328 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 83 



This state of uncertainties and of paralyzing premature conclusions 

 concerning one of the main early phases of humanity, is a serious 

 obstacle to further progress, and deserves all possible attention, even 

 if, without further material, it may be possible to do little more 

 than bring into the subject a greater degree of order and compre- 

 hensiveness ; to point out here and there facts that have not been 

 sufficiently weighed ; and to call attention to some of the inconsis- 

 tencies in the prevalent assumptions. 



The presentation will be as far as possible quite neutral ; and I wish 

 to acknowledge my deep indebtedness for many of the data to the 

 authors given in the references, as well as to those who in the past, 

 and again during the years just passed, have facilitated for me the 

 study of original Neanderthal sites and materials. 



NEANDERTHAL MAN 

 DEFINITION 



The only workable definition of Neanderthal man and period seems, 

 for the time being, to be, tJic man and period of the Mousterian 

 culture. An approach to a somatological definition would be feasible 

 but might for the present be rather prejudicial. 



GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT 



The territory already known to have been occupied by Neanderthal 

 man was collectively a very large one, including, roughly, all Europe 

 south of a line drawn from southern England to the northern limits 

 of Belgium and thence, with a moderate curve northward, over 

 Germany and Poland to Crimea and possibly the Caucasus, with 

 parts (at least) of northern Africa and of Asia Minor. Whether 

 he reached farther east, southeast, or south, must, notwithstanding 

 some claims, be regarded as still uncertain.^ 



The whole great territory over which his remains have been dis- 

 covered was not occupied by Neanderthal man synchronously, or 

 continually, or with equal density. He was evidently not a nomad, 

 though probably still more or less of a rover who stayed in a place 

 for a more or less prolonged time and then moved away. Some of 

 the deposits he left show up to six different layers of reoccupation 

 (Grimaldi, Olha, La Quina, Le Moustier, Krapina, etc.). The density 

 of his remains is greatest in France and Belgium, least in the northern 

 limits of his territory and in the mountainous parts, particularly the 



^ See Addendum, written after this paper was in type. 



