Antiquity of Man in Victoria. 125 



It seems to me possible that the specimen is the result of 

 an accident, for the shovel of one of the workmen might have cut 

 into the bone and broken it while it was lying in the silt ; the 

 shovel, at the same time, may have driven mud into the cut sur- 

 face, and thus have hidden its recent formation. 



In dealing with fossil traces of man, the evidence of a single 

 specimen, which was not collected 171 situ by a collector of known 

 trustworthiness, must always be received with caution. The 

 chance of genuine mistake and of practical joke must not be 

 forgotten. The literature of the antiquity of man contains many 

 warnings against founding important conclusions upon single 

 specimens, brought into court by men who were not trained 

 geologists. And in this case there is the additional need for 

 caution in that the bone does not resemble those of our abori- 

 gines, and that it would appear to prove not only a great 

 antiquity for man in Victoria, but also that these early men were 

 provided with metal tools. 



Accidents are apt to occur in the burial of human implements, 

 and casual specimens must be regarded with reserve. There is, 

 for example, the case of the discovery of some recent keys on a 

 beach near Geelong under fifteen feet of drift. This discovery 

 was reported by the first Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria, 

 C. J. Latrobe,^ and considered by him to prove a recent elevation 

 of the sea in that district. Rawlinson discussed the evidence, 

 and concluded that the keys had been left by buccaneers two or 

 three centuries before. '■' 



2. The Maryborough Iniplemenl. — Another supposed ancient 

 implement a.ssociated with our volcanic rocks was found at 

 Maryborough in 1855, at the depth of four feet from the surface. 

 The specimen was found in the gravels of a small tributary, and 

 not below the basalts of the main lead. Mr. Stanley Hunter, of 

 the Mines Department, was sent, at the request of Mr. Howitt, 

 to examine the locality ; and on asking Mr. Hunter for informa- 

 tion, I find he attaches no reliance to the evidence. The specimen 

 at best only came from a shallow deposit, and the alleged imple- 

 ment may have fallen into a natural hollow or wombat hole. 



1 Rawlinson, T. : "Notes on the Discovery of some Keys in the Shore Formation of 

 Corio Bay, near Geelong." Proc. Roy. Soc. Vict., vol. xii., Melbourne, 1876, pp. 33-43. 



2 Rawlinson : Op. cit., p. 40. 



