WHOLE VOL. SKELETAL REMAINS OF EARLY MAN HRDLICKA I43 



One can easily imagine a fight to a finish between man and beast in those 

 far-oflF, dim ages. 



The mine, which is at present an open quarry, has been famous for its " Bone 

 Cave " amongst geologists and travellers for some years, and is situated some 

 650 miles north of Bulawayo. It was at the foot of this " Bone Cave " that the 

 skull and other human bones mentioned were found, constituting the only human 

 remains out of the many hundreds of tons of bones that have been removed dur- 

 ing mining operations. Fossilised and partly fossilised remains of elephant, lion, 

 leopard, rhino and hippo, also of antelope and other cattle, together with tons 

 upon tons of bones of small animals and birds, have been found. The writer has 

 stood at a place where this " Bone Cave " has been cut through and has pulled 

 out from the debris various fossilised bones, such as jaw bones, skulls of small 

 animals and teeth all of which were destined to be passed through the smelters 

 to obtain the metals which have replaced the lime of the bones ; for chemical 

 examination has shown that the lime has been largelj' replaced by the phosphates 

 of zinc and lead. 



The discovery of this skull is made doubly interesting when the mine and par- 

 ticularly the " Bone Cave " itself are considered. Before mining operations 

 commenced, there stood at this spot a kopje or hill 50 to 60 feet high, with a 

 slight depression in the centre. Mining operations have demolished this hill, and 

 have excavated to the depth of over 90 feet below ground level where the hill 

 stood, and it was at this depth that the skull was discovered. The entrance to the 

 " Bone Cave " was at ground level. One of the early prospectors who visited it 

 before mining operations commenced, has described the cave as being practically 

 filled with debris. After one had crawled over this obstruction and stood upon 

 the floor of the cave proper, it could be seen that bones of various animals were 

 scattered all around. The floor was made of loose debris and fairly dry. The 

 walls and roof were studded with crj^stalline deposits, which, when lighted up 

 with the rays of a candle or lamp, reflected back the light, making a veritable 

 fairy cavern, whilst bats and owls, disturbed by the unaccustomed lights, flew 

 around, much to the visitors' discomfort. 



It is believed that the cave extended some 120 to 150 feet in a horizontal or 

 slightly dipping direction, from west to east. The walls and roof consist of 

 dolomite and zinc silicate, the floor of loose material to a depth varying from 

 4 to 12 feet, consisting almost entirely of fossilised or partly fossilised remains 

 of animals. Under this carpet of loose material is rock similar to the walls and 

 roof. Thirty feet below the level of the entrance of the cave is the original water 

 level. At about 10 feet below water level, the cave takes a decided dip, and is 

 filled to the roof with loose debris. At 40 to 50 feet the walls have disappeared 

 altogether, and the bones are surrounded with a soft, friable, lead-carbonate ore. 

 As this constituted the main body of the ore around the lower portion of the 

 cave, the theory has been put forward that the zinc in the ore has been leached 

 out by the action of water and so caused a general subsidence which would 

 account for the depression on the top of the original kopje and also for the 

 subsidence of the cave from its supposed original horizontal position. 



How did these bones get into this cave and how long have they been accumu- 

 lating? How did the skull and other bones of the skeleton, the only human 

 remains found there, come to be at the toe of this cave, with tons upon tons of 

 bones above them? 



