38 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL.ee 
Still another consideration is that, had man reached the American 
Continent in early times and spread over it so as to reach the out 
lying regions, such as Florida, he would necessarily have been repre 
sented here by large numbers. But large numbers of even nomadic 
tribes could not but leave numerous material remains over wide areas, 
some of which at least by this time would have been discovered. As 
it is, however, we have not a single fact, not a single specimen, to 
prove the existence in America of any such ancient population. 
There are on record a number of reports of the finding of ancient re 
mains in both North America and South America; but on critical 
study by archeologists and anthropologists the claims made have in 
variably proved to be doubtful, or without any scientific founda 
tion. Most of the reports are simple errors, while others merely 
represent cases in which the circumstances of the find were such 
that no definite proof as to the age of the remains will ever be pos 
sible one way or the other. Outside of these cases there is a great 
void. Taking into account the strong scientific as well as public 
interest in all that relates to man s antiquity during the last 50 years, 
with the amount of actual scientific exploration in caves, rock-shel 
ters, and other sites where the remains of ancient man would be 
most likely to be preserved, that has already been carried out in this 
country, the absence of demonstrably ancient remains constitutes 
very potential testimony against the presence of an early American 
population. Here is a most serious obstacle that must be removed 
by those -who would assert man s geological antiquity in America 
before the claim can be legitimately accepted. 
It is plain from the foregoing that those who would establish 
conclusively the presence of early men on this continent have before 
them a much larger, more complex, and more serious task than might 
nt first have appeared. Moreover, it is a task which can not be 
dealt with adequately as a subordinate issue of a distantly related 
branch of science, but demands the full attention of those specially 
trained in the subject and dealing critically with similar problems 
in other parts of the world, together with the assistance of all 
affiliated forms of investigation. 
THE VERO REMAINS 
The Yero finds, studied in the light of the foregoing considerations, 
fall very far short of the requirements of great antiquity, as will now 
be shown. 
The conditions surrounding the finds, as observed by the writer, 
were about as follows: 
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS 
Before 1912 there existed on the flats at&amp;gt;out half a mile north of 
the small town of Vero a sluggish and probably inconstant fresh- 
