THE LA BEEA SKELETON, CALIFORNIA 



In the early part of 11)14 newspapers of the United States gave 

 wide publicity to the discovery of human bones in an asphalt pit on 

 the Rancho La Brea, near Los Angeles, Cal. Though details were 

 withheld, it soon became knoAvn that such a find had actually been 

 made; and as the La Brea pits were already known as the most valu- 

 able deposits of skeletal remains of the Quaternary fauna of Califor- 

 nia, the occurrence of human bones in one of these pits was recog- 

 nized as a matter of very considerable importance. 



Fortunately the study of these remains and their association was 

 earl}' intrusted to one who commands the confidence of every Ameri- 

 can scholar in these lines, namely. Prof. John C. Merriam, of the 

 L^ni versify of California. On August 7, 1914, in Science^ appeared 

 his report, which shows the circumstances and scientific value of the 

 find in their true perspective.^ The report is so concise and to the 

 point that it is necessary to quote it almost bodily. It reads : 



In January, 1914, the IMuseum of History, Science, and Art, of Los Angeles, 

 being inconvenienced by heavy rains tilling the pits already in process of exca- 

 vation in the asphalt deposits at Rancho I.a Brea, began work at a new locality, 

 which was designated as pit No. 10. Work was started at a point a short dis- 

 tance southwest of a large pit from which many i-emains of extinct animals 

 had been obtained in previous years. The point at which excavation was 

 initiated was marked by a seepage from which tar had poured out in compara- 

 tively recent time. The excavation of this locality showed the presence of two 

 vents or chimneys filled with asphalt. The chimneys were each about 3 feet in 

 diameter and both had contributed to a hard asphaltic layer, forming the 

 surface of the ground at this point. At a depth of about 8 feet the chimneys 

 opened into a large dome-shaped asphaltic mass not less than 8 feet in diameter 

 and extending downward to an unknown depth. 



Remains of many kinds of animals were obtained in both chimneys, but the 

 most interesting discovery was the finding on February 5 of an upper jaw 

 from a human skull, at a depth of a little more than 6 feet, in the northerly of 

 the two chimnejs. Careful investigation of this vent disclosed later almost 

 the entire* skull with other portions of the skeleton. The I'emaius evidently 

 belonged to one individual. The bones were found ranging in depth down to 

 a level of about 9 feet below the surface, and reaching almost to the point 

 at which the chimney connected with the domelike reservoir below. 



Realizing that this find might prove of exceptional scientific interest unusual 

 precautions were taken in the excavations following the discovery of the human 

 remains. Under the direction of My. Frank S. Daggett, director of the museum, 

 and of Mr. L. E. Wyman, who had immediate charge of the woi-k in the pits, 



1 rreliminary Report on the Discovery of Human Remains in an AsphaU Deposit at 

 Rancho La Brea, by Trof. John C. Merriam. Science, n. s. vol. xl, pp. 198-203, New Yorlj, 

 Aug. 7, 1914. 



90522°— IS— Bull. 66 2 17 



