hrdliCka] skeletal EEMAINS OF EARLY MAN 223 



head or the tail was discovered. It is not probable therefore that 

 the glyptodon rolled accidentally upon the human remains. 



But if the above supposition is abandoned, then we must conclude 

 that the carapace alone, or a part of it, as found by Roth, reached 

 somehow the position over the human body or bones, or that it 

 was placed there by man. It will be seen at once that in either case 

 the relation of the carapace to the human skeleton ceases to be of 

 value as evidence of antiquity. 



An accidental presence above the human bones of the heavy up- 

 turned carapace would be difficult to explain, although it not infre- 

 quently happens that water, wind, and other agencies produce 

 phenomena which are difficult or impossible to trace. Two inter- 

 esting suggestions relating to overturned glyptodon carapaces, capa- 

 ble of throwing light on this problem, are found in Roth's own paper 

 on the pampas formation. We read: ''Burmeister believes that 

 these carapaces [of glyptodons] were carried for some time by water, 

 the rest of the bones [of the glyptodons] being lost. However, we 

 often find isolated bones of the same animal lying next to the cara- 

 pace and even under it." ' If this is true, then it is conceivable that 

 the carapace in question may have been de})osited on higher ground 

 during some flood of the not far distant stream. But its deposition 

 directly over a human skeleton, though not impossible, would be 

 a rare chance. 



The most plausible solution appears to be the assumption that the 

 carapace was placed over the human remains by man. This might 

 have been done with or without the knowledge of the existence of 

 the remains. In the latter instance the carapace might have been 

 used on the same spot for a wind shield or for some other purpose^ 

 such use of these carapaces having often been referred to by the 

 Argentine paleontologists. 



It seems more rational to believe that the carapace was purposely 

 laid over the human body as a covering and protection. In the 

 absence of stone or heavier pieces of wood, if a carapace or a part of 

 it was available, it is very likely that it would have been used by 

 the natives who buried the body. As to the inverted position, it is 

 not impossible a part of a carapace would be so placed originally. 

 More probably, however, it was placed with the concavity downward 

 and was disturbed subsequently by man, water, or some other agency; 

 and the same agency may also have disturbed the bones beneath. 

 Of course the carapace may already have been ancient when placed 

 over the bones. 



However, it is not here intended to build up any hypotheses. 

 The fact is there is not the slightest proof that the animal, part of 



1 Roth, S., Beobachtungi^n iiber Entstehung und Alter der Pampasfonnation in Argontinicn; in Zeilschr. 

 deutsch. gcol. Ges., xl, 1SS8, p. 449. 



