INVESTIGATIONS OF EARLY MAN IN FLORIDA 



By J. W. GIDLEY 



Assistant Curator of Mammalian Fossils, U. S. National Museum 



In 1916, Dr. E. H. Sellards, then State Geologist of Florida, re- 

 ported the discovery at Vero of human remains associated with those 

 of an extinct fauna. Because the specimens obtained were fragmen- 

 tary, relatively near the present surface of the ground, and especially 

 because the character and origin of the deposits in which they were 

 found was little understood, much controversy arose at the time botli 

 as to the age of the deposits and the question of whether or not the 

 association surely indicated contemporaneity of man with the animals 

 represented by the fossil bones with which they were found. A 

 series of explorations and investigations was begun in 1925 by a 

 joint field expedition of the Smithsonian Institution and Amherst 

 College, and has since been continued independently by the Smith- 

 sonian as funds have permitted. The results of these systematic 

 investigations, which were placed in my charge, have been published 

 from time to time.' 



This work has fairly well established the contention that man 

 reached Florida at an early date and lived there with an assemblage 

 of wild animals different from that of our own time, but there is still 

 some question as to what phase of the Pleistocene they belong. Begin- 

 ning in March, 1929, I spent about two months at Melbourne in inves- 

 tigation by much the same methods as those adopted the previous 

 season, with equally gratifying results. Not only was additional 

 material secured which will aid in the determination of the age 

 of the " No. 2 " beds, but an added piece of evidence of the con- 

 temporaneity of man was secured. This evidence consists of a stone 

 artifact of unique design, known as a turtle-back scraper found in situ 

 about the middle of the " No. 2 " bed. It lay in the undisturbed semi- 

 consolidated sand of the fossil bone-bearing layer and near it and 

 about at the same level were found bones of several extinct species 

 of animals including elephant, mastodon, horse, camel, tapir, and a 

 large bear. An added proof of the antiquity of this stone implement 

 is seen in the patina it has acquired, which is of a character that indi- 

 cates great age. 



^ See especially Gidley and Loomis, Fossil Man in Florida, Amer. Journ. Sci., 

 Vol. 12, pp. 254-264, 1926 ; Gidley, Further Study of the Problem of Early Man 

 in Florida, Expl. and Field-Work Smithsonian Inst, in 1928, pp. 13-20, 5 figures, 

 1929; and Gidley, Ancient Man in Florida: Further Investigation, Bull. Geo!. 

 Soc. Amer., Vol. 40, pp. 491-502, 2 pis., 1929. 



37 



