A. HrdliCka — Early Man in America. 545 



which ancient human remains had been reported and ascertain 

 on the spot, if still feasible, the exact circumstances of the 

 finds; and to discover if possible and collect additional osseous, 

 archeologic, or other specimens bearing on man's antiquity. 



After a brief stop in Brazil, Argentina was reached in May, 

 1910, and the stay of the writer in the country lasted two 

 months, while that of Mr. Willis was somewhat longer. The 

 Argentina men of science received us very cordially and facili- 

 tated our work with a great liberality. Florentino Ameghino 

 and his brother Carlos were particularly helpful. The speci- 

 mens which it was important to examine, even those the 

 descriptions of which had not yet been published, were placed 

 freely at our disposal. Ameghino and his brother accompanied 

 us, notwithstanding the inclement season, for nearly three 

 weeks from point to point along the coast where vestiges of 

 ancient man or his forerunners were believed to have been 

 discovered, and others went with us to more distant parts of 

 the country. We found skeletal remains in the same localities 

 and under the same conditions as some of those previously 

 reported as ancient, and collected others that threw much 

 needed light on some of the important points involved. Several 

 thousands of archeological specimens bearing on the supposedly 

 ancient cultures were discovered in undisturbed positions and 

 collected ; and many samples of fossil bones and shells, as well 

 as of loess, various concretionary deposits, burnt earth and 

 scoria, supposed to be of ancient human origin, with other 

 articles, were gathered "and brought back with us for further 

 investigation in our laboratories. 



After the return of the expedition to Washington the 

 gathered data and specimens were subjected to considerable 

 further studies and comparison, and a large amount of recent 

 human skeletal material from South America was examined b 

 the writer. The archeology was taken up by Professor W. H- 

 Holmes of the IT. S. National Museum ; the petrology by 

 Messrs. F. E. Wright and C. N. Fenner of the Geophysical 

 Laboratory, Carnegie Institution ; the shell material was turned 

 over for identification to Dr. Wm. H. Dall of the U. S. Geo- 

 logical Survey, and chemical examinations of numerous bones 

 were conducted under the direction of F. W. Clarke of the 

 same institution. 



The results of the several researches were without excep- 

 tion adverse to the theory of the existence of early man 

 and his precursors on the southern continent. Anthropol- 

 ogy, geology, archeology, the study of the burnt earths and 

 scoriae, that of the shells which should have established the great 

 age of some of the strata, and the chemistry of the bones, all 

 speak independently and forcibly against the assumed existence 



Am. Jour. Sci.— Fourth Series, Vol. XXXIV, No. 204.— December, 1912. 

 •86 



