154 BTTBEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 52 



History 



The first reference to these finds occurs in a letter dated August, 



1840, written by Lund to C. C. Rafn, secretaiy of tlie Societe Royale 

 des Antiquaires du Nord.* Lund reports the discovery, in one of tlie 

 Lagoa Santa caves, of human bones and of one stone utensil, in con- 

 nection with the bones of certain animals of extinct species. The 

 human remains were in part petrified and appeared to be in the same 

 state of preservation as the ancient animal bones. The forehead in 

 the human skulls was very sloping, as in the figures on some of the 

 ancient Mexican monuments. 



Shortly afterward, in a memoir dated at Lagoa Santa, January 30, 



1841, and published one year later,^ Lund speaks of the same subject 

 somewhat more fully. He declares that, "as to the important ques- 

 tion of the contemporaneity of man and ex*tinct animal forms in this 

 part of the world, I do not believe myself authorized as yet to modify 

 the negative result at which I have hitherto arrived." This view 

 was maintained by Lund notwithstanding the fact that he found in 

 two caves skeletal remains of man which presented all the character- 

 istics of really fossil bones. In neither of these caves, however, were 

 the human skeletal remains in a condition to permit a safe conclusion 

 as to their geologic age; in fact, they seemed to be of more recent 

 origin than the animal bones in the same caves. Lund did not feel 

 himself warranted therefore in attributing to the human specimens 

 special value as evidence of antiquity. 



The circumstances of the discoveries in question are narrated as 

 follows : ^ 



"One of the two caves in question is situated on the border of a 

 lake, the waters of which invade it in the rainy season, flowing after- 

 ward to the Rio das Vellias, half a league distant. In the galleries 

 of the cave, dry at the time of the exploration, the ground was found 

 covered by a thin layer of mellow black earth, freely mixed v/ith the 

 shells of snails of the species (Planorhis, Amjmllaria) still existent in 

 the lake and on its borders. In this soft earth lay bones of man, 

 mammals, birds, reptiles, and fishes, distributed without order, and in 

 very different states of preservation. Some could be distinguished 

 from fresh bones only in that they were more fi'agile, lighter in weight, 

 and of dark reddish-brown color; others were very heavy, hard, and 

 of a brownish aspect on the surface as well as in fracture. Between 

 the two extremes, however, there were many gradations." It is 

 expressly noted by Lund that the human skeletal parts are included 



1 Lund, P. W., Letter of Aug. 20, 1840, to C. C. Rafn. Referred to in Berlingske Tidende, Feb. 12, 1841; 

 in Aarsheretning fra det Kgl. nord. Oldskriftsclskab for 1840, p. 5; in Neues Jahrbuch filr Mineralogie, Stutt- 

 gart, 1841, pp. 502, 006; in Nouvclles Annaks des Voyages, 1841, d., vi, p. 116; and published in full in Breve 

 till C. C. Rafn,.udg. af B. fJrondalil, Kjobenliavn, 1880, p. 247. 



2 Lund, P. W., Blik paa Brasiliens Dyreverden, etc.; in Kgl. danske Videnskabernes Sel^kabs Skrifter, 

 4de Raekke, Naturv.-mathem., Afhandl., ix, Kjobenliavn, 1842, pp. 195-196. 



3 Liitken, Chr. Fr., Indledende Bemaerkninger om Menneskelevninger i Brasiliens Huler og i de Lundske 

 Samlinger. En Samling af Afhandtinger e Museo Lundii, i, Kjobenhavn, 1888, pp. 1-29 {with a good 

 abstract in French). The quotations here given follow Liitken. 



