58 SOCIAL EVOLUTION 



1'Iie first important discovery of the existence of an 

 early example of mankind differing markedly from any 

 living and of a decidedly lower type, was made in 1857 

 when part of a skull was found in a cave near Diissel- 

 dorf, Germany. The bones consisted of the upper por- 

 tion of a cranium, remarkable for its flat retreating 

 curve, the upper arm and thigh bones, a shoulder blade 

 and collar bone, and rib fragments.-" Figures 17 and 18 

 show the general contour of this Neanderthal skull. 

 There was at first some difference of opinion as to its au- 

 thenticity. Some naturalists maintained that it was a 

 pathological specimen. But its normal character has 

 since been fully demonstrated. Huxley conceived the 

 Neanderthal man as short of stature but powerfully built, 

 with strong, curiously curved thigh bones so constructed 

 that the man must have walked with bended knees, poftv 

 sessing heavy brow ridges, heavy brutal jaw with re- 

 ceding chin. The artist's conception of the Neanderthal 

 man is shown in the figures. ^^ Although the Neanderthal 

 man was of the small stature of 5 feet 3i/2 inches, he was 

 probably a mighty hunter, able to contend with the 

 rudest weapons against the rhinoceros, mammoth, cave 

 bear, and other beasts. Since the discovery of this skull 

 near Diisseldorf, other specimens of the same general 

 type have come to light, serving to indicate how wide- 

 spread was the Neanderthal race of men. In 1866, part 

 of a jaw quite different from the typical jaw of to-day 

 was found at La Naulette, Belgium ; and in 1886, at Spy, 

 Belgium, specimens were discovered in which the Nean- 

 derthal type of cranium was associated with the Naulette 



2oKeane, op. cit., pp. 3'5-34, 145-146. 

 21 See Frontispiece and iigure 20. 



