THE HUMAN BACKGROUND 



437 



Although numerous remains of the Cro-Magnon race have been 

 discovered, those from a rock-shelter of Cro-Magnon in western 

 France represent the type. The men were of large stature, averag- 

 ing at least six feet in height, while the women were much smaller. 

 The posture was entirely erect with the characteristically alternat- 

 ing curves of the human spine, and straight limbs. The cranium 



A B 



Fig. 283. — A, Neanderthal Man; B, Cro-Magnon Man. Original models 



by Professor J. H. McGregor, in the American Museum of Natural History. 



was of very large capacity with high, vertical forehead and no brow- 

 ridges. The face was broad in comparison with the cranium, and 

 the somewhat prominent chin, narrow and pointed. (Figs. 282, 283.) 

 The Cro-Magnons were a splendid race physically, and the re- 

 markable Paleolithic art that still survives in certain caverns of 

 France and Spain attests their mental equipment. Thus from both 

 aspects they meet the standard of the species Homo sapiens, and 

 differ in no great degree from their successors, the so-called 

 Mesolithic and Neolithic races which, in turn, closely approach 

 the present-day races of man. 



C. Cultural Development 



It seems evident that man's position above the beasts is based 

 chiefly upon the fact that he alone possesses a genuine culture. 

 Man domesticated himself and so originated a culture involving 

 the basic tripod of invention, communication, and social ha- 



