Excavations at the Kesslerloch near Thayngen, Switzerland, a cave of the Reindeer Period. ... Translated by J. E. Lee

Preface

Some little time ago my kind friend Dr. Ferdinand Keller, the President of the Society of Antiquaries at Zurich, who frequently keeps me informed of what is going on in the archæology of his district, sent to me the first part of tlie Proceedings of his Society for the present year. It contained an account of the Excavation at the Kesslerloch, a cave of the Eeindeer period near Schast'hausen. The moment I saw it it struck me that it was of very great interest ; and it occurred to me very forcibly that it ought to be translated into English. This idea was communicated to Dr. Keller, and he at once assented, and very kindly allowed me to have lithographic transfers from the Society's plates ; so that the drawings now before the reader are the actual original sketches. Such is the origin of the present little volume.

I cannot think that I am wrong in considering the excavation in this cave as one of the most interesting which has been made for years ; and though it must be confessed that the following report is by no means perfect — that it is defective in some parts and redundant in others — yet it is a wonderful pro duction for a young author, for such in fact is the excavator of the Kesslerloch. In certain cases where it appears to me that the author is not quite correct I have ventured on adding notes stating VI

PREFACE.

. my opinion ; and I have also gone so far as to alter in a very small degree the style where it appeared to me to be in appropriate. Otherwise the Avhole report is left precisely in the words of the author, although to regular antiquaries it may appear that it might have been shortened with advan tage. It would be hardly correct if in a preface to this most interesting account I omitted to state the astonishment which these prehistoric drawings have caused in certain quarters, almost amounting to scepticism as to their genuine ness. But, on the other hand, it may perhaps be allowable to state a few facts which somewhat bear upon this point. In the course of the past summer, finding myself in Germany, it seemed very desirable to see with my own eyes the objects which had been found at the Kesslerloch, and also to visit the place itself.

When at Zurich I had the good for tune to meet with Mr. Franks, wdio, it is well known, has paid very great attention to prehistoric matters — in fact he had been attracted to Switzerland by these very discoveries. With great kindness he allowed me to accompany him to Schaffhausen, where a large portion of these relics are deposited in the Museum there, and also to the cave itself. Dr. Von Mandach, the President of the Schaffhausen Natural History Society, accompanied us. The sketch forming the frontispiece was taken during this hasty visit, and was after - wards corrected by a second glance. It will, I hope, not be a breach of confidence if I mention the facts as to the excavation which came to my knowledge. Thayngen is reached by the railway from Schaffhausen in little more than a quarter of an hour.

Mr. Merk, the author of the present report, was for some time the Government ' teacher of practical science ' there ; and when he had discovered the cave, it was arranged with the Schaffhausen Society, of which the active and intelligent Dr. Von Mandach,

PREFACE.

. VII the leading physician of the place, is the President, that the Society was to pay the whole expense of the excavation, and to receive one half of the objects found ; the other half was to repay Mr. Merk for the trouble he took in superintending the excavation. It may be well imagined that Dr. Von Mandach and his coadjutors at Schaffhausen looked very narrowly after the pro ducts of the excavation, for the cave was only a few minutes distant from them by railway, and the Society had engaged to spend a considerable sum of money. The progress of the excavation is given in the following pages ; and it seems to me that if evidence is of any value at all, we have here one of the strongest cases in which antiquities, excavated under proper superintendence, may be considered as genuine. One half of the collection was sold by the discoverer to the Constance Museum ; the other half remains in the Museum at Schaffhausen.

This portion wTas carefully ex amined by my archaeological friend and myself, and I believe I am correct in saying that neither of us have the slightest doubt as to its being genuine. The mere fact of the drawings being so much better executed than those of Aquitaine (a fact, however, which Mr. Franks doubts) is no real argument against them, as the objection on this score arises merely from a preconceived but unproved notion that all cave-dwellers must have been of so low a grade as to be totally incapable of any knowledge of art. There are, however, two specimens which are not included in the collection at Schaffhausen, ancl respecting these it is perfectly natural to have grave doubts. They have been drawn by Mr. Merk, and also by Professor Rutimeyer in his late work on the Swiss Fauna, as wdl be seen in the Appendix.

The drawings are therefore reproduced here. The story of the discovery of these two specimens is given in a note appended to the description, and I have not scrupled to tell the

PREFACE.

. whole truth, so far as it can be ascertained, as in a matter of this kind perfect honesty is required. I will merely add, that although individually I rather incline to think that one of them at least is genuine, yet they must stand on their own merits, ancl on their own merits alone. It may be well to add that these two specimens, shaded as they are by the cloud about their origin, have, by the liberality of my archaeological friend above mentioned, been placed for reference in the collection of prehistoric objects in the Christy Collection, Victoria Street. JOHN EDWARD LEE. Villa Stracusa, Torquay : October 21, 1875. CAVE OF KESSLEELOCH. The first time I entered the Cave of Kesslerloch was in the summer of 1873, when on a botanical excursion. It was then completely overgrown with trees and shrubs ; in fact in summer the interior was altogether closed to the chance passer-by.

As I had been stationed at Thayngen hardly a year, the cave was entirely unknown to me, and probably would have remained so, but for the fact that the Alliaria officinalis flourished in the neighbourhood in great abundance and of unusual size, and this led me to it. I could not resist securing such specimens, and thus was in a position to notice the yawning background of the cavern through the bushes, where they were least dense. Having pushed with some difficulty through the foliage, I was not a little astonished to find that behind all this life and verdure I was surrounded b*y bare walls of rock. For some years past I had given much attention to geology and the study of prehistoric man, and I was strongly impressed with the idea that this cave, like those of other countries, might have been the abode of some of the human race in prehistoric times.

I then formed the determination to make excavations. But the realisation of this intention had to be put off for some time. The summer and the autumn passed away, and the ground was already covered with light snow, when a lecture which I had to give on volcanos reminded me strongly of the resolution I had made, but which had well nigh faded away from my memory. I communicated my ideas to my colleague, Mr. Wepf, who confirmed me in my determination, and offered to join me in the excavation. Thus on December 4 we went to the Kesslerloch with two of cur older pupils, shovels and pickaxe in hand. The ground was already hard frozen, but by chance we dug a trench in a very instructive place. For some time we obtained none of the is CAVE OF KESSLERLOCH. results we hoped for, and it was not till we had dug to a depth of about 39 inches that we found the slightest trace of animal bones ; but amongst those we then discovered were some very large horse's teeth.

After continuous work for about three hours we returned home with a rich store of bones, still uncertain whether our labour had been bestowed simply on a bone cave or on a human habitation. This uncertainty was naturally not agree able to us, and we continued our excavations still deeper, and then we discovered some few flint-flakes, and also the first reindeer-horn, which, on a close examination, bore undoubted marks of having been worked. Thus it was proved beyond a doubt that the Kesslerloch had been inhabited in prehistoric times. It may be imagined that our delight at this discovery was not small ; and thus, in order, on the one hand, to make it perfectly certain, and, on the other, to keep away all foreign elements from the excavation, we secured from the owner of the Kessler loch, for a sum of money by no means inconsiderable, the right of carrying on excavations in the cave exactly in the manner we pleased.

The regular systematic excavations began on February 19, 1874, and with little interruption continued till April 11 — in other words fully seven weeks ; and on the average five men were at work the whole time : all of them without exception worked most diligently. It seems only right that I should here mention the intelligent and untiring labours of Mr. Schenk von Eschenz, of the Canton Thurgau, who in a most disinterested manner gave himself up to the investigation, and has earned our most heartfelt thanks for his valuable services. The Natural History Society of Schaffhausen, by its cour teous and valuable assistance, and more especially by the great trouble taken by the President, Dr. von Mandach, enabled us to push the work on more quickly, and to carry it on in a more systematic manner ; and this Society also undertook all the cost of the excavation ; so that we may venture positively to affirm that the cave has been excavated most completely, and in a highly satisfactory manner.

It received the name of Kesslerloch, as I have been informed, from its having been the abede about fifty years ago of a family of tinkers or wandering smiths. - 1 The word ' Kesslerloch,' strictly translated, would he the ' tinker's cave ' or ' hole ■ ' but as the name has to be repeatedly used in the course of the following pap**es it seems better — or at any rate it sounds better— to rotnin the German word 'Kesslerloch.' DESCRIPTION OF THE CAVE. 3 It is situated about ten minutes' walk west of Thayngen, rather a large place in the Canton of Schaffhausen ; it lies close to the borders of the Grand Duchy of Baden, and is very near a well-made tunnel on the railroad leading from Constance to Schaffhausen. In front of the cave there are two narrow pleasant vales, uniting at right angles, the bottom of which consists of meadow-land, while the sides are formed partly of naked water-worn rocks, but chiefly of slopes from 60 to 80 feet high, covered with light underwood.

The side valley, to the north, which here is about 984 feet long by about 200 feet wide, joins the main valley leading from Thayngen, by Herblingen, to Schaffhausen, where there is a small brook, a narrow footpath, and the line of railroad, and here is to be found the last outpost of the Swiss Jura, about 30 feet high, and very steep towards the side valley. In this steep wall of rock, consisting of white Jura, or oolitic limestone, the Kesslerloch is situated, much about the same level as the flat of the valley. Description of the Cave. — There are two openings into it; that to the south, 10 feet broad, is about 7 feet above the Fig. 1. level of the valley, and towards the west widens out into a cavity from 3| to 5 feet high and 23 feet long. A gentle slope, formed by a number of fallen limestone fragments, covered with low brushwood, makes the entrance perfectly easy.

The » DESCRIPTION OF THE CAVE. chief opening, on the east side, in the perpendicular rock is now visible from a distance ; formerly it was hidden by the brushwood. It is 41 feet wide and 11-| feet high. This entrance is level, and dry underfoot, so that tbere is no diffi culty in making use of it. The length of the cave is about 51 feet, but inside both the breadth and height lessen rapidly, so that at 25 feet from the opening the breadth is only about 31 feet, and the height hardly 6 feet. In the middle there is a pillar of weather-worn limestone about 20 feet in circumference, which, together with a kind of screen or partition hardly a foot thick and 30 inches high, divide the back part of the cave into two smaller por tions. Between the pillar and the screen there is a roundish opening.

The northern portion of the cave is about 21 feet long and 19 feet broad, but it is hardly* 39 inches high, so that the excavation here was attended with some difficulties. The southern part has nearly the same dimensions, but it contracts towards the southern opening, which can only be entered when stooping down. The sides and roof are covered with numerous little cracks or fissures, and have a number of niches or small projections of different sizes ; these, together with the number of stalactites of various sizes in the hinder or northern portion of the cave, give to it a decidedly picturesque appearance. The superficies of the ground actually covered over by the cave is about 2,000 square feet, and the cubical contents of the whole cave about 10,500 cubic feet, so that the Kessler loch in superficial extent is about seven times as large, and in its cubical contents more than four times as great, as a room 19 feet 8 inches long, 14 feet 9 inches broad, and 8 feet 10 inches high.

The great agreeableness of the situation, the picturesque appearance, the convenient space, and the excellent supply of light in the cave rendered it a desirable abode even for men of the nineteenth century, accustomed as they are to so many conveniences. How much more would this have been the case thousands of years ago as a place of refuge and a permanent abode for these Troglodytes ! We will now refer to the succession and character of the different beds in the cave ; and first we may mention as the uppermost bed a mass of rubbish formed both of small and large angular stones of white Jura limestone, like the rocks on either side. There can be no doubt that these fragments of limestone, not having been rounded or worn by water, have been derived from the rocky walls of the cave, which RELIC-RED. 5 when the percolated water within them froze, became cracked, and then crumbled ; and thus gradually in the course of many centuries a bed of rubbish was formed of various degrees of thickness.

This bed extends more especially in front, where the rocks were more exposed to the weather, and here its greatest thickness amounted to from 47 to 55 inches, while behind it gradually became thinner, so that in the middle it was about 41 inches thick, and in the further northern chamber only about 3*V inches. In that part which lay towards the southern entrance it was hardly 2--V inches in thickness. This may possibly be accounted for by the decided slope of that part of the cave. In this rubbish, and more especially in front towards the eastern entrance, lay a number of lai*ge stones also consisting of white Jura or oolitic limestone. One of these stones was remarkable for its great size, being 73 inches long, 59 inches broad, and 53 inches high, so that the weight may be estimated not far from 5 tons.

If it had been the case that a human being of that period had been buried under these stones when they fell we should have had tangible evidence of human occupation; but chance has not so willed it. It took a long time to clear away all the upper bed of rubbish, as it contained nearly 4,300 cubic feet. But this covering was very useful in preserving the materials lying beneath ; for if the whole weight be calculated it amounted to about 170 tons, thus exerting a pressure of about If cwt. on each square foot, so that the relic-bed lying beneath was very* much pressed down, and thus was less exposed to decomposition. In different places some inches under this rubbish-bed there lay two beds of stalagmite : one was about 54 square feet in extent, stretching from the northern side of the northern area, and was from 12 to 18 inches thick; the other formed a baud alongside of the south wall of the rock, and was 18 or 19 inches thick.

The stalagmite was so hard that it had to be blasted with gunpowder in order to separate it from the underlying relic-bed. Both these beds of stalagmite contained on the underside a great number of bones and a few flints, evidently showing that the stalagmite had begun to form when the cave was inhabited. As before mentioned, under this rubbish-bed there lay a black bed called the relic-bed (Kulturschicht), because it contained so many" relics of early civilisation, and a mass of bones of different animals long since passed away. These silent evi- RELIC-BED. 6 dences of prehistoric times lay scattered one from another in a bed of large and small stones crumbled down from the oolitic limestone above. In front this bed was 15 inches thick, in the middle of the cave about 11 inches, and in the back part only about 4 inches thick.

This decided diminution in the thickness of the relic-bed may be accounted for partly because the front portion of the rock would weather to a greater extent and more rapidly, ancl partly because the heaps of bones diminish towards the back portion ; and this again may be accounted for by supposing that the early inhabitants of the cave had their work-room in front, and passed most of their time there, while the hinder portion may have been chosen for their sleeping apartment. The relic-bed, the black colour of which arises from the slow decomposition of animal substances, extends over the whole of the cave, even quite under the pillar before mentioned,1 so that we cannot imagine that there was any particular place where the rubbish was thrown. What could not be eaten was cast aside, without taking any account of the unpleasant effluvium which would arise from the decay of the meat, which in part still adhered to the bones.

The bones in this bed, which were of a yellowish white colour, were easily preserved, but some few of the bones were so rotten that they crumbled to pieces in the hand. Many of the bones were either partially or entirely infiltrated with iron and manganese forming dendrites. In several places of the relic-bed there were hearth's of different sizes, round which in general there were several slabs, which probably were used as seats for those who were sitting round the fire. On the north side of the cave there were three rather large slabs of what is called ' oolitic marble,' imbedded in fine rich loam. These may probably have been used as raised sleeping jilaces or couches. Who had the distinction of occupying them, whether all the members of the clan, or merely the chief, we must leave undecided.

At all events, I cannot agree with the view that these slabs were used as hearths or places of offering, for neither the slabs nor the loam show any trace of the action of fire. Neither can these slabs have been used as tables for working the loam upon, for not a single fragment of pottery was found in the whole of the relic-bed. It is quite 1 Is it not possible that this may be a mistake ? My own impression when I saw the cave was that the pillar was a portion us the regular oolitic rock ; but my visit was hasty, aud I may be in error. RELIC-BED. 7 clear that the slab is of the same age as the bones and implements found here, for a narrow strip or band of the relic bed runs quite underneath it, while round about it it is much thicker. It is a peculiar and interesting fact that the relic bed in front goes down deeply under the present surface of the valley ; this has led me to many considerations as to the age of this bed, to which I hope to refer subsequently.

Under the relic-bed, and extending over the whole of the cave, there was another bed coloured red with oxide of iron, and which consisted, like the others, of crumbled limestone. This bed also contained a number of bones and implements which were better preserved than the others, as they were constantly surrounded with the water of the soil, and thus were less exposed to the decomposing influences of atmospheric air. Here I may remark that water is very essential for the preservation of bones. Doubtless in prehistoric times every convenient cave was. inhabited; but from the want of water the human and animal remains in the course of thousands of years have disappeared from the majority of these caves, so that with the exception of the flint-flakes every indication of the former inhabitants has been lost.

The cave lately found in the neighbourhood of Berne is a proof of this. The thickness of this second relic-bed varied from 14 inches to 2^ inches. It was not coloured black, probably because then the number of the Troglodytes was not so great, consequently the remains of their feasts were less, and the products of their decomposition were partly dissolved by the water and washed away underground. The bed below this red relic-bed consists of a regular bed of yellow loam : towards the eastern side it is of considerable thickness ; but the depth has not been ascertained, as the water came in when any deep excavations were made. It does not extend over the whole area of the cave, so that in the back portion of it the red relic-bed rests immediately on the original rock. So far as this bed of loam has been examined not the slightest trace of a bone was found in it, though on the surface some few bones and implements, and also some flint-flakes, lay pressed into it, and this fact seems to prove that man was the first occu pier of the cave.

All the beds were somewhat sloping ; the greatest inclination was from thesouthern entrance to the middle of the cave : the angle of inclination was here about 25 degrees. In front the beds terminate abruptly. In the process of excavation one bed was carefidly taken away SPECIMENS FROM THE RELIC-BED. from the others in order to keep the contents perfectly distinct. (What has been said in several journals, that too little care was taken in the excavation, is absolutely incorrect.) At first I considered the two relic-beds as the products of two different ages ; but the determination of the bones found in both beds (as decided by Professor Riitimey*er when he first examined the two separate collections of bones), and also the implements, unquestionably disprove my idea; so that we had here only one relic-bed, divided simply by colour, which had been gradually acquired in the course of ages.

The whole thickness of this bed, considered as one, varied from 30 inches to 6-| inches — a fact of very considerable importance. The cubical contents amounted to nearly 3,530 cubical feet, so that the average thickness throughout the cave may be taken as 1 foot 9 inches. In the excavation the greatest possible care was taken, and the work was narrowly watched. It required every exertion of mind and body ; but this was amply repaid by a most valuable and interesting collection of objects. It was most fortunate that the weather was very fine during the excavation. The greatest difficulty we had to contend with was the quantity of water which came in— in fact when excavating just by the eastern entrance we were at least 35 inches under the level of the water at that season. Much time was required to clear out the water ; pumping had to be carried on for several days with more or less intermission.

The specimens found were carefully cleaned in an adjacent brook immediately after they were dug up. The bones were placed in a wicker-work basket, and this, with its contents, was put into the running water, which par tially cleared them from the rich earth adhering to them. After some time all the specimens were submitted to a regular cleansing 2-ll*ocess, and water was poured upon them from a bucket, till all the mud was entirely cleared off. Neither brushes nor napkins were used, in order to avoid any chance of damage to the specimens. After being completely cleaned, the bones and implements were dried and dipped in a thin solution of isinglass, which gave an extremely thin coating, but one which preserved the specimens from further decay. Isinglass is very much better than common glue, as it is less liable to grow mouldy.

The remains of bones were very numerous. I do not exaggerate in estimating their weight as 30 cwt. Without any exception, every bone which contained marrow was broken in piece; BONES FROM THE RELIC -BED. 9 there was not a single bone of the extremities left entire in the whole relic -bed, neither was there a single complete skeleton, nor in fact any portion of one. Though the bone-fragments were so very numerous, I could not find a single instance where the blow appeared to have been given by a pointed or chisel shaped implement ; but, on the other hand, all the well-preserved specimens, showing where the blow had been given, indicate the effect of a blunt implement. It is very evident that the bones were broken for the especial purpose of obtaining the marrow. The fact that the Esquimaux of the present day make use of marrow as an article of food leads us to believe that the ancient cave-dwellers had the same custom.

All the bones adhere more or less to the tongue, a characteristic mark, according to Lyell, of the fossil, bones of the quaternary formation. Not a single bone showed any trace of having been gnawed, ' so that we may conclude tha,t)» man was not only, as before mentioned, the first, but also the only occupier of the Kesslerloch. Professor Rutirneyer has submitted all the bones to a careful examination, and has determined them, for which my best thanks are due to him. If, therefore, in the following pages I make mention of the species, or their number, I must be under stood to use the information derived from this well-known man of science. The only representatives of the family Solidungula (Solipedia) found in the cave are those of the horse. But of this animal we meet with a number of teeth, vertebræ, scapulæ, bones of the feet, and hoofs.

From the number of front teeth of the under jaw ] 7 + 4 milk-teeth, and of the upper-jaw 15 + 3 milk-teeth, we may calculate that the number of horses eaten in the cave may probably have been about twenty, of which one-fifth had been young animals. From the size of the teeth, the hoofs, and the other bones, we may conclude that the horse of that period was about as large as that of the present day, which only differs from the cave-horse by having a wider foot. Some very few teeth, however, probably show a slight indication of another race, which has much resemblance to the fossil form of the horse found in the quaternary formations. 2 Whether these 1 See the note as to gnawed bones under the description of tbe Carnivore of the cave. 2 If it be lawful for an unpractised observer to express any opinion at all on a matter like this, it may be mentioned that, on comparing the few horse's teeth I was able to procure from the rubbish-heap with those drawn in Professor Owen's beautiful plate in the Philosophical Transactions for 1869, Plate LVIL, most of them appear to REINDEER. horses lived wild or as domestic animals naturally cannot be made out from the bones, for though by taming or domestica tion the race may be improved, it is uncommonly difficult, if not impossible to recognise in the bones such an amelioration.

The fact that amongst the number eaten one-fifth were foals would lead us to infer that these animals were wild; for if they had been kept as domestic animals for any particular service, they would certainly not have been killed and eaten when quite young. We need not think that horses were domesticated for the sake of their flesh, for it is evident that at that period nature had given to man abundance of flesh to eat. In fact, on the whole, we have not one single reason for believing that horses were domesticated for food ; and at the present day we find the horse running wild, though not in any great numbers, as, for instance, on the high steppes and plateaux of Asia and Africa, where small herds of wild horses are known to roam. There can be no doubt whatever that the number of those horses which have become wild is much greater — that is, those which at one time were domesticated, and afterwards escaped from the dominion of man.