XX.—Pleistocene Man in Jersey. By R. R. MARETT, Esq., M.A., Reader in Social Anthropology, Oxford. Read 23rd February, 1911. THE object of the following paper is threefold : first, to give some account of certain relics of pleistocene times, from a cave situated on the south coast of the island of Jersey; secondly, to notice the contents of another cave existing near the north-west corner of the same island, the horizon here being more uncertain, though not improbably pleistocene ; and, thirdly, to discuss briefly the general relation of the pleistocene to the post-pleistocene traces of pre- historic man in Jersey in the light of the available evidence, whether archaeo- logical or geological. In what follows I am to be held entirely and solely responsible for all state- ments of fact, as also for all deductions therefrom. It is only right to say, however, that the first part of my task has been greatly facilitated by a clear and detailed report on the recent exploration of the first-named cave, as conducted under the auspices of the Societe Jersiaise. This has appeared in Man, x. 102 (Dec. 1910),1 above the signatures of Messrs. E. T. Nicolle and J. Sinel, who are respectively the Hon. Sec. of the Societe" Jersiaise and the Curator of its museum. Moreover, these gentlemen, as well as Dr. A. Dunlop, who has published valuable contributions to the later geological history of the island, and Mr. G. Piquet, who knows every inch of the Jersey coast, have allowed me to draw freely on their bountiful stores of local knowledge. Of the illustrations, two, showing an interesting implement worked on two faces, which comes from the second of the caves above mentioned and is now at Guernsey in the Lukis Museum, are due to the kindness of the Rev. G. E. Lee, Local Secretary for the Channel Islands to the Society of Antiquaries; three, representing speci- mens of my own finding, were prepared for me at the Pitt-Rivers Museum in Oxford under the experienced eye of the Curator, Mr. Henry Balfour; and the rest are mostly the fruit of the ingenuity and skill of Mr. E. Guiton, whose camera goes with him into slippery places, or else of Mr. Sinel, who has like- wise lent a helping hand with several of the diagrams. I am also indebted for valuable information and assistance to M. Commont, M. l'Abbe Breuil, Prof. Sollas, Prof. A. Thomson, Prof. A. Keith, Dr. A. Smith Woodward, Dr. Andrews, Mr. Clement Reid, Mr. Reginald A. Smith, Mr. F. B. Pidduck, Mr. F. H. S. Knowles, and other kind friends. 1 Reprinted, with four illustrative plates, in 36' Bulletin de la Societe jersiaise, 69 f. VOL. LXII. 3 1. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Macquarie University, on 17 Feb 2019 at 05:02:48, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261340900008250 45° PLEISTOCENE MAN IN JERSEY A. LA COTTE DE ST. BRELADE. The first of the two caves here in question I shall refer to under the title of La Cotte de St. Brelade, thus adding the name of the district in which it is situated to its vernacular designation, namely, La Cotte. I do this in order to avoid confusion with the second cave, La Cotte a la Chevre, or, as I shall term it, again adding the name of the district,. La Cotte de St. Onen. It is perhaps worthy of passing mention that, in this word cotte, the dialects of the Channel Islands preserve the Scandinavian hot, as appears notably in the common phrase MAP OF JERSEY to illustrate references in paper Scale English Miles i ^ St Catherines Bayrb La Crete Pt nne Portrb Raised Beach Igneous Rock Raised Sea-cave Sedimentary Rock Submerged Forest x Indicates the position of Tunnel Street for pigsty, cotte a cochons} This survival is not surprising amongst a people who likewise call their farm-yard del, and their stack-yard ho-gard, where we have simply the bceli and hey-gard-r of Old Norse. Indeed, there is some evi- dence to show that this language was spoken in outlying parts of the islands as late at any rate as the eleventh century; for, as I am informed by my friend Mr. G. F. B. de Gruchy, Seigneur of Noirmont and proprietor of La Cotte de 1 Cf. G. Metivier, Did. Franco-Nortnand, Lond. 1870, s.v. Cotte, who suggests a Celtic derivation for the word. I am informed, however, by Sir John Rhys and Professor Anwyl that, in their opinion, the word cwt, meaning pigsty in Welsh, is not of Celtic origin, but is undoubtedly derived from the English ' cot'. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Macquarie University, on 17 Feb 2019 at 05:02:48, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261340900008250 PLEISTOCENE MAN IN JERSEY 451 St. Brelade, a charter of about 1091 describes Jethou as the island quae vulgo Keikhulm vocatur. The cave is situated on the south coast, in the cliff which bounds St. Bre- lade's Bay to the eastward. It is tucked away within a large cleft with perpen- dicular sides, which has been formed in the granite of the cliff-head by the erosion of an intrusive dyke of softer rock. This cleft is about 200 feet high and 40 feet wide, whilst it penetrates to a depth of some 150 feet. The rear wall would seem to be almost as sheer as the sides, but is masked by a steeply sloping talus of earthy matter interspersed with granite boulders of local origin, many being of great size. With its southern aspect its two sheltering screens, and a difficulty of access which, under present conditions at all events, is very pronounced, this was a retreat that could hardly fail to attract inhabitants. The cave itself has been hollowed out, presumably by sea action during a time of greater submergence, at the landward end of the western side-wall, some 60 feet above the present mean-level of the sea. It is about 20 feet wide, and is 25 feet high as measured from the floor reached by the recent excavations, which may not, however, be exactly the true floor. As to the depth, further digging must determine its full extent, since only a comparatively shallow section of floor has been laid bare, whilst there is a receding cavity in the domed roof which possibly denotes a concealed interior having, say, another 30 feet of depth. Before it yielded to the spade, the cave was choked with firmly compacted debris, which rose flush with the entrance to within a few feet of the roof (plate LXV. 1). On the seaward side of the cave, however, a series of narrow fissures separated the intrusive rubble from the live rock, and suggested possi- bilities of excavation. It was at the bottom of this row of fissures that, in 1881, Messrs. Dancaster and Saunders found flint chippings /// situ, after being led to search there by accidentally lighting" on a flint implement at the foot of the talus. Later on, in 1894, Mr. Colson and Dr. Chappuis made a small excavation at the same spot, and brought to light not a few worked flints, as well as a piece of bone breccia containing the tooth and the metatarsal of a horse. Thereupon, in 1905, the Societe Jersiaise decided to explore the cave systematically, and, as before, the left-hand corner was made the point of attack. This work had soon to be abandoned, however, since it became clear that a more extensive opening was needed in view of the danger of falling stones. Not until July of last year (1910) was a clearing made of about 11 feet square, the result of three weeks' labour (plate LXV. 2); and here various members of the society had the satisfaction of unearthing the animal remains about to be described, as well as some hundred implements, all of which showed the same general facies, namely that of Le Moustier. I was myself unfortunately absent from the island at this stirring 3L2 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Macquarie University, on 17 Feb 2019 at 05:02:48, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261340900008250 452 PLEISTOCENE MAN IN JERSEY moment, but, returning shortly after when the work was apparently suspended, did a little burrowing on my own account, the results being exhibited herewith. The very day after I was there a block weighing half a ton overwhelmed the place in which I had been searching. I was hardly surprised, therefore, to hear that the Societe Jersiaise soon desisted from an attempt which they made in September to resume operations. The society, however, will certainly not be deterred, even by the considerable expense entailed by shoring-up the roof, from extorting the last ounce of treasure from this well-guarded strong-room. The yield of objects of archaeological interest was confined to a layer of no great thickness overlying the floor reached by the present excavation. Inter- spersed with larger or smaller fragments of granite was a blackish soil of ashes mixed with clay. Here and there, however, it gave place to a whitish breccia signifying the presence of bone. Most of this was in a highly disintegrated condition. The clay of the island has strongly decalcifying qualities.