78 NEANDERTHAL SKULL. CHAP. v. 



the earth. The skull and bones, moreover, of the Neander 

 thal skeleton had lost so much of their animal matter as 

 to adhere strongly to the tongue, agreeing in this respect 

 with the ordinary condition of fossil remains of the post- 

 pliocene period. On the whole, I think it probable that this 

 fossil may be of about the same age as those found by 

 Schmerling in the Liege caverns ; but, as no other animal 

 remains were found with it, there is no proof that it may not 

 be newer. Its position lends no countenance whatever to the 

 supposition of its being more ancient. 



When the skull and other parts of the skeleton were 

 first exhibited at a German scientific meeting at Bonn, in 

 1857, some doubts were expressed by several naturalists, 

 whether it was truly human. Professor Schaaffhausen, 

 who, with the other experienced zoologists, did not share 

 these doubts, observed that the cranium, which included 

 the frontal bone, both parietals, part of the squamous, and 

 the upper third of the occipital, was of unusual size and 

 thickness, the forehead narrow and very low, and the pro 

 jection of the supra-orbital ridges enormously great. He 

 also stated that the absolute and relative length of the thigh 

 bone, humerus, radius, and ulna, agreed well with the di 

 mensions of a European individual of like stature at the 

 present day ; but that the thickness of the bones was very 

 extraordinary, and the elevation and depression for the at 

 tachment of muscles were developed in an unusual degree. 

 Some of the ribs, also, were of a singularly rounded shape 

 and abrupt curvature, which was supposed to indicate great 

 power in the thoracic muscles.* 



In the same memoir, the Prussian anatomist remarks that 

 the depression of the forehead, see fig. 3, p. 82, is not due 

 to any artificial flattening, such as is practised in various 



* Professor Schaaffhausen' s Memoir, translated, Natural History Eeview, 

 No. 2, April 1861. 



