Fishing from the earliest times - Blog

PALAEOLITHIC CAVES. ALTAMIRA 15Of such are Kent's Cave near Torquay (which from itsremains of animals may have been a mansion, or technically a" station," as early as any), the Kesserloch in Switzerland, theshelters, or cavcrnes, in Southern France, of which La Madelainein Dordogne, earhest to be discovered, ranks still the mostfamous, and a score or so of stations in Spain—not limited wenow realise to its north-west corner—of which Altamira, notfar from Santander, stands out pre-eminent.With their exploration a remoter vista has opened out inrecent years ; a wholly new standpoint has been gained fromA brilliantwhich to review the early history of the human race.band of pre-historic archaeologists has brought together sucha mass of striking materials as to place the evolution of humanart and appliances in the Quaternary Period on a level farhigher than had been previously ever suspected. The investigationsof Lartet, Cartailhac, Piette, Breuil, Obermaier,etc., have revolutionised our knowledge of a phase of humanculture which goes so far back beyond the Hmits of anycontinuous story that it may well be said to belong to anolder world.These sentences of Sir Arthur Evans 1 gain furtheremphasis from Professor Boyd-Dawkins ": It is not too muchto state that the frescoed caves in Southern France andNorthern Spain throw as much light on the Hfe ofthose timesas the Egyptian tombs do on the daily hfe of Egypt, or thewalls of the Minoan palace on the luxury of Crete,before theAchaean conquest."The picture of PalaeoUthic life revealed by these dwellingplaces attracts from every point of view. But as our last isfish and fishing, to fish and fishing we must stick. I shalltherefore limit myself to the caves which furnish specimens orrepresentations of ichthyic interest, with the one exception of" marvellous Altamira," which, though it unfortunatelyyields us no portrayals of fishing, from every other aspectcompels mention.So astonishing was the discovery of this cave with its whole1 Presidential Address to the British Association for the Advancement ofScience (Newcastle, 1916), pp. 6-Q. Cf. M. Burkitt, Prehistory, Cambridge,1921, chs. iv-xx.