38 BUREAU OF AMEEICAlSr ETHNOLOGY [bull. 68 



Still another consideration is that, had man reached the American 

 Continent in early times and spread over it so as to reach the out- 

 lying regions, such as Florida, he would necessarily have been repre- 

 sented here by large numbers. But large numbers of even nomadic 

 tribes could not but leave numerous material remains over wide areas, 

 some of which at least by this time would have been discovered. As 

 it is, however, we have not a single fact, not a single specimen, to 

 prove the existence in America of an}^ such ancient population. 

 There are on record a number of reports of the finding of ancient re- 

 mains in both North America and South America; but on critical 

 study by archeologists and anthropologists the claims made have in- 

 variably proved to be doubtful, or without any scientific founda- 

 tion. Most of the reports are simple errors, while others merely 

 represent cases in which the circumstances of the find were such 

 that no definite proof as to the age of the remains will ever be pos- 

 sible one way or the other. Outside of these cases there is a great 

 void. Taking into account the strong scientific as well as public 

 interest in all that relates to man's antiquity during the last 50 years, 

 Avith the amount of actual scientific exploration in caves, rock-shel- 

 ters, and other sites where the remains of ancient man would be 

 most likely to be preserved, that has already been can-ied out in this 

 country, the absence of demonstrably ancient remains constitutes 

 very potential testimony against the presence of an early America:'! 

 population. Here is a' most serious obstacle that must be removed 

 by those who would assert man's' geological antiquity in America 

 before the claim can be legitimately accepted. 



It is plain from the foregoing that those who would establish 

 conclusively the presence of early men on this continent have before 

 them a much larger, more complex, and more serious task than might 

 lit first have appeared. Moreover, it is a task which can not be 

 dealt with adequately as a subordinate issue of a distantly related 

 branch of science, but demands the full attention of thpse specially 

 trained in the subject and dealing critically with similar problems 

 in other parts of the world, together with the assistance of all 

 affiliated forms of investigation. 



The Vero Remains 



The Yero finds, studied in the light of the foregoing considerations, 

 fall very far short of the reciuirements of great anti(iiiity, as will now 

 be shoAvn. '^ 



The conditions surrounding the finds, as observed by the writer, 

 were about as follows: 



general observations 



Before 1912 there existed on the flats about half a mile north of 

 the small town of Vero a sluggish and probably inconstant fresh- 



