THE ANIMAL CLIMAX-THECHORDATES 357 



Africa, and Europe about 100,000 years Whether or not he gave rise to Homo 

 ago. Physically he was a rather short man, sapiens is questionable. There is evidence 

 not exceeding 5 feet 4 inches (the females to indicate that he was wiped out rather 

 were several inches shorter ) , but very pow- suddenly by another race, probably Homo 

 erfully built ( Fig. 13-74 ) . His upper arms sapiens. If this was the case, then the latter 

 and femurs were short and the latter were must have been derived from another stock 

 curved forward so that in posture he prob- as yet not unearthed. The discovery in 1912 

 ably walked with his knees bent slightly of a very old skull in Sussex, England, may 

 forward. Furthermore, his massive head throw some light on the question, although 

 was set somewhat forward over his thick it is still a subject of much argumentation, 

 neck and barrel chest, so that he was prob- This man is known as the Piltdown or 

 ably quite gorilla-like in appearance. His "dawn" man, named after the Manor where 

 brain case capacity was 1550 cc, larger it was found. From the position of the de- 

 than the average for modern man, al- posits, it would appear that this man lived 

 though it had different proportions. The as a contemporary of Pithecanthropus or 

 forepart of the brain case, the seat of higher even before, certainly early Pleistocene or 

 intelligence, was rather small, the larger late Pliocene. The skull shows certain ape- 

 portion being in the back of the head. His like characteristics in the lower jaw, but the 

 skull was heavy, with large protruding shape of the brain case as well as other 

 brows, and the massive jaws bore teeth features definitely place it on the direct line 

 much more substantially built than those toward Homo sapiens. It is possible, as 

 of modem man. The mandible was chinless Romer postulates, that two lines of men 

 just as among the apes; a chin is a more were in existence at this early period: one, 

 recent development. Pithecaiithropns, evolving to the Neander- 



He had some type of culture which in- thai man, and the other, the Piltdown man, 



eluded religious rites, because he buried evolving to Homo sapiens. 



his dead — probably the important reason Whenever Homo sapiens made his ap- 



why so many remains have been found. He pearance he split off into many races which 



had learned to shape and use stone imple- spread over the entire world. One of the 



ments in the daily business of securing outstanding of these is the Cro-Magnon, 



food, and these, together with bones of the who lived in Europe 15,000 to 40,000 years 



animals he hunted, are found in Neander- ago (Fig. 13-74). Most of the remains, 



thai deposits. about one hundred skeletons, have been 



There is always great interest not only found in France, and the records afford a 



among anthropologists but also among lay- rather complete story of the culture as 



men concerning the story of the origin of well as the anatomy of this man. He was 



modern man. Which of these early men tall, many males reaching 6 feet in height, 



gave rise to Homo sapiens? Was the Ne- although the females were considerably 



anderthal man the immediate forerunner shorter. His skull was long and massively 



of Homo sapiens? There has been a great built with the tremendous capacity of 1700 



deal of discussion over this point and, like cc, which is greater than that of any race 



all problems under controversial fire, there today. Furthermore, the shape was defi- 



are probably several possibilities, the real nitely modern in that the forehead was high 



answer perhaps lying in a compromise. It and the back part rounded as in modern 



must be admitted certainly that Nean- man. None of the ape-like characteristics 



derthal showed considerable advance observed in Pithecanthropus are evident in 



over Sinanthropus and Pithecanthropus, this man. The mandible terminated anteri- 



