236 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 52 



sal depression at the root; the orbits extraordinarily superficial, and 

 consequently the rostrum very much prolonged forward; finally, the 

 foramen magnum is situated in the posterior part of the skull, farther 

 back than in many apes, giving the head a position strongly inclinei^ 

 downward." 



In 1907 ^ Lehmann-Nitsche refers to the skeleton. Ke brings 

 forth no additional information and assumes, it seems entirely too 

 readily, that "there is no reason to doubt the geologic age of the 

 skeleton." In his latest paper ^ he classes it as from the Superior 

 Pampean. 



Critical Remarks 



To the writer it appears that there is much room indeed for doubt 

 as to the antiquity of the Samborombon human bones, and as to 

 the propriety in assigning them to a period preceding or contempo- 

 raneous with that of the scelidotherium, a portion of whose lower jaw 

 was found at a few meters distance from the human remains and 

 in difi^erent soil. The original data are, in fact, so madequate and 

 unsatisfactory that on their basis alone the specimen can never 

 legitimately receive serious consideration as bearing on the problem 

 of man's antiquity in South America, while the anatomic peculiari- 

 ties which it shows are without significance in that connection. 



The presence of 18 dorso-lumbar vertebrae ^ and of a perforated 

 sternum * are both features not very rare in the American Indian or 

 in other races, and there is no justification whatever for making 

 one sole instance of this nature (even if fully substantiated) the dis- 

 tinguishing feature of an}" race or species. 



The presence of the skeleton 3 feet or somewhat farther below the 

 surface, and the close proximity of the spot to two streams, are cir- 

 cumstances quite compatible with the theory of a modern burial. The 

 completeness of the skeleton and in general the natural relation of its 

 parts speak strongly for burial. The separation of the skeleton into 

 two nearly equal portions without disturbance of the various bones is 

 explainable only by faulting or motion in the earth of the bank, having 

 no bearing on the age of the human remains. The fact that the body 



1 Nouvelles recherches, etc., p. 298. 



2 El hombre fosil pampeano, etc., p. 364. 



3 There are three such specimens, two Indian and one Eskimo, in the special series of the U. S. National 

 Museum and a large proportion of the material has not as yet been examined. See also Rosenberg, E., 

 tjber eine primitive Form der Wirbelsaiile der Menschen, in Morph. Jahrb., xxvn, i, Leipzig, 1899; 

 Dwight, Th., Description of the Human Spine showing Numerical Variation; in Mem. Boston Soc. 

 Nat. Hist., V, No. 7, Boston, 1901, pp. 237-312; and Bardeen and Embryo, in Anat. Anzeigcr, xxv, Jena, 

 1904, pp. 497-519. See also Regalia, E., Casi di anomalie numeriche delle vertebre nell' Uomo; in Arch, 

 p. I'Antropol. & Etnol., x, 1880, p. 305 et seq. 



< More common than preceding anomaly. See, ten Kate, H., Sur quelques points d'osteologie ethnique 

 imparfaitement connus; in Revista del Museo de la Plata, vn, Buenos Aires, 1896, pp. 271-272 (found per- 

 foration in 16 among 120 Indian sterna in the Museo de la Plata). Also Hrdlieka, A., Description of 

 an Ancient Anomalous Skeleton from the Valley of Mexico, with Special Reference to Supernumerary 

 and Bicipital Ribs in Man; in Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., xn. New York, 1899, pp. 95-96. 



