THE LANSING SKELETON 149 



affected by the residua of decay of such materials, the larger onl}^ hav- 

 ing left definite records of their former presence. This deposit is there- 

 fore not a typical loess of the river valleys, although it does not depart 

 from the characters of the loess of the highlands, as in the counties of 

 Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota, and in the paha of Iowa, described by 

 McGee, where the loess grades into till. All its other outward characters 

 comport exactly with the loess of the Missouri valley. 



THE SKELETON ITSELF 



The human remains, which consist of the skull and many of the prin- 

 cipal bones of the body, were found in number 1 of the foregoing de- 

 scription. Besides this a smaller jaw was found at a distance of a few 

 feet from the larger skeleton, indicating a young individual. According 

 to Professor S. W. Williston, 



"the skull does not appear to be much, if anj^, below the average size. It is dis- 

 tinctly dolichocephalic, the forehead receding, with the orbital margins prominent, 

 and showing especial!}' prominent supraciliary ridges ; . . . there is no indi- 

 cation of the ridges above the tubercles on the inner side of the mandible in front, 

 said to be characteristic of ^owo neanf^er^/iaZm.sis; . . . the bones belong to a 

 female between 5 feet 2 inches and 5 feet 4 inches in height. They are unusually 

 small, even for a female; the forearm is unusually long, the pelvis not very broad. 

 The woman was not less than forty years of age." 



The skeleton was found 70 feet from the original face of the Missouri 

 River bluff, and beneath 20 feet of loess, in the process of excavation of 

 a root cellar by a farmer named Concannon. 



Crucial Questions 

 existence of man during 10 wan epoch 



In the case of the discovery of human relics in the drift deposits, two 

 crucial questions at once arise : Were they found at the place alleged, 

 and what are the nature, origin, and date of the materials in which they 

 occurred ? 



The fact that these relics were found as represented has been admitted 

 by every geologist who has examined the locality. Not a shadow ol 

 doubt has been cast upon the veracity of the farmers Concannon. In 

 my presence, also, other bones were discovered by Mr Fowke. 



The nature, origin, and date of the materials which formed the tomb 

 and its covering are the only questions that remain to be investigated. 

 I have already given a description of the nature of the deposit and inti- 

 mated its origin, namely, a mixed deposit of loess and drift such as 



XXI— Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., Vol. 14. 1902 



