1918] 



Stock: The Pleistocene Fauna of Hawver Cave 



467 



... In March, 1908, while attempting to open what Dr. Hawver supposed to be 

 an ancient passageway into the lower cave, a number of human bones were found 

 at a depth of twenty feet below the surface, under a mass of cave earth, fallen 

 rocks and soil, over twelve feet in thickness. The remains lay at the lower end 

 of a passageway which has evidently been closed for a long period. In this 

 case, as in that of Mercer's Cave, remains of extinct animals undoubtedly of 

 Quaternary age were found near the human bones, but the degree of alteration 

 of the unquestionably Quaternary bones differs from that in the human skeletons. 

 Some of the human bones were embedded in a cemented breccia consisting largely 

 of angular fragments of limestone. So far as examined the bones seem to have 

 lost most of their organic matter. A fairly preserved skull in the collection does 

 not differ strikingly from the crania of the modern California Indians, although 

 no comparative study has yet been made by a specially trained craniologist. 



It is not possible in the case of the Hawver Cave relics to prove Quaternary 

 age for the human bones. As in the other instances mentioned, the inference is, 

 however, that the date of their entombment preceded the present day by centuries, 

 if not by milleniums. 



MAMMALIAN FAUNA 



Of the numerous cave deposits known from California, only three, 

 namely Potter Creek Cave and Samwel Cave in Shasta County and 

 Hawver Cave in Eldorado County, have yielded Pleistocene mam- 

 malian remains in sufficient quantity and completeness to allow of 

 broader faunal studies. The deposits may be ranked in the order 

 named according to actual amount of material secured. Mention 

 could be made of other fissure accumulations from which Pleistocene 

 mammals have been recovered. Mercer's Cave near the town of 

 Murphys, Calaveras County, has yielded mammalian remains, but the 

 material offers only limited information concerning the fauna which 

 lived in the vicinity of that cave during Pleistocene time. 



From Hawver Cave twenty-four species of mammals are known 

 as contrasted with thirty-four species from Samwel Cave and forty- 

 six species from Potter Creek Cave. It is not improbable that more 

 intensive study of the fauna from Samwel Cave will reveal a number 

 of additional forms from that deposit. Results of such future studies 

 will be expressed in the establishment of other species and subspecies, 

 but it is less likely that extinct genera will be added. 



Among the twenty-four species of mammals known from Hawver 

 Cave, the presence of such typical Pleistocene forms as Smilodon(?) , 

 Nothrothcrkim, Mylodon and Euceratherium indicates the Pleistocene 

 age of the deposit. Aside from this, however, the fact that twelve, 

 or half the number of forms present, are extinct, conclusively proves 

 Pleistocene age for the fauna. The percentage of extinct species from 



