4 



HRDLi^KA] SKELETAL REMAINS OF EAELY MAN 261 



right, and 3.3 by 3 cm. on the left; the drcumference on the right was 

 9.5 cm., on the left 10 cm. The upper part of the diaphysis ol the 

 left measured transversely 3 cm., antero-posteriorl}^ 2.7 cm., showing 

 an eurymeric form. 



The measurements of the shaft of the tibiae at about the middle 

 were as follows: 



R ight cm . Left cm. 



Diameter antero-posterior 3. 95 4. 



Diameter transversal 2.35 2.35 



Cnemic index 59.4 56.2 



The shaft, as shown in the illustration (fig. 48) presents in a typical 

 form the quadrilateral shape.* 



The conclusions reached by Martin on the basis of liis examinations 

 are as follows : 



"It is really to be regretted that this skeleton 

 has come to us in so defective a state, because it 

 constitutes the most ancient specimen from Argen 

 tina, found under circumstances which are suffi- 

 ciently well-known. As it is, the results of our 

 examination do not afford a basis solid enough to 

 enable us to conclude that the skeleton belonged to 

 the race of Lagoa Santa. 



"It is possible to affirm, however, without fear 

 of being in error, that in divers fragments of the piQ 43 Tibia of Bara- 

 skeleton which are in our possession to-day, there dero: Transverse see- 

 exists no character which is not equally encoun- tion of the shaft. 

 tered in modern man, especially that of South America. The man of 

 Baradero does not represent, therefore, a human form specifically dif- 

 ferent from the man of the present day." 



Critical Remarks 



To the writer the only possible conclusion, from what has been 

 learned about the Baradero find, is that the antiquity of the skeleton 

 can not be regarded as satisfactorily demonstrated. Nothing has 

 been advanced which could be accepted as proof that the case could 

 not be one of merely a prehistoric holocene burial. The presence of 

 all the parts of the skeleton in their normal relations, as reported by 

 Roth, speaks for an intentional, or a speedy accidental, interment. 

 Intentional Indian burials in an extended position are more rare than 

 those in a more or less contracted one, but they occur in many parts 

 of America and are explainable either by a modification of the usual 

 custom, due to some special motives, or from inability to bend the 

 body on account of rigor mortis. The notion that burials in fossae 

 were not practiced in northeastern Argentina, on account of the 



' Type 4, A. H. This feature, while of rather widespread ancient as well as recent occurrence, is 

 especially characteristic of the Indian. 



