SKELETAL RK MAIN- 1 .", 



lint Ix'cti studied until the la-t year. Tin- whole inve-t igatimi lui- 

 Iteeii carried .m without prcmnccixed opinions in regard to cither the 

 presence in or the absence from northern America of early man und is 

 in the main a -imple anatomical comparison. 



III. Til K XK\Y ORLEANS SKELETON 



In a nunilxT of the older writings touching on the subject of man's 

 antiquity in North America, particularly in Nott and (iliddon, are 

 found references to the discovery of an apparently ancient skeleton 

 at New Orleans, Louisiana. The original rej>ort on this find, usually 

 credited to D. B. Dowler, 6 is by Prof. D. Drake,* and reads as 

 follows : 



In 1844 I visited two gas tanks. t>aich JO feet In diameter and lt> fe<>t deep, 

 recently sunk in tin* back part of the city (I. e.. New Orleans], and ravlvcd 

 frniii the intelligent sii|erlntendent, I>>ctor Rogers, an account of what wax 

 met with In excavating them. At first they encountered will and Koft river 

 mini, then harder laminated l.lue alluvion, then deep hlack mold resting on 

 \\et bluish (|uicksand. . . . The roots ami tfie basis or stumps of no fewer 

 than four successive growths of trees, apparently cypress, were found standing 

 at different elevations. The tlrst had a diameter of 2 feet < inches, the stn-otid 

 of G feet, the third of 4 feet, and the fourth of 12 fet. at a short distunec 

 up. with a base of 28 feet for the roots. It is embedded In a soft d>ep-hlack 

 mold. When cut with the sjwde much of this wood resembled cheese In tex- 

 ture, but hardened on drying. . . . At the depth of 7 and 1(5 feet burnt WMH! 

 was met with. No shells or bones of land animals or fish were observed, but 

 in a tank previously excavated, at the depth of 10 feet the skeleton of a man 

 was found. The cranium lay between the roots of a tree and was in a tolerable 

 state of preservation, but most of the other bones crumbled on pressure. A 

 small 'm ilium, which I saw, indicated the female sex. A low and narrow fore- 

 head, moderate facial angle, and prominent widely separated cheek bones 

 seemed to prove the skull of the same race with our present Indians. No 

 chan-oal. ashes, or ornaments*, of any kind were found around It. 



On the basis of the foregoing rather defective data and calcula- 

 tions as to the probable age of the stumps. Doctor Dowler con- 

 cluded (page 17) that the "human race existed in the delta more 

 than fifty-seven thousand years ago." On a little reflection this 

 estimate shows so many weak points that it can not l>e accepted 

 for anything more than an individual opinion. The notes concern- 

 ing the skull, so far as they go, indicate that the specimen resembled 

 in the main the skull of an ordinary Indian, but this conclusion 

 has little value. It is nowhere stated what became of the skeleton. 

 Drake's remark that " most of the other bones crumbled on pressure " 

 makes it probable that few, if any, parts of it have been preserved, 

 and also clearly indicates that the bones were in no degree fossilized. 



Type* of Mankind, chap. xl. numeroun will Ion*. Philadelphia. 

 * Tableaux of New nrh-anx, 8-0, New Orleans, no date ( published In the 

 'A Systematic Treatise on the Principal IHeaae of the Interior Valle 

 America, etc.. 76-77, Cincinnati. 1850. 



