178 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL.83 



mandibles of similar age. The thickness of the body (at symphysis, 

 1.3; at Mi, 1.4 cm.), is considerable, but not in excess of Indian, 

 Eskimo, and other similar mandibles of the present time. 



Lingually, there is visible anteriorly a rather marked alveolar plane 

 or upper simian shelf, which is nevertheless approached in degree 

 in some modern child mandibles, and a distinct, complete, fairly sharp 

 median ridge (" transverse torus " of Holl) bounds the plane beneath 

 and extends on each side backward, where it blends imperceptibly 

 with the mylohyoid ridge. There are no depressions as yet above this 

 ridge, with undifferentiated conditions below. The inferior border, 

 evenly arched, presents already a fairly marked, broad, Neanderthal- 

 oid digastric flattening, but posterior to the milk molars the border is 

 as in stouter modern jaws. 



The ramus is stouter than in modern mandibles, more slanting 

 (mandibular angle 125°), fairly though not excessively broad 

 (breadth min. 2.8), and somewhat low (height from middle of line 

 connecting the condyle and the coronoid to middle of lower border, 

 3.8 cm.). The notch is shallow. The coronoid process is stout but 

 short; the condyle is still of moderate thickness and narrow (diam. 

 antero-post., 7; transverse, 1.4 cm.). The outer surface of the ramus 

 is rather full and smooth, the inner as in strong jaws of similar age 

 today. The angle is as in modern bones. 



THE SPY SKELETONS 



In the district of Spy, province of Namur, Belgium, on a steep, 

 wooded mountain side, the base of which is skirted by the small 

 stream of Orneau, there is a great protruding rock, and in its base a 

 moderate sized cave now known as the cave of Spy. The rock, due to 

 its form, is known locally as the " Bee (or Beche) aux-Roches." The 

 cave, which is about 60 feet above the level of the stream,, opens 

 toward the south, a feature which together with the fair inside di- 

 mensions and good outlook of the cave made it a favorable site for 

 early human habitation. Traces of such habitation were found long 

 before the eighties of the last century, and as interest in human pre- 

 history grew, the accumulations within were dug over more or less 

 thoroughly a number of times, notably by M. Rucquoy,' yielding 

 remains of upper Quaternary fauna, late paleolithic worked stones, 

 and worked bones, some of which showed graved lines. On the 



' Rucquoy, M., Notes sur les fouilles faites en aovit 1879 dans la caverne de la 

 Beche-aux-Roches, pres de Spy. Bull. Soc. Anthrop., Vol. 5, pp. 318-328, 2 pis., 

 Brux., 1886-7. 



