36 
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN 
discovered, the record being made by Mr Edward 
Smith.^ The strata lying over the skull-containing layer 
were the following : (i) mud and sand, 7 feet ; (2) 
granitic gravel, shells with traces of charcoal, 4 feet ; 
(3) fine gravel, mud, and shells, 12 feet ; (4) another 
thick stratum of gravel, sand, and shells, 19 feet ; making 
42 feet in all. Just below the last-mentioned stratum 
were found human skulls, and a piece of wood evidently 
shaped by man. The skulls lay immediately on the 
tin-producing stratum, and are therefore as old or older 
than the submerged forest. What became of the skulls 
mentioned by Mr Smith is not known. The specimen 
Fig. 16. — Views of the Carnon calvaria, from the side and from above. 
in the College of Surgeons may be one of them, but the 
record which has come down with it is that it was found 
in 1809, two years after the date at which Mr Smith's 
account was written, and the depth at which it was found 
is said to be, not 42 feet, but 36 feet. The condition 
of preservation or fossilisation of the Carnon skull is 
remarkable. Although that of a comparatively young 
person, as we see from the open conditions of the 
sutures between the bones, and the characters show it 
is a woman's skull, yet it is very heavy and rather thicker 
than we expect in modern skulls of young people, even 
of the male sex. It is 8 mm. thick along the roof. 
The colour is a dull stone-grey, as if impregnated with 
' See Memoirs of the Geological Survey : Geology of Falmouth and 
Truro, 1906. 
