance as those of the Earn and the Tay, and seem to
me to point to the same conditions. The valleys were then
liable to be greatly flooded, owing to the more or less sudden
melting of the snow in the higher districts. In spring and
autumn volumes of muddy water descended to the estuary,
bearing with them ever and anon whole rafts of uprooted trees,
which, getting water-logged, would sink to the bottom, or now
and again run aground upon mud-banks and shoals, where in
time they would become entombed in the gradually accumu-
lating sediment. At this period Neolithic man inhabited Scot-
land, living along the shores of the broad estuary, where he
subsisted to a large extent upon shell-fish. Occasionally he
succeeded in capturing the whale, skeletons of which have been
found along the margin of the ancient Forth associated with
primitive implements of stone and horn. The remains of man
himself, however, have rarely been met with in the Carse-clays.
In the year 1843, while some alterations were being made upon
the canal at Grangemouth, a human skull (dolichocephalic) was
discovered at a depth of 21 feet below the surface. But so
far as I know this is quite exceptional. Probably the old whale-
hunters and shell-gatherers were good weather-prophets, and
never trusted themselves far from land when there was any
prospect of astorm. Most of the canoes which have been found
may have been drifted from their moorings, or if they capsized
with their owners on board, the land was probably near enough
to be reached by swimming.

Eventually the sea, which had attained to a height above its
present level of about 50 feet, began again to retire, until
ere long it had receded to a vertical distance of 25 or 30 feet,
and thus left exposed a broad expanse of low-lying alluvial
grounds in the upper reaches of the estuary. We have no
means of measuring the time required for this change, but it
probably implies the lapse of many centuries. At all events

we pa ee

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 403

we know that when the sea-level had fallen to that of the
25-30-feet beach, weapons, implements, and ornaments of bronze,
had come into use among the natives of Scotland. Probably,
also, the climate had become milder, for in none of the most
recent raised-beaches (25-30 feet) do we find the slightest indi-
cations of a colder temperature than the present. The last
elevation of the land or retreat of the sea in Scotland took
place long after the knowledge of metals had been introduced.

My friend Dr. Howden of Montrose has given a very inter-
esting description of the postglacial deposits in the neighbour-
hood of that town,’ which agree in all essential points with the
similar accumulations in the valleys of the Tay and the Forth.
The succession given by Dr. Howden may be briefly summarised
as follows—the beds being named in descending order :—

1. Alluvial Carse-clay and Scrobicularia-silt.

2. Peat-bed.

3. Laminated clay with arctic shells.

The laminated clay belongs to the late glacial series, and
has yielded a number of shells and other organisms of arctic
types—such as Cyprina islandica, Pecten grenlandicus, Leda
arctica, Yoldia pygmea, etc. The peat-bed is nowhere exposed
at the surface, but has been reached in borings and artificial
cuttings. At Montrose Gasworks it was found under 20 feet
of estuary-mud and sand, the greater part of the section being
below the level of the sea. “It rested almost directly upon the
glacial marine clay, and contained stems of trees, leaves of bog-
plants, and numerous seeds, mostly resembling those of some
Juncus.” In addition to these Dr. Howden obtained also “a
single seed of a cereal, to all appearance the common barley
(Hordeum distichum).” The same observer informs us that
fragments of peat containing a great many elytra of beetles
were found in the sand at a depth of 20 feet below the surface
during the construction of a new dock at Montrose. Above the
peat-bed at the Gasworks the deposits were of true estuarine
character, and contained many estuarine shells. The Carse-clay

1 Trans. Geol. Soc. Edin., vol. i. p. 138.

4o4 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

in its upper part contains no shells, but it rests upon and in
places seems to graduate into the fossiliferous estuarine mud
and sand. In a section recently exposed at a few feet above
high-tide mark in a railway cutting at Montrose, which I visited
in company with Dr. Howden, the Carse-clay is a pale yellowish-
gray deposit, destitute of fossils, and having all the appearance
of a freshwater accumulation. It rested directly upon a dark
grayish-blue silt and mud, which is charged with marine shells,
and from which a skull of the long-fronted ox (Bos longifrons)
was obtained. The contrast in colour and consistency between
the true Carse-clay and the underlying Scrobicularia-silt was
very marked.

The succession of changes evinced by these accumulations
appears to be as follows :—

1st, Long after the retreat of the glacial sea, the land
extended considerably farther out to sea than it now does, and
the climatic conditions were certainly not less genial than they
are at present—an arboreal vegetation clothing the country.

2d, A period of submergence ensued when the sea advanced
inland beyond its present limits, and reached to a height of not
less than 20 feet and probably as much as 45 feet above its
present level. Scrobicularia piperata and other shells then
flourished in abundance in what are now the lower reaches of
the river Esk.

3d, The Esk by and by carried down immense quantities of
fine gray and yellow silt, with which it choked up the estuary—
the upper reaches of which would be greatly freshened by the
abundant influx of river-water. It is for these reasons that the
Carse-clays in the upper part of the old estuary are, as Dr.
Howden has shown, unfossiliferous. The phenomena indicate,
as it seems to me, conditions quite analogous to those presented
by the Carse-deposits of the Tay. Local glaciers then occupied
the Highland valleys, and discharged large volumes of muddy
water during summer.

4th, Elevation of the land now ensued, and the sea retreated
to lower and lower levels, until eventually the coast extended

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 405

farther into the North Sea than is now the case. [Probably
this stage was synchronous with the reappearance of a vigorous
forest-growth in the lower reaches of our great estuaries. ]

5th, The sea again advanced and cut back into the Montrose
basin, upon the margin of which we now find low bluffs formed
of the old Scrobicularia-silt and the overlying estuarine or
brackish-water Carse-clay.

Such then is a brief outline of the successive changes which
took place in the valleys of the Tay, the Forth, and the South
Esk in Postglacial and Recent times. That these mutations were
not merely local but characteristic of a much wider area is
proved by copious evidence. The buried land-surfaces of the
Tay and the South Esk have their counterparts in the so-called
submarine forests and peat which occur at many different
places all round the shores of Scotland, and similar submerged
land-surfaces are common upon the coasts of England and
Treland. The position of most of the Scottish “submarine
forests” is clearly at or near the base of the true postglacial
series. They rest upon various members of the glacial series—
sometimes upon boulder-clay, at other times upon the sands and
clays pertaining to the close of the Glacial Period. Thus they
demonstrate that after the disappearance of glacial conditions
the sea retired from all the low grounds of Scotland, and the
land acquired a considerably wider area than it now possesses.
They further show that the climate at the time of their growth
could not have been less genial than it is at present; indeed,
as I shall endeavour to prove, the climate must actually have

1 For descriptions of Scottish submarine forests and peat, see Hdinbwrgh
Philosophical Journal, vol. iii. p. 100; vol. vii. p. 125; Sinclair’s Statistical Ac-
count of Scotland, vols. vii. p. 451; x. p. 873; xili. p. 821; xvi. p. 556; New
Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. i. pp. 16, 243; Trans. Royal Soc. Edin., vols.
ix. p. 419; xxiv. p. 363; Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature, and Art, vol.
xxix. p. 21; Mem. Wernerian Soc., vol. v. pp. 24, 440; Trans. Highland Soc.,
vol. vii. (1841) p. 17; Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., 1865, p. 183; 1867, p. 196;
Anderson’s Practical Treatise on Peat-Moss, p. 150; Barry’s Orkney Islands, p.
282; Miller’s Sketch-book of Geology, p. 321 ; and Edinburgh and its Neighbour-
hood, p. 91; Journal of Botany, vol. v. (1867), p.174; Trans. Bot. Soc. Edin.,
vol. ix. (1868), p. 146; The Great Ice Age, 2d ed., p. 307.

406 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

been considerably milder than it is now. The occurrence of an
ancient dug-out canoe in the buried forest-bed of the Tay valley
is the only positive and direct evidence we have that man was
an occupant of Scotland in early postglacial times—that is to
say, in times anterior to the formation of the Carse-clays and the
raised-beach of 45-50 feet. It is highly probable, however, that
the buried trees which occur at the bottom of some of the
deepest and oldest peat-bogs of the inland districts are syn-
chronous with those which underlie the Carse-deposits, and
human relics, as is well known, have from time to time been
found associated with the former. But as trees and peat-forming
mosses have been growing and accumulating in Scotland ever
since the earliest invasion of the Germanic flora, it must always
be extremely difficult to ascertain the exact position in the
postglacial series of any particular peat-bed and buried forest.
All we can say is simply this, that the lower portions of the
thicker peat-bogs, with their included trees, date probably back
to early postglacial times, while their upper parts must belong
to a later and often to a very recent date indeed.

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 407

CHAPTER XVII.

POSTGLACIAL AND RECENT DEPOSITS OF THE BRITISH
ISLANDS—Continued.

Larger size of Scottish rivers in Postglacial times—Local glaciers then reached
the sea-level—Recent glaciation in mountain-valleys of Scotland—Contrasts
between glacial phenomena of the Ice Age and Postglacial times—Examples
of postglacial moraines—Interval between the close of the Glacial Period
and the reappearance of local glaciers in Postglacial Period—Scottish raised-
beaches—Peat-bogs of inland districts—Buried forests in peat-bogs—Correla-
tion of these with the submarine forests and peat of the maritime districts—
Age of the Scottish peat-bogs—Alluvial deposits of Scotland—Their organic
remains—Correlation of archeological epochs with geological stages in Post-

glacial history of Scotland.

Tue rivers of Scotland, as I have said, flowed during a certain
stage of the Postglacial Period in deeper volume than at present,
a conclusion which is based partly upon the coarse and tumultu-
ous character of their gravels, and partly upon the fact that
their flood-loams cover much wider areas and reach to much
higher levels than any similar deposits pertaining to the rivers
of more recent times. If one wished to compare the work done
by the rivers of our own day with that which the same streams
were capable of accomplishing in postglacial times, he would
do well to trace some such river as the Tweed, the Tay, or the
Clyde, from its source to its mouth. He would note that, even
in the upper reaches of the river and its tributaries, the valley-
bottoms often show old water-levels at heights to which the
streams cannot now attain. These old levels are composed for the
most part of coarse gravel and shingle, with now and again

408 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

many large boulders, confusedly arranged for the most part, and
betokening the action of more or less torrential water. At the
time those gravel-banks were being formed the streams must
not only have been deeper but broader than at present, seeing
that the modern alluvial flats consist generally of more orderly
arranged materials, which are flanked on one or both sides by
the truncated ends of the older deposits. In short, we have
here the very common phenomenon of “valley within valley.”
The accompanying diagrammatic section will show more clearly
what is meant. Resting upon the rocky bottom of the valley is

Fig. 12.—Diagrammatic Section of Postglacial and Recent River-gravels, etc.
t, till; g, glacial gravels; 1, 2, 3, successive terraces of alluvial origin.

a layer of till, ¢, with overlying glacial gravels, g, the presence
of which proves that the valley was in existence before the
Glacial Period. Upon the denuded surface of the till and
glacial gravel comes a succession of terraces, all of which have
been formed in Postglacial and Recent times. The highest of
these (1) is of course the oldest of the series—it may be 10 or
15 feet, or even more, above the level of the present stream.
It points to a time when the river was able to flood the whole
bottom of the valley from side to side. At a lower level a
second terrace (2) appears. As this terrace occurs within the
former one, it proves that the river eventually became reduced
in volume, and, no longer able to flood the whole valley, pro-
ceeded to cut for itself a channel through its own deposits. The
third and lowest terrace represents the surface which the stream
in our own day covers during flood. Its diminished width and
lower level indicate a further reduction in the volume of water.
I do not of course mean to say that all those alluvial terraces,
which are now just beyond the reach of rivers in flood, were
formed at a time when those rivers were deeper and broader.

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 409

Every one knows that while with each flood a stream adds by
new deposition to the height of its flood-plain, it continues at
the same time to excavate the bed in which it flows, so that by
and by, when its channel is sufficiently deepened, some portions
of the alluvial flats cease to be subject to floods. But the river
sooner or later undermines these heightened terraces, as it winds
about, and is ever forming newer flats at lower levels. And
should it continue to flow with the same volume and under the
same conditions, the newer flats would eventually come to occupy
as broad a space as that formerly covered by the older terraces,
the latter in fact would be entirely demolished. The fact that
the high-level postglacial terraces have not been denuded away,
but still in many places form more or less continuous plains on
one or both sides of a valley, sufficiently proves that the streams
had formerly a much larger sectional area. And the generally
coarser character of the older river-deposits is in complete accord
with this view.)

As we follow the rivers down to the lowlands we shall find
the contrast between the modern alluvial flats and the older
terraces becoming more and more pronounced. The former
have clearly been excavated out of the latter. So extensively
and approximately level are many of the more ancient terraces
that they have frequently been described as old sea-beaches,
notwithstanding that they are manifestly related to the river
valleys, that the carry of the gravel-stones is invariably down
the valleys, that the arrangement of the stones and the character
of the bedding point to the passage of a current of water con-
tinuously in the same direction, and that while the deposits
have now and then yielded remains of land-plants and molluscs,

1 The geological reader will understand that the relative levels of the inland-
and mountain-districts are assumed to have remained practically unchanged since
glacial times. There is not the slightest evidence to show that the inland or hilly
districts, during the Glacial Period, stood at a higher or lower level relatively to
the surrounding low grounds than they do now. Such oscillations of sea-level as
are proved to have taken place in Postglacial times appear to have affected the
country en masse, although there are good grounds for believing that in the

extreme north of Scotland there has been a recent submergence which does not
seem to have extended far to the south.

410 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

mammals, and fluviatile shells, they have never disclosed a
single trace of any marine organism whatever. It is only when
we come down to low levels—to heights of 50 feet or so above
the sea—that the old river-terraces merge with estuarine flats,
in the lower reaches of which sea-shells now and then make
their appearance.

Other writers, again, have maintained that the old river-
terraces of certain lowland-valleys, such as those of the Clyde
between Nethanfoot and Bothwell, were the beds of ancient
lakes. In that district the Clyde flows through a succession of
open flat-bottomed spaces, which are connected by comparatively
narrow passages. The opener parts of the valley are supposed
to have been occupied by lakes which were subsequently drained
by the cutting through of the somewhat contracted outlets
which now serve for a course to the river. This, however, has
certainly not been the case. The valley as we see it, broad
flats and narrower passages alike, is entirely the work of the
stream and subaerial agents generally. The river flows partly
in a preglacial and partly in a postglacial course. The wider
reaches correspond with the former, and the narrower portions
with the latter. In the one section of its course it had to deal
only with more or less incoherent glacial deposits which were
easily demolished ; in the other it had to force a way down
through massive strata of sandstone and shale. Hence the width
of the valley has been determined by the nature of the materials
which had to be removed. Where these were soft and easily
undermined and washed away the valley has attained a goodly
width ; where they yielded less readily to denudation the river
has been forced to content itself with a narrower course. In
postglacial times, when the rainfall was greater, the Clyde had
little difficulty in flooding the wider reaches of its valley, which
during spates would appear as a series of temporary lakes con-
nected by broad channels of torrential water.

If the submarine forests prove that Scotland in early post-
glacial times was of larger extent and enjoyed a genial climate,
the old estuarine deposits of the Tay, the Forth, the Clyde, and

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 411

other rivers, and the raised-beaches of the more open coasts,
- demonstrate a subsequent general submergence of the land to a
depth below its present level of about 50 feet ; and they like-
wise afford more or less striking indications of a climatic change
from genial to less genial conditions. JI have given my reasons
for believing that much of the clay in the older Carse-deposits is
of glacial origin, and consists of the fine mud and silt carried
down by turbid rivers, the upper reaches of whose valleys were
occupied by local glaciers. This, however, is not the only evi-
dence we have of glacial action at the time the sea stood at the
45-50-feet level. In many of the Highland sea-lochs glaciers
would appear to have come down to the sea and calved their
icebergs there ; and this is probably the reason why the 45-50-
feet beach is not often well seen at the heads of such sea-lochs.
The glaciers seem in many cases to have flowed on for some
distance into the sea, and so prevented the formation of a beach
and cliff-line. In other cases, however, they appear to have
thrown down their moraines as soon as they reached the sea,
A very good example of this occurs at the mouth of Glen Brora
in Sutherland, where well-marked moraines and morainic gravel
with large blocks are found resting upon and apparently of the
same age as the deposits of the raised-beach. When the High-
land valleys of the west coast come to be examined more
attentively by geologists, I have no doubt that similar appear-
ances will be discovered in many places. The moraines of the
old glacier of Glen Messan (Argyleshire), described long ago by
Charles Maclaren,! come down to within 40 feet or less of the
present sea-level, and, according to Robert Chambers,” morainic
detritus rests upon the 30-feet beach at the opening of Glen
Torsa in Arran.

The general fresh appearance of roches moutonnées and striz
in many Highland glens, and the fine state of preservation of
the valley-moraines, have often been adduced as proof that the

1 Brit. Assoc. Rep., 1850, p. 90; Edin. New Phil. Journal, New Series, 1855,
vol. i. p. 189.

2 Brit. Assoc. Rep., 1854, Trans. of Sections, p. 78; Edin. New Phil. Jour.,
New Series, vol. i. p. 103.

412 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Glacial Period of geologists cannot be of such extreme antiquity
as is commonly believed. But this objection disappears when
we learn that local glaciers occupied those mountain-valleys
in Postglacial times, and descended in many cases to the sea-
level at a time when Neolithic man was an occupant of the
country. From certain evidence met with both in the Southern
Uplands and Northern Highlands, the advent of these later local
glaciers would seem to have been preceded by a period during
which the snow-fields and glaciers of the previous Ice Age had
either vanished or become greatly attenuated. It is frequently
impossible, however, to distinguish between the morainic débris
of late glacial and the moraines of postglacial times. The
glaciers of the latter period appear in some cases to have
ploughed out the boulder-clay of the Ice Age proper, so that
their moraines often rest directly upon the rocky pavement of
the valleys. But this of itself can hardly be taken as a proof of
the postglacial age of those glaciers, for, during the retreat of
the local glaciers towards the close of the true Glacial Period,
the older drifts would be liable to the same kind of erosion. It
is rather from the general appearance of freshness presented by
the local moraine-mounds of postglacial age that their more
recent date can be inferred. Let me give an example or two of
the appearances I refer to. In the neighbourhood of Loch Skene
in Peeblesshire is a group of finely-preserved moraines, which
have been described in detail by Professor Young." They are
strictly local and confined to the heads of certain valleys, some
of which drain into the Moffat and Yarrow waters, while others
are tributary to the river Tweed. So fresh and beautifully pre-
served are the mounds and cones that it is difficult to believe
that they can date back to a period so vastly remote as the Ice
Age is believed to be. Now all the valleys leading down from
the heights above Loch Skene are sprinkled with morainic débris,
eravel, and boulder-clay, which may be followed down into the
main valleys and across the low grounds to the sea. These
deposits are the débris accumulated and frequently re-arranged

1 Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc., 1864, p. 452.

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 413

during the Glacial Period proper. I have in a former chapter
described the closing scenes of the true Ice Age, and shown that
the mer de glace melted away from the low grounds, breaking up
as it were into a series of large local glaciers, which gradually
shrank up the valleys. The morainic débris and perched
blocks dropped by these glaciers can still be followed along the
slopes of the valleys in Peeblesshire, but no well-defined morainic
mounds now occupy the valley-bottoms at low levels. If such
ever did exist, they have all been swept away by the denuding
action of torrents, streams, and rivers. It is only when we
reach the very heads of the upper valleys, as in those of the
Manor, the Talla, the Fruid, and other streams, that we encounter
well-marked conspicuous mounds of morainic matter.

Similar examples of isolated and well-preserved moraines
occur in the Cheviots, and they are especially numerous in the
mountain-valleys of South Ayrshire, Kirkcudbright, and Wigton.
In the Northern Highlands there is hardly a high valley in
which they may not be seen, and the distinction between the
shapely cones and ridges of the recent moraines and the denuded
heaps of morainic débris and great banks of gravel which marked
the dissolution of the older glaciers, is always more or less well
defined. Asan excellent example, and one of easy access, I may
point to Glen Turret, in the neighbourhood of Crieff, at the head
of which morainic cones and ridges are abundant and beauti-
fully preserved. Farther down the valley, below the lake, the
only relics of the older glaciation are weathered roches moutonnées,
scattered angular boulders, degraded morainic mounds, boulder-
clay, and diluvial sand and gravel.

It has been held by some geologists that the reason why
moraines are so well preserved and prominent in the upper
reaches of many mountain-valleys, may be due to the glaciers of
the Ice Age having made a long pause in those localities before
they finally disappeared. They suppose that the great glaciers
melted slowly but continuously away from the lower reaches of
the valleys, so as never to allow of the accumulation of distinct
frontal moraines until they were just about to vanish for ever.

414 PREHTSTORIC EUROPE.

But this, as we know, was not the case, for frontal moraines of
considerable size, although usually much worn and degraded, do
now and then occur at or near the mouths of many of the more
considerable mountain-valleys ; and the whole evidence would
lead me to conclude that the glaciers of late glacial times took
a very long time indeed to melt away, so as to allow of the
accumulation of great heaps of angular débris and morainic
gravels. Thus at the opening of the mountain-reaches of the
Tay valley below Dunkeld we encounter abundant heaps and
hummocks of morainic gravel, shingle, and boulders, which are
merely highly denuded frontal moraines, the general concentric
arrangement of which can yet be traced and mapped out. And
similar morainic gravels are noticeable at many other places
farther up the valley. It is not until we get to the heads of the
glens above Loch Tay that we encounter moraines which bear
every mark of a more recent origin. Now, did these well-
preserved moraines really pertain to the Glacial Period properly
go called, I should have expected to trace a gradual passage
between them and the more worn and wasted morainic heaps
farther down the valleys. Why, in walking up a long Highland
glen, should we almost invariably pass at once from highly-wasted
and denuded banks and heaps of morainic detritus to a series of
cones and ridges sprinkled with perched blocks, which look so
fresh that the glaciers which deposited them might have occupied
the upper valley-reaches only a few years ago? There are two
answers which may be given to this query. It might be held
that the new-looking fresh moraines in the upper reaches of the
glens were deposited during the last stand made by the glaciers
at the closing period of the Ice Age; the more perfect appearance
of the cones and ridges being accounted for, partly by the fact
that they were the last to be laid down, and partly also by
supposing that the attenuated glaciers which heaped them up
made a considerable pause at the heads of the glens before they
finally melted away. But while it may be admitted that the
moraines which were last to be deposited would necessarily show
less signs of age than those belonging to the time when the

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 415

glaciers occupied the longest Highland valleys throughout their
entire extent, yet this does not help us to explain the great con-
trast in point of preservation which obtains between the two
series. The latest moraines are evidently of much more recent
origin than the more or less degraded moraines which are met
with in the lower reaches of the same valleys.

Are we to believe, then, that the glaciers of the old Ice Age
continued to hold their own from the close of that period down
to the time when the Carse-clays were deposited? This in itself
is highly improbable, as I shall point out afterwards, when we
come to sum up all the evidence bearing upon the question of
postglacial climate, but for the present the improbability of
the hypothesis is rendered sufficiently obvious by the small size
of the moraines in question. If local glaciers occupied the
upper reaches of the longer valleys of the Highlands and
Southern Uplands from the close of the Glacial Period down
through that of the “buried trees” and “ submarine peat,” and
on to the time when Carse-clays were deposited and Neolithic
man occupied Scotland, we might surely have looked for very
much larger moraines in place of the small cones and ridges
which actually occur. The more reasonable explanation of the
phenomena appears to be that which infers that after the final
dissolution of the glaciers at the close of the Glacial Period,
perennial snow and ice either disappeared entirely for a time or
were reduced to very insignificant patches, and that, at a sub-
sequent period, they again increased, and local glaciers, some-
times attaining a considerable size, once more occupied the
mountain-valleys, and deposited a newer series of moraines. Nor
is this explanation based simply upon the fresher appearance
and generally smaller size of these moraines, as compared with
the often much-worn and older aspect of the more widely-spread
erratic detritus at lower reaches in the same valleys. Now and
again one may notice how the latest local glaciers have partially
overridden the heaps of débris which had gathered in the valleys
after the disappearance of the glaciers of the last cold stage of
the true Glacial Period, while in other cases they have even

416 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

been deflected by masses of rock which, falling in late glacial
and early postglacial times, had choked up the paths followed
by the ice of the true Ice Age. The presence of such a “berg-
fall” has even been adduced as proof that the glaciers of the
Ice Age had little power to scoop and erode, seeing that the
fallen rock-masses have not only not been removed by the local
glaciers, but have even sufficed to control the direction in which
these latter flowed. Thus a writer in Nature’ has called
attention to the large “bergfall” of sandstone which cumbers
the bottom of Glen Beansdale at Loch Maree, and which has
forced the stream out of its old course, and compelled it to dig
for itself a new passage between the bergfall and the opposite
slopes of the valley. This newer course, after having been
formed by the stream, was at a later date traversed by a local
glacier which necessarily flowed in the same direction, the old
stream-course being effectually blocked up by the great fall of
sandstone from the cliffs at the base of which the water formerly
ran down to Loch Maree. The writer concludes that this bergfall
is of preglacial age; and from the fact that it looks so fresh that
it “might have fallen within the memory of man, instead of at
a date which must be reckoned by thousands if not millions of
years,’ he infers that the modern school of geologists is pro-
bably in error in ascribing so much potency to the agents of
“subaerial waste,” seeing that these have apparently made no
impression upon the “ bergfall,” while the stream itself has only
been able to cut a narrow trench in the bottom of the glen since
the glacier melted away. But this large bergfall is not of
preglacial but of postglacial age. During the last glacial
epoch all the glens of that region were filled with ice, the
surface of which rose to a height of certainly not less than 3000
feet above what is now the sea-level. After those great glaciers °
had disappeared, and the streams and rivers were once more
permitted to carry on their work, the stream of Glen Beansdale
worked its way down through the glaciated rocky floor of the
glen, and cumbered this with shingle and boulders. Then the

1 Nature, vol. xx. p. 504.

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 417

large fall of sandstone took place, and the course of the stream
was altered in the manner already described. A new course
having been opened out—a process which must have occupied
considerable time—wetter and colder conditions of climate
ensued, snow-fields accumulated, and a local glacier occupied
the glen, following the new course formed by the stream, but
never attaining a sufficient size to plough down and clear away
the bergfall.

The local glaciers which existed in postglacial times, that
is to say, during the accumulation of the deeper and older
deposits of Carse-clay and the formation of the 45-50-feet raised-
beach, probably lingered in some valleys till the sea-level had
fallen to the 25-30-feet level. But the beaches and Carse-clays
of this lower level approximate so closely in character, and in
the nature of their organic remains, to the beaches which are
now in course of formation, that the temperature of the Scottish
seas at the time the waves washed the 25-30-feet level may be
supposed not to have differed much, if at all, from that which is
experienced at the present day. That the sea stood at that
level for a considerable time may be inferred from the amount
of work it was able to perform. Broad platforms have been
hewn in strata of sandstone and other and often harder
rocks which formed the sea-margin ; cliffs have been cut back,
and considerable caves have been hollowed out at their base by
the action of the breakers. Sometimes the old beach consists
of only a more or less narrow ledge sawn into the face of a steep
rock-slope or cliff, and showing old sea-worn stacks and hollows,
at other times it forms a wide flat, two or even more miles in
breadth. It is upon these beaches that the greater number of
the Scottish seaports and fishing-villages stand. The lower
reaches of the great estuarine flats of the Tay, the Forth, the
Clyde, the Nith, and others, all belong to the period of the
25-30-feet beach-level, but owing to the working of the rivers
it is often difficult in such regions to distinguish between the
deposits of the 45-50-feet beach and those of later age. The
large rivers in their many windings have ploughed down through

418 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

the Carse-clays of the older level, and re-arranged these in broad
flats and terraces which often merge imperceptibly with the
beaches of the 25-30-feet level. This is particularly the case
in the Carse of Falkirk, and it may be observed also in the
Carse of Gowrie.

The 25-30-feet beach is by far the most persistent and per-
fect of all the “ancient sea-margins” of Scotland. It is particu-
larly well developed upon the shores of the Firth of Forth, and
upon the east coast generally, as at St. Andrews, and between
Dundee and Arbroath. Farther north the best-marked raised-
beaches occur at lower levels. Upon the south and west coasts,
from the Solway as far north at least as the Sound of Jura, the
25-30-feet beach is frequently well displayed, especially upon
the shores of Wigton and Ayr shires. The 45-50-feet beach is
of much less frequent occurrence. In many cases it is evident that
the sea of the 25-30-feet level has demolished the older beach,
portions of which are found only here and there fringing the
inner margin of the later-formed terrace. Examples of this
much-denuded beach occur upon the Wigton coast between
Port-Counan and Cairndoon ; upon the Ayrshire coast between
Girvan and Ayr; upon the shores of Kerrera Sound ; in Colon-
say and Oronsay ; on both coasts of the Firth of Forth, as at
Portobello and Kirkcaldy ; at Leuchars, Carnoustie, and other
places on the east coast. There are also higher beaches (100-feet
terrace), which occur here and there in a more or less denuded
condition, but these have already been described as pertaining
to the closing period of the true Ice Age."

1 For notices of ‘‘raised-beaches” in Scotland, see Proc. Geol. Soc., vol. ii. pp.
180, 427,545, 669; Trans. Geol. Soc., 2d Ser., vol. i. p. 416; v. p. 146; Quart. Journ.
Geol. Soc., vols. i. p. 217; xi. p. 549; xii. p. 168 ; xviii. pp. 218, 224 ; xxi. p. 188 ;
xxil. p. 277; Edin. New Phil. Journ., vol. xxix. p. 94; xxxiv. p. 298; xxxv.
p. 278; xli. p. 402; Lbid., 2d Ser., vol. i. pp. 57, 103 ; Proc. Berwick Field Club,
vol. i. p. 152; Proc. Nat. Hist. Soc. Glasgow, vol. i. p. 127 ; Geol. Mag., vol. ii.
pp. 181, 374 ; iii. pp. 5, 139, 266, 425 ; Proc. Royal Soc. Edin., vol. ii. p. 365;
Phil. Mag., vol. xi. p. 209 ; Brit. Assoc. Rep., 1854, p.78 ; 1862, p. 73; Trans.
Geol. Soc. Glasg., vol. ii. p. 830; Memoirs Geol. Surv. Scotland ; Expl. One-inch
Map, Sheets 1, p. 9; 2, p. 10; 3, p. 24; 4, p. 28; 7, p. 15; 9, p. 445318, p.
7; 14, p. 25; 22, p. 80; 81, p. 52; 32, p. 128; 33, p. 67; 34, p. 54. See
also R. Chambers’s Ancient Sea Margins, Maclaren’s Geology of Edinburgh

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 419

So long as our observations are confined to the Postglacial
and Recent marine deposits, and the terrestrial and freshwater
accumulations which are now and again intercalated with these,
we experience generally little difficulty in assigning to each bed,
or series of beds, its proper place in the succession. But when
we seek to discover the relative age of those lacustrine and peat
formations which are scattered over the inland districts, we have
little to guide us in coming to any definite conclusion. As a
rule, all we can assert is, that they are for the most part of post-
glacial and recent age. It is quite impossible, however, to refer
each particular deposit to its proper place in the series. Yet
there can be no doubt that the submarine trees and peat must
have their representatives in the interior of the country, although
we may be seldom able to pronounce upon these with confidence.
This arises from the circumstance that trees representing ancient
forests are found buried under peat in positions which clearly
prove them to be of later date than the Carse-clays and beach-
deposits of the lower level (25-30 feet above the sea), and no
inconsiderable portion of the peat with enclosed trees, which
occurs in the inland districts, may belong to this later period.
The age of forest-growth represented by the submarine trees of
the Tay, the Earn, the Forth, and other maritime districts, was
followed, as we have seen, by a period of greater humidity, accom-
panied by a lower temperature. These changed conditions must
have told upon the flora throughout the length and breadth of
the land. Arboreal vegetation in the neighbourhood of the sea
would languish and disappear, and the upward range of oaks
and other trees upon the hill-slopes of the interior would become
more limited. The increased humidity would, at the same time,
give a great impetus to the spread of mosses and marsh-plants,
and wide regions formerly covered by trees would eventually
become wrapped in a mantle of peat. Hence, we may well
believe that many tracts of buried trees and thick peat may

(1839), p. 228; Fleming’s Lithology of Edinburgh, p. 85; Hugh Miller’s Sketch-
book of Geology, pp. 14, 60; A. Geikie’s Scenery and Geology of Scotland, pp. 193»
318.

420 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

date back to the period of local glaciers and swollen muddy
rivers which carried down to our estuaries the mud and silt of
the 45-50-feet level. When the sea had retired to its present
limits the climate had again become favourable to the growth
of forests, and trees grew over the surface of the Carse-lands, and
doubtless re-occupied much of the ground from which they had
been compelled to retreat during the ungenial period of local
glaciation and extreme humidity. In this manner new genera-
tions of trees would occasionally grow over the peaty surface,
beneath which the forests of early postglacial times lay buried.
Although peat is commonly dug for fuel in many places
in Scotland, yet this is by no means so generai as in Ireland,
Scandinavia, Denmark, Holland, Northern Germany, and other
regions, where coal is less easily and economically obtained.
The structure of the Scottish peat-mosses, therefore, is as a rule
not so well known as that of the turbaries of other countries.
The general phenomena, however, are sufficiently familiar.
Peat occurs in Scotland covering here and there wide areas in
the Lowlands, and still more extensive regions in the Southern
Uplands and the Highlands. It varies in thickness from a foot
or two up to ten yards and even more. On hill-tops and hill-
slopes it is rarely deeper than from three to six feet, the
thickest accumulations occurring upon undulating low grounds
and table-lands, and in the bottoms of mountain-valleys.
Almost everywhere it covers over the remains of an old forest-
vegetation, amongst which the commoner trees are pine, oak,
and birch. Besides these, however, we find alder, willow, ash,
hazel, and juniper. These trees are often remarkable on account
of their great size and their wide distribution. Thus we find
roots and trunks of oak in the peat of Banffshire at a height of
3000 feet above the sea, although that tree now finds its
northern limits in Ross-shire, Aberdeenshire, and Western
Inverness-shire,’ and does not grow naturally in these northern
regions at nearly so extreme an elevation. The large size attained
by the bog-oaks has often been remarked upon. ‘Thus in a peat-

1 Cybele Britannica, vol. ii. p. 409.

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 421

bog at Benhall, East Kilbride, and again at Thriepwood, Dalserf,
both in Lanarkshire, oaks that measured between 60 and 70
feet in length have been obtained at an elevation of 500 feet
above the sea. At Thriepwood one of these trees measured 65
feet in length, “and was as straight as the mast of a ship, and
so equal in thickness at both ends that it was not easy to say
which was the root.”! This, indeed, is quite a common character
of the bog-trees,—they grew close, and tall and straight—

showing few or no branches below. The pines are equally
remarkable for their size, and had also formerly a wider
distribution than at present, and similar remarks apply to the
other trees mentioned above. The pine, however, does not
appear to have formed any extensive forests at the lowest levels
of the country, although its remains have been dug up in many
lowland peat-mosses, where oak forms the bulk of the buried
timber.

Now and again the peat-bogs contain more than one forest-
bed. Thus in the peat of Strathcluony, three successive tiers
of Scots firs were observed with peat between. In other places
I have been told by peat-diggers that at the bottom of the bogs
they usually get oak, and that when an upper stratum or tier
of trees occurs the common species is generally Scots fir. I
have never been so fortunate, however, as to see such a succes-
sion exposed in open section; but from what I have heard,
I am led to believe that the phenomenon is by no means
uncommon. Very much, however, yet remains to be done by
Scottish botanists before our peat-bogs can be said to be as well
known as those of the Continent. A systematic examination of
the peat-mosses of Lowlands and Highlands would, I feel sure,
amply repay any competent observer for his time and labour,
for, notwithstanding all that has been written upon the subject,
much of that literature is of little value. Very few competent
botanists seem to have turned their attention to the matter, and
yet from the results obtained by Mr. Axel Blytt in Norway

1 Aiton’s Treatise on the Origin, Qualities, and Cultivation of Moss-Harth,
etc., Pp. XXVil.

422 PREATSTORIC EUROPE.

there can be little doubt that similar observations carried on in
Scotland would greatly increase our knowledge of the climatic
changes which supervened upon the introduction of the Ger-
manic flora.

Be that, however, as it may, the evidence that we have is
yet sufficient to prove, Ist, that Scotland was formerly more
extensive, since many peat-bogs in the maritime districts, both
of the mainland and the adjoining islands of the Inner and
Outer Hebrides, and the Orkneys and Shetlands, contain
abundant remains of large trees which could not possibly have
erown under present conditions ; 2d, that the climate which
induced oaks to grow on the exposed hill-slopes in the north of
Scotland at an altitude of 3000 feet, must have been more
genial than the present; 3d, that the large pines with their
thick bark and resinous wood which occur in certain lowland
mosses, seem to point, on the other hand, to a somewhat colder
climate. The evidence of the pine would thus appear to clash
with that of the oak. But I think this is partly due to the fact
that the buried forests really pertain to at least two horizons,
and that in many cases the trees obtained from different levels,
in one and the same bog, may have been confounded. Nothing
indeed, is more likely than that the fact of two successive
growths of forest-trees may have passed unnoticed, for some-
times the trees of an upper forest-bed have grown immediately
upon the prostrate trunks of a lower series, with only a foot of
peat separating the one forest-bed from the other.

I have already described the buried forests of the Tay, the
Earn, and the South Esk, and the drifted trees in the Carse-clays
of the Forth, and have shown that these grew at a period
anterior to the formation of the great estuarine flats. Now
upon the surface of those flats an upper forest-bed occurs
covered over with peat which reaches a depth in some places of
more than a dozen feet. Under the moss of Kincardine
(estuary of the Forth) were found innumerable trees and stumps
rooted in the subjacent Carse-clay. The trees consisted of oak,
birch, alder, willow, mountain-ash, hawthorn, and hazel, and

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 423

many of them attained a great size. They were found lying in
all directions beside their roots, and were buried under peat to
a depth of fourteen feet in places. The average thickness of the
peat, however, was about seven feet. Here, then, we have clear
evidence to show that after the retreat of the sea from the wide
Carse-lands of Stirling, a strong forest-vegetation eventually
occupied the vacant ground. During the formation of the
Carse-clays, the climate, as I have endeavoured to show, must
have been cold and ungenial; the Highlands and Southern
Uplands had then their permanent snow-fields ; local glaciers
occupied many of the mountain-valleys; and streams and
rivers were frequently torrential in character. While these
conditions prevailed it seems most likely that the forests must
have disappeared from a large part of the country. The
reappearance of great forest-trees, however, rooted in the Carse-
clays, shows that the climate afterwards became genial as
before. Nor are there wanting indications that seem to show
that the land during this second forest-growth extended farther
out to sea. At Montrose, as we have seen, the brackish-water
Carse-clays, upon the surface of which peat with trees occurs,
have evidently at one time stretched farther seawards. They
now form low bluffs along the present sea-margin.

The occurrence of at least two successive tiers of trees in
certain of the inland peat-mosses seems to me to point to-
similar climatic changes, and I feel inclined to attribute more
importance to the fact of such a succession, than to the preva-
lence in a given bog of any one particular kind cf tree. Were
the Scottish peat-mosses as well opened up as those of Norway,
I should expect to find the appearance of two or more tiers of
trees a common feature in most of our extensive bogs, for it is
so in the case of Irish and English peat-mosses. So far as the
evidence goes, it leads me to look upon the successive buried
forests of some of the inland districts of Scotland as probably
synchronous with those old forest-beds which make their appear-
ance below and above the Carse-clays—that is to say, that the
submarine forest of the Tay, etc., is contemporaneous with the

424 ' PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

trees which occur at the base of our deepest inland bogs, while
the trees that are dug up at higher levels in the same bogs may
belong to approximately the same date as the forest-bed which
overlies the Carse-clays. But we may reserve consideration of
this point for the present. Its general bearing upon the ques-
tion of postglacial climate will be pointed out when we come to
sum up the evidence later on.

Before leaving the subject of the buried forests of Scotland,
I may mention that, while the trees are often found with their
heads pointing in all directions, they perhaps more commonly
all lie one way—the direction taken corresponding with that of
the prevailing wind of the neighbourhood. Marks of fire are
said to have been seen upon some of the fallen trees underneath
peat, but I have never noticed anything of the kind myself.
The stumps and logs are frequently black, decayed, and crum-
bling, and this appearance, perhaps, has been mistaken for
charred wood. Now and again, what are supposed to be marks
of adze or hatchet have also been observed upon some of the
bog-oaks and other trees ; and the Romans have usually been
credited with the destruction of the ancient forests. Thus, it
has been supposed that the great forest, the remains of which
lie buried under Kincardine Moss, was destroyed by the Romans,
because : first, the trees looked sometimes as if they had been
cut by some sharp instrument; second, “a large round vessel
of thin brass and curious workmanship” was discovered upon
the surface of the clay, buried under the peat; 3d, some
axes and remains of a “corduroy road” were found in the
peat, as also a bridge over what had once been a rivulet.
None of the metallic remains, however, is Roman in char-
acter. The “large round vessel of thin brass,” which has been
described as a Roman camp-kettle, is a bronze cauldron of
precisely the same character as similar objects which have been
met with in “finds” belonging to the Bronze Period. The
“corduroy road” may or may not be of Roman age, but it did
not occur at the bottom of the peat-bog, and evidently belonged
to a later date than the great trees of the buried forest. It was

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 425

“formed of trees about a foot in thickness, having branches half
this thickness crossing them, and brushwood covering the whole.”
At the time this “road” was made Kincardine Moss was “an
unstable and boggy waste,” as it continued to be down to a
recent date, when it was drained. There can be no doubt,
however, that the Romans did destroy some portion of the
ancient woods. I very much doubt, however, whether Scotland
was so well clothed with forest during the Roman occupation
as some chroniclers would have us suppose. It seems to me
that the known existence of large trees buried under peat has
had much to do with the traditions of a well-wooded Scotland
in historical times.’

Some account has been given above of the terraces of alluvial
detritus which are so common a feature in the river valleys of
Scotland. Besides these there occur numerous sheets of loam,
clay, sand, marl, etc., which mark the sites of ancient lakes,
some of which must have been silted up and grown over at a
very early period, while others have been drained artificially in
recent times. In the lowlands of Scotland they are specially
abundant, and many were lakes at so late a date as 1654, for
they are shown as such in Bleau’s Atlas. The deep drains
which have been cut across these alluvial flats frequently show
the following succession of beds :—

1. Peat, sometimes containing an upper forest-bed.

2. Ancient forest of oaks and other trees.

3. Loam and marl, with lacustrine shells and remains of

red deer, ete.

4, Boulder-clay.

From this succession we may infer, first, that a lake existed
for a considerable time so as to allow of the accumulation of the
marl, which now and again may reach a thickness of several
feet. The marl in many cases would appear to be due to the
vital action of Chare and freshwater molluscs, such as Limnwa

1 Wilson’s Prehistoric Annals of Scotland, 2d edit., vol. i. p. 52.
2 See Trans. Royal Soc. Edin.,'vol. xxiv. p. 368, et seg. ; and Great Ice Age,
chap. Xxvi.

426 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

and Cyclas; the carbonate of lime being separated by them from
the water. The shells themselves have frequently been obli-
terated by subsequent chemical changes, so that often the marl
appears to be quite destitute of any organic structure. Occa-
sionally the marl contains intercalated layers of loam and sand.
In other cases, again, we may find little or no marl, the beds
underlying the vegetable layers consisting of loam, sand, and
gravel. These detrital accumulations were no doubt washed
into the lake by rain and rivulets, and they show us how it was
gradually silted up. While this process was being carried on
trees grew upon the margin of the lake and often dropped their
leaves, fruits, and branches into the water. Now and again,
too, deer, oxen, and other animals, dying upon the banks of the
streams or the lake itself, were floated into the latter, perhaps
by sudden freshets, and thus their skeletons eventually became
entombed in the mud accumulating below. While the lake
diminished in extent, the woodlands of course increased, the
trees always occupying the flat reaches as the water retired.
And so, by and by, the lake disappeared, and its site was occu-
pied by forest. In some cases, however, a .streamlet continued
to flow across the dried-up lake-bed, while frequently one or
more deep pools or lakelets remained, and have continued to the
present day, as in the case of Linton Loch, in Roxburghshire.
After the great oaks and their congeners had flourished for a
long time, the low-lying ground upon which they grew was
converted into a marsh. The trees decayed and fell to the
ground, and were gradually enveloped by bog-mosses in their
upward growth. Here and there traces of an upper forest-bed
sometimes occur in the peat, which would indicate that the
marshy conditions ceased, and the area became well fitted for
the growth of a second forest. The overlying peat, again,
proves that marshy conditions returned, and the second forest
succumbed in the same manner as the first.

Remains of the postglacial mammalia have been from time
to time obtained in these lacustrine deposits in every part of the
country. Among other forms we find Bos primigenius, B. longi-

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 427

frons, wild-boar, red-deer (often of great size), fallow-deer, roe-
buck, elk or moose-deer, Irish deer, reindeer, horse, dog, pig,
sheep, goat, wild-cat, wolf, fox, and beaver. Some of these animals
were extirpated in historic times, and many of them have, of
course, been greatly restricted in their range. The beaver was
still a native of Scotland so late as the end of the thirteenth cen-
tury, for its skins are mentioned among Scottish exports in an
Act of David I. for fixing the rate of custom duties. But it had
apparently become extinct shortly afterwards, for in a similar
Act passed in June in 1424, martens, otters, polecats, and foxes
are specified, but beavers are never mentioned.’ On the strength
of a passage in the Orkneyinga Saga, it is supposed that the rein-
deer survived in Caithness down to the year 1159. Its remains,
however, occur very rarely in Scottish postglacial and recent
deposits. Those of the elk (Cervus alces) are also somewhat
rare, but they have been found more frequently than those of
the reindeer. Remains of the Irish deer (C. megaceros) are still
more uncommon, having been met with only once in deposits of
postglacial age. Both the elk and the Irish deer must have
disappeared in prehistoric times, and notwithstanding the pass-
age in the Orkneyinga Saga, it seems unlikely that the reindeer
survived in Scotland to so late a period as the twelfth century.”
The wolf was still a native of the Highlands in the seventeenth
century, the last survivor having been killed in 1680. The great
Caledonian bull, which it is supposed by some still survives in the
degenerate cattle of Hamilton Park, etc., was probably the direct
descendant of the large Bos primigenius, and the long-fronted
ox (B. longifrons) also survives in our domestic breeds. The
wild-boar was hunted in historic times, and was killed by that

1 Hector Boece (end of fifteenth century) states that in his day the beaver
abounded (‘‘incomparabile numero”’) in Loch Ness, and Bellenden, his translator
(probably about 1536), says of the same district that there were ‘‘ mony wyld hors,
and amang yame ar mony martrikis (pine-martins), bevers, quhitredis (weasels),
and toddis (foxes), the furrings and skynnis of thayme are coft with great price
amang uncouth (foreign) merchandis.”—Croniklis of Scotland. For an interesting
account of the Beaver in Britain, see Trans. Wernerian Soc., vol. iii. p. 207.

2 For accounts of Reindeer, Elk, and Irish Deer in Scotland, see Dr. J. A.
Smith in Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vol. vii. 1868-69, vol. ix. 1870-71.

428 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

“Gordoun, who, for his valour and great manhood, was verie
intire with King Malcolme-Kean-Moir.” Remains of the red-
deer are found in every part of the country, even in many of the
outlying islands. It occurs, for example, in the peat of the
Orkneys along with human relics.

Nowhere in Scotland have we any relics of Paleolithic man,
or any trace of the characteristic Pleistocene mammalia. The
oldest postglacial deposits in the country have yielded, in more
or less abundance, remains of the well-known postglacial fauna,
with bones and relics of Neolithic man, but not a vestige of any-
thing pertaining to the older archeological period has ever been
discovered. I have already mentioned the occurrence of a dug-out
canoe in the buried forest of the Tay, and have referred to the
kitchen-middens of the 45-50-beach of the Forth, and to the
numerous canoes and other relics of man which have been dug
up in the Carse-clays. In addition to these “finds”—all of
which occupy definite geological horizons—similar relics have
been met with again and again throughout the country, in river
and lacustrine alluvia, and in peat-bogs and caves. Some of
these are probably of true Neolithic age, that is to say of older
date than the advent in Britain of a bronze-using people. But
it is certain that the later Stone Age endured in Scotland far on
into the Bronze Period of the Continent. There are kitchen-
middens and cave-finds, for example, in which all the human
relics appear to consist of stone, bone, and horn, but which can
yet be shown on geological grounds to be of later date than the
true Bronze Period.

At the time of the 45-50-feet beach of Middle Scotland,
Neolithic man lived along the then shores of the Forth,’ and has
left behind him his kitchen-middens, stone implements, bone-

1 See also for an account of shell-mounds of the same age, discovered at St.
Andrews, a paper by Mr. R. Walker, Philosoph. Mag., 1866. Other notices of
Scottish kitchen-middens are given by Dr Gordon: Proc. Roy. Phys. Soc. Edin.,
vol. iii. p. 84; W. Laidlay: Geol. Mag., vol. vii. p. 270; J. A. Mahony: Proc.
Nat. Hist. Soc. Glasg., vol. ii. (1875), p. 24; R. Gray: Jbid., p. 64. See also for
bone-caves of recent age, A. Bryson: Edin. New Phil. Journ., vol. xlix. p. 253 ;
Beattie: Brit. Ass. Rep., 1859, p. 99; Geol. Mag., vol. x. p. 482.

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 429

harpoons, and canoes to testify to his former presence. When
the sea had retired to the 25-30-feet level, however, a knowledge
of metals had already been introduced, as we learn from the
fact that various objects of bronze and iron have been met with
embedded in the estuarine and marine deposits of that stage.
Now, in certain districts, upon the upper surface of this later
marine terrace and in old sea-caves pertaining to the same level
kitchen-middens and other finds occur in which we meet with
no trace of metal. This shows us that even after a knowledge
of metals had been introduced to Central Scotland, there were
people living in northern and other outlying parts of the coun-
try who were either entirely ignorant of the use of bronze and
iron, or too poor or too far removed from the metalliferous dis-
tricts to obtain them. At what particular time the sea retreated
from the 25-80-feet level has been a much disputed question.
But if one may trust to the evidence supplied by local names,
the change took place after the land had been occupied by a
Celtic-speaking people. Thus, in the Carse of Gowrie, we find
prominent mounds, which must have been islands during the
formation of the 25-30 feet beach, designated as Jnches, from the

Gaelic “ Inis,” signifying “island.” :

1 For an interesting paper on this subject by the Rev. Dr. Milroy, see Scottish
Naturalist, April and July 1880.

430 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

CHAPTER XVIII.

POSTGLACIAL AND RECENT DEPOSITS OF THE BRITISH
ISLANDS—Continued.

Submerged forests of English coast—Unconformity between Glacial and Post-
glacial accumulations — Submarine forests of Lancashire and Cheshire—
Succession of deposits—General conclusions as to conditions of accumulation
—Postglacial and recent deposits of Cornish coast—Section of Happy Union
Works, Pentuan—Sections of Lower Pentewan Work—Section at Huel Dar-
lington Mine—General conclusion as to the succession of changes—Sunk
forests and buried peat of the Fenland—Relation of Fen-beds to glacial
deposits—Character of Fen-beds—General conclusions as to conditions
under which they were accumulated.

SUBMERGED forests and peat occur at many places on the coasts
of England. They are most frequently met with on low
shelving shores where the land falls away with a gentle
declivity to the sea. Sometimes they are seen in section in
the low cliffs or banks of alluvial and detrital matter which
are washed by the water at high-tide; in other places they
appear exposed upon the beach at low-tide, and pass outwards
for an unknown distance. Borings at various seaport towns
also prove the occurrence of similar land-surfaces, at depths of
over 40 feet below the present level of the sea. More than
this, submerged peat has been dredged off the coasts in 60 feet
of water, and it has been detected covering the sea-bottom in
the very middle of the English Channel.

The phenomena of submerged forests are not confined to any
one part of England, but appear to be characteristic of all the
maritime regions, wherever the requisite conditions of a low
shelving shore obtain. They are found, for example, upon the

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 431

coasts of Durham between Sunderland and Hartlepool, upon
both sides of the estuary of the Humber; and along the coast
of Lincolnshire from Great Grimsby to Skegness. They abound
in the low Fenlands that border on the Wash, and are traced
here and there upon the shores of East Anglia between the
Wash and the Thames, on the banks of which, near and below
London, they are well known. Along the shores of the Channel
they are plentifully developed. Thus we meet with them in
Sussex at Hastings, St. Leonards, Pevensey Level near East-
bourne, and Bracklesham; and they are equally abundant upon
the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, as at Torre Abbey near Tor-
quay, at Blackpool, and on the shores of Salcombe estuary, of
Bigbury Bay, and of Millendreth Bay near the Looes. Farther
west they occur at Mainporth, between Falmouth and Mawnan,
at Porthleven near Helston, and on the margin of Mount’s Bay.
Upon the west coasts of Cornwall and Devon they are not less
commonly met with, as at Hayle, Perran Porth, Barnstaple, and
Bideford Bay. They occur also on both sides of the Bristol
Channel, as at Porlock, Watchet, and Sharpness, and the shores
of Caermarthen Bay at Tenby. Upon the west coast of Wales
they are found in St. Bride’s Bay, at Mount and Aberaeron in
Cardigan, and at Holyhead. Again, we meet with them in
Denbighshire, as at Llandrillo Bay, and they are particularly well
developed between the mouths of the Dee and the Mersey, and
especially upon the shores of the latter estuary. Farther north,
they appear upon the low shores of Morecambe Bay, and they
are also known upon the borders of the Solway Firth.

There can be no question that all these sunk forests
represent former land-surfaces. Abundantly exposed as they
are, we have yet very good reason for believing that they are
even more continuous than they appear to be. Some of them
are only visible at rare intervals, when after some great storm
the sea has suddenly swept away the modern beach-deposits
_ under which they ordinarily lie buried. Others, again, as we
learn from borings, are permanently covered, and but for those
borings would never have been known to exist. There can be

432 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

but little doubt, therefore, that many old land-surfaces must lie
concealed below recent beach and estuarine accumulations upon
most of the low shelving shores of England.

In the majority of cases the trees are found rooted in the
old soil. They consist of the common species which are still
indigenous to Britain, such as oak, pine, hazel, birch, alder, ash,
yew, etc. The vegetable layer varies from less than one foot up
to twelve feet or even twenty feet in thickness, and appears in
- some cases to be entirely composed of the débris of trees. More
commonly, however, the remains of trees occur at the base of
the bed, and are covered over with peat formed of sphagnum,
sedges, rushes, or other marsh-loving plants. As might have
been expected from their extensive distribution, the submerged
forests repose upon strata of widely different ages. In certain
districts, for example, the immediately-underlying stratum may
be some member of the glacial series, while in other places the
trees are rooted in Paleolithic and ossiferous gravels, or in strata
belonging to the older Tertiary formations. But in no single
instance do they rest upon any passage-beds which might serve
to bridge over the hiatus which obtains between the close of the
Glacial Period and the beginning of Postglacial times. There
is everywhere an unconformity between the peat-beds and the
latest of the glacial deposits upon which they may chance to
repose. The Ice Age had passed away and the later glacial
deposits had been greatly eroded long before the trees of the
submarine forests had begun to grow. To make this clear a
few typical cases will be described.

Among the most noteworthy of the submarine forests of
England are those which extend along the maritime districts of
Cheshire and Lancashire from the mouth of the Dee to More-
cambe Bay. The old forest-beds of the Mersey and the neigh-
bouring coasts have been long known and frequently described
by antiquarians and others, from Leland’s time down to the
present day, so that we are pretty well informed as to their
character and the mode of their occurrence. A most inter-
esting résumé of all that antiquarians have been able to tell us

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 433

about them is given by Dr. Hume,! and, as his account is also
to some extent geological, it may be consulted with advantage
by those who are desirous of studying the matter in detail. A
more critical description of the deposits from a geological point
of view is furnished by Mr. C. de Rance,? who examined the
districts in question for the Geological Survey, and Mr. Mellard
Reade * and others have also done much to increase our know-
ledge of the Postglacial history of West Lancashire and
Cheshire.

The area occupied by the Postglacial and Recent deposits
extends, as I have said, along the maritime regions of Cheshire
and Lancashire, and forms a low-lying plain that stretches
inland for several miles from the shore. Its inner margin is
pretty well defined by the 25-feet contour-line, but a large part
of its surface is below the level of the sea, which is kept out by
along range of sand-hills that fringe the coast-line, and here
and there by artificial embankments. The deposits met with
throughout this broad belt of low ground vary considerably in
thickness, and seem upon the whole to reach their greatest
depth in the immediate vicinity of the coast-line, and what
appear to be old buried valleys. As they pass inland they
generally become thinner., Sometimes they do not exceed six,
ten, or a dozen feet in thickness, while in other places they
swell out to 80 feet. As might have been expected, the various
beds of the series seldom maintain a definite thickness for any
distance, but swell out and thin off irregularly, so that the
sections exposed in one district often differ considerably from
those that are seen in other places. And the numerous borings

1“ Hxamination of the Changes in the Sea-coast of Lancashire and Cheshire.”
Supplement to Ancient Meols.

2 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxvi. p. 657; Proc. Geol. Assoc., vol. iv.
No. 4.

3 Geological Magazine, vol. ix. p. 111; Proc. Geol. Soc. Liverpool (1872),
vols. xiii. p. 86; xiv. p. 42, The reader will find in these and the works men-
tioned in the preceding notes, references to papers by Mr. H. Ecroyd Smith, who
has paid special attention to the antiquarian aspect of the question, and by Mr.
J. P. G. Smith, Mr. Cunningham, and others, who have published interesting
notices and sections showing the succession of the deposits.

434 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

which have been made for various purposes tell the same tale.
The general succession, however, according to Mr. de Rance, is
as follows :—

1. Sand dunes.

2. Upper clay and silt, partly marine (Scrobicularia ptperata)
and partly freshwater (Cyclas cornea).

. Upper peat and forest-bed,

. Lower clay and silt, partly marine (Scrobicularia piperata)
and partly freshwater (Cyclas cornea).

5. Sand, with comminuted fragments of Cardiwm edule and

Turritella communis.
6. Lower peat and forest-bed.

me ow

‘ The bottom upon which the deposits rest is almost invari-

ably boulder-clay, but now and then they repose directly upon
the sandstones of the Triassic formation. From this succession
one might draw several conclusions bearing upon the general
geographical and climatic conditions of Britain, but for the
present we shall confine ourselves as closely as may be to the
purely local aspect of the evidence. First, then, we must
observe that here, as in Scotland, there is a strongly-marked
unconformity between the postglacial beds and the boulder-clay
that forms their pavement. Long before the trees of the lower
peat began to grow the ice-sheet had melted away, and its
bottom-moraine had been deeply incised by streams and rivers.
No trace of late glacial shell-beds has been met with under-
neath the peat—these, if they ever existed, have entirely dis-
appeared. We pass at once from the relics of an intensely
arctic condition of things to the remains of an abundant forest-
vegetation. . This unconformity, therefore, indicates a gap in
the evidence. A very long time must have elapsed between
the final melting of the last great ice-sheet and the advent of
the Germanic flora.

The lower peat varies in thickness from 2 inches to 10 feet.

1 As the short account I give of these interesting deposits is merely meant for
comparison with the succession met with in other regions, I have not thought it
necessary to employ the local names used by Mr. de Rance, Mr. Mellard Reade,
and others. ;

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 435

The trees which it contains are in many cases rooted in the
underlying boulder-clay, so that there can be no doubt that they
actually grew in situ. They consist of the usual species—oak,
pine, hazel, ete. Some of the flint weapons in the Liverpool
Museum are believed to have been derived from this peat-bed,
and it is said by Mr. Ecroyd Smith to have yielded bones of the
urus and great Irish deer, but Mr. de Rance doubts whether
this is the case, and is of opinion that neither animal remains
nor any trace of man or his works have yet been discovered in
this oldest member of the postglacial series.

The sand (No. 5) occurs chiefly in the form of sand-hills
along the eastern or inner margin of the great plains, but is
continued underneath the overlying deposits to the west. It is
believed by Mr. de Rance to have been formed by the action of
the sea and wind at a time when the land stood at a relatively
lower elevation than the present, and the coast corresponded
pretty closely with what is now the 25-feet contour-line. The
sand was then spread out partly in shallow water and partly
upon the beach, and was blown inland so as to form a series of
dunes corresponding in character to the sand-hills which fringe
the modern coast. They tell us, then, of a time when the land,
which, during the growth of the lower buried forest, must have
extended much farther out to sea than it now does, gradually
became submerged to a depth below its present level of some
25 feet or thereabout. Before this submergence was fully
accomplished the trees had succumbed to the influence of
increasing moisture—marshes gradually extended their bounds,
and wide stretches of peat ere long occupied the site of the
ancient forest. By and by the sea itself invaded the broad flats,
here sweeping away the peat and prostrate timber, and there
covering it up with sand and silt and clay (No. 4). At the
same time the submerged portions of the river-valleys were
filled up and levelled with the floor of the sea. After these
conditions had obtained for some time the shallowing sea was
here and there excluded from the mud-flats, and wide lakes
of fresh water were formed. In these lakes gray silts were

436 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

accumulated, and Cyclas cornea abounded. As the mud-flats
continued to be deserted by the sea, trees again began to appear
—the vegetation gradually becoming more abundant, until at
length a dense forest-growth prevailed. The trees, which con-
sisted largely of oak and Scots fir, often attained great dimen-
sions, and there are some indications which lead to the belief
that among the first to occupy the vacant ground was the
Scots fir. But however this may be, the whole of the low-
lands eventually became thickly wooded with a varied vegeta-
tion—amongst which, besides oak and Scots fir, were ash,
beech (?), alder, and yew. Eventually, however, another change
ensued ; the trees decayed, and the wide wooded plains became
converted into marshes. Peat now began to spread abundantly,
and by and by covered over the site of the old woodlands. The
surface of the peat seems to have been varied here and there
with shrubby growths of holly, hazel, and spurge, which flourished
then in the drier places, very much in the same way as willow
and spurge are growing in the district now. At the time the
great forests were flourishing the sea must have been at a
greater distance—in other words, the land must have extended
westwards considerably farther than at present into the Irish
Sea. The decay and overthrow of the trees and the growth of
peat appear to have been accompanied by a considerable loss of
land. The sea gained upon the coast, and here and there an
upper marine clay came to be laid down upon the surface of
the peat.

Mr. de Rance observes that the oldest relics of man, which
consist of implements of Neolithic age, occur in the lower clay
and silt (No. 4). The same bed, according to Mr. Ecroyd Smith,
has yielded remains of the urus (Bos primigenius), the great
Trish deer (Cervus megaceros), and cetaceans. From the upper
peat and forest-bed have come Celtic and Roman relics, the
former of which belong to the lower and the latter to the upper
portion of the bed.

Briefly summing up the evidence, we seem justified in
coming to the following conclusions :—

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 437

1st, That the lower forest-bed points to a former wider
extent of land and a climate capable of nourishing and sustain-
ing an abundant forest-vegetation.

2d, That the peat, underneath which these trees lie buried,
indicates more humid conditions, which brought about the
decay and overthrow of the forests, and fostered an abundant
growth of marsh-plants.

3d, That the wide peat-covered plains eventually sank under
the sea to a depth below its present level of 25 feet or there-
about. Neolithic man was at this time an occupant of the
land.

Ath, That by and by the sea again slowly retreated, and
wide freshwater lakes made their appearance.

5th, That the upper forest-bed points to a recurrence of
genial climatic conditions probably similar to those underneath
which the trees of the lower forest-bed flourished ; and that the
land at this time was more extensive than it is now.

6th, That the upper peat implies more humid conditions,
adverse to the growth of great forests but favourable to that of
marsh-plants.

7th, That the beds above the peat indicate a recent encroach-
ment of the sea—an encroachment which had probably com-
menced before the destruction of the forests was completed.

We may now take a glance at the Postglacial and Recent
deposits of the Cornish coast. The only accumulations in
Cornwall which can be recognised as pertaining to the Ice Age
are certain raised-beaches and the peculiar earthy and stony
débris (“head”) which caps them. These, as we have seen,
belong probably to the last interglacial epoch and the final cold
stage of the Glacial Period, and we have next to inquire what
were the physical and climatic conditions that obtained in
Cornwall subsequent to the accumulation of the well-known
“head,” and the formation of the coarse gravels and stones of
the famous stream-tin deposits. The nature of these deposits is
revealed to us by the numerous sections which have been made
in the search for tin, and there is certainly a marked similarity

438 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

in the general succession of the beds. At the bottom occurs
the “tin-ground,” a somewhat tumultuous or torrential accumu-
lation of angular and sub-angular stones and rocks mixed with
sand and gravel. The blocks, as already mentioned, vary in
size from a foot or less up to masses several feet, or even
yards, in diameter. The general character of the deposits above
the tin-ground will be best gathered from the sections which
follow.

Szcrion oF Happy Union Works, Prentuan (1829).*

1. Rough river-sand and gravel, here and there mixed
with sea-sand and silt. A row of wooden piles
with their tops 24 feet from the surface, apparently
intended for a bridge, was found on a level with
spring-tide low-water . 20 ft.
2. Sand ; trees all through it, bbietiy jail vind a in
all directions ; animal remains, bones of red deer,

hog, human skulls (?), bones of whale. : 20 ft.
3. Silt or clay and layers of stones, a conglomerate of

sand, silt, bones, and wood ; i 2 ft.
4. Sand with marine shells ; water draining dsteh

this bed is salt above, fresh below . ; 4 in,

5. Sludge or silt, brownish to a lead colour in vilacee
with recent shells which, particularly the bivalves,
are often in layers, double and closed, with the
siphonal end upward, rendering it likely that
they lived and died there. They are of the same
species as those existing in the neighbouring sea,
Wood, hazel-nuts, and occasionally bones and
horns of deer and oxen, are found in this bed ; a
piece of oak shaped as if by man, with a barnacle
attached, was found at 2 feet from the top - 10 ft.

6. A layer of leaves, hazel-nuts, sticks, and moss (in
a perfect state, almost retaining its natural colour,
apparently where it grew). It extends, with some
interruptions, across the valley, occurs at 30 feet
below low-water mark, and about 48 feet below

spring-tide high-water. : . 6 in. to 12 in.
7. Dark silt, apparently mixed with Hetinpted vege-
table matter . . : : : : : 1 ft.

1 De La Beche, Report on the Geology of Cornwall, Devon, and West Aes
p. 401. The section is given in descending order.

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 439

8. Roots of trees in their natural position ; oaks with
fibres traceable for 2 feet deep. From the
manner in which they spread there can be no
doubt but that the trees have grown and fallen
on the spots where their roots are found. Oysters
still remain fastened to some of the larger stones
and to the stumps of trees.

9. Tin-ground, with rounded pieces of granite, and sub-
angular pieces of slate and greenstone. Most of
the tin occurs in the lower part, from the size of
the finest sand to pebbles 10 Ibs. in weight ; some

rocks highly impregnated with tin weigh 200 lbs.
and upwards. Thickness (including No. 8) from 3 ft. to 10 ft.

This section occurs near the sea; when the tin-ground is.
followed inland, the marine deposits disappear and the stanni-
ferous gravel is covered directly by freshwater accumulations.
It must not be supposed that all the tin-workings in the neigh-
bourhood of the sea exhibit precisely the same succession of
deposits as that given in the above section, but they agree
generally in showing that the tin-ground is overlaid directly by
an old forest-bed, and that this bed is in turn buried under
marine, estuarine, and fluviatile deposits. Resting upon these
overlying deposits, and sometimes intercalated with them, occur
occasional seams of vegetable matter, and now and again a well-
defined bed of peat with roots of trees occurs near the top of
the series, as in the following section :—

Section or LowEr Penrewan Work, } mile from sea-beach, 7

1. Soil with growing trees, some very old ; Bee towards Feet.

the bottom é : ° 3
2. Fine peat, roots of incest fallen Bike Sticke ivy, sea laver,
rushes, impregnated with salt . : 12

3. Sea-mud, with compressed leaves at the top, Praise at 31
feet from the surface, bones, human skulls (one of a child),
deer horns, At the bottom a bed of very small shells, a

foot in thickness : - . . : : a AL
4. Sea-mud, oysters and cockles ; : 4
5. Compressed leaves, vegetable matter, a fe Potten shells : 64

Res Sys spl SMa NT as SR a a SI a nn

1 Trans. Royal Geol. Soc. Cornwall, vol. iv. p. 404.

440 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

6. Vegetable matter, rushes, fallen trees, leaves, roots, moss, the Feet.

elytra of coleopterous insects < . : : 1
7. Moss, hazel-nuts, sticks, on pebbles of killas, growan, etc, . 3
8, Rough tin-ground 4 é ; : : : ¢ 5

Another section given by Mr. Smith is as follows :—

SEecTION OF PENTEWAN WORK.

Sandy clay, stones, gravel : c : - ‘ : 9
Peat, with roots and leaves : 7
Sand, with branches and trunks of trees : 8
Finer sand, with shells, bones, horns, vertebra of a tite
human skulls A . 2 : 7 5 : ee
Coarse gravel ~ . é s : 2
Close sand with clay, bachnine pasty near the hss ; ».

Loose stones and gravel, 1 foot thick resting on tin-ground.

Besides the buried forests which are revealed to us by the
tin-workings, geologists have long been familiar with the fact
that the Cornish coast exhibits in many places the phenomena
of submarine peat and trees. These, there can be little doubt,
are merely prolongations seaward of the peat and buried trees
that are cut through by the stream-tin works. But whether the
submerged forests of the sea-coast always pertain to the same
level as the vegetable layer which is usually found resting
directly upon the stream-tin gravels may be questioned. Mr.
Carne, however, thought he could correlate the bottom forest-
bed (No. 4) in the following section with the famous submerged
forest of Mount’s Bay :—

Section at Hurt Daritineton Minn, Marazion Marsa. ?

1, Gravel and loose ground . : : ‘ : : 8 ft.
2. Peat, with minute woody fibre . - : ; : 4 ft.
3. White sand, with Cardiuwm edule . : : : 12 ft.
4, Oak and hazel trees lying in all directions ; hazel-nuts

loose and on their branches ; a piece of oak, shaped as

if for a boat-keel . : - «+ eft. to 2aft
5. Solid hard peat, closer than the sper hel : : Sif petites
6. Alluvial tin-ground on slate-rock : : : 4 ft.

1 Trans. Royal. Geol. Soc. Cornwall, vol. vi.

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 441

Mr, W. A. E. Ussher also, in his admirable and exhaustive
summary of the evidence,! seems inclined to connect the sub-
merged forests generally with the stratum of vegetable matter,
or of detritus mixed with vegetable matter, which rests directly
on the tin-gravels. Mr. Ussher speaks with a full knowledge of
the subject, and I do not willingly call in question the reason-
ableness of his conclusion ; but, after subjecting all the pub-
lished evidence to careful scrutiny, I have been unable to dis-
cover the grounds upon which it is assumed that the lower peat
and trees which rest upon the tin-gravels are necessarily syn-
chronous with the submerged forests exposed upon the present
foreshore. In some cases this may be the fact, but it is hard to
believe, on the evidence produced, that this correlation can be
generally sustained. Take, for example, the section of Happy
Union Works, Pentuan. In this section I should suppose that
the trees and other remains in bed No. 2 rather than those in
bed No. 8 were contemporaneous with the submerged peat and
trees which are so often exposed upon the shore at low-water.
The latter do not rest directly upon stanniferous gravels. In
nearly every case where the nature of the stratum below the
forest-bed of the foreshore has been observed this is stated to be
clay, and in the reclaimed marsh-land between Marazion and
Ludgvan, where the peat sometimes attains a thickness of 4 to
7 feet, it is said to rest on a bed containing Cardium edule. In
the case of the submerged forest of Mount’s Bay the pavement
is either clay-slate or bluish sand, and in one place a mass of
gravel. It seems to me, therefore, most probable that all the
submerged forests and peat which are seen exposed between low
and high water, or which occur at or near the present sea-level,
rest either upon the older rocks of the district or upon those
fluviatile, estuarine, and marine beds or their equivalents, under-
neath which the tin-gravels lie buried, sometimes at a depth of
60 or 70 feet; and that the ancient buried forest and peat,
which repose directly upon those gravels, are the relic of a much

1 Geological Magazine, Dec. ii. vol. vi. p. 251; The Post-Tertiary Geology of
Cornwall, p. 45.

442 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

older land-surface than that which is represented by the sub-
marine forests of the present coast-line,

The flora of the lower buried forest differs in no essential
particular apparently from that of the submarine forests and
layers of vegetable matter which occur above the marine and
estuarine beds ; and it is interesting to observe that human
relics and remains are found associated with both series. The
mammalian remains belong to those cervine and bovine animals
which usually accompany the postglacial and ‘recent peat of
our islands. Among the species are the Irish deer, the roebuck,
and the urus. It is not necessary for my purpose to go into
more detail. Those who wish to be fully informed upon the
subject will do well to consult the papers of Mr. Godwin-Austen
in the Geological Society's Journal, and the very full and in-
formative essays by Mr. Ussher, in which the reader will find
a complete digest of all the facts known in connection with the
Post-Tertiary and Recent deposits of Cornwall.

From the evidence, of which I have given only a meagre
outline, the following inferences seem to me to be fully jus-
tified :—

1st, The tin-gravels, of which I have spoken in a former
chapter, we may consider as representative of the closing part of
the Glacial Period. They speak to a time when the climate was
more. humid and probably colder than the present, and when
the streams had quite a torrential character ; and as the deposits
in question pass below the level of the sea they necessarily indi-
cate a former greater elevation of the land. This, however, need
not have been excessive. An elevation of less than 100 feet
would bring all the known stream-tin gravels above the reach
of high-water, and we have no evidence to show that the land
during their accumulation was any higher.

2d, Before the growth of the lower buried forest began the
formation of tumultuous river-gravels and débris had ceased.
The streams, whatever they may have been doing in their upper
reaches, were now no longer able to carry down to low levels the
great boulders and coarse gravel which pave their ancient beds.

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 443

The climate had undergone a great change, and the land became
covered with a strong forest-growth. At ‘the time those trees
flourished the coast must necessarily have extended much farther
out to sea, since the old land-surface occurs in places at a depth
of not less than 67 feet below the present sea-level. Man and
the postglacial mammalia were then in full occupation of the
ground. No trace of any of the extinct or migrated pachyderms
which were characteristic of Paleolithic times has ever been
found at this horizon, nor has any relic of Paleolithic man him-
self been encountered. Here, as in Scotland and the north-west
of England, we find the postglacial deposits resting directly
upon accumulations belonging to the Glacial Period. There are
no passage-beds bridging over the gulf that separates the dis-
appearance of cold conditions from the advent of that genial
climate which nourished the great forest-growths of early post-
glacial times. Possibly, however, were the lower portions of the
buried forest sufficiently examined, such evidence as we are in
want of might be forthcoming. It is not unlikely that some
lucky botanist may yet be able to detect there certain traces of
a flora indicative of colder conditions than obtained when the
oak and its congeners first entered Cornwall.

3d, The beds overlying the old buried forest prove that after
a prolonged time the sea gained upon the land to some extent,
and the ancient forests that occupied the low grounds were sub-
merged. At this stage the land would appear to have stood at
very much the same level as at present. Doubtless the loss of
land would tell upon the climate of the maritime districts, and
we may well believe that the great trees had succumbed before
the sea actually overwhelmed them. Mr. Ussher remarks that
“the peaty matter so constantly associated with the forest-bed,
though it might in some cases be explained by the saturation of
an old vegetable soil forming round the trees for centuries, would
as arule impress one with the idea that the forest-tracts were
converted into marshes by the formation of gravel- or sand-bars
damming back the drainage of the valleys for some time before
the sea regained its old cliff-bounds.” But as the occurrence of

444 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

peat overlying ancient forests is not an isolated phenomenon
peculiar to maritime districts, but common to all turbaries
throughout the British Islands and Northern Europe, it seems
more natural to attribute the presence of the peat in most cases
to changed climatic conditions, which, while unfavourable to the
growth of arboreal vegetation, greatly nourished the spread of
mosses and marsh-plants. To this subject, however, I shall
return. The presence of human relics in the marine beds shows
that man still lived in Cornwall after the low grounds were
submerged.

Ath, During the period of submergence streams continued to
carry sand and silt down to the sea, and now and again quanti-
ties of vegetable matter were likewise distributed over the beds
of the estuaries. Some of this vegetable débris may have been
derived from the destruction of the old forest-lands which
covered the upper reaches of the valleys and the inland districts
generally, It seems in every way comparable with the layers of
drifted vegetable matter which occur in the Carse-deposits of the
Forth. We may suppose that owing to an increased rainfall the
streams frequently rose in flood, and, overflowing the low grounds
within their reach, swept them bare of their vegetable covering.
It is by no means necessary, however, to infer that the sticks,
boughs, twigs, etc., which occur locally here and there in the
estuarine beds, are in every case the débris of trees which were
growing in the vicinity of the Cornish coast-line during the
period of submergence. The encroachment of the sea, apart
from any other cause, must have told upon the flora; and we
can hardly escape from the conclusion that long before the lower
forest-bed had been completely overwhelmed the growth of
arboreal vegetation must have received a severe check over a
wide district in Cornwall. The old forests must in many cases
have decayed and given rise to marshes, so that when the streams
rose in flood nothing is more likely than that these should sweep
seawards such relics of the ancient woods as came within their
reach, In this manner whole rafts of matted vegetation might
now and again be undermined and floated off en masse, As this

- BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 445

would happen from time to time, we need feel no surprise at
meeting with layers of peat and woody matter at various levels
‘in the estuarine and fluviatile deposits that overlie the ancient
forest-bed. It is also quite possible that some of those peat-
beds may really represent old land-surfaces or marshes, formed,
as Mr. Ussher remarks, “at different times and in different
places from alterations in river-courses or stoppages of drainage.”

5th, After a time another change took place in the relative
level of sea and land. The sea gradually retreated and left the
estuarine and marine deposits exposed. This alteration of level
seems to have been accompanied also by the return of conditions
favourable to the growth of large trees. The land must then
have stretched southward for a considerable distance. This
inference is necessitated by the presence of the oaks, elms, and
other trees of the so-called submarine forests of the present fore-
‘shores, and the upper bed of peat with tree-roots which is found
in certain stream-tin sections resting upon the surface of the
fluviatile and estuarine deposits. It is hardly possible that so
strong a forest-growth could have taken place in the immediate
vicinity of the sea.

6th, The position now occupied by the submarine trees points
to a recent submergence, the proximity of the sea bringing about
conditions adverse to the growth of trees, and producing the
present general bare appearance of the Cornish coast-lands.

I shall now ask my reader to take a brief glance at the
evidence supplied by the sunk forests and buried peat of the
Fenland. These have been described by many writers, and the
general facts have long been known, but it would seem from the
recent exhaustive exploration of the district by Mr. S. B. J.
Skertchly of the Geological Survey that some of the views
which have hitherto prevailed are not quite correct. The region
of the Fenland, as every one knows, extends inland to west and
south from the borders of the Wash, so as to embrace an area of
more than 1000 square miles, the widest tract of level ground in
Britain. This great stretch of flat land consists of superficial
accumulations of silt and peat with underlying gravel, which

446 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

occupy a shallow basin scooped out of older deposits. Accord-
ing to Mr. Skertchly the oldest of the true Fen-beds are
certain unfossiliferous gravels, which are found almost every-
where paving the bottom of the ancient silted-up basin, and
extending more or less continuously along the margin of the
Fenland, where, according to the same writer, they evidently
indicate a former line of beach. The beds above these beach-
and floor-gravels consist of silt, peat, and shell-marl, which
interosculate in such a manner as to show that they are fre-
quently of contemporaneous origin, that is to say, that the peat
and shell-marl in one place have been formed at the same time
that silt was accumulating elsewhere. Thus it is very difficult
or impossible to correlate the beds in one district with those
which occur in other places, All that can be said is that the
formation of peat and silt has progressed contemporaneously and
alternately throughout a long period of time, and some idea of
the lapse of time required for the accumulation of the Fen-beds
may be gathered from examining a few sections taken at different
places. But before doing so it is necessary to inquire into the
relation which the true Fen-beds bear to the glacial deposits
of that region. The basin in which the former lie has been
excavated partly in Oolitic strata and partly in boulder-clay.
This boulder-clay is the boue glaciaire of the great ice-sheet
which, as I have already stated, there are good grounds for
believing, flowed south as far as the valley of the Thames. It
belongs to the climax of the Glacial Period, and is therefore of
vastly greater antiquity than any portion of the Fen-beds, how-
ever ancient these may be. Here and there the level surface of
the Fenland is broken by the presence of slight hills and rising
grounds, which form islands, as it were, in the wide expanse.
These islands are composed of ancient river- and estuarine-
gravels resting upon boulder-clay ; and they indicate, as Mr.
Skertchly remarks, the former existence of a land higher than
the present, when the coast-line was not so far east. The gravels
have yielded Paleolithic implements and remains of the mam-
malia characteristic of Pleistocene times. It is quite clear, then,

+ BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 447

that a great interval separates the formation of the Fen-beds from
the deposition of the Paleolithic gravels. The old land occupied
by Paleolithic man and his congeners had been worn down by
river-action, and cut back for miles by the sea before the oldest
of the Fen-beds began to accumulate. There is, in short, an
abrupt break between the Paleolithic deposits and the overlying
more recent accumulations, the latter rest upon a highly denuded
surface of the former.

The lowest of the Fen-beds consists, as I have said, of gravel.
Unfortunately this gravel appears to contain no marine fossils,
the only marine organism detected by Mr. Skertchly being a
patch of Flustra on a pebble, which of itself would not be enough
to prove that the gravel originated in the sea. He mentions,
moreover, that some mammalian remains referable to cervine
and bovine animals (Bos primigenius and B. longifrons) have
been met with. The occurrence of these does not of course
militate against the marine origin of the beds, for the remains
in question may have been carried down by streams or washed
away from the shore by the tide, and thrown up again by the
waves. But, so far as I can learn, the marine nature of the
gravels is based chiefly upon the mode of their occurrence.
According to Mr. Skertchly they stretch along the margin of
the Fenland in a pretty continuous band from Sleaford to Peter-
borough, at both which points they merge into “ valley-gravels,”
that is to say, gravels of fluviatile origin. They clearly pass
under the silt and peat, and as similar gravels are encountered
again and again in cuttings, borings, and other sections through-
out the Fenland, it is inferred that “they form a more or less
complete flooring to the basin, just as at the present time the
bottom of the Wash is similarly covered.” Their intimate con-
nection with the silt and peat that overlie them “is shown by
the occurrence here and there of patches of those materials in
the gravel itself.’ If we take this fact in connection with the
presence of the mammalian remains mentioned above, we arrive
at the conclusion that whatever may be the origin of the
“beach-” and “ floor-gravels” of the Fenland, they cannot belong

448 . PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

to the glacial series. Both by their geological position and their
organic contents they are proved to be of postglacial age.

The beds above the gravels are composed of peat, shell-mazl,
and marine silt and clay, with Scrobicularia piperata. The gravel-
paved basin in which these accumulations rest has been gradually
conquered from the sea chiefly by the deposition of silt brought
in, says Mr. Skertchly, by the sea itself, and laid down only at
the slack of high-water upon the coast; and this process has
been going on apparently with little interruption since the Fen
peat and silt began to form. We have evidence, however, in
the presence of buried forests at some depths below the present
sea-level that the land was formerly more extensive than it is
now. Mr. Skertchly gives a table showing the depths from the
surface at which buried forests have been found. They occur,
he says, on at least four horizons, and in one place he observed
no fewer than five buried forests one above another, with separ-
ating beds of peat. The lowest forest rests upon the floor-gravels,
which form the basement beds of the Fen-series, and its presence
clearly indicates that, after the deposition of the gravels, the sea
retreated, and a well-drained land-surface existed in its stead.
“The next horizon includes the trees which occur at about 10 feet
from the surface ; the third those about 5 feet from the surface ;
the fourth those nearer the surface than the third.” It must
not be supposed that those various buried forests occur constantly
throughout the Fenland. On the contrary, some sections may
show only three or two, or even again only one. The most con-
stant of all the forests appears to be the lowest—that namely
which rests upon the basement gravel-beds. The trees and
shrubs comprise oak (Quercus robur), pine (probably Pinus
sylvestris), elm, yew, birch, hazel, alder, and willow (several
species), all of which, with the exception of Pinus sylvestris, are
still natives of the Fenland.

Each forest-bed is generally covered by a less or greater
thickness of peat, but it must be understood that the peat of
the Fens is not necessarily always associated with buried trees.
In many places thick and extensive beds of this material occur

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 449

in which no trace of trees has been found. Not only so, but
similar seams of peat are observed interstratified again and
again with marine silt and clay.

Shell-marl is also a deposit which occupies considerable
areas in the Fenland, and points to the former existence of wide
shallow lakes or meres. It abounds with the shells of such
genera as Pisidium, Planorbis, Limnea, Cyclas, Succinea, etc.

Human relics-and remains have been met with at various
depths in the Fen-deposits. These comprise, besides stone
implements of Neolithic forms, “dug-out” canoes. One of
these is said to have been of oak, and the tree out of which it
was fashioned was estimated to have contained 650 cubic feet
of timber. Remains of the usual postglacial fauna are common
enough in some places, among them being Bos primigenius,
B. longifrons, fox, wolf, beaver, roebuck, red-deer, great Irish
deer, reindeer, otter, marten, wild-boar, and brown bear. In
the marine deposits occur the common seal, the Greenland
whale, the walrus, etc. But in none of the true Fen-beds has
any trace been discovered of the extinct forms characteristic of
Paleolithic times.

From the facts now briefly summarised the following in-
ferences may be reasonably deduced :—

Ist, The beach- and floor-gravels probably indicate an early
postglacial submergence ; but in the absence of marine remains
this cannot perhaps be asserted with perfect confidence. These
earliest deposits clearly prove by their position that a great
lapse of time supervened between the accumulation of the
Paleolithic gravels of East Anglia, and the formation of the
true Fen-beds. The Paleolithic and the Neolithic series are
not conformable; the latter rest upon the worn and wasted
surface of the former. _

2d, At the base of the Fen-peat and silt there appears an
old buried forest, the position of which (30 feet below the
present sea-level) speaks to a former wider extent of land. The
climate was then favourable to the growth of trees ; by and by,
however, these conditions were changed—the forest decayed and

450 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

was grown over by peat, chiefly composed of the moss Hypnum
Jluitans.

3d, The succeeding deposits of marine silt with Scrobicularia
piperata indicate a limited submergence of the land.

Ath, The sea again retreated to a lower level than at present,
and a second forest-growth covered the area of the Fenland.
To this date also probably belong the submarine forests which
occur upon the sea-coast at Holme and Hunstanton in Bran-
caster Bay, and at Skegness and northwards on the Lincolnshire
coast. After this second forest had flourished for a time, it
eventually succumbed to adverse conditions, and was over-
whelmed by the growth of peat.

5th, Submergence of the land accompanied and followed
this change.

6th, The marine silt, peat, and sporadic layers of trees,
which occur in the Fenland at higher levels than the second
forest-bed, point to the gradual silting-up of the Wash, and
the alternate prevalence of humid and dry conditions on the
reclaimed areas.

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 451

CHAPTER XIX.

POSTGLACIAL AND RECENT DEPOSITS OF THE. BRITISH
ISLANDS—Continued.

Correlation of English Postglacial accumulations—Résumé of the evidence —
Raised-beaches of English coasts—Postglacial accumulations of inland
districts—Their unconformability to Glacial and Paleolithic deposits—
English rivers of larger volume in Postglacial times—Lacustrine alluvia and
peat-bogs of England—Their organic remains—Succession of forest-layers in
English peat—Arctic flora at Bovey Tracey—Postglacial mammals of Eng-
land—Postglacial and Recent deposits of Ireland—Submarine trees and peat
—Raised-beaches—Neolithic kitchen-middens—Successive tiers of trees in
bogs of inland districts—Mr. Kinahan’s observations on succession of changes
which these imply—Human relics in Irish bogs—Postglacial mammalia.

THE English Postglacial beds, of which I have now given a
short sketch, while they certainly differ in detail in the separate
regions where they occur, yet possess certain characters in
common which allow us to compare and correlate them. If,
after examining the evidence, we shall discover that certain
strongly-marked features present themselves in each of the
typical districts which have been passed under review, we shall
naturally attach greater importance to these than to such
features as appear to be more or less local in their occurrence.
Beginning then with the Postglacial and Recent deposits of
the north-west coasts, we find that these may be grouped as
follows :—
1. Lower Buried Forest: greater extent of land than now, climate
genial.
2. Lower Peat: conditions unfavourable to forest growth ; climate
probably more humid than that of No. 1.

452

PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Marine deposits: submergence of land to a depth of 25 feet or
thereabout below its present level.

Lacustrine deposits, and Upper Buried Forest: re-emergence of
land ; wide shallow lakes ; great forest-growth ; climate genial.

Upper Peat, and Lacustrine deposits: conditions unfavourable to
forest-growth ; climate probably like that of No. 2.

Marine deposits of present coast : recent advance of the sea.

Now, compare with this the succession met with in Corn-
wall, which may be taken as follows :—

Lower Buried Forest: greater extent of land than now; climate
genial,

Lower Peat: conditions unfavourable to forest-growth ; climate
probably more humid than that of No. 1.

Marine and Estuarine deposits: submergence of land to a depth of
50 or 60 feet or so below its present level.

Upper layers of trees with roots, in stream-tin sections, and submerged
forest-bed of coast : re-emergence of the land ; considerable forest-
growth ; climate genial.

Upper Peat and drifted wood, in estuarine deposits: decay of trees ;
climate probably more humid than that of No. 4.

Marine deposits of present coast; recent advance of the sea.

The beds of the broad Fenland may be similarly arranged thus :—

ihe

Lowest Buried Forest: land more extensive than now; climate
genial.

. Lowest Peat: decay of forests ; humid conditions.
. Marine Deposits: submergence of the land to a depth of 30 feet or

so below its present level.

. Second Buried Forest (probably also submarine forests of Hunstanton,

Skegness, etc.) : re-emergence of land; return of genial climate.

. Upper Peat: decay of second forest ; humid conditions.
. Marine Deposits, Peat, Shell-marl, and Newer Forest-beds: recent

submergence of the land ; shallow lakes ; humid conditions giving
rise to growth of peat ; now and again small trees make their
appearance in such parts of the Fenland as become sufficiently
dry ; the area of land slowly increasing, owing to marginal
accumulations of marine silt.

Since the Postglacial and Recent deposits of these separate
districts agree so closely, the conviction is forced upon us that
such close parallelism cannot be the result of mere local circum-

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 453

stances, but must be due to the prevalence of similar conditions
over a wide region. In each of the districts referred to we have
evidence, first, of a considerably broader land-surface than the
present, when the climate was favourable to an abundant growth
of forest-trees. Then, in the second place, we have proof that
those genial conditions were succeeded by a period of greater
humidity, during which the forests decayed, and were gradually
overgrown by marsh-plants. It is remarkable that the decay
of the forests and the growth of the peat were accompanied and
succeeded by a limited submergence of the land, during which
marine deposits gathered over the surface of the vegetable accu-
mulations. And it is not less worthy of note that the subsequent
emergence of the land and its elevation to a higher level than
the present, was followed or accompanied by a return of genial
conditions, when great forests gradually spread over what are
now low maritime regions. Eventually this genial climate gave
way as before to more humid conditions; the forests decayed
and marsh-plants luxuriated above them, while at the same time
the sea again advanced upon the land, although not to such an
extent as during the previous period of submergence. Since that
last movement the relative level of land and sea has apparently
experienced little change. In some places, however, the waves
and tides have caused the coast-line to recede, while in other
regions there has been a gradual silting-up of the sea. The oldest
of the buried forests has yielded, as we have seen, relics of Neo-
lithic age, and similar remains occur even at higher levels. It
is only when we come to the upper buried forests and peat,
however, that remains of Celtic and Roman times make their
appearance.

Raised-beaches of Postglacial and Recent age are met with
now and again at low levels upon the English coast, and some
of these have already been referred to. Such, for example, are
the marine deposits overlying the lower buried forests, and the
inner margins of which are sometimes as much as 25 feet or even
30 feet above the present sea-level. None of the postglacial raised-
beaches appears to attain a greater elevation than this. The old

454 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

sea-margins, which occur at higher levels, belong to the Pleisto-
cene series ; they all date back to a time anterior to the growth
of the lower buried forests of the north-western, southern, and
eastern counties, and have already been briefly described.’

In the inland districts peat-bogs and Postglacial and Recent
alluvia occupy relatively the same geological position as similar
accumulations in Scotland. In the hilly regions of the north
and in Wales they overlie the latest deposits pertaining to the
Glacial Period ; in East Anglia and the south-eastern region
generally they likewise rest upon accumulations of Pleistocene
age. ‘Thus, in the valley of the Thames and other streams, we

1 For notices of submarine forests and peat, and raised-beaches of Postglacial
age, see (for southern counties from Cornwall to Kent)—Phil. Trans., vol. 1. p.
51; Dela Beche: Rep. Geol. Corn., Dev., and West Som., p. 419; Trans. Roy.
Geol. Soc. Corn., vols. i. p. 236 ; iii. p. 166; iv. p. 481 ; vi. pp. 28, 51, 230; vii.
pp. 35, 62 ; 26th Ann. Rep. Roy. Inst. Corn., p. 36 ; 40th Rep. (of same), pp. 17,
31; Jour. Roy. Inst. Corn., No. xiii. p.{77; (see also for copious references to
stream-tin sections Mr. Ussher’s papers in Geol. Mag., Dec. ii. vol. vi., and his
Post-Tertiary Geology of Cornwall); Trans. Dev. Assoc., 1865, part iv. p. 30;
1866, part v. pp. 77, 80; 1868, vol. ii. p. 415; 1869, vol. iii. p. 127 ; vol. vi. p.
232 ; De la Beche,'op. cit., p. 417 ; Proc. Geol. Soc., vol. ii. p. 599; Quart. Jowrn.
Geol. Soc., vols. iii. p. 249; vii. p. 118; xiii. p. 64; Brit. Assoc. Rep., 1864,
p. 63; 1867, p. 59; Geol. Mag., vol. vii. p. 164; Dec. ii. vol. ii. p. 239;
Lyell’s Principles of Geol., vol. i. chap. xx.; Chambers’s Ancient Sea Margins,
p- 240; Peacock’s Phys. and Hist. Evidences of Vast Sinkings of Land, ete. ; Ex-
planation of Geol. Survey Map, Sheet 40, p. 4. For Channel Islands, see Proc.
Geol. Soc., vol. ii. p. 578; Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. vii. p. 181; Brit. Assoc.
Rep., 1849, p. 51 ; 1867, p. 70; Peacock, Op. cit. For Eastern Counties, see Brit.
Assoc. Rep., 1858, pp. 111, 113; 1875, p. 82; Mem. Geol. Survey, ‘*‘ Geology of
Middlesex,” p. 95; Geol. Mag., vols. iii. p. 62; iv. p. 560; v. p. 215 ; vi. p. 385;
564; xxvii. p. 237; Phil. Trans., vols. xxii. p. 980; Ixxxix. p. 145; Proc. Roy.
Geol. Polyt. Soc. West Rid. York., vol. iii. p. 637 ; Porter’s Geol. af Peterborough ;
Miller’s and Skertchly’s The Fenland, p. 566; ‘‘The Geology of the Fenland,”
Mem. of Geol. Surv. Engl. and Wales; Rev. G. Munford on ‘‘Submarine Forest
of Hunstanton,” quoted by Lucy in Proc. Cotteswold Club, 1874 ; Howse, in Proc.
North of Engl. Inst. Mining Engineers, 1864. For Western Counties and Wales,
see Proc. Geol. Soc., vol. i. p. 407 ; Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vols. xii. p. 169 ;
xxil. p. 1; xxvii. p. 655; xxxiv. p. 447; Proc. Geologists’ Assoc., vol. iv. No, 4;
Hume’s Ancient Meols, etc. (1863), and Supplement (1866) ; Geologist, 1864, p.
216; Geol. Mag., vols. ii. p. 382 ; iii. p. 289; v. p. 352; vi. p. 72; vii. p. 337;
ix. p. 111; Explanation of Geol. Surv. Map, Sheet 90, 8.-E. ; Proc. Cotteswold
Club, 1874, p. 105; Chambers, Op. cit. ; Brit. Assoc. Rep., 1854, p. 80; Proc.
Geol. Soc. Liverpool, 1871-72, p. 73 ; 1872-73, p. 42; 1875-76, p. 120; Trans.
Geol. Soc. Manchester, vols. xiii. p. 71 ; xiv. p. 238.

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 455

find tracts of low-level alluvial land bordering the rivers, all of
which belong to postglacial and recent times, as is proved by the
fact that they have often yielded remains of the true postglacial
fauna along with relics of Neolithic and later ages. But what
is chiefly noteworthy about those alluvia is this—that in Lin-
colnshire and neighbouring districts they everywhere overlie
unconformably the more ancient accumulations of gravel, sand,
and loam, in which occur the relics of Paleolithic man and
the remains of Pleistocene fauna. A good example of this has
already been pointed out as having been ascertained by Mr.
Skertchly in the Fenland. No one, indeed, can traverse the
counties of Norfolk and Cambridge without observing that while
deposits of Paleolithic age occur frequently on hill-slopes, and
even sometimes extend across watersheds, all the modern alluvia
are confined entirely to the bottoms of the valleys. In such
valleys as the Thames, the latter form in like manner the
low-lying plains through which the rivers flow, and invariably
overlie the true Pleistocene deposits.

As in Scotland, so in England, evidence is not wanting to
show that in early postglacial times the rivers must have flowed
in larger volume than at present. In the northern districts, and
in Wales especially, the river-gravels of the upper valleys are
often comparable with the similar accumulations in the hopes and
dales and glens of the Scottish Uplands and Highlands. They
tell of streams that more frequently than now assumed a tor-
rential character, and I can hardly doubt that it will eventually
be found that some of the small moraines in the higher valleys
of the northern Lake District and of Wales really belong to
Postglacial and Neolithic times.

Of lacustrine alluvia and peat-bogs there is little more to
be said. They resemble in all essential features the similar
accumulations in Scotland. In many of the ancient silted-up
lakes considerable beds of marl and plentiful remains of the
postglacial fauna have been met with, while the peat-mosses
have yielded abundant relics of a bygone Age of Forests. From
the facts revealed by the submarine forests, which occur upon at

456 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

least two horizons, we need feel no surprise to learn that the
peat-bogs of the inland districts now and again contain suc-
cessive tiers of forest-trees. At the bottom of the bogs, oak
or pine, or both, usually occur—the pine occupying the higher
levels and more gravelly soil. Higher up in the peat appears
a second stratum of timber, consisting chiefly of birch and hazel,
but sometimes principally of oak; and a third buried forest
is occasionally found a litile higher up, the common tree in
which is generally alder or willow.

Some twenty years ago Mr. Pengelly discovered Betula nana
in the freshwater deposits at Bovey Tracey, in Devonshire, and
Professor Heer identified other plants, obtained by Pengelly
from the same locality, as willows—Salix cinerea and S. repens ?
The latter he now thinks is more probably S myrtilloides,
Mr. Nathorst has more recently examined the beds and ob-
tained Betula nana, B. alba, Salix cinerea, and other willows,
Arctostaphylos wva-ursi—the last-named being a species which
does not come farther south than Cumberland and Yorkshire,
while Betula nana is confined to the Scottish mountains.!

The postglacial mammals of England, exclusive of those
which are still indigenous, are brown bear, great Irish deer, elk,
reindeer, urus, long-fronted ox, aurochs or bison, otter, beaver,
wolf, and wild-cat. Of these, the brown bear was a native
of England during and probably for some time after the Roman —
occupation. The beaver had become scarce in Wales before
the close of the ninth century, for we find in the Laws of Hywel
Dha, where the prices of furs were regulated, that a marten’s
skin cost 24d., an otter’s 12d., and a beaver’s 120d. It was
still existing, however, towards the close of the twelfth century,
and is mentioned by Giraldus Cambrensis as being at that time
a native of Wales. The wolf appears to have been extirpated
in the north of England in the reign of Henry VIII. The urus
and the long-fronted ox probably ceased to be feral in early
historic times. The reindeer, the elk, and the great Irish deer

1 See Philosophical Transactions,1862, p. 1089, and Ofver. af K. Vet.-Akad.
Forh., 1873, No. 6, p. 17.

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 457

belong to an early postglacial age, and seem to have become
extinct in England in days probably long anterior to the Roman
invasion, The mammoth is generally excluded by geologists
from the post-pleistocene fauna of Britain. Its remains, how-
ever, have certainly been recorded from what seem to be true
post-pleistocene or postglacial deposits.’ It is doubtful, how-
ever, whether these recorded instances can always be depended
upon. But although the few remains which have at rare
intervals turned up may in some cases be derivative—that is to
say, washed out of older deposits and re-imbedded in postglacial
alluvia and peat, yet this will hardly account for the occurrence
of the two perfect heads of the mammoth in the peat at Holy-
head, in Anglesea, nor for the peat-stained molar, which came
from the submerged forest of Torbay. Neither Sir Charles
Lyell, Dr. Falconer, nor Mr. Pengelly had any doubt about the
matter, but were of opinion that the mammoth survived in
England down to the period when the so-called submarine
forests were growing. The heads referred to lay two feet below
the surface, in a bed of peat which was covered with stiff blue
clay, and formed the shoreward prolongation of the submarine
forest and peat which were observed at low-water in the harbour
by the Hon. W. Stanley. Some of the other instances are not
perhaps so remarkable, and might be “explained away.” It is
worth note, at all events, that the discoveries appear to have
been made in deposits either at or below the present sea-level.
Nowhere, so far as I know, have mammoth-remains been detected
in any of the post-pleistocene or postglacial deposits of the inland
districts. It might be supposed, therefore, that the teeth and
tusks which have been found here and there in postglacial
deposits bordering upon the sea are possibly derivative. Had
the mammoth occupied England in postglacial times, surely we
might have expected to meet with its remains in alluvia and
peat-deposits like those of the Kennet valley, where the postgla-

1 See Lyell’s Principles of Geology, vol. i. 11th ed., p, 550; Trans. Tyneside
Naturalists’ Club, vol. v. p. 111; Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol. iii. p. 148 ; iv. p.
455 ; v. p. 393 vi. pp. 282, 688 ; ix. p. 84.

458 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

cial fauna is so well represented. This, however, is after all only
negative evidence. It may be that the mammoth did re-visit
England, in greatly diminished numbers, perhaps, in postglacial
times, and that its general absence from the deposits of the
period in question may be thus accounted for! It is not without
significance that remains of the reindeer likewise occur very
sparingly in postglacial deposits, and it does not appear to have
been hunted in England or similar latitudes on the Continent in
early Neolithic times. It is pretty certain, indeed, that the
arctic fauna had disappeared from Middle and Western Europe
before the advent of Neolithic man. The reindeer and its
northern congeners retired to their present homes across the
area vacated by the great mer de glace of the last cold epoch of
the Glacial Period. The question is, did the mammoth also
migrate northwards in postglacial times, and become extinct in
North-western Europe before the approach of the Neolithic
people? At present we cannot assert that it did not follow the
reindeer—on the contrary, such evidence as we have would lead
one to infer that it did re-appear in England in post-pleisto-
cene or postglacial times, but probably became locally extinct
before the commencement of the Neolithic age. I say locally
extinct, because it is hard to believe that the complete carcasses
found in the frozen earth of Siberia can date back to so remote
a period as the Pleistocene and early Postglacial. Be this,
however, as it may, it seems to me quite an open question
whether the mammoth may not have survived in Europe the
last cold epoch of the true Ice Age, and the deposition of the
valley-loss of the great continental rivers.

The submarine forests and peat, and the Postglacial and
Recent raised-beaches of Ireland, being of the same nature as
those of England and Scotland, do not call for special descrip-

1 It would appear to be equally rare in the postglacial alluvia and peat of the
Continent. The only instance which I know of is that of a molar which was
found under the peat-bog of Eelde, in the Province of Drenthe (Holland). The
same bog has yielded horns of an ox (Bos priscus?). Tegenwoordige: Staat van
het Landschap Drenthe, p. 340. It is possible that the molar may be derivative
in this case.

- BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 459

tion. They are generally more or less well developed where the
coast-land is low and shelving, but they appear seldom or never
to afford sections so detailed and complete as those of Lanca-
shire, Cornwall, and the Fenland, Submarine forests and peat
occur most frequently on the east and south coasts, along the
shores of sandy bays, where they are exposed at low-water.
They testify generally to a considerable loss of land within
some recent geological period, and in certain places they even
yield evidence of several successive oscillations of the sea-level.
Thus, at Tramore Bay, County Waterford, there is a raised
estuarine deposit which, according to Mr. Hardman,! shows the
following succession of beds :—

1. Bog or peat, passing in parts into alluvium.
2. Upper gravel-bed, with sea-shells- . é : 0 to 8 ins.
3. Dark peaty sandy layer (shells abundant at base) 1 ft. to 2 ft.
4, Lower gravel-bed ; shells very abundant . . 3 ins. to 2 ft.
5. Blue mud-layer, with fragments of wood, extending

into cracks in (6) - . c 2 . 2 ins, to 2 ft.

6. Gravelly brown boulder-clay.

The boulder-clay, Mr. Hardman thinks, has evidently been
denuded by running-water at a time when it formed an old land-
surface. Then came a period of submergence, when the beds 5
and 4 were deposited. The shell-beds contain the common
littoral species, cockle, mussel, periwinkle, etc., and extend to a
height of ten feet or thereabout above high-water mark. After
the formation of the shell-beds the sea retreated to a lower level,
and the accumulation of bed No. 3 ensued. This is a dark,
sandy accumulation, abundantly charged with the débris of land-
plants, and is probably, as Mr. Hardman says, an old alluvium
or freshwater deposit in part; it passes, however, horizontally
into true peat, and there can be no doubt, therefore, that it indi-
cates an ancient land-surface. The presence of the overlying
bed, No. 2, which contains cockles, proves another submergence,
but apparently of limited extent, for this upper shell-bed does
not go higher than 2 or 3 feet above high-water. It is overlaid

1 Geol. Mag., Dec. ii. vol. i. p. 210.

460 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

by bog or peat of quite recent formation, which passes into
alluvium along the course of the Keiloge river, but is liable to
be flooded at spring-tides, showing, as Mr. Hardman is inclined
to think, still more recent oscillations of the sea-level. If, now,
we tabulate these results, we have the following succession of
changes :—
1. Land-surface of wider extent than present.
2. Submergence of land to a depth of not less than ten feet below the
present limits of high-water.
3. Retreat of the sea ; land of wider extent than now.
4, Re-submergence of land, not reaching more than two or three feet
below present high-water mark,

5. Retreat of the sea ; wider land-surface.
6. Perhaps a very recent change of sea-level ; sea advancing.

Amongst other examples of submerged trees and peat upon
the coasts of Ireland are those of Wexford Harbour, Youghal
Harbour, Clonea near Dungarvan, Courtmacsherry Bay, Dun-
worley Bay, Tralee Bay, and Kilcredane Point, at the mouth of
the river Shannon.’ Raised-beaches are also well developed,
the two lowest corresponding probably to the two postglacial
raised-beaches of Scotland. The upper one occurs at an aver-
age height of about 35 feet or more above the mean level of the
sea round Ireland ; the lower one at about 20 feet above the
same datum-line. But their heights vary according to the posi-
tion of the terraces, which in the estuaries and some of the bays
tend to rise to a somewhat higher level, just as we found was
the case with the raised-beaches of Scotland. The lower ter-
race, being the more recent, is necessarily better marked than
the other. It is of variable breadth, and often backed by cliffs,
at the base of which appear old sea-worn caves ; while isolated
stacks of rock rise up from the terrace itself. Here and there
natural and artificial sections reveal the structure of the raised-
beach, which in some places is largely composed of gravel

1 See Mem. Geol. Survey Ireland: Explanation of Map, Sheets 104, 113,
103, 102; Sheets 140, 141, p.16; Sheets 160, 161, 171, 172, p. 49; Sheets
194, 201, 202, p. 27; Jukes’s Manual of Geology, 8d edit. p. 740; Kinahan’s
Geology of Ireland, p. 264.

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 461

and sand, containing a rich variety of shells belonging to species
that are still common to British seas. In these shell-beds flint
implements of Neolithic types have been obtained in large
numbers, especially at Kilroot, on the coast of Belfast Lough.
In other places similar finds have been met with, as in the
raised-beaches of Carlingford Bay. Again, on the coasts of
Meath and Dublin remains of kitchen-middens, with traces of
fireplaces, have been detected in such positions as to show that
at the time the shells were being gradually heaped up by the
coast-dwellers of Neolithic times, the land stood relatively at a
lower level. The upper beach appears to be likewise pretty
well developed in some places, and it has also yielded flint
implements and other traces of man’s presence.’

The great peat-bogs of the interior have almost everywhere
yielded relics of the forests of postglacial times. Mr. Kinahan
says that “usually the roots and trunks of the trees under the
peat or in the lowest strata are principally those of the oak and
yew, as if, prior to the growth of the peat, the low country was
a vast forest of these trees.” Higher up in the bogs, at a dis-
tance of 4 to 12 feet above the oak-trees, occurs a second layer
of stumps and trunks, consisting chiefly of pine. And this
upper forest is in like manner buried under peat. In the low-
land bogs of the west of Ireland both the forest-layers occa-
sionally consist of pines, and the same is the case in many of
the bogs of the mountainous districts, as if in such places, Mr.
Kinahan remarks, there had been two distinct ages of deal
forests. According to the same geologist, the succession of
changes which these facts attest is as follows :—1st, There was
a time when great forests of oak and yew covered the country,
the oak growing on the hills up to a height of 400 feet or there-
about above the sea; while at higher levels deal was the pre-
vailing timber, flourishing at greater heights than now, as is

1 For accounts of raised-beaches, see Hull’s Physical Geology and Geography of
Ireland, p. 107; Kinahan, op. cit. p. 251; Brit. Assoc. Rep., 1834, p. 658;
1852, p. 43; 1872, p.113; 1874, p. 74; Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxiv. p. 4;

Geol. Mag., vols. iv. p. 8; x. p. 453; Dee. ii. vol. i. p. 210.
2 Op. cit. p. 268. The details that follow are taken from the same work.

462 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

shown by the occurrence of large trunks in bogs at elevations
above 1000 and 1200 feet. 2d, Subsequently mosses and other
peat-producing plants began to grow and flourish, stopping the
drainage, killing the trees, and gradually enveloping them as
they fell. 3d, In this manner the low grounds became dis-
forested over wide areas, wherever, indeed, the peat could easily
accumulate ; but on low hills, in the bogs, the oak still con-
tinued to grow. 4th, By and by the growth of peat ceased, and
forests, principally of deals, sprang up on the peaty surface, and
continued to flourish for a long time contemporaneously with
the oaks that covered the hills or “islands” in the bogs. These
hills, Mr. Kinahan says, “although now destitute of trees, are
still called derries (Anglicé, oak-woods), the ancient name, which
has survived down to the present day, probably from the time
when they were oak-groves, surrounded by forests of deal. In
some of the wilds of Mayo the oak may still be found growing
on the drift-islands in the bog, it always being associated with
yew, hazel, birch, ash, and holly; probably the last three kinds
of trees were also denizens of the primary forests, but their
timber has long since disappeared, they being of kinds that rot
quickly in the bogs.” 5th, A second epoch of peat-growth suc-
ceeded, during which the deal forests succumbed in the same
manner as the oaks had done at an earlier period.

Human relics have frequently been discovered in the Irish
peat-bogs. Mr. Kinahan mentions the occurrence of a two-
story log-house under 14 feet of peat in Drumkelin Bog, Inver,
County of Donegal. It rested upon a thickness of 15 feet of
peat, making in all 87 feet, “over 22 feet of which must have
grown around and above the house since it was inhabited. Ona
level with the floor of the house were the corkers (stumps) of sallow,
ash, and oak ; while in its vicinity a piece of a leather sandal, a
flint arrow-head, and a wooden sword, were subsequently found.”
Human bodies, clad in woollen and hair garments of antique
fashion, have also been now and then discovered at various
depths in the bogs. Old roadways, formed of timber, have like-
wise been observed. In one case (Duncan’s Flow-bog, Bally-

BRITISH POSTGLACIAL & RECENT DEPOSITS. 463

albanagh, County Antrim) an ancient roadway, constructed of
oak, occurred at a depth of 15 or 20 feet, and rested upon 4 feet
of black turf, at the base of which stumps and logs of oak
appeared. The oak-timber of the roadway was probably pro-
cured, as Mr. Kinahan suggests, from the neighbouring upland.
On the same level as the road, stools and logs of deal make their
appearance ; and since holes in the wooden pavement have been
mended with deal slabs placed across them, it may be inferred
that the path continued in use up to the time when the deal
forest had begun to flourish over the dried peat-bog. “The
road seems to have been abandoned and the deal forest destroyed
at the same time, which appears due to flooding, as the peat
above both is ‘ flow-bog’ (Ulster), that is, peat full of sedge and
flaggers, which only grow or accumulate in marshes or flooded
bogs.” Another example of the same kind of ancient roadway,
formed of oak-timber, is that met with in a bog near Castle
Connell, County Limerick. Near the path there was found a
keg, full of a substance like whey, standing beside an oak-
stump. Above this level came 5 feet of peat, to which suc-
ceeded a buried forest of deals, covered in its turn by more than
12 feet of bog. Another very interesting series of antiquities
are the famous “ crannoges” or lake-dwellings of Ireland, some
of which date back probably to Neolithic times, while others
were occupied down to a recent historic period. And the same
appears to be true of the kitchen-middens, which occur at
various places upon the coasts. Both the Neolithic and the
Bronze Ages are represented by great numbers of implements,
arms, and ornaments, which are met with generally over the
whole island—sometimes in peat, sometimes in alluvial deposits,
and at other times lying loose at the surface.

The animals which occupied Ireland in Postglacial and
more Recent times include red-deer, reindeer, great Irish deer,
long-faced ox (Bos longifrons), goat, sheep, wolf, fox, dog, bear
(Ursus spelceus or U. ferox), etc. Of these the most characteristic,
by reason of its great abundance, is the Irish deer, remains of
which are very common in the marl and clay under the bogs.

464 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

CHAPTER XxX.

POSTGLACIAL AND RECENT DEPOSITS OF THE CONTINENT.

Postglacial and Recent deposits of Norway and Sweden—No direct passage from
Glacial into Postglacial accumulations — Postglacial shelly clays, etc. —
Character of the molluscan fauna—Contrast between shelly clays of the east
of Sweden and those of Western Sweden and Norway—Height of Swedish
and Norwegian shell-banks above sea-level — Postglacial freshwater and
marine deposits of Finland—Unfossiliferous clay and sand above shelly clays
of Norway and Sweden—Postglacial erratics resting on shelly clays of Eastern
Sweden—General conclusions—Submerged peat of Scania—Raised-beaches of
same region—Submerged peat and trees of Denmark ; of Schleswig-Holstein ;
of East Friesland and Holland; of Flemish coast; of Somme Valley ; of
Normandy and Brittany ; of Arcachon and Biarritz—Age of the submerged
forests of the Channel area—Peat-bogs of Denmark ; of Norway—Rate of
growth of peat—Arctic flora in Postglacial deposits of Southern Sweden, of
Brandenburg, and other parts of Germany—Peat of Champagne, its organic
remains—Peat-bogs in other regions of Europe—No trace of Paleolithic man
in any Postglacial accumulations—Postglacial deposits of Spitzbergen.

THE Postglacial and Recent deposits of the Continent assume
their most interesting development in Scandinavia. In that
region, as in our own islands, the occurrence of well-marked
marine deposits pertaining to the Postglacial Period supplies
us with a line of evidence which, of course, is entirely wanting
in the interior of the Continent. And, as I shall point out in
the following chapter, it is from the marine accumulations of
North-western Europe that a large part of postglacial history
has to be constructed. My account of the Scandinavian deposits
must therefore be considerably more detailed than that of their
equivalents in other parts of the Continent.

In the low grounds of Southern Scandinavia the glacial

POSTGLACIAL, &¢, DEPOSITS OF CONTINENT. 465

clays with their arctic fauna are overlaid directly with marine
deposits of postglacial age, which frequently cover a wide
extent of country. These consist principally of clay and beds
of shells, sand, and gravel, and they prove that in postglacial
times the southern parts of Norway and Sweden were submerged
to the exent of 350 feet at least. The depth of the submergence,
however, must have been actually more. Thus in Norway and
Sweden the highest shell-banks occur at a height of 150 feet
above the sea, to which we must add 90 feet or thereabout to
allow of sufficient depth of water for the shell-fish to live in,
since they could not have existed at the actual high-tide mark.
This will give us a former submergence of 240 feet. Postglacial
shelly clays, however, attain a greater elevation than is reached
by any of the shell-banks. Kjerulf states that clays with shells
reach a height in Norway of 250 to 380 feet, and he would
allow 20 or 30 fathoms for the depth of water in which those
clays accumulated, which would give a submergence of 370 to
560 feet." This agrees sufficiently well with the conclusions
arrived at by the Swedish geologists, Professor Erdmann stating
that the Postglacial clays of Sweden reach a height of 200 or
300 feet, and perhaps more. The old shore-lines of the post-
glacial sea are frequently marked out by littoral accumulations
—by heaps of sand and gravel and shells, which begin at 150
feet and occur at many different levels down to some 50 feet
above the sea.”

It is remarkable that no direct passage can be traced from
the true glacial shell-beds into those of postglacial age. The
latter everywhere appear to rest unconformably upon the former.
We leave the glacial clays stocked with the remains of a strongly-
marked arctic fauna, and are confronted in the overlying post-
glacial beds by a fauna which is distinctly temperate, and
approaches in character to that which now occupies the adjacent
sea. We shall by and by endeavour to discover the meaning
of this apparently abrupt transition from arctic to temperate

1 Udsigt over det sydlige Norges Geologi, p. 8,
® Exposé des Formations Quaternaires de la Suede, p. 91.
2H

466 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

conditions, but in the meantime we must look a little more
closely at the leading characteristics of the postglacial beds.
The beds in question consist of three more or less well-marked
divisions or groups, which, beginning with the lowest-lying or
oldest, are as follow :—

1. Dull brown and dark blue clay, with shells and associated banks of

sand, gravel, and shells.

2. Light gray and pale brown clay, with no organic remains,

3. Sand unfossiliferous, with which are not unfrequently associated

erratics.

The lower shelly clay (No. 1) is well developed along the low-
lying maritime districts, where it seems to cover the ground as
a somewhat continuous sheet. It follows all the sinuosities of
the coast-line, and thus penetrates for a greater or less distance
into the interior of the country. It is likewise commonly met
with cloaking the bottoms of valleys that open directly upon
the sea, and can be traced along the margins of certain lakes
which in late glacial and postglacial times were arms and gulfs
of the North Sea and the Baltic. In some places this clay is
highly fossiliferous, and has yielded a very rich variety of shells,

-in which respect it offers a striking contrast to the glacial clays,
characterised as these are by a much scantier assemblage of
species and individuals. Most of the postglacial species still
inhabit the neighbouring seas, but many of the shells are smaller
than those of the same forms that occur in the glacial deposits.
A few northern species, which are very common in the latter,
reappear in diminished numbers in the postglacial beds. Among
these are Yoldia pygmea var. gibbosa, Tritonium Sabinii, Rhyn-
conella psittacea, Cardium elegantulum, and Margarita costulata,
none of which now lives south of Lofoten and Finmark.’ On
the other hand, the well-known species of the southern coast of

1 The following species, which are very abundant and characteristic forms in

the Norwegian shell-banks of Glacial age, are feebly represented in the Postglacial
shell-banks :—

In Glacial shell-banks. In Postglacial shell-banks.
Pecten islandicus (Mull.) . c ; Becoming rare.
Mya truncata (Linn. ) ; ‘ : Becoming thinner in the shell.

Saxicava rugosa (Linn,) . : ; Do. do.

POSTGLACIAL, &¢., DEPOSITS OF CONTINENT. 467

Norway, which are wholly wanting in the true glacial beds,
appear abundantly in the postglacial deposits. It is remarkable,
however, that some molluscs which in postglacial times lived
in great numbers on the south coasts of Norway have now
retired to the west coast (Kellia rubra [Cardium], Mont., Tapes
virginea [Venus], Mont.) ; some to the same and the north coast
(Lima eacavata [Ostrea], Fal., Pecten islandicus, Miill., P. vitreus,
Chemn., Pholas crispata, Linn., Margarita undulata, Sow.) A
few species (Cecum glabrum [Dentalium], Mont.) * which occur
very abundantly in the shell-banks at Kirkoen in Norway have
hitherto only been found living on the west coast (Bergen), and
are there somewhat scarce. Malm, however, notes Caecum glab-
rum as still living at Bohusliin (Sweden). The elder Sars, to
whose papers? I am chiefly indebted for these notes, draws

In Glacial shell-banks. In Postglacial shell-banks.
Buccinum grenlandicum (Chemn.) . Represented by B. wndatum (Linn.)
Trophon clathratus (Linn.), var. major Do. T. clathratus, var. minor.

The Glacial are similarly contrasted with the Postglacial clays, thus :—

In Glacial marly clay. In Postglacial shelly clay.
Yoldia arctica (Gray) . : 3 : fs F Wanting.
Stphonodentalium vitreum (Sars) . ; 5 c Do.
Dentalium abyssorum (Sars) . : : : ; Scarce.
Arca raridentata (Wood), var. major. : : Extremely scarce.
Leda pernula (Mill.) . 5 : Do.
Yoldia pygmcea (Miinst.), var. qeicu (Smith) c Do.
Nuatica grenlandica : : : : : : Do.
Nucula tenuis : c : Wanting.

The foregoing species are ‘all aie caress of the Glacial beds. Again,
the most characteristic deep-water forms of the Glacial and Postglacial clays are
as follow :—

Glacial marly clay-beds. Postglacial shelly clays.
Yoldia pygmea, var. intermedia. Tsocardia cor (Linn. )
Leda pernula, Cardiwm elegantulum (Beck).
Nucula tenuis. Neera cuspidata (Olivi).
Arca raridentata, var. major. Rhynconella psittacea (Gmelin).
Siphonodentalium vitreum. Waldheinvia septigera (Loven).

Dentalium abyssorum.
Ophiura Sarsvi (Liith. )

1 Sars mentions also Odostomia plicata, but according to Jeffreys this is a
wrong determination, and should be 0. albella, which ranges from Norway to
the Mediterranean.—British Conchology, vol. iv. p. 122. 1

2 See especially ‘‘Iagttagelser over den postpliocene eller glaciale Formation,’

468 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

attention to the occurrence in the postglacial beds of Tapes
decussatus [Venus], Linn., a mollusc which, he says, does not
now, occur on the Norwegian coast, but is distributed from
the Mediterranean to England. In the postglacial deposits the
shells of this species are as large as those of the largest living
specimens in the Mediterranean. Quite recently, however, this
molluse has been found by G. O. Sars living on the west coast
at Bergen. Another species (Pholas candida, Linn.) mentioned
by Michael Sars as having now apparently retired south from
the Norwegian coast has since been met with by Lovén.
Jeffreys says it ranges from Iceland and Norway to Algeria,
Sicily, and the Black Sea. Many of the shells, indeed, which
are most abundant in the postglacial deposits of Sweden and
Norway, where they occur commingled with arctic and boreal
species, are, as Jeffreys remarks,’ of rather a southern type.
Such are Ostrea edulis, Tapes pullastra, Corbula gibba, Aporrhais
pes-pelicani, and some already mentioned. And, according to
Michael Sars, the mollusca of the Norwegian postglacial beds
comprise 175 species, of which 75 are arctic, 59 boreal, and 41
Lusitanian-Mediterranean. The same naturalist has also pointed
out that perfectly-identical species are found living in the North
Sea and the Mediterranean, although they have not been met
with upon the intervening coasts of the Atlantic.? From these
facts he has inferred that some communication between the
North Sea and the Mediterranean must have existed across the
low grounds of Europe at a comparatively recent geological date.
But, as we shall afterwards see, the facts admit of another and
more probable explanation.

The postglacial clays which occur in the east of Sweden
present a strong contrast to those of Western Sweden and

by Sars and Kjerulf, Universitets-program for 1860, I., and ‘‘Om de i Norge fore-
kommende fossile Dyrelevningar fra Qvarter Perioden,” etc., by M. Sars, Uni-
versitets-program, 1864, I. A translation of the first of these papers will be found
in Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, vol. xviii., New series, p. 1.

1 British Association Reports, 1863, p. 74.

* Sars mentions Nephrops norvegicus, L. ; Lota abyssorwm, Nilss.; Sebastes
imperialis, Cuy.; Macrowrus (Lepidoleprus) celorhynchus, Cerithiwm vulgatum,
Brug. ; and Monodonta limbata, Phil.

POSTGLA CIAL, &¢., DEPOSITS OF CONTINENT. 469

Southern Norway, in the poverty of their organic remains.
They have yielded only five species of molluscs (Mytilus edulis,
Cardium edule, Tellina balthica, Paludina balthica, Littorina
litorea), all of which with one exception (Littorina litorea) still
occupy the brackish waters of the Baltic. The occurrence in
the same deposits of the common bullhead (Cottus scorpius),
which belongs to the littoral fauna of the Baltic, near Upsala,
and even so far in the interior as Skattmanso, sufficiently
demonstrates that the “black-clay ” (Svartlera) of that region is
a littoral and estuarine formation.

Now and again the postglacial clay becomes so abundantly
stocked with shells, that these may be said to form the major
portion of the deposit. Such shell-banks are frequently found .
in Southern Sweden reposing upon-the slopes of certain great
ridges of gravel called asar, which are of true glacial age. Erd-
mann makes special reference to a shell-bank which cloaks the
slopes of the as or gravel-ridge of Enképing. This shell-bank
is not more than 100 feet above the level of the sea, and has all
the appearance of being a littoral accumulation, consisting as it
does of rapid alternations of gravel, sand, clay, and triturated
débris of the common mussel and TZellina balthica. But the
chief point of interest about it is the occurrence in the clay-
layers of plentiful remains of land-plants, such, for example, as
the stalks of Hquisetum limoswm, leaves of the oak, the willow,
the aspen, needles and cones of the pine, twigs, branches, and
bark of the fir, the aspen, etc. The Equisetum, which still
grows abundantly along the shores of the Baltic, occurs without
doubt in the place of its growth—the margin of the ancient sea
—where its stalks became embedded year by year in the gradu-
ally - accumulating sediment. The other plant-remains had
evidently been washed down from the old land by running-
water.

The postglacial shell-banks in the western districts of
Southern Sweden are often similarly grouped along the flanks
of prominent asar, but they never reach a greater elevation than
100 to 150 feet above the sea. Like those of the eastern region,

470 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

they are true littoral accumulations. In Southern Norway
similar shell-banks are found at various levels, from 50 feet or
so up to 150 or 200 feet above the sea.

The postglacial beds of Finland and Northern Russia have
been described by Krapotkin and Schmidt as consisting partly
of freshwater and partly of marine deposits—the former being
the older of the two series. After the retreat of the great
glaciers, or mer de glace, the surface of the ground was left
covered with extensive sheets of boulder-clay, and abundant
spreads and heaps of erratics, gravel, and sand. The Gulfs of
Finland and Bothnia are believed to have existed at the close
of the Glacial Period as great freshwater lakes—the terraces
which mark the ancient margins of the lakes being found, not
only in certain inland districts, but also upon some islands in
the Baltic (such as Mohn and Dago), at a height of 50 feet or
so above the sea. These terraces yield freshwater-shells (Lim-
nea ovata and Ancylus fluviatilis), and similar terraces, indi-
cating the former presence of ancient lakes at higher levels,
have been traced in the interior of Finland up to a height of
150 feet. The whole region, which even now contains many
lakes, seems at the close of the Glacial Period, or the beginning
of Postglacial times, to have been covered over wide regions with
extensive sheets of fresh water. In many cases the natural dams
which held in these waters consisted of dasar or great gravel-
ridges that were rendered water-tight by the mantle of loam
and silty clay which often cloaks their slopes. The different
levels occupied by the ancient lakes, as their confining barriers
successively gave way, are marked by terraces eroded in the
sides of the asar.

It is remarkable that, notwithstanding the great height to
which marine late glacial and postglacial deposits have been
traced in Scandinavia, not a single sea-shell or any other
evidence of glacial or postglacial submergence has yet been
detected in the interior of Finland. Professor Lovén! and other

1 Ofv. af Kongl. Vet. Akad. Forh. 1861, No. 6. Professor Léven instances
the occurrence of certain arctic species which occur both in the Baltic and some

POSTGLA CIAL, &¢, DEPOSITS OF CONTINENT. 471

Swedish naturalists and geologists have shown that there is some
reason to believe that during late glacial times the Baltic had
direct communication with the Arctic Ocean, probably by way
of the Gulf of Finland and Lakes Ladoga and Onega to the
White Sea. Lake Onega, however, is said to be 280 feet above
the sea, and not a vestige of marine glacial or postglacial
deposits has been observed in its neighbourhood. The only
evidence of postglacial submergence which has been noted by
Russian observers consists of certain deposits of gravel, sand,
and clay, which occur along the margins of the Gulfs of Bothnia
and Finland up to a height of 50 feet above the sea, These
deposits are charged with remains of the well-known Baltic
fauna. It would seem, therefore, that the movement of depres-
sion, which in postglacial times carried down the southern area
of Norway and Sweden to a depth below its present level of
500 feet or thereabout, died out northwards to such an extent,
that in the northern gulfs of the Baltic the sea covered only a
limited area of low ground in the maritime districts.

The shell-bearing deposits of Norway are overlaid, according
to Kjerulf, by unfossiliferous accumulations of lighter-coloured

of the Swedish lakes. Malmgren likewise gives a list of fish which are common
to the Baltic and the Arctic Ocean — Cottus scorpius, Cyclopterus luwmpus,
Zoarcus viviparus, Gadus morrhua, Plewronectes platessa, P. flesus, Liparis
barbatus, and Clupea harrengus, var. membras (Kritisk Ofversigt af Finnlands
Fiskfaunw 1863, p. xi.) Some of these, such as the bullhead (Cottws scorpius),
the sucker (Liparis barbatus), and the variety of the herring, appear to be con-
fined to the northern reaches of the Baltic. It is thought that these species tell
strongly in favour of a recent direct connection between the Baltic and the Arctic
Ocean. Had they immigrated from the south into the Baltic it is supposed that
inherited instinct would have led them to return by the same way when the con-
ditions in the Baltic became less favourable. I must mention also that Lovén
has noted the occurrence in the valley of the Dwina, to the east of Onega, of
deposits with arctic shells which go up to a_height of 150 feet. Still, although
this evidence is suggestive it is not convincing. It may be that the arctic forms
in the Baltic are simply relics of the fauna which lived over the submerged regions
of Scandinavia during the deposition of the late glacial clays, when the Baltic
was as salt as the open ocean, and characterised by the presence of Yoldia (Leda)
arctica and its congeners. They would appear to come into the same category
as those high northern forms which are still found lingering in the deeper depres-
sions of the sea-bottom round our own coasts. The former direct connection of
the Baltic with the Arctic Ocean has yet to be proved.

472 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

clay. Followed up from the maritime districts into the interior
of the country, this deposit of clay is found to be continuous
with lacustrine beds—accumulations of freshwater origin. At
the lower levels of the land it is thicker and purer than in the
inland districts, where it frequently contains layers and beds of
fine sand. It is often covered by deposits of sandy clay and
sand, in which boulders and erratics occur not unfrequently,
especially towards the top of the series. In Sweden, likewise,
the postglacial shelly clays are overlaid by a deposit of un-
fossiliferous sand (mosand), which covers as an almost con-
tinuous sheet wide areas in the low grounds.

Erratics also are often found perched upon the tops of the
shell-banks or sprinkled over the surface of the shelly clays.
Lyell has referred to the occurrence of some large masses of
gneiss, 9 to 16 feet in diameter, which he observed resting upon
one of the postglacial shell-banks in the neighbourhood of
Upsala, and which seem to have impressed him as somewhat
remarkable. He says, “Here we have proof that the transport
of erratics continued to take place, not merely when the sea
was inhabited by the existing testacea, but when the north of
Europe had already assumed that remarkable feature of its
physical geography which separates the Baltic from the North
Sea.” We must not forget, however, that even in our own
day erratics are transported by floating-ice in the Baltic,? so
that the contrast between the present conditions and those that
obtained at the time the Upsala erratics were dropped or
stranded, is not so great as it might appear.”

From the facts which have been thus briefly summarised
we gather that in postglacial times the southern part of the
Scandinavian peninsula was submerged to the extent of 400 or

1 Antiquity of Man, p. 281.

* Untersuchungen iiber die Erscheinungen der Glacialformation in Estland
und auf Oesel, Bull. de V Acad. Imp. des Sciences de St. Pétersbourg, vol. viii.

3 For descriptions of Scandinavian postglacial deposits, see Professor Erd-
mann’s Lxposé des Formations Quaternaires de la Suede, and papers by Professors
Kjerulf and Sars in Universitets-program (Christiania) for 1860; by Sars, Op. cit.
for 1864 ; by Kjerulf, Op. cit. for 1870; and, by same author, Udsigt over det sydlige
Norges Geologi, 1879.

POSTGLACIAL, &¢., DEPOSITS OF CONTINENT. 473

500 feet—there or thereabout. The temperature of the sea had
been raised considerably above that of the cold waters in which
the arctic fauna of the preceding Glacial Period had flourished,
but, if we may judge from the continued presence, especially in
the highest postglacial deposits, of certain northern forms, which
have since vanished from the south of Norway and Sweden, the
North Sea was still somewhat colder than at present. But as
the land continued to rise, the temperature of the sea increased,
and the fauna ere long entirely lost its arctic character. In short,
the Postglacial Period merged into the Present.

Submarine peat occurs at many places along the low-lying
and shelving shores of Scania. The peat is composed of numer-
ous moorland- and marsh-loving plants of species which are
still indigenous to the country, and it encloses roots, stems,
branches, and leaves of various trees, such as oak, fir, birch,
alder, and others, but never beech. There can be no doubt that
this accumulation indicates an old land-surface, and since it
passes out to sea it proves of course a recent submergence. Now
and again the peat is overlaid along the margin of the sea by
heavy masses of gravel and shingle which represent old beaches.
Some of these gravel-banks rise 10 and 15 feet above the present
sea-level, and are underlaid by deposits of postglacial silt and
clay, containing marine shells of species that still live in the
neighbouring waters. One of the most interesting raised -
beaches is the great bank called Jiiravallen (or Giravallen),
which stretches as a more or less continuous ridge along the
coast of the Baltic from Ystad to the part between Trelleborg
and Falsterbo. Professor Nilsson tells us that underneath it in
various places, there occur peat-bogs which lie below the surface
of the sea. One of these bogs attains a thickness of 10 feet, 2
feet 5 inches of which lie above, and 7 feet 7 inches below the
surface of the sea. “The turf under this stone wall is so com-
pressed that when dry it is almost as hard as brown coal; the
trees are also, like the layers of coal, pressed together, and when
a fir-chip is broken it is found to be black and shining in the
cross section, all the results of great pressure and of age. The

474 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

turf has here, as in the submarine peat-bogs which lie outside
Falsterbo, been formed in fresh water, of which the bottom when
the turf was formed lay above the surface of the sea; inasmuch
as in it were found the same species of shrubs as those that are
found in the other Scanian peat-bogs, situated farther in the
interior of the country. But on the bottom of this peat-bog, on
the fine blue clay itself, there have frequently, during the cutting
of the turf, been found arrows, knives, etc., of flint, which proves
that human beings already existed in these districts at the time
when the bog was an open water, and peat began to grow in it.”?
Nilsson further states that bones of a bear (supposed at first to
be the great cave-bear, but since ascertained to be Ursus arctos)
have been met with under this peat in association with human
implements, and that the reindeer and the urus also occur in the
oldest peat-bogs of Scania. Professor A. Erdmann has described
a section across these remarkable deposits, and the succession of
beds given by him is as follows :—

. Gravel and sand of raised-beach.

. Peat, 1 to 2 feet thick.

. Clay with freshwater shells, 1 foot 5 inches.

. Calcareous clay without shells.
. Coarse glacial gravel.

oe w DS eH

In other places the peat is thicker and rests directly upon
till or boulder-clay.

Similar beaches, as I have been informed by Mr. Térnebohm,
are accumulating along the shores of north-eastern Scania at
the present day, so that there seems no necessity for Nilsson’s

1 The Primitive Inhabitants of Scandinavia, p. 254. In connection with the
occurrence of human relics in beach-deposits, I may refer to the discovery of a
wooden hut at Sddertelge, which has been cited by Lyell (Antiquity of Man, p.
282), as proving considerable oscillations of the sea-level within a recent period.
It would seem that this is a mistake. The sand under which the hut was buried
was not marine, but had slipped down from time to time from the steep slope of
an ds or bank of glacial gravel and sand, at the foot of which the hut had been
built. This view, Dr. Torell says, was advanced by Mr. Hisinger in 1840, in
opposition to Lyell’s explanation of the phenomena, and subsequent examination
of the ground by Prof. Erdmann has confirmed Hisinger’s general conclusion.
See Lxposé des Formations Quaternaires de la Suéde, p. 109; and Torell, Sur les
traces le plus anciennes de V existence de Vhomme en Suéde, 1876, p. 14.

POSTGLA CIAL, &¢.,, DEPOSITS OF CONTINENT. 475

hypothesis of a violent rush of waters, caused by a sudden down-
ward movement of the ground, to explain the formation of the
Jaravallen. The accompanying illustration kindly sent me

coi

Bie ee

ee ———— aa
Oe a cs Se ee

Fig. 13.—#, Till; c, Stratified glacial clay; s, Silt with recent shells; B', Old
beach ; B22, Beach now forming.

by Mr. Térnebohm, will show the general features presented by
the beach-gravels.

Some interesting descriptions of raised-beaches on the coasts
of Scania are given by Mr. E. Erdmann.!' He mentions among
others that which occurs near Helsingborg at a height of 10 to
15 feet above the present sea-level. The succession of beds in
this beach he gives as follows :—

1. Beach-accumulations of sand and gravel with cockle- and mussel-

shells, 3 feet to 3 feet 5 inches.
2. Peat, 5 inches.
3. Yellowish-gray silt with recent freshwater-shells, such as Planorbis
complanatus, L., Bithynia tentaculata, L., Limnea limosa, L.,
B ovata-normalis, etc., 1 foot 5 inches.

A, Peat with branches, stools, and roots of oak, 1 foot.

5. Loamy or clayey silt, freshwater, 1 inch.

6. Bluish-gray calcareous glacial clay, very thick.

At many other localities similar successions are met with at
like low levels. Thus at Barsebick, not far from Landskrona,
at a height of 10 to 15 feet above the sea occur ancient sea-
beaches which show the following structure :—

1. Beach-gravel and sand with Mya truncata and Cardiwm edule,
4 feet.

2. Decayed peat, 1 foot to 3 feet 5 inches,

3. Beach gravel.

4, Grayish-blue boulder-clay or till.

Mr. Nathorst has also made some recent additions to our

knowledge of the raised-beaches which occur at low levels on

1“ Bidrag till fragan om Skanes nivaforandringar,” Geologiska Foreningens %
Stockholm Férhandlingar, Band i. No. 6.

476 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

the coasts of Scania.! The chief point of interest in all these
beaches is the appearance of peat and freshwater beds which
occur underneath banks and ridges of gravel and sand. These
latter are unquestionably beach-accumulations, as is proved by
the more or less abundant presence of rolled shells and shell-
fragments belonging to familiar marine forms.

Peat occurs under similar circumstances upon the opposite
shores of Denmark, as in Jutland, and the-Islands of Funen,
Zealand, Moen, and Bornholm. On the west coast of Schleswig
submarine peat is found at a depth of 30 feet below the present
shore-line, and on the shores of Holstein and Hanover like
phenomena make their appearance. According to Forchhammer?
these peat-mosses indicate in certain regions a depression, and
in others an elevation of the land. A line drawn from the
middle of Nissumfjord in Jutland south-east to Nyborg in
Funen, and passing south of Moen and Bornholm, marks out
two regions in which Forchhammer thought the buried peat-
beds tell different tales. South of this line, he says, they lie
invariably below the present sea-level, and thus indicate a
recent submergence of the land; to the north, however, the
raised-beaches occurring at low levels give evidence of a recent
movement in the opposite direction.

Upon the Prussian shores of the Baltic peat occurs at and
below the sea-level, as at Gute Herberge near Danzig, where at
four feet above the sea we find peat which varies in thickness
from half-a-foot up to six feet. At Scharfenort the peat lies
under sixteen feet of sand, and in the neighbourhood of Zipplau,
at 20 feet over the sea, the following section is seen :—*

Ft. Ins.
Peaty soil. - A : 5 ; : = Ones
Peat . c . c : - oO
Clay, containing in places peat and decayed wood 4 6
Peat. 1 0

1 “Om Skanes nivaforandringar.”—Op. cit., Band i. p. 281.

2 Om den forandrede Vandhojde ved de danske Kyster.”—WNordisk Univer-
sitets-tidskrift for 1856.

3 Neuerste Schriften der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Danzig, Bd. iv.
Heft iii., 1850.

POSTGLACIAL, &¢, DEPOSITS OF CONTINENT. 477

In the summer of 1854 dredging operations in the bed of the
river Elbe, near Blankenese, brought up great quantities of
wood, pieces of amber, and freshwater-shells. The wood was
chiefly oak, which was black in colour and approached in
character to lignite.!

That a large part of Holland lies actually below the sea-level
is rendered sufficiently evident by the presence of the great
dikes which are maintained at such cost and trouble. Some
writers maintain that. this depression has resulted from the
gradual compression of the bogs and soils of the country, which
has followed the introduction of the general system of canal-
dramage. However this may be, the evidence supplied by
borings and by the superficial strata exposed to view in some
of the canals, renders it certain that Holland has experienced
a degree of submergence in postglacial times which cannot be
attributed to a mere lowering of surface consequent upon the con-
solidation of bogs and their associated deposits. Tetens, writing
in 1778, tells us that from Schleswig to the mouth of the Scheldt
peat occurs more or less deeply buried underneath recent marine
accumulations.” These deeply buried peat-beds are known as
Dargschichten, in Kast Friesland, where they occur at a depth of
from 10 or 12 feet to as much as 40 feet and more below the
present sea-level. They are frequently interbedded with marine
clays, as in the following section from the Warfen :—*

Clay . : : : . ; 10 to 14 feet.
“ Knick,” a hardened, ferruginous clay . 1 RZ OAs
Calcareous loam . 3 F ? ; = Tong eens,
Darg (peat) . : ‘ : : : “pe OM sn: LOVE.
Sand or loam : C : : : oe ee Dee

“ Geest,”* (sand).

1 §. von Waltershausen: Watuurk. Verh. Holl. Maatsch. Wett. Haarlem,
DI. xxiii. p. 387.

2 Reisen in die Marschlénder an der Nordsee, Bd. i. p. 172.

3 For these details, see Arends: Physische Geschichte, Bd. i. pp. 84, 149, 231;
the same author’s Ostfriesland und Jenver, Bd. i. p. 22; and Dr. Grisebach’s
Ueber die Bildung des Torfs in den Emsmooren, p. 83, to which work I am under
special obligations for references to these and other sources of information.

4 This is the term applied in Westphalia and Holland to the sand and gravel

478 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Similar appearances are shown in the following record of a
boring put down near Emden :—

Alluvium (marine) . é : : . 13 feet.
Darg (peat) . - - : - SASS
Soil-bed . AS 55
Alluvium (marine) . ests
Darg (peat) Pie es
Soil-bed aes
Alluvium (marine) . I ies
Darg (peat) is
Alluvium (marine) . DH
Darg (peat) 3 yy

The Darg-peat in East Friesland varies, according to Professor
Grisebach, from 1 to 15 feet—2 to 4 feet being a medium
or average thickness. Near Brockdorf in Holstein, however,
its thickness is as much as 20 feet. It is generally of a
yellowish-brown colour, and of a consistency between that
of heather-peat and ordinary moss-peat. The plants of which
it is composed betray its land-origin. Grisebach says it contains
many stalks, one to two inches thick, of reeds and rushes similar
to those which are common upon the margins of such rivers as
the Rhine and the Maas, and he has no doubt that it has been
formed in the same way as meadow-peat, which grows upon low
marshy ground. Ehrenberg, he says, got microscopic marine or-
ganisms (Polythalamie) in the Darg, and the alluvia with which
it is interbedded are clearly of marine origin, but the peat
itself is composed wholly of land- and freshwater-plants. After
a careful examination under the microscope, Grisebach did not
succeed in detecting a single trace of any marine alge. The
mere occurrence of intercalations of marine alluvia does not
therefore prove the marine origin of this bottom-peat, as some
writers have supposed. The peat which occurs above the Darg and
its associated marine beds attains a thickness in Holland and

which form the ‘‘high and dry ground,” and which have been proved to extend
underneath the peat, blown sand, and recent marine clays of those countries, as
at Rotterdam, Antwerp, and many other places. Carl Vogt: Lehrbuch der
Geologie und Petrefaktenkunde, Bd. ii. p. 125.

1 Kuss: Naturbeschreibung der Herzogthiimer Schleswig und Holstein, p. 36.

POSTGLACIAL, &¢, DEPOSITS OF CONTINENT. 479

West Friesland of 10 to 15 feet, and is covered in like manner
with marine clay and silt, yet its bottom-layers are abundantly
charged with stools and trunks of trees. The phenomena, as
described by Arends and Grisebach, would appear thus to be
closely paralleled by the peat-beds of the Lincolnshire Fens. In
the interior of the Low Countries we find peat-bogs with buried
trees, which, as they are followed to the lower-lying tracts and
the coast, are overlaid by recent marine deposits, while under-
neath this upper peat occurs, at a variable depth of from 10 to
40 feet, an older peat with intercalated marine silt and clay.
Grisebach is of opinion that the Darg-peat, like the so-called
forest-bogs, was formed upon the land, and that it gradually
became covered with marine alluvium during continual en-
croachments by the sea. High-tide floods would cover it here
and there with mud and silt, upon the surface of which, when
the waters had retired, marshy vegetation would spring up
anew until another high flood overspread the low coast-lands as
before with a fresh deposit of silt, upon which the plants would
again encroach until the next irruption ensued, and a third layer
of silt was formed—the land of course slowly subsiding the
while. All these changes were effected long before the dawn of
history, and the marshes and peat which now overlie the Darg
or bottom-peat were already in existence in the time of the
Romans, as is rendered evident beyond dispute by the appear-
ance of Roman structures resting upon the most recent alluvial
deposits of the land.

Peat with the stools and roots of trees is well known to occur
at and below the sea-level at many points on the Belgian coast
and the French shores of the Channel. The peat of the Flemish
coast, which occurs between high- and low-water mark, has been
described by M. Debray,? and according to him it shows the fol-
lowing succession :—

1In East Friesland these bogs contain trunks of oak and pine 50 to 60 feet
long, and 2 to 3 feet thick. The trees lie from north-west to south-east, and are
said to bear the marks of axes and fire.—S. von Waltershausen.

* Bull. Soc. des Sciences de Lille, t. xi. 1872; Ann. Soc. Roy. des Sciences de
Lille, 1870-74, pp. 19, 84; Bull. Soc. Géol. France, Sér. 3. t. ii. p. 46.

480 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Mét.

1. Fen or marshy deposit d 2 0-20
2. Gray clay or sand, with sea-shells sca brackish

water bed above . : , 0°83

3. Blue clay, more or less sandy, with sea- keds : 0-82

4. Turf or peat. - - = 2 - : 1:10

2°95

Pottery of Gallo-Roman age is found upon the surface of
the lowest bed of turf or peat, sometimes even at some little
depth below that surface; and M. Debray is of opinion that the
formation of the peat had been nearly or even entirely completed
by the time the Romans occupied the country. From the dis-
covery of coins and medals of Posthumus which lay upon the
surface of the peat, it may be inferred that the beds above cannot
date beyond the epoch at which that emperor lived. Now and
again flint implements, probably of Neolithic age, occur in the
turf, which has also yielded the remains of many animals, such
as horse, ox, red-deer, roebuck, ram, dog or wolf, wild-boar,
polecat, duck, buzzard, domestic fowl, balene-whale, cachalot,
sturgeon, etc. When dry the peat shows many wing-cases of
Donacie which have preserved their brilliant colours.

The famous peat-deposits of the Somme Valley extend out
to sea, and belong approximately to the same date as those of
the Flemish coast. This is proved by the fact that Gallo-Roman
remains are confined to the surface and superficial part of the
peat, while Neolithic relics. occur in the deeper portions. The
accumulation varies in thickness from a few feet up to ten yards
and more, and has yielded remains of many trees, such as oak,
alder, hazel, yew, fir, etc., together with numerous bones of
quadrupeds, comprising amongst others the beaver and the bear
(Ursus arctos).' The deep turbaries of Albert and Aveluy,
which also occur in the Department of the Somme, have fur-
nished, according to M. Debray, animal remains belonging to
horse, red-deer, roebuck, ox, wild-boar, badger, beaver, rat,
domestic fowl, duck, and man—the latter represented by a skull,

1 Antiquity of Man, 4th ed., p. 154.

POSTGLACIAL, &¢., DEPOSITS OF CONTINENT. 481

and by implements and weapons of Neolithic types. In the
valley of the Somme the break between the Paleolithic and the
Neolithic deposits is very clearly shown. The excavation of the
valley had been completed before any of the peat began to form ;
the great flooded rivers and inundations had disappeared, and
the surface of the ground had assumed very much its present
conformation long before the oaks and yews of the peat had
commenced to flourish in the valley of the Somme,

Submarine peat and trees have been noted at many points
upon the coasts of Normandy, as at Villers in the Calvados,
between the mouths of the Orne and the Seule, at Criquebeuf,
near Vaches-Noires, near Cherbourg and La Hougue, and along
all the west coast of Contentin. The same phenomena are
continued upon the coast of Brittany, as at St. Malo, Dol, at
Rodeven, near Plouescat, at Saint-Pierre-Quilbignon in the Bay
of St. Anne, near Morlaix in the Bay of Fresnaye, and other
places. Trunks of trees occupying the place of growth have
likewise been observed under the level of the sea as far south
as Arcachon (Gironde), and accumulations of vegetable débris
and clay are prolonged under the sea-level at the mouth of the
stream Mouligna near Biarritz." No thorough examination
appears to have been made of any of the submarine peat and
trees of the districts just referred to, and we cannot therefore be
certain whether or not they are of the same age as that of the
Somme and the Flemish coast. Nor, so far as I know, have
they disclosed a succession of beds like that which is furnished
by the postglacial and recent deposits of Cornwall. Some
antiquarians, indeed, maintain that the submarine trees that
occur along the coast between St. Malo and Cape La Hougue
are the relics of a broad belt of forest-land which was over-
whelmed by the sea in the year 709, although the submergence
was not completed till 860. There may possibly enough be
some truth in these statements, but it is questionable if the

1 Delesse: Lithologie des Mers de France, etc., p- 437; Adouin and Milne
Edwards : Recherches pour servir a l Histoire Naturelle du Littoral de la France,
etc., t. 1. p. 193, ef seg. See also Peacock: Phys. and Hist. Evidences for Vast
Sinkings of Land, etc.

482 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

submergence was so great as antiquarians suppose. I know that
in Scotland the well-known occurrence of trees under peat has
often suggested legends of ancient forest-lands having been dis-
mantled in historic times, and even grave historians have pointed
to the occurrence of the buried trees as proof that the land was
everywhere covered with vast forests at the Roman period,
although by far the larger portion of the forest-bogs of Scotland
certainly dates back to a much greater antiquity.1 Although,
therefore, it may be quite true that there has been some recent
loss of land in the maritime districts of Brittany, in the Channel
Islands, and on the opposite coasts of Cornwall, there is yet no
reason to believe that this has been so extensive as some anti-
quarians suppose. At all events, we shall probably not err in
assigning the growth of the now submerged trees and peat of the
Channel Islands and the adjacent French shores mainly to pre-
historic times. They are in all probability merely a continuation
of the similar phenomena in the Departments of Somme and
Calais and in Flanders, and the forest-bogs of the inland
districts of France and Northern Europe generally belong in
great measure to the same distant period.

It is from those bogs that we derive the most interesting
details of Postglacial history. Indeed, but for them we should
know very little of the series of changes which took place in
Central and Northern Europe after the close of the Glacial
Period. There are no recent marine deposits like those of Scan-
dinavia and the British area, which by means of their organic

1 The various traditions and antiquarian evidence relating to the past condi-
tion of the coasts of the Channel Islands and the adjacent shores of France have
been industriously compiled by Mr. R. A. Peacock, who refers to an ancient chart
of that part of the French coast, said to be of date 1406, but copied from one
much older, which shows Jersey connected with the mainland, and Guernsey of
much larger size than now. Into the antiquarian evidence I cannot enter, but
grave doubts as to the authenticity of the ancient chart will obtrude themselves,
Jersey was certainly an island in 550, since it is mentioned in records as haying
been granted by a king of France to the Archbishop of Dol in Armorica about
that date, and I fear that considerably stronger evidence than is yet forthcoming
will be required to convince geologists that some 1300 or 1400 years ago a map
existed, the main features of which correspond so surprisingly with the lines of
soundings laid down upon the Admiralty’s charts.

POSTGLACIAL, &¢., DEPOSITS OF CONTINENT. 483

remains might throw light upon the question of postglacial
climate in the inland districts of our continent. In those regions
all the relics we are in search of must be looked for in fresh-
water tufas, river- and lake-alluvia, and peat-bogs; and these
last accumulations, as I have indicated, are by much the most
important. They attain a great development in Holland, Den-
mark, Schleswig-Holstein, and Northern Germany, where, owing
to the absence of coal, they are of the greatest value, and were
even more so before the introduction of railways rendered the
mineral fuels of other countries more available. Accordingly,
we find that the peat has been carefully studied from early times
by Scandinavian, Dutch, and German writers, so that the litera-
ture of the subject is voluminous. The older descriptive
accounts, however, are taken up principally with the economic
importance of the subject, with the extent of the bogs and the
quantity available for fuel, with the chemical composition and
relative quality of the different kinds of peat-earth and turf.
There are few of those writers, however, who quite ignore the
geological aspect of the question; and some of them, especially
Degner, have discussed the origin of the peat and the buried
trees which it so frequently encloses with great acumen and
intelligence. But it is to the more recent essays of Steenstrup,
Grisebach, Nathorst, Blytt, and others, that we are indebted for
an account of those facts which point to former changes of
climate. The earlier observers have generally attributed the
formation of the bogs to the felling of the ancient forests by the
Romans, but later investigations have shown that most of the
bogs date back to a far higher antiquity, and owe their origin to
the operation of natural causes. It is not my intention, however,
to give a general account of the peat-bogs of Northern Europe,
which would lead me far beyond the limits of the present
inquiry, and I .must therefore content myself by referring the
reader to the various treatises mentioned in the note below.’

1 Among the better known and more interesting treatises are the following :—
Abildgaard: Abhandlung vom Torf, 1766 (translated from the Danish of 1762).
Blytt : Essay on the Immigration of the Norwegian Flora during alternating Rainy

and Dry Periods, 1876, p. 37.

484 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

For my purpose it will be sufficient to give the results arrived
at by Steenstrup from a study of the Danish peat, together with
those obtained by Nathorst in Sweden, Denmark, and Germany,
and by Blytt in Norway. I shall then refer shortly to the
observations of Fliche in France, and of Martins and Heer in
Switzerland.

The peat-bogs of Northern Europe repose generally upon
deposits of glacial and fluvio-glacial origin—boulder-clay, sand
and gravel, and loss. These deposits may be said to cloak with
an almost continuous covering the vast low-lying regions that
extend along the borders of the North Sea and the Baltic,
sometimes forming wide plains with only a few gentle undula-
tions, at other times rising into low hills and hummocks. They
preserve a dreary monotony of outline over some thousands of
square miles. In Holland, Denmark, and Northern Germany,
enormous tracts of country are covered with heath and bog—
which, although they are being continually encroached upon by
agriculturists, still form one of the most extensive areas of un-
cultivated ground in Europe. But the evidence supplied by the
bogs shows that the land has not always been so bare. The
great pine forests which still exist in many places in the mari-

Dau: Neues Handbuch iiber den Torf, 1823.
3, Ueber die Torfmoore Scelands, 1829.

Dazel: Ueber Torf, dessen Entstehung, Gewinnung, und Nutzung, 1795.

Degner: Dissertatio Physica de Turfis, ete., 1729.

De Luc: Lettres physiques et morales sur Uhistoire de la terre et Vhomme, 1779 ;
contains accounts of peat and buried trees of North Germany, Holland, ete.

Eiseln : Handbuch zwr Kenntniss des Torfwesens, 1802.

Grisebach : Ueber die Bildung des Torfs in den Emsmooren, 1846.

Lesquereux : Bull. Soc. Sci. Nat. Neuchatel, 1847, vol. i. p. 472.

Lindeberg and Olbers: Om Bohuslens Torfinossas.

Olafsen : Dennemarks Brandselvasen, 1811.

Riem : Abhandlung vom gesammten Torfwesen, 1794.

Schinz-Gessner : Der Torf, seine Entstehung, Natur, und Benutzung, ete., 1857.

Senft: Die Humus, Marsch-, Torf-, und Limonit-Bildungen, etc., 1862,

Steenstrup: ‘‘ Geognostisk-geologiske Underségelse af Skovmoserne Vidnesdam
og Lillemose i det nordlige Sjelland,” K. Dansk. Vidensk.-Selbsk. Afh.,
1841; Report of the Smithsonian Institution, 1861, p. 304; Bull. Congres
Intern. @ Archéol. Préh., 1869 ; Lectwre on the Antiquity of Man (by Prof.
T. R. Jones, 1877, p. 10).

Wiegmann ; Ueber die Entstehung, Bildung, und das Wesen des Torfes, 1837.

POSTGLACTIAL, &¢., DEPOSITS OF CONTINENT. 485

time districts are only feeble representatives of the arborescent
vegetation which in former days appears to have covered the
major portion of Northern Europe. Even within historical times
the forests are known to have been more extensive than they are
now, but the true Age of Forests goes back to an archeological
period.

There are three principal kinds of peat-bogs described by
continental writers, which correspond to our meadow-bog, hill-
bog, and bog with buried trees or forest-bog.1 These different
kinds of bog pass into each other, so that a hard-and-fast line
cannot always be drawn between them. From our present
point of view the forest-bogs are the most important, and not
the least interesting are those of Denmark, described by Pro-
fessor Steenstrup. They are found in basins of inconsiderable
size, which, however, are deep in proportion to their width.
Some of the smaller bogs are not much more than 30 or 40 yards
across. The pot-like depressions which have been specially
examined by Steenstrup occur in the great drift or glacial de-
posits that cover so wide an area in Denmark, and appear to
have existed at one time as pools and lakelets. This is shown
by the appearance at the bottom of the bogs of alluvial clay and
marl, with remains of freshwater organisms and land -plants.
From this clay Nathorst, in company with Steenstrup, extracted
the relics of an arctic flora, consisting of polar willow (Sali
polaris), herbaceous willow (S. herbacea), netted-leaved willow
(S. reticulata), mountain-avens (Dryas octopetala), and dwarf
birch (Betula nana). Immediately above the clay, in the Lille-
mose and other bogs of the same character, comes a layer of
water-plants (Potamogeton, Chara, Myriophyllum), with leaves of
the aspen (Populus tremula), and this in turn is covered with a
stratum of peat composed of Hypnum cordifoliwm, and contain-
ing trunks of Scots fir (Pinus sylvestris). These trees had evi-

1 The Danish terms are Kjwrmose or Engmose, Lyngmose, Svampmose or
Hoermose, and Skovmose, which answer to the German Wiesenmoor, Haidenmoor
or Hochmoor, and Holzmoor or Waldmoor. Many varieties of peat are described

by German writers, such as Swmpfmoor, Sumpftorf, or Moostorf (Sphagnum peat),
Haidetorf or Erikentorf (heather-peat), Marschtorf (marsh-turf), etc.

486 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

dently grown upon the margin and steep inner slopes of the
basin, Above them succeed trunks of oak (Quercus sessiliflora),
which are likewise buried in peat, and have evidently fallen in
from the sides of the basin, in the same manner as the Scots firs.
The uppermost portion of the peat is marked by the presence
of the alder. Such is the general succession met with along
the margin or outer zone of the basin. In the central region
remains of trees are not so abundant. The bottom-portions are
composed exclusively of moss-peat. Farther up, however, roots
and trunks of stunted pines make their appearance, indicating
in some swamps as many as two or even three distinct layers of
roots and trunks of such pines. Still higher up the pine dis-
appears and is replaced by white birches, and afterwards by
alders and hazels. The pines and oaks of the outer woody zone
were noble trees, the former often attaining a thickness of three
feet, and being correspondingly tall. Many of the oaks are
even thicker, measuring often four feet in diameter. The close
juxtaposition of the stools and the straightness of the trunks
show that the forest-growth was dense. These facts teach us
that before the peat had commenced to accumulate Denmark
was bare and devoid of forests. Its surface was dappled with
lakelets and pools, and covered with a scanty arctic flora, the
character of which betokens a climate like that of Lapland and the
far north. By and by, however, the climate became less severe,
and aspens and pines gradually overspread the land, the thick
bark of the latter betokening colder winters than Denmark now
-experiences. The trees appear to have crowded everywhere,
growing densely along the margins of pools and lakelets, which
water-plants and mosses were converting into marshes. From
time to time, borne down by wind, or age, or snow, the trees fell
into the marshy basins, pools, and swamps, and were there by
degrees buried in the accumulating peaty matter. A gradual
change of climate is evinced by the drying-up of many of the
basins, and the appearance of pines which flourished upon the
surface of the bogs themselves, and the change is still more
strongly indicated by the advent of the oak, which eventually

POSTGLACIAL, &¢, DEPOSITS OF CONTINENT. 487

supplanted the pine, and formed the principal tree in the Danish
forests. Lastly, the great oaks, too, disappear from the margin
of the Skovmoser, or peat-bogs, and a thick growth of sphagnum-
peat gathers over their prostrate trunks, forming the uppermost
peat-layer, upon the surface of which grew here and there the
warty birch (Betula verrucosa) and the alder (Alnus glutinosa).
The pine, I need hardly say, is no longer a native of Denmark,
nor is there any historical or legendary evidence of its ever
having been so. The oak which replaced the pine is now much
less abundant, and seems on the decline itself, the ground
being occupied by the beech as the principal tree, no trace of
which has yet been met with in any of the Danish bogs.

Neolithic implements have frequently been found associated
with the buried pines of the forest-bogs, but they occur also in
connection with the oaks. It was during the ascendency of
this tree in the forests that the knowledge of bronze seems to
have been introduced to Denmark. How long a period elapsed
before iron came into general use we cannot tell. All we know
is that the Bronze Age endured for a very considerable time.
But whether or not it is the case, as some archeologists have
supposed, that the beginning of the Iron Age may have been
synchronous with the introduction of the beech into Denmark,
there is no evidence to show. Unquestionably, however, that
Age belongs essentially to the epoch of the latter tree. Itisa
mistake, however, to classify the Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron
Ages of Denmark as corresponding, more or less precisely, to the
epochs of pine, oak, and beech respectively. Stone implements
appear to have been in exclusive use well on into the oak epoch,
and for aught we know to the contrary the beautiful beech-
forests of Denmark may date back to the Age of Bronze.

The peat-bogs of Norway abound in buried timber ; and in
many cases the trees occur on two horizons. The lower forest-
layer consists principally of oak, hazel, ash, and other deciduous
trees, with stools and roots in place, and now and then it is
underlaid by several feet of peat. Above this lower buried
forest comes a variable thickness of peat, from two or three up

488 PREHTSTORIC EUROPE.

to six feet or more. To this bed succeeds a second forest-layer
composed of the stools and trunks of Scots firs and birches,
which in their turn are buried under overlying peat, which may
be as thick as the peat below. Mr. Axel Blytt says there are
perhaps even more than two buried forest-layers, but certainly
two would seem to be the common number. It is worthy of
note that in the Norwegian bogs the oak-forests underlie the
pine-forests, and the same is the case in the peat of Sweden,
according to Lindeberg and Olbers. Blytt remarks that the
bogs of Norway prove that the bare sea-coast, where now scarcely
a tree grows, was once clothed with forests all the way from
Lister to Nordvaranger, in East Finmark. Not only, he says,
has the Scots fir formerly grown still farther to the north, but
it also at one time reached a greater elevation in the mountains,
for its remains occur in bogs above the limits attained by the
tree at present. Sometimes, indeed, it grew in places where not
even the birch is now to be found. According to Blytt, the
succession of changes to which the peat-bogs bear witness is as
follows :—1st, A wet period, when bog-mosses formed the bottom-
peat, which in some places underlies the older of the two forest-
beds. 2d, A genial period, when all the low grounds were
covered with a thick growth of oak, hazel, ash, and other trees,
and when the horizontal and vertical range of the forests was
much greater than it isnow. 3d, A wet, ungenial period, during
which bog-mosses and other moisture-loving plants increased
abundantly, while the trees at the same time, ceasing to flourish,
fell, and sooner or later were buried in the accumulating peat.
4th, A return of drier conditions, when the bogs no longer increased
so generally, but dried up and allowed trees to grow upon their
surface. The forests which at this time overspread the country
were formed of great coniferous trees,’ that enjoyed a much
more extensive horizontal and vertical range than the same trees
do now. 5th, Another wet period succeeded, when the forests
decayed as before and were gradually overwhelmed by a renewed

1 Blytt mentions stumps that measured 12 feet in circumference. In one
stump with a girth of 6 feet he counted 200 rings of growth.

POSTGLACTIAL, &¢, DEPOSITS OF CONTINENT. 489

srowth of the bogs. 6th, The present appearance of the bogs
shows that the conditions have become less humid.

Neolithic implements have been met with from time to time
in the Scandinavian bogs, generally not deeper down than two
feet or so, from which Blytt infers that in those bogs not more
than two feet of peat has formed within historical times. The
rate of growth of peat, like that of stalagmite, has been a much
disputed question—some holding that it forms very rapidly,
others that its growth is extremely slow. The fact is that the
srowth is regulated by the supply of moisture and by climatic
conditions, and the remarks made in a former page with reference
to the formation of stalagmites hold equally true of peat. Not
only does peat form at different rates in different regions, but
the same is often the case even in one and the same bog—the
bog being dry in some places, where it actually wastes and
crumbles away, while in other portions the mosses flourish more
or less luxuriantly. But even if it were true that peat accumu-
lated now at an equable rate throughout Northern Europe, still
that would not help us much in our endeavour to ascertain the
length of time required for the formation of our bogs. The
structure of the peat indicates the former prevalence of greater
humidity, during which moisture-loving plants flourished more
abundantly than under present conditions, and other things
being equal, the bogs generally must have increased more rapidly
then than they donow. Nothing, indeed, can be more misleading
than to take the known rate at which peat has accumulated in
some particular place as a standard of measurement by which
to judge of the antiquity of all other bogs. Steenstrup has
shown that peat in his country increases at so very slow a rate
that it is of no account in an economical point of view, and Blytt
is of the same opinion in regard to the peat of Norway. From
what he observed in Jeederen, he concluded that “when people
cut peat in bogs which had been cut by their fathers or grand-
fathers, it was obviously not peat formed in recent times, but
the old black peat, the cutting of which was formerly prevented
by the influx of water.” I have often made the same observa-

490 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

tion in Scotland. The country people would be very well pleased
if peat available for fuel would form in places which were
stripped bare by their fathers and grandfathers. But they know
that with every year that passes fuel must be sought for farther
and farther afield, and I have frequently seen it brought from
distances of several miles to hamlets and villages in the imme-
diate neighbourhood of which it used to be dug 50, 100, or 150
years ago, but where there is not the slightest evidence of any
appreciable peat-growth having taken place since the bogs were
exhausted. If the present rate of growth in such regions were
to be taken as a standard of comparison, what age should we
assign to bogs exceeding 20 or 30 feet in depth? It would be
absurd, however, to suppose that peat has never grown more
rapidly in former times; and the occurrence of Roman and
Scoto-Saxon relics embedded in the bogs is proof that even in
the historical] period the rate of growth has exceeded that which
we now observe in Scotland. Butit is not always safe to infer that
all the peat that overlies a Roman sword or axe has been formed
since the Roman occupation. Metallic objects might easily sink
in time through a considerable depth of soft peat, and I know
that a geological hammer of no great antiquity might be disin-
terred to-morrow from a quaking bog in South Ayrshire, probably
at a depth of several feet from the surface. Peat is not now
increasing generally in Scotland—the rate of decay is in excess
of growth in most bogs which I have visited, and Blytt has made
the same observation in Norway. Here and there, however,
when the supply of moisture is abundant, the bog-mosses thrive
well enough, and are doubtless adding to the thickness of the
peat. But I can give no measurements to show the average
rate of growth in such places. Mr. Kinahan states that in cer-
tain Irish bogs “ each year’s growth is represented by a layer or
lamina, and these lamine in the white turf (uppermost portion
of a bog) are about, on an average, one hundred to the foot; in
brown turf (lower portion) two hundred to three hundred; and
in black turf (bottom portion) from six hundred to eight hun-
dred ; but their numbers are different in the different bogs, as

POSTGLACTAL, &¢, DEPOSITS OF CONTINENT. 491

one grows more rapidly than another.” The undrained bogs of
Ireland would thus appear to be still increasing, which is not
the case generally in Scotland, although in the rainier districts
the evidences of arrested growth and of decay are less conspicu-
ous than elsewhere. The sum of the matter is that we have no
exact data by which to compute the time required for the for-
mation of a given thickness of peat, the rate of growth being
extremely variable, not only in different regions, but in one and
the same bog. Moreover, even if we could prove the present
existence of an uniform rate, the fact that the climate has
undergone considerable changes would vitiate our results, and
render our standard of measurement of no avail. Nevertheless,
in very many cases, it is quite evident that the bogs are of great
antiquity, and that it has often taken several thousands of years
to form a thickness of twenty, or even of ten, feet. Thus Steen-
strup thinks it may have required at least four thousand years
for the growth of the Danish forest-bogs, and perhaps this, he
says, may be only a third or fourth of the time actually involved.
I have mentioned the fact that an arctic flora has been
found at the base of the Danish forest-bogs. Mr. Nathorst has
detected the same flora in over twenty localities in southern
Sweden.’ The most southerly place from which he has recorded
this interesting flora is near Greflunda and Bistekille, on the
borders of the parishes of Mellby and Hvitaby, where he ob-
tained the arctic willow in freshwater clays under a bed of
peat, at a height of 400 feet above the sea. The other localities
ranged from 150 to 500 feet above the same level. The general
succession of the deposits met with was as follows —-

Peat . : ; . 3h t04 feet.
Silt . , 1 Bt Hat Ty
Sand . F ‘ ALGO ito 7a:
Silt with shells ‘ . 1ft0 4% ,,
Sand . : : 4. 0); torl-s © 5,
Sandy clay . ; . 24 feet.
Sandy clay with mosses sale 55

1 Geol. For. i Stockholm Fairh.,.1877, Bd. iii. No. 10.

492 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

The mosses in the sandy clay at the bottom have been de-
termined by S. A. Tullberg, and are Hypnum gigantewm, Sch., and
H. fluitans, both of which are still found throughout Sweden from
Scania to Finmark, and according to Bergren they extend to
Bear Island, Spitzbergen, and Greenland, and are especially
common in the last-named region. Associated with these
mosses Nathorst found leaves of Salix polaris, S. reticulata, and
Dryas octopetala, the Arctic willow being very abundantly re-
presented. The shells belonged to freshwater molluses—Pisidia,
and a Limnea nearly allied to or identical with ZL. limosa. In
the shelly silt the Arctic willow was not so plentiful, the
netted-leaved willow taking its place. Other plants met with
were a Myriophyllum, Salix herbacea ? and Betula nana. In the
upper part of the shelly silt, or between that and the overlying
sand and silt, remains of the reindeer have been found. The
peat is composed in large measure of water-mosses. Lowest
down in it occurs Hypnum giganteum, Sch. and higher up H.
scorpioides. In the uppermost portion of the peat these are re-
placed by a Hypnum which has not yet been specifically deter-
mined, but is probably H. cuspidatum. With it is associated
Paludella squarrosa. These mosses occur throughout all Scan-
dinavia, while the Paludella has a decidedly northern range,
being very common in Spitzbergen, Bear Island, and Greenland.
The range of H. gigantewm has already been mentioned, and H.
scorpiordes is, like it, abundant in high Arctic regions.

Mr. Nathorst has traced the same Arctic flora across Ger-
many into Switzerland Near the railway station of Oerzen-
hofs between Neu Brandenburg (in Mecklenburg) and Strassburg
- (in the Prussian province of Brandenburg), he observed freshwater
deposits under the small peat-bogs which occur in that neigh-
bourhood. These contained shells, together with Myriophyllum
and Potamogeton, and remains of Betula nana and B. alba. He
mentions also the occurrence of northern shells in postglacial
freshwater clay at Angermiinde on the railway between Stettin
and Berlin. The species were determined by G. O. Sars, and

1 Ofvers. af K. Vet.-Akad. Forh., 1878, No. 6.

POSTGLACIAL, &¢., DEPOSITS OF CONTINENT. 493

are Limnea limosa, Pisidium, probably pulchellum, and Cythe-
ridea torosa. At Kolbermoor, in the south-east of Bavaria,
Nathorst found Betula nana, B. alba, Myrtillus uliginosa, and
Oxycoccus palustris, at a depth of eight feet from the surface in a
peat-bog, the dwarf-birch being so very abundant that its remains
form a regular layer or bed. Higher up in the peat (composed
principally of Sphagnum, Eriophorum, etc.) appeared leaves of
Andromeda polifolia (moorwort), a small shrub common in the
northern countries of our continent. At the time the dwarf
birch was growing so plentifully on the Bavarian bogs, the con-
ditions must have been such as one now meets with on the
peat-bogs of northern Sweden and Norway. It is interesting to
find, Nathorst remarks, that species which formerly grew abun-
dantly on the surface of the peat have now retreated to the
tops of some of the highest mountains in Bavaria. Besides the
plants named by Nathorst as occurring in the Bavarian peat,
Prof. Zittel mentions also Salix herbacea and Dryas octopetala.:
Mention has already been made of Nathorst’s discovery of an
arctic-alpine flora in Switzerland, and I shall now refer to only —
another example of the occurrence in peat of plants that indi-
cate colder conditions than the present, an example which is
sufficiently suggestive. In the environs of Troyes (Champagne)
the small affluents of the Seine flow in valleys, the bottoms of
which are here and there clothed with turbaries which have
been examined and described by M. Fliche.2 They have yielded
an abundant suite of animal and vegetable remains, together
with human relics. The latter are plentiful and consist of
charcoal, potsherds, broken and worked bones, flint implements,
polished and well chipped, and others showing much ruder
workmanship, fragments of sandstone, and various objects in
bronze and iron. The stone implements were found in the lower
and deeper part of the turbaries, while the objects of metal
occurred towards the upper surface. The fauna included badger,

1 “Ueber Gletscher-Erscheinungen in der bayerischen Hochebene,” Siéz. der
k.-bay. Akad, der Wiss. zw Miinchen, 1874. 2 See ante, p. 55.
3 Comptes Rendus des 0 Acad. des Sciences, t. \xxxii. p. 979.

494 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

otter, dog, beaver, wild-boar (Sus scrofa, L., ferus and palustris,
Riitim.), domestic pig, horse, red-deer, paseng, sheep, ox (Bos
taurus), urus. The birds are represented by a swan (Cygnus
musicus, Temm.); amphibians, by the toad; and insects by
Geotrupes vernalis, L. and G., G. putridarius, Erichs., Donacia
crassipes, Fabr., etc. Land- and freshwater-shells of living forms
were also abundant. The trees included Rhamnus catharticus,
L. (purging buckthorn), elm, walnut, oak (probably Quercus
pedunculata), hazel, birch (probably Betula pubescens, Ehrh.),
alder, willow (probably Salix fragilis, L.), yew, juniper, spruce
fir, and Scots fir, Other plants are Menyanthes trifoliata
(marsh trefoil), Polystichum spinulosum, Koch.; Hquisetum arvense,
L., and £. limosum ; Hypnum aduncum, Hedw., and its variety
polycarpon, Schimp.; H. fluitans, Dill. var., and var. submersum,
Schimp.; H. falcatum ; H. pratense; H. gigantewm, Schimp.;
HH, scorpiotdes, Dill., etc.

During the deposition of the clay which underlies the peat,
the country was covered, says M. Fliche, with spruce firs, pines,
willows, birches, and alders. But when the turbaries began to
accumulate the spruce firs had disappeared, although the pine
still flourished and continued to occupy the ground for a long
time, its remains occurring all through the forest-bed which
is buried in the peat. With the pine are associated yew and
juniper, but these are not so common, while by and by the pine
disappears and oak and elm become abundant. The old forest
thus presented an aspect which one no longer encounters in the
woodlands of Champagne; to meet with a similar assemblage
we must advance to the north-east as far as Haguenau or Bitche.
The pine and the yew have vanished, and the juniper remains
the only representative in Champagne of the old conifers, while
the oak is now more plentiful. The mosses confirm the results
furnished by a study of the trees. They are most characteristic
of the deeper part of the peat, and appear even in the underlying
clay. They all pertain to species or varieties which demand a
very wet habitat and cold climate, and some are most abundant
nowadays in Arctic regions. Many have abandoned the low

POSTGLACTIAL, &¢, DEPOSITS OF CONTINENT. 495

grounds of France altogether, while some, such as Hypnum
scorpioides, still linger on.

Peat-bogs, as I have said, attain their greatest development
in Northern Europe, but they are met with also not only in
Northern France, the Vosges, the Black Forest, Bavaria, and
Switzerland, but likewise in the mountains of Auvergne and the
Cevennes, in the Pyrenees, Northern Italy, and many other
elevated regions in the more southern parts of the Continent.
The vegetation of which they are composed has certain elements
in common, many of the plants being characteristic of Scandi-
navia and the north. Professor Ch. Martins has discussed the
origin of that peat-flora in a very interesting manner, and has
shown conclusively that it owes its wide dissemination to the
cold of the Glacial Period,’ and Professor Heer has illustrated
the subject abundantly in his account of the present distribution
of the arctic-alpine plants of Switzerland.* The peat-bogs are,
as it were, asylums to which the northern plants, once common
to the low grounds of Europe, retreated in postglacial times,
driven out by the returning hosts of the temperate flora, And
they now flourish only in places which by reason of their
altitude, and sometimes simply on account of their humidity
and other unfavourable conditions, are not sought after by tem-
perate species. More recently, Professor Engler has reviewed
the whole question of the migrations of the various European
floras in a highly suggestive manner, and has shown that the
glacial or arctic element in the peat-flora is more marked than
might at first sight appear. Indeed he is of opinion that the
formation of the peat-bogs at the northern foot of the Alps began
during the Glacial Period.’

Of the other postglacial and recent deposits—the fluviatile
and lacustrine alluvia, shell-marl, calcareous tufa, etc., it is not
necessary to speak. They may be studied broadcast over the
Continent. It is enough to say that French, German, and

1 Mem. de V Acad. des Sciences et Lettres de Montpellier, t. viii. p. 1.
2 Die Urwelt der Schweiz, 2te Auflage, p. 582.
3 Versuch einer Entwicklungsgeschichte der Pflanzenwelt, etc., I. Theil, p. 168.

496 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Italian geologists distinguish clearly the postglacial alluvia
from the older river-deposits of Pleistocene age. The more
recent deposits invariably occupy the bottoms of the valleys,
while the older Pleistocene loams and gravels frequently rise in
terraces at higher levels, which often present cliffs or bluffs
against which the modern alluvia abut. These appearances are
well shown in such valleys as those of the Seine, the Rhine, the
Weser, the Danube, the Po, and the Rhone.

Lists of the fauna have already been given. Speaking gener-
ally, the postglacial fauna of the Continent is the same as that
which is represented in the postglacial and recent deposits of
Britain. There are some points, however, upon which we are
yet imperfectly informed: and one of the most important, I
venture to think, is the range northward of some of the tempe-
rate species. How far north did the red-deer and its associates
extend? Professor Grewingk records it from the postglacial
deposits of Kurland, in which its horns are not uncommon.
He says there is neither historical nor traditional evidence of
its ever having been a native of that province, where its occur-
rence, he is of opinion, betokens a former milder climate.’ It
would be extremely interesting to ascertain whether remains
of the same animal, and others of its congeners, occur in post-
glacial deposits still farther north in Russia and Sweden.

The oldest relics which have yet been found in any accumu-
lations of postglacial age belong to the Neolithic era. Not a
trace of Paleolithic man has hitherto been forthcoming. The
lowest beds of peat contain either no human implements or only
those of the Neolithic age. Higher up than these occur relics
pertaining to the Bronze Epoch and more recent times.

Before passing on to review the evidence which has now
been adduced, I must mention some remarkable facts connected
with the postglacial beds of Spitzbergen, which it will be seen
in the sequel have a strong bearing upon the problem of post-

1 Dorpater Archiv fir Naturkunde, Ser. i. Bd. viii. pp. 580, 588,621. Remains
of urus are said by Grewingk to occur sometimes along with those of red-deer. I
am indebted to my obliging correspondent, Dr. Penck of the Geological Survey
of Saxony, for calling my attention to these interesting notices.

POSTGLACIAL, &¢., DEPOSITS OF CONTINENT, 497

glacial climate.’ The beds referred to consist of banks of shelly
sand and gravel, but in many places they are made up almost
exclusively of shells, and principally of those of the common
mussel, They were first noticed during the Swedish Expedition
of 1861 by Malmgren and Torell, who detected the mussel-beds
in Hinlopen Strait, on the north coast of Spitzbergen, and by
Blomstrand, who found them at Advent Bay, in Ice Sound; and
this latter locality was minutely examined by Nordenskiold and
Malmeren in 1868. The beds run up to a height of 200 feet
above the sea, and in some places are overlaid by a thickness of
eight and twelve feet of peat. They have yielded nine species
of molluscs, of which two, Cyprina islandica and Littorina litorea,
no longer live in the Spitzbergen seas.. The former of these is
found living off the coast of Greenland, but the latter does not
now come so far north. The common mussel is also a native
of the Greenland waters, but it seems doubtful if it is at present
living in the seas of Spitzbergen. Agardh, indeed, found a few
adhering to some algz on the coast of the island, but it has
never again been met with by the Swedish naturalists, although
carefully sought for. Even although a few individuals should
still denizen these icy waters, yet the contrast between the
present rarity of the species and its former great abundance
is sufficiently striking. All the other shells met with in the
mussel-beds are common arctic species living in the neighbouring
seas. Associated with them are considerable quantities of algze
and other plants, amongst which Fucus canaliculatus is common,
although it no longer occurs so far north. Heer mentions also
the occurrence of Dryas integrifolia, Betula nana, and Salix
retusa, but I am assured by Mr. Nathorst, who has made a
special study of the arctic flora, and who himself has visited
Spitzbergen, that the plants referred to by Heer are a form of
Dryas octopetala and Salix polaris.

Of course there is not the slightest doubt that these deposits
are of postglacial age. The Spitzbergen fiords during the
Glacial Period were filled with glacier-ice, which covered all the
low grounds, and the postglacial beds repose upon ice-worn

498 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

surfaces. Mr. Nathorst informed me that during his visit in
1860 he observed at Dickson’s Bay a shell-bank resting upon a
striated rock-surface, the striz running parallel to the direction
of the fiord.1

1See Professor Heer’s paper: K. Svenska Vet.-Akad. Handlingar, Bd. viii.
No. 7, p. 80; and Professor Nordenskidld’s ‘Spitzbergens Geologi,” op. cit., Bd.
vi., No. 7, p. 84. An English translation of this last-mentioned paper (Sketch of
‘Geology of Spitzbergen, Stockholm) was published in 1867.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—POSTGLACIAL. 499

CHAPTER XXI.

CLIMATIC AND GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS OF POSTGLACIAL
AND RECENT PERIODS—SUMMARY.

Genial conditions in Southern Scandinavia—Mediterranean molluscs in Northern
Seas—Southern forms in Gulf of St. Lawrence—Condition of Northern Sea
in latest glacial epoch—Immigration of southern species in postglacial
times—Migration of arctic flora in late glacial and early postglacial times—
Edward Forbes on origin of British fauna and flora—Contrasts between Bri-
tain and Ireland—Large postglacial lake occupying bed of Irish Sea—Ireland
derived its fauna and flora in, part from Scotland— Genial climatic condi-
tions—Former greater range of forests—Trees in peat of Ferde Islands and
Norway—Peat with pine on shores of Wellington Channel—Origin of floras
of Ferée Islands, Iceland, and Greenland— Former connection of those
regions with Europe in postglacial times—Traces of former genial conditions
in Kurland — Gradual disappearance of genial climate and submergence of
land in north and north-west—Formation of 50-feet beach of Scotland—
Local glaciers and swollen rivers—Cold and humid conditions, and increase
of peat-bogs—Retreat of sea and amelioration of climate—Second great forest-
growth —Second peat-forming period —The Present—Southern Europe in
postglacial times—Date of advent of later Prehistoric races.

HAVING passed in review the evidence supplied by the Post-
glacial and Recent deposits, I shall now endeavour to point out
its general bearing upon the question of climatic and geogra-
phical changes. In common with other geologists, I have
hitherto maintained that we have no evidence in these deposits
for any great oscillations of climate—no mutations at all com-
parable in magnitude with those which took place during the
preceding Glacial or Pleistocene Period. My belief has been,
that with minor fluctuations, such as might be caused by changes
in the distribution of land and sea, the climate of our islands

500 PREHISTORIC EUROPE,

has passed gradually from an arctic to a temperate condition,
and is now milder than it has ever been since the close of
glacial times. I have come to think, however, that this is too
broad a statement, and now incline to the opinion that the cli-
mate of the postglacial period, although most probably never
so warm as that of the last interglacial epoch, was yet for some
time marked by a more genial temperature than we now enjoy,
and that this milder epoch was followed by what appears to
have been a relapse to colder conditions than the present. I
believe, further, that the geographical changes which took place
in our own and more northern latitudes during postglacial
times were on a far larger scale than most geologists perhaps
are aware. This belief has been forced upon me not only by
the geological evidence, but also by various considerations con-
nected with the present distribution of plants in Iceland and
Greenland. Notwithstanding all that has been written upon
that interesting subject, there are still many points which want
clearing up. Whence, and at what period, did Greenland, Ice-
land, and the Ferde Islands obtain their flora, is a question
which has often been asked, but the answers given by eminent
botanists have never quite satisfied all geological scruples.
Although the subject is beset with difficulties and the evidence
is not so abundant as one might well wish, I shall yet venture
to say something about it. But, before doing so, it will be well
to summarise the main features of the evidence supplied by
the postglacial deposits.

At the beginning of postglacial times the southern region
of Scandinavia was submerged for some 400 or 500 feet, and a
large part of the Cimbric peninsula was also under water, so
that the North Sea communicated with the Baltic across what
is now Holstein, The British area, however, would appear to
have been not less extensive than it is at present. Indeed, there
is reason to believe that England had some direct connection
with the Continent. The climate was still ungenial, but
was gradually becoming less so. This is shown particularly
by the character of the shells in the postglacial beds of

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—POSTGLACIAL. 501

Norway and Sweden. Many of the arctic forms which occur
in the older glacial clays are now wanting, while certain types
of a southern facies begin to appear. As the land emerged
the latter became more numerous, while at the same time
the boreal and arctic forms retreated. It is remarkable that
the southern molluscs were not only individually abundant,
but their shells were larger and better developed than those of
their descendants that still linger in greatly diminished numbers
in the adjacent seas. Evidently the conditions under which
they now live are less favourable than those that were expe-
rienced in postglacial times. Certain molluscs which were
formerly plentiful upon the south coast of Scandinavia no
longer occur there, but have retired to the more genial waters
of the west coast. The postglacial shell-beds of Spitzbergen
tell the same tale. The common mussel, at one time abundant
in the fiords of that region, has apparently become extinct, and
Cyprina islandica and Littorina litorea, which are associated in
the Spitzbergen deposits with the mussel, have likewise dis-
appeared from those inhospitable shores. Again, Dr. Rink men-
tions that a number of shells which were obtained by him from
the clay-beds of Sarpiursak in Greenland were examined by
O. A. L. Mérch, who found that they belonged partly to species
still existing on the coasts of North Greenland and partly to
more southern forms. Nor are we without similar indications
in the marine postglacial beds of Scotland of a formerly more
genial climate. Mr. Crosskey has drawn special attention to
the so-called “ Pecten-maximus bed” of the Clyde, which con-
tains shells (Psummobia ferroénsis and Tellina incarnata), of
larger size and in greater numbers than they at present occur
living in the neighbouring sea.

The recent dredging expeditions which have been sent out
from our own and other countries have moreover familiarised us
with the fact that Mediterranean forms are now and again
encountered in our northern seas, where they look strangely out
of place. Thus Sir Wyville Thomson mentions that in 110
fathoms, about 40 miles off Valentia, the dredge brought up a

502 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

number of northern species, such as Newra rostrata, Spr.; Verti-
cordia abyssicola, Jeff.; Dentalium abyssorum, Sars; Buccinum
humphreysianum, Bennet; and Plewrotoma carinatum, Bivona,
commingled with which were Mediterranean forms, which im-
parted somewhat of a southern character to the assemblage.
Among these were Ostrea cochlear, Poli; Aporrhais serresianus,
Mich.; Murex lamellosus, Cristof. and Jan.; and Trochus granu-
latus, Born! Similar noteworthy “finds” have been recorded
by Gwyn Jeffreys and others off the coasts of the Shetlands
and the Outer Hebrides, and Mérch mentions that several genera
of molluscs, which indicate a southern climate, are still found
on the west coast of Iceland, such as Acton, Trochus, Patina,
Nassa, Mactra (elliptica), none of which is arctic. When we
cross the Atlantic to the Gulf of St. Lawrence we encounter the
same remarkable phenomenon. Professor Verrill has shown that
there are genuine colonies of southern species in that gulf and
on the coast of Nova Scotia, which are completely isolated from
their co-species of the southern coast of New England, and
surrounded on all sides by more northern forms.” And he tells
us further, that at an earlier period these colonies were much
more extensive. The shells of the round clam or “quahog”
(Venus mercenaria) are abundant in the mud in places where
no living ones could be found, and they likewise occur in great
quantities in certain old Indian shell-heaps on many of the
islands in Casco Bay, upon the coasts of which they do not now
live, “That at a more remote period,” says Verrill, “the marine
climate of this region was still warmer, and the southern species
were more abundant than during the period when the Indian
shell-heaps were formed, is shown by the occurrence of great
beds of oyster-shells a few feet beneath the mud in Portland
harbour, where they are associated with quahogs and several
other southern species, among which are Callista convexa, Tur-
bonilla interrupta, and Pecten irradians. The last is not known
to live at present north of Cape Ann, on the New England

1 The Depths of the Sea, p. 86.
2 Amer, Journ. of Science and Art, Third Series, vol, vii. p. 134.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—POSTGLACIAL. 503

coast ;” Callista convera occurs sparingly in shallow sheltered
localities in Casco Bay; “but the oysters (Ostrea virginiana)
and ‘scollops’ (Pecten trradians) had apparently become extinct
in the vicinity of Portland Harbour before the period of the
Indian shell-heaps, for neither of these species occurs in the
heaps on the adjacent islands, while the quahogs lingered on
until that time, but have subsequently died out everywhere in
this region, except at Quahog Bay.” The position of the beds
of oyster-shells, pectens, etc., shows that “no important change
in the relative level of the land and water can have occurred in
that region since they were formed.” Professor Verrill says that
he can explain the presence of the southern species in no other
way than by supposing “that they are survivors from a time
when the marine climate of the whole coast, from Cape Cod to
Nova Scotia and the Bay of Fundy, was warmer than at present,
and these species had a continuous range from Southern New
England to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.”

All these facts plainly show that the temperature of our
northern seas has been exceptionally high at some recent period.
In no other way can we account for the northern immigration
of the southern species. These species tell of a time when the
Gulf Stream carried into the North Atlantic a much greater body
of heated water than now reaches such high latitudes. At one
time I was inclined to assign that latest immigration of southern
forms to the last interglacial epoch, and therefore looked upon
the isolated colonies and individual species in our postglacial
deposits and present seas as the few survivors who were able to
outlive the rigour of the latest glacial epoch. But when we
come to consider the nature of the conditions which obtained
during that latest phase of the Ice Age, it seems hardly possible
that any southern species whatsoever could have survived them.
Few geologists, save those who have specially worked at the
subject, have realised the extent of the glaciation that took place
toward the close of the Glacial Period. So far as Scotland and
Scandinavia are concerned, the ice-sheet which then covered
them seems to have been hardly, if at all, less thick than that

504 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

which mantled them at the very climax of glacial cold, when
the European ice had its greatest extension. Not only were
the Scandinavian and Scottish ice-sheets coalescent, but they
overflowed the Orkney and Shetland Islands, and the Outer
Hebrides were buried in ice to as great a depth as they seem to
have been at any previous stage of the Glacial Period. How far
west the mer de glace extended seawards can, of course, only be
conjectured, but it is most probable that it reached, at least, to
what is now the 100-fathom line. Mr. Helland and I found
that the Ferde Islands had been in like manner enveloped in
glacier-ice. They supported an ice-sheet of their own, the upper
surface of which rose to a height in the northern islands of 1600
feet, and in Suderde of 1400 feet above what is now the sea-
level. Not only so, but the ice was so thick that it filled up all
the fiords and sounds between the various islands of the archi-
pelago, thus forming one compact mer de glace which flowed
outwards in all directions from the dominant points, and dis-
charged its icebergs into the surrounding ocean. If such were
the state of the Feerde Islands in the concluding cold period of
the Ice Age, it is but reasonable to infer that similar extensive
ice-sheets flowed outwards from Iceland, Greenland, and Spitz-
bergen, into the Arctic Ocean, the temperature of which must
have been depressed to a very low degree by icebergs and floe-
ice, which, indeed, must have well-nigh choked it up. Is it
possible that any one of the southern species which occur in the
postglacial beds and present seas of Scandinavia could have
survived such conditions? The answer, I think, must be in the
negative,

Thus we seem driven to the conclusion that the visitors from
southern waters which are now living in the northern seas, and
which were at one time more plentiful, both as regards species
and individuals, must have immigrated long after the severity of
the latest glacial epoch had passed away. Their history is
entirely postglacial. During the deposition of the postglacial
shell-beds the sea was gradually retreating, and this continued
until the land attained a considerably wider area than it now

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—POSTGLACIAL. 505

presents. The evidence for this we find in the “submarine
forests and peat” of our own shores and the opposite coasts of
France and the Low Countries. It is now generally admitted
by geologists that these old forests indicate a time when the
British Islands were united to themselves and the Continent.
The purely geological evidence points to this conclusion and no
other. No one doubts that the flora and fauna of our islands
could only have immigrated by a land-passage, and as neither
our animals nor our plants could have existed here during the
last glacial epoch, it follows that they must be of postglacial age.

I have shown how we read in the postglacial shell-beds a
history of the gradual change from arctic to temperate conditions.
The same history is repeated by our peat-bogs, and it is clearly
evinced by the present distribution of plants in North-western
Europe. It will be remembered that underneath peat-bogs in
various parts of Central Europe the traces of an arctic or
northern flora have been discovered, principally by Mr. Nathorst.
He has recorded them from Switzerland, Bavaria, Mecklenburg,
Denmark, and Southern England. It is highly probable that
some of these finds belong to the last glacial epoch itself, that is
to say, that they represent the flora which characterised Central
Europe at a time when the great mer de glace still occupied the
basins of the Baltic and the North Sea. As the snow and ice
disappeared from Northern Germany, Denmark, and England,
the dwarf birches and arctic willows gradually crept north and
overspread the barren grounds. At what particular point, and
by what passage, the northern flora entered Sweden we do not at
present know. No trace of that flora is found under the peat of
the low-lying coast-lands of Scania and Southern Norway. It
may be, as Mr. Axel Blytt has suggested, that those regions were
still under water when the arctic willow and its congeners
became established in Sweden. But if that were so, one might
ask by what route that flora immigrated. Was it conveyed by
chance ice-rafts from the German and Danish shores? This,
although possible, is hardly likely. How, then, and at what
time, did it enter Sweden? If it crossed to Sweden by a land-

506 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

passage, that passage would date back to late glacial or early
postglacial times. We might suppose that the movement of
elevation which carried up the arctic shell-beds of Scania and
Southern Norway was continued until a land-connection with
Denmark had been effected, and that the arctic willow and its
associates then passed over.' By and by, when the climate
became milder, the arctic flora was succeeded by the temperate
species, and shortly afterwards the land-connection disappeared,
and the southern part of the Scandinavian peninsula was de-
pressed for 150 feet or more, and thereafter the later postglacial
shell-beds were formed. This view would explain several
matters which at present are not very clear. It would account,
in the first place, for the fact that the postglacial shell-banks,
with their characteristic fauna, rest “unconformably” upon the
arctic clays—there is no passage from the older into the newer
series. The clays with arctic shells go down to the sea-level,
and are there covered by the later shell-beds in such a manner
as to indicate that some time must have elapsed between the
formation of the two series. Then, in the second place, it would

give a reasonable explanation of the appearance in the postglacial -
shell-beds of the remains of temperate species of plants. It
is hard to believe that there was no land-connection between
Sweden and Denmark before the formation of the younger
postglacial deposits which cover the slopes of Enkopings as or
gravel-ridge, and in which it will be remembered remains of oak,
willow, aspen, fir, etc., occur. The suggestion I venture to make,
therefore, is simply this: that after the deposition of the latest
shell-beds pertaining to the Glacial Period a land-connection
obtained between Denmark and Sweden across which the arctic
flora migrated ; that this connecting link continued in existence
until after the climate had so far improved that temperate species

1 Gwyn Jeffreys’s discovery of arctic littoral shells off the Shetland Islands,
referred to in the text (p. 509) may possibly be connected with this supposed
elevation of the Scandinavian peninsula in late glacial times. Possibly, also, the
shell-bed referred to by Mr. E. Erdmann as occurring 100 feet below the level of
the sea at Gothenburg may pertain to the same period. See Geol. For. i Stock-
holm Forh., May 1876.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—POSTGLACIAL. 507

of plants gradually crept into Sweden; that thereafter the land
again sank to a depth of 150 feet or more.

That the British area had some connection with the Continent
—probably with Belgium! and North-Eastern France—in late
glacial and early postglacial times may similarly be inferred
from the presence in the peat of Southern England of the large
pines described by Mr. Godwin-Austen.” It is hardly possible,
I think, that pines could have endured the climate of England
during the climax of the last glacial epoch. The only flora
which was likely to cover the low grounds at that time would be

_ 1 Tf the ‘‘Sable Campinien” of Belgium be of marine origin and postglacial
age, this would indicate a submergence in early postglacial times of a wide tract
of country, for the beds in question extend south in Belgium as far as a line
drawn from Dixmunde to Maestricht by way of Ypres, Courtrai, Audenarde,
Alost, Malines, Louvain, and Hasselt (Dewalque, Prodrome dune Description
Géologique de la Belgique, p. 241). But the sands of the Campine are, as a rule,
totally devoid of fossils, the only remains they have yielded being the bones and
teeth of mammoth, rhinoceros, dog, horse, deer, etc. According to Dewalque
they form the western prolongation of that great sheet of sand which stretches
north into Holland, and is prolonged through Northern Germany along the
borders of the Baltic. In other words, the ‘‘ Sable Campinien” forms part and
parcel of the great Northern Drift. In many places, however, the deposits are
so loose and incoherent that they have been blown about by the winds, and thus
it is impossible, says M. Dewalque, always to distinguish between the undisturbed
and the re-arranged materials. The Belgian geologists have long been in doubt
as to the true geological position of the ‘‘Sable Campinien,” some holding it to
be older, some younger, than the léss, while others have maintained that the two
deposits are contemporaneous. Quite recently M. P. Cogels and Baron O, van
Ertborn made some borings at Menin and Courtrai which show that in those
places the ‘‘Campinien” overlies the ‘‘ Limon hesbayen ” or loss (Mélanges
géologiques, Anvers, 1880). At Menin the ‘‘Campinien” was 26 feet, and at
Courtrai 18 feet in thickness. This, however, is hardly sufficient to prove that
the ‘Campinien” is younger than the ‘Limon hesbayen” throughout all
Belgium. The formation of léss and of drift sand was not confined to one
particular stage of the Pleistocene. Moreover, we have no assurance that the
Campinien at Menin and Courtrai is not remanié. In any event, the Campinien
is not a postglacial deposit, and there is not a shadow of evidence to show that it
is of marine origin. : ¥

2 Dr. Buchanan White suggests that winds and sea-currents might have
carried to the English shores of the Channel the spores of mosses, lichens, and
other cryptogamic vegetation, and perhaps even the seeds of some of the higher
plants (see Scottish Naturalist, July 1879). If this be so, it would not be
necessary to suppose that in late glacial or early postglacial times England had
any connection with the Continent, that connection taking place at a somewhat
later date.

508 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

dwarf birches and willows—such a flora, indeed, as Mr. Pengelly
found in the clays of Bovey Tracey in Devonshire. And per-
haps the nearest approach to that flora which we find at the
present day appears in Spitzbergen, where, commingled with the
prevailing arctic or glacial forms, we find certain species which
range south of Germany (some of them even reaching North
Africa), such as Taraxacum palustre, DeC.; Eriophorum anqusti-
folium, Roth; Poa pratensis, L.; Festuca ovina, L.; Cystopteris
fragilis, Bernh.; Equisetum arvense, L.; E. variegatum, Schleich.
This land-connection of England with the Continent continued
to exist long after arctic conditions of climate had vanished.
And thus the northern and temperate species had ample time
and opportunity to invade the British area in force.

Edward Forbes, in his classical essay on the geological rela-
tions of the fauna and flora of the British Isles," has mapped out
the plants into five types or groups, namely, 1, the Asturian
flora of the west and south of Ireland; 2, the Devonshire type,
occupying the south-west of England and a portion of the
south-east of Ireland; 3, the Kentish type, developed in the
south of England ; 4, the Scandinavian type, almost confined to
mountainous elevations; 5, the Germanic type, occupying the
eastern part of the British Islands, and extending into and over-
lapping all the other provinces. It is this type, indeed, which
gives its general character to the flora of our islands. The
Asturian type of Ireland is represented by only a few plants
which occur nowhere else in our islands. These are of a
decidedly southern facies, most of them being characteristic of
the coasts of Portugal and Northern Spain, although some occur
also in France. Forbes was of opinion that these plants had
migrated from Spain into Ireland, over a sunken land, in times
long anterior to the Glacial Period. But our knowledge of the
physical history of that period has greatly advanced since Forbes
was lost to science, and it is very doubtful whether, if he had
lived till now, he would have continued to hold the same view.
The arctic conditions of the last glacial epoch forbid the supposi-

1 Mem. of Geol. Survey of Great Britain, vol. i. p. 336.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—POSTGLACIAL. 509

tion that the Asturian or Iberian flora, or even that of the
Devonshire and Kentish types, could possibly have survived the
Ice Age in Britain. The Asturian saxifrages and heaths of the
west and south-west of Ireland grow upon mountains which are
glaciated, and in the valleys of which morainic detritus abounds.
The only flora which, as I have said, could possibly have out-
lived that Age in Britain would be high-alpine or Scandinavian.
It was this flora which, upon the gradual disappearance of arctic
conditions, slowly migrated north, ascending the mountains as
the temperate group advanced and pressed it out of the low
grounds. The Germanic, Gallican, and Iberian types may quite
well have migrated during one and the same period, although it
is most probable that the Germanic flora would be first on the
march. But before the plants coming from Spain and Northern
France could immigrate hither, it is evident that the British area
must have been considerably more extensive than it is at present.
Mr. Godwin-Austen, many years ago, showed that shell-sand
(with littoral shells, such as limpets and periwinkles) occurs
upon the western slope of the Little Sole Banks at a depth of
100 fathoms and more. This sand, he thinks, marks a former
coast-line, when the shores of our area advanced to a point 180
miles south of Galley Head in Ireland, and some 200 miles west
of Ouessant Island! Again, Dr. Gwyn Jeffreys has recorded
the occurrence of littoral shells of arctic species in about 90
fathoms of water off the Shetland Islands’—an interesting fact
which goes to show that the North Sea may have vanished be-
fore the climate of Northern Scotland had quite lost its arctic
character. The Irish Sea and the English Channel had thus
ceased to exist, and in place of the North Sea there appeared a
broad undulating plain, traversed by one or more rivers, which
carried the tribute of our English and Scottish streams down to
the deep gulf that circles round the south part of the Scan-
dinavian peninsula, and even to the shores of the Northern
Ocean, beyond the Orkney and Shetland Islands. In like

1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. vi. p. 69.
2 Brit. Ass. Rep., 1867, p. 481. -

510 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

manner the Inner and Outer Hebrides became united to the
mainland of Scotland—the country that extended between them
and the present shores of Ross and Sutherland being dappled
with innumerable lakes, some of which were of great depth and
width. In short, there was a return of those geographical con-
ditions which we have every reason to believe characterised
certain Interglacial epochs. [See Plate E.]

The Scandinavian type in the British Islands, as is well
known, attains its greatest development in the Scottish High-
lands. It is less well represented in the southern uplands of
Scotland, the hilly district of Cumberland, and the Welsh
mountains, while Ireland shows a very meagre assemblage of
alpine and subalpine forms. The Germanic type, on the other
hand, is everywhere present, overspreading the other floras, and
giving a general character to the vegetation. “Its scarcer forms,”
Forbes remarks, “are of much interest, from the clear manner in
which they mark the progress of the flora, and the line it took
in its advance westwards. Thus we find a number of species
which are still limited to the eastern counties of England, while
others, which have extended over considerable tracts or into
several districts of England or Scotland, have not found their
way to Ireland. It is remarkable,” he continues, “ that certain
species of this flora, which flourish best on limestone, such as
Scabiosa columbaria, Sison amomum, Campanula glomerata, and
others, are not found in the limestone-districts of Ireland, and in
like manner certain species, which everywhere, when found,
delight in sand, as Ajuga chamepitys, are also wanting in such
Trish localities as are best adapted for them. The fauna which
accompanies this flora presents the same peculiarities, and
diminishes towards the north and west. This is very observable
both among the native vertebrate and invertebrate animals.
Thus, among quadrupeds, the mole, the squirrel, the dormouse,
the polecat, and the hare of England (Lepus timidus) are con-
fined to the English side of St. George’s Channel, not to mention
smaller quadrupeds. So it is also with the birds of short flight ;
so most remarkably, no less than half the species being deficient,

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—POSTGLACIAL. 511

with the reptiles; so also with the insects’ and the pulmoni-
ferous mollusca.” These peculiarities of distribution Forbes has
accounted for by supposing that Ireland was separated from
England by the influx of the Irish Sea before the species, less
speedy of diffusion, could make their way into the sister island,
and this view has been repeated by every writer who has touched
upon the question since the appearance of Forbes’s famous essay.
But a glance at the Admiralty’s chart of the Irish Sea shows us
that there is no necessity for inferring that the arrestment of the
migration was due to submergence. Were the whole British
area to be elevated for 600 feet or thereabout the Irish Sea
would disappear, but Ireland would still be separated from Eng-
land by a great and deep lake, averaging 25 miles at least in
breadth, and extending from the head of what is now the Sound
of Jura in Scotland down through the basin of the Irish Sea to a

1 My friend Dr. Buchanan White has recently discussed the distribution of
the mountain-lepidoptera of Britain and its causes (Scottish Naturalist, July
1879). In this paper he gives an admirable résumé of the evidence relating to
the introduction of the alpine or Scandinavian flora of our islands, and has traced
in a very suggestive manner the route followed by the lepidoptera, which are now
restricted to our mountain-regions. The facts and suggestions put forward in his
paper are thus summed up :—

‘*], The British Isles, being at one time subject to extreme arctic conditions,
had no fauna or flora.

**2. At the close of the last glacial period they were peopled by plants and
animals from Continental Europe.

**3, Most of these plants and animals reached Britain across the dry or nearly
dry bed of the German Ocean.

‘*4, Plants necessarily arrived before animals; and of the former certain
classes of cryptogamic plants, and the maritime and wind-fertilised species of the
higher plants, were the first comers.

‘¢5. The arctic and arctic-alpine plants and animals, being those that followed
closest on the retreating ice, were amongst the earliest arrivals, and had a wide
range through the country.

“6. From their present distribution in Britain it is probable that all the
species (in question) did not enter Britain at the parts nearest Continental
Europe, but that they reached it at various points on the present east coast.

*7, The distribution of the species [of lepidoptera] (treated of in this paper)
is not co-extensive with that of their food-plants.

‘*8, Climate has been a chief factor in producing the present distribution.

‘*9. Ireland derived some of its insects from Scotland.

10, At least some of the British mountain lepidoptera existed as species
previous to the last glacial period.”

ee PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

point between Braich-y-pwll in Caernarvon and Greenore Point
in Wexford! This lake, receiving the tribute of many Scottish,
Irish, and English streams, would discharge a broad river from
its lower end, which might well be impassable by many of the
smaller vertebrates. That it was rather the presence of this lake
and the obstacle of the Welsh Mountains than the premature
appearance of the Irish Sea which arrested the westward migra-
tion of plants and animals, is shown by the remarkable fact
pointed out by Professor Leith Adams,’ that the mammalian
fauna of Ireland agrees more closely with that of Scotland than
of England; while Dr. Buchanan White has shown that Ireland
has probably derived some of its alpine lepidoptera from Scot- .
land. We may suppose that the temperate mammals gained
admittance to Ireland from the west of Scotland, between which
and the north of Ireland there was a broad land-connection.
Some of the larger mammals, however, such as the great Irish
deer (Cervus megaceros), may quite well have entered Ireland
from the south, crossing the river that flowed south through St.
George’s Channel. But it may be questioned whether the rein-
deer immigrated by the same route. So far as the geological
evidence goes, we have no reason to believe that at the com-
mencement of the postglacial period the British area was much
more extensive than it is at present. The sea was then retiring,
as we know, from the low grounds of Southern Scandinavia and
Scotland, and from the borders of East Anglia, and thus the
probabilities are that when the Scandinavian flora had com-
menced its northward advance St. George’s Channel still separated
England and Ireland. This being so, the reindeer could not at
that time reach the latter country. By and by, however, the
Trish Sea gradually disappeared, and a land-connection took
place between Scotland and Ireland, across which the alpine and
sub-alpine flora and the reindeer would migrate, It is perhaps
owing to the late appearance of this land-connection that the

1 See Admiralty’s chart of East Coast of Ireland, No. 1824a; and Great Ice
Age, Plate xii.

2 Proc. Royal Frish Acad., 2d Series, vol. iii. p. 99; Proc. Royal Dublin Soc.,
1878, p. 42.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—POSTGLACIAL. 513

Scandinavian type of vegetation is so poorly represented in the
Hibernian flora. The climate, we may suppose, was already
becoming milder, and the high-alpine forms were gradually
vanishing from the low grounds, so that only a few of these
could make their way south into Ireland.

A very general elevation of the land characterised the next
stage of the postglacial period, and it is not difficult to follow
the gradual improvement from arctic to temperate conditions.
It was precisely such a change as we should now experience
were we to start from the American shores of the Arctic Ocean,
and, after traversing the Barren Grounds and the region of coni-
fers, to enter upon the zone of deciduous trees. We see the
British Islands at first surrounded by cold waters in which
floating-ice abounds. Our mountain-valleys support consider-
able glaciers, and the winter temperature is severe. A scanty
arctic and alpine flora of lichens and mosses and dwarf birch,
with other northern forms, is sprinkled over the low grounds,
and the reindeer is the most notable denizen of the land. At
this time England is connected with the Continent, probably
with Belgium and the north-east of France, but in Scotland the
low-lying maritime districts are still to some extent under water.
Treland forms, as it does now, a separate island. The sea, how-
ever, is slowly retreating, and the cold of winter becoming less
severe, and with the improvement of the climate plants and ani-
mals of more temperate types begin to appear in the south of
England. Eventually all our islands are united, while at the
same time a broad plain extends over the area of the North Sea,
and connects Britain with Holland and Denmark. Before the
great forest-vegetation had covered our country, the land, accord-
ing to Forbes, would be in the condition of the Barren Grounds,
bare and treeless, with the reindeer, the Irish elk, the urus, and
species of bear, fox, wolf, hare, cat, and beaver, for its inhabitants.
Vast herds of the Irish elk or deer then roamed over Ireland
and what is now the basin of the Irish Sea and the Isle of Man,
but they do not appear to have entered Scotland in any force ;
at all events, no trace of them as a rule is met with in the post-

514 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

glacial and recent deposits of that country, there being only one
solitary recorded example of their occurrence, and that in the
south-west of Ayrshire. A strong forest-growth at length over-
spread the country, extending into every district, and reaching
even the remote regions of the Orkney and Shetland Islands and
the Outer Hebrides. It was while these genial climatic condi-
tions obtained that the Iberian plants found their way into the
south and west of Ireland, and the Gallican forms immigrated
across the area of the Channel to the south-east of Ireland and
the south of England.

That the climate at this time was more genial than now is
proved by a variety of considerations. It is shown, in the first
place, by the former greater vertical and northerly range of
arboreal vegetation. In the now treeless regions of the Outer
Hebrides, the Orkney and Shetland Islands, and Northern
Norway, the peat-bogs have yielded abundant relics of a vigorous
forest- vegetation. Even the storm-swept Feerdes were at one
time covered with a bushy vegetation. During a recent visit to
those islands, in company with my friend Mr. Amund Helland,
I was much struck with the appearance in the peat of numerous
roots and branches which, in the absence of the bark, we could
not determine, although we thought they were most probably
juniper. None that we noticed exceeded the thickness of one’s
wrist; but an intelligent trader told me he had frequently
seen them as thick as his arm, and sometimes even as thick as
his leg. At present the only shrubs in the islands are the few
which stand within the garden-walls at Thorshavn, where they
are carefully tended and protected. Yet the evidence of the
peat proves that in postglacial times the climate was such as
to permit of a plentiful growth of shrubs and small trees over
all the less considerable slopes of the islands. A similar tale is
told by the peat of Northern Norway; and even in Spitzbergen
we are not without botanical testimony to the former prevalence
of a milder climate than the present. When the Ferée Islands
were plentifully clothed with shrubs and small trees, they could
hardly have been subjected to the strong winds which now

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—POSTGLACIAL. 515

sweep over them, forbidding the growth of all arboreal vegeta-
tion. Now, as there can be no doubt that the “buried trees” of
the Ferée Islands belong approximately to the same date as
those of our own islands and North-western Europe, it seems
impossible to resist the conclusion that the climate of those
regions in the postglacial period must have been, for some time
at least, considerably more genial than it is now.

This conclusion derives strong support from the very inter-
esting researches of Mr. Axel Blytt into the cause of the pre-
sent distribution of plants in Norway. He points out that in
the coast regions of the province of Christiansand and Smaalene
there are found a number of species which are either absent or
very seldom found in other parts of the country." Amongst
these are some, he says, which are very rare,and known to grow
in only one place in Norway. The majority of this group of
coast-plants occur again in the south of Sweden, but they are
absent in the Christianiafjord. Their distribution out of Scandi-
navia is chiefly in the maritime districts of Western and South-
ern Europe, down to the coast of Portugal and the Mediterranean ;
while in Scandinavia itself some are confined to the west coast
of Norway The deep submarine trough which runs round
the southern coast of Norway forbids, according to Blytt, the
supposition that these plants could have entered Scandinavia
directly from the old land-surface that now lies drowned in the
North Sea; during postglacial times that deep trough would
exist as a long and broad fiord.* Blytt concludes, therefore,

1 Such as Quercus sessiliflora, Teucriwm scorodonia, Jastone montana, Hedera
helix, Rosa rubiginosa, Rubus thyrsotdeus, R. Lindebergii, R. Radula, R. corylifolius,
R. Wahlbergii, Cladiwm mariscus, Heleocharis multicaulis, Petasites alba, Pulicaria
dysenterica, Atriplex farinosa, Filago minima, Gentiana pneumonanthe, Ajuga
reptans, Berula angustifolia, Epilobium tetragonum, Agrimonia odorata, Tri-
foliwm procumbens, T. minus, Vicia cassubica, Coronilla emerus, etc.

2 Amongst these Blytt mentions Aspleniwum marinum, Hymenophyllum Wil-
sont, Carex binervis, Scilla verna, Erica cinerea, Conopodium denudatum, Mewm
athamanticum, Rosa involuta. Essay on the Immigration of the Norwegian Flora,
ete., pp. 27, 28.

3 It is possible, however, that when the land reached its greatest extent, even
that deep trough may have been vacated by the sea. But the soundings show
that with such an elevation of the sea-bottom a long deep lake would occupy a

516 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

that the plants of the west coast of Norway must have come by
way of Denmark into Southern Sweden, and thence spread
round the Christianiafjord to the west country. And seeing
that the climate in the neighbourhood of the Christianiafjord no
longer favours the growth of many of the plants in question, the
inference is obvious that this has deteriorated since the immi-
gration of the west-coast flora.

But the genial conditions that obtained for a time during the
-postglacial period are still more strikingly illustrated by the
discovery made many years ago by the Arctic Expedition under
Sir Edward Belcher. Sir Edward brought away from the shores
of Wellington Channel (lat. 75° 32’ N.) portions of a tree which
was found occupying the place of its growth, and of which he
says, “I at once perceived that it was no spar, and not placed
there by human agency ; it was the trunk and root of a tree,
which had apparently grown there and flourished, but at what
date who will venture to say? It is, indeed, one of the ques-
tions involved in the change of this climate. As the men pro-
ceeded with the removal of the frozen clay surrounding the
roots, which were completely cemented, as it were, into the
frozen mass, breaking off short, like earthenware, they gradually
developed the roots, as well as what appeared to be portions of
leaves and other parts of the tree, which had become embedded
where they fell, and now were barely distinguishable—at least,
not so much as some impressions on coal—to the casual ob-
server. . . . Two neighbouring mounds were also dug into,
but they proved to be peat—doubtless other stumps and vege-
table matter,—the only remaining traces of what might at some
distant period have been a forest. All the surrounding earth
and tufts of grass indicated this spot to have been the bottom of
some lake or marsh.”! Dr. Hooker pronounced the wood to
belong to a species of pine, probably Pinus (Abies) alba, the
most northern conifer, which advances as far north as the sixty-

large part of the trough in question, and this would prove almost as effectual a
barrier as the sea.
1 The Last of the Arctic Voyages, vol. i. p. 380.

—

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—POSTGLACIAL. 517

eighth parallel. The structure of the wood was found to differ
remarkably in its anatomical character from that of any other
conifer with which Dr. Hooker was acquainted, and the peculiar
conditions of an arctic latitude—long months of day, succeeded
by long months of night—seemed to him to afford an adequate
explanation of the appearance presented.’

Thus there are several lines of evidence which seem to lead
to one and the same conclusion—the testimony of the plants
supporting and confirming that of the marine mollusca. It will
be observed that the view of a postglacial warmer epoch does
not rest upon the former occurrence of one or two species far
north of their present range, of which we have even in our own
day some notable examples, but is based upon a much broader
foundation. And Iam much strengthened in the opinion I
have been led to form by finding that Sir Joseph Hooker has
independently come to similar conclusions. Upon the publica-
tion of a short outline of the subject in a recent number of The
Scottish Naturalist, Sir Joseph was good enough to write me as
follows :—‘“The case for a postglacial warmer epoch than the
present is, I think, fairly made out, though too much stress
cannot be laid upon the presence or absence of pine and other
trees, which in small areas may depend upon very local causes.
For instance, it is hard to say why certain parts of Scandinavia
are clothed with pine, others with fir, others with beech, and
still others with oak, quite irrespective of latitude and isother-
mals; and there are considerable areas in South Scotland where
I am assured the Scotch fir cannot be induced to grow at all,
and where conifers of much warmer climates thrive. The dis-
tribution of forest trees (and other plants) is, for a considerable
distance towards their polar and tropical limits, exceedingly
capricious ; and where two or three species of trees of somewhat
similar powers of endurance co-exist, they are apt to replace one
another, so to speak, without any definite relation to the extreme
limits to which they are individually able to attain. One of
the most instructive results of Nares’s Expedition was the evi-

1 Op. cit. p. 381.

518 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

dence it brought of a flora in 81°-82° N., containing plants of a
much less rigorous climate and latitude, one of which (Andrasace
septentrionalis) is found nowhere within 10° of the latitude it
there attains. Had it been found fossil only, it would have been
regarded as unquestionable evidence of a change of climate.
My friend, the late Dr. Thos. Thomson, had similar views to
yours as to a warmer postglacial epoch, though probably, like my
own, they were never formulated.”

Intimately connected with the question of postglacial cli-
mate is that of the origin of the floras of the Ferée Islands,
Iceland, and Greenland. The list of Ferée plants given by
Trevelyan,’ and Dr. Lauder Lindsay’s catalogue of the Icelandic
flora,’ show that the Germanic type is strongly represented in
those regions. By what means and at what time did these
islands receive their vegetation? Edward Forbes has not hesi-
tated to maintain that the presence of the Germanic types
proves that there must have been a land-connection with the
British area to have permitted the immigration of the plants in
question. There is, indeed, no other way of accounting for
their presence.’ Again, Sir Joseph Hooker has shown that the
flora of Greenland is essentially Scandinavian or North-west
European in character, hardly any of the peculiar plants of the
American Arctic sea-coast and polar islands crossing Baffin
Bay and Davis Straits. And he accounts for the fact of its
Scandinavian character by inferring “that at a period previous
to the Glacial, a flora common to Scandinavia and Greenland
was spread over the American polar area; and that on the

1 Edin. New. Phil. Journ., 1835. 2 Trans. Bot. Soc. Edin., 1860, p. 114.

* Of course it is not denied that there are many other ways and means by
which plants have become dispersed. Winds and ocean-currents have done their
part, and doubtless birds have performed theirs. But the regions referred to
could hardly have received their flora in this way. The flora of Greenland is
much more closely connected with that of Scandinavia than with the flora of the
adjacent American coast. But if the plants had been carried by wind, sea, or
birds, the reverse ought to have been the case. So also with the floras of Iceland
and the Ferées ; had they been carried in a haphazard way across the sea, they
would not have presented such a close analogy with the flora of North-west
Europe. The plants of the Ferde Islands and Iceland are just such as ought to
occur if continuous, or nearly continuous, land had permitted their immigration.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—POSTGLACIAL. 519

accession of the cold of that period this flora was driven south-
ward, and was affected differently in different longitudes. In
Greenland many species were exterminated, being, as it were,
driven into the sea at the southern extremity of the peninsula,
where only the hardiest survived. On the return of warmth
the Greenland survivors migrated northward, peopling the
peninsula with the hardiest of the species of its former flora,
unmixed with American species, and unchanged in aspect, from
never having been brought into competition with those of any
other flora.”*

From what I have said as to the conditions that obtained
in North-west Europe during the latest glacial epoch, it is
hardly possible that the flora of Greenland can date back to so
early a period as Sir Joseph supposes. That of the Frode
Islands is certainly of postglacial origin, for the ice of the last
cold period completely enveloped the whole group, and must
have destroyed every vestige of their vegetation. I have not
visited Iceland, but it is well known that the marks of glaciation
are conspicuous there, not only in the interior, but upon the
lower grounds near the coast. Indeed we may be sure that
Iceland could hardly have wanted its enveloping mer de glace at
a time when the Scandinavian and Scottish ice-sheet filled up
the North Sea, and a thick mantle of ice smothered the Ferde
Islands. But even if Iceland were not entirely buried under
an icy covering, yet the climatic conditions of the last glacial

1 Gardeners’ Chronicle, August 1878. See also Trans. Linn. Soc., 1860.

2 W. Sartorius von Waltershausen appears to have been the first to detect
glacial striz in Iceland, during a visit in 1846. He traced groovings and furrows
from the sea-level inland up to a height of more than 2000 feet ; they were not
confined to the valleys, but appeared likewise on the flat basaltic plateaux. He
also mentions the occurrence of erratics of granite, and certain other crystalline
rocks, upon the north and north-east coasts of Iceland. As Iceland appears to
be composed entirely of volcanic rocks, such as basalt, trachyte, tuff, etc., the
probabilities are that the stones and blocks referred to by Waltershausen have
come, as he suggests, either from Greenland or Scandinavia. See Natwwrk. Verh.
Holl. Maatsch. Wettensch., Haarlem, Dl. xxiii. pp. 76, 79. R. Chambers has
also noted glacial markings in Iceland (Tracings in Iceland and the Ferée
Islands, 1856, p. 49), and references to their occurrence appear in most recent
books of travel in the island.

520 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

epoch must have sufficed to destroy such a flora as it now pos-
sesses. And the same must have been the case with Greenland.
Indeed I do not see how it is possible to resist the conclusion
that the floras of all those high latitudes must have been intro-
duced since the close of the Glacial Period. And as the plants
could only have migrated over a land-surface, we are compelled
to infer that in postglacial times the Ferde Islands, Iceland,
Greenland, and Spitzbergen also, must have been united to the
European continent.

It is hard to tell what amount of elevation would suffice to
bring about such an union at present. The soundings in the
Arctic Ocean are few and widely separated. We know that a
trough, which in places exceeds 500 fathoms in depth, lies
between the Outer Hebrides and the Ferée Islands. But at
one place this deep hollow appears to contract to a width of not
more than thirty miles, and it is quite possible that an elevation
of less than 500 fathoms might produce a land-surface so nearly
continuous as to permit of immigration by wind and ocean-
currents, and by birds. An elevation of apparently less than
400 fathoms would join the Ferée Islands to Iceland, and the
Danish Straits between Iceland and Greenland might perhaps
be bridged with a similar or even a less amount. The sea
between Norway and Spitzbergen appears to be comparatively
shallow, not exceeding 200 fathoms or thereabout. In these
speculations, however, we must remember that it is perfectly ~
possible that the depression which brought about the isolation
of the regions in question may have been unequal—some regions
sinking deeper than others. Even at the present day similar
earth-movements are believed to be going on within the very
area under review. Thus, while the shores of the Danish
settlements in Greenland are slowly sinking, a part of the
Swedish coast is supposed to be gradually rising. Again, in
Scotland the presence of raised-beaches on the coasts of the
mainland proves a recent gain of land, while the complete
absence in the Outer Hebrides, the Shetlands, and the Frrée
Islands, of any such deposits shows that those regions have

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—POSTGLACIAL. 521

either been stationary for a very long time, or else have under-
gone a recent submergence, the latter, as I believe, having been
the case. Be that, however, as it may, the existing floras of
Spitzbergen, Greenland, Iceland, and Ferée, seem to establish
the fact of a postglacial land-connection with North-west
Europe, at a time when, as the evidence I have adduced leads
us to believe, the climate was more genial than at present.
This conclusion, it will be observed, is not in accordance with
the opinion of those who maintain that the cold of the Glacial
Period was due to the elevation of land in high latitudes.
But the fact is that the chief climatic vicissitudes of Glacial,
Interglacial, and Postglacial epochs appear to have been quite
independent of all movements of elevation and depression.
Sometimes intensely arctic conditions coincided with elevation,
but just as often the opposite was the case, as is proved by the
presence of deposits with arctic shells in Canada, Scandinavia,
and Scotland. On the other hand, while a genial climate now
and then concurred with a period of submergence, as during
the formation of the Postglacial shell-beds of Spitzbergen and
Norway, it is no less certain that mild and genial conditions
were frequently contemporaneous with a much wider extent of
land-surface in northern regions,

It may be objected to the view of a great extension of land
having obtained in the Postglacial Period that the time required
for the geographical changes involved is greater than can be
supposed to have elapsed since the close of the Glacial Period.
To which it may be replied, first, that the data are insufficient
to enable us to say what amount of depression has taken place,
and, second, that we cannot calculate the rate at which the
submergence was effected. It may be that an elevation of
considerably less than 400 or 500 fathoms (2400 or 3000 feet)
would connect Greenland, Iceland, and the Ferée Islands, with
Europe, and it may have taken 20,000 or 60,000 years, less or
more, to have brought about their isolation. We really have
no reliable data to go upon. The rate of 24 feet for each
hundred years assumed by Lyell for the elevation of a certain

522 PREHTSTORIC EUROPE.

region of Southern Sweden is no standard of measurement; the
movement of depression which sundered Fede, Iceland, and
Greenland from our continent may just as well have progressed
at the rate of five feet. In some places it may have been more,
in others less; and it may have varied in degree at different
times.

The traces of a mild and genial postglacial climate having
been met with so far north as Greenland and Spitzbergen, it can
hardly be doubted that Central Europe must also have partici-
pated to some extent in the same conditions, and rejoiced in a
more equable climate than the present. But the direct proofs of
this must necessarily be more difficult to detect. The presence
of remains of trees in the peat of the Ferde Islands and the
bleak and sterile coast of Wellington Channel speaks a language
that no one can misunderstand, but the contrast between the
present and the past must obviously be less striking in more
temperate latitudes. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that
the abundant remains of large trees in the peat of Norway,
Sweden, Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein, Holland, Northern Ger-
many, and Finland, betoken the former existence of much more
extensive forests than can possibly have flourished within the
historical period. Even after making every allowance for the
destruction of trees by man’s hand during and since the days of
the Roman Empire, we must admit that a very large proportion
of the buried timber must date back to very distant prehistoric
times. And the great antiquity of the old buried forests is in
many cases proved by the fact that the human relics which
they have yielded are frequently of Neolithic age. The animal
remains furnished by them are of the common temperate species,
which are still in large measure indigenous, and do not aid us,
therefore, in coming to any definite conclusion as to the climatic
conditions. But the fact that the red-deer was in postglacial
times an inhabitant of Kurland would lead us to conclude with
Professor Grewingk that the climate of that region must have
been milder then than now. The whole of Northern Europe
was covered, as it would appear, with dense forests—overspread-

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—POSTGLACTIAL. 523

ing wide tracts which within historical times have always been
bare and treeless. Extensive areas which are now submerged
then existed as dry land, and were probably clothed with as
thick a matting of forest as those portions of the ancient land-
surface which still remain above the sea-level. The wooded
region stretched north up to and even beyond the Arctic Circle,
although, as one might have expected, the trees in those high
latitudes were generally scrubby and dwarfed. From these facts
I think it may be fairly concluded that the winter season of the
mild postglacial epoch must have been generally genial, while the
temperature of summer, owing to the greater extent of land, may
have been somewhat warmer. From the circumstance that a
woody vegetation covered such regions as the Ferde Islands, we
may likewise infer an absence of violent winds ; for, as a writer
in arecent number of the Quarterly Review has remarked, it is to
the long-continued cold winds and gales that the absence or
scarcity of trees in the higher latitudes is probably due. The ice-
fields of the polar regions were considerably reduced in extent,
while continuous or nearly-continuous land, connecting Greenland
with Scandinavia, shut off cold arctic currents and allowed the
warm waters of the Gulf Stream to lave the shores and influence
the climate of the higher latitudes. Under such climatic condi-
tions it is not surprising that the mammalian fauna of temperate
regions like Britain and Northern Germany should have greatly
abounded—and that several of the species should have attained
a much greater size than is ever reached by them in our times.
But none of the southern forms characteristic of the Pleistocene
Period seems to have returned to North-western Europe. Hyzena,
serval, elephant, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus had ceased to
form a part of the European fauna. Yet the conditions were
such as might well have tempted hither the great carnivores.
We know, indeed, that the lion infested the mountains of Thes-
saly even within historical times, but its remains have never
been met with in any of the postglacial deposits of North-
western Europe. The general absence of the large carnivores
in postglacial times was doubtless due to the disappearance of

524 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

land-connections across the Mediterranean. The approaches to
our preserves were effectually closed to these southern reivers.
The succeeding stage in the history of postglacial changes
was marked by a gradual deterioration of climate, and the sub-
mergence of vast tracts of land in the north and north-west.
The British area was insulated, and a like fate befell Greenland,
Iceland, and the Ferée Islands. This insulation of our area pre-
vented the immigration hither of many plants of an eastern
derivation which subsequently spread into the neighbouring
regions of the Continent, where they are now plentiful. We
have no reason to believe that these changes were suddenly
effected. Probably the depression commenced during the pre-
ceding genial period—perhaps in the far north, and gradually
extended southward, so that the separation of Greenland, and
the isolation of the Ferde Islands and Iceland, may have taken
place long before the North Sea crept in between Britain and
the Continent. It is possible, indeed, that the broad space be-
tween Greenland and Scandinavia may mark a special area of
depression—from the centre of which the downward movement
may have diminished outwards in all directions. And this is
not a mere conjecture, but is suggested by the fact already
referred to, that the evidences of recent submergence are con-
spicuous in the north of Scotland, the Outer Hebrides, Orkney
and Shetland, the Feerde Islands, and the north-west shores of
Norway. MRaised-beaches, which prove recent elevation, are
common upon the coasts of England, Ireland, Central Scotland,
and the southern margin of the Scandinavian peninsula. But
north of those regions all the appearances betoken a recent sub-
mergence. There are no raised-beaches, nor, as a rule, have the
1 As examples, Professor Engler gives the following list of species :—Anemone
ranunculoides, L., Hepatica triloba, Chaix, Thalictrum angustifolium, Jacq.,
Corydalis cava, Schweigg. and Koerte, C. fabacea, Pers., Viola mirabilis, L.,
Dianthus superbus, L., D. Carthusianorum, L., Tilia platyphyllos, Scop., Gera-
nium palustre, L., Acer platanoides, L., Genista germanica, L., Astragalus Cicer,
L., Lathyrus vernus (L.), Bernh., Potentilla alba, L., Sambucus racemosa, L.,
Melampyrum nemorosum, L., Abies alba, Mill. , Picea excelsa (Lamk.), Lk.— Versuch

einer Entwicklungsgeschichte der Pflanzenwelt insbesondere der Florengebiete seit
der Tertidrperiode, I Theil., p. 182.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—POSTGLACIAL. 525

waves had sufficient time to cut the rocks back so as to form
conspicuous platforms between high- and low-water marks. Now
and again, it is true, these may be observed, but it is only in
cases where the rocks, by reason of their composition or struc-
ture, have lent themselves more readily to the action of the sea.
As one boats along the rocky shores all the phenomena seem sug-
gestive of a very recent loss of land, and the inference I would
make is simply this, that the movement of depression which
separated Iceland and Greenland from Europe has continued,
with perhaps no interruption, from the genial postglacial epoch to
the present day. I have not forgotten the important fact that
the postglacial submergence carried down Central Scotland for
some 50 feet or so below its present level, and that the regaining
of this belt of coast-land from the sea would seem to indicate
not only an interruption of the great northern depression, but a
movement in the opposite direction. It is not so certain, how-
ever, that our later raised-beaches owe their origin to earth-
movements. M. Adhémar and Dr. Croll have shown that the
sea-level may rise without any movement of the land itself.
They have pointed out that a great accumulation of ice in
northern regions, such as that which characterised the glacial
epochs, would of itself cause a rise of the sea by displacing the
earth’s centre of gravity, and it is quite possible, as Dr. Croll
has suggested, that some of our recent raised-beaches may indi-
cate periods when the ice of north polar regions attained a con-
siderable augmentation, while, at the same time, the ice of the
Antipodes suffered a corresponding diminution. Now, it is the
fact, as I have proved, that the climate of Scotland during the
50-feet-beach was considerably colder than it is now; and I
believe that this will be found to hold true of a much wider
area. It is therefore quite possible, as already remarked, that
the great northern depression may have been going on without
interruption from the genial postglacial epoch down to our own
era—the more recent raised-beaches being likely enough due to
oscillations of the sea-level itself, and not necessarily to move-
ments of the land. ;

526 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

The submergence, which in Central Scotland attained some
50 feet, appears to have been somewhat less in Ireland and
England, and on the opposite shores of the Continent. I am not
aware that the shells and other marine exuvize which occur in
the raised-beaches of Ireland and England afford any indubitable
evidence of colder seas than now lave our shores. In the Scot-
tish raised-beaches we have remains of the large Greenland
whale, but the shells belong to species all of which are still
living in the adjacent seas. The larger size attamed by some
of these shells, and the greater abundance of certain species,
such as Scrobicularia piperata, would even seem to afford testi-
mony to a formerly higher temperature, but such shells may be
looked upon as survivors from the previous mild and genial
period—they come into the same category as the Mediterranean
species, which are still dredged in our seas. The cold was not
such, in fact, as to affect the marine fauna to any considerable
degree. But that the sea was somewhat colder seems to be
indicated by the fact that the Greenland whale and the walrus
ranged as far south as the coast of Lincolnshire. The change of
climate, however, is more strikingly evinced by the re-appear-
ance in Scotland of local glaciers, torrential streams, and rivers
laden with glacial mud. That Scotland was alone in this respect
can hardly be believed: if considerable glaciers occupied the
mountain-valleys of the Highlands and Galloway, the Cumber-
land district and Wales could hardly have escaped having their
perennial snow-fields and glaciers, and I should expect evidence
of the same in the Irish mountains. I think it is highly prob-
able, therefore, that the small moraines which occur at the heads
of many of the upper valleys in those regions ought to be
assigned to the same stage of the postglacial period as the
similar relics in Scotland. The perfect state of preservation of
these moraines, and the extreme freshness of the associated
glacial markings, have always been difficult to reconcile with
the belief that these date back to so remote a period as the
close of the Glacial Period. But if they really belong, as I
have endeavoured to show, to postglacial times, this difficulty

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—POSTGLA CIAL. 527

vanishes, and several other enigmatical appearances receive a
reasonable explanation.

Whether any glacial deposits pertaining to this period can
now be identified in Norway and Sweden I cannot say, but it
seems not improbable that some of that unfossiliferous sand and
clay which cover the postglacial shell-beds over considerable
areas in the low grounds of those countries may be of the same
age as the older Carse-clays and late moraines and torrential
gravel and sand of the Scottish series. And perhaps evidence
will yet be forthcoming to show that a not inconsiderable
advance of the glaciers took place in Norway in postglacial
times. As yet, however, I am not aware that any trace of this
has been recognised.

The climate during the formation of the 50-feet beach was
not only cold, it was also extremely humid. Extensive areas
which were formerly covered with forests were now dismantled
of trees, and converted into marshes and morasses. And this
change was not confined to maritime and mountain regions, but
characterised the inland low-lying districts as well. Neither was
it restricted to the area of the British Islands. Buried trees, as
we have seen, occur in the peat everywhere throughout Northern
Germany and adjacent regions. It was the very general distri-
bution of these trees in the peat-bogs throughout all North-
western Europe, which led me a number of years ago to infer
that their destruction and entombment had been due to changed
climatic conditions. And I am gratified to find that in this
opinion I have the support of the accomplished Norwegian
botanist, Axel Blytt, who from a study of the present distribu-
tion of the plants of Norway, and an examination of the peat-
bogs, has independently come to the conclusion that they afford
strong evidence of alternate dry or continental and wet or insular
climates, having prevailed throughout the Postglacial Period.
It cannot be denied that the mere separation of Britain from the
Continent, and the reappearance of the Irish Sea, the English
Channel, and the German Ocean, would of themselves produce
a deteriorating effect upon the vegetation, especially in what are

528 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

now maritime regions, but the very general destruction that
befell the forests of the inland districts can hardly be due to that
submergence alone. That the climate had become considerably
colder, may reasonably be inferred from the reappearance of
snow-fields and local glaciers in Scotland; and that it was also
wetter, may be gathered from the fact that peat-bogs then over-
spread wide areas, in which nowadays they do not grow, but are
mouldering more or less rapidly away.

The gradual disappearance of this cold and jncicmtees epoch
was marked by the slow retreat of the sea. The climate at the
same time again favoured the growth of great forests—the
remains of which are traced not only in the peat of our inland
districts, but even in that of the maritime regions. We can
hardly doubt that at the time when those trees were growing
the land extended farther out to sea—in other words, the sea
had retreated to a lower level than its present tide-mark. The
buried trees in the peat of the English coast-lands bear emphatic
testimony in this direction. Distinct traces of this second forest-
growth are observable, as we have seen, in the inland districts.
It is somewhat noteworthy, however, that while in Scotland oak
is common at the bottom of the peat-bogs, not only in the low-
lands, but even in upland and highland areas, the same tree
appears to be generally wanting in the upper forest-layers, at
least in the higher-lying parts of the country, and this rule holds
true also for many lowland districts. Myr. Kinahan and others
have made the same observation in Ireland. The most charac-
teristic tree of the upper forest-layers in the peat-bogs of
Scotland, more especially in the upland districts, is the pine
(Pinus sylvestris), and this is the case also in Ireland. Mr. Blytt
has recorded precisely the same fact in south-western and
southern Norway. In those regions oaks and alders occur at
the bottom of the bog, which is of variable thickness and
formed of aquatic and marsh-loving plants. Above this under
portion comes a second forest-layer composed chiefly of pines,
which are in their turn buried under a second bed of sphagnum-
peat. Lindeberg and Olbers tell us of exactly similar pheno-

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—POSTGLACIAL. 529

mena in the peat-bogs of Scania. There, as in Norway, the
bottom forest-beds are composed of leafy trees, while the upper
ones are principally coniferous. I have searched through many
papers and books descriptive of the peat-bogs of Holland,
Schleswig-Holstein, and Northern Germany, but cannot find
that the same succession is as well marked in those regions.
Very often, indeed, no discrimination is made between the trees
which have come from the lower and upper parts of the peat,
the writers simply stating what kind of trees are met with. I
cannot doubt, however, that if the succession had been as con-
spicuous as it is in Norway and Sweden, so remarkable a cir-
cumstance would not have been overlooked.

How are we to explain these phenomena? It is obvious that
they are too general to be accounted for by merely local causes.
If the bottom peat-beds be due to a formerly prevalent cold and
wet climate, we can hardly escape from the conclusion that the
upper layer of peat points to a recurrence after some interval of
similar conditions. The presence of the upper forest-layer
shows that the wet period came at last to a close, and was suc-
ceeded by a drier climate favourable to the growth of trees.
And from the fact that in many parts of Scotland, Ireland, and
Scandinavia, the forests which then overspread the land were
composed in large measure of pine and birch, we may reason-
ably infer that the climate was not so mild as during the growth
of the more ancient forests, the remains of which occur at the
bottom of the bogs.

The subsequent destruction of these later forests and their
burial in sphagnum-peat indicate a relapse to ungenial and wet
conditions. And it is suggestive that this change was followed
or accompanied by a rise of sea-level and the submergence of
forest-covered tracts in many maritime regions. Most of the so-
called submarine forests which appear upon the low shores of
our own and neighbouring lands belong to the second forest
period, although not unfrequently both upper and lower forest-
beds are exposed upon the same beaches. The whole subject
of these successive forest-beds, with their intervening layers of

530 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

peat, has been admirably worked out by Blytt, who is of opinion
that the evidence warrants him believing in at least three rainy
periods, when peat formed abundantly, separated by intervening
dry periods, during which the peat-mosses dried up and were
overgrown by forests. My observations in Scotland go a long
way to support Blytt’s theory of alternating dry and rainy
epochs, but I cannot at present detect any evidence of more
than two rainy periods in postglacial times. The postglacial
period, however, was doubtless ushered in by cold and wet
conditions, during which the arctic-alpine flora migrated north
from the low grounds of Central Europe. The first rainy epoch
of Blytt would thus correspond with the close of the Glacial
Period and the commencement of the Postglacial Period, the
two succeeding rainy epochs occurring in late postglacial and
recent times.

The reader will not understand me to mean that the forests
of North-western Europe were completely overthrown and buried
in growing peat during each successive rainy period. There
seems no reason to doubt that many wide tracts continued to
support a forest-vegetation from the beginning of what we may
_ eall the first Age of Forests down to historical times. All that
is sought to be maintained is simply this, that during the recur-
rent wet periods the forests were restricted in their horizontal
and vertical range. They disappeared from wide tracts in the
low grounds where they had formerly flourished, and were no
longer able to sustain themselves at the higher elevations of the
land. It must further be admitted that many of the ancient
forests owe their overthrow to the hand of man. In our own
country and in Germany the Romans are very generally credited
with this work of destruction, but the peat-bogs with buried
trees which can be proved to date down to so recent a period
are much less numerous than has been supposed. The mere
occurrence of Roman relics in peat is no proof that the trees
which underlie that peat were growing in Roman times. Scot-
tish antiquarians have gone on repeating one after the other the
tale of Roman destructiveness, and have pointed to the presence

— <-- -

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—POSTGLACIAL. 531

in the peat of “ camp-kettles,” wooden roadways, and so forth,
as evidence that the bogs must have originated from the over-
throw of our forests by the legions ; but, as already mentioned,
many of these relics are now known to belong to the Bronze
Period, and their position in the peat only shows that the bogs
had already become unstable wastes long before the entrance of
our Roman civilisers. Professor Grisebach has likewise shown
that in Northern Germany much of the peat is of prehistoric
antiquity, and Blytt has come to the same conclusion in regard
to the peat of Norway. Nevertheless it is not denied that the
Romans destroyed much woodland, and that our own people in
more recent times continued to clear the land of its great forests.
The names of places often testify to the former presence, even
in late historical times, of considerable forests; and now and
again one comes upon a country rhyme that seems to tell a like
tale. Such are the lines quoted by Steele? as being current in
the parish of West Calder, Midlothian :—

“ Calder wood was fair to see
When it went to Cameltree ;
Calder wood was fairer still

When it went o’er Crosswoodhill.”

Again, the old statist of the parish of Banff says that in the now
treeless maritime district the following distich is repeated by
the country people :—

“ From Culbirnie to the sea
You may step from tree to tree.” 2

In the Rhondda valley, South Wales, I have heard it said that
“a squirrel could at one time travel from Treherbert to Ponty-
pridd without touching the ground.” This reminds one of
the similar statement said to occur in an old document at
Fiirstenau in Osnabriick :—“Ein Eichhornchen konne von
Baum zu Baum springend von dort bis Lingen gelangen.”®

1 The Natural and Agricultural History of Peat-moss or Turf-bog, etc., p. 383.
2 Sinclair’s Statistical Accownt of Scotland, vol. xx. p. 332.
3 A squirrel springing from tree to tree can go from here to Lingen.

532 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

Fiirstenau is distant some fourteen or fifteen miles from
Lingen, and the intervening country is now bare of trees. I
have but little faith, however, in the statements made in many
of our local and county histories as to the wooded condition of
Scotland in early historical times. Some of these statements
can be shown by documentary evidence to be untrue, while
others are unsupported by any proof. There can be little doubt,
I think, that most of the stories in question have been suggested
by the appearance in the peat-bogs of trees which have evidently
grown in situ. If these buried trees had never been observed,
we in Scotland should probably have heard very little of the
demolition of ancient forests by the Romans or our “auld ene-
mies of England.”

An examination of the Scottish peat-bogs has led me to be-
lieve that we are now living in a dry period, for the peat is
wasting away generally throughout the country, the rate of decay
far exceeding that of growth and increase. And there is
legendary and documentary testimony to show that the growth
of many of our peat-bogs had already been arrested at a very
early date, for the appearances described or incidentally referred
to clearly betoken that the bogs had assumed a wasted aspect
long before the general adoption of our present systems of
drainage. I strongly suspect, therefore, that that rainy period
to which I attribute the destruction of by far the larger portion
of the buried trees in the upper part of our peat-bogs had passed
away or become largely modified even as far back as the Roman
occupation. Agricultural progress, however, has so greatly
interfered with natural operations that it is impossible to say to
what extent the changed conditions are due to a lessened rain-
fall. Mr. Blytt’s observations in Norway have led him to similar
conclusions. He thinks that the present is somewhat drier, the
peat of the last rainy period being sorely wasted and decayed,
even in the rainy district of Florée, where the remaining masses
of sphagnum are overgrown with lichen and heather. In
numerous places, indeed, the bogs are often entirely covered with
heather and small trees. And there are many signs, he says,

ae OT

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—POSTGLACIAL. 533

that the continental species of plants—those which flourished
most luxuriantly during the dry periods—have again begun to
extend themselves.

To what extent the geography of Southern Europe was
affected in postglacial times there is no evidence, so far as I
know, to indicate. Some of the proofs of recent submergence
and emergence upon the coasts of the Mediterranean may
possibly be contemporaneous with those evidences of elevation
and depression which are so marked in North-western Europe,
but to what extent this may be the case I cannot even con-
jecture. The facts have never been systematically collected
and compared, and considerable complication arises from the
circumstance that the oscillations of level appear often to have
been comparatively local, as might have been expected would
be the case in a region where the volcanic forces continue to
show some activity. The land-connections that formerly joined
Europe to Africa probably disappeared in late glacial times.
We have no evidence, at all events, to show that they endured
down to the postglacial period. Thus, it would seem that the
most interesting and striking traces of postglacial climatic and
geographical changes are in large measure confined to North-
western Europe. We must not forget, however, that such
climatic changes as we have passed in review would be much
less strongly marked in lower latitudes than our own. The
farther south we go upon the Continent, the less likely are we
to come upon conspicuous evidence of postglacial mutations of
climate. It does not follow, however, that because such evidence
has not yet been detected in Southern Europe, it does not exist.
It will possibly be hard to find, and should it eventually be
discovered it will be botanists and zoologists rather than geolo-
gists that we shall have to thank for the discovery. The carrying
on of the tale of postglacial changes must indeed be resigned
to the former, for notwithstanding all that has been done in the
study of geographical botany and zoology, much yet remains to
be accomplished to clear up the obscurities which still becloud
the latest phases of geological history, and doubtless a promising

534 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

harvest of discovery awaits the labours of the philosophical
naturalist in this field of inquiry.

At what stage of the Postglacial Period did Neolithic man
enter our continent? There is no reason to believe that he
made his appearance before the climate of Central Europe had
lost its arctic character. His relics in that region are never
found associated with remains of the arctic or northern group of
mammals. But man was certainly contemporaneous with the
reindeer in the north of Scotland. This, however, may be no
proof of extreme antiquity if it be true, as some writers suppose,
that the reindeer was hunted in Caithness by the Jarls of
Orkney in the twelfth century. From the fact that remains of
this animal have never been found associated with Neolithic
relics in Central or Southern Scotland, we may reasonably suppose
that it had already retired to the uplands of the north before
the advent of the Neolithic people. How far south it ranged
upon the Continent in Neolithic times we cannot tell. No trace
of it has been found in connection with the lake-dwellings of
Switzerland or the kitchen-middens of Denmark. Had it been
still a denizen of Central Europe in early Neolithic times we
might well have expected to meet with its remains in some of

1 There is much that is highly suggestive to the geologist in Professor Engler’s
recently published work (Versuch einer Entwicklungsgeschichte der Pflanzenwelt,
etc.), and he accounts sufficiently well for the present general distribution of the
flora. He admits, however, that a wide field still lies open for the working out
of the details, Should the views of postglacial climatic and geographical changes
set forth in these pages eventually be established, they will, I think, tend to
modify some of Dr. Engler’s conclusions. The modifications of the flora brought
about by the vicissitudes of Glacial times are so strongly marked that they must
tend to obscure the later changes induced by the less-pronounced climatic muta-
tions of the Postglacial period. Nevertheless, I cannot doubt that a detailed
analysis of the botanical evidence would show that the phenomena characteristic
of the postglacial deposits of Northern and North-western Europe have their
analogues in the present distribution of the plants of the middle, and perhaps even
of the southern, regions. It is also much to be desired that botanists should work
out more fully than has yet been done the structure of peat-bogs. The admirable
results already obtained by Steenstrup, Nathorst, Blytt, Fliche, and others, only
show how much more yet remains to be accomplished. It is not too much to say
that the history of the passage from Glacial to Postglacial times is still in large
measure locked up in those bogs and moors which cover such vast areas in our
continent.

ea as

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—POSTGLACIAL. 535

the numerous relic-beds of the period, and their total absence,
therefore, seems to indicate that the climate had by that time
entirely lost its arctic character. I do not forget that Cesar
mentions the reindeer as occurring in the great Hercynian
Forest of Northern Germany, but from his description, which is
incomplete and incorrect, some writers doubt if he ever saw it.
But if it be true that it existed in Caithness so late as the
twelfth century, it is to say the least not unlikely that in Ceesar’s
time it may have ranged into Northern Germany. During the
mild and genial epoch which supervened in postglacial times
it may have been quite unknown in Germany, but when the
climate again became colder, and local glaciers existed in the
mountain-valleys of Scotland and other regions, from which they
have since disappeared, the reindeer may have again ranged
farther south. And this may explain its absence from the
Neolithic deposits of Central Europe and its presence at a later
date in the Hercynian forest. I do not think, therefore, that
the occurrence in comparatively low latitudes of reindeer remains
along with human relics (imbedded in postglacial and recent
deposits) is necessarily any proof of great antiquity.

If we confine our attention for the moment to the geological
evidence, we find that Neolithic man was certainly an occupant
of the British area during the genial postglacial period, for his
relics occur again and again in the lower forest-layers of our
peat-bogs, both in the inland and maritime districts, and the
same is the case in the equivalent accumulations of the Continent.
But Neolithic relics have not yet been met with at a lower
horizon—they appear to be wanting in those freshwater layers
under the bogs in which the arctic willow and its congeners
occur. So far, then, as the evidence at present goes, we cannot
say that Neolithic man appeared until the climate had lost its
arctic character—forests of pine and oak had overspread Ger-
many, Denmark, Scandinavia, and Britain, by the time he
immigrated! The polar willow and the arctic-alpine flora had

1 It is often said that the succession of arborescent vegetation in the forest-
bogs of Denmark does not quite tally with that which characterises the peat-bogs

536 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

crept to higher latitudes and greater elevations, and the pine,
followed by the oak, had occupied their places when Neolithic
man became a denizen of Central and North-western Europe.
From the appearance of his relics at the very base of the oldest
postglacial forest-bed in Britain, it may reasonably be inferred
that he was a native of this country when it still formed part of
the Contiment. The genial epoch during which the Ferde
Islands, Iceland, and Greenland, received their flora had not yet
passed away. Immense forests of oak still covered the low
grounds of Scotland and the maritime districts of Norway, and
dense groves of the same tree extended over vast areas in
Holland, Denmark, and Northern Germany. It is probable,
however, that the great movement of submergence which was
eventually to result in the isolation of the British area had
already made considerable progress, and the climate at the same
time was gradually becoming wetter and colder.

By and by, as we know, the North Sea made its appearance,
and the sea reached a higher level upon our shores than it now
attains. Neolithic man then lived upon our coasts, and gradually
accumulated his kitchen-middens. The climate was wet and
cold, local glaciers appeared in many mountain-valleys, the
forests decayed, and bogs continued to encroach upon the wood-
of other countries in Europe. This, however, is a mistake. It is true that in the
peat of Britain, Norway, Sweden, and Germany, we find the lower forest-layer
composed partly of oaks and partly of pines and other trees, whereas in the Danish
bogs the oak lies above the pine. But the Danish bogs are somewhat peculiar in
their structure. The pine was doubtless the first tree to form forests in the low
grounds of Northern Europe, from which it gradually retired as more genial con-
ditions supervened ; and if all our forest-bogs had been formed in depressions like
those of the Danish Skovmoser we should most probably have found the pine
occupying the bottom position. But, as most of our forests grew upon open
ground, the trees would rot and decay as they fell, and this process would con-
tinue until the pine had been gradually supplanted by the oak, the former, how-
ever, continuing to flourish in suitable localities. When at last a wet period
supervened and the forests decayed and were buried in peat, the pine and the oak
would be found upon one and the same horizon, each occupying the position
which had been most suited to its requirements. The Danish bogs seem to have
existed as marshes from the close of the Glacial Period, so that they contain an
uninterrupted record of the changes ; while most of our bogs, on the other hand,

did not come into existence until after the oak had spread abundantly into the
most northerly regions.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS—POSTGLACIAL. 537

lands. Pine forests grew here and there upon the low grounds
of Central Scotland, and the same appears to have been the case
in Denmark, as we infer from the presence of the capercailzie
in the Danish kitchen-middens. But the prevailing character
of this period was the great destruction of the forests and their
entombment in growing peat. Thus the geological evidence
would lead us, in opposition to the views of some archeologists,
to assign the Danish kitchen-middens to a comparatively late
part of the Neolithic period. They are certainly of much more
recent age than the Neolithic relics which have come from our
oldest submarine peat-beds, and from the lowest forest-layer of
our deepest inland bogs.

After this cold and wet epoch had passed away it was
succeeded by more genial conditions, during which wide areas
of marsh-land became dry, and were overrun by a new forest-
growth, consisting in the British Islands largely of pine—at
all events in Ireland, Northern England, and Scotland, and the
same was the case in the Scandinavian peninsula. The sea had
now retreated upon our shores to a somewhat lower level than
the present, and it was probably at or about this time, or
possibly even sooner, that a knowledge of bronze was intro-
duced to Britain. On the Continent that knowledge would
appear to have been earlier acquired, but the geological evidence
is too slight and incomplete to enable us to say at what par-
ticular stage of the Postglacial and Recent period the Bronze
Age commenced in Europe. If we may judge from the evidence
furnished by the Danish peat, that commencement may date
back to the close of the genial postglacial epoch—to a time
when oak forests still covered wide areas in those maritime
districts of North-western Europe, which at a later period
became in large measure bared of trees, and overspread with
boggy wastes.

The second Age of Forests, represented by the upper forest-
layer of our peat-bogs, was followed by a relapse to colder and
wetter conditions, when broad areas of tree-covered districts
were converted into marshes. To this date must be assigned

538 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

the decay of most of the great pine forests which formerly
flourished over extensive areas in Ireland, Scotland, the north
of England, and Scandinavia, and the overthrow of the buried
trees of the upper forest-layer in the peat of Holland, East
Friesland, Oldenburg, Liineburg, the Cimbric peninsula, Meck-
lenburg, Pomerania, etc. Probably the Iron Age began during
this wet period, which was already passing away when the
Romans came to occupy Britain.

The Postglacial and Recent accumulations of Southern
Europe throw little light upon the problem of the correlation
of the Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron epochs with the successive
stages of the geological record. We have evidence, indeed, to
show that considerable local oscillations have affected the
borders of the Mediterranean area since the close of Pleistocene
times; and that while some of those changes of sea-level took
place probably curing the Neolithic Age, others, again, certainly
come within the Historical period.1 But we have none of those
more or less clearly-marked stages which distinguish the Post-
glacial and Recent deposits of the maritime districts of North-
western Europe.

1 The most complete account of changes in the coast-line of Europe which are
supposed to have taken place within historical times is that given by K. E. Adolf
von Hoff; Geschichte der durch Ueberlieferung nachgewiesenen natirlichen Veran-
derungen der Erdoberfléche (1822-1834). In this work the author seems to have
exhausted every historical and lengendary source of information, and many of the
statements of old writers which he has unearthed are perhaps worth more con-
sideration than they have yet received.

CONCLUSION. 539

CHAPTER XXII.
CONCLUSION.

Résumé of results—Identity of Pleistocene or Quaternary Period with Preglacial
and Glacial times—Alternations of cold and genial climates in Pleistocene
Period—Testimony of fauna and flora—Paleolithic man lived through the
Pleistocene Period—Testimony of the Pleistocene river-deposits as to climatic
conditions —Evidence supplied by cave-accumulations—Glacial and Inter-
glacial accumulations contemporaneous with river-gravels, etc., and cave-
deposits —Distribution of ossiferous and Paleolithic river-deposits— Last
cold epoch of Glacial Period closes the record of Pleistocene times—Paleolithic
implements in Interglacial deposits at Brandon; in Pliocene or early
Pleistocene beds of St. Prest—Pliocene and Miocene man—What became of
Paleolithic man—Professor Dawkins’s views—Objections to his hypothesis
that the Eskimo are of the same race as Paleolithic man—Views of M.
Quatrefages and other French savants—Climatic and Geographical conditions
of Postglacial Period—Age of the archeological periods—Dr. Croll’s theory
of the cause of glacial and interglacial climatic changes—Conclusion.

In concluding this imperfect sketch of the geology of Prehis-
toric Europe, it may not be out of place to present here a brief
summary of the more important results arrived at. I shall also
venture before I have done to make some remarks on the dis-
appearance of Palolithic man, and the wide interval which in
Central and North-western Europe separates the close of the
Old Stone Age from the beginning of the New.

We have seen that all the evidence, as well paleontological
as physical, combines to prove that the Pleistocene or Quaternary
Period was co-extensive with Preglacial and Glacial times. It
began when the genial climatic conditions of the Pliocene were
passing away, and it came to a close with the last cold epoch of
the Ice Age. The fauna and flora of the Interglacial beds agree

540 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

in every respect with those of the Pleistocene river-gravels,

lignites, travertines, loams, and cave-accumulations. In both °

series of deposits the plants and animals are associated with
relics of Palzolithic man, while not a trace of the latter or of
the more characteristic mammals of Pleistocene times has any-
where been met with in beds of Postglacial age.

An examination of Pleistocene organic remains leads us to
conclude that strongly-contrasted climatic conditions alternated
during the period. At one time an extremely equable and genial
climate prevailed, allowing animals, which are now relegated to
widely-separated zones, to live throughout the year in one and
the same latitude. Hippopotamuses, elephants, and rhinoceroses,
Trish deer, horses, oxen, and bisons, then ranged from the borders
of the Mediterranean as far north at least as Middle England
and Northern Germany. In like manner, plants which no
longer occur together — some being banished to hilly regions,
while others are restricted to low grounds, and yet others have
retreated to the extreme south of the Continent or to warmer
regions beyond the limits of Europe—lived side by side. The
fig-tree, the judas-tree, and the Canary laurel flourished in
Northern France along with the sycamore, the hazel, and the
willow. And we encounter in the Pleistocene deposits of various
countries in Europe the same remarkable commingling of north-
ern and southern forms—of forms that demand a humid climate
and are capable of enduring considerable cold, together with
species which, while seeking moist conditions, yet could not
survive the cold of our present winters. The testimony of the
mammals and plants is confirmed by that of the land and fresh-
water mollusca—all the evidence thus conspiring to demonstrate
that the climate of Pleistocene Europe was, for some time at
all events, remarkably equable and somewhat humid. The
summers may not indeed have been warmer than they are now;
the winters, however, were certainly much more genial. But if
the evidence of such a climate having formerly obtained be
very weighty, not less convincing are the proofs, supplied
by the Pleistocene deposits, of extreme conditions. Think what

CONCLUSION. 541

must have been the state of Middle and Northern Europe when
Paleolithic man hunted the reindeer in Southern France, and
when the arctic willow and its congeners grew at low levels in
Central Europe. Reflect upon the fact that in the very same
latitude in France, where at one time the Canary laurel and the
fig-tree flourished, the pine, the spruce, and northern and high-
alpine mosses at another time found a congenial habitat. Bear
in view, also, that the land and freshwater molluscs testify
in like manner to the same strongly-contrasted climate. Besides
those that tell of more equable and genial conditions than the
present, there are species now restricted to the higher Alps and
northern latitudes that formerly abounded in Middle Europe,
and their shells occur commingled in the same deposits with
remains of lemmings, marmots, reindeer, and other northern and
mountain-loving animals.

It is beyond doubt, therefore, that the fauna and flora of the
Pleistocene Period bear witness to great secular changes of
climate. Palolithic man lived in Europe along with many
southern mammals at a time when a singularly genial and
equable climate prevailed, and he was likewise a denizen of our
continent when conditions altogether different obtained.

The appearances presented by the Pleistocene fluviatile
deposits testify to the same prime fact—they demonstrate that
the Palzolithic Period was characterised by extraordinary
changes of climate. While some portions of the deposits in
question bespeak the action of such streams as now drain the
temperate regions of Europe— other parts indicate excessive
torrential force and imply the passage of enormously-flooded
rivers, and of broad sheets of inundation-water. More than this,
we often encounter in the gravels large stones and blocks which
could only have been transported by river-ice, and we may not
unfrequently note the occurrence of confused and crumpled
bedding in the same deposits, showing where the ice had packed
and run aground, The ancient river-deposits that cloak the sides
and bottoms of our valleys were laid down, as Mr. Prestwich
has shown, while those valleys were being slowly excavated—

542 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

so that the gravels at the higher levels are the oldest, and those
at the lower levels are the youngest of the series. Just as there
are high- and low-level gravels, so are there high- and low-level
loams. Such loams are the flood-deposits accumulated by
muddy rivers from time to time, when these rose to considerable
heights above their normal levels. But the great development
attained by the loss-beds in many regions cannot be accounted
for by ordinary river-floods. They imply the more or less
sudden melting in spring and summer of enormous reservoirs of
snow and ice, when water descended from the mountains and
elevated regions, and filled the valleys to overflowing. And the
mud deposited during such inundations we recognise as the
finely-levigated sediment which is only met with in glacial
rivers, or in streams which are busily engaged in washing and
denuding clays and loams of glacial origin. Now loss or lehm
occurs both upon valley-slopes and upon table-lands that extend
between the valleys. In the latter localities it is called upland-
or hill-léss, and it is evident that this high-level loss must have
been laid down before the valleys were excavated to their
present depths. We cannot believe in the former existence of
flood-waters that were sufficiently great not only to fill valleys
of such a depth, but to brim over and drown wide regions
beyond—covering high table-lands and rising to some height
upon many hill-slopes. It is evident, then, that the upland-loss
must date back to the earlier stages of the Pleistocene Period,
and we thus learn that even in those earlier times the rivers
were occasionally subject to floods of enormous magnitude.
But long after the valleys had been greatly deepened by river-
erosion floods continued to take place, and we know that. after
the streams had succeeded in excavating their channels to nearly
their present depth, and when the valleys had assumed pretty
much the appearance which they now show, a final epoch of
great inundations succeeded. To these concluding floods of the
Pleistocene Period we attribute the formation of the greater
portion of the valley-loss. The Rhine, the Danube, the Seine,
the Garonne, and many other rivers then poured immense

CONCLUSION. 543

volumes of water down their valleys, but great as the floods
were they did not as a rule succeed in filling the valleys to
overflowing.

Thus the evidence supplied by the river- and flood-deposits
is in perfect keeping with the testimony of the organic remains,
We find the valley-slopes coated in some places with consider-
able accumulations of calcareous tufa, charged with leaves of such
plants as the laurel, the fig, the sycamore, the ash, the willow,
etc., and many land-shells, and indicating doubtless a prolonged
period of repose, when the rivers flowed with an equable volume,
and were not subject to excessive floods. And we read the
same tale of quiet and orderly conditions in the finely-bedded
deposits of gravel and sand which form no inconsiderable por-
tion of the Pleistocene river-accumulations. On the other hand,
the tumultuous coarse gravels, with their disturbed bedding and
ice-floated erratics, betoken turbulent waters and river-ice, and
the gradual melting of interbedded masses of frozen snow, while
the thick and widely-spread loams tell us of enormous floods
and inundations. And these latter excessive conditions super-
vened certainly more than once. The hill-loss shows that they
occurred in early Pleistocene times, and the position of the
valley-loss proves that the closing scene of the Pleistocene
Period was one of torrential rivers and vast inundations.

The cave-accumulations indicate in like manner the recur-
rence during the Pleistocene Period of cold climatic conditions
and flooded rivers, which alternated with prolonged epochs of
repose. And they likewise show that the Pleistocene Period
came to a close with severe conditions of climate. This is indi-
cated not only by the character of the organic remains, which
are met with in the uppermost layer or layers, but by the occur-
rence in certain caves of glacial and fluvio-glacial deposits,
underneath which the Pleistocene ossiferous deposits are buried,
as in the Victoria Cave in Yorkshire, and many of the Belgian
eaves. I believe also that the coarse breccia and the numerous
large limestone-blocks which overlie the Pleistocene fossiliferous
strata in many caves, owe their origin in chief measure to the

544 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

action of severe frost, and pertain for the most part to the close
of the Pleistocene.

We come, then, to the conclusion that the alluvial and cave-
deposits of the Pleistocene were accumulated during a prolonged
period, when the climate of Europe experienced several great
changes, and when the fauna and the flora were compelled to
perform secular migrations. Now, a close analysis of the glacial
deposits of the mountainous regions and northern latitudes of
Europe demonstrates that the Ice Age was not one long con-
tinuous period of arctic conditions. It was interrupted several
times—how often we cannot yet say—by Interglacial epochs of
mild and genial conditions, during which the central and north-
western areas were occupied by the same fauna and flora which
we meet with in the river- and cave-accumulations. And the
conclusion is forced upon us that the so-called Glacial Period,
with its alternations of severe arctic climate and mild and
genial conditions, is one and the same with the Pleistocene
Period. We cannot escape from this result —it follows as a
logical induction from indisputable and demonstrable facts.
Let us take, for example, the relation of the valley-léss to the
Pleistocene river-gravels on the one hand, and the later glacial
deposits on the other. We have seen that everywhere this loss
overlies, and is therefore of more recent date than the younger
valley-gravels. It is characterised by the presence of molluscs
which imply cold and wet conditions, and of mammals of high-
alpine and northern habitats. In it and underneath it we
obtain relics and remains of Paleolithic man, while not a trace
of these, or of any of the southern mammals with which the
men of the Old Stone Age were contemporaneous, occurs upon
its surface or in the later accumulations of peat and alluvium
which rest upon it. The valley-léss, then, is the youngest allu-
vial deposit of Pleistocene age. But nothing can be more certain
than this, that it is also the latest fluvio-glacial accumulation of
the Glacial period. It is the loam carried down by the enor-
mously flooded rivers of the last cold epoch of the Ice Age.

The remarkable distribution of the ossiferous and Paleolithic

CONCLUSION. 545

river-deposits might alone suffice to convince us that these can-
not belong to postglacial times, as some English geologists have
maintained. They occur as superficial deposits only in those
regions which were not subjected to glacial abrasion, or covered
with glacial accumulations during the latest phase of the Ice
Age. They are either entirely absent or very meagrely devel-
oped in areas which were overflowed by the ice of the last cold
epoch ; and when they do occur in such regions they are inva-
riably buried under glacial or fluvio-glacial detritus. In short,
the Pleistocene river-gravels of France and Southern England
are represented. by the Interglacial beds of alpine and northern
regions. The same fauna and flora characterise both series, and
the physical evidence proves to demonstration that they must
be contemporaneous. To whatever part of Europe we turn, we
find that the youngest Pleistocene deposits, with their mam-
malian remains and relics of Paleolithic man, give token of
cold climatic conditions having supervened towards the close of
the period. In northern and alpine regions they are covered
with morainic materials; in the greater river-valleys they lie
concealed below sheets of flood-loam; in many caves they are
overlaid with similar loam, or with a coarse breccia, which is
indicative of severe frost. Even in the more southern latitudes
they often lie buried under thick heaps of frost-riven débris,
which no longer accumulates, but on the contrary is wasting
away under present climatic conditions, while in no part of
Europe do Pleistocene deposits ever rest upon the glacial, fluvio-
glacial, and subaerial accumulations of the latest glacial epoch.’

Although Paleolithic implements have been discovered at
Brandon, under the great chalky boulder-clay of East Anglia,
they have not yet been chronicled from the preglacial deposits
of England. Thus, we are assured that Paleolithic man lived
in our area before the climax of the Glacial Period, when the
northern mer de glace assumed its greatest development, but we
do not know whether he appeared here before the advent of the
first glacial epoch—that, namely, during which the Cromer
boulder-clay was deposited. In France, however, implements

546 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

have been detected in the sand-deposits at St. Prest, which are
variously assigned to late Pliocene and early Pleistocene, but
are probably of the latter or preglacial age. It is reasonable,
therefore, to conclude that Paleolithic man may have entered
Europe before the genial climate of the Pliocene Period had
quite passed away. But whether that be so or not, he was cer-
tainly an occupant of our continent in early Interglacial times,
and he survived all the subsequent climatic and geographical
changes of the Ice Age, to disappear during the final phase of
that period. That man must date back to a yet earlier epoch
than the close of Pliocene times, few will venture to doubt,
whether or not they call in question the evidence which Pro-
fessor Capellini has adduced. Nor can we allow much weight
to the & priori argument against the existence of our race in
the still more distant Miocene Period. If the implements of
Thenay be of artificial origin, it is more reasonable to conclude
that they were fashioned by the hand of man than by a hypo-
thetical man-ape, as M. Mortillet has suggested. But as M. de
Quatrefages has said, geologists can well afford to wait for further
evidence ; and those savants who maintain the human origin of
the Thenay implements will, I feel sure, bear with others who
still hesitate to follow them with that confidence which more
plentiful and less equivocal data would supply.

I come now to discuss a question which has already engaged
the anxious attention of many eminent archeologists and anthro-
pologists. We have seen that during the last glacial epoch
Paleolithic man retreated south with the reindeer and its con-
geners, and occupied the valleys of Southern France. What is
his subsequent history? Did he return northwards with the
arctic and alpine animals to re-occupy the Belgian and English
caves in Postglacial times? As a matter of fact, he did not.
Or, to speak more exactly, we know that the tribes who occupied
North-western and Central Europe after the disappearance of
arctic conditions did not use the Paleolithic types of implements,
and were no draughtsmen like the reindeer-hunters of Périgord.
It is open, of course, to argue that the Neolithic race or races

CONCLUSION. 547

were identical with the Paleolithic tribes, who had somehow
acquired a knowledge of husbandry, spinning, and pottery ; who
had learned to domesticate certain animals, and to finish their
implements more perfectly, while at the same time they had lost
the art of freehand drawing. All this is possible, but, on the
other hand, it is so extremely improbable that until some posi-
tive evidence in favour of such a view be advanced we may well
leave it out of account. I repeat, then, that not a vestige or
trace of the Paleolithic-implement-using. race occurs in any of
those deposits which were accumulated in Central and North-
western Europe in Late Glacial and Postglacial times. The
men who entered Northern Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Bel-
gium, Northern France, the British area, and Scandinavia, after
the great glaciers had retreated and the rivers had returned to
their normal condition, were in many ways farther advanced in
civilisation than their predecessors of Palzeolithic times; so
great, indeed, is the difference between the conditions of life that
obtained in the two Ages of Stone that we can hardly doubt
that the two peoples came of different stocks. What fate, then,
overtook the artistic reindeer-hunters of Périgord? At present
we cannot tell. All that can be said upon the subject is only
more or less plausible conjecture. Some hold that they probably
migrated northwards with the reindeer, and retired to Arctic
regions, where, according to Professor Dawkins, they are repre-
sented by the Eskimo. Referring to the well-known fact that
a hard-and-fast line of demarcation separates the Neolithic from
the Paleolithic Age in every country where their relics occur,
Mr. Dawkins remarks that this would not have been the case
had the Palzolithic race or races been absorbed by Neolithic
invaders. “How, then,” he asks, “can we account for their
disappearance? Simply by assuming that at the close of the
Pleistocene Age, when they came into contact with Neolithic
invaders, there were the same feelings between them as existed
in Hearne’s times between the Eskimos and the Red Indian,
terror and defenceless hatred being, on the one side, met by
ruthless extermination on the other, In this way the Cave-men

548 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

would be gradually driven from Europe without leaving any
mark on the succeeding peoples either in blood or in manners
and customs.” This is certainly a simple assumption, so much
so, indeed, that I fear Mr. Dawkins must have made it without
due consideration; for, even granting that Paleolithic man was
scared out of Europe by the terrible apparition of Neolithic in-
vaders, are we to suppose that this had the same effect upon the
fauna and flora? Did reindeer, musk-sheep, mammoth, hyena,
and cave-bear at once-vanish from the scene, and a temperate
flora, replacing the arctic willows and dwarf birches, spring up
as if by magic in the low grounds of Central and North-western
Europe ?

The same writer, as I have mentioned, identifies the Eskimo
with Paleolithic man, and certainly there are several points in
which the living northern race resembles the ancient inhabitants
of Pleistocene France. I here quote Mr. Dawkins’s own sum-
ming-up of the evidence upon which he founds :—“ The identity
of four of the harpoons, of fowling-spears, marrow-spoons, and
scrapers; the habit of sculpturing animals on their implements ;
the absence of pottery; the same method of crushing the bones
of the animals slain in hunting, and their accumulation in one
spot; the carelessness about the remains of their dead relatives ;
the fact that the food consisted chiefly of reindeer, varied with
the fiesh of other animals, such as the musk-sheep ; and especi-
ally the small stature, as proved in the people of the Dordogne
caverns, by the small-handled dagger figured by MM. Lartet and
Christy. . . . This combination of characters is found, so far
as I know, among no other people on the face of the earth except
the Esquimaux ; and therefore I cannot help believing that this
people in South Gaul occupies the same relation to the Esqui-
maux, as the musk-sheep and the reindeer, on which they lived,
hold to those now living in the northern regions.”* This corre-

1 See Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xxiii. p. 183. More recently Mr. Dawkins
has insisted upon the striking resemblance of certain perforated implements (see
supra, p. 14) to the ‘‘arrow-straightener” of the Eskimo. But the close simi-

larity to which he has drawn attention one may readily admit without feeling
constrained to conclude that the Paleolithic and modern implements in question

CONCLUSION. 549

lation is both ingenious and plausible, but it will hardly stand a
close analysis. It comes mainly to this, that rude savage
peoples living under similar cold climatic conditions and associ-
ated with the same animals will necessarily support life in much
the same way. Their implements will be few and simple, and
the form of such implements as harpoons, spears, marrow-spoons,
and scrapers, hardly admits of much variety. If certain Eskimo
harpoons are identical with some of Palzolithic age, the coinci-
dence is not startling. The habit of sculpturing animals, etc.,
upon their implements is certainly remarkable, but what else
have they to engrave upon? And the art of drawing figures is
not confined to the Eskimo among rude unsophisticated tribes.
The small-handled dagger referred to by Mr. Dawkins does not
seem to prove much. If many such had been discovered this
might have induced a belief that the people who fashioned them
were of diminutive size; but one specimen only seems too slight
a foundation upon which to build such a theory. The weapon
in question may have been fashioned for or by a young lad, or
it may have been merely an ornamental weapon, intended more
for show than use. The other points of agreement mentioned
by Mr. Dawkins, namely absence of pottery, crushing of bones,
and accumulation of the débris, are neither strange nor unex-
pected. It would be difficult to make and still more difficult to
preserve coarse pottery in an arctic climate, and I have some-
times thought that this may be partly the reason why potsherds
seem to be wanting in the accumulations of the so-called
Reindeer period. As for the crushing of bones and the heaping
up of the débris, these are practices not peculiar to the Eskimo
among modern savages, nor were they confined to Palzolithic
man amongst the prehistoric races of Europe. Lastly, the
Eskimo may be careless enough about their dead relatives,
but there is no proof that such was the case with the Palo-

have been fashioned by one and the same race. Were such isolated and unim-
portant correspondences to guide us in classifying living races, we might find
ourselves establishing ethnical affinities between peoples who really belong to the
most diverse stocks.

550 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

lithic people, as I have already shown. I do not think, there-
fore, that the identification of the Eskimo with the reindeer-
hunters of Périgord can be sustained by such considerations
as those advanced by Professor Dawkins. The resemblances
pointed out by him appear to be only coincidences, which,
either singly or combined, have no such special significance
as he supposes. I do not of course deny that the Eskimo may
be related by descent to Paleolithic man. But we cannot
be expected to accept the evidence relied upon by Professor
Dawkins unless it be supported by the testimony of the human
skull itself. When anthropologists produce from some of the
caves occupied by the reindeer-hunters a cranium resembling
that of the living Eskimo, it will be time enough to admit that
the latter has descended from the former. But, unfortunately
for the view here referred to, none of the skulls hitherto found
affords it any support. It is true that Professor Dawkins would
explain away their testimony, but against his opinion we must
set that of those high authoritiese—MM. Hamy and Quatrefages
—and leave the anthropologists to settle the question amongst
themselves. I have here to do not with anthropological but
geological evidence, and certainly this latter seems to furnish
strong grounds for setting aside the conclusion that Paleolithic
man retreated northward to the Arctic regions. Let us picture
to ourselves the climatic and physical conditions that obtained
towards the close of the last glacial epoch. We see the snow-
fields gradually diminishing in extent— the glaciers slowly
retiring—and floods and inundations decreasing in magnitude.
The northern and alpine flora is again advancing northwards,
followed by those mammals which are now restricted to lofty
elevations and high latitudes. There was, in short, no sudden
change from the extreme conditions of the Glacial Period to
the temperate climate which supervened in Postglacial times.
Animals and plants, no doubt, emigrated northwards just as
slowly and continuously as they had previously migrated south-
wards during the approach of the latest cold epoch of the Ice
Age. We know that the reindeer and its associates returned to

CONCLUSION. 551

their old haunts in the north; and we meet with their remains
not only in the late glacial deposits but in the postglacial
alluvia and peat of Central and North-western Europe. But
in these deposits they are never accompanied by the relics of
Paleolithic man. If we take a map of Europe and colour accu-
rately all those areas over which are spread the deposits of the
last glacial epoch—the upper boulder-clay, the morainic débris,
diluvial gravel and sand, léss and lehm, and subaerial angular
drift—we shall find that the coloured part represents regions in
which the relics and remains of Paleolithic man are entirely
wanting in all superficial accumulations of alluvia and peat. The
conclusion, therefore, seems inevitable that whithersoever the
reindeer-hunters of Périgord may have retreated, it could not
have been northward through the regions which they occupied
during Interglacial times. Nor can we escape from this conclu-
sion by pleading that Paleolithic relics may yet be detected in
postglacial accumulations. It is true that our knowledge of
these accumulations, although abundant, is not exhaustive, but
had Paleolithic man emigrated northwards we should certainly
long ere this have discovered some notable proof of that north-
ward migration in the many deposits which have already been
examined. The conspicuous fact that none such are forth- _
coming, although they have been sedulously searched for, must
be taken in the present state of our knowledge as proof that the
men of the Reindeer period did not return with the gradually-
retreating northern forms.

Other writers are of opinion that the man of the Reindeer
period in Southern France probably remained where he was, to
become absorbed in the new wave of population that swept into
Europe at the close of the Glacial Period. If this were so, then
we should expect to find no gap or hiatus in Périgord and the
Pyrenean regions between Paleolithic and Neolithic times; but
in the caves of those districts the same line of demarcation—so
striking in the caves of Belgium, England, and elsewhere—
separates the accumulations of the two periods. ‘There are
certain appearances, however, met with in some Pyrenean caves,

552 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

as in that of Gourdan, described by M. Piette, which lead to the
suspicion that the interval between the Paleolithic and Neolithic
Ages in Southern France may not have been prolonged, that the
former may have merged somewhat suddenly with the latter.
This is the view which M. de Quatrefages among others
inclines to support, basing his opinion upon anthropological
considerations. He lays considerable stress upon the results
obtained by MM. Lartet and Dupare in their examinations
of the rock-shelter of Sorde in the Department of the Basses- —
Pyrénées, where a superficial stratum with Neolithic relics was
found resting upon a Paleolithic accumulation, with the upper
portion of which it was partly confounded. In the lower part
of the Paleolithic beds a human skull and bones were found,
together with a necklace of the teeth of the lion and bear, while
in the upper portion, which consisted largely of charcoal, many
Paleolithic implements and barbed arrows of the “Magdalenian
type” were detected. Mixed with these were bones of ox, horse,
and reindeer—the latter being rarer than the others. In the
overlying Neolithic layer, composed chiefly of human bones,
were obtained several worked flints resembling those of the
beds below, and a triangular dagger of unmistakable Neolithic
workmanship. Now the human remains of both levels are
referred by M. Hamy, with whom M. de Quatrefages quite
agrees, to one and the same race of people—to that, namely, -
which is designated by them the “ Cro-Magnon race ”—of which
the types are the skulls of an old man and a woman that were

obtained along with many remains of the Pleistocene mam-

malia from a cave at Les Eyzies on the banks of the Vezére.
“Ts it not evident,” asks Quatrefages, “that this race must have
known both the latest times of the Reindeer age, and the earliest
of the present epoch?” He and his collaborateur M. Hamy,
indeed, recognise the Cro-Magnon type in human remains which
have come from many other Neolithic stations, and not only so
but even in races still living, as for example in the Kabyles of
the Beni Massar and the Djurjura of North-western Africa. It
is, however, more especially in the Canary Islands and Teneriffe,

CONCLUSION. 553

where M. Hamy has met with skulls, “the ethnical relation of
which with the old man of Cro-Magnon is beyond discussion.
On the other hand, some points of comparison, unfortunately
very few in number, have led him to regard the Dalecarlians
(Sweden) as connected with the same stock. ... They (the
reindeer-hunters of Périgord) were perhaps only a branch of
an African population which had emigrated to France with the
hyena, the lion, the hippopotamus, etc. In this case there is
no difficulty in explaining its existence at the present day in
the north-west of Africa, and in the islands, where it would be
protected from crossing. Some of its tribes carried away in the
pursuit of the reindeer will have preserved in the Scandinavian
Alps the tall form, the dark hair, and brown complexion which
distinguish Dalecarlians from the neighbouring populations ;
others, mixing with all the races by which France has been
successively invaded, only betray their ancient existence by
the phenomena of atavism, which lays upon some individuals
the: mark of the old hunters of Périgord.”* On a question
such as that which MM. Quatrefages and Hamy discuss—
the racial characters of Paleolithic and Neolithic remains—
I have no title to express an opinion. I can only say that
so far as the geological evidence goes, it seems to favour to
some extent their general conclusion. It is quite clear that a
wide interval separates the Paleolithic and the Neolithic Ages
everywhere in Central and North-western Europe; but it is less
certain that this interval was as prolonged in the south of
France. Possibly, therefore, the Palzolithic and the Neolithic
races may have commingled in Périgord at a time when the
reindeer was still living, but in greatly diminished numbers, in
the valleys of the Pyrenees. But there is nothing to show
that any of the Paleolithic tribes were “carried away in the
pursuit of the reindeer” to its present home in Scandinavia.
A prolonged period intervened between the close of the Ice Age
and the reappearance of man in Central and North-western
Europe. Glacial conditions had vanished, and the arctic and
1 De Quatrefages, The Human Species, p. 335.

554 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

alpine forms had retired to their present limits before the
territories vacated by Paleolithic man upon his final retreat to
Southern France came to be occupied by his Neolithic successor.
In late glacial and early postglacial times Central and North-
western Europe were, so far as we know, untenanted by man.
It is conceivable, however, that long after the main body of the
northern mammals had retired from Southern France, the rein-
deer and some of its congeners may have continued along with
Palzolithic man to occupy the valleys of the Pyrenees. As the
climate improved, and the reindeer became scarce and eventually
died out, the Palzolithic people would probably accommodate
themselves to the gradually changing conditions, and this may
have been the state of matters when the first wave of Neolithic
population swept round the flanks of the Pyrenees, and over-
flowed upon the low ground—thus effectually cutting off the
retreat of the older race. Whether this was what actually
happened future investigations must be left to determine. At
present all we know is that in not a few caves of the Pyrenees,
as Dr. Garrigou has shown, the line of demarcation between
Palzolithic and Neolithic deposits is quite as well marked as in
the caverns of North-western Europe. In others, however, the
separation is by no means so clear, and may indicate, as M. Piette
has maintained, that the older and newer races came into more
or less violent contact; the unconformity or discordance in the
cases referred to by Dr. Garrigou being accounted for on the
supposition that those caves had been abandoned by Paleolithic
man long before the advent of his Neolithic assailant.

To the last glacial epoch of the Pleistocene Period there
gradually succeeded genial climatic conditions—somewhat ana-
logous to those of Interglacial ages. Britain and the southern
portion of the Scandinavian peninsula, which towards the close
of the Glacial Period had experienced considerable submergence,
were now gradually re-elevated, and by and by dry land joined
our islands to themselves and the Continent. Arctic and alpine
plants and animals had now retired to high latitudes and moun-
tain-elevations, while the great Germanic flora had established

;. = so° ee

CONCLUSION. 555

itself in all the temperate regions of Europe. Dense forests ex-
tended far north into countries which are now desolate and bare,
and reached to altitudes in our mountain-regions at which trees
will no longer grow. At this period Spitzbergen, Greenland,
Iceland, and the Feroe Islands had land-connection with our
continent, as is proved by the character of their floras, and by
the fact that those floras could only have immigrated in post-
glacial times.

Clothed with an abundant vegetation, stocked with vast
herds of oxen, deer, and other forms characteristic of the
temperate zone, the Europe of this genial Postglacial epoch
approached in character to that of Interglacial times. The
southern mammals, however, did not revisit their old haunts—
hippopotamuses, elephants, and rhinoceroses were unknown in
Postglacial Europe. Even the southern carnivores—the hyenas
and servals—never returned. The land-bridges which had
formerly connected our continent with Africa had disappeared,
and thus the re-advance of the southern forms was effectually
prevented. No such obstacle, however, could stay the migrations
of marine life-forms. The warm ocean-currents flowing from
the south in larger volume than now brought with them many
immigrants to people our northern seas, where the conditions in
our own day no longer favour their increase and dispersion.
Many facts thus conspire to show that the climate of these
early Postglacial times was clement and equable—the strong
winds which now forbid the growth of trees in high latitudes
were then much less prevalent, and plants which are now
relegated to different stations then flourished together in the
same habitats.

Eventually a movement of depression commenced in the far
north, and succeeded ere long in isolating Spitzbergen and Green-
land, and in cutting off the land-connection between Europe and
the Feerde Islands and Iceland. But before the reappearance of
the North Sea Neolithic man had entered Europe and crossed
into Britain.

The genial climate now began to pass away and to be suc-

556 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

ceeded by less clement conditions; while, at the same time, the
British area was gradually insulated. Snow-fields and glaciers
again reappeared in our mountain-regions, and the sea rose upon
our coasts to a height of some 40 or 50 feet above its present
level. At this time Neolithic man frequented our shores, and
harpooned the Greenland whale in our waters. To the same, or
approximately the same, period probably belong the kitchen-
middens of Denmark. The great forests had already decayed
in many places, and were gradually_overgrown with mosses and
converted into boggy wastes, while the elk and the reindeer had
once more descended to the low grounds of Germany. The
climate had then become cold and extremely humid—it was, in
short, a relapse to a kind of modified glacial epoch.

By and by, however, another change ensued. The climate
gradually recovered something of its old genial character, the
local glaciers of the Scottish mountains melted away, and the
forests again began to extend their bounds in temperate Europe.
The boggy wastes became dry and were overgrown by trees
which, in Ireland, Northern England, Scotland, and Scandinavia
appear to have been principally pine. At this period the sea
retired from our coasts, and the land in North-western Europe
attained a somewhat greater extent.

As years rolled on, yet another change took place. The
climate of North-western Europe again became more humid, and
the conditions less suited to the growth of great forests. Wide
areas were by and by displenished, and peat-bogs extended
themselves over the prostrate trees. At the same period the sea
advanced upon the shores of Britain to some 20 or 30 feet, and
upon those of Scania to 10 or 15 feet above its present limits.
It was during this second humid or peat-accumulating epoch
that the use of bronze became known to the tribes occupying
Britain. The introduction of iron followed, geologically speak-
ing, very shortly afterwards. Thus the disappearance of humid
conditions and the retreat of the sea to its present level appear
to have taken place during the so-called Age of Iron.

The changes effected by the hand of man do not come within

CONCLUSION. 557

the scope of this inquiry, nor do I take cognisance of the many
modifications which have been produced by recent volcanic
action, the denuding force of waves and currents, and the growth
of deltas upon the outline of the land within historical times.
All these have conspired to bring about the present climatic and
geographical conditions of our continent; and to so great an
extent is this the case, that it is often extremely hard, or even
impossible, to assign to each factor its proper share in the result
produced. At present we seem to be living in a comparatively
dry epoch—but the appearances that lead to this conclusion
are not improbably due in no small measure to the drainage-
operations of the husbandman.

It will be noted that our knowledge of postglacial climatic
changes is derived chiefly from an examination of the post-
glacial accumulations of North-western Europe. This arises
from the circumstance that such mutations must necessarily
have been most marked in the higher latitudes. Farther to the
south they would become less and less appreciable, just as in
Pleistocene times the contrast between glacial and interglacial
conditions must have been less pronounced in southern than in
northern regions.

Hitherto I have said nothing as to the absolute duration of
the Pleistocene and the Postglacial Periods. The phenomena
described leave us in no doubt that an immense lapse of time
intervened between the appearance and disappearance of Palo-
lithic man, and the changes which took place during the Post-
glacial Period likewise demand considerable time for their
evolution. Within recent years several attempts have been
made to estimate the dates of the Neolithic and later Ages, and
the results obtained are interesting and suggestive. Thus, M.
Morlot has shown that the cone of alluvium and detritus brought
down by the torrent of the Tiniére to the Lake of Geneva at
Villeneuve, and of which an admirable section was exposed in
the railway-cutting, exhibits three distinct and superposed layers
of vegetable soil or old land-surfaces, which are separated from
each other by a variable depth of detritus. The uppermost

558 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

layer contained tiles and a Roman coin; in the second were
found fragments of unglazed pottery, and a pair of bronze
tweezers, while. the third afforded relics which are assigned to
the Neolithic period. Assuming the Roman layer to have an
antiquity of 1600 years, M. Morlot obtains for the Bronze
Period an age of 3800 years, and for the Neolithic period 6400
years, or, in round numbers, 3000 to 4000 years for the former,
and 5000 to 7000 years for the latter. Again, Professor Gilliéron
has endeavoured to compute the time required for silting up the
valley of the Thiéle, up which the Lake of Bienne formerly
extended to the Pont de Thiéle, where an ancient lake-dwelling
has been discovered. Calculating that the lake has retired from
the valley for some 375 métres since the Abbey of St. Jean was
founded about 750 years ago, he concludes that 6750 years at
least have elapsed since the lake reached the spot where the
pile-building occurs. With these conclusions of MM. Morlot
and Gilliéron, the results obtained by M. H. de Ferry in the
valley of the Sadne, between Tournus and Macon, agree suffi-
ciently well, the age assigned by him to certain Neolithic
accumulations being not less than 4383 years,

Interesting and suggestive as these computations undoubtedly
are, they yet do not enable us to form any approximation to the
date of the commencement of the Neolithic Period. Even if we
assume them to be more exact than their authors claim them to
be, still they tell us no more than that Neolithic man was living
in Europe some 5000 or 7000 years ago. It may well be that the
Neolithic phase of civilisation survived down to that time, but
the ancient submerged peat-bogs and submarine forests with
their Neolithic relics can hardly be assigned to so recent a
period. The great geographical and climatic mutations, and the
consequent modifications of fauna and flora which took place in
Postglacial times, demand, as it seems to me, a much longer
time for their accomplishment. But any term of years I might
suggest would be a mere guess; I have written to little purpose,
however, if the phenomena described in preceding chapters have
failed to leave the impression upon the reader that the advent

CONCLUSION. 559

of Neolithic man in Europe must date back far beyond fifty or
seventy centuries.

Although I am not prepared to give a more or less definite
date for the beginning of the Later Prehistoric Period, I am far
from thinking that a greater definiteness will not some day be
attamed. All the chronometers which have hitherto been
appealed to by geologists are somewhat misleading, for we
cannot assume that peat, alluvia, and other strata, have attained
their present thickness at the same rate as they are now accreting,
The climatic changes of the past must lkewise be taken into
our calculations, and the precise effect of these it will always be
a hard matter to compute. But until this is done our results
must be inadequate and incomplete. Whilst readily admitting
that the methods employed by Morlot and others are of the
greatest value, and have given a precision to our conceptions of
the antiquity of archeological periods, which was previously
wanting, I confess: that it is rather to the astronomer and the
physicist than to the geologist that I look for assistance in
ascertaining the more precise chronology we are in search of.
Continued study of Glacial and Postglacial deposits has deepened
my conviction that the theory advanced by my friend and
colleague Dr. Croll contains the secret of the whole matter.
This theory gives an adequate explanation of that great alter-
nation of cold and genial climates which obtained during the
Pleistocene or Glacial Period, and enables us to fix the date of
the Ice Age with as much exactness as we can ever hope to
attain. If it be true, then, that the Pleistocene era corresponded
with the latest period of excessive eccentricity of the earth’s
orbit, it follows that the beginning of the Paleolithic Age
must go back some 200,000 years ago; nor to those who are
adequately acquainted with the vast changes which supervened
during Glacial and Interglacial times will such an antiquity
appear extravagant. On the contrary, many geologists, looking
at the enormous results that accrued from the action of the
denuding forces in the Pleistocene Period, have been inclined to
assign even a higher date to the commencement of the Ice Age.

560 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

The closing phase of that Age was one of extreme glacial
conditions; when it passed away, the Postglacial Period began.
And I think it is a strong confirmation of the correctness of Dr.
Croll’s views that the last cold epoch of the Ice Age was suc-
ceeded by the genial climate which characterised Europe in
early Postglacial times. It might have told somewhat against
the validity of his theory had the great cycle of Glacial and
Interglacial conditions come to a close with a period of such
intense glaciation as that which distinguished the deposition of
the later moraines, upper boulder-clay, and valley-loss. But it
is quite in keeping with that theory that alternations of less
strongly-marked genial and cold conditions should recur in
Postglacial times, when the eccentricity of the earth’s orbit,
although diminishing, was still considerably in excess of what it
is at present. Accordingly, we find that the genial period of
early Postglacial times was succeeded by a relapse to colder
conditions, when local glaciers again made their appearance in
many mountain-valleys of Scotland. The extreme freshness
of the glacial phenomena in those regions, which has often been
referred to as telling against the antiquity of the Glacial Period, |
is thus due to the fact that they belong to Postglacial times.
Whether the later changes of climate and minor oscillations of
the sea-level in North-western Europe are the final effects pro-
duced by diminishing eccentricity, or whether, as Dr. Croll has
suggested, they may have some connection with changes in the
obliquity of the ecliptic, I must leave to be discussed at some
future time. I will only say that the phenomena referred to
can hardly have been produced by mere elevations and depres-
sions of the land, but are much more likely to owe their origin
to cosmical causes. Should this eventually prove to be the
case, we shall thereby acquire a more exact date for the later
Prehistoric Ages than we are ever likely to obtain by any of
the various ingenious methods of computation which have been
devised by geologists.

Thus, although I have drawn a line of demarcation between
the Pleistocene and the Postglacial periods, they must yet be

CONCLUSION. 561

looked upon as parts of one and the same great cycle. We note,
as we advance from Pliocene times, how the climatic conditions
of the colder epochs of the Glacial Period increase in severity
until they culminate with the appearance of that great northern
mer de glace which overwhelmed all Northern Europe, and
reached as far south as the 50th parallel of latitude in Saxony.
Thereafter the glacial epochs decline in importance until in the
Postglacial period they cease to return. The genial climate of
Interglacial ages probably also attained a maximum towards the
middle of the Pleistocene Period, and afterwards became less
genial at successive stages, the temperate and equable condi-
tions of early Postglacial times being probably the latest
manifestation of the Interglacial phase. The Ice Age, there-
fore, cannot be considered as a prolonged and uninterrupted
period of glaciation, separating, as by an impassable barrier, one
geological horizon from another. Ever and anon the character-
istic glacial conditions vanished, and a mild and genial climate
succeeded, thus giving rise, again and again, to great migrations
and numerous extinctions and modifications of species, and to
the present peculiar distribution of fauna and flora. It was
probably by similar means that species were dispersed and
modified at much more distant epochs in the world’s history ;
and if it be true that the greater changes of climate of which
this volume treats were brought about by astronomical and
physical causes, then we cannot doubt that the same causes
must have been in operation at different and widely separated
periods in the past. Already many indications that such was
the case have been noted, and more particularly, as might have
been expected, in the Tertiary formations. Within the past few
years the late Signor Gastaldi’s view that the great erratics of
the Miocene of the Moncalieri-Valenza hills, near Turin, are of
glacial origin, has been extended to various other regions of
Europe ;* and that such observations will continue to multiply as

1See Jules Martins: Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 2° Sér. t. xix. pp. 153, 450;
3° Sér. t. 1. p. 890; t. ii. p. 269; Observations sur divers produits d'origine gla-
ciaire en Bourgogne, Paris, 1873. The phenomena described by M. Martins have
been otherwise explained by M. Delafond (Bull. Soc. Géol. France, 3° Sér. t. iv.

562 PREHISTORIC EUROPE.

our knowledge increases may be confidently expected. Nor is it
a too sanguine hope that the time will yet come when geologists
shall attempt to measure off the zons of the past, and assign to
each formation its approximate antiquity. Guided by the
astronomer and the physicist, they may yet penetrate mysteries
which at present appear inscrutable, and be enabled to follow
with a clearer and steadier gaze the working of the Divine
. Creator in ages so remote that, compared with them, the Glacial
Period of which I have been speaking seems of no earlier date
than yesterday.

p- 665) ; M. Arcelin (Les formations tertiaires et quaternaires des environs de
Macon, Ann. de l’Acad. de Macon, 1877); and M. A. Falsan (Note sur Vorigine
de Vargile a silex des environs de Macon et de Chalon, 1878). For further notices
of Tertiary erratic or boulder formations, see Stuart Menteath, Bull. Soc. Géol.
France, 2° Sér. t. xxv. p. 695; Collomb, Jbid., t. xxvii. p. 559; Tardy, Ibid.,
t. xxix. pp. 541, 547 ; 3° Sér. t. iv. p. 184; Roujou, Congres intern. d’ Anthrop. et
@ Archéol.- Préh. (1871) p. 86; R. v. Drasche, Jahrb. der k.-k. geol. Reichsanst.,
Bd. xxix. p. 112 ; Mantovini, Boll. Com. Geol. Italia, 1878, p. 443.

Go bo

ID Op

. Newer Pliocene
. Older Pliocene

. Lower Miocene (includes

. Chloritic Series
. Gault

. Neocomian

. Wealden F
. Purbeck Beds

. Portland Stone
. Kimeridge Clay
. Coral Rag

. Oxford Clay .
. Inferior Oolite

}

- White halk | | |
pes '

APPENDIX.

———

Note A.

TABLE OF SEDIMENTARY FORMATIONS.

. Recent .
. Postglacial
. Pleistocene or Quaternary POST-TERTIARY.

(includes Glacial forma-

oe TERTIARY

PLIOCENE.

Upper Miocene on

most of Brown Coal > MIOCENE.
formation of Germany

= Oligocene of Beyrich) FE NOZ OTs

. Upper Hovene

. Middle Kocene

. Lower Eocene

. Maestricht Beds ane Faxt

EOCENE.

CRETACEOUS.

SECONDARY

JURASSIC.

MESOZOIC.

. Lias 4

. Rheetic or Penarth Beds.”
. Keuper .

, Musehelizalle

. Bunter Sandstein

TRIASSIC.

564 APPENDIX.

28. Permian : : . PERMIAN.
29. Coal-measures
30. Carboniferous agnestone.

31. Lower Limestone Shale, ee PRIMARY
ete: ei
32. Devonian Beds a. Ola DEVONIAN & OLD OR
Red Sandstone . . RED SANDSTONE.
33. Upper Silurian SILURIAN. PALAOZOIC.
34. Lower Silurian :
35. Cambrian z : . CAMBRIAN.
36. Fundamental Gneiss . LAURENTIAN.
Norte B.

PLATE D.—Map or Evropr AT THE CLIMAX OF THE
Ick AGE.

THIs map shows the centres of local glaciation, and the area covered by
the northern mer de glace at the climax of the Glacial Period. For the
line indicating the southern limits reached by this ice-sheet I have taken
the boundary of the “ Northern Drift and Erratics,” as defined by Murchi-
son and his colleagues, with a few modifications adopted from the map of
“Europa waihrend der beiden Eiszeiten,” by H. Habenicht (Petermann’s
Geographische Mittheilungen, 1878). The thin red lines are intended to
represent the principal directions followed by the superficial strata of the
mer de glace. These, as a rule, corresponded with the trend of the lower
strata also, but now and again, owing to the form of the ground and other
causes, the ice at the bottom was impelled out of the course pursued by
the strata at a higher level. I have given in the text (p. 203) an exaniple
—the long red arrows that radiate from Christianiafjord being the inferred
directions followed by certain erratics derived from that region.

Mention has been made of the fact that Scandinavian erratics occur
in the boulder-clay of Saxony, and since this last is a true moraine profonde,
it follows that the erraties in question must have been dragged over the
bed of the Baltic and across the low grounds of Germany before they
could have reached their present position. Again, at Lyck in East Prus-
sia, at Trebnitz and Steinau in Silesia, at Meseritz in Posen, and at Ber-
lin, we find fragments of Silurian rocks which are recognised as having
come from the island of Gottland in the Baltic. All these might quite
well have been rolled forward under one and the same ice-sheet, but how
are we to account for the presence in the boulder-clay of Gréningen in
Holland of boulders of the same rocks? It is evident that hese last
must have come down the basin of the Baltic and crossed the route fol-
lowed by the others nearly at right angles. Nor are these cases altogether
exceptional, for we learn that erratics “from Esthonia have been detected
in boulder-clay at Hamburg, and that fragments derived from the island
of Oland are met with in the till of Faxé in Denmark. The probable
routes followed by these erratics are indicated by the long continuous blue

PLATE D.
To facepage 564.

MAP OF EUROPE
Showing extent of
THE GLACIATED AREAS
at the climax of 2
THE ICH AGE

/ Anat | el
iva MAR ay
trae ANA

MAP OF EUROPE
Showing extent of
THE GLACIATED AREAS
aL the climax of
THE ICK AGE

Landon; Edward Suusford,65, Charing Cross, SW

APPENDIX. 565

arrows, while the interrupted blue arrows show the course taken by the
Gottland boulders that went to south-east and south. It is hardly
possible that all these erratics could have been transported by one and the
same ice-flow ; they are more likely, as Mr. Helland has remarked, to
have travelled at different times. When the mer de glace attained its
maximum development we know that it reached down to Silesia and
Saxony, and at that time the stones carried forward with the moraine
profonde from the Baltic provinces of Russia would spread towards 8.E., S.,
and §.S.W. In like manner boulders from Gottland would have a tend-
ency to moye to SS.E., 8. and S.W. But when the mer de glace had
become much reduced, and no longer flowed so far south, the lower strata
of the ice in the Baltic would be to a great extent confined to that hollow,
and hence the bottom-moraine would tend to be pressed and rolled for-
ward down the trough towards the Kattegat and the North Sea. In this
manner fragments detached from the rocks of Esthonia and the islands in
the Baltic might well come to be scattered through the drift deposits of
Hamburg, Gréningen, and Denmark. And that this is not a mere un-
supported conjecture is shown by the fact that the striz in Gottland, in
the southern extremity of Sweden, and in Zealand, clearly evince that the
ice has flowed in different directions. Thus in Gottland most of the striz
point to S.W., but another set of glacial groovings goes towards S. and
S.S.E. In the south of Sweden, again, while one series of striz indicates
a glaciation in an approximately southern direction, another set proves an
ice-flow towards S.W. At Faxé the direction varies from N.W. to W. and
S.W.

But even at the period of maximum glaciation, considerable oscilla-
tions in the direction of the mer de glace may have been induced by varia-
tions in the thickness of the ice itself. If the precipitation of snow were
to become abnormally great in some particular region, so as to give rise
to a local thickening of the ice-sheet, this of itself would tend to modify
the direction of the ice-flow, and so bring about a corresponding modifica-
tion in the trend of the stones and rubbish travelling forward at the
bottom. And such local changes, being repeated at different times and in
different areas, might eventually give rise to some of the cases of abnormal
distribution of erratic blocks referred to above. But oscillations of this
kind are not required to account for the fact that rock-fragments, detached
from some particular district of small extent, are often distributed over a
very much wider area to the south. A glance at the map will show that
the mer de glace, as it flowed on towards its terminal line, gradually spread
itself over a wider and wider area. And this being so, the same must
have been the case with its bottom-moraine. It is not surprising, there-
fore, that stones derived from Gottland should have been distributed by
one and the same ice-sheet over a considerable area to §.,8.W., and S.E. of
that island.

There is yet another cause which may have played no unimportant
part in the distribution of erratics under the ice-sheet. I have endea-
voured to show (see page 239) that subglacial rivers must have existed, and
that these in Northern Germany would follow the general slope of the
land, and would thus often flow in directions opposed to the course of the
mer de glace. We can hardly doubt that quantities of morainic débris

566 APPENDIX.

would find their way into such subglacial streams, and thus stones, and
even boulders of some size, might come to be carried often for long dis-
tances out of the route they had followed when imprisoned in the moraine
profonde. Indeed, it is quite possible that now and then portions of the
ice itself, charged with rock-fragments, might fall into subglacial waters
and travel many miles in the most contrary directions. We have now
only further to conceive some change taking place in the course of the
subglacial channels—caused probably by modifications in the ice-flow
overhead—when the bed of the subglacial river would be invaded and its
detritus become commingled with the unmodified drift or boulder-clay of
the moraine profonde. In this manner erratics from widely-separated dis-
tricts might occasionally become mixed up in one and the same subglacial
accumulation.

But the most potent cause of all remains to be mentioned. It has
been shown that the direction pursued by the ice in the basin of the
Baltic was different at different periods. When the mer de glace reached
down to Saxony and Silesia, boulders and smaller stones, derived from
Sweden, were dragged over the bed of the Baltic, and carried south to the
farthest limits reached by the ice-flow. But when the mer de glace was on
the wane, and had melted away over a large part of Germany, the ice in
the Baltic basin followed the direction of that trough towards the south-
west. Now, as we have seen, the great mer de glace invaded the low
grounds of Germany three times at least. And these epochs of glaciation
were separated by long intervals of milder conditions, during which the
ice disappeared, and left the land to be reclothed and repeopled by plants
and animals. With each successive advance and retreat of the ice, there-
fore, fresh accumulations of boulder-clay would be formed, but we cannot
doubt that the moraine profonde would in many places consist to some
extent of the rearranged morainic materials which had been left behind
during the disappearance of each preceding mer de glace. The modifica-
tions which must have been brought about by this means are more than
sufficient to account for all the abnormal cases of “erratic distribution”
which have been referred to. Indeed, the wonder is that these are not
more numerous than they appear to be. It is highly probable that, when
the work of correlating the various boulder-clays of Germany and the
adjacent regions has been worked out in detail, it will be possible to map
out the area covered by the ice-sheet during each separate glacial epoch,
and not only so, but to determine approximately the prevailing directions
followed by the separate ice-flows. Already, indeed, it has been observed
that the upper and lower boulder-clays of one and the same place often
contain very different percentages of stones and boulders. Thus, accord-
ing to Harting, the upper boulder-clay in the island of Urk contains only
22 per cent of flints, while the lower dark-gray till shows 38°5 per cent.

I have made special reference to these cases of abnormal distribution 2
of which I have been speaking, because they have been held by some as

1 Mr. Helland has given an interesting and useful summary of a number of the
more remarkable examples in his very able paper descriptive of the glacial deposits
of the low grounds of Northern Europe (Zeitschr. der deutsch. geol. Ges., 1879, p.
63), to which, and to Dr. Penck’s paper (Op. cit. p. 117), I would refer the reader
for a much fuller discussion of the subject than I can enter upon in this place.

APPENDIX. 567

tending to prove the improbability of the boulder-clays of Northern Ger-
many, etc., having been accumulated and distributed underneath a mer
de glace. To me they appear to tell a very different tale, and are just
such as one might have expected to meet with. In spite of these excep-
tions, which are comparatively rare, the distribution of the great mass of
stones in the boulder-clays that occur towards the southern margin of the
Northern Drift indicates that during the climax of the Ice Age, when the
mer de glace attained its greatest development, it flowed in the general
directions shown upon the map. The boulder-clays of Northern Germany,
etc., like those of other countries, are composed in large measure of the
débris of local rocks. They always, in short, reflect the character of the
strata upon which, or to the immediate south of which, they lie. More-
over, commingled with débris of such local origin, fragments derived from
greater distances to the north are invariably present, in less or greater
abundance. In a word, the phenomena of the German boulder-clays are
the exact counterpart of the appearances presented by the boulder-clays
of Northern Italy, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Finland, and the British
Islands.

For the termination of the ice-sheet west of the British Islands I have
taken the line of 100 fathoms, as indicated upon the Admiralty’s charts,
but I have followed my friend Mr. Helland in drawing the line off the west
coast of Norway in deeper water Of course these boundaries are only
conjectural. We cannot tell how far the ice-sheet flowed out into the
Atlantic, because we do not know whether the land stood then at a lower
or higher level than it does now. We may safely say, however, that
with the sea at or about its present depth, the Scottish ice, which over-
flowed the Outer Hebrides, could hardly have reached beyond the line of
100 fathoms. But it may well be that the ice streaming out from Nor-
way was massive enough to advance considerably farther into the bed of
the Atlantic.

The direction and extent of the glaciation of the Ferée Islands were
determined by Mr. Helland? and myself.3 The ice which covered those
islands formed one compact nappe, which flowed outwards in all direc-
tions, and, with the sea at its present depth, must have extended as far
from the coast as the 100-fathoms line of soundings. The marks of
glacial abrasion were traced up to a height of 1600 feet, and as the fiords
are here and there 100 fathoms deep, we must add this to the other
measurement to get the maximum thickness of the ice (2200 feet) that
flowed out from the islands.

It is most likely that when the glacial phenomena of Iceland come to
be better known, we shall find that this island also has supported an ice-
sheet, which would flow outwards upon the bed of the sea in the same
manner as the local and independent ice-cap of the Ferées. I have, how-
ever, simply coloured the area of Iceland green, like the local centres of
glaciation in Central and Southern Europe.

1 Zeitschr. der deutsch. geol. Ges., 1879, p. 716. 2 Op. et loc. cit.
3 Proc. Royal Soc. Edin., 1880, p. 495.

568 APPENDIX.

NOTE C.

PLATE E.—Evrope In EarLy PosTGLAciAL TIMES
(First AGE oF FORESTS).

THis map shows the probable extent of land that obtained in early
Postglacial times when the climate was mild and genial, and the Ferée
Islands and Iceland received their floras from the European mainland.
Of course the line given for the land extending from the Ferée Islands to
Iceland is conjectural. The soundings upon the charts are few in number
and wide apart, and, doubtless, the coast would be much more irregular
than is here indicated. For the coast of the mainland from Spain to St.
Kilda I have followed the line of 100 fathoms, and from St. Kilda north-
wards that of 500 fathoms, which is also that of the Icelandic area. I
have endeavoured to show that before this great extension of land took
place there had been a considerable increase in the volume of warm water
flowing from the South into the Northern Ocean, accompanied by the
immigration of many southern forms of life into the Norwegian Seas. An
elevation of the land and consequent retreat of the sea afterwards super-
vened, as may be inferred from the fact that the Ferée Islands, Iceland,
and even Greenland, have received their floras from Europe ; and the
immigration of those floras necessitates the existence of a continuous, or
nearly continuous, land-connection.

The larger depressions of the Gulf of Bothnia, the Baltic, the deep
trough between Denmark and Norway, the long hollow in the bed of the
Trish Sea, and some of the deep excavations in the sea-bottom between
the Hebrides and the Scottish mainland, are represented as freshwater
lakes. The rivers shown upon the now submerged areas follow the lines
of deeper soundings.

PLATE E.

To face page 568.

in early Postglacial Times

(First Age of Forests) |

eve

=
Stanfordis Geog" Estab® London.

PLATE

~ E
To Face pays 568

EoA
Noh Cape

—~«EUROPE
| in early Postglacial Times
\ (First Age of Forests)

London, Edwan! Stanford. 55. Charing Cross SW.

40.

Ss og eed Lain,

INDEX.

—

AAR glacier, volume of water discharged
from, 231 ; mud in water flowing from,
232.

Aberaeron, submarine forest at, 431.

ABICH on ancient glaciers of Caucasus,
214,

Abruzzi, travertine of the, 56.

Acer campestre, 47, 49; A. monspessula-
num, 49; A. opulifolium, 48, 49, 51,
52; A. pseudo-platanus, 50, 51, 53,
299, 305; A. tribulatum, 309.

Acteon, 502.

Acy, D’, on origin of French Zimon, 165.

Apams, Leith, on breccias, etc., of Malta,
219, 327; on mammals of Ireland,
512.

ApuiMAR on rise of sea-level, 525.

Adimonia, 54.

Admiralty’s charts of Mediterranean,
337.

Adrara, silted-up lake in valley of, 304.

Aisculus hippocastanum, 309.

African elephant, 27, 32.

AGARDH cited, 497.

Agassiz, L., cited, 173, 176, 190, 197,
206.

Age of forests, 393, 455, 530, 537.

Agonum gracile, 54.

Ain, interglacial deposits in valley of the,
321.

Ajuga chamepitys, 510.

Alactaga jaculus, 62, 149.

Albert, peat of, 480.

Alca impennis, 367.

Alder, 54, 420, 432, 436, 448, 480, 487,
494,

Aleppo pine, 48.

Algeria, raised-beaches of, 355.

Allagnon, moraines in valley of, 211.

Allier, interglacial deposits in valley of
the, 318.

Alluvia, English postglacial, 455,

» of Continent, 495.
» Telative position of Pleistocene
and postglacial, 455, 495.

Alluvia, remains of Paleolithic man in,
22.
», Scottish postglacial and recent,
407, 425.
Alnus glutinosa, 49, 487.
Alpine hare, 32.
Alps, extent of glaciation on north side
of, 208.
Altai pouched marmot, 62.
Amber in bed of the Elbe, 477.
Anodonte, 299.
Ancylus fluviatilis, 470.
Androsace septentrionalis, 518.
Andromeda polifolia, 493.
Angermiinde, freshwater clay at, 492.
Anglesey, glaciation of, 191.
Angular débris of last glacial epoch, 352.
Antilocapra rupicapra, range of, 31.
Antiquities, prehistoric, 5; classification
of, 6; relative age of, how ascertained,

(See Alder. )

Apennines, range of beech in, 47 ; ancient
glaciers of, 213.

Aporrhais pes-pelicani, 468.

Apuan Alps, glaciation of, 213.

Arbor vite, 46.

Arbroath, raised-beaches near, 418.

Arcachon, submerged trees at, 481.

Arca raridentata, var. major, 467.

Archeological periods, 5.

ARCHIAC, D’, cited, 65.

Arctic-alpine plants, in peat of Switzer-
land, 54; migrations of, towards close
of Glacial Period, 352 ; in English post-
glacial deposits, 456; below Danish
peat bogs, 485; in clay below Swedish
bogs, 491 ; below peat of Mecklenburg,
492; below peat of Bavaria, 493; in
peat of Champagne, 493.

Arctic flora, in Pleistocene peat-bogs, 55,
262 ; in glacial beds, 262, 335; retreat
of, in postglacial times, 505.

Arctic forests, 35.

Arctic fox, 27, 30, 32, 42, 55.

Arctic willow. (See Salix polaris.)

57°

Arctomys bobac, 62, 149; A. marmotia,
range of, 30.

Arctostaphylos alpinus, 353; A. uva-
urst, 456.

ARENDs cited, 479.

Arezzo, human remains in Pleistocene
deposits near, 22.

Argelés, glacier of, 212.

Ariége, Neolithic cave-relics of, 377.

Arno valley, human remains in Pleistocene
deposits of, 22.

Arvicola amphibius, 149; A. gregalis,
149; A. nivalis, 30; A. ratticeps, 62,
149; A. sp., 309.

As, sar, 469, 470.

Ash, 50, 51, 320, 420, 432, 487.

Aspen, 469, 485.

Asturian flora, 508.

Atlas, moraines of the, 215.

Aubrac, ancient glaciers of, 211.

Aurillac, worked flint from Miocene of,
345.

Aurochs, 31, 103. (See Bison.)

Auvergne, glaciation of, 211.

Auzon valley, moraines in, 211.

Aveluy, peat of, 480.

Aygalades, tufa of, 49.

Ayrshire, raised-beaches of, 418.

Azalea procumbens, 353.

Azores, erratics in the, 214.

Bapcer, 87, 91, 97, 103, 107, 108, 480,
493.

Baglia Orba, ancient glacier of, 213.

Balenotus, 343.

Balanus, 284.

Balene-whale, 480.

Ballantrae, rock-terraces at, 275.

BALL on flora of the Atlas, 353; cited,
215.

Ballyalbanagh, human relics in peat-bog
of, 462.

Baltic Sea, occupied by glacier-ice, 196 ;
condition of, in interglacial times, 340;
postglacial deposits on Swedish shores
of, 468 ; freshwater terraces in islands
of, 470; fish-fauna of, 471; depres-
sion in northern regions of, 471; er-
ratics carried by floating ice in, 472;
peat on Prussian shores of, 476.

Binderthone, 284.

Barbary, raised-beaches of, 355.

Barnstaple, submerged forest at, 431.

BaRROIs on erratic conglomerate of Ker-
guillé, 226.

Barrows or tumuli, 375.

Barsebick, raised-beach at, 475.

Bastekille, arctic plants in peat of, 491.

Baumannshohle, 112.

Bavaria, peat of, 55, 493.

Bay of Fresnaye, submerged forest of,
481.

Bay of St. Anne, submerged forest of, 481.

INDEX.

Bear, 24, 25, 62, 87, 91, 1388, 151.

Bear Island, 335.

Beaumont, Elie de, on origin of ‘‘er-
ratic ”’ phenomena, 173.

Beaver, 31, 32, 108, 262, 367, 373, 427,
449, 456, 480, 494.

Beech, 47, 49, 53, 436, 487.

Beech forests of Denmark, 487.

BELCHER, Sir E., on vegetable remains on
shores of Wellington Channel, 516.

Belfast Lough, Neolithic implements in
shell-beds on shores of, 461.

Belgae, 376.

Belgian Caves. (See Caves.)

Belgium, peat on coast of, 479.

BELT on origin of loss, 162.

Bembidium nitidulum, 54; B. obtusum,
54.

Benghisa Gap, section of deposits in,
328.

BENNIE cited, 256. 5

BENNIGSEN-F ORDER cited, 159.

Benorr cited, 209.

BERENDT on glacial phenomena of North
Germany, 198, 277; on boring near
Schwielow-See, 280; on shell-beds be-
tween boulder-clays, 281.

Berlin, glacial deposits near, 284.

BERNHARDI, A.,'on invasion of Germany
by polar ice, 197.

Berwickshire, till of, 183.

Betula alba, 55, 299, 456, 492, 493;
B. nana, 55, 456, 485, 492, 493, 497;
B. prisca, 46; B. pubescens, 54, 152,
494; B. verrucosa, 487.

BEYRICH cited, 283.

Bry, Pruner, cited, 21.

Biarritz, submerged trees near, 481.

Bideford Bay, submerged forest of, 431.

Bigbury Bay, submerged forest of, 431.

Biaty Dunajee, ancient glacier of, 210.

Bielshohle, 112.

Binney cited, 190.

Birch, 54, 420, 482, 448, 488, 494.

Bird-remains, in Danish kitchen-middens,
367; in Swiss lake-dwellings, 373 ;
in Flemish peat, 480; in peat of
Champagne, 494.

Birsthal, interglacial deposits of the,
302.

Bison, 32, 40, 134, 373, 456.

Bison priscus, 62, 150.

Bithynia tentaculata, 280, 475.

BiscHorF cited, 242.

Black alder, 302.

Black-earth of Russia, 157 ; distribution
and extent of, 157 ; analyses of, 158 ;
Murchison on, 158 ; origin of, 241.

Black-Forest, ancient glaciers of, 210;
two glacial epochs in, 321.

Blackpool, submerged forest at, 431.

Blankenese, trees in bed of Elbe, near,

477.

INDEX.

Blaubeuern Cave,
pottery from, 18.

BiEAv’s Atlas cited, 425.

BLOMSTRAND, M., cited, 497.

Blue fox, 107, 108.

Buytt, A., cited, 421; on succession of
changes evinced by peat and buried
trees in Norway, 488; on rate of
growth of Norwegian peat, 489; on
absence of arctic-alpine plants under
Norwegian peat-bogs, 505 ; on distribu-
tion of plants in Norway, 515; on wet
and dry periods in postglacial times,
527, 530; on successive forest-growths
in Norway, 528.

BodGe, range of temperature at, 35.

Bog-bean, 302.

Bog-whortleberry, 302.

Bohuslin, marine fauna of, 467.

Bois de la Batie, interglacial beds at,
301.

Bott cited, 201.

Bonaria, breccia of, 65.

Bone implements, 13.

Bones, carried into caves, etc., by running
water, 95.

Bordeaux, range of temperature at, 39.

Boring near Schwielow-See, 280.

Boruasé cited, 223.

Bornholm, submerged peat of, 476.

Bos etruscus, 317; B. longifrons, 404,
426, 447, 449, 456, 463 (see also Ox) ;
B. primigenius, 62, 97, 284, 299 (see
also Urus) ; B. priscus, 150; B. tau-
rus, 494.

Bovuk, Ami, on human remains in Rhenish
léss, 22; cited, 151.

Boulder-clay. (See Till.)

Bouquetin, 108.

Bourgeois, Abbé, on worked flints of St.
Prest, 343; on Miocene implements,
345.

Bourauienat cited, 151.

Box, 50, 53, 320.

Brachycephali of Bronze Age, 376.

Bracklesham, submerged forest at, 431.

Brancaster Bay, submerged forests at, 450.

Brandon, interglacial beds of, 263..

BRANDT cited, 29.

Bravy, A., cited, 237.

BRAVARD cited, 318.

Break between Paleolithic and Neolithic
Periods, 28, 120, 554.

Breccia and Blocks, in caves, 85; how
accumulated, 85 ; in Brixham Cave, 86 ;
in Kent’s Cave, 91; of Corsica, 64; of
Sardinia, 65; origin of, 215, 218; of
Gibraltar, 325, 327.

Brentford, Pleistocene deposits of, 125,
138.

Brick-earth, origin of, 130.

reputed Paleolithic } Bridlington, interglacial beds near, 264.

Bristol Channel, occupied by glacier-ice
192 ; submerged forests of, 431.

Britain, continental condition of, during
last interglacial epoch, 266; submer-
gence of, near close of last interglacial
epoch, 266; condition of, during ad-
vance and retreat of last ice-sheet, 267 ;
connection of, with Continent in early
postglacial times, 507, 509; insulation
of, in postglacial period, 524.

British area, geographical condition of, in
Paleolithic times, 339.

Brittany, erratics in England derived from,
226 ; traces of glaciation in, 227 ; sub-
merged forests of, 481.

Brittle willow, 50.

Brixham Cave, 3; deposits in, 86 ; not
occupied in Post-pleistocene times, 119.

Broadheads, Neolithic, 376.

Broca cited, 21.

Brockdorf (Holstein),
marine peat at, 478.

Bronze Age, 6, 7, 8; in Switzerland, 374 ;
in Britain, 375; in Scotland, 428 ; in
Treland, 463; in Denmark, 487 ; geo-
logical date of commencement of, 537.

Broughty Ferry, submerged peat at, 390.

Brown bear, 29, 32, 87, 97, 107, 108, 449,
456.

Bruuns cited, 200.

Buccinum grenlandicum, 467 ; B. hum-
phreysianum, 502; B. wndatum, 277,
334, 399, 467.

Buckuanp cited, 77, 94, 174, 190.

Bulimus montanus, 57, 59; B. obscurus,
155.

Bulla, 284.

Buried forests of Tay and Earn, 386, 390 ;
of Scotland, 419, 422; of Lancashire,
434; of Cornwall, 438; of Fenland,
448 ; of Ireland, 461.

Busk, list of mammalia i in Brea eral Cave,
87.

Bute, glaciation of, 178.

Buxus sempervirens, 49, 50, 538, 3805.
(See also Box.)

Buzzard, 480.

thickness of sub-

CacHALot, 480.

Cecilianella acicula, 238.

Cecum glabrum, 467.

Caermarthen Bay, submerged forest of,
431.

Caffer-cat, 25, 26, 32, 43.

Cagliari, breccia near, 65.

Cairndoon, raised-beach at, 418.

Caithness, shelly till of, 188, 267.

Caledonian bull, 427.

Callista convexa, 502, 503.

BRICKENDEN on glacial phenomena at | Calvados, submerged forests and peat of,

Linksfield quarry, 185.

481.

572 INDEX.

Camischollas, interglacial and glacial de-
posits at, 298.

CAMPBELL, J. F., cited, 190.

Campanula glomerata, 510.

Canary Islands, range of laurel in, 46.

Canary laurel, 46, 47, 50.

Canis lagopus, 30.

Cannibalism, no trace of, in Paleolithic
accumulations, 22 ; supposed evidence
of, in Neolithic times, 377.

Canoes in Scottish postglacial deposits,
392,399 ; in Fenland deposits, 449.

“* Canstadt race,” 23.

Canstadt, tufa of, 46, 53, 59.

Cantabrian Mts., ancient glaciers of, 212.

Cantal, glacial remains of, 211 ; mammoth-
remains in, 320.

Cape La Hougue, submarine trees near,
481.

CAPELLINI discovers remains of pigmy
hippopotamus at Spezia, 114; on cut
bones in Italian Pliocene, 343; cited,
346.

Capereailzie, 367.

Capra ibex, 30; C. pyrenaicus, 30.

Cardigan, submerged forest of, 431.

Cardium edule, 277, 281, 284, 399, 434,
440, 441, 469, 475; C. elegantulum,
466.

Carlingford Bay, Neolithic implements in
shelly deposits at, 461,

Carne cited, 440.

Carnoustie, raised-beach at, 418.

Carpathians, glaciation of the, 210.

Carpinus betulus, 52.

Carse-clay of Tay valley, 394 ; erratics in,
395 ; conditions of deposition of, 396 ;
area of, 397.

Carse-deposits merge inland into river-
gravels, 394, 401.

Carse of Falkirk and Stirling, 383, 399.

Carse of Gowrie, 383, 386.

Carvings, Paleolithic, 13.

Carychium minimum, 302.

Casco Bay, southern colonies in, 503.

Castelnau, tufa of, 45.

Castor ewropeus, 309.

Castro, gorge of, 305.

Caucasus, ancient glaciers of the, 214.

Cave-bear, 62, 87, 103, 107, 108, 111,
134, 147, 151, 261, 262, 321.

Cave-bear epoch, 112.

Cave-deposits of Pleistocene Period, 69,
90, 105.

Cave-earth, 84, 87, 91, 97.

Cave-hyzna, 62, 87.

Cave-lion, 87, 91, 108, 107, 108, 113,
134, 151, 325.

Cave of Santa Teresa, 114.

Caves, formation of, 69; varieties of, 70;
age of, 72; absence of Pliocene deposits
in, 73; destruction of deposits in, 74 ;
floor-accumulations in, 75; contempo-

raneity of man and extinct mammalia
of, 77 ; Neolithic accumulations in, 377.

Caves of Belgium, 100; general succes-
sion of beds in, 100; fluviatile deposits
in, 101; break between Paleolithic and
Neolithic deposits in, 120.

Caves of France, 110; Valliéres, 110;
Grotte des Fées, 110; Pontit, 111;
Moustier, 111; Massat, 111; La Vache,
111; Bruniquel, 111; Eyzies, 112;
Laugerie, 112; La Madelaine, 112;
Gourdan, 112; Duruthy, 112; Sarten-
ette, 112; La Salpétriére, 112; Boui-
chéta, 323 ; Sorde, 552.

Caves of Germany (Gailenruth, Muggen-
dorf, Baumannshohle, Bielshohle), 112.

Caves of Southern Europe (Gibraltar,
Mentone, Sicily, Malta), 114.

Caves of Switzerland (Kesserloch, Veyrier),
112.

Celtz of Bronze Age, 376.

Celtis australis, 47, 49.

Cembran pine, 56.

Central France, volcanoes of, 320.

Ceppo, origin of, 316.

Cercis siliquastrum, 47, 49, 50.

Cervus sp., 309; C. alces, 299, 427; C.
dama gigantea, 150; C. dicranios,
317, 336; C. elaphus, 299; C. mega-
ceros, 318, 427, 436, 512; C. pectinatus,
318; C. polignacus, 262, 336; C.
tarandus, 29, 36, 62, 87. (Sce also
Elk, Irish deer, Red-deer, Reindeer,
Roebuck. )

Chalky boulder-clay of East Anglia, 194.

CHAMBERS, Robert, cited, 174, 411, 519.

Chambéry, interglacial beds of, 303.

Chamois, 31, 32, 103, 107, 108.

Champagne, peat of, 493.

Channel Islands, submarine trees of, 482.

CHANTRE cited, 208. .

Chara, 425, 485.

Charnwood Forest, glaciation of, 268.

CHARPENTIER cited, 207.

Chenopus pes-pelicani, 284.

Cherbourg, submarine forest near, 481.

Chert implements, Paleolithic, 12.

Cheshire, glaciation of, 189, 192; lower
boulder clay of, 265; submerged forests
of, 431, 432, 452.

Cheviots, local moraines of, 413.

Chiampo Cave, reputed Paleolithic pottery
in, 18.

China, loss of, 165.

Chondrula tridens, 61, 238.

CHOUQUET cited, 50.

Christianiafjord, erratics from, in Jederen,
England, Denmark, Holland, etc., 203,
204.

CHRISTOL cited, 77.

Curisty, H., cited, 42.

Cionella lubrica, 61, 238.

Classification of cave-relics, 15.

—————— a

INDEX.

Clausilia dubia, 57,61; C. Kusteri, 645
C. laminata, 57, 61; C. parvula, 57,
61.

Clay-with-flints, origin of, 220.

Clematis, 47.

Clematis flammula, 49; C. vitalba, 50.

Clermont-Ferrand, ancient moraines near,
210.

Cleveland, Ohio, interglacial beds near,
294.

Climate, changes of, independent of
changes in relative level of land and
sea, 521; Dr. Croll’s theory of, 521.

Climate of Pleistocene Period, 25, 44;
changes of, 39, 40, 331, 540; genial,
653 arctic, 67.

Climate of postglacial period, 514, 526,
627, 529, 554, 555.

Climatic and geographical conditions of
Pleistocene Period, 331 ; of postglacial
and recent period, 499.

Clonea, near Dungarvan, submarine peat
of, 460.

CtosE, Rev. M., cited, 190.

Clupea harrengus, var. membras, 471.

Clyde, late glacial marine beds of the,
270 ; river alluvia of valley of the, 410.

Coccui cited, 22; discovers glacial mor-
aines in Apuan Alps, 213.

Cod, 367.

Copprineton, T., cited, 341.

CocEzs, P., on borings in Belgium, 507.

ComLEGNO, De, on glacial phenomena of
Pyrenees, 173.

CoLLENOT cited, 211.

Cottomp, E., cited, 210, 212; on ancient
glaciers of Corsica, 213 ; on volume of
water discharged from glaciers of Ice
Age, 231; on two glacial epochs in the
Vosges, 322; on glacier of Argelés,
322.

Colonsay, glaciation of, 178;
beaches of, 418.

Common dogwood, 302.

Common maple, 47.

Como, morainic deposits near, 324.

Conditions of life, in Paleolithic times, 17 ;
during formation of Danish shell-
mounds, 368.

Conglomerate of Leffe, origin of, 310.

Contemporaneity of man and extinct
mammalia, 77.

Contentin, submarine forests of, 481.

Continental condition of Britain in early
postglacial times, 507.

Contorted beds of Glacial Period, 279.
(See Till.)

Coot, 373.

Copper implements, rare, 7.

Corbula gibba, 469.

Cornelian Bay, Scandinavian erratics at,
192.

Corinth, Isthmus, raised-beaches of, 355.

raised-

573

Cornus sanguinea, 49, 53.

Cornwall, submerged forests of, 431;
raised - beaches and submerged forests
of, 437, 452.

Correlation of English postglacial de-
posits, 451.

Corsica, breccias of, 64; glaciers of, 213;
depression of, in glacial times, 355.

Corylus avellana, 49, 50, 52, 53, 299,
309. (See also Hazel.)

Cossieny, De, on clay-with-flints of Paris
Basin, 227.

Cotoneaster pyracantha, 49.

Corta cited, 283.

Cottus scorpius, 469.

Courtmacsherry Bay, submarine peat of,
460.

Courtrai, borings at, 507.

Couze de Champeix, moraines of, 211.

Couze d’Issoire, moraines of, 211.

CrAHAY discovers human remains in
Pleistocene of the Meuse, 22.

Cranberry, 302.

Crane, 373.

Crania, Paleolithic, 21.

Crannoges of Ireland, 463.

Crateegus oxyacantha, 49.

CREDNER, H., on glacial phenomena of
Saxony, 199; on broken strata under
till, 202 ; cited, 283, 301.

Crete, supposed former connection of, with
Continent, 338.

CRIE on flora of Mamers travertine, 52.

Criquebeuf, submarine forest of, 481.

CroLu, J., cited, 39; on Caithness till,
188 ; on extent of northern ice-sheet,
197 ; theory of changes of climate, 254,
559 ; on rise of sea-level, 525,

Cro-Magnon, human remains in rock-
shelter of, 21.

“* Cro-Magnon-race ” (Paleolithic), 23.

Cromer boulder-clay, 261, 263.

CrossKEY, Rev. H., cited, 384, 385, 501.

Crow, 373.

Cummine, Rev. J., cited, 191.

Cut-bones, in Pliocene, 343; in Miocene,
346.

Cyclas, species of, in Swiss interglacial
beds, 302; C. cornea, 149, 425, 434,
448.

Cyclopterus lumpus, 471.

Cyclostoma, species of, 57, 59.

Cygnus musicus, 494.

Cyprina islandica, 266, 281, 282, 284,
355, 399, 403, 497.

Cyprus, raised-beaches of, 355.

Cyrena fluminalis, 60, 137, 138, 264, 266.

Cystopteris fragilis, 508.

Cythere lutea, 284.

Cytheridea torosa, 493.

Daao, freshwater beds in, 470.
Dalserf, trees in peat near, 421.

574

Danewort or dwarf alder, 50.

Danzig, glacial deposits of, 2845; peat
near, 476.

Dargschichten, 477 ; formation of, 479.

Darwiy, C., on Southampton gravels, etc.,
141.

DaTHE cited, 283.

DAvUBENY cited, 158.

Davip, Abbé, cited, 168.

Daviss, Rev. E. J., cited, 214.

Dawkins, W. Boyd, on Paleolithic ar-
row-straighteners, 14; on classifica-
tion of cave-relics, 16, 115; cited, 31,
65 on absence of Pliocene bone-accu-
mulations in caves, 73; on Wookey
Hole, 94; on deposits in Victoria Cave,
96 ; cited, 109 ; on Pleistocene hippo-
potamus, 134; on changes of level in
Mediterranean area, 338 ; on cut-bones
in Italian Pliocene, 345; on later pre-
historic races, 376 ; on contrast between
fauna of Paleolithic and Neolithic times,
380 ; on cause of “ break in succession ”
between Paleolithic and Neolithic ages,
547 ; on relation of Paleolithic man to
Eskimo, 548.

Débacles, theory of, 172; of last glacial
epoch, 352.

DEBRAY on Flemish peat, 479; on peat
of Somme, 480.

Débris, angular, origin of, 216, 224; of
Scotland, 226 ; of North Carolina, 229 ;
of last glacial epoch, 230.

Decay of peat-bogs, 532.

Decksand, 286.

Dee, submerged forests of the, 431, 432.

Deflections of ice-sheet in Scotland, 178,
188.

DEFRANCE cited, 170.

DEGNER cited, 483.

Detaunay cited, 346.

Detvc cited, 171.

Denbighshire, submerged forests of, 431.

Denmark, interglacial deposits of, 283,
284; kitchen-middens of, 365; sub-
merged peat of, 476 ; peat-bogs of, 485 ;
arctic plants in, 485; succession of
trees in bogs of, 485; human relics in
bogs of, 487.

Dentalium abyssorum, 467, 502.

Denudation, rapid rate of, in Pleistocene
Period, 127; modern, 128; A. GEIKIE
on, 128.

Depression, area of, in North Atlantic and
Arctic Oceans, 524.

DESNOYERS on cut bones in deposits at
St. Prest, 343.

Desor, E., cited, 207, 213; observations
on Aar glacier, 231; on Pliocene glaciers,
824; cited, 346.

Devonshire, erratics in, 227 ; interglacial
submergence of, 266; submerged forests
of, 431; flora of, 508.

INDEX.

DEWALQUE on Sable Campinien, 507.

Differential motion of ice-sheet, 288.

Diluvium gris and diluvium rouge, 153.

Diluvium, upper and lower, of Germany,
280; of Holstein and Denmark, 283.

Disentis, glacial deposits near, 298.

Dos, G., cited, 227.

Dog, 103, 107, 367,427, 463, 480, 494, 507.

Dogwood, 47, 53, 302.

Do.Fus, observations on Aar glacier, 231.

Dolichocephali, Paleolithic, 23 ; Neolithic,
375.

Dol, submerged forests of, 481.

Domesticated animals in Swiss lake-dwell-
ings, 373.

Domestic fowl, 480.

Démitz, interglacial deposits near, 279.

Donacie, 480; Donacia crassipes, 494 ;
D. discolor, 299; D. sericea, 299.

Dordogne, Caves of the, 12,111; moraines
in valley of the, 211.

Dormouse, 510.

Dorset, interglacial submergence of, 266.

Drance, gorge of the, glacial deposits in
298

Drawings, Paleolithic, 13.

Dreissena, sp., 281, 282.

Drumkelin Bog, log hut in, 462.

Drums of till, 182.

Dryas integrifolia, 497; D. octopetala,
55, 485, 492, 493, 497. ;

Dublin County, kitchen-middens on shores
of, 461.

Ducks, 373, 480.

Duncan’s Flow Bog, ancient roadway in,
462.

Dundee, raised-beaches near, 418.

Dungarvan, submerged peat near, 460.

Dunkeld, morainic gravels at, 414.

Dunworly Bay, submerged peat in, 460.

Duparc, Chaplain, cited, 21; on rock
shelter of Sorde, 552.

Dupont cited, 14 ; on Paleolithic pottery,
18; on Belgian caves, 100; on Trou
du Frontal, 108 ; on position of loss in
Belgian caves, 155.

Durham, glaciation of, 191.

DURHAM on buried forest and peat of
Tay valley, 390.

Diirnten, interglacial bed at, 298.

DUROCHER cited, 195.

Duruthy, cave of, 21.

Dust storms, 166, 167.

Dwarf birch, 55, 485.
nana.)

Dwarf pine, 47, 49.

Dwina, valley of, arctic shell-bed in, 471.

(See also Betula

EARN valley, postglacial deposits of, 385,
390.

Eastbourne, submerged forest of, 431.

East Finmark, former wooded condition
of, 488.

INDEX.

575

East Kilbride, large oaks in bog near, 421. | European nettle-tree, 47.

Eccentricity of earth’s orbit, 559.

Keliptic, obliquity of the, 560.

Eel, 367.

Eguisheim, human skull in léss of, 22.

EHRENBERG, polythalamic in Dargschich-
ten, 478.

Ekaterinburg, glacial remains near, 210.

Elbe, trees in bed of, at Blankenese, 477.

Elephant, 24, 25, 26, 37.

Elephas africanus, 27,113; EH. antiquus,
27, 32, 49, 113, 133, 188, 299; #. Fal-
coneri, 27, 32; E. melitensis, 27, 32; LE.
meridionalis, 22, 27, 32, 309, 317, 318,
320, 321, 336 ; H. mnaidrensis, 27, 32 ;
E. primigenius, 62. (See also Elephant
and Mammoth.)

Elm, 47, 52, 53, 320, 448, 494.

Elgin, ice-sheet in, 185.

El Kantara, moraines at, 214,

Ely, large erratic near, 193.

Engis cranium, 21.

England, succession of glacial and inter-
glacial deposits in, 261; conditions of,
during last interglacial epoch, 266 ;
conditions of, during advance and re-
treat of last ice-sheet, 268; kitchen-
middens in, 369 ; submerged forests of,
430; raised beaches of, 453 ; peat-bogs
of, 454.

Enewer on peat-flora, 495; on distribu-
tion of plants in Europe, 534.

English Channel, traces of interglacial
submergence on borders of, 266; geo-
graphical conditions of, in Paleolithic
times, 341; evidence of recent sub-
mergence on French coasts of the, 479-
482; dry, in postglacial times, 509.

Enk6pings 4s, shell-bank on, 469.

Equisetum arvense, 494,508 ; £.limosum,
299, 469; E. variegatum, 509.

Equus caballus, 149 ; H. Stenoni, 317.

Erpmann, A., on Swedish postglacial
deposits, 465 ; on shell-bank at Enk6-
ping, 469 ; on raised-beaches of Scania,
474; on ancient hut at Sddertelge, 474.

Erpmany, E., cited, 195, 270; on raised-
beaches of Scania, 475; on littoral shell-
bed at Gothenburg, 506.

Eriophorum, 493; #. angustifolium, 508.

Ermine, 107.

Erratics, 107, 133, 148, 171, 285, 386,
395, 472; abnormal distribution of,
203, 564.

Errol, arctic shells in clay at, 387.

ERTBORN, Baron y., on borings at Menin
and Courtrai, 507.

Eskimo, supposed relation of, to Palxo-
lithic man, 547.

Estuarine flats, 383, 394, 417.

Etchings, Paleolithic, 13.

Euonymus europeus, 49, 50, 538; Z£.
latifolius, 50.

Europe, climate of, 33; impossibility of
great annual migrations of mammals in,
36; temperature of certain places on
west coasts of, 39; climate of, in Pleis-
tocene Period, 40 ; conditions of, during
melting of last ice-sheet, 347 ; condi-
tions of, during last interglacial epoch,
348 ; conditions of Central, in post-
glacial period, 5223; conditions of
Southern, in postglacial period, 533 ;
central and north-west regions of, pro-
bably not occupied by man in late
glacial and early postglacial times,
553.

Evans, J., cited, 8; on probable uses of
Paleolithic implements, 12; remarks
on bone-pin from Kent’s cave, 17; on
contrasts between Paleolithic and Neo-
lithic implements, 24; cited, 341, 345.

Evergreen oak, 47, 48.

Excavation of valleys in Pleistocene times,
88.

FmHROE IsLanps, glaciation of, 206, 504,
567; peat and buried trees of, 514;
present flora of, 518.

Fagus sylvatica. (See Beech.)

Falcon, 373.

FALconer cited, 3, 49, 457.

Fallow-deer, 113, 427.

Falmouth, submerged forest near, 431.

Fausan, A., cited, 207 ; on shells in mor-
aine of Rhone glacier, 327.

Falsterbo, submarine peat and raised-beach
near, 473.

FAUDEL cited, 22.

Fauna. (See Birds, Fish, Insects, Mam-
malia, Mollusca. )

Favre on deposits at Bois de la Batie,
301.

Fax6, interglacial and glacial deposits of,
285.

Fegatella conica, 49.

Felis caffra, 26 (see also Caffer Cat) ;
F. leo, 26; F. pardus, 27 (see also
Leopard); &. serval, 27 (see also
Serval); Felis spelea, 26 (see also
Cave-lion).

Fenland, traces of interglacial submer-
gence in, 266; sunk forests and peat
of, 445, 452.

FERRERO on glaciation of Apennines, 213.

FERRY, De, on reputed Paleolithic pot-
tery, 18 ; estimate of antiquity of Neo-
lithic Age, 558.

Festuca ovina, 508.

Ficus carica, 47, 49, 50.

Fig-tree, 47, 48, 50, 52.

FinHoL on Neolithic relics in Pyrenean
caves, 377.

Fine, valley of the, 344.

576

Finland, glaciation of, 196; postglacial
deposits of, 470.

Fir, 469, 480.

Firth of Forth, shell-mounds of, 369;
post-glacial deposits of,. 399; raised-
beaches of, 418.

FisHer, Rev. O., on erratic in Roslyn
Hole, near Ely, 194. :

Fish, in interglacial beds of Val Borlezza
305 ; in Danish kitchen-middens, 367 ;
of Swiss lake-dwellings, 373 ; of Baltic
Sea, 471; in Flemish peat, 480.

Flemish coast, peat of, 479.

Fricur, P., on Jarville lignite, 54; on
peat of Champagne, 493.

Flint implements, early discoveries of, in
England, 4 ; Paleolithic, 12.

Floating-ice, evidence of, in Carse-clays,
396 ; traces of, in Scandinavian post-
glacial deposits, 472.

Flood-deposits, interglacial, 264 ; glacial,
269 ; of last glacial epoch, 352.

Floods, of Glacial Period, 232, 235 ; effects
of, upon deposits of last interglacial
epoch, 359.

Floor-accumulations in caves, 75.

Flora. (See Plants.)

Flounder, 367.

Flustra, 447.

Fluviatile alluvia, remains of Paleolithic
man in, 22,

Fluvio-glacial deposits covering accumu-
lations of last interglacial epoch, 359.

Folliculites newirthianus, 309.

Forbes, E., on geological relations of
British fauna and flora, 508 ; on former
land - connection of Ferde Isles and
European continent, 518.

Forsss, J. D., cited, 174.

FoRCHHAMMER cited, 366 ; striated rocks
of Faxo, 196 ; submerged peat of Den-
mark, 476.

“ Forest-bed ” of Norfolk coast, 261, 334.

Forests, of Arctic regions, 35; first great
extension of, in genial postglacial period,
522 ; second extension of, in later post-
glacial period, 528; decay of, in his-
torical times, 530.

Forfarshire, shell-mounds of, 369.

Fort Confidence, range of temperature at,
34.

Fort-William, shell-bed at, 385.

Forth, late glacial marine beds of the,
270.

Fox, 31, 32, 87, 91, 97, 103, 107, 108,
113, 262, 367, 373, 427, 449, 463.

Fox, Arctic. (See Arctic fox.)

Fox, General Lang, cited, 7.

Fox, Rev. Mr., cited, 341.

Fraas cited, 18, 346.

France, caves of, 15; plains of, invaded
by Swiss ice, 208; evidence of glacial
action in Northern, 223; Central,

INDEX,

glaciation of, 211; clay-with-flints of,
220; supposed kitchen-middens in,
369.

Franconia, list of shells in léss of, 61;
list of mammals in léss of, 62.
Fraxinus excelsior, 49, 50; F.

47, 48, 49, 51.
FRERE, J., cited, 123.
Freshwater shells in bed of Elbe, 477.
Frisches Haff, glacial deposits near the,
281,
Frogs, 373.
Fucus, Th., cited, 237.
Fucus canaliculatus, 497.
FUHLROTT cited, 21.::
Fulda, loss in valley of the, 146.
Funen, submerged peat of, 476.
Fustic, 47.

ornus,

Gadus morrhua, 471.

Gailenruth Cave, 112.

Galium palustre, 299.

Gallican flora in Southern England, 509.

Gandino, lignites near, 306 ; damming of
basin of, 307.

Garavallen, 473.

Garonne, loss in valley of the,
ancient glacier of the, 211, 323.

GARRIGOU on two glacial epochs in Pyre-
nees, 323; on Neolithic relics in Pyre-
nean caves, 3773 on hiatus between
Paleolithic and Neolithic ages, 554.

GASTALDI cited, 113.

GauDIN cited, 45.

“ Geest,” 477.

GEIKIE, A., on modern denudation, 128 ;
on origin of loss, 162; on glacial
strie in Caithness, 188 ; on interglacial
deposits, 253.

GEINITZ, F. E., on glacial phenomena in
Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 202, 279.

Geographical changes in Pleistocene
Period, 331; in last interglacial epoch,
348.

Geographical conditions during last glacial
epoch, 350; during postglacial and
recent period, 499.

Geotrupes putridarius, 494; Gt. sterco-
rarius, 260; G. vernalis, 494.

Gerdauen, sand of, 287.

Germani, 376.

Germanic flora, 508.

German Ocean. (See North Sea.)

Germany, caves of, 112.

Geschiebesand, 286.

Gibraltar, breccias of, 216; interglacial
beds of, 324.

GILLIERON, estimate of antiquity of Neo-
lithic Age, 358.

GIRALDUS CAMBRENSIS cited, 456.

GIRARD cited, 283.

Gironde, submerged forests of, 481.

Girvan, raised-beach near, 418,

146;

INDEX.

Glacial epoch, the last, deposits of, 285 ;
conditions during, 350 ; extent of glaci-
ation during, 503.

Glacial Period, 169; general conditions
of Europe during, 247 ; climatic condi-
tions of, 248; a phase of Pleistocene
Period, 250; man contemporaneous
with, 250; succession of changes dur-
ing, in Germany, 286; conditions at
close of, 354; identity of, with Pleis-
tocene Period, 539.

Glacial phenomena, description of, 174 ;
smoothed and striated rocks, 175;
roches moutonnées, 176 ; Stoss-seite and
Lee-seite, 177 ; upper limits of glacia-
ieee 1773 deflection of glacial stria,
178.

Glacial shelly clays of Norway and
Sweden, 467.

Glen Beansdale, glacial phenomena in, 416.

Glen Brora, postglacial moraines of, 411.

Glen Iorsa, moraines at mouth of, 411.

Glen Messan, moraines of, 411.

Glen Turret, moraines of, 413.

Gloves, Palzolithic, 17.

Glutton, 24, 29, 32, 55, 62, 113, 147.

Goat, 103, 107, 373, 427, 463.

GOEBEL cited, 158, 242.

GoDWIN- AUSTEN on “head” of Corn-
wall, etc., 224; cited, 442, 507, 509.

Golden eagle, 373.

GOODCHILD cited, 190.

Goose, 373.

Gottland, erratics from, 282.

Gourdan, cave of, 21, 22.

Goyet, cave of, 107.

GRaD, Ch., temporary glaciers in Vosges
Mountains, 210; moraines at El Kan-
tara, 215.

GRANDSAIGNES, T. de, ancient glaciers of
Corsica, 213.

Gravels, high- and low-level, 132; coarse
angular, in south of England, 140.

Grays, Pleistocene deposits at, 125, 138.

Gray willow, 47, 49,50. (See also Salix
cinerea. )

Great auk, 367.

Great chalky boulder-clay, 263.

Great Grimsby, submerged forest near,
431.

Great ox. (See Urus.)

Greek periploca, 47.

' Greenland, mud from glaciers of, 231;
immigration of flora of, 519.

Green-leaved alder, 54.

GREENWELL, Rev. W., on supposed evi-
dence of cannibalism in Neolithic time,
377.

Greflunda, arctic-alpine flora in peat of,
491.

GREPPIN on interglacial deposits of the
Birsthal, 302.

GREWINGK on red-deer in Kurland, 496.

577

GRIFFITHS, Sir R., cited, 189.

GRISEBACH on peat of East Friesland,
478 ; cited, 531.

Grisly bear, 29, 32, 87, 97, 103.

Grouse, 373.

Gulf of Bothnia, formerly a freshwater
lake, 470.

Gulf of Finland, formerly a freshwater
lake, 470.

Gulf of St. Lawrence, southern colonies
in, 502.

Gulf Stream, 39 ; former larger volume of,
503.

Gull, 373.

Gulo borealis or luscus, 29, 62.
also Glutton.)

GUMALIUS cited, 195.

GUMBEL, on origin of léss, 160. :

Gute Herberg, peat on Baltic coast at, 476.

Guyot cited, 207.

GYSSER cited, 238.

(See

HAILEs QUARRY, interglacial deposits at,
256.

Hatt, Sir J., cited, 172.

Hamilton, white cattle at, 427.

Hammers, Paleolithic, 12.

Hampshire gravels, 341.

Hamy on types of Paleolithic man, 23 ;
on human remains at Sorde, 552.

Hanover, submerged peat of, 476.

Hardman cited, 190; on submerged peat
of Tramore Bay, 459.

Hare, 31, 87, 97, 103, 107, 108.

Hartlepool, submerged forest near, 431.

Hart’s-tongue. (See Scolopendrium offi-
cinale.)

Hartune cited, 215.

Harz, caves of the, 112.

Hastings, submerged forest near, 431.

Haver, F. V., cited, 150.

Hayle, submerged forest near, 431.

Hazel, 47, 50, 52, 53, 302, 420, 482, 435,
438, 448, 480, 487, 494. (See also
Corylus avellana.)

“Head” of Cornwall, 224, 225, 227, 437.

Heath-lands of Northern Germany, 484.

Hedera helix, 49, 50, 515.

Hedgehog, 321, 367.

Heer cited, 46; on flora of Canstait
tufa, 53 ; on Diirnten lignite-beds, 298,
3800 ; on interglacial beds of the Birs-
thal, 302; on cereals in Swiss lake-
dwellings, 373; on postglacial flora of
Bovey Tracey, 456; on arctic-alpine
flora of Switzerland, 495.

Herm, A., cited, 301.

Heleocharis multicaulis, 515.

Helix, lists of species of, 56, 59, 61, 64,
148, 152, 155, 302.

Hetptanp, A., cited, 188; on Scandi-
navian erratics in Holderness, 192; on
broken rocks, etc., under till of Saxony,

578

201; on glaciation of Ferée Isles, 206,
504 ; on mud in glacial rivers of Green-
land, 232; on Norwegian strandlinier,
272; cited, 514, 566, 567.

Helsingborg, raised beach near, 475.

Helston, submerged forest near, 431.

Hercynian Forest, reindeer in, 535.

Heron, 373.

Herring, 367.

Hessle, interglacial beds of, 265 ; boulder-
clay of, 266.

HEYNEMANN cited, 237.

Hrseert on origin of Rhenish léss, 159.

Hill-loss, 146.

Hill-ranges of Central Scotland, contour
of, 180.

Hinper, G. J., on interglacial deposits
near Lake Ontario, 293.

Hinlopen Strait, mussel-beds of, 497.

Hippopotamus, 24, 25, 32, 97, 113, 134,
261; pigmy, 114, 338.

Hippopotamus amphibius, 28, 336; H.
liberiensis, 26; H. major, 26, 113,
138, 317, 320 (see also Hippopotamus) ;
H. Pentlandi, 26, 38, 113 (see also
Hippopotamus, pigmy.)

HIsINGER on ancient hut at Sédertelge,
474.

Hoernes cited, 355.

Horr, A. V., cited, 538.

Hocarp cited, 209.

Holderness, Scandinavian erratics in, 192.

Holopleura victoria, 299.

Holme, submarine forests at, 450.

Holland, peat and buried forests of, 477.

Hotmsrrom cited, 196, 270.

Holstein, interglacial deposits of, 283 ;
submerged peat of, 476.

Holyhead, submarine peat near, 431.

Hooker, Sir J. D., moraines of Lebanon,
214; moraines of the Atlas, 215; on
pine from Wellington Channel, 516; on
postglacial genial period, 517 ; on flora
of Greenland, 518.

HOrsBye on glaciation of Norway and
Sweden, 194.

Hordeum distichwm, 403 ; H.heaastichon,
373.

Hornbeam, 52, 302, 320.

Horne, J., on glaciation of Orkney and
Shetland, 188; on glacier of Theiss
valley, 209; on late glacial marine
deposits on borders of Moray Firth, 270.

Horse, 31, 32, 40, 87, 97, 103, 107, 108,
133, 138, 147, 148, 149, 151, 261, 321,
825, 427, 480, 507.

HowpeENn on glacial and post-glacial de-
posits near Montrose, 403.

Huel Darlington mine, section of, 440.

Hu cited, 190, 191; on glacial de-
posits of north-west of England and
Ireland, 265,

Human relics in Scottish peat-bogs, 424.

INDEX.

Human remains, rarity of, in Paleolithic
accumulations, 20; in léss, 151; in
Pleistocene of Olmo, 318 ; in Scottish
postglacial beds, 402 ; in English post-
glacial beds, 438, 439, 440 ; in Irish
peat, 461 ; in French peat, 480.

Humber, glacial and interglacial deposits
in valley of the, 264 ; submerged for-
ests of the, 431.

Hume, Rev. Dr., cited, 432.

Humid climate and submergence of land,
connection between, 452.

Humid climate in Glacial Period, 280 ; in
postglacial period, 527, 529.

HumMeEt cited, 195.

Hungelbrunn, léss of, 237.

Hvitaby, arctic flora in peat of, 491.

Hyena brevirostris, 321; H. crocuta,
27; H. spelwa (cave-hyxna), 27, 62,
91, 103, 107, 108, 111, 118, 114, 147;
H. striata, 27.

Hyena-dens, 94, 98, 107.

Hyena, species of, 27.

Hyalinie, list of, 56.

Hydrobia marginata, 60; H. ulve, 384.

Hylobius rugosus, 299.

Hymenophyllum Wilsoni, 515.

Hypnum aduncum, 55, 494; var. poly-
carpon, 494; H. cordifolium, 485;
H, cuspidatum, 492; H. fluitans, 450,
492, 494; vars. falcatuwm and sub-
mersum, 494; var. tenuissimum, 55 5
HT. gigantewm, 492, 494; H. ligni-
torum, 299; H. pratense, 494; H.
priscum, 299; H. sarmentosum, 55 ;
H. scorpioides, 492, 496; H. twrges-
cens, 262, 335.

TIBERIAN flora in Ireland, 508, 509, 514.

Ibex, 30,

Iceberg theory of glacial deposits, 174.

Iceland, glaciation of, 519; connection
of, with European continent in post-
glacial times, 520.

Ice-sheet, of Northern Europe, 205; of
last interglacial epoch, 267 ; retreat of,
in British area, 269; morainic débris,
etc., in Germany of last, 285; preser-
vation of deposits below, 288 ; differen-
tial motion of, 204, 288 ; effect of, upon
preglacial and interglacial beds, 289 ;
of last glacial epoch, 350; effect pro-
duced by, on deposits of last inter-
glacial epoch, 356.

Ilex aquifolium, 49.

Ilford, Pleistocene deposits of, 137.

Implements, Paleolithic, 11; Neolithic,
366, 368, 372.

Inches of Tay valley, 387.

Infusoria-earth, interglacial, 279.

Insects of Swiss interglacial beds, 299 ;
of English postglacial beds, 440; of
Flemish peat, 480.

INDEX.

Interglacial fauna and flora identical with
those of Pleistocene alluvia, etc., 540.
Interglacial deposits, of Scotland, 255,
291; at Hailes Quarry, 256; of Eng-
land, 261 ; of Brandon, 263 ; of Hol-
derness, 264; of Ireland and north-
west of England, 265 ; of last inter-
glacial epoch, 266; of Scandinavia,
270; of Rixdorf, 278; of Kreuzberg,
279 ; of Domitz, 279; of Tempelhof,
280; of Province of Prussia, 281 ; of
Elbing, 281; of Saxony, 282; of
Fax6, 285; general succession of, in
Germany and Denmark, 286; preser-
vation of, under till, 288, 316; of
Switzerland, 297 ; of the Drance, 298 ;
of Diirnten and Utznach, 298; of Bois
de la Batie, 301 ; of the Birsthal, 302 ;
of Chambéry, 303 ; of Italy, 303 ; of
Val Borlezza, 304; of Val Gandino,
306; of Leffe, 306; of Val Adrara
and Val Foresto, 315; of Upper Val
d’Arno, 317; of Perrier, 318; of the
Valley of the Ain, 827; of the Rhone
Valley, 321; of the Black Forest, 321 ;
of the Vosges, 322; of the Pyrenees,
321 ; of Gibraltar, 324 ; of Malta, 327 ;
effect of last ice-sheet upon, 356 ; effect
of floods upon, 359 ; buried under loss,

359.

Interglacial epochs, earliest recognition of,
252; Morior on, 252, 297; Ramsay
on, 253; A. GEIKIE on, 253 ; volcanoes
of Central France active during, 320.
(See also Interglacial Deposits.)

Tnundations. (See Floods.)

Ipswich, interglacial beds at, 263.

Treland, glaciation of, 189; glacial and
interglacial deposits of, 265 ; submer-
gence of, in last interglacial epoch, 266 ;
kitchen-middens in, 369 ; raised-beaches
of, 458; former connection of, with
Scotland, 512; postglacial submer-
gence in, 526.

Trish deer or elk, 31, 91, 107, 261, 262,
427, 435, 442, 449, 456, 463.

Trish Sea, depths in, 339; dry land in
area of, in postglacial times, 509;
large lake-basin in bed of, 511.

Tron Age, 6, 7,9; in Denmark, 487 ; in
Britain, 538, 556.

Isle of Man, glaciation of, 191.

Isle of Wight, formerly joined to main-
land, 341.

Tsocordia cor, 467.

Italy, reputed Paleolithic pottery in caves
in, 18; caves of, 114; glaciation of
Northern, 209 ; ‘interglacial deposits
of, 303 ; reputed Pliocene glaciers of,
324 ; traces of submergence in, during
Glacial Period, 355.

Ivy, 47, 50.

Sie

Jack, R. L., on glaciation of East Car-
pathians, 209,

Jederen, erratics in, 204; peat of, 489.

Jakutsk, temperature of, 34,

JAMIESON, T. F., on shells in Carse-clays,
395.

Jaravallen, 473.

Jarville, lignite of, 54.

Jasione montana, 515.

JEFFREYS, Gwyn, on shell-bed at Fort-
William, 385; cited, 467, 502, 506,
509.

JENTZSCH cited, 237, 245; on German
glacial deposits, 277, 281 ; on stones of
southern derivation in till of Saxony,
283.

Jerboa, 62, 147.

JOHNSTRUP on glaciation of Denmark,
196; on glaciation of Méen, 200.

Jokulsfjord, strandlinier in, 274.

Judas-tree, 47, 48, 50.

Jupp, J. W., cited, 194.

Juglans bergomensis, 309; J. pavicefolia,
46; J. regia, 49.

Juxkess, J. B., cited, 190.

JuiEn, A., cited, 317, 318 ; on deposits
of Mont Perrier, 318; on two glacial
epochs in the Pyrenees, 323.

Juncus triglumis, 353.

Juniper, 54, 420, 494, 514.

Jura Mountains, caves of, 112; invaded
by ancient Rhine glacier, 208; extinct
glaciers of, 209.

Jutland, recent submergence in, 367;
submerged peat of, 476.

KALAMAKI, raised-beaches of, 355.

Kamp valley, Paleolithic remains in, 151.

Kane cited, 240.

Kattegat, kitchen-middens on shores of,
365, 369.

KEILHAU cited, 194.

KELLER on lake-dwellings, 370; on pass-
age from Neolithic into Bronze Age,
374; on earthenware crescents, 375.

Kellia rubra, 467.

Kennet valley, postglacial remains in,
457.

Kentish type of flora, 508.

Kent’s Cave, implement from lowest
deposit in, 11; bone pin from, 17;
early researches. in, 77; rate of stalag-
mitic accretion in, 81; succession of
deposits in, 90; human relics and
mammalian ’yemains in, 91; “break in
succession ” in, 119.

Kerguillé, erratic conglomerate at, 226.

Kerrera Sound, raised-beach in, 418,

Kerr, W. C., on angular drift of North
Carolina, 229,

Kesserloch, etching of reindeer from, 14.

Kilcredane Point, submarine peat at, 460.

Killybegs, range of temperature at, 39.

580

Kilroot, Neolithic implements at, 461.

KinaHan cited, 190; on Irish peat-bogs,
461; on rate of growth of Irish peat,
490; cited, 528.

Kincardine Moss, 422, 424.

Kine, Clarence, cited, 243.

KqNGsMILL cited, 168.

Kirkdale Cave, 94.

Kitchen-middens, Danish, 365; men of
Danish, 368; in Scotland, England,
Treland, and France, 369; in Carse of
Falkirk, 400; in Ireland, 461.

KsERuLF cited, 195; on Norwegian
strandlinier, 271 ; on heights reached
by Norwegian glacial shell-beds, 271 ;
on postglacial shell-beds of Norway,
465 ; on unfossiliferous postglacial clay
of Norway, 471.

KLEIN, shells of Canstadt tufa, 46, 59.

“ Knick,” 477.

Kolbermoor, peat of, 498.

Konigsberg, range of temperature at, 39.

Korzistka cited, 146.

KRaPOTEIN, on postglacial beds of Fin-
land and Northern Russia, 470.

Kreuzberg, interglacial deposits of, 279.

KountH on German glacial deposits, 277.

LABRADOR current, 39.

La Celle, tufa of, 50, 56.

Lacuna divaricata, 385.

Lacustrine alluvia, postglacial, 425.

Lago d’Iseo, ancient glacier of, 303.

Lagomys, 108, 113, 149. (See also Tailless
Hare.)

Lagomys corsicanus, 80; L. pusillus,
30; L. sardus, 30.

Lahn, river, loss of, 145.

Lake district (Northern England), glacia-
tion of, 190.

Lake-dwellings, 369.

Lake, former, in bed of Irish Sea, 511.

Lake of Bienne, silting up of, 558.

Lake of Onega, height of, above sea, 471.

La Madelaine Mountains, glaciation of,
212.

LaMANON cited, 172.

LAMPLUGH on interglacial beds near Brid-
lington, 264.

Lancashire, glaciation of, 190; lower
boulder clay of, 265; submerged peat
of, 431, 432 ; postglacial beds of, 451.

Land - connections between Europe and
Africa in Pleistocene times, 337 ; dis-
appearance of, 523, 533.

Land, great extension of, in early post-
glacial times, 505, 509, 518, 518.

La Pique, glacier of, 212.

Larch, 54.

Largo, submarine peat at, 401.

Larix ewropea, 309.

Larter cited, 21, 29, 49, 111, 552.

LasarD cited, 283,

INDEX.

Late glacial deposits in Tay and Earn
valleys, 386.

Laurus nobilis (laurel), 46, 47, 49 ; var.
Canariensis (Canary laurel), 46, 47,
49, 50.

Laurustinus, 47.

Leda arctica, 281, 387, 408, 471; LZ.
pernula, 467.

Lee-seite, 177.

Leffe, lignites of, 306.

Lehm. (See Liss.)

Leipzig, striated rocks near, 198.

Lemming, 30, 82, 40, 42, 62, 87, 108,
147, 149.

Leopard, 27, 32, 40, 113, 325.

Lepidoptera, distribution of alpine species
of, in Britain, 511.

Lepus timidus, 510. (See also Hare.)

Leuchars, raised-beach at, 418,

Lewis, island of, 268,

LEyYDIG cited, 237.

Lignite, of Steinbach, 152; interglacial,
298, 303.

Lillemose, peat-bog of, 485.

Lima excavata, 467.

Limax agrestis, 61.

Lime-tree, 48, 53.

Liimneea, 425, 449; L. limosa, B ovata-
normalis, 475,493; L. minuta, 302;
LL. ovata, 57, 470; L. peregra, 264.

Limon grossier (Limon biéfeux), 154,
163.

Limon hesbayen, 155, 507.

Lincolnshire, submarine peat of, 431,
450.

LINDEBERG on successive tiers of trees in
bogs of Sweden, 488.

Linpsay, Lauder, cited, 518.

LinpstTr0m cited, 195.

Lintu, E. v., cited, 206.

Lion, 26, 32. (See Cave-lion.)

Liparis barbatus, 171.

Lipari, tufa of, 45, 47.

Liquidambar europeewm, 46.

Lithuanian bison, 31.

LitTEt cited, 150.

Little Sole Banks, trace of submerged
littoral deposits at, 509.

Littorina, 284; L. litorea, 399, 469,
497,

Littorinella, 284.

Loamy deposits of Pleistocene Period, 143.

Local glaciers, postglacial, 526 ; in Scot-
land, 398, 411; deflection of, 415.

Locarp on shells in Pleistocene at Lyons,
635 on shells in Corsican breccias, 64 ;
on breccia of Bonaria, 65.

Loch Skene, moraines at, 412.

Looes, submerged peat near the, 431.

London, submerged peat at, 431.

‘*Longheads,” Neolithic, 375.

Lory cited, 208.

Loss, human remains in, 22; composition

INDEX.

of, 144; concretions in, 1443; fossils
in, 144 ; vertical capillary structure of,
144, 237; traces of bedding in, 144,
237; Rhenish and Danubian, 145,
236; passes into clay and loam, 145 ;
distribution of, in Europe, 145 ; mam-
malian remains in, 147, 150, 239; de-
posits of, at Thiede and Westeregeln,
147; human remains and relics in,
150; character of, near Tiibingen, 151 ;
deposits underlying, in river-valleys,
152; section of, at Steinbach, 152 ;
character of, in French river-valleys,
152; appearance of, in Northern
France, 153, 236; fossils in French,
154; Belgian, 154 ; nota separate and
independent formation, 156; theories
of origin of, 130, 159, 233; marine
and lacustrine theories of, 160; Mr.
Bett’s theory of, 162; De MrErcrY on
French, 163; RicHTHOFEN on, 165;
of China, 165; Pumprnty on, 167;
sporadic stones in, 237 ; shells in, 237.

Loésskindeln, Lossmannchen, Losspiipp-
chen, 144.

Léss-shells, list of, 60.

Lovén on former direct connection of
Baltic with Arctic Ocean, 470.

Lower Pentewan work, section of, 439.

Llandrillo Bay, submarine forest at, 431.

Lussock, Sir J., on Danish kitchen-
middens, 366.

Lumaki, raised-beaches of, 355.

Luncarty, river-gravels at, 386.

Lusitanian- Mediterranean mollusesin Nor-
wegian shell-beds, 468.

LYELL, Sir C., cited, 3, 124; on Pleisto-
cene of Thames valley, 137 ; on loss
near Tiibingen, 151; on origin of loss,
159; on glacial phenomena in Méen,
200; on recent submergence of Jut-
land, 367; cited, 457; on erratics at
Upsala, 472 ; on buried hut at Sdder-
telge, 474.

Lymfjord, kitchen-middens in, 365.

Lynx, 31, 107, 113, 367.

Lyons, list of shells in Pleistocene of, 63.

MacEnery, Rev. J., discoveries in Kent’s
Cave, 4; cited, 77.

Machairodus latidens, 26, 33, 262, 336.

MacxrintosH, D., cited, 191.

MAc.LaREN, C., cited, 174, 411.

Mactra elliptica, 502; MW. solida, 277,
281; M. subtruncata, 284.

Magnolia, sp., 305.

Mainporth, submerged forest at, 431.

Main, river, loss of, 145 ; flood-deposits
of, 238.

Magsor, Forsyth, on mammalian remains
in Leffe lignite, 309,

Malaga, raised-beaches at, 355.

Mato cited, 467.

581

MALMGREN on fish of Baltic, 471; on
shell-beds of Spitzbergen, 497.

Malta, rock-fissure of, 114; breccias of,
219, 327.

Mamers (Sarthe), travertine of, 52.

Mammalian fauna of genial postglacial
period, 523.

Mammals of Pleistocene Period, 25; com-
mingling of northern, southern, and
temperate groups of, 33, 37 ; large size
of, 40 ; list of, in Franconian loss, 62 ;
in Brixham Cave, 87 ; in Kent’s Cave,
91; in Victoria Cave, 97; in Belgian
caves, 103, 107 ; in caves of Southern
Europe, 113; in river-gravels, 133,
134; in Pleistocene of Thames valley,
138 ; in loss, 147, 148, 149; in Forest-
bed of Norfolk, 261, 334, 336; in
German interglacial beds, 279; in la-
custrine deposits of Pianico, 304; in
Leffe interglacial beds, 309 ; in deposits
of Val d’Arno, 317 ; in Gibraltar caves,
etc., 325; in Danish kitchen-middens,
867; in Swiss lake-dwellings, 372;
in Scottish postglacial deposits, 426 ;
in English postglacial and recent de-
posits, 486, 438, 439, 440, 447, 456;
in Irish postglacial deposits, 463 ; in
Flemish peat, 480; in French peat,
480, 493.

Mammoth, 17, 24, 25, 32, 42, 62, 87,
91, 103, 107, 108, 111, 118, 133, 147,
148, 149, 150, 151, 262, 507; post-
glacial, 457.

Mammoth oak, 53.

Mammoth period, 101, 112.

Manna ash, 47, 48, 51, 52. .

Map of Europe at the climax of Glacial
Period, 564.

Map of Europe, during First Age of
Forests, 568.

Maples, 47, 48, 53.

Marash, stony clay of, 214.

Marazion Marsh, section of buried forests,
etc., in, 440.

Margarita costulata, 466 ; M. undulata,
466.

MaRION cited, 46.

Maritime Alps, extinct glaciers of, 212.

Mark Brandenburg, interglacial deposits
of, 280.

Marmot, 30, 32, 40, 42, 62, 107, 113,
147.

Marocco, morainic mounds on plains of,
214.

Marseilles, tufa near, 49.

Marten, 81, 32, 367, 373, 449.

Marti, J., cited, 210.

Martins, Ch., on origin of flora of peat-
bogs, 495; cited, 195, 207; on Ar-
gelés glacier, 212.

Massa Marittima, travertine of, 46.

MasseEnar cited, 21,

582

Mastodon arvernensis, 317 ; M. Borsoni,
321; I. longirostris, 317.

Mayer on Pleistocene of Val d’Arno,
317; on so-called Pliocene glacial de-
posits, 324.

Maw, G., on glacial phenomena of the
Atlas, 215.

Mawnan, submarine forest near, 431.

Meath, kitchen-middens in, 461.

Mecklenburg, arctic plants in freshwater
clays in, 55.

Mecklenburg-Schwerin, glacial deposits of,
202; interglacial deposits of, 279.

Mediterranean, effect of, on migration of
plants and animals, 335 ; land-passages
across, in Pleistocene Period, 337;
depths in, 838; greater extent of, in
late glacial times, 354 ; supposed former
communication of, with North Sea,
468 ; mollusca of, in northern seas,
501.

Mellby, arctic flora in peat of, 491.

Menin, borings at, 507.

Mentone, human remains in cave near, 21,
23; marmot in caves of, 30; glutton
in caves of, 113.

Menyanthes trifoliata, 152, 299, 494.

Mercey, De, on origin of French limon,
163, 220.

Mer de glace, slope of surface of, in Scot-
land, 189; Scottish, Irish, and English,
coalescent, 190; English, coalescent
with that of North Sea, 192; Scandi-
navian, effect of, upon chalk of Méen,
200 ; deflections of under strata of,
203. (See also Ice-sheet. )

Mersey, submerged forests of the, 431,
432.

Metals, introduction of knowledge of, 378.

Mevey cited, 153.

Meuse, Paleolithic remains in flood-loam
of the, 22 ; loss in valley of the, 146.
Migrations of mammals, in Northern
Hemisphere, 35 ; in Pleistocene Period,
86, 347, 352; theory of seasonal or

annual, 65.

Millendreth Bay, submerged forest in,
431.

* Miocene, of Central France, 320; plants
of, 352; implements in, 345; man of,
546.

MOstus cited, 284.

Moen, glacial phenomena of, 200; suc-
cession of changes evinced by glacial
and interglacial deposits of, 285; sub-
merged peat of, 476.

Mohn Island, freshwater beds in, 470.

Moun on Norwegian strandlinier, 271.

Mole, 107, 262, 510.

Molignée, caves in valley of the, 100.

Mollusca, in La Celle tufa, 56; in dilu-
vium gris near Paris, 59; in cale-tufa of
Canstadt, 59; in English Pleistocene,

INDEX.

60; in léss near Wurzburg, 60; in
Pleistocene of Lyons, 63; in léss-beds
at Thiede, 148; in loss at Steinbach,
152; in Belgian loss, 155; in inter-
glacial beds of the Birsthal, 302; in
Leffe interglacial beds, 310; in Scottish
raised - beaches, 384, 385, 399; in
Scottish alluvia, 425 ; in English post-
glacial deposits, 434; in Irish raised-
beaches, 459; in postglacial beds of
Sweden and Norway, 466, 467, 469;
now living round coasts of Norway and
Sweden, 467; in peat of Champagne,
494 ; southern species of, in northern
seas, 501.

Moncalieri-Valenza Hills,
merly lived at foot of, 30.

Mononychus pseudacori, 54.

Montaigle, caves near, 102.

Montchalm, erratics from, 319.

Monte Cinto, ancient glacier of, 213.

Monte Majella, glacial phenomena of, 214.

Monte Mario, shell-beds of, 355.

Monte Rotonda, ancient glacier of, 213.

Mont Dore, ancient glacier of, 211;
erratics from, 319.

Montpellier maple, 47.

Montpellier, tufas of, 45, 49.

Mont Perrier, glacial and interglacial
deposits of, 318.

Montrose, glacial and postglacial deposits
of, 403.

Moorwort, 493.

Moraines, contrast between late glacial
and postglacial, 412.

Moray Firth, shell-mounds of, 369.

Morcu, O. A. L., cited, 501, 502.

Morea, raised-beaches of, 355.

Morecambe Bay, submerged peat of, 431,
432.

Moret, tufa near, 46, 50.

Morlaix, submarine forest near, 481.

Mortot, on interglacial deposits, 252,
297; estimate of date of Neolithic
Period, 557.

Moro on glacier of Serchio, 214.

Morris on large erratics, 194.

Mortillet, De, on classification of French
caves, 15; cited, 346, 546.

Morton cited, 191.

Morvan, glaciation of the, 211,

Mosand of Sweden, 472.

Moselle, léss in valley of the, 146.

Mosses, arctic and alpine species of, 55;
in peat, 492, 494.

Mouligna, river, submerged trees at mouth
of, 481.

Mountain avens, 485.
petala.)

Mountain pine, 47.

Mount’s Bay, submerged forest of, 431,
440.

Mouse, 367.

marmot for-

(See Dryas octo-

INDEX.

Mud in glacial rivers, 232.

Muggendorf Cave, 112.

Mulgedium alpinum, 353.

Mourcuison on Russian Tchernozem, 158,
163, 242; cited, 203.

Murex lamellosus, 502.

Musk sheep, 17, 24, 25, 29, 32, 39, 40,
134.

Mya, 284; MW. truncata, 334, 466, 475.

Myodes lemmus, 148 ; M. obensis, 62 ;
M. torquatus, 62, 149. (See also
Marmot.)

Myriophyllum, 485, 492.

Myrtillus uliginosa, 493.

Mytilus edulis, 284, 399, 469.

Narn (N. America), range of temperature
at, 39.

Nancy, Pleistocene lignite near, 54.

Nantes, range of temperature at, 39.

Nar-valley beds, 268.

Nassa, 502; N. reticulata, 278, 281.

Natica grenlandica, 467.

Nartuorst on arctic flora of Pleistocene
deposits, 55; on arctic flora below
peat, 54, 485, 491; on plants of Nor-
folk forest-bed, 262, 335; on Swedish
interglacial beds, 270; on postglacial
flora of Bovey Tracey, 456; on raised-
beaches of Scania, 475.

Naumann detects striated rocks in Sax-
ony, 198.

Necera cuspidata, 467 ; N. rostrata, 502.

Neanderthal cranium, 21, 23.

Neckar valley, loss of, 145, 151.

Newrine on loss-beds of Thiede and
Westeregeln, 147 ; cited, 245.

Neolithic Age, contrasts between, and
Paleolithic, 11,13, 28, 378; difficulty
of ascertaining relative antiquity of
relics of, 363; kitchen-middens of,
365; lake-dwellings of, 369; imple-
ments of, 372; fauna of, 373; cereals
of, 373 ; passage from, into Bronze Age,
874 ; people of, 374, 376; rude stone
monuments of, 375; long barrows of,
875; caves of, 376; traces of canni-
balism in, 377; in Denmark, 487;
commencement of, in postglacial period,
534, 535; duration of, 557.

Neolithic and Paleolithic deposits, break
between, 446, 449, 481, 496, 547, 553.

Neolithic implements below Jiravallen,
473 ; in Flemish peat, 480 ; in peat of
Somme valley, 480; in Danish peat,
487 ; in peat of Troyes, 493.

Neolithic man in Scotland, 428.

Neolithic remains, relative position of, in
cave-deposits, 75, 119, 120.

Newcastle, range of temperature at, 39.

New Stone Age. (See Neolithic Age.)

Nitsson on Jaravallen, 473.

Nithsdale, drums of, 183.

583

NORDENSKIOLD, Prof., cited, 497.

Norfolk, great erratics in, 193.

North America, extremes of temperature
in, 34; migrations of mammals in, 36 ;
temperature of east coast of, 39; Glacial
Period in, 228.

Northern Asia, extremes of temperature
in, 343; migrations of mammals in, 36.

Northern field-vole, 62.

Northern France, loss of, 153.

Northern Germany, interglacial deposits
of, 276.

North Sea, path of mer de glace in, 192,
203; depths of, 204, 339; dry land
during interglacial epochs, 340; dry
land in early postglacial times, 509.

Northumberland, glaciation of, 191.

North-west Europe, former geographical
changes in, 339.

Norway, glaciation of, 195 ; carry of er-
ratics in south of, 204 ; strandlinier of,
271; postglacial shell-beds of, 465,
466 ; glacial shell-beds of, 466 ; unfos-
siliferous postglacial deposits of, 466,
471; peat-bogs of, 487; former wooded
condition of, 488.

Norwegian lemming. (See Lemming.)

Nova Scotia, southern colonies round
coasts of, 502.

Novaia Zemlia, 41, 340.

Nucula tenuis, 467.

Nussdorf, shells in léss of, 237,

Oak, 47, 52, 58, 148, 320, 420, 432, 435,
436, 438, 448, 461, 469, 480, 486,
487, 494.

Obliquity of the ecliptic, 560.

Ochils, 178, 179; flood-gravels from,
387.

Odostomia albella, 467; O. plicata, 467.

Oerzenhofs, peat with arctic-alpine plants
at, 492.

OLBERS on tiers of trees in peat of
Sweden, 528.

OLDHAM cited, 190.

Old Stone Period. (See Paleolithic Age.)

Olive, 48, 51.

Olmo, human cranium in Pleistocene of,
22, 318.

Omautius, D’, cited, 346.

Onega, height of, above sea, 471.

Ontario, Lake, glacial and interglacial
deposits on shores of, 293.

Ophiura Sarsti, 467.

Orkney Islands, 188.

Orne, river, submerged trees at mouth of,
481.

Oronsay, raised-beaches of, 418.

OrtH cited, 283.

Osterfjord, strand-lines of, 273, 275.

Ostrea cochlear, 502; 0. edulis, 399,
468 ; O. virginiana, 508.

Otter, 31, 32, 367, 449, 494.

584 INDEX.

Outer Hebrides, glaciation of, 178, 189 ;
kitchen-middens in, 369.

Ovibos moschatus, 29, 279.
sheep. )

Owl, 373.

Ox, 40, 107, 108, 188, 148, 150, 151,
367, 373, 456, 463, 480, 494.

Oxycoccus palustris, 493.

(See Musk-

PaLZOLitHIc AGE, implements of, 10 ;
conditions of life during, 17 ; progress
during, 115; cold climate in latest
stage of, 116; conditions of life to-
wards close of, 1173; alternations of
climate during, 117 ; no passage from,
into Neolithic Age, 118; geographical
changes during, 337 ; extent of British
area in, 339 ; hiatus between, and
Neolithic Age, 378, 446, 449, 481, 547,
553 ; deposits of, their general distri-
bution, 544.

Paleolithic man, implements of, 10 ; ar-
tistic work of, 13 ; personal decoration
and ornaments of, 14; conditions of
life of, 17 ; a fisher and hunter, 17 ;
acquainted with tailoring, etc., 17; not
a cultivator of the ground, 18 ; prob-
ably unacquainted with potter’s art,
18 ; conjectures as to polity and be-
liefs of, 19; a troglodyte, 19; his
hearths and refuse-heaps, 19; camp-
ing-places of, 19 ; visited Mediterran-
ean and Atlantic coasts, 20; no proof
that he disrespected the dead, 20 ; re-
mains of, in caves, 21, 87, 91, 98, 100,
102, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 111;
not a cannibal, 22 ; types of, 22; re-
lative position of remains of, in caves,
75, 119, 1203; relics of, under léss,
149, 151, 154, 155; relics of, under
boulder-clay, 263 ; relics of, in Swiss
interglacial beds, 300 ; implements of,
not found in beds younger than those
of last interglacial epoch, 860; no
trace of, in Scotland, 428; no trace of,
in postglacial deposits, 443, 449, 496,
547 ; fate of, 546.

_ PALGRAVE on ancient glaciers of Trebi-
zond and Erzeroum, 214.

Pauas on débacles, 173.

Paludella squarrosa, 492.

Paludina balthica, 469; P. diluviana,
aids 278, 280, 281; P. marginata,

Panther. (See Leopard.)

Paseng, 494.

Patina, 502.

Patrobus excavatus, 54.

Pavt cited, 210.

PaYEN cited, 158.

Pracu, B. N., on glaciation of Caithness,
Orkney, and Shetland, 189 ; on Carse

of Falkirk, 399 ; on kitchen-middens,
400.

Peacock, R. A., on recent extensive sub-
mergence in Channel area, 482.

Peat, of Schwerzenbach, 54 ; of Bavaria,
55; submarine, of Tay and Earn Val-
leys, 385 ; of Falkirk Carse-deposits,
399 ; of Scotland, 419 ; submarine, of
England, 430 ; of coast of Lancashire,
etc., 434; of coast of Cornwall, 438 ;
of Fenland, 446 ; of inland districts in
England, 454 ; submarine, in Ireland,
459; with buried trees, in Ireland,
461; submarine, on coast of Scania,
473 ; of Danish coasts, 476 ; of Prus-
sian shores of Baltic, 476 ; of Dutch
coasts, 477; of Friesland, 478; of
Belgian coast, 479 ; of Somme Valley,
480 ; of Albert and Aveluy, 480 ; of
Normandy and Brittany, 481; of
Arcachon and Biarritz, 481 ; treatises
on, 483; of Northern Europe, 483 ;
varieties of, 485; of Denmark, 485;
of Norway, 487; rate of growth of,
489; Arctic plants below, 491; of
Champagne, 493; of Central and
Southern Europe, 495; present decay
of, 532.

Pecten grenlandicus, 387, 403 ; P. irra-
dians, 502, 503; P. islandicus, 385,
466, 467; P. vitrews, 467.

PeEncg, A., on glaciation of Saxony, 199 ;
on shells in boulder-clay, 278; on
succession of glacial deposits in Ger-
many, 281, 286; on glacial deposits of
Prussia, 281; on drift deposits of
Saxony, 282; on glacial deposits of
Denmark, etc., 284; on succession of
changes evinced by glacial deposits of
Moen, 285.

PENGELLY cited, 76; on stalagmitie ac-
cretion in Kent’s Cave, 81; on forma-
tion of cave-breccia, 85; on “stalag-
mitic ceiling’ in Brixham Cave, 87 ;
on implements in Kent’s Cave, 91; on
Paleolithic man of Kent’s Cave, 93 ;
on geographical changes evinced by
phenomena of Kent's Cave, 94 ; erratics
noticed by, in Devonshire, 227; on
deposits of Bovey Tracey, 456; on
mammoth-remains in peat, 457.

Pentewan Work, section of, 440.

Perch, 373.

Perfumed cherry-tree, 50.

Périgord caves, no trace of Paleolithic
pottery in, 18.

Periploca greca, 47.

Perran Porth, submerged forest at,
431.

Perrier. (See Mont Perrier.)

Perth, buried forest at, 391; river-ice in
Tay at, 397.

PERTHES, B. de, cited, 3, 4, 123.

‘ = ea eee

INDEX.

Peterborough, postglacial deposits near,
447,

PETTERSEN, K., cited, 195; on strand-
linier, 274.

Pevensey Level, submerged forests of,
431.

Phacidium buat, 305.

PHILiirs cited, 158.

Phillyrea angustifolia, 49; P. media, 49.

Pholas candida, 468; P. crispata, 467.

Phragmites communis, 299.

Physa hypnorum, 302.

Pianico, lacustrine deposits at, 304.

Picea excelsa, 54.

Pipancy cited, 209.

Pierre 4 Bot, 171.

PIETTE on beliefs of Paleolithic man, 19 ;
on skulls in Cave of Gourdan, 22, 551,
554; on two glacial epochs in Pyre-
nees, 323; on Pliocene glaciers, 324.

Pig, 97, 373, 427, 494.

Pigeon, 373.

Pika. (See Tailless Hare.)

Pike, 373.

Piuar cited, 209.

Pine, 420, 432, 435, 436, 448, 461, 469,
485, 486, 494.

Pinus abies, 298 ; P. (Abies) alba, 516 ;
P.cembra, 56; P. lariz, 299; P.mon-
tana, 54, 299; P. obovata, 54; P.
pyrenaica, 47, 49; P. pumilio, 47,
49; P. Salzmanni, 47, 49 ; P. sylves-
tris, 298, 302, 391, 448, 485.

Pisidiwm, 449, 492; P. amnicum, 280,
299; P. pulchellum, 493.

PLANcHON, G., cited, 45, 48, 49; list of
plants in tufa, 49.

Planera, 46.

Planorbis, 449 ; P. carinatus, 149, 302 ;
P. complanatus, 310, 475; P. spiror-
bis, 203; P. vortex, 302.

Pant, erratics at Leicester, 193.

Plants, rare in Pleistocene deposits, 45 ;
in tufa of La Celle, 50; in travertine
of Mamers, 52; in tufa of Canstadt,
58; in lignite of Jarville, 54; in peat
of Schwerzenbach, 55; in Bavarian
peat, 55, 493; near Montmeilan, 66 ;
of Norfolk forest-bed, 262; of Swiss
interglacial deposits, 298; in inter-
glacial beds of the Birsthal, 302; in
lacustrine deposits of Val Borlezza,
304; of Leffe lignite, 309 ; in inter-
glacial deposits of Mont Perrier, 320 ;
migrations of, during last interglacial
epoch, 348; migrations of, during last
glacial epoch, 352; list of arctic-alpine,
353 ; in Swedish postglacial beds, 469 ;
in Swedish peat, 492; in peat of
Mecklenburg, 492; in peat of Cham-
pagne, 494; list’of Norwegian, 515 ;
list of, common to Spitzbergen, Ger-
many, etc., 508,

585

Platanus aceroides, 46.

Pleistocene Period, mammals of, 25;
climate of, 33; plants and molluscs
of, 44; river deposits of, 121; mam-
mals of, their early arrival, 261 ; fauna
and flora of, same as interglacial, 540 ;
identity of, with Preglacial and Glacial
Period, 539; strongly contrasted cli-
mates of, 540 ; date of, 559.

Pliocene Period, reputed glaciers of, 324 ;
flora of, 8382; physical and climatic
conditions of, 332 ; first traces of ap-
proaching Glacial Period in deposits of,
333; passage from, into Pleistocene
Period, 334; incised bones in, 348 ;
worked flints in, 344; man of, 546.

Pleuronectes flesus, 471; P. platessa,
471.

Plewrotoma carinatum, 502; P. turri-
cula, 385.

Plouescat, submarine forest near, 481.

Pox pratensis, 508.

Poggiarone, cut bones in Pliocene of, 344.

Poland, drifting sands of, 245.

Polecat, 107, 108, 373, 480, 510.

Polgavie, buried forest at, 395.

PoLIAKOFF on glacial phenomena in the
Ural Mountains, 210.

Polygonum hydropiper, 299.

Polystichum spinulosum, 494.

Pomatias septemspirale, 57, 59.

PoMEL cited, 320.

Pomerania, glacial deposits of, 284.

Pouched marmot, 30. (See Spermophitus. )

Populus alba, 49; P. canescens, 50, 53 ;
P. Fraasii, 53; P. tremula, 485. (See
Aspen. )

Porcupine, 32.

Porlock, submerged forest at, 431.

Porpoise, 367.

Portcounan, raised-beach at, 418.

Porthleven, submarine forest at, 431.

PorTLOcK cited, 190.

Postglacial and recent deposits, of British
Islands, 381 ; of Scotland, 383 ; of Eng-
land, 430; of Ireland, 458 ; of Norway
and Sweden, 465; of Finland and
Northern Russia, 470; of Denmark,
476; of Baltic coast (Germany), 476 ;
of Holland and East Friesland, 477 ;
of West Friesland, 479; of Belgian
coast, 479; of French shores of Channel,
479 ; of Somme valley, 480 ; of Central
and Northern Europe, 482; of Southern
Europe, 495.

Postglacial climate of Central Europe,
522.

Potamogeton, 485, 492.

Pottery, reputed Paleolithic, 18 ; no trace
of Paleolithic, in English and French
caves, 18; Neolithic, 368, 372, 376;
Gallo-Roman, in Flemish peat, 480; in
peat of Champagne, 493.

586

Potsdam, interglacial deposits at, 280.

Pozzuoli, raised-beaches of, 355.

Preglacial and Glacial Period, identity of,
with Pleistocene Period, 539.

Preglacial deposits, 261.

Preglacial man, 545.

Prehistoric Period, Later, commencement
of, 534.

Preservation of beds under till, 288, 316,
356.

Prestwich cited, 3, 11, 12; on shells in
river-drifts, 63 ; cited, 65 ; on succes-
sion of changes evinced by phenomena
of Brixham Cave, 88; on loss at high
levels in France, 154; on river-drifts,
124 ; on geological position of Thames-
valley river-drifts, 125 ; confirms obser-
vations of B. de Perthes, 126 ; on fluvia-
tile origin of river-drifts of Southern
England and Northern France, 127 ;
on origin of brick-earth and léss, 130;
on flooded condition of Pleistocene
rivers, 132; on evidence of river-ice in
Pleistocene gravel-beds, 133; on clim-
atic conditions under which river-drifts
were deposited, 133 ; cited, 222, 234 ;
on “head” of Weymouth, 224; on
origin of “head,” 225; objections to
his views, 225.

Privet, 302.

Provence, tufa of, 45, 47.

Prunus mahaleb, 50.

Psammobia ferroénsis, 384.

Pteris aquilina, 49.

Pubescent oak, 47.

PUGGAARD on glacial phenomena of Moen,
200.

Pumiceous conglomerate of Mont Perrier,
318.

PUMPELLY, on dust-storms, 167; on Corsi-
can moraines, 213.

Pupa cinerea, 64; P. columella, 152;
P. doliolum, 57, 152; P. marginata,
302; P. muscorum, 57, 59, 61, 64,
148, 152, 155, 238; P. parcedentata,
61; P. pygmea, 238 ; P. quadridens,
64; P. secale, 302.

Purging buckthorn, 494.

Purple boulder-clay, 264.

PuRVES cited, 256.

Puy de Dome, glaciation of, 211.

Pyrenees, caves of, 20, 21, 377 ; ancient
glaciers of, 212 ; two glacial epochs in,
823.

Pyrus acerba, 49; P. aria, 47.

QUATREFAGES, De, on types of Palxolithic
man, 22; on Miocene and Pliocene
man, 346; on ethnical affinities of
Paleolithic races, 552.

Quercus ilex, 47, 49; Q. mammouthii,
53; @. pedunculata, 53, 494; Q.
pubescens, 47; Q. robur, 52, 299, 448 ;

INDEX.

Q. sessiliflora, 486, 515. (See also

Oak.)

Rassit, 31, 32, 87, 113.

Races, Paleolithic, 23, 552.

Raised-beaches, or strandlinier of Nor-
way, 2713; of Gibraltar, 326 ; of Medi-
terranean, 355; of Scotland, 383, 402,
417, 418, 428, 525; of England, 453 ;
of Ireland, 460; of Sweden, 473;
absence of, in north of Scotland, 524.

Ramsay, A. C., on flint implements, 78 ;
on glaciation of Anglesey, 191; on
Gibraltar breccias, 216, 324; on two
periods of glaciation in Wales, 253.

Rance, De, cited, 191, 432; on post-
glacial deposits of Lancashire, ete., 434 ;
on sand-dunes of old coast-line in Lan-
cashire, 435; on Neolithic implements
in Lancashire, 436.

Raspberry, 48.

Rat, 480.

READE, T. Mellard, cited, 432.

Red-deer or stag, 31, 32, 40, 87, 91, 103,
107, 108, 113, 138, 151, 262, 367,
373, 426, 438, 449, 463, 480, 496.

Reindeer, 17, 24, 29, 32, 36, 55, 87, 91,
103, 107, 108, 133, 147, 148, 150,
151, 279, 427, 449, 456, 463.

Reindeer migrations, 36, 41.

Reindeer period, 101, 112, 1163; stations
of, in Central France, 320.

Reindeer, rarity of, in postglacial deposits,
458.

RENEVIER on frontal moraine of ancient
Rhone glacier, 208 ; cited, 324.

ReEvuscH# cited, 195.

Rhamnus catharticus, 494.

Rhine valley, Paleolithic remains in léss
of, 22; fauna in Pleistocene of, 63;
loss of, 145, 159.

Rhinoceros, 28 ; Rhinoceros etruscus, 28 $
R. hemitechus, 28, 33, 304; R. leptor-
hinus, 28, 33, 97, 138, 309, 317, 320;
R. megarhinus, 28, 38, 134, 309;
R. Merckii, 28, 33,299; R. tichorhinus,
28, 62, 103, 107, 108, 151 (see also
Siberian Rhinoceros).

Rhodes, raised-beaches of, 355.

Rhone glacier, volume of water and amount
of mud discharged from the ancient,
231.

Rhone valley, interglacial deposits in the,
321.

Rhus cotinus, 49.

Rhynconella psittacea, 466.

RIBEIRO, C., discovers Pliocene and Mio-
cene implements, 345.

RICHTHOFEN, Baron v., dust-storm theory
of loss, 165; objections to his theory,
244,

Rink cited, 501.

River-deposits of Pleistocene Period, 121 ;

INDEX.

first discoveries of flint implements in,
123; Perrues on diluvial origin of, 123 ;
PRESTWICH’S Views on, 124 ; former un-
certainty as to relative antiquity of,
125; origin of, 126; high- and low-
level, 126; great antiquity of, 127 ;
rate of modern denudation, 128 ; tor-
rential character of, 130; flood-loams
associated with, 131; terraces of, not
often preserved, 131 ; erratics in, 133 ;
PRESTWICH’S views of climatic conditions
during accumulation of, 133 ; evidence
of alternate cold and warm climates
during accumulation of, 135 ; mode of
determining relative age of, 137 ; Dar-
WIN’s views of origin of coarse angular
gravels of, 141.

Rivers, of Glacial Period, 233, 234 ; dam-
med back by northern ice-sheet, 235 ;
subglacial, in Northern Europe, 239 ;
torrential deposits of, 396 ; former
larger volume of, 398, 407, 455.

RrvikrsE cited, 21.

Rixdorf, interglacial deposits of, 278.

ROBERTSON on unconformity between
glacial and postglacial deposits in Scot-
land, 385.

Roches moutonnées, 176.

Rock-surfaces, glaciated, 176 ; broken and
confused under till, 184, 193, 200.

Rock-terraces, Norwegian, 271 ; Scottish,
275.

Rodeven, submarine forest at, 481.

Roebuck, 31, 87, 103, 107, 108, 113, 262,
867, 373, 427, 442, 449, 480.

Roemer cited, 150.

Romagnat valley, moraines in, 211.

Romans, destruction of trees by, 530.

Rosa rubiginosa, 515.

Roslyn Hole, great erratic of, 194.

Ross cited, 197.

Rora# on German glacial deposits, 277.

Roxburghshire, till of, 183.

Rubia peregrina, 49.

Rubus corylifolius, 515; R. ideeus, 48,
49, 299; R. Lindebergit, 515; R.
radula, 515; R. thyrsoideus, 515; R.
Wahlbergit, 515.

Riidersdorf, glaciated rocks at, 197, 201.

Russia, treeless regions of, 35; glaciation
of Northern, 196 ; inundations in
Southern, during Glacial Period, 241 ;
postglacial deposits of Northern, 470.

RUTIMEYER on relics of man in Swiss
interglacial beds, 300; objection to
Pliocene age of moraines, etc., near
Como, 324 ; cited, 312.

SaBLE Campinien, 507.

Sabre-toothed tiger or lion, 26, 33. (See
also Machairodus latidens.)

Saiga, 31, 32.

Sagina Linnet, 353.

587

St. Acheul, flint implements from, 11.
St. Andrews Bay, shell-mounds of, 369.
St. Andrews, raised-beaches at, 418.

St. Bertrand-de-Comminges, moraine at,
323.

St. Bride’s Bay, submarine forest at, 481.

St. Jacob, interglacial deposits near, 302.

St. Leonards, submarine forest near, 431.

St. Malo, submarine forest at, 481.

St. Michel-en-Lherm, shell-mounds at, 369.

Saint-Pierre-Quilbignon, submarine forest
at, 481.

St. Prest, cut bones and flint implements
in deposits at, 343.

Salix alba, 49; S. aurita, 302; 8.
cinerea, 49, 50, 52, 58, 302, 456; S.
Sragilis, 50, 494; S. herbacea, 353,
485, 492, 493; S. myrtylloides, 456 ;
S. polaris, 55, 262, 335, 485, 492, 497 ;
S. repens, 456; S. reticulata, 55, 353,
485, 492; S. retusa, 497.

Salzmann’s pine, 47, 49.

Sambucus ebulus, 50.

Samson, river, caves in valley of, 100, 107.

SANDBERGER on mollusca in Pleistocene
of Wiirzburg, 60 ; on mammalian fauna
of Franconian loss, 62 ; on Pleistocene
fauna of Rhenish loss, etc., 63 ; on Stein-
bach lignite, 152 ; on shells in loss, 238 ;
on shells in modern flood-deposits of
Main, 238.

Sands, drifting, 244.

Sansino, 317.

Santa Luce, cut bones in Pliocene near,
344.

Santa Teresa Cave, 114.

Saporta, Count, on flora of tufas in Pro-
vence and Tuscany, 46; list of plants
in tufas of Provence, 49 ; cited, 50, 51,
52, 53; on flora of Canstadt tufa, 53 ;
on present flora of Montmeilan, 66; on
Pliocene flora, 332.

Sardinia, breccias of, 65.

Sarsaparilla, 47.

Sars, G. O., cited, 468, 492.

Sars, M., on shells in shell-beds of Nor-
way and present seas, 467, 468.

Savoy, interglacial lignite of, 303.

Saxicava norvegica, 334; S. rugosa, 466.

Saxony, glacial phenomena of, 198;
broken rocks under till of, 201; drift-
deposits, succession of, in, 282.

Scania, kitchen-middens on coasts of, 369 ;
submarine peat of, 473.

Scandinavia, mer de glace of, confluent
with Scottish ice-sheet, 188 ; ice-sheet
of, invades Eastern England, 192;
glacial phenomena of, 194 ; interglacial
beds of, 270; late glacial deposits of,
270; condition of, in late glacial times,
355 ; postglacial and recent deposits
of, 464; condition of, in postglacial
times, 500.

588

Scandinavian flora, 508, 510, 518.

Scharfenort, peat of, 476.

SCHEERER cited, 195.

Scheldt, submarine peat near mouth of,
477.

SCHIMPER cited, 212.

Schleswig, submarine peat of, 477.

SCHMERLING cited, 3, 4, 21.

Scumipt on postglacial beds of Finland
and Northern Russia, 470.

Schiissenried, tufa and peat of, 55.

Schwielow-See, boring near, 280.

Schwerzenbach, peat-bog near, 54.

Scirpus lacustris, 299.

Scolopendrium officinale, 49, 50, 52, 53.

Scotland, extent of ice-sheet in, 189;
slope of surface of ice-sheet in, 189;
interglacial deposits of, 255; submer-
gence of, in last interglacial epoch, 266 ;
condition of, during advance and re-
treat of latest ice-sheet, 267; late
glacial marine beds of, 270 ; interglacial
rock-terraces of, 275; buried river-
valleys in, 341; condition of, in late
glacial times, 3553; shell-mounds of,
369; postglacial and recent deposits
of, 383; raised-beaches of, 383, 418;
submarine forests and peat of, 385;
peatbogs of inland districts in, 406,
419; former larger size of rivers in,
407 ; traces of postglacial glaciers in,
411 ; ancient forests in, 420; postglacial
lake-alluvia in, 425; postglacial
mammalia of, 426; relics of Neolithic
man in, 428; partial submergence of,
in postglacial times, 410 ; date of Later
Prehistoric periods in, 428; former
connection of, with Ireland, 512; post-
glacial submergence of, 525.

Scots fir. (See Pinus sylvestris, and
Pine. )

Scrobicularia piperata, 384, 395, 404,
434, 448. :

Seal, 367, 449.

Sections : Brixham Cave deposits, 86 ;
Kent’s Cave deposits, 90; Victoria
Cave deposits, 96; Trou du Frontal,
109; loss-beds of Thiede, 147 ; loss-
beds of Westeregeln, 149 ; Steinbach
lignite, 152 ; Belgian caves, etc., 156 ;
Gibraltar, 217, 326; Hailes Quarry,
257, 258; Rixdorf sand-beds, 278;
Wendisch-Wehningen brick-works, 279;
Schwielow-See, 280; lake-deposits of
Pianico, 305; Leffe lignite, 308, 311;
Mont Perrier, 320; Benghisa Gap,
Malta, 328; Carse of Gowrie, 386 ;
Montrose, 403; Scottish postglacial
and recent deposits, 408; Scottish
alluvia, 425; Lancashire postglacial,
434; Happy Union Works, 438;
Lower Pentuan Work, 439; Pentewan
Work, 440; Huel Darlington Mine,

INDEX.

440; Tramore Bay, 459; Norwegian
postglacial beds, 466; Jiravallen, 474 ;
Scanian raised-beaches, 475 ; Helsing-
borg, 475 ; Barsebiick, 475 ; peat-beds
near Danzig, 476; peat-beds of East
Friesland, 477, 478 ; peat of Flemish
coast, 480; of peat with arctic plants
(Sweden), 491.

SEELEY on erratic at Roslyn Hole, 194.

SEFsTROM cited, 195, 196, 197.

Seine valley, human remains in Pleisto-
cene of, 22; ldss of, 153.

Serio, river, fluvio-glacial detritus of, 307.

Serres, Marcel de, cited, 77.

Serval, 25, 32, 113, 325.

Settle, cave near, 96, 119.

Seule, river, submerged trees at mouth
of, 481.

SEXE cited, 195.

SExE, 8. A., cited, 195; on Norwegian
strandlinier, 272, 273.

Sharpness, submerged forest at, 431.

Sheep, 373, 427, 463, 480, 494.

Shell-beds of Norway and Sweden, 465,
467, 474.

Shell-marl, 449.

Shell-mounds. (See Kitchen-middens. )

Shells, crushed and striated, in till, 188 ;
in flood-deposits of Main, 238 ; trans-
ported by sea, 238; in German glacial
and interglacial deposits, 277, 278, 280,
281, 282; in interglacial beds of Hol-
stein and Denmark, 284; in Danish
kitchen-middens, 3867; in Scottish
raised-beaches, 384, 387; in clay at
Errol, 386 ; in Scottish postglacial and
recent deposits, 399, 425; in English
postglacial and recent deposits, 439,
449, (See also Mollusca. )

Shrew, 87.

Siberian or woolly rhinoceros, 62, 87, 133,
147, 148, 150. (See also Rhinoceros
tichorhinus.)

Siberian pine, 56.

Sicily, caves of, 114.

Sierra Guadarrama, ancient glaciers of, 212.

Sierra-Nevada, ancient glaciers of, 212.

Silene cretica, 373. .

Siphonodentalium vitreum, 467.

Sison amomum, 510.

Skegness, submarine forests near, 431,
480.

SKERTCHLY, S. B. J., on erratic at Roslyn
Hole, 194; on broken strata under till,
194; on Brandon interglacial beds
with Paleolithic implements, 263 ; on
Fenland, 445.

Sleaford, postglacial deposits near, 447.

Smilax aspera, 47.

SmitH, Ecroyd, cited, 435, 436.

Smirg (of Jordanhill), cited, 174.

Snow, accumulation of, in river-valleys of
Pleistocene Period, 141.

INDEX.

Snowy vole, 30, 32.

Soédertelge, buried hut at, 474.

Solent, the, formerly a land-valley, 341.

Solway Firth, raised-beaches of, 418;
submarine peat of, 431.

Somme (Department), peat of, 480.

» valley, loss of, 153; peat in, 480.
Sonnaz, interglacial lignite of, 303.
SORDELLI on plants in deposits of Val

Borlezza, 305; on plants of Leffe lig-

nite, 309.
Sorde, rock-shelter of, 552.
Sound of Jura, raised-beaches of, 418.
Southampton Water, formerly a land-val-

ley, 341.

Southern Europe, caves of, 112; physical

conditions of, in postglacial times, 533.
Southern mammals of Pleistocene, 32.
South Wales, glaciation of, 193.

* Sowbacks” of till, 182.
Spermophilus citillus, 30; S. altaccus,

Spezia, cave near, 114.

Sphagnum, 493; S. cymbifolium, 299.

Spiennes, Paleolithic implements under
loss near, 155.

Spindle-tree, 47,
ELuonymus. )

Spitzbergen, postglacial deposits of, 496 ;
plants of, 508; connection of, with
Europe in postglacial times, 521.

Spotted hyena, 27, 32.

Spruce fir, 54, 494.

Squirrel, 107, 510.

STacHE cited, 150.

Stag. (See Red-deer.)

Stalagmite, composition and origin of, 79 ;
rate of accretion of, 79, 80, 83; in
Kent’s Cave, 81, 91, 92; impurities in,
84; sheets of, broken up and removed,
85; in Brixham Cave, 86.

SranitEy, Hon. W., mammoth remains in
peat at Holyhead, 457.

Stannergate, Dundee, buried land-surface
at, 390.

Stanniferous gravels, 438, 442.

Starling, 373.

STEELE cited, 531.

STEENSTRUP cited, 346; on kitchen-
middens, 366; on Danish peat, 485 ;
on rate of growth of peat in Denmark,
491. :

STEFANI cited, 345; on marine deposits
of glacial age in Italy, 355.

Steinbach, lignite of, 152.

Steppes, black earth of, 157 ; inundation
of, in Glacial Period, 240.

Stoat, 31, 32.

Stone Age, 6.

STOPANNI on moraines of Val d’Arni, 213;
on glacial lake of Val Borlezza, 304 ;
of lake deposits at Leffe, 310; on Plio-
cene glaciers, 324,

50, 53. (See also

589

Stork, 373.

Stoss-seite, 177.

Straits of Dover, 339, 341.

Strandlinier of Norway, 271.

Strathcluony, successive buried forests in
peat of, 421.

Stream-tin gravels, 227.

Striated rock-surfaces, 176.

Striated shells in till, 277.

Striated stones, 180.

Striped hyena, 27, 32.

SrupraTi cited, 65.

Sturgeon, 480.

Stuttgardt, tufas near, 53.

Subglacial rivers, etc., 239.

Submarine plateau of 100 fathoms, 339.

Submarine trees and peat of Scotland,
385, 390, 399, 403; of England, 430-
453 ; of Ireland, 458; of Scania, 473-
475 ; of Denmark, Holstein, Hanover,
and Prussian coasts of Baltic, 476 ; of
the Elbe, 477; of Holland and East
Friesland, 477; of Flanders, 479; of
French coasts of Channel, 480.

Submarine trough off southern coast of
Sweden and Norway, 515.

Submergence, of British area during last
interglacial epoch, 266; in late glacial
times, 355; connection between, and
humidity of climate, 452; postglacial,
of Scandinavia, 465, 472; of Channel
area in postglacial and recent period,
481; postglacial, 525.

Succinea, 449; species of, in La Celle
tufa, 57; in diluviwm gris of Paris,
59; in Canstadt tufa, 59; in Wiirz-
burg loss, 61; at Thiede, 148; in
Steinbach loss, 152; in Belgian loss,
155; in Potsdam interglacial sands,
280 ; in Swiss interglacial beds, 302.

SULZER cited, 172.

Sunderland, submarine forest near, 431.

Sus scrofa ferus and palustris, 494.

Swan, 373, 494.

Sweden, glaciation of, 195; interglacial
beds of, 270; postglacial shell-beds of,
465, 468; unfossiliferous postglacial
sands of, 472; submarine peat and
raised-beaches of, 473; arctic-alpine
plants below peat of, 4915; postglacial
changes in Southern, 505.

Switzerland, caves of, 112 ; glaciation of,
207; interglacial deposits of, 297;
lake-dwellings of, 369; arctic-alpine
flora of, 495.

Syeamore, 50, 51, 53.

Symonps, Rey. W. §., cited, 220.

Taaus valley, implements in Miocene and
Pliocene of, 345.

Tailless hare or pika, 30, 382, 42, 113,
147, 149,

59?

Tapes decussatus, 468 ;
468; TZ. virginea, 467.

Tapi, 321.

Tarascon, two glacial epochs in valley of,
323.

Taraxacum palustre, 508.

TarDy on deposits of Bois de la Batie,
301; on deposits in Ain and Rhone
valleys, 3821; cited, 346.

Tatra, extinct glaciers of the, 210.

Tavignano valley, extinct glacier of, 213.

Taxus baccata, 299, 305. (See also Yew.)

Tay valley, late glacial marine beds of,
270; postglacial deposits of, 386, 388.

Tchernozem. (See Black-earth.)

Tellina balthica, 284, 384, 469; 7. cal-
carea, 266; T. incarnata, 384; T.
myopsis, 387.

Tempelhof, interglacial deposits of, 280.

Temperate group of Pleistocene mammals,
32.

Temperature, range of, at various places
in Europe, 34.

Tenby, submarine forest at, 431.

Terek-thal, extinct glacier of, 214.

Terraces, postglacial fluviatile, 407.

Terre a briques, 154, 164.

TETENS cited, 477.

Teucrium scorodonia, 515.

Thames valley, extension of ice-sheet to,
193 ; Pleistocene deposits of, 125, 137;
submerged forest of, 431.

Thessaly, lions formerly infested, 26.

Thickness of extinct glaciers, how ascer-
tained, 177.

Thiede, loss-beds at, 147, 246.

Thoron, glacial and interglacial deposits
at, 298.

THomson, T., his discovery of arctic
shell-beds in Scotland, 174 ; cited, 518.

THOMSON, Sir Wyville, on southern forms
in northern seas, 501.

Thuidium antiquum, 299.

Thuja saviana, 46 ; T. occidentalis, 46.

THURNAM cited, 377.

TIDDEMAN cited, 97 ; on deposits in Vic-
toria Cave, 98; on glaciation of Lanca-
shire, 191.

_ TIETZE cited, 210.

Tiger, sabre-toothed. (See Machairodus.)

Tilia europea, 48, 49; TZ. grandifolia,
53.

Till, 180; stones in, 180; distribution
of, 182; parallel ridges or banks of,
183; broken rocks under, 184, 193,
200; “carry” of stones in, 186, 191 ;
colour and texture of, 186; aqueous
deposits in, 187 ; shells in, 188, 267.

Tiniére, cone of the, 557.

Tin-grayels, 438, 442.

Toga, breccia of, 65.

Torbay, mammoth-remains in submarine
forest at, 457.

INDEX.

T. pullastra, | ToRELL cited, 196; on invasion of Ger-

many by Scandinavian mer de glace,
198, 199 ; on buried hut at Sddertelge,
474; on shell-beds of Spitzbergen, 497.

Torquated lemming, 30, 62.

TORNEBOHM cited, 196 ; on postglacial
and recent raised-beaches of Scania,
474,

TOURNAL cited, 77.

ToURNOUER cited, 46; on mollusca of
La Celle tufa, 56, 135.

Tralee Bay, submarine peat of, 460.

Tramore Bay, submarine peat of, 459.

Trapa natans, 299, 309.

Travertine, of Massa Marittima, 46; of
Provence, 47 ; of Montpellier, 49; of
La Celle, 50, 56; of Mamers, 52; of
Canstadt, 53, 59 ; of Southern Europe,
55.

Trebizond, extinct glaciers of, 214.

Treeless zone, 35.

Trees, in Scottish peat, 420; large size
of, 420; often lie all one way, 424,
479; marks of fire on, 424, 479; of
English submarine forests, 432, 433,
438, 439, 440, 448; successive tiers
of, in peat, 421, 423, 434, 438-440,
448, 451, 461, 485, 487, 488 ; in shell-
bank of Enkopings 4s, 469 ; in peat of
Champagne, 494. (See also Forests and
Peat. )

TREVELYAN cited, 518.

TRIBOLET on traces of extinct glaciers in
Brittany, 227.

Trifolium minus, 515; T. procumbens,
515.

Tripoli of Val Borlezza, 304,

Triticum turgidum, 373.

Tritoniwm Sabinii, 466.

Trochus, 502; T. granulatus, 502.

Trophon clathratus, 399, 467.

Trou de la Naulette, 106.

Trou de l’Hrable, 102.

Trou de Philippe, 102.

Trou de Pont-a-Lesse, 104.

Trou du Chéne, 102, 104.

Trou du Frontal, 108,

Trou du Lievre, 102.

Trou du Sureau, 102,

Trou Magrite, 105.

Troyes, peat of, 493.

Tufa. (See Travertine. )

TULLBERG, 8. A., cited, 492.

Tumuli, skulls in Danish, 368; or bar-
rows, 375.

Tundras, 35.

Tunis, raised-beaches of, 355.

Turin, erratics on hills near, 317.

Turritella communis, 434.

Tuscany, tufas of, 45, 46 ; extinct glaciers
of, 213. :

Tweed valley, till of, 186.

TyLor, A., cited, 162.

INDEX.

591

Tyrol, glaciers from, invade low grounds | Vosges Mountains, glaciers of, 210; two

to north, 208.

Ulmus campestris, 49, 52, 58, 105; U.
montana, 49.

Unconformity between glacial and post-
glacial deposits, 382, 385, 432, 465.

Unio littoralis, 60, 138.

Upsala, erratics at, 472.

Ural Mountains, glaciation of, 210.

Ursus arctos, 29, 367, 474; U. arver-
nensis, 262, 363; U. etruscus, 317 ;
U. ferox, 29, 463; U. speleus, 29, 62,
299, 463. (See also Cave-bear.)

Urus, 24, 31, 32, 62, 87, 103, 108, 133,
147, 150, 261, 262, 378, 435, 436, 442,
456, 494,

UssHER on post-tertiary deposits
Cornwall, 441, 443, 445.

Utznach, interglacial beds at, 298.

Vaccinium vitis-ideea, 299.

Vaches-Noires, submarine forest near,
481.

Val Adrara, glacial lake of, 315.

Val Borlezza, ancient lake of, 304.

Val Cavallina, extinct glacier of, 304.

Val Concosola, 311.

Val d’Arno, 22, 23, 317.

Valentia, dredging forty miles off, 501.

Val Foresto, glacial lake of, 315.

Val Gandino, lignites of, 306 ; lacustrine
deposits in, 308.

Vallebiaia, traces of marine beds of glacial
age in, 355.

Val Camonica, ancient glacier of, 303.

Valley-loss, 146.

Valliéres, cave of, 110.

Val Seriana, extinct glacier of, 304.

Valvata, sp., 282, 284; V. depressa,
299; V. obtusa, 299; V. piscinalis,
277, 280, 310.

VANDEN Broeck cited, 153.

Varese, peat near, 56.

VENETZ cited, 207.

Venus ovata, 284; V. mercenaria, 502.

Vergisson Cave, 18.

Veronica alpina, 353; V. saxatilis, 353.

VERRIL on southern colonies in Gulf of
St. Lawrence, etc., 502.

Verticordia abyssicola, 502.

Veyrier, cave of, 112.

ViprayYe, De, cited, 110, 111.

Viburnum tinus, 47, 49.

Victoria Cave, 96, 119.

Villers, submarine forest at, 481.

Vine, 47, 48.

VircHow cited, 346,

Vitis vinifera. (See Vine.)

Vivarais, ancient glaciers of, 211.

Volcanic eruptions in Central France be-
fore close of Paleolithic Age, 320.

Voles, 62, 149.

glacial epochs in, 322.

Waldheimia septigera, 467.

Wales, glacial deposits of, 253; submer-
gence of, 266 ; beaver in, 456.

Walnut-tree, 46, 48, 53, 309.

Walrus, 170, 449.

WALTERSHAUSEN on trees in peat of East
Friesland, 479; on glaciation of Ice-
land, 519.

Wapiti, 107.

Warb, J. Clifton, cited, 191.

Warten, section of peat-beds at, 477.

Wash, The, submarine forests of, 431;
postglacial and recent deposits on
borders of, 445.

Watchet, submarine forest at, 431.

Water-rat, 87, 107, 367.

Weasel, 31, 32, 107.

Wellington Channel,
shores of, 516.

W endisch - Wehningen,
posits of, 279.

Werra valley, liss of, 146.

Weser valley, loss of, 146.

Westeregeln, loss-beds at, 149, 246.

West Friesland, peat of, 479.

Wexford Harbour, submarine peat of, 460.

Whale, 399, 401, 438, 440, 449, 480.

WHITAKER, W., cited, 274.

Whitebeam, 47.

White birch, 302.

Waitt, BucHanay, cited, 391; on immi-
gration of British flora, 507 ; on distri-
bution of alpine lepidoptera in Britain,
511.

White poplar, 47, 50, 53.

Whortleberry, 302.

Wigtonshire, raised beaches of, 418.

Wild boar, 32, 103, 107, 108, 262, 325,
367, 373, 449, 480, 494.

Wild cat, 31, 32, 107, 367, 373, 427, 456.

Willows, 47, 50, 320, 420, 448, 469, 485,
494. (See also Salix.)

Wind, absence of violent, in high latitudes
during genial postglacial period, 523 ;
erosion by, 244.

Wolf, 31, 32, 91, 103, 107, 108, 151, 262,
325, 367, 373, 427, 449, 456, 4638, 480.

Wolfenbiittel, léss-beds near, 147.

Woodsia hyperborea, 353.

Woop, 8. V., cited, 193; on succession
of boulder-clays in England, 261; on
sands and gravels of East Anglia, 263.

Wookey Hole, 94.

Woolly rhinoceros.
ceros.)

Wolverene. (See Glutton.)

Wormit Bay, submarine peat and trees of,
390.

Worsaak cited, 346; on kitchen-mid-
dens, 866.

buried trees on

interglacial de-

(See Siberian rhino-

592 INDEX.

WURMBRAND, Count, cited, 151. Ystad, submarine peat and raised-beach
Wiirtemberg, Pleistocene flora of, 53. of, 473.
Wych elm, 49.
ZEALAND, submarine peat of, 476.
Yew, 54, 436, 448, 461, 480, 494. ZEUSCHNER cited, 146, 210.
Yoldia arctica, 281, 467, 471 (see also| Zipplau, peat of, 476.

Leda arctica); Y. pygmea, 403; Y.| Zrrren cited, 493.

pygmea, var. gibbosa, 466, 467; Y. | Zoarcus viviparus, 471.

pygmea, var. intermedia, 467. Zonites acieformis, 56, 59; Z. Blaunert,
Youghal Bay, submarine peat of, 460. 64; Z. lathyri,64; Z. obscuratus, 64.
Youne, J., on glaciers of Loch Skene, | Zua lubrica, 57.

412. Zurich, interglacial deposits near, 298.

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Assistant-Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society ; Author of
‘The Naturalist on the Amazon.”

Large post 8vo, with 13 Maps and 73 Illustrations. Cloth gilt, 21s.

AUSTRALASIA.

EDITED AND EXTENDED BY ALFRED R. WALLACE, F.R.G.S.
Author of “The Malay Archipelago,” Geographical Distribution of Animals,” &c.

Second Edition, large post 8vo, with 20 Maps and 56 Illustrations, cloth gilt, 21s.

“BUROPH,” “ASIA,” and “NORTH AMERICA,”
Ln the Press.

LONDON: EDWARD STANFORD, 55 CHARING CROSS, S.W.

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