﻿424 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1927 
  

  

  history 
  into 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  cultural 
  periods. 
  The 
  main 
  of 
  these, 
  pro- 
  

   ceeding 
  from 
  the 
  past 
  toward 
  our 
  time, 
  are 
  : 
  

  

  The 
  Old 
  Stone 
  Age 
  (Paleolithic). 
  

  

  The 
  pre-Chellean 
  and 
  Chellean. 
  

   The 
  Acheulian. 
  

  

  I 
  lower, 
  

   middle, 
  

   upper. 
  

   I 
  lower, 
  

   middle, 
  

   upper. 
  

   The 
  Solutrean, 
  the 
  Magdalenian, 
  and 
  the 
  Azilian. 
  

  

  The 
  New 
  Stone 
  Age 
  (or 
  Neolithic). 
  

  

  Here 
  is 
  a 
  great 
  mass 
  of 
  evidence 
  that 
  may 
  easily 
  be 
  seen 
  in 
  Euro- 
  

   pean 
  and 
  even 
  American 
  museums, 
  or 
  in 
  the 
  field 
  where, 
  especially 
  

   in 
  France, 
  under 
  Government 
  regulations 
  and 
  guardianship, 
  whole 
  

   sections 
  of 
  the 
  implement-bearing 
  strata 
  are 
  left 
  as 
  archeological 
  

   monuments. 
  Moreover, 
  the 
  old 
  implements, 
  animal 
  bones, 
  etc., 
  may 
  

   readily 
  be 
  collected 
  first 
  hand. 
  (Consult 
  on 
  this 
  subject 
  Osborn's 
  

   Men 
  of 
  the 
  Old 
  Stone 
  Age; 
  MacCurdy's 
  Human 
  Origins; 
  and 
  

   Burkitt's 
  Prehistory.) 
  

  

  However, 
  there 
  is 
  much 
  more 
  than 
  this. 
  In 
  addition 
  to 
  the 
  innu- 
  

   merable 
  cultural 
  remains 
  of 
  early 
  man, 
  the 
  European 
  scientific 
  insti- 
  

   tutions 
  now 
  possess 
  also 
  the 
  skull 
  fragments 
  to 
  complete 
  skeletons 
  

   of 
  over 
  100 
  prehistoric 
  men 
  and 
  women 
  that 
  may 
  safely 
  be 
  dated 
  

   at 
  more 
  than 
  20,000 
  years 
  of 
  age. 
  These 
  precious 
  documents 
  are 
  held 
  

   as 
  national 
  treasures 
  in 
  France, 
  Belgium, 
  England, 
  Germany, 
  Czecho- 
  

   slovakia, 
  Croatia, 
  and 
  other 
  countries. 
  They 
  range 
  from 
  a 
  portion 
  

   of 
  a 
  lower 
  jaw, 
  with 
  perhaps 
  a 
  few 
  pieces 
  of 
  the 
  skull, 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  

   of 
  the 
  already 
  mentioned 
  Piltdown 
  find 
  in 
  England, 
  to 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  

   parts 
  of 
  18 
  skeletons 
  discovered 
  at 
  Pfedmost, 
  Moravia. 
  They 
  come 
  

   from 
  ancient 
  gravels, 
  sands, 
  or 
  loess, 
  from 
  old 
  caves 
  and 
  rock 
  shelters, 
  

   and 
  even 
  from 
  deep 
  in 
  hard 
  stone, 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  quarries 
  of 
  Ehringsdorf 
  , 
  

   near 
  Weimar, 
  in 
  Germany. 
  They 
  are 
  associated 
  with 
  and 
  in 
  in- 
  

   stances 
  overlaid 
  by 
  the 
  bones 
  of 
  ancient 
  mammals. 
  They 
  show 
  

   various 
  grades 
  and 
  forms 
  of 
  petrifaction; 
  and, 
  in 
  general, 
  the 
  older 
  

   they 
  are 
  the 
  more 
  primitive 
  is 
  their 
  form 
  and 
  the 
  farther 
  away 
  they 
  

   are 
  from 
  the 
  modern 
  human. 
  (See 
  writer's 
  Most 
  Ancient 
  Skeletal 
  

   Remains 
  of 
  Man, 
  2d 
  ed., 
  Publ. 
  2300, 
  Smithsonian 
  Inst.) 
  

  

  Here 
  is 
  before 
  us 
  a 
  most 
  weighty 
  evidence 
  of 
  human 
  evolution, 
  

   and 
  in 
  a 
  large 
  measure 
  already 
  an 
  actual 
  illustration 
  of 
  the 
  process. 
  

   When 
  an 
  observer 
  regards 
  such 
  specimens 
  as 
  the 
  Piltdown, 
  the 
  

   Heidelberg, 
  the 
  Krapina 
  or 
  the 
  Ehringsdorf 
  jaws, 
  the 
  Neanderthal, 
  

   the 
  La 
  Chapelle, 
  the 
  Gibraltar, 
  the 
  Spy, 
  la 
  Ferrasie, 
  the 
  Galilee, 
  and 
  

  

  