10 THE PROBLEM OF ANTIQUITY OF MAN IN AUSTRALIA 
that the Tasmanian is the most primitive type of Negro and the 
Australian the most primitive type of Negroid. According to 
Berry and Robertson (1914 a), Mollison’s variation index shows 
that Tasmanians and Australians belong to a common stock, and 
that the Australian agrees much more closely with an admittedly 
mixed race such as modern Italians than with supposedly pure 
stocks such as Andamanese and ‘Tasmanians; and that the 
Australian, as regards skull type, is less highly evolved morpho- 
logically than the Tasmanian. Sollas (1924) suggested that the 
Tasmanians are survivors of a primitive race elsewhere extinct 
or merged into a predominant alien population, and that the 
Australian is a survival from Mousterian times, but not a direct 
descendant of the Mousterian races of Europe. Hrdlicka (1928) 
said that the Tasmanian is probably a mere local variant of the 
Australian. F. J. Fenner (1939), after examining in detail 1182 
adult Australian skulls, divided them into three sub-types; two 
of these, occurring respectively in the coastal Northern Territory 
and the Queensland areas, are differentiated from the common 
southern type, which occurs over the greater part of Australia. 
He considers that these types are probably due to two factors: 
(a) fusion of Australoids with Tasmanoids, and (b) a later wave 
of Papuan and possibly Malayan infiltration into the northern 
part of the continent. He also considers that blood grouping, if 
reliance can be placed on the data, suggests that Melanesian 
infiltration has penetrated a considerable distance southward. 
Wunderly (1938 a, b), from an examination of Tasmanian skulls 
and other evidence, concluded that the Tasmanians were Negritos, 
but that the natives of the west coast were a mixed race of 
Tasmanian-Australian origin due to migration of Australian 
aborigines to this part of Tasmania one or two generations before 
Kuropeans arrived. Howells (1937) discussed various theories ; 
that Australia represents the original home of mankind; that the 
Australians are descended from Neanderthal man; and that they 
are the product of a mixture between (a) a ‘*White’’ anda N egrito 
or Negro stock, (b) two differing Negroid strains, or (¢) Tas- 
manian and Polynesian. He considers that the Australian repre- 
sents an earlier stage in the development of Homo sapiens than 
does any other existing race. From a survey of several hundred 
skulls of Pacifie Ocean peoples, Wagner (1937) included the 
peoples of Tasmania, Australia, Melanesia and New Guinea in 
one large Australoid-Melanesian group. Craniological agreement 
which binds together this group includes many similarities, but 
not in all characters ; some well-defined types, such as Australians 
and Tasmanians, can be demonstrated within the group. He says 
