144 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 83 



One prominent geologist has suggested that the bones have been placed in 

 the cave by human agency. In amplification, another suggestion has been that 

 the original cavern may have been an extremely ancient mine-shaft which was 

 later used as a dumping pit for animal refuse by a tribe of hunters. But the 

 obviously great antiquity of the skull would discountenance the mining theory, 

 while the enormous quantity (some hundreds of tons) of animal bones and the 

 fact that more than 90 per cent of them are so small that the animals must have 

 been far too little to serve as food for human beings, rather tends to cast doubt 

 on the dumping theory. 



Another theory, that these bones have been washed into the cave by periodic 

 floods at the times of rains, cannot stand, as all the bones are loose and not 

 cemented together with mud, as might be expected if they had been washed oflf 

 the surrounding veldt. Also, where could such masses have come from? 



The theory that these animals were engulfed whilst taking refuge from some 

 natural upheaval, such as fire or flood, is likewise untenable, inasmuch as at the 

 toe, where the skull was discovered, apart from the skull only small bones have 

 been found. The larger bones were deposited nearer the mouth, and from their 

 condition must have been a far more recent deposit than that of the skull or 

 surrounding bones. 



Truly, the whole subject is an astounding mystery. 



THE NEANDERTHAL FAMILY 



The skeletal remains attributable to the Neanderthal family already 

 constitute a very imposing lot of material. Their area extends from 

 the middle and southern portions of western Europe to the western- 

 most parts of Asia. They are dated by the distinctive " Mousterian " 

 culture, so-called after its type-locality at Le Moustier, in southern 

 France, and by the associated bones of extinct mammals belonging 

 to the latter third of the glacial epoch. And they are being added to 

 almost yearly by new discoveries, even though most of these bring 

 forth but a few fragments. 



The great interest in the " Neanderthal " family of man lies in the 

 evolutionally decidedly lower characteristics of the remains, and in 

 the seemingly rapid extinction of the variety, not long after the 

 maximum of the last glaciation, upon the supposed advent from some- 

 where else of Homo sapiens. All this is of such importance to pre- 

 history that a somewhat extended critical consideration of the subject 

 is demanded. It will be found at the end of this section. Before 

 this it is necessary to present a rather thorough survey of the evidence 

 presented by the material. 



Leaving out of consideration the relatively unimportant and the 

 doubtful items, the remains attributed to the Neanderthal variety of 

 man comprise now (1930) the following: 



