Mducliestet- Memoirs, \\il. Ivii. (1913), A^^^ 1. 



VII. A Criticism of some Modern Tendencies in 

 Prehistoric Anthropology. 



By W. H. SUTCLIFFE, F.G.S. 



{Received ana Read March iSth, rgrj.) 



Introduction. 



Within the last few years there has been a great 

 revival of interest in England in the study of Primitive 

 man which has resulted, not only in much valuable work, 

 but also in the diffusion and general acceptance of ideas 

 based on the most slender and insecure foundations. 



It is the purpose of this paper to examine some of 

 this evidence, in so far as it lends support to a high 

 antiquity of man in Western Europe. 



The human remains found in America, for which a 

 great age has been claimed, particularly Ameghino's 

 discoveries, have been so completely examined by Hrd- 

 licka, who found that such of them as are human are the 

 remains of recent Indians, that it is unnecessary to pay 

 any attention to them. 



Section I. 



Before considering the evidence of man's antiquity, 

 it is necessary to clear the ground by understanding the 

 exact point at issue. 



It is certain that man has been gradually evolved from 

 some early Eocene stock, and it is probable that his ancestry 

 has followed a different but parallel line to that of the 

 higher anthropoids for a very long period, perhaps since 

 the Oligocene. Hence, just as we can loosely speak of 



Jiaie 24th, 191 3. 



