THE LOESS AND THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN 5 9 
Bohemian geologists that there is little, if any, true loess in 
Bohemia, and probably in Moravia also, and the writer’s own 
observations on evidently very similar deposits near Prague, 
lead to the conclusion that the deposits from which the Briinn 
skeletons were taken are not loess. 
Numerous human bones and artifacts have been found in the 
vicinity of Prague, and in other parts of Bohemia, and in most 
cases they have been reported as coming from the loess. 
The writer had the privilege of visiting o r ne of these localities 
with Doctor Babor and others, in 1914. This was the Meilbek (or 
Mailbek) brickyard at Podbaba near Prague, the sections in 
which well illustrate the structure of the deposits from which 
human remains have been obtained in this vicinity. 
In 1884, Fric 12 reported a skull which was found in this 
vicinity in what he called loess, and his opinion of the deposit 
was: generally accepted until quite recently. 
One of the sections at Podbaba, in Meilbek ’s (or Mailbek ’s) 
brickyard is represented by Snajdr 13 , who describes two strata of 
“loess” (in Bohemian called “zlutka” or “spras”) separated by 
a gravelly layer. It is not necessary to describe the section in 
detail. It is sufficient to say that its horizontal stratification, 
the variation of the materials composing the several strata from 
coarse gravel to fine, somewhat loesslike elav, the lack of the 
ordinary loess texture and structure, and the location of the 
section, all indicate that there is here no loess, but that the entire 
deposit is a part of the terraces which are clearly * displayed 
along some of the streams of Bohemia, at three distinct levels. 
The writer could find no part of the section which could pass 
for true loess, and found that the Bohemian geologists had 
recently reached the same conclusion. 
The stone implements found in Svobodne Dvory near Kraluv 
Hradec in Bohemia, seem to have come from strata similar to 
those of Podbaba, if we may judge from the published .descrip- 
tions. 
Woldrich 14 reported mammalian bones from underlying 
gravels in this locality, but Snajdr 15 asserts that all the mam- 
12 A. Fritsch, Ueber einem Menschenschadel aus dem Loss von Podbaba 
bei Prag. Sitzungberichte der bohm. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften. 1884. 
13 Ludvik Snajdr. Pamatky nejdavnejscr cinnosti lidske v Ceskem Polabi, 
tab. I, lower figure, 1909. The description of the section is given on pp. 31-34. 
14 J. N. Woldrich, Loziste mamutich kosti ve Svobodnych Dvorech, 1899. 
15 L. Snajdr, Pamatky archaeolgicke a mistopisne, Vol. XX, No. VII-VIII. 
