HBDLif^KA] SKELETAL REMAINS OP EARLY MAN 315 



femur, 8 cm, long. Most of the pieces are only slivers, and of the 

 skull there are only a few remnants of little significance. 



This specimen was found by one of the gardener Parodi's children, 

 some of the bones having become visible after a wind storm which 

 carried away most of the material about them. They lay on a gentle 

 declivity in the barren lands near the sand dunes to the southeast of 

 the lowest part of the Rio Quequen, and only a few rods from the 

 Necochea-sea boulevard. They were not far from the Necochea 

 specimens Nos. 1 and 2, found about the same distance from the 

 sea to the southwest side of the same road, ami were regarded by 

 Professor Ameghino as of similar antiquity. 



The bones were gathered together by the boy, but were left for some 

 time on the ground near the place where they were found and finally 

 became reduced to the state and quantity in wliicli they are at 

 present. Certam features of the environment of the bones as de- 

 scribed by the gardener, as well as the fragments which represent 

 almost all the larger parts of the skeleton, indicate that the remains 

 represent one complete skeleton whose parts lay in fairly natural re- 

 lation. No objects were found with the bones, but there were (even 

 at the time of the writer's visit) numerous "white" and "black" 

 chipped stones scattered over the elevation itself as well as in the 

 denuded parts of the land in the neighborhood. 



When the writer's party visited the locality, it was found that the 

 sand had already re-covered the place where the bones were found. 

 However, the spot was located and, m order to understand the condi- 

 tions clearly, the writer made a large circle about it and removed all 

 the recently accumulated sand down to the more solid ground. When 

 this was done, there was seen near the center of the clearing a shal- 

 low cavity (pi. 46) 9^ inches (24 cm.) deep at maximum, slightly 

 more than 3 feet (1.1 meters) long, and 33^ inches (85 cm.) at its 

 greatest breadth, representing what remained of the fossa which held 

 the skeleton. No additional material was discovered in diggmg 

 about this cavity^ which was evidently a remnant of a grave made 

 in the former surface of the land or in the sand which covered it. 



Through the kindness of Professor Ameghmo the writer obtained 

 for the United States National Museum the fragments of bones 

 gathered by the gardener. These are whitish to yellowish-white in 

 color, in many instances worn on the surface, and in the case of some 

 of the slivers worn also on the edges. The pieces of shafts of the 

 long bones appear hardened, but all retain animal matter. A number 

 of the fragments show adhesions of earth cemented b}^ lime. In the 

 medullary cavities the earth or fine sand is hardened where exposed 

 but flows out freely from the interior. These are the same conditions 

 as presented by numerous others of the "fossil" specimens dealt 

 with in this report. 



