FIELD STUDIES OF EARLY MAN IN EUROPE. 1927 



By ales HRDLICKA, 

 Curator. Pivisinii of Physical AnihropoJogy. U. S. Xatiniial Museum 



In the fall of 1927, the writer undertook a journey throui^h Euroi)e 

 in the furtherance of his studies of Early Man. The iM-incii)al ohjec- 

 tives of the trip were : ( i ) A personal visit to some of the old as well 

 as the more im])ortant recently discovered sites of Early Man ; (2) the 

 re-examination of a numher of the skeletal remains of Early Man ; 

 and (3) a study of such of the Aurignacian skeletal remains as the 

 writer has not been able to examine before. An additional object was 

 the delivery of the lluxley Memorial Lecture before the Royal 

 Anthropological Society of Great Britain. 



The work began with the examination of the remains of luudy Man 

 preserved in the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle. Paris. Through the 

 courtesy of Professor Marcellin Boule. the writer was able once more 

 to see personally the originals of the La Chai^elle, La Ferrassie, 

 La Quina, and the two Aurignacian skeletons, which are preserved 

 in that institution. From Paris the journey led to Perigueux, where 

 careful re-examination and re-measurements were made of the contro- 

 versial Chancelade skeleton. After a day at Les Eyzies, si)ent princi- 

 pally in consultations with M. Peyrony. the writer went to the south of 

 France, where through the courtesy of the local guardians and Museum 

 men. he secured valuable original data on the Aurignacian skeletons in 

 the Museum of Monaco, and in the Museum and the Cave at Parma 

 Grande, over the Italian border. The next stop was at Lyon, where 

 thanks to Dr. Arcelin and Dr. Mayet the writer was able to examine 

 the five lately discovered Aurignacian and post-Aurignacian skeletons, 

 which have not yet been fully descril)ed. From Lyon the route led to 

 Paris and then to Liege, where through the kindness of Professor 

 Charles Fraipont and the brothers Lohest. it was possible to re- 

 examine and take some additional measurements on the originals of 

 the Spy skeletons. 



From Liege the journey led to Diisseldorf and the highly inter- 

 esting and beautiful Neander \ alley which in 1856 gave us the 

 original Neanderthal skeleton. The Neanderthal site has been 

 neglected by anthropology. Since the discovery of the Neanderthal 



