England itself was well populated, and
the remains found in the caves of Derbyshire show that even the
artist--or his art--had reached that district. This Palaeolithic
race seemed to come to a mysterious end, and Europe was then
invaded by the higher Neolithic race. England was probably
detached from the Continent about the end of the Magdalenian
period. It was thought that some great devastation--the last
ice-sheet, a submersion of the land, or a plague--then set in,
and men were unable to retreat south.
It is now claimed by many authorities that there are traces of a
Middle Stone (Mesolithic) period even in England, and nearly all
the authorities admit that such a transitional stage can be
identified in the Pyrenean region. This region had been the great
centre of the Magdalenian culture. Its large frescoed caverns
exhibit the culmination of the Old Stone life, and afford many
connecting links with the new. It is, however, a clearly
established and outstanding fact that the characteristic art of
Magdalenian man comes to an abrupt and complete close, and it
does not seem possible to explain this without supposing that the
old race was destroyed or displaced.
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