92 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 83 



able specimen has been preserved in the Paleontological Institute of 

 the Heidelberg University, where, thanks to the liberality of those 

 in charge, it is available for examination to men of science/ 



Shortly following the discovery of the jaw a most careful examina- 

 tion and study were made of the Mauer deposits. They were found 

 to range from recent accumulations on the surface to Tertiary de- 

 posits in the lowest layers. The jaw lay a little less than three feet 

 (0.87 meter) above the floor of the excavation and 79 feet (24.1 

 meters) from the surface.' The same level, as well as some of the 

 higher layers, yielded fossil bones of the Elephas antiquus, Rhi- 

 noceros etruscus, Felis leo fossilis, and various other extinct species. 

 The age of the human jaw has been determined by these and subse- 

 quent explorations to be earlier Quaternary, though there seems to 

 be some uncertainty as yet as to the exact subdivision of the period 

 to which it should be attributed. 



The original specimen, when seen, impresses one at once and po- 

 tently as one of the greatest anthropological treasures. It is a huge 

 lower jaw, which looks simultaneously both human and ape-like (pi. 

 16). 



It presents no abnormality or any diseased condition that could 

 have altered it in shape, so that it may well be regarded as a perfect 

 representative of its type. The bone is dull yellowish-white to red- 

 dish in color, with numerous small and large blackish spots. The 

 crowns of the teeth are dirty creamy white, with blackish discolora- 

 tions on the somewhat worn-off chewing surfaces of the canines and 

 incisors, and a few similar spots over the molars ; while all the parts 

 of the teeth beneath the enamel are dull red, as if especially colored. 

 It is much mineralized and feels more like so much limestone than 

 bone. It weighs nearly 7 ounces (197 grams on a letter scale). 



The jaw is considerably larger and stouter than any other known 

 human mandible. Its ascending rami are exceedingly broad. Its 

 coronoid processes, thin and sharp in modern man, are thick, dull, 

 broad, and markedly everted. The chin slopes backward as in no 

 human being now known or thus far discovered, with the excep- 

 tion of the Eoanthropus ; and there are other primitive features. The 

 total of the characteristics of the bone are such that, had the teeth 

 been lost, it would surely have been regarded as the mandible of 

 some large ape rather than that of any human being. 



' The writer wishes to thank herewith especially Prof. Wilhelm Salomon, 

 chief of the Institute, for the courtesies extended. 



^ The exact spot has been marked by Professor Schoetensack with a stone 

 monument bearing the inscription : " Fundstelle des menschlichen Unterkiefers, 

 21 Oktober, 1907." 



