The Evolution of an English Town | Page 5

Kirkdale was
discovered, and the bones of twenty-two different species of animals
were brought to light. Careful examination showed that the cave had

for a long time been the haunt of hyænas of the Pleistocene Period, a
geological division of time, which embraces in its latter part the age of
Palæolithic man. The spotted hyæna that is now to be found only in
Africa, south of the Sahara,[1] was then inhabiting the forests of
Yorkshire and preying on animals now either extinct or only living in
tropical climates. The waters of Lake Pickering seem to have risen to a
sufficiently high level at one period to drive out the occupants of the
cave and to have remained static for long enough to allow the
accumulation of about a foot of alluvium above the bones that littered
the floor. By this means it appears that the large quantity of broken
fragments of bones that were recent at the time of the inundation were
preserved to our own times without any perceptible signs of
decomposition. Quarrying operations had been in progress at Kirkdale
for some time when the mouth of the cave was suddenly laid bare by
pure accident. The opening was quite small, being less than 5 feet
square, and as it penetrated the limestone hill it varied from 2 to 7 feet
in breadth and height; the quarrying had also left the opening at a
considerable height up the perpendicular wall of stone. At the present
time it is almost inaccessible, and except for the interest of seeing the
actual site of the discoveries and the picturesqueness of the spot the
cave has no great attractions.
[Footnote 1: Dawkins, W. Boyd. "Early man in Britain," p. 103.]
Not long after it was stumbled upon by the quarrymen Dr William
Buckland went down to Kirkdale, and although some careless digging
had taken place in the outer part of the cave before his arrival, he was
able to make a most careful and exhaustive examination of the
undisturbed portions, giving the results of his work in a paper read
before the Royal Society in 1822.[1] Besides the remains of many
hyænas there were teeth or bones of such large animals as the elephant,
rhinoceros, hippopotamus, horse, tiger, bear, urus (Bos primi-genius)
an unknown animal of the size of a wolf, and three species of deer. The
smaller animals included the rabbit, water-rat, mouse, raven, pigeon,
lark and a small type of duck. Everything was broken into small pieces
so that no single skull was found entire and it was, of course,
impossible to obtain anything like a complete skeleton. From the fact

that the bones of the hyænas themselves had suffered the same
treatment as the rest we may infer that these ferocious lovers of putrid
flesh were in the habit of devouring those of their own species that died
a natural death, or that possibly under pressure of hunger were inclined
to kill and eat the weak or diseased members of the pack. From other
evidences in the cave it is plain that its occupants were extremely fond
of bones after the fashion of the South African hyæna.
[Footnote 1: Buckland, The Rev. Wm. "Account of an assemblage of
fossil teeth and bones ... at Kirkdale."]
[Illustration: Jaws of Kirkdale (above) and Modern Hyæna (below).
The Kirkdale Hyænas were evidently much more powerful than the
modern ones.]
Although the existing species have jaws of huge strength and these
prehistoric hyænas were probably stronger still, it is quite improbable
that they ever attacked such large animals as elephants; and the fact that
the teeth found in the cave were of very young specimens seems to
suggest that the hyænas now and then found the carcase of a young
elephant that had died, and dragged it piecemeal to their cave. The
same would possibly apply to some of the other large animals, for
hyænas, unless in great extremes of hunger never attack a living animal.
They have a loud and mournful howl, beginning low and ending high,
and also a maniacal laugh when excited.
[Illustration: Teeth of young Elephants found at Kirkdale.]
It might be suggested that the bones had accumulated in the den
through dead bodies of animals being floated in during the inundation
by the waters of the lake, but in that case the remains, owing to the
narrowness of the mouth of the cave, could only have belonged to
small animals, and the skeletons would have been more or less
complete, and there are also evidences on many of the bones of their
having been broken by teeth precisely similar to those of the hyæna.
We see therefore that in this remote age Britain enjoyed a climate
which encouraged the existence of animals now to be found only in

tropical regions, that herds