6 7 6 



HISTORICAL GEOLOGY 



500 cubic centimeters ; of the skull of this so-called ape-man (Pithe- 

 canthropus erectus) 850 cubic centimeters; of an average man 1400 

 to 1500 cubic centimeters. The skulls of aborigines of Tasmania 

 have an average of only 11 99 cubic centimeters. This skull, then, 

 as regards capacity, occupies an intermediate position between the 

 large apes and man. Moreover, the forehead is low and the frontal 

 ridge prominent, and the characteristic features are, in general, inter- 

 mediate between those of the lowest man and the highest apes. The 



teeth are human, with cer- 

 tain apelike characters, and 

 the thigh bone is considered 

 to be intermediate. 



Paleolithic Man. — Al- 

 though at first merely 

 chipped into shape and 

 never ground at the edges 

 or polished, the Paleolithic 

 .stone implements (Fig. 582 

 A) indicate that their makers 

 had a much greater intelli- 

 gence and skill than that 

 possessed by the tool-making 

 animals of Eolithic times. 

 The works of Paleolithic man 

 are found principally in caves 

 and in river gravels, often 

 associated with the bones of 

 extinct animals and occa- 

 sionally with the bones of 

 man himself. It seems to 

 be well established that Paleolithic man, together with other south- 

 ern animals, reached western Europe during one of the interglacial 

 periods, probably during the second. 



The relative age of Paleolithic human relics can often be determined 

 by a study of the fauna with which they are associated. The oldest 

 relics are found with elephants (Elephas antiquus) more ancient than 

 the mammoth, very old rhinoceroses (Rhinoceros merckii), and hip- 

 popotamuses (Hippopotamus amphibius). In the next oldest stage 

 the mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, cave bear, cave hyena, and other 

 extinct animals are common. The last stage occurred at the close of 





X 





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A B 



Fig. 582. — On the left, a Paleolithic imple- 

 ment; on the right, a Neolithic implement 

 (After MacCurdy.) 



