34 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 66 



LIST or MAMMALS FROM STRATUM 3 (P. 158) 



Didelphis virginiana Sylvilasus sp. Procyon lotor? 



Chlaniytheriuiu septen- ISigiiiodoii sp. Lutra canadensis 



trionalis Neotoma sp. Lynx sp. 



Dasypus sp.? Scfllopus sp. Ursus indt. 



Odocoileus osceola Vulpes pennsyhanicusV 



Neofiber alleni Canis sp. cf. C. latrans 



Dr. Sellards''s opinion: On the basis of the foregomg data, Dr. Sel- 

 lards reaches the conclusion that, so far as Skeleton I is concerned — 



[Pp. 133-134.] Since tlie stratum holding the bones lies near the surface, the 

 possibility of the human bones having been placed in it by burial must be con- 

 sidered, although in case of a burial it seems probable that more of the skeleton 

 would have been found. Since being dug, the canal has gradually widened by 

 the caving of the banks, and at the place where the human bones were found 

 the rock at the top of the section had broken from the ledge and lay inclined on 

 the canal bank, having moved somewhat from its original position. When in 

 place, however, this rock rested above the human bones. The sand in which 

 the bones were imbedded had not been disturbed. IMoreover, the human bones 

 are thoroughly mineralized, and it is highly improbable that a recent skeleton, 

 if placed in these beds, would have become equally as well mineralized as the 

 much older Pleistocene bones. Without dorot the mineralization of the bones 

 is the result of the slow chemical changes by which bones are altered while 

 being fossilized, a process which at this locality has affected alike, although 

 in a slight varying degree, all of the bones of the deposit. 



As to Skeleton II, Dr. Sellards believes (p. 139) that the bones 

 cannot represent a recent burial, as is " evident from the undisturbed 

 condition of the laminated beds lying above this stratum" which 

 contained them. Speaking of stratum No. 2 in his summary, he also 

 reiterates that " the human remains are fossils normal to this horizon 

 and were not introduced by burial." In conclusion. Dr. Sellards 

 ventures to state unqualifiedly (p. 160) that, " By these discoveries 

 in Floi-ida the contemporaneity of man Avith a Pleistocene fauna is 

 definitel}^ established for the first time in America." Similar decisiA'e 

 statements are found in his correspondence and in his other publi- 

 cations on the subject.^ 



Critical Consideration or the Yero Finds 



In deciding questions of so great importance as the presence 

 of the remains of early man in any part of the American Contineiil, 

 it would seem only prudent that in any given case final positive con- 

 clusions should be deferred until the evidence shall have been sub- 

 mitted to and considered by those who through their training and 

 experience can be assumed to have special qualifications for the 



1 An article by Dr. Sellards under the title " Further Notes on Human Remains from 

 Vero, Florida," appeared since this report is in print in the American Anthropologist 

 (April-June, 1917). It reasserted the author's belief in the antiquity of the bones, 

 without producing any new data. 



