FOSSIL HUMAN REMAINS AT VERO, FLORIDA 61 



all point to a period that might well have continued down to the 

 close of the prehistoric period in Florida. This is also true of the 

 human skeletal remains from the third stratum. On the other 

 hand, of the 25 mammalian species from the second stratum as 

 listed by Dr. Sellards, ten, including Elephas columbi, Mammut 

 americanum, Equus leidyi?, and Tapirus haysii?, recur in stratum 

 No. 3. Assuming that the stratigraphy is not misleading, the 

 conclusion is either that this particular phase of the Neolithic 

 period in America dates back farther than many had supposed, 

 or else that certain fossil mammals continued to live on in Florida 

 until a comparatively recent date. 



The chief interest centers in the second stratum. From it no 

 undoubted stone implements have thus far been reported. Al- 

 though probably produced through human agency, the flint spalls 

 from this deposit do not differ from those in the deposit above, in 

 one case there being absolute identity of material. While a greater 

 number of bone objects have been found in the third deposit than 

 in the second, bone points of the same type occur in both; neither 

 do these seem to differ as to their chemical state. Potsherds, 

 fairly frequent in stratum No. 3, have not yet been reported from 

 the stratum below. Of the human skeletal remains there does not 

 seem to be any appreciable differentiation between those from the 

 second and those from the third stratum. 



There are to be noted then the absence of well-defined stone 

 artifacts and of pottery from the second deposit; the presence of 

 both in the third; the similarity of the flint chips from the two 

 deposits ; the similarity of the bone points in both deposits ; and the 

 greater number and variety of bone artifacts including ornaments 

 in the third deposit. But for the similarity of the flint chips and 

 the bone points the cultural evidence is very much as one might have 

 been led to expect, assuming of course that the stratigraphy is 

 unmixed and that all specimens have been found in situ. On the 

 other hand, in the absence of stratigraphy as a guide, of all the 

 human and cultural remains reported from stratum No. 2 none 

 would seem out of place in stratum No. 3. 



It will be recalled that one flint spall (see Fig. 3) referred to the 

 second stratum was from sif tings; and that the two bone points 



