Note 15 — Front matter

Caverns, in relation to this subject, may be divided into those of residence, in which early men have lived and have left therein the débris of their food, the ashes and cinders of their fires, and implements, &c.; those of sepulture, in which the bodies of the dead have been deposited; and those of inundation, into which the bodies of animals or men have been drifted by floods. The same cave may, however, exhibit these different conditions in the deposits on its successive floors. Thus men may have inhabited a cave for a time; it may next have been invaded by river floods depositing mud, and it may subsequently have been used for burial.