October 27, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



617 



Chlamytherium sepientrionalis, foot bone; and 

 Sylvilagus sp., teeth. Among additional mam- 

 malian species known to pertain to this hori- 

 zon, are the following, all of which have been 

 fpund in place in the canal bank in stratum 

 number 2 of the section at Vero; Megalonyx 

 jeffe.rsoniij Mamrnut americanum, Vulpes 

 pennsylvanicus?, Equus leidyi, Equus com- 

 plicatus, Smilodon sp., Procyon sp., Canis 

 sp. nov. and a peccary. Of these fossils 

 the first three species listed were found with 

 or near the first human skeleton obtained at 

 Vero. Other species found at this locality and 

 referred provisionally to this horizon include 

 the following : Equus littoralis, Hydrochoerus 

 sp., and a camel. 



overlying deposits at this new locality are 

 laminated and consist of alternating layers 

 of sand and muck which could not have been 

 dug through without affording evidence of 

 having been disturbed. The possibility of the 

 human remains representing a recent burial 

 is thus excluded. 



The conclusions that may be safely drawn 

 from the data thus far obtained by this work 

 in Florida may be stated as follows: Man was 

 present in America in association with a mam- 

 malian vertebrate fauna that is universally 

 recognized as being of Pleistocene age. With 

 regard to culture, the men of the particular 

 stage of the Pleistocene to which this paper 

 relates were then making flint implements, a 



i'^o^V'iusi^tit'^jss^x^yy^'A^Vh 



Fig. 1. Section showing strata exposed in the canal bank at Vero. Horizontal scale, 1 inch 

 equals 50 feet; vertical scale, 1 inch equals 15 feet. The break in the sketch indicates the en- 

 trance of a lateral canal. Human skeletal remains are found at a, at b and at c and c\ The human 

 remains at c and c' lie at or very near the contact line between 2 and 3. Those at a and 6 lie in the 

 stratum represented by number 2 of the section. 



If the bones representing these animals 

 were found only in fragments and lay near 

 the base of the bed, they possibly would be 

 under suspicion of having washed into the de- 

 posit from an older formation. The bones, 

 however, are distributed throughout the 

 stratum from base to top. Moreover, the next 

 older beds at this locality are marine and con- 

 tain few land fossils. Of proboscidian remains 

 there have been found in place in this stratum 

 complete teeth and parts of tusks so fragile 

 that they can be removed intact only with diffi- 

 culty, while of the wolf, Canis sp., a nearly 

 complete and fragile skull has been secured. 

 Possils of this character can not possibly rep- 

 resent reworked material. The species known 

 to pertain to this horizon afford conclusive 

 evidence of the Pleistocene age of the forma- 

 tion. 



The appearance and degree of mineraliza- 

 tion of the human bones is the same as that 

 of the associated fossils. In addition the 



fact fully established by the discovery in place 

 in the Pleistocene bed of a spawl from such 

 an implement. They probably were also ma- 

 king bone implements, two of which have been 

 obtained from screenings from the Pleisto- 

 cene deposit. They apparently also had ac- 

 quired the custom or art of engraving on 

 bone, this conclusion being supported by the 

 discovery in place in the Pleistocene bed of 

 bones and of a proboscidian tusk having 

 markings which seemingly were made by 

 tools. Further support of this fact is derived 

 from the presence in the formation of small 

 flints obtained from screenings which may, 

 have served as tools for this purpose. 



The human remains and the associated 

 fossils are more fully described in a report 

 soon to be issued by the Florida State Geo- 

 logical Survey. 



E. H. Sellards 



Geological Survey, 

 Tallahassee, Fla. 



