DISCOVERY 



remains were found at a depth of 60 feet below water 

 le\-el, and 90 feet below ground level. In this connec- 

 tion two points are worthy of note. In the first place, 

 the summit of the kopje, which originally covered the 

 site before mining operations were begun, showed, at its 

 highest point, signs of a subsidence in the shape of a 

 shallow depression ; and secondly, over the human 

 remains was a fissure which at some time had com- 

 municated with the surface. 



The skull is in a remarkably good state of preserva- 

 tion, and very fresh in appearance. It is complete and 

 is only very slightly mineralised ; this, in view of the 

 condition of the mammalian remains with which it was 

 associated, is in itself a remarkable fact. 

 Its more primitive characteristics are at 

 once evident to the observer. These are the 

 extreme prominence of the eyebrow ridges 

 and their marked lateral extension, the pro- 

 jection of the lower part of the face, and 

 the length of the face as compared with that 

 of the modem type of skull. Owing to the 

 projection of the eyebrow ridges, the upper 

 part of the skull has an ape-like appear- 

 ance of flatness. The whole character of 

 the face, in fact, is remarkably ape-like and, 

 as Professor Elliot Smith has suggested, when 

 clothed with flesh it was probably even 

 nearer to the facial aspect of the gorilla 

 owing to the splaying of the flat nostrils. 

 Another ape-like character was a great 

 thickening of the muscles of the neck as 

 indicated by the deep impressions at the base 

 of the skull. 



On the other hand, Dr. Smith Woodward, 

 in describing the skull, called attention to 

 certain features in which it displays the characteristics 

 of modem man. The brain case is modem in type and 

 its thickness is not greater than in modem man. Its 

 capacity, so far as can be judged without accurate 

 measurement, is well above the lower level of the modern 

 type. The upper jaw is perfectly human ; the skull has 

 a well-domed palate and the teeth are human and not 

 simian. The jaw is of remarkable size. Unfortunately, 

 the lower jaw is missing, but, as Dr. Smith Woodward 

 has demonstrated by means of a model, even the massive 

 Heidelberg jaw is not large enough to fit the upper jaw 

 of this skull. In another respect this skull is strikingly 

 modem. The foramen magnum, the aperture by which 

 the spinal cord enters the skull, is centrally situated, 

 whereas in the apes and in primitive t\^es of skulls it 

 is situated nearer to the back of the skull, giving the 

 head a forward carriage. Rhodesian man's head was 

 balanced in a perfectly upright position on the trunk. 

 The teeth are in an extremely bad condition. Not 

 only are they very much wom, as in all primitive skulls. 



but in addition to the traces of abscesses, caries is 

 present in the teeth themselves. This is a condition 

 not hitherto found in any primitive skull, the earliest 

 cases previously known having been found in Egypt 

 and dating from the time of the Pyramids. 



The long bones are also modem in character and 

 indicate that the individual to whom they belonged was 

 tall and walked upright, while Professor Elliot Smith 

 is of the opinion that the fragment of the sacrum indi- 

 cates the female sex. 



From this brief description of the salient features of 

 the Rhodesian skull, it is evident that it presents certain 

 very remarkable and contradictory characteristics. It 



SKULL OF THE RHODESI.^N ILVN*. 



appears to combine ape-like and modem elements in a 

 manner and a degree exhibited by no other knowai 

 skull. In this respect alone it bids fair to provide 

 material for controversy for some time to come. For 

 the adequate discussion of these problems, however, 

 more accurate examination at the hands of the expert 

 must be awaited. At present the chief interest of the 

 discovery lies in the light which, at first sight, it appears 

 likely to throw upon the antiquity and evolution of 

 man. Yet at the moment, as has already been said, 

 any suggestion must be taken as tentative and as 

 indicative of the points to which investigation should 

 be directed, rather than as providing any definite 

 advance towards a solution of these problems. 



In order to understand clearly the bearing of an 

 inquin,' into the antiquity of any particular find of 

 human remains, it should be home in mind that the 

 evidence of age may be drawn from one or more of 

 several sources. The evidence may be geological, the 

 geological stratum in which the remains are found 



