Culture includes not only the material products of a human society, but also its non-productive acts and practices. Yet it is these of which we can know so little in regard to prehistoric peoples. However, there is one class of natural objects which, although as a general rule having no obvious practical value, have been noticed, picked up and evidently regarded with some interest since the earliest times: fossils. Certain types of fossil have attracted more attention than others, probably because they are both fairly common and of striking appearance. It occurred to me that it would be worth while attempting to gauge what kinds of ideas may have been associated with such fossils in the various stages of culture.