HRDLiLKv] DISCOVERIES ATTRIBUTED TO EARLY MAN 21 



did not live in the period of the low-browed, Neanderthal, Pleistocene man of 

 Europe. It belongs to the distinctly modern stage of evolution. It does not 

 necessarily belong to the present historic period, but can not be considered as 

 having antedated it by many thousands of years. The age of this specimen 

 may perhaps be measured in thousands of years, but probably not in tens of 

 thousands. 



6. The study of the remains at pit 10 is a problem similar to that presented 

 by the occurrence of an arrowhead found in a comparatively recent asphalt 

 deposit encountered in the University of California excavations of 1912. The 

 arrowhead was found embedded in a deposit somewhat similar to that in 

 pit Id, and the fauna associated with it was in general of Recent asper-t. 



7. The final summing up of all evidence x-elative to the antiquity of the 

 Ranoho La Brea skeleton will depend on a very detailed and exhaustive study 

 of the typical Pleistocene Rancho La Brea fauna, of the fauna from the later tar 

 deposits like that of pit 10, and of the existing fauna of California. No one 

 of these three factors is as yet satisfactorily known. Until they are all known, 

 the last word on the subject can not be written. The significance of this 

 statement may seem larger when reinforced by the remark that the skeletons 

 of a large percentage of our living species have never yet been carefully studied 

 in the way in which this work nni^t be done for use in investigations such as 

 those conf-erned in this prol)lem. 



From whatever point of view this si)ecimen is considered, it is well worth 

 exhaustive scientific investigation. 



By the kindness of Mr. Daggett, director of tlie JNIuseiim of His- 

 tory, Science, and Art, of Los Angeles, the writer was enabled to see 

 the La Brea human remains, though only through the glass of the 

 case in which they were exhibited ; and the results of his observations 

 agree entirely with those of Dr. Kroeber, mentioned in the pre- 

 ceding pages. The color of the bones approximates that of as])halt, 

 and they show, as Pi-ofessor Merriam indicates, the etlects of con- 

 siderable wear by the sand in the as])halt. They must have been 

 subjected in no small degree to motion in the pit. The wear has 

 changed somewhat the appearance of certain parts, particularly the 

 lower jaw, having caused the disappearance of the chin, so that to 

 a superficial observer this part would look almost receding. What- 

 ever anthropological characteristics can be observed in the skull indi- 

 cate this to be of ordinary type and one which agrees essentially 

 with that of the California Indian. The small size of the skeleton 

 does not indicate dwarfishness, but merely a small female, such as 

 are not rare among the " Diggers " and some other California Indians. 

 The fact that so many parts of the skeleton, and particularly the 

 skull as Avell as the lower jaw, were found in the pit, points to the 

 engulfing of either a whole body or most of the skeleton. There is 

 a possibility tliat the bones may have fotmd their way into the 

 asphalt from a grave, but a body may also have sunk in the pit 

 accidentally or have been introduced. 



As to the presence of bones of the extinct '"^Terafonris'''' in the same 

 " chimney " with the human bones, we should hardly be justified in 



