PLEISTOCENE OF EUROPE, NORTH AFRICA, AND NORTH AMERICA 499 



bank of the Tennessee River, containing bones of the tapir and mylodon in 

 in the lower zone, and Indian remains in an upper zone of black earth. 



Skeletal Remains Attributed to Early Man 



We owe to Hrdlicka ' a thorough comparative study of all the skeletal 

 remains which have been discovered in North America and attril)uted to 

 early man. He observes that proof of the geological antiquity of human 

 remains demands indisputable stratigraphic evidence, some degree of fossil- 

 ization, and marked anatomical tlistinctions in the more important parts 

 of the skeleton. A skeleton which agrees with that of a recent or not 

 very ancient race in the same locality cannot be accepted as geologically 

 ancient unless the geological evidence be absolutely decisive. 



Since 1844 fourteen discoveries have been made with more or less serious 

 claim of considerable geological antiquity. Of these the chief are the 

 Natchez (Mississippi) pelvic bone (1846), the Calaveras (California) skull 

 (1866), the Trenton (New Jersey) skulls (1879, 1887), the Lansing (Kansas) 

 skeleton (1902), and the Nebraska 'loess man' (1894, 1906). 



In some instances association of the human bones with those of extinct 

 animals is due to 'intrusive burials,' i.e. burials in which the grave hap- 

 pened to be carried below the level of a stratum containing a numl)er of 

 extinct forms. The Natchez pelvic bone may be a case of accidental 

 association of a bone fallen from an Indian grave and mingled with older 

 fossilized bones. The famous Calaveras skull agrees closely with the cave 

 skulls from Calaveras County geologically of recent age. The Trenton 

 crania found in glacial gravels along the Delaware River are of doubtful 

 geological age, while their anatomical characters are not those of the Dela- 

 ware Lenape Indians recently inhabiting the district, but appear of relatively 

 modern and European origin. The Lansing skeleton found twenty feet 

 below the surface in the loess-like silt was heralded as a find of real geologic 

 antiquity, but proves to agree closely with the typical upper Mississippi 

 valley Indian of the present day. Similarly, the fossil human bones from 

 the west coast of Florida show a marked anatomical likeness to recent 

 Indian bones. The Nebraska loess man, which was regarded by the present 

 writer (Osborn) and others as exceptionally primitive, proves to correspond 

 in its low forehead with certain low-type Indian crania, such as are found 

 among the mound-builders of Arkansas and even among certain recent 

 Indians. 



"Under the circumstances," concludes Hrdlicka, it must be statcnl that 

 "thus far on this continent no human bones of umUsputed geologic antiquity 

 are known," and anatomically the remains indicate their affinity or identity 

 with those of modern Indians. This does not mean that early man did not 



' Hrdlicka, A., Skeletal Remains Suggesting or Attributed to Early Man in North 

 America. Smiths. I7ist., Bur. ElhnoL, Bull. 33, 1907. 



