pi. xix. [1] The art of engraving on bone was known but apparently little practised. From the lumps of pigment and ochre occasionally met with on the hearths, it is supposed that painting was carried on to some extent. Bone needles were also for the first time found in the upper strata.
The characteristic laurel-leaf lance-heads and pointes à cran have been found in several other stations, such as Lacave (Lot), explored by M. Armand Vire. In 1873 some magnificent specimens of the former were found at Volgu (Saône-et-Loire), in the form of a concealed hoard, supposed to be for votive purposes as they were too thin and fragile for ordinary work. This view was considerably strengthened by an observation of Breuil, who ascertained that one of the blades, which disappeared at the time of the discovery, but ultimately was sent to the Museum of Lyon, had been completely covered with red ochre a fact which undoubtedly suggests a votive offering (Bulletin de la Diana, vol. xv., 1908). The hoard contained fourteen specimens, measuring from 9 inches to 14 inches in length ; the largest of those, still unbroken, is shown on PI. VI., No. 16.
In the débris of Magdalénien stations are to be found the perfected results of the application of mechanical principles to the improvement of the tools and implements requisite for the accomplishment of man's daily avocations, now so greatly extended. His principal occupation was the chase, the produce of which constituted his staple food, and to capture the big game of his neighbourhood insufficient quantity entailed the use of a variety of new weapons. One characteristic feature of this age was the practical knowledge that bone, ivory, and reindeer-horn were better materials for the manufacture of piercing implements than flint. Hence the rapid disappearance of the laurel-leaf blades, which gave place to a series of improved weapons in bone and horn daggers, long, polished cylindrical lance-heads, barbed harpoons, and quite a number of small dart-points, to be affixed to light wooden shafts as shown on PI. VIII. The new lance-heads thus requisitioned consisted of flat or conical rods, pointed at the distal end, and adapted at the other for attachment
- ↑
For references to the literature of Solutré, see Ddchelette, vol. i., p. 133.
