THE ANIMAL, MAN (ANTHROPOLOGY) 555 



been found associated with the remains of species of animals known to 

 have been long extinct. These fragments of human skek^tons, pre- 

 served in the vast Pleistocene ice chest which, as already pointed out, 

 was restocked with ice at least four times, piece out for us something 

 of the extensive pre-history of man. 



The absorbing interest in human fossils is greatly enhanced by 

 their scarcity. Not only destructive processes of decay but also the 

 inevitable exposure of dead bodies to devouring animals were condi- 

 tions to which primitive man was particularly liable. 



The outstanding and much studied examples of Pleistocene man 

 have nearly all been discovered since Darwin's day. They have, 

 in the majority of cases, been recovered from the debris of limestone 

 caverns, or found embedded in sedimentary deposits, along with the 

 bones of extinct animals that serve to establish the time when they 

 lived. For the most part they have l^een found in European coun- 

 tries, such as France, Spain, Belgium, Germany, and Austria, which 

 have been more thorouglily explored by anthropologists than other 

 countries, although a few notable specimens have come from such 

 diverse regions as China, South Africa, Australia, and Java. Human 

 fossils from North and South America are in no authentic instance, 

 according to Dr. Hrdlicka of Washington, of the great antic}uity 

 characteristic of the famous representatives of early man from 

 Europe and other parts of the Old World. As a matter of fact, it is 

 not at all easy for any newly unearthed human fossil to run the 

 gantlet of critical anthropologists, and to be admitted to good 

 standing in the ancient and honorable society of genuine primitive 

 man. It may be possible to fool some of these cautious investigators 

 some of the time, but it is cjuite impossible to fool all of them in the 

 end. To these experts we must turn for information in this field 

 of study which lies beyond the opportunity and capacity of ordinary 

 laymen to explore. Alluring as the ancient story is, there is a chance 

 here to do no more than call a roll of a few of our most famous known 

 fossil ancestors, and to refer those interested in the subject to the 

 bibliography at the end of the chapter for further exploration and 

 information. 



Java Man 



The oldest authentic fossil primate suspected of being human is 

 Pithecanthropus erectus of Java, who lived either around the beginning 

 of the Pleistocene period or at the end of the preceding Pliocene 



