62 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 60 



siimiiiaiy of the ar<>iiments for and against the great antiquity of 

 man in the gold beh, extracted from that review, is presented here 

 for convenience of reference. The principal considerations arrayed 

 in support of geological antiquity are as follows : 



(1) During the three or four decades succeeding the discovery of 

 gold in California the miners of the auriferous belt reported many 

 finds of implements and human remains from the mines. The forma- 

 tions most prominently involved are of Neocene age; that is to say, 

 the middle and later portions of the Tertiary. 



(2) Most of the objects came from 

 surface mines, but some were seemingly 

 derived from tunnels entering horizon- 

 tally or obliquely and to great depths 

 and distances beneath mountain summits 

 capped with Tertiary lavas, a condition 

 leading to a belief in their great age. 



(3) The finds Avere very numerous 

 and were reported by many persons, at 

 various times, and from sites distributed 

 over a vast area of country. They were 

 made, with one exception, by inexpert 

 observers — by miners in pursuit of their 

 ordinary calling — but the statements 

 made b}^ the finders are reasonabl}^ lucid 

 and show no indications of intentional 

 exaggeration or attempted deception. 



(4) The stories as recorded are uni- 

 form and consistent in character, and 



the objects preserved are, it is claimed, of a few simple types, such 

 as might be expected of a very ancient and primitive people. The 

 evidence, coming from seemingly unrelated sources, is described as 

 remarkable for its coherency. 



(5) The reported finding of an implement apparently in place in 

 the late Tertiary strata of Table Mountain by Clarence King, geolo- 

 gist and director of the Survey of the Fortieth Parallel, is esjiecially 

 important and gives countenance to the reports of inexpert observers 

 (fig. 23). It is the most important observation yet made by a geolo- 

 gist bearing upon the problem of man's antiquity in America. Un- 

 fortunately Mr. King failed to publish the discovei'v, which was 

 made known many years later by Dr. G. F. Becker.^ 



Another luipublislied discovery has also been made in these gravels which 

 will be in so far more satisfactory to the members of this society that the 



Fig . 23 . a, Fragment of stone pestle found 

 by Clarence King embedded in gravels 

 underlying the Table Mountain lava 

 cap. 6, Pestle of the prevailing tj-pe 

 among the California tribes. 



^ Becker, Antiquities from under Tuolumne Table Mountain in California, p. 189. 



