﻿THE 



GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. 



NEW SERIES. DECADE II. VOL. IV. 



No. X.— OCTOBER, 1877. 



I. — Is Man Tertiary? The Antiquity of Man in the Koman 

 Country in relation to the Geology of the Valley of 

 the Tiber. 



By Prof. Raf. D. P. Mantovani ; 

 of the Eoyal Lyceum College, Rome. 



THE soil of the Eoman country, so interesting to the archaeologist 

 for the splendid remains it has yielded of the Koman age, is no 

 less rich in relics which shed light on the history of primitive man. 

 Although researches of this kind began here only ten years ago, 

 the results obtained up to this date have been highly satisfactory. 

 These anthropological investigations have been executed with great 

 care by many independent investigators, among whom may be 

 mentioned Ponzi, Ceselli, Bleicher, De Verneuil, and also the author 

 of this communication, who have collected a great many specimens, 

 and accumulated numerous observations relative to primitive Man. 



To give a clear and accurate notion of the succession of pre- 

 historic events in the Eoman country, I think it will be useful to lay 

 before ray readers a brief general account of the geological formation 

 of the Valley of the Tiber. 



At the close of the elevation of the Tertiary strata, forming the 

 great plain of the Eoman countrj'- stretching from the foot of the 

 Apennines to the shores of the Mediterranean, the ice and snow 

 accumulated during the Glacial period began to melt, producing an 

 immense quantity of water, which, running down to rejoin the sea, 

 caused a considerable erosion of the plain above mentioned, and ex- 

 cavated the Valley of the Tiber, leaving the alluvial deposits upon 

 the sides of the Pliocene hills. The direction of the channel was 

 facilitated by a fault, the effect of a violent earthquake at the close 

 of the Pliocene period. (See the annexed Diagram, p. 434). 



Thus the geological structure of the hills has actually initiated this 

 primitive valley. The hills are chiefly formed by strata of Pliocene 

 age, flanked by alluvial deposits of the Pleistocene period. The 

 Pliocene formation is represented by blue niarl, overlain by thick 

 beds of yellow sand and gravel, very rich in fossil shells, correspond- 

 ing to the English crag. The Pliocene beds are everywhere covered 



decade II. VOL, IV. — NO. X. 28 



