4 K. //. Scllards — Discovery of Fossil Human Remains 



land fauna found in the stream beds and ponds of the Atlantic 

 Coast of Florida, therefore, represents that part of the 

 Pleistocene following the deposition of the marine shell marl 

 and the subsequent emergence of the land. In some of these 

 ponds deposits have probably accumulated continuously from 

 the Pleistocene to the present time. 



The excavations as well as the timber growth show that the 

 old stream-bed or valley at Vero had a width of from 350 to 

 500 feet for a distance of about three-fourths of a mile from 

 the Indian River, which is itself an inlet from the ocean. 

 The stream valley, however, is very shallow, the material which 

 fills it having at the present time a thickness of not more than 

 from four to six feet. At the time the canal was cut, a sluggish 

 stream, known as Van Valkenburg's Creek, following an ill- 

 defined channel, flowed through the valley which had been 

 aggraded to within three or four feet of the surrounding land 

 level. The fill in the stream valley includes, as shown in the 

 accompanying sketch (fig. 2), two successive fluviatile deposits. 

 From the sketch map (fig. 1) it will be seen also that the broad 

 valley is formed, near the place where the fossils are found, 

 by two tributaries which enter, one from the north and one 

 from the south. These streams originate only a few miles 

 inland and their course is controlled by the Pleistocene beaches 

 and dunes which here parallel the coast. The position of the 

 original stream ma} r have been determined by a natural depres- 

 sion or inlet from the ocean which possibly accounts for the 

 great width as compared to the shallow depth of the valley. 

 The possibility of the stream having in former times been fed 

 by a spring also suggests itself, especially as the number of 

 vertebrates found in this locality seems to imply some kind of 

 a fresh-water resort. 



Section through the Stream Bed. 



The section through the stream bed, as exposed in the banks 

 of the canal at the place where the human fossils are found, 

 is represented by text-figure 2. The section as here shown 

 does not extend directly across the stream, but as will be seen 

 by referring to the sketch map (fig. 1), runs approximately 

 parallel to the general course of the valley, from the union of 

 the two tributaries to the crossing of the Florida East Coast 

 Railroad, a distance of 512 feet. Number 1 of the section 

 represents the marine shell marl which is common to this part 

 of the state, and is cut into by the canal here as elsewhere. 



