•hedliCka] skeletal REMAINS OF EARLY MAISJ 185 



details by Ameghino;^ in 1907 they were touched on by Roth ^ and, 

 finally, in 1907, an account of the find was given by Lehmann-Nitsche.^ 



In his first communication on the subject(1865), Burmeister merely 

 mentions the alleged find and his unsuccessful efforts to examine the 

 bones. 



In his first note on the find (1869) Gervais also restricts himself to 

 a simple mention of the bones and Seguin's informatic^n concerning 

 them, but besides other remarks, makes this reference to the mingling 

 of the human with fossil animal bones : "I leave it for others to decide 

 whether there has not been some redistribution of earth sufficient to 

 explain such a mingling." Nor is he less guarded in 1873, when the 

 first description of the Carcarana specimens appears from his pen. 



"The hviman bones, which constitute part of the second Seguin col- 

 lection, are quite numerous, but they are reduced for the most 

 part to slivers. Among them are fragments of skulls, portions of the 

 long bones, and some phalanges, the latter being mostly well- 

 preserved. . . 



"These bones show two different varieties of coloration. Those 

 of lighter color were scattered over the surface of the ground, having 

 been removed from the deposit in which they lay and washed by 

 water. The others, of brown color, were still in the ground. The 

 piece of a femur, already partly exposed when found, is light in* the 

 half that was exposed and dark in the other. 



"The teeth or parts of teeth found with this skeletal debris are not 

 less characteristic and indicate at least two individuals. They con- 

 sist of incisors and molars. The crown is in every case more or less 

 worn off, and the incisors in particular show in this respect the trans- 

 versal wear, such as is peculiar to primitive races. We possess about 

 30 of these teeth, several of which are shown in . . . this publi- 

 cation" (see fig. 43). 



Seguin encountered also on the Carcarana, "in common with the 

 osseous debris mentioned above, stone implements comparable in 

 certain aspects with those that characterize the paleolithic epoch in 

 Europe. Specimens numbered 1, 2, and 4 are of quartzite; number 3 

 is of chalcedony. The last three pieces . . . are quite comparable 

 with well-known forms; they also indicate a rather recent epoch, but 

 they should be compared with implements of the same sort that are 

 still used by some South American tribes, or with those which they 

 employed before the Conquest." 



1 Ameghino, F., La antigiiedad, etc., n, 1881, pp. 514-52G. 



2 Roth, S., Ueber den Scliildol von Pontimcio (richtiger Fontezuelas); in Mitfh. anat.Inst. Vesalianum 

 zu Basel, 1SS9, pp. 6-9; also in Lehmann-Nitsche, Nouvelles recherclies, etc., 1907, pp. 470-477. 



3 Lehmann-Nitsche, ibid., pp. 212-213. 



