WHOU; VOL. SKELETAL REMAINS OF EARLY MAN — HRDFICKA I29 



primitive conditions. They are bulky ; they extend fully forward, 

 leaving practically no middle lacerated foramina ; and they are fully 

 on the level of the surrounding parts, as in the anthropoid apes and 

 in the most primitive recent crania.* The styloid processes, generally 

 strongly develoj:>ed in the anthropoid apes, are very moderate — more 

 so than in some modern crania, and there is a small styloid process. 



The foramen ovale is rather narrow and situated in the very base 

 of the pterygoid processes, differing somewhat from that of modern 

 skulls. The preglenoid eminence is lower and broader than in modern 

 skulls, approaching correspondingly the condition in the anthropoids. 

 The glenoid fossa is broad transversely and straight ; it does not slope 

 upward and outward as in many of the Neanderthalers. Mesially 

 and posteriorly the boundaries of the fossa are considerably like those 

 in modern man and not as elevated as in most of the Neanderthal 

 skulls. The foramen magnum is ovoid in shape (rather conical 

 behind) and not much above the medium modern size. Its inclina- 

 tion is such that a prolongation of its antero-posterior axis would 

 pass through not far from the middle of the nasal aperture, which is 

 much like that in not a few modern skulls ; in anthropoids, as is well 

 known, this line passes as a rule more or less beneath the dental arch. 



The condyles, very moderate for a skull of this size and strength, 

 are relatively somewhat narrow. The inferior curved line is repre- 

 sented by a marked torus. The digastric groove is deep but not more 

 so than in some modern crania. 



Conmient. — The study of the specimen leaves an impression of 

 anamorphism. It is a combination of pre-Neanderthaloid, Neander- 

 thaloid, and recent characters. It is not a Neanderthaler ; it represents 

 a different race, a different variety. The specimen does not fit with 

 its surroundings. It does not fit at all with the fine, long, essentially 

 modern-negro-like tibia. It does not fit with any of the other human 

 remains saved from the cave, skeletal or cultural. It does not fit with 

 anything, the negro in particular, found thus far in Africa. 



It seems impossible to conceive the specimen as a reversion. Re- 

 versions tend as a rule to manifest themselves in individual characters 

 or in small association. The primitive conditions of the Rhodesian 

 skull greatly surpass all this. It seems equally impossible to regard the 

 strain of man represented by the skull as a survival to recent time. 

 There is nothing in anthro]M)logical knowledge that would support 

 such an assumption. Yet the diminishing third molars, the shape and 



'See Hrdlicka, A., Anthropometry, p. 116, Wistar Institute, Phila., 1920; also 

 Science, Vol. 13, p. 309, 1901. 



