hedliCka] skeletal KEMAINS OF EAELY MAN 179 



about the absolute age of the population, although it is quite likely 

 that it is very ancient." 



As to geologic details, "I shall simply add that the contents of 

 the cave of Sumidouro, the most important of all, were so disturbed 

 when Lund came to its exploration that all determination of geologic 

 age of the skeletal remains is impossible. . . 



''The fossil bones of Lagoa Santa were not found under geologic 

 conditions sufficiently clear to permit the drawing of paleoethnologic 

 conclusions with the absolute certainty demanded by science. Never- 

 theless these remains are precious documents for the definite solution 

 of the great and important question of the antiquity of man, a ques- 

 tion which l)y its delicate nature demands patience and prudence." 



An additional original study of several of the Lagoa Santa crania 

 in Copenhagen was made by Virchow, and is reported in his Crania 

 Americana.^ Virchow accepts, in general, Hansen's conclusions. 

 He speaks of the remains only as "prehistoric," without regarding 

 the crania as very homogeneous, at least so far as height, orbits, and 

 nose are concerned, and points out on the basis of the Sumidouro 

 material that "We must take account of the fact that already in the 

 oldest settlements of the aborigines there were represented difl"erent 

 races. Not only did brachycephalic and dolichocephalic tribes exist 

 but the regions of their distribution hw close together." 



Additional references to the Lagoa Santa skulls occur in a number 

 of other authors, but with one exception they are without special 

 importance,^ The exception is Rivet's recent and able paper on 

 "The I./agoa Santa race among the precolumbian population of 

 Ecuador." ^ After giving a resume of wdiat has hitherto been pub- 

 lished on the Brazil cave finds, and after enumerating the charac- 

 teristics of tlie Lagoa Santa "race," the author shows conclusively 

 that crania of the same type occur in some of the prehistoric burials 

 of Ecuador and also in many other parts of Soutli America, from 

 Ecuador and Brazil to Tierra del Fuego, down to practically the 

 present time. The skulls of Fontezuelas and Arrecifes belong evi- 

 dently, according to Rivet, to t'he same race, and he feels inclined to 

 add that of Miramar. As to the age of these specimens and of the 

 Lagoa Santa remains, the author expresses reserve. 



Critical Remarks 



The evidence relating to the Lagoa Santa material may be compared 

 with a considerable quantity of ore, which must pass through the 

 reduction process to determine its grade. So far as the records of the 



1 Virchow, R., Crania Etluiica Americana, Berlin, 1892, pp. 32-33. 



2 For example Gervais, P.,Zoologieet palcontologiogC'ni'rales, lr<^ st'T., Paris,lSC7-lSf>9, p. 252; Topinard 

 P., Elements d'anlhropologic gcncrale, Paris, 1885. 



3Pavet, P., La race de Lagoa-Santa chez les populations, precolombiennes du riiquutcur; in Bull, ct 

 Mtm. Soc. d'Anlhr. Paris, £m« sur., ix, fasc. 2, 1908, pp. 209-274. 



