22 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 33 



about 180 feet from the surface, where there was a layer of gravel.&quot; 



/ 



This gravel lay beneath seven alternate layers of lava and gravel, 

 an^l dates from about the middle Tertiary period. The skull had 

 adhering to it, or at least to the lower part of its face and to its base, 

 a &quot; conglomerate mass of ferruginous earth, water- worn pebbles of 

 much altered volcanic rock, calcareous tufa, and fragments of bones,&quot; 

 and u a thin calcareous incrustation appears to have covered the 

 whole skull when found. 1 (Whitney, page 268.) On chemical exam 

 ination by Mr. Sharpies, the specimen was found to &quot; have lost nearly 

 all its organic matter,&quot; and &quot; a large portion of the phosphate of 

 lime had been replaced by the carbonate (phosphate of lime 33.79, 

 carbonate of lime G2.03 parts in 100). In other words, it was in a 

 fossilized condition.&quot; 



After the lapse of more than two years from the date of its dis 

 covery the skull came indirectly into the possession of Professor 

 Whitney, at that time State Geologist of California, and was finally 

 placed in the Peabody Museum. The specimen has received much 

 attention in the press. The archeological aspect of the find has been 

 dealt with by Prof. W. IT. Holmes in two reports, 7 which give ac 

 counts not only of the skull, but of all the reported California gravel 

 finds indicating the presence of early man, and their well-substan 

 tiated conclusions should be consulted in this connection. As to the 

 physical characteristics of the skull, the only original data extant are 

 those of Professor Wyman, included in the report -of J. D. Whitney. 

 There are three subsequent accounts, by E. Schmidt, J. Kollmann, 7 

 and George A. Dorsey, 6 respectively; but all of these are based on 

 Wyman s measurements and on study of the illustrations of the skull, 

 not on personal examination of the specimen. This deficiency will be 

 remedied in this paper so far as possible. 



PHYSICAL CHARACTERS 



The specimen (plate i) is rather heavy (15} ounces=44G grams), 

 though its weight is due mainly to adhering mineral matter. It is a 

 very defective skull, lacking nearly the Avhole occipital, both parietals, 

 the right temporal, parts of the left temporal, sphenoid, and superior 



a It is nowhere stated on the authority of the finder or of Professor Whitney that the 

 skull was actually dug out from the gravel. Mr. Mattison, who found it in the mine, 

 states simply (Whitney, p. 268) that &quot; he took the skull from his shaft, in February, 

 1866, with some pieces of wood found near it. 



& Preliminary Revision of the Evidence relating to Auriferous Gravel Man in Califor 

 nia, American Anthropologist, n. s., i, 107-121, 614-645, 1899; Review of the Evidence 

 relating to Auriferous Gravel Man in California, Smithsonian Report for 1899, 419-472, 

 Washington, 1901. 



c Zur Urgeschichte Nordamerikas, Arch. f. Anthrop., v, 253-259, 1871-72; also in Die 

 altesten Spuren des Menschen in Nordamerika, 43 et seq., Hamburg, 1887. 



d Ilohes Alter der Menschenrassen, Zcitschr. f. Ethnol., xvi, 185-191, 1884. 



6 In Ilolmes s Review of the Evidence relating to Auriferous Gravel Man in California, 

 465-466. 



