Prof. Mantovani — Is Man Tertiary ? 
435 
by superposed beds of volcanic tu ff, tbe last and rnost extensive 
marine deposit of that period in the Roman country. Tliis volcanic 
tuff was ejected from tbe volcano of Sabatini, actually represented 
by the group of mountains which novv form the basin of Lake Brac- 
ciano. The Pleistocene strata are for the most part of mechanical 
origin, and in a less degree of a Chemical nature. r l'hey result from 
the Superposition of irregulär beds of gravel, sand, and freshwater 
marl, containing pebbles of various sizes, derived from the detritus 
brought down from the Apennines. Limestone and polierome silex 
are most abundant, but a great quantity of broken crystals of 
volcanic minerals, as augite, leucite, olivine, etc., are mixed with and 
compose the gravel and sand. 
This volcanic debris has been derived from the decomposition and 
erosion of the tuffs, or from the Latial Yolcanos, whose eruptions 
were contemporaneous with the formation of the vallej^ of the Tiber. 
The Chemical deposits are only seen in the broader expanses of 
the valley, and result in the deposition of vast beds of travertin, a 
freshwater limestone of very uniform texture, and largely used in 
ancient and modern buildings. 
The earliest traces of primitive man consist of angular fragments 
of silex evidently artificially worked. This silex is usually met 
with in the form of flint-flakes or knives, spear or arrow-heads, and 
celts or hatchets. These weapons are always chipped out roughly, 
their surfaces are never smoothed or polished, consequently tliey are 
referable to the Palajolithic or Archaeolithic era of prehistoric man. 
In the same river-valley gravel, commingled with the worked 
flints, are frequently found the bones of fossil Mammalia ; of 
these relics of the extinct fauna of the Roman country, the most 
abundant are : 
Dos primigenius, Boj. 
Dlephas primigenius, Blum 
meridionalis, Nesti 
antiquus, Falc. 
Others less common are : 
Hycena spelcea, Goldf. 
Castor Europaus, Owen. 
TJrsus spelceus , Blum. 
The latest researches of this kind have disclosed a fact of the 
highest importance, namely, that flint implements have been dis- 
covered in the gravel forming the upper portion of the Pliocene 
deposits (see Diagram, Bed C.). I have collected some of these 
flint implements myself on the Pliocene hills of Janiculus and 
the Vatican ; but I must sincerely confess that the evidence of their 
having been artificially formed appears to me to be open to doubt. 
On the contrary, however, the flint implements of the alluvial deposits 
leave no doubt as to their having been artificially formed by the 
hand of man. For the present therefore we will only consider 
these imdoubted traces of man contemporaneous with the great 
Mammalia in the Quatemary deposits. 
The first and most evident conclusion that may be drawn is, that 
Cervus elaphus, Linn. 
Jlippopotamus major , Nesti. 
Rhinoceros tichorhinus, Cuv. 
Üus scrofa, Linn. 
Cervus ( dama ) Romana, Fonzi. 
Dos latifrons, Cus. 
