176 HUMAN FOSSILS in 



been met with in the caves of the Neanderthal ; an^ that the 

 bones, which were covered by a deposit of nmd not more than 

 four or five feet thick, and without any protective covering of 

 stalagmite, have retained the greatest part of their organic 

 substance. 



"These circumstances might be adduced against the proba- 

 bility of a geological antiquity. Nor should we be justified in 

 regarding the cranial conformation as perhaps representing tho 

 most savage primitive type of the human race, since crania 

 exist among living savages, which, though not exhibiting such 

 a remarkable conformation of the forehead, which gives the 

 skull somewhat the aspect of that of the large apes, still in 

 other respects, as for instance in the greater depth of the tem- 

 poral fossae, the crest-like, prominent temporal ridges, and a 

 generally leas capacious cranial cavity, exhibit an equally low 

 stage of development. There is no reason for supposing that 

 the deep frontal hollow is due to any artificial flattening, such 

 as is practised in various modes by barbarous nations in the 

 Old and New World. The skull is quite symmetrical, and 

 shows no indication of counter-pressure at the occiput, whilst, 

 according to Morton, in the Flat-heads of the Columbia, the 

 frontal and parietal bones are always unsymmetrical. Its con- 

 formation exhibits the sparing development of the anterior part 

 of the head which has been so often observed in very ancient 

 crania, and affords one of the most striking proofs of the 

 influence of culture and civilization on the form of the human 

 skull" 



In a subsequent passage, Dr. Schaaffhausen 

 remarks : 



"There is no reason whatever for regarding the unusual 

 development of the frontal sinuses in the remarkable skull from 

 the Neanderthal as an individual or pathological deformity ; it 

 is unquestionably a typical race-character, and is physiologically 

 connected with the uncommon thickness of the other bones of 

 the skeleton, which exceeds by about one-half the usual pro- 

 portions. This expansion of the frontal sinuses, which arc 



