THE LA BREA SKELETON, CALIFORNIA 
In the early part of 1014: newspapers of the United States gave 
wide publicity to the discovery of human bones in an asphalt pit on 
the Rancho La Brea, near Los Angeles, Cal. Though details were 
withheld, it soon became known that such a find had actually been 
made ; and as the La Brea pits were already known as the most valu 
able deposits of skeletal remains of the Quaternary fauna of Califor 
nia, the occurrence of human bones in one of these pits was recog 
nized as a matter of very considerable importance. 
Fortunately the study of these remains and their association was 
early intrusted to one who commands the confidence of every Ameri 
can scholar in these lines, namely, Prof. John C. Merriam, of the 
University of California. On August 7, 1914, in Science, appeared 
his report, which shows the circumstances and scientific value of the 
find in their true perspective. 1 The report is so concise and to the 
point that it is necessary to quote it almost bodily. It reads : 
In January, 1914, the Museum of History, Science, and Art, of Los Angeles, 
being inconvenienced by heavy rains filling the pits already in process of exca 
vation in the asphalt deposits at Rancho La Brea, began work at a new locality, 
which was designated as pit No. 10. Work was started at a point a short dis 
tance southwest of a large pit from which many remains of extinct animals 
had been obtained in previous years. The point at which excavation was 
initiated was marked by a seepage from which tar had poured out in compara 
tively recent time. The excavation of this locality showed the presence of two 
vents or chimneys filled with asphalt. The chimneys were each about 3 feet in 
diameter and both had contributed to a hard asphaltic layer, forming the 
surface of the ground at this point. At a depth of about 8 feet the chimneys 
opened into a large dome-shaped asphaltic mass not less than 8 feet in diameter 
and extending downward to an unknown depth. 
Remains of many kinds of animals were obtained- in both chimneys, but the 
most interesting discovery was the finding on February 5 of an upper jaw 
from a human skull, at a depth of a little more than 6 feet, in the northerly of 
the two chimneys. Careful investigation of this vent disclosed later almost 
the entire skull with other portions of the skeleton. The remains evidently 
belonged to one individual. The bones were found ranging in depth down to 
a level of about 9 feet below the surface, and reaching almost to the point 
at which the chimney connected with the domelike reservoir below. 
Realizing that this find might prove of exceptional scientific interest unusual 
precautions were taken in the excavations following the discovery of the human 
remains. Under the direction of Mr. Frank S. Daggett, director of the museum, 
and of Mr. L. E. Wyman, who had immediate charge of the work in the pits, 
1 Preliminary Report on tlie Discovery of Human Remains in an Asphalt Deposit at 
Rancho La Brea, by Prof. John C. Merriam. Science, n. s. vol. XL, pp. 198-203, New York, 
Aug. 7, 1914. 
90522 18 Bull. 66 2 17 
