HRDLK -KV] DISCOVERIES ATTRIBUTED TO EARLY MAN 21 
did not live in the period of the low-browed, Neanderthal, Pleistocene man of 
Europe. It belongs to the distinctly modern stage of evolution. It does not 
necessarily belong to the present historic period, but can not be considered as 
having antedated it by many thousands of years. The age of this specimen 
may perhaps be measured in thousands of years, but probably not in tens of 
thousands. 
6. The study of the remains at pit 10 is a problem similar to that presented 
by the occurrence of an arrowhead found in a comparatively recent asphalt 
deposit encountered in the University of California excavations of 1912. The 
arrowhead was found embedded in a deposit somewhat similar to that in 
pit 10, and the fauna associated with it was in general of Recent aspect. 
7. The final summing up of all evidence relative to the antiquity of the 
Rancho La Brea skeleton will depend on a very detailed and exhaustive study 
of the typical Pleistocene Rancho La Brea fauna, of the fauna from the later tar 
deposits like that of pit 10, and of the existing fauna of California. No one 
of these three factors is as yet satisfactorily known. Until they are all know r n, 
the last w r ord on the subject can not be written. The significance of this 
statement may seem larger when reinforced by the remark that the skeletons 
of a large percentage of our living species have never yet been carefully studied 
in the way in which this work must be done for use in investigations such as 
those concerned in this problem. 
From whatever point of view this specimen is considered, it is \vell worth 
exhaustive scientific investigation. 
By the kindness of Mr. Daggett, director of the Museum of His 
tory, Science, and Art, of Los Angeles, the writer was enabled to see 
the La Brea human remains, though only through the glass of the 
case in which they were exhibited ; and the results of his observations 
agree entirely with those of Dr. Ivroeber, mentioned in the pre 
ceding pages. The color of the bones approximates that of asphalt, 
and they show, as Professor Merriam indicates, the effects of con 
siderable wear by the sand in the asphalt. They must have been 
subjected in -no small degree to motion in the pit. The wear has 
changed somewhat the appearance of certain parts, particularly the 
lower jaw, having caused the disappearance of the chin, so that to 
a superficial observer this part would look almost receding. What 
ever anthropological characteristics can be observed in the skull indi 
cate this to be of ordinary type and one which agrees essentially 
with that of the California Indian. The small size of the skeleton 
does not indicate dwarfishness, but merely a small female, such as 
are not rare among the &quot; Diggers &quot; and some other California Indians. 
The fact that so many parts of the skeleton, and particularly the 
skull as well as the lower jaw, were found in the pit, points to the 
engulfing of either a whole body or most of the skeleton. There is 
a possibility that the bones may have found their way into the 
asphalt from a grave, but a body may also have sunk in the pit 
accidentally or have been introduced. 
As to the presence of bones of the extinct &quot;Teratornis &quot; in the same 
* chimney &quot; with the human bones, we should hardly be justified in 
