PJ LTD OWN
SKULL
EX LIBRIS.
Bertram C. 2L TOtntrle,
REVIEW S.R.JS.- 2
WE may commence our notice of Professor Keith*s
latest book (The Antiquity of Man. By Arthur
Keith. Williams & Norgate, 1915. ios. 6d.j by con-
gratulating its author on bis eminent success in rendering
what is by nature a singularly dry subject not only
readable but actually attractive by his sj.ngularly_ > pleasing
and even vivid style. We may add our congratulations
to the publishers on the manner in which the book is
brought out and illustrated. The index, which is far
too brief, calls for considerable enlargement in any later
edition.
Everyone who reads must be familiar with the fact that
there is such a thing as the Neanderthal skull, so called
from the valley near Dusseldorf where it was found and
many will be aware of the strange variety of opinion as
to its nature which existed one may say until yesterday;
when it gradually became evident that the specimen in
question was but one amongst a number of relics of an
ancient Neanderthaloid race. This race our author
believes to have disappeared, wiped out perhaps by some
other race, as the native Australian, a rather Neandertha-
loid person himself, was wiped out by European settlers.
Professor Keith, of course, adopts the fashionable view
that the human race split off from the common anthro-
poid stem, an occurrence which he believes to have taken
place some million years ago. The human stem threw
off first Pithecanthropus (the Java specimen of Dubois),
then the Neanc(erthaloid race and then Eoanthropus (the
Piltdown man) ^fbre breaking into the line of modern
man who was the x accestor of all existing races in all parts
of the world. The three first mentioned examples are
to be looked upon as nature's failures, which came, to
naught. Thus the unity of the human race is affirmed
and the fact that it split up into races, some, perhaps
many of which have become extinct in ages gone past,
will be admitted by all. There is no reason whatever'
that Neanderthaloid man may not be one of these races
which have come to an end.
The book is so fascinating and the theses set forth in it
are so seductive that one has to make an effort to
remind oneself that they are but hypotheses and some
of them resting on a very sandy foundation. To begin
with, the thesis as to the anthropoid origin of man's body,
though undoubtedly widely held to-day, and no doubt
excellent as a working hypothesis for morphologists, is
by no means proved, and certainly that derivation by a
process of slow and gradual evolution is in no kind of way
established. Nor has any attempt been made to meet
the very obvious and very cogent objections which have
been urged against the view we are alluding to. Leaving
this point, over which it is impossible to delay, we may
next agree with the author that the date of man's
appearance on this earth must be set back to a period
very much anterior to what would have been imagined
or allowed a few generations ago. But no one conversant
with geological literature and especially with that
portion which deals with the Glacial Period, can fail to
see that any attempt to set down matters of this kind
in a definite tale of years is bound to meet with disaster.
It cannot be done because there are no sufficient data.
In this connection it may be pointed out that the Anato-
mists, who have deserted their own last for that of the
Geologists, have been the greatest sinners in postulating
enormous ages and that the chief of all these sinners is
Professor Keith himself, whose drafts upon the Bank of
Time have been so extensive as to have earned the reproof
of more than one writer. Passing from this point, we
may next suggest that all these theories respecting the
so-called Pithecanthropus and Eoanthropus are built up
in each case on a few fragments of bone with regard to
the reconstruction and interpretation of which there is
the widest different of opinion. Notably is this the case
with regard to the Piltdown specimen, though Professor
Keith, in his enthusiasm, perhaps hardly allows us to
grasp this fact as fully as we should do.
Nevertheless the difference of opinion is there and
those who have studied the history of the controversies
which raged around the Neanderthal skull even in our
own days, will not fail to see that history is repeating
itself, and will suspend their judgment until they have
had timevto see whether the repetition of the history is
to be complete or not. The book, as we have said, is
very interesting, but it must be taken for what it is,
namely, the expression of one man's opinion with which
neither geologists nor his anatomical and anthropological
brethren would fully concur.
B. C. A. W.
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
RECENT &
PLEISTOCENE^
-f.OOO ft
^00,000 years
PLIOCENE
spoof
500,000 years
MIOCENE
9,000 ft
900,000 years
OLIGOCENE
12,000 ft
1,200,000 years
EOCENE
12.000 f?
I.200.OOO years
&W
" 0V
MODERN MAN
EOANTHROPUS
NEANDERTHAL
PITHECANTHROPUS
PALSE.O PI THECUS
PAIOOPITHE.X.
PUOPITHECUS
DRYOPITHECUS
.HUMAN
STEM
GREAT
./ORTHOQRADE
PRIMATES
SMALL
{ORTHOGRADE
PRIMATES
PROPLIOPI THECU&
/ STEM OF
\OLD WORLD
' MONKEYS
/STEM OF
/NEW WORLD
MONKEYS
COMMON
.STEM
Genealogical tree, showing the ancestral stems and probable lines of
descent of the higher primates.
THE
ANTIQUITY
MAN
BY
ARTHUR KEITH
M.D. (ABERDEEN), LL.D., F.R.C.S. (ENG.), F.R.S.
Conservator of the Museum and Hunterian Professor, Royal College of
Surgeons of England ; formerly President of the Royal Anthropological
Institute of Great Britain and Ireland ;
Author of " Embryology and Morphology," " Ancient Types of Man,"
" The Human Body " ; Editor of Treves' " Surgieal Anatomy,"
Editor of Hughes' " Anatomy "
WITH 189 ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON
WILLIAMS AND NORGATE
14 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W.C.
1915
PREFACE
FULLY fifty years ago in 1863, to be quite exact Sir
Charles Lyell told the story of the antiquity of man
from a geologist's point of view. His book 1 became a
classic ; the geologist came to be regarded as the official
historian of ancient man. The modern successors of Sir
Charles Lyell have maintained the position he established
for them. In the books of Professor Boyd Dawkins, 2 of
Professor W. J. Sollas, 3 of Dr G. Frederick Wright, 4 and
of Professor James Geikie, 5 the world of our remote
ancestors is made to live again. The antiquity of man,
from a geologist's point of view, has thus been placed
clearly and fully before the English reading public. In
1865, Lord Avebury Sir John Lubbock he was then
approached the problem of man's antiquity from another
point of view. He was primarily interested in the
culture, the industry, the civilisation of ancient man ; the
geological details of the prehistoric landscape took a
secondary place in his pictures of Prehistoric Times? He
sought to follow the human army to its beginning in
the remote past by tracing the possessions it had discarded
1 The Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man. London, 1863
(ist edition).
2 Cave Hunting, 1874. Early Man in Britain, 1880.
3 Ancient Hunters, 1911.
4 The Origin and Antiquity of Man, 1913.
6 The Antiquity of Man in Europe, 1914.
6 Prehistoric Times, Williams & Norgate, 7th edition, 1913.
b v
vi THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
while on the march. Lord Avebury wrote the story of the
antiquity of man from the archaeologist's point of view.
The problem of man's antiquity may be approached
from another point of view that of the human anatomist.
The anatomist gives ancient man the centre of the stage ;
he depends on the geologist and archaeologist to provide
him with the scenery and stage accessories. It is from
the anatomist's point of view that the problem of man's
antiquity is dealt with in this book. This method of
approach has its difficulties. The anatomist has to trace
man into the past by means of fossil skulls, teeth, and
limb bones intelligible documents to him, but complex
and repulsive hieroglyphs in the eyes of most people.
The publishers have assisted the author to surmount the
more technical difficulties by allowing a very liberal use
of explanatory diagrams, which make the arguments used
in the text more intelligible to the general reader. In
many respects this book is supplementary to Lord
Avebury's classical work Prehistoric Times.
The main reason for the appearance of this work at the
present time is that the " mystery " of man's antiquity
is now culminating in a critical phase presenting situa-
tions which may be described as of almost absorbing
interest. Indeed the manner in which the story of
man's antiquity is now developing recalls the point
reached by Dickens in his last and unfinished novel
The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Many learned men have
sifted the evidence and tried to solve the problem of
Drood's fate some solving it in this way and some
in that. At the present time, geologists, archaeologists,
and anatomists are sifting the evidence relating to the
combined problem of how and when mankind came
into existence. On the evidence at present available, the
author is convinced that the true solution cannot differ
P REFACE vii
materially from the one presented in a diagrammatic form
in the frontispiece of this book. The author's solution
is only one of many ; time will show which is right.
The mystery of Edwin Drood we can never solve ;
only the novelist knew what fate had in store, and he
carried the secret to his grave. The mystery of man's
antiquity stands in a different position. Every year
brings new evidence to light places facts at our disposal
which take us a step nearer to a true solution. In recent
years discoveries of fossil man have crowded in upon us,
yielding such an abundance of new evidence that we have
had to reconsider and recast our estimates of the antiquity
of man. No discovery of recent date has had such a
wide-reaching effect as that made by Mr Charles Dawson
at Piltdown, Sussex. Hence the reader will find that a
very considerable part of this book is devoted to the
significance of that specimen of humanity which Dr
Smith Woodward named Eoanthropus dawsoni.
In accumulating the material and facts on which this
book is based the author has become deeply indebted to
many men. The help of some he has acknowledged in
the text, but there are many whose names do not appear
there. The omission does not mean that he is not
grateful to them for their help. He must, however,
acknowledge here the assistance he has received from
time to time from the officers of the British Museum,
from Mr J. Reid Moir, Mr A. S. Kennard, Mr W. H.
Cook, the Rev. Edwin H. Mullins, and Mr Courtney
Lyne. For assistance in preparing illustrations for this
work he is indebted to his friend, Dr Stanley Beale, and
particularly to Mr William Finerty.
ARTHUR KEITH.
July 1914.
viii THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
ADDITIONAL NOTE TO PREFACE
A YEAR has passed since the proofs of this book were
corrected and its preface written. The events of the year
have revolutionised the outlook of all of us ; we have
burst suddenly into a critical phase in the evolutionary
progress of mankind ; we have had to lay aside the pro-
blems of our distant past and concentrate our thoughts
and energies on the immediate present. Liege and
Namur, which figure in this book as the sites of peaceful
antiquarian discovery, have become the scenes of bloody
war. And yet, amidst all the distractions of the present
time, the author hopes there may be some who will wish
to survey the issues of the present fateful period from
the distant standpoint of a student of man's early evolution.
It is in such a hope that this book is now put forth.
A. K.
July 1915.
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
1. A NEOLITHIC COMMUNITY OF KENT . . I
2. THE PEOPLE OF THE SUBMERGED FOREST . 23
3. THE DISCOVERY OF PRE-NEOLITHIC MAN . . 46
4. ENGLISHMEN OF THE LATER PALEOLITHIC
PERIODS . . . . . . . 71
5. FURTHER EXAMPLES QF LATER PALEOLITHIC
MEN IN ENGLAND ..... 84
6. THE MOUSTERIAN PERIOD IN ENGLAND AND
THE MEN OF THAT PERIOD IN FRANCE . IO2
7. THE DISTRIBUTION OF NEANDERTHAL MAN IN
EUROPE . . . . . . .122
8. THE ANATOMICAL PECULIARITIES OF NEANDER-
THAL MAN . . . . . .137
9. MEN OF THE IOOFOOT TERRACE . . 1 60
10. A MAN OF THE CHELLEAN PERIOD . . 178
11. PRE-MOUSTERIAN MAN IN FRANCE AND ITALY 194
12. THE IPSWICH MAN . . . . .211
13. HEIDELBERG MAN ..... 228
14. CASTENEDOLO MODERN MAN . . . 245
15. DISCOVERIES OF ANCIENT MAN IN AFRICA AND
JAVA . . . . . . .252
ix
x THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
CHAP. PAGE
1 6. DISCOVERIES OF REMAINS OF ANCIENT MAN IN
NORTH AMERICA ..... 272
17. EARLY SOUTH AMERICANS .... 286
1 8. THE DISCOVERY OF THE PILTDOWN SKULL . 293
19. THE ANTIQUITY OF THE PILTDOWN RACE . 306
20. EOANTHROPUS DAWSONI . . . .316
21. THE DIFFICULTIES OF RECONSTRUCTION . . 337
22. AN EXPERIMENT IN RECONSTRUCTION . . 356
23. HEADS ANCIENT AND MODERN IN PROFILE . 376
24. THE BRAIN OF FOSSIL MAN . . . 397
25. THE PILTDOWN MANDIBLE .... 430
26. EVIDENCE OF THE TEETH OF FOSSIL MAN . 453
27. THE FACE OF FOSSIL MAN .... 479
28. A CHAPTER OF CONCLUSIONS .... 497
APPENDICES . , . . . . .512
INDEX ........ 514
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Genealogical tree, showing the ancestral stems and probable
lines of descent of the higher primates . . . frontispiece
FIG. PAGE
1. A map of the part of Kent in which Coldrum is situated . . 4
2. Megalithic monument at Coldrum viewed from the east . . 5
3. Surface-plan of the Coldrum monument 7
4. One of the Coldrum skulls set within a framework of lines
which bound the chief diameters of a modern skull of mean
size 10
5. Side and front views of the Trent cranium .... 14
6 Side and front views of a skull from a Neolithic burial-place in
Malta 15
7. Form of skull of ancient Egyptians of the Sixth Dynasty, from
the side and from the front 16
8. Ground-plan of an ancient Egyptian tomb . . 18
9. Ground-plan of a " giant's tomb," Sardinia ; and sketch-plan of
the Coldrum monument, showing points of resemblance . 19
10. Skull from a Neolithic sepulchre in France, which had been
trepanned in three places 21
IOA. Kits Coty house, a Megalithic monument near Coldrum . . 22
11. The land-connection between England and the Continent in
early Neolithic times 24
12. Diagram to show the various strata which buried the old land
surface and the human skeleton at Tilbury .... 26
13. The Tilbury skull fitted within the standard frame for modern
British skulls of average size 27
14. Section of the deposits exposed in a site at St Helier's, Jersey . 31
15. Skull of a woman, from a Neolithic cist, La Motte, Jersey . 34
16. Views of the Carnon calvaria, from the side and from above . 36
17. Side view of a skull at a depth of 30 feet in an alluvial tin
mine at Sennen, Cornwall 37
18. Fragment of skull found at Aberavon, superimposed on an out-
line of the Newport skull 39
xi
xii THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
FIG. PAGE
19. Side and full-face views of the skull found during excavations
at Newport > 41
20. The Mickleton skull, side and front 42
21. Views of the Engis skull from the side and from above . . 50
22. A section of the cave explored by Lartet, near Aurignac, in 1 860 52
23. Skull of Cromagnon man viewed from the side and from the
front 55
24. M. Piette's section across the strata at Mas d'Azil ... 58
25 Diagram of the ancient hearth-strata exposed in the deposits
at Solutre 60
26. Section of the strata of the Grotte des Enfants, near Mentone . 63
27. Profile and full face of the Grimaldi woman .... 68
28. The Briinn skull (No. i) from the side and from above . . 69
29. A section of the strata at Hailing, showing the position of the
skeleton 73
30. Diagrammatic section across the valley of the Medway . . 76
3OA. A later and more accurate section across the valley of the
Medway at Hailing 77
31. The Hailing skull viewed from the side and from above . . 78
32. A diagrammatic section to show the horizons Mr Mullins re-
cognised in the cave earth at Langwith . . . .86
33. The Langwith skull viewed from the side and from the front . 90
34. The upper aspect of the Langwith skull contrasted with the
Trent skull of Neolithic date 90
35. Section across the Brixham cave showing the strata of the floor 95
36. (A) Right half of palate from Kent's Cavern ; (B) Left half of
palate from Combe Capelle ; (C) Right half of palate from
Tasmanian ; (D) Left half of palate from modern Englishman 97
37. Diagram showing the submerged bed, the low or 2O-foot
terrace, the middle or 5o-foot terrace in the valleys of the
Thames and Medway ........ 104
38. A sketch map of the chief sites of prehistoric discovery in the
region of the Dordogne, France . . . . . .109
39. The strata at the rock-shelter at Combe Capelle, showing the
position of the human skeleton discovered by Herr Hauser . no
40. Section of the strata at La Ferrassie 113
41. Section of the cave at La Chapelle-aux-Saints . . . .116
42. Section of the strata at La Quina . . .... 120
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xiii
PAGE
43. Lyell's diagram of the Neanderthal cave . . . . .128
44. Section of the deposits in the rock-shelter at Krapina . .133
45. Skulls of the modern type (Combe Capelle) and of the Neander-
thal type (La Chapelle) contrasted on their lateral aspects . 138
46. A skull of the modern type (Combe Capelle) contrasted with
the Neanderthal type (Gibraltar) as seen in full face . .138
47. (I.) The supra-orbital ridge or torus and other features of the
face of a male chimpanzee ; (II.) The form of articular cavity
for the lower jaw in the Gibraltar skull, contrasted with the
forms in the gorilla and modern man 140
48. The skull of an orang superimposed on that of a chimpanzee to
show the presence of a torus supra-orbitalis in the latter . 142
49. Sections of the lower jaw at the middle line or symphysis of a
young gorilla, a man of the Neanderthal type (Spy), of a
native of New Caledonia, and of a modern Englishman . 145
50. Four lower molars, as seen when examined by X-rays . . 147
51. Drawing of the palate of the Gibraltar skull .... 149
52. Outlines of the palate of the Gibraltar skull, and of a skull of a
native Tasmanian . . . . . . . . . 1 50
53. Diagram showing the poise of the head in the modern and
Neanderthal types of man 154
54. Superimposed tracings of the basi-cranial axis of the skull of a
gorilla, of the Gibraltar cranium, and of a modern English
skull . . . . . . . . . . .156
55. The Neanderthal (Spy) thigh bone contrasted with the corres-
ponding bones of modern man and the gorilla . . .158
56. Swanscombe and the neighbouring Palaeolithic sites on the
south side of the valley of the Thames, below London . . 161
57. Diagram showing the various deposits of the loo-foot terrace of
the Thames valley at Swanscombe 163
58. Profile drawing of the Dartford cranium and its outline from
above, at right angles to the view given in profile . . .169
59. Section of the pit in which the Bury St Edmunds fragment was
found 173
60. Section of the deposits at Hoxne 173
61. Bury St Edmunds cranial fragment viewed from the side and
from the front 175
62. The Bury St Edmunds fragment viewed from above . .176
63. The Galley Hill skull viewed from the side and from the front,
the face being restored 188
64. Drawings of the Galley Hill skull from above and below . . 189
xiv THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
PAGE
65. Radiograph of the Galley Hill mandible and teeth . . .191
66. Section of the 30-metre terrace at Abbeville .... 195
67. (A) A profile drawing of the Moulin Quignon mandible ; (B) A
profile drawing of the Galley Hill mandible .... 199
68. Stippled outline of the Foxhall mandible superimposed on a
drawing of the Moulin Quignon specimen .... 200
69. Stippled outline of the Moulin Quignon mandible superimposed
on the Spy (Neanderthal) specimen 201
70. Strata of the gravel pit at Clichy, Paris 203
71. The Denise frontal bone f 206
72. The Olmo cranium viewed from the side and from the front . 207
73. The Olmo cranium viewed from above, compared with a similar
view of the vault of the Neanderthal calvaria . . . 208
74. Section of the Pleistocene deposits near Cromer, Norfolk. . 212
75A. Sketch of the valley of the Gipping to show the locality in
which the Ipswich skeleton was found . . . . .217
75B. Sketch of a section across the Gipping valley to show the
horizon of the discovery 217
76. The parts of the Ipswich skeleton replaced in position . . 220
77. Drawings of the Ipswich skull from the side and from the front 222
78. Sections across a series of tibiae of various races . . . 222
79. M. Rutot's schematic section showing the number and sequence
of the strata in the valley deposits of Belgium . . . 229
80. Section of the middle (loo-foot) terrace at St Prest, near
Chartres . . . . . . . . . . .231
8 1. Diagrammatic section of the strata of the sand-pit at Mauer,
showing the depth at which the mandible was found . . 235
82. The right half of the body and teeth of the Heidelberg mandible
viewed from above, and contrasted with halves of the mandibles
of Spy man, of a Tasmanian, and of a modern European . 238
83. Reconstruction of the palate of the Heidelberg man, compared
with Professor Boule's reconstruction of the La Chapelle
palate 239
84. Profile of the Heidelberg mandible compared with a corres-
ponding view of the mandible of an Australian native . . 240
85. Outline of the Heidelberg mandible compared with a drawing
of the lower jaw and face of a female orang .... 242
86. Outline of the Heidelberg mandible compared with the Spy
mandible ........... 243
87. Section of the hill (Colle de Vento) at Castenedolo, near Brescia 246
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xv
FIG. PAGE
88. Woman's skull found at Castenedolo, viewed from the side and
from above 248
89. Section of the east bank of the Bengawan, near Trinil, showing
the position of the fossiliferous stratum . . . . .258
90. Profile and vertex of the cranium of Pithecanthropus . . 263
91. Cranial vault of Pithecanthropus, of the Siamang (gibbon), and
of a modern European orientated on the zero base line . . 265
92. Section across the upper third of Trenton femur compared
with corresponding sections of a modern European femur
and that of a Neolithic European 276
93. Drawing of a skull of an American Indian on which the cranial
fragment found at Trenton is represented .... 277
94. Sketch map of the sites of Ameghino's chief discoveries of
ancient man .......... 289
95. Sketch of the south-east corner of England, to show the Weald,
the position of Piltdown, and the course of the Sussex Ouse 294
96. Sketch of the district drained by the Sussex Ouse, showing the
area over which Mr Dawson found peculiar tabular flints
and t races of ancient gravel deposits . . . . . 297
97. Diagrammatic sketch of the gravel deposit in which the
Piltdown skull was found 300
98. Outline of a modern skull to show the number and position of
the cranial fragments recovered at Piltdown .... 304
99. Map of South England and North France, to show the course
and tributaries of the ancient channel river . . . -313
100. Fragments of the Piltdown skull placed in position and
represented in profile 317
1 01. The fragment of the right parietal bone of the Piltdown skull
superimposed on the corresponding points of the bone of
the left side, to show the extent missing . . . .318
102. The fragments of the Piltdown skull viewed from behind . -319
103. The Piltdown mandible, as seen in true profile, compared with
a corresponding view of the mandible of an Australian
native 321
104. Section of the human tongue, chin, lower jaw, and lip made
along the middle line, to show the origin of muscles from
the region of the chin or symphysis 323
105. A corresponding section of the same region of a young
chimpanzee 323
106. The muzzle and front teeth of the Piltdown skull as originally
reconstructed by Dr Smith Woodward 325
107. Similar view of the same part of a male chimpanzee . . 325
xvi THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
FIG. PAGE
1 08. Drawing of the jaws, in profile, from Dr Smith Woodward's
original model of the Piltdown skull 327
109. A drawing of the same parts of a male chimpanzee . . . 327
no. A comparison of the palatal areas in a female chimpanzee,
in the Piltdown specimen as reconstructed in the original
model, and in a modern Englishman ..... 328
in. Profile drawing of Dr Smith Woodward's reconstruction of the
skull of Eoanthropus 330
112. Profile drawing of the skull of a modern Englishman with a
cranial capacity of 1425 c.c 331
113. Face view of the skull of Eoanthropus as reconstructed by
Dr Smith Woodward 332
114. Face view of a modern human skull for comparison with
% H3 - ... 333
1 1 5. View of a modern skull from above, showing the bones and
sutures of the vault 334
1 1 6. View of the skull of Eoanthropus from above . . , . 335
117. Showing the bones which form the hinder or occipital part of
a modern skull ......... 340
1 1 8. (A) Drawing of the occipital aspect of the Piltdown skull as
reconstructed by Dr Smith Woodward ; (B) From a recon-
struction by the Author ........ 344
119. The right and left parietal bones superimposed to show how
much of each is missing ........ 346
120. (A) Transverse vertical section of the skull of an Australian
aboriginal, to show the bones forming the base, side, and
roof of the brain cavity ; (B) Of an orang, to show the bones
forming the base, sides, and roof of the brain cavity . . 350
121. Reconstruction of the left half of the Piltdown skull compared
with a similar section of the Gibraltar and of the Dartford
skull 351
122. Occipital aspect of the Gibraltar skull, to show the manner in
which Neanderthal skulls appear to be compressed from
above downwards . . . . J . . . 352
123. (A) Hinder aspect of the skull of a young gorilla about three
years old ; (B) The same aspect of the skull of a female
chimpanzee about twelve years old . . . . '354
124. Fragments of test skull 359
125. The right parietal fragment (stippled) of the test skull, super-
imposed on the left parietal, to bring out the corresponding
points of the two sides . . ... . . . . 360
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xvii
FIG.
126. Showing the framework of lines on which the right and left
halves of a skull are reconstructed from fragments . . .361
127. Showing the manner in which the left temporal bone is placed
in position, and the left half of the skull built up (i) in the
test skull. (2) in the Piltdown skull 362
128. Reconstructions of the Piltdown and test skulls viewed from
behind, to show the application and fit of the occipital
fragments 363
129. View of the reconstruction and of the original test skull . . 364
130. Occipital view of Dr Smith Woodward's original reconstruction
of the Piltdown skull contrasted with a reconstruction
carried out according to the identifications of the middle line
by Professor Elliot Smith 365
131. Drawing of the vault of the test skull, with a corresponding
drawing of the reconstruction ....... 367
132. Reconstructions of the Piltdown and test skulls viewed from
above 368
133. Drawing of the upper aspect of the Piltdown skull as recon-
structed by Dr Smith Woodward, and a reconstruction based
on the identification of the middle line by Professor Elliot
Smith . .. , 370
134. Skull of a young female chimpanzee viewed from above . .371
135. (A) The vault of a Neanderthal skull, showing the simian form
of eyebrow ridges ; (B) The vault of a modern skull, showing
well-developed eyebrow ridges of the type usual in present-
day races, and also an asymmetrical condition in the region
of the bregma, as in the Piltdown skull 372
136. Profile of the skull of a chimpanzee to show the plane of
orientation .......... 378
137. (A) The relationship of the external angular or malar process
to the level of the base of the frontal lobes of the brain in
the Gibraltar (Neanderthal) skull ; (B) The same relation-
ship in a modern English skull ...... 380
138. The fronto-malar region in the skull of an orang and in the
Piltdown specimen 382
139. Section across the anterior end of the left side of a chimpan-
zee's skull and the right side of the Gibraltar skull, to show
the relationship of the external angular process to the third
frontal convolution 384
140. Horizontal section of the left frontal bone of the Piltdown
skull, and of the right frontal region of a modern skull, to
show the relationship of the external angular process to the
third frontal convolution 385
xviii THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
FIG.
141. Profile of the test skull and of the reconstructed skull, orient-
ated on the lines described in the text 386
142. Profile of the reconstruction of the test skull compared with
the reconstruction of the Piltdown skull 386
143. Two reconstructions of the Piltdown skull 388
144. Four types of human skulls compared Galley Hill, Piltdown,
La Chapelle-aux-Saints, and Pithecanthropus . . . 392
145. Diagram made from a brain cast of an Australian native, with
a capacity of 1450 c.c. . . . . . . . . 402
146. Profile drawing of the brain cast from the skull of a young
gorilla superimposed on a corresponding drawing of the cast
from the Gibraltar skull ........ 406
147. Profile drawing of the brain cast taken from the reconstruction
of the Piltdown skull by the Author 408
148. Profile drawing of the original cast of the Piltdown brain . . 409
149. Profile drawing of the brain cast from the skull of an
Australian native, with a capacity of 1450 c.c. . . . 410
150. Profile drawing of the brain cast of the Gibraltar skull . .412
151. The occipital aspect of the brain cast from the skull of a
young gorilla, to show the slight degree of asymmetry of
the left and right sides 415
152. Brain cast from the skull of an Australian native (capacity
1450 c.c.), to show the parts of the brain presented in a view
from behind 417
153. An occipital view of the original brain cast of the Piltdown
skull 419
154. Occipital view of the Piltdown brain cast as restored by the
Author 420
155. View of the upper aspect of a brain cast taken from the skull
of a native Australian ........ 422
156. Brain cast of the Neanderthal skull viewed from above . . 423
157. Brain cast from the skull of a young gorilla viewed from
above, to show the markings for the longitudinal blood-
sinus 424
158. Drawings of the Piltdown brain cast as originally restored by
Dr Smith Woodward 425
159. Drawing of the upper aspect of the Piltdown brain cast as
restored by the Author 427
1 60. Right half of the mandible of an Australian native, viewed
from the inner or mouth aspect to show certain human
characters 433
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xix
FIG. PAGE
161. Inner aspect of the right half of the Piltdown mandible con-
trasted with the corresponding view of the right half of the
mandible of a young adult female chimpanzee . - . 434
162. The ascending branch of a series of lower jaws, viewed from
behind 438
163. Side view of the lower jaw and mandibular joint in a modern
skull . .441-
164. Drawing of the left half of a female chimpanzee's mandible
represented in both the opened and closed positions to
show the mechanism of the temporo-mandibular joint of a
man of the Neanderthal type (La Chapelle) .... 443
165. (A) Lower jaw of a female chimpanzee, which has been set so
that the upper surfaces of the three molar teeth are in a
horizontal plane ; (B) Reconstruction of the mandible of
Eoanthropus on chimpanzee lines, and supplied with con-
dyles of the chimpanzee type 446
1 66. (A) The original reconstruction of the mandible of Eoanthro-
pus, viewed at right angles to the plane of the molar teeth ;
(B) Similar view of a reconstruction by the Author . . 447
167. (A) View from above of the Heidelberg mandible ; (B) Similar
view of a mandible of a modern Englishman .... 449
1 68. (A) True profile drawing of the model of the Piltdown man-
dible and teeth reconstructed under the direction of Dr
Smith Woodward ; (B) A reconstruction by the writer . . 454
169. The right lower canine tooth found at Piltdown compared with
the corresponding tooth of man and of anthropoids . . 457
170. Skull of a child, dissected to show the roots of the milk teeth
and the crowns of the permanent canines in process of
development .......... 460
171. (A) The form of contact between the lower and upper teeth of
a native Tasmanian ; (B) The form of contact in a female
chimpanzee .......... 464
172. The development of the canine teeth in an Australian native,
a female chimpanzee, a male chimpanzee, and in a male
gorilla 466
173. (A) Profile of the mandible and lower teeth of Eoanthropus, as
reconstructed by the writer ; (B) Similar view of the man-
dible and lower teeth of a female chimpanzee . . . 468
174. Tracings from skiagrams of the lower molars of a female
gorilla and of a female chimpanzee 474
175. Skiagrams of the three lower molars of a modern European,
of Eoanthropus, of a Krapina (Neanderthal) individual, and
of the Heidelberg man 475
176. Reconstruction of the face of Eoanthropus as seen in profile . 480
xx THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
FIG. PAGE
177. Frontal view of a reconstructed skull, compared with a cast of
the original that of an Egyptian woman . . . .481
178. Frontal view of a reconstruction of the Piltdown skull by the
Author, compared with the reconstruction of the test skull . 482
179. Frontal view of the right half of the Gibraltar skull and left half
of a modern English skull set side by side to show the differ-
ence between the Neanderthal and modern types of forehead 483
1 80. Frontal view of the left half of the original model of Eoanthropus
contrasted with the opposite half of a Bronze-age English
skull 485
1 8 1. Frontal view of the right half of the forehead and face of a
modern Englishman contrasted with the left half of the Pilt-
down skull, as reconstructed by the Author .... 486
182. Profile of the skull of a native Tasmanian 488
183. Profile of the skull of an orang 490
184. Profile of the La Chapelle-aux-Saints skull .... 491
185. Reconstruction of the facial profile of the Piltdown skull
carried out by the method described in the text . . . 492
1 86. A series of skulls laid open longitudinally to show the parts
forming the base or floor of the cranial cavity . . . 494
187. Genealogical tree of man's ancestry 501
1 88. Genealogical tree, showing the lines of descent of the anthropoid
apes 508
189. Genealogical tree, showing the ancestral stems and probable
lines of descent of the higher primates . . 509
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
CHAPTER I
A NEOLITHIC COMMUNITY OF KENT
THE road from London to Maidstone, once it has made
a steep descent from the North Downs, winds through a
district abounding in traces of long-past generations of
Kentish men. The traveller along this road, with his
face turned eastwards, be he ever so interested in the
study of ancient man, cannot fail to note the picturesque-
ness of the Kentish weald. From time to time he passes
villages which have preserved, in spite of a whirling
stream of motor traffic, much of an old-world atmosphere.
Ever on the left hand, a few miles distant from the road,
the traveller sees across the hedges and orchards the steep
flank of the North Downs, which trend eastwards to end
in the white cliffs of Dover. Here and there he may
trace the Pilgrims' Way as it winds along the foot of the
steep grey face of the Downs, the mediaeval path to the
shrine at Canterbury. The great stone monument at
Coldrum, which is to give us our first glimpse into man's
past, could be reached by following the grass-grown
pilgrims' path ; but then if that route were taken we
should miss the picturesque village of Igtham and the
man who has made this part of Kent a Mecca for all
students of early man Mr Benjamin Harrison. We
are in the centre of some of Mr Harrison's most
important discoveries. On the plateau of the North
i I
2 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
Downs, stretching northward from the steep slope which
now faces us until it sinks into the valley of the Thames,
Mr Harrison has gathered those rudely worked flints
eoliths the earliest form of tool ascribed to man. Close
by Igtham, hid in a wood, are the Oldbury rock-shelters
where Mr Harrison has found over three hundred flints
worked in exactly the same fashion as those chipped by
the cavemen in the south of France when the rigorous
climate of the Ice age was giving place to ,our more
genial times. On the plateau a few miles away lie the
oldest and rudest of human tools for I am assuming that
the reader admits the humanity of Mr Harrison's eoliths,
while here, amongst the earth that has gathered at the
foot of the projecting rock, almost burying it, are the
stone implements palaeoliths which mark the last phase
of the Palaeolithic period.
We are not concerned at this point with the im-
measurable stretch of time that lies between the earliest
of the eoliths and the latest of the palaeoliths ; in follow-
ing man into the past we are to start from that period
or age of culture which succeeded the Palaeolithic the
Neolithic. All over this district, on the ploughed fields
and in the woods, the keen and delicately worked flints
which are characteristic of the Neolithic stage of man's
history can be picked up. How long the Neolithic period
lasted in England we cannot yet say with any degree of
certainty, but we are all agreed that it came to an end
about 2000 B.C., when bronze became known to the men
of Western Europe. We have only to visit Rose
Wood, within a short distance of Mr Harrison's house
in Igtham, to see that the passage from the Palaeolithic to
the Neolithic period was marked by a much greater
change than a mere alteration in the manner in which
flint implements were fashioned. In Rose Wood is
the evidence that men were no longer vagabonds and
wanderers, but had settled down in communities. Hid
in the undergrowth of this coppice l is a series of circular
1 For an account of the antiquities of the Igtham district, see Igtham
the History of a Kentish Village, by F. J. Bennett, F.G.S., 1907.
A NEOLITHIC COMMUNITY OF KENT 3
depressions, some forty in number, marking the sites of
the pit-dwellings of a Neolithic village. 1 These ancient
dwellings were explored over forty years ago by the Kent
Archaeological Society. They were found to be circular
"basin-like pits, 5 to 10 feet deep and 15 feet in
diameter." Round the pits were found fragments of
rude pottery and numerous flint flakes and implements.
Near by is Oldbury camp also the work of the Neolithic
period.
As we turn our backs on the pit-dwellings and Oldbury
camp to gain the main road and again face eastwards,
it is possible that the significance of what we have just
seen may escape us. So far as we know at present, the
men of the more ancient or Palaeolithic period had no
conception of house-building or of settled communities,
of defence works or of pottery. These were, with
perhaps the exception of the last, discoveries of the
Neolithic period. Further, it is manifest that settled
communities are only possible when the land is tilled and
cattle are domesticated. Agriculture was the slow and
laborious invention of the Neolithic age. It does not cut
the Neolithic age any shorter if we suppose as we must
suppose that agriculture was not evolved in Western
Europe. In different parts of the world and at various
times, man did slowly and laboriously discover the art of
bringing plant and beast into his service. That stage a
Neolithic stage was passed through somewhere, and it
must have been an undertaking which involved many
generations.
Igtham, where we left the main road, is thirty miles
from London ; six miles further along the road lies the
village of West Mailing (fig. i). At the time this
account begins 1910 for I propose in this survey to
confine myself to the discoveries and movements of the
last four years Mr F. J. Bennett had retired from a
long and active career in the service of the Geological
Survey under the British Government and settled in
1 For pit-dwellings in Kent, see Geo. Clinch, Journ. Anthrop. Instit.,
1899, ser. 2, vol. ii. p. 124.
4 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
West Mailing. He was then spending his leisure hours
in busily interpreting the traces of ancient man in the
county of Kent. The Coldrum Megalithic monument,
to which we are now making our way, was the particular
object of his attention in the year I have mentioned,
1910. It is true that my friend, Mr A. L. Lewis, 1 had
recognised the importance of the monument in 1877,
and published an accurate plan of the arrangement of
the stones ; but it was left for Mr Bennett to reveal its
secrets and the light it could throw on the Neolithic
UONPO
FIG. I. A map of the part of Kent in which Coldrum is situated.
inhabitants of Kent. To reach Coldrum we follow a
farm track which opens from the main road before the
village of West Mailing is reached. Before us, to the north,
and some three miles distant, is the grey, dry pasture-
land that clothes the sharp face of the North Downs.
Sweep away the snug farms which lie sheltered in the
weald below the Downs and on the uplands of the
plateau above them, replace the hedged fields with little
terraced cultivated plots, and we have before us exactly
the country that Neolithic man inhabited four or five
thousand years ago. On our right, as we proceed north-
rn. Anthrop. Institute, Nov. 1877.
A NEOLITHIC COMMUNITY OF KENT
5
wards, we see the same valley of the Medway opening
out before us as it did before him, except that the smoke
which sweeps towards us from the cement works of the
gorge, by which the Medway makes its way northwards
through the Downs to reach the Thames, was unknown
his time. When we reach the monument, a little
in
distance short of the Downs, we see that it is not as
Neolithic man left it. Time and circumstance have
FIG. 2. Megalithic monument at Coldrum viewed from the east
(Dr Stanley Beale).
defaced it. We pass the farm and reach the raised
corner of a field on which the monument stands. Half
a mile further to the north is the Pilgrims' Way along the
foot of the steep escarpment. We climb the slope that
takes us to the main or central chamber situated on the
eastern side of the monument (fig. 2).
The great stone which closed the eastern end has
fallen forwards and exposed the interior of the chamber,
or as we may now name it for the nature of such
6 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
chambers is well known the tomb. It is a commodious
chamber, 1 12 feet 3 inches in length, east to west, and
5 feet 8 inches in width, from north to south. When
Mr Lewis first saw the central chamber, a great vertical
slab divided it into an eastern and western half, each
half long enough to provide a wide bed for a six-foot
man. The flat massive stone which forms the southern
wall of the chamber shows that the Neolithic men of
Kent were engineers of no mean ability. It stands
7 feet 3 inches high, is 1 1 feet 3 inches long and i foot
9 inches thick thus weighing many tons. That mass
the men who lived in pit-dwellings transported and
set up on this elevated spot. Three other vertical
stones make up the northern and western walls. No
covering or roofing stone is now present ; the chamber
lies open to the sky. On the opposite or eastern
side of the Medway valley, another Megalithic monu-
ment Kits Coty house retains the great roofing stone
(fig. IOA).
The central chamber is only part of the Coldrum
monument ; as Mr Filkins' plan shows, an irregular
series of blocks surround the central chamber, enclosing
a space, now overgrown with weeds and bushes, about
50 feet square. The monument was evidently set
within and formed part of the eastern side of this square.
In its original state the central chamber was probably
roofed, the encircling stones formed the retaining wall
of a great mound which covered the tomb, the entrance
being from the eastern side (fig. 9). Whatever its
exact original form may have been, this at least is certain :
the minds of those ancient inhabitants of Kent must
have been deeply moved by a faith in things unseen and
of a human existence untrammelled by the flesh.
On April :6th, 1910, Mr Bennett visited the central
chamber. In the Megalithic monument at Addington,
about a mile due south of Coldrum, he had picked up
Neolithic flakes ; he was now searching for similar traces
1 For a detailed description, see Mr Bennett's paper, Journ. Roy.
Anthrop. Institute, 1913, vol. xliii. p. 76.
A NEOLITHIC COMMUNITY OF KENT 7
of Neolithic man at Coldrum. " No sooner," he writes, 1
" had I put my fork in near the west wall than I at once
turned up, and under only a few inches of chalky soil,
some human bones. This find I kept to myself, and
determined to do no more without someone present to
keep and record further finds in an area apparently so full
west.
North
South.
East.
FIG. 3. Surface-plan of the Coldrum monument, from a survey made by
Mr E. W. Filkins.
of human remains." With the consent of the Lord of
the Manor, Mr Nevill, and with the assistance of Mr
E. W. Filkins, Mr G. Payne of Rochester, Mr F. W.
Reader, Mr and Mrs Lindsay, and Miss Harker, Mr
Bennett made a systematic examination of the central
chamber. Besides human bones, only a few fragments
of a rude pottery and a flint saw were found. Not a
1 fourn. Roy. Anthrop. Instit., 1913, vol. xliii. p. 81.
8 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
trace of any object belonging to a culture later than that
of the Neolithic age came to light.
There is not any doubt in my mind that the bones
thus discovered by Mr Bennett were those of the people
primarily interred in this Megalithic tomb. Once chalk
has permeated the porous texture of bones, preservation
is secured. The Coldrum bones ring like porcelain when
they are struck ; the tongue adheres to the .freshly
fractured surface, showing that the bones no longer
contain animal matter. In this manner we came by the
material which provides us, for the first time, with the
means of forming a true picture of what the Neolithic
people of Kent must have looked like in the flesh the
people whose beliefs were centred round the Megalithic
monuments. I do not propose to weary the reader with
the details of my examination of the bones ; they are
already on record ; 1 all I propose here is to give in
outline the mental picture which my investigation led
me to form of the people.
When 1 had arranged all the fragments, I found that
at least twenty-two individuals were represented ; they
were of all ages, from newly born children to old
men and women. Unfortunately the skulls, which give
us the surest evidence of the racial nature of a past
people, were few and fragmentary. There were only
five, out of a group of nine, complete enough for our
present purpose. But a certain feature of these skulls
throws a curious sidelight on the nature of the monument.
In a great number of them there were present peculiarities
in their formation which could only be accounted for by
supposing that the people buried in the tomb were of
one family or of nearly related families. Three of the
nine skulls had anomalous bones set within the joinings
or sutures of the vault (see fig. 5) ; some of the others
showed irregularities in the manner in which the sutures
between the skull bones became closed.
They were people of short stature ; from the length
of the thigh bones the stature of the men was estimated
1 Journ. Roy. Anthrop. Instit., 1913, vol. xliii. p. 80.
A NEOLITHIC COMMUNITY OF KENT 9
to have been about 5 feet 4^- inches (r6oo m.), and
that of the women about 5 feet i inch (1*567 m.). They
were thus 2 or 3 inches below our modern British
average. In size of brain they were apparently not below
our standard. Indeed, the three male skulls had a
capacity of 1600 cubic centimetres an amount consider-
ably above the mean for modern men 1480 c.c. ; the
two female skulls had a capacity of 1450 c.c., which is
also above the modern mean for women 1300 c.c. No
importance can be attached to figures founded on a group
of five skulls ; in every race, ancient and modern, the
brain is found to vary widely as regards size. Such
observations as those just cited simply show us that
Neolithic man, as regards brain size, had at least reached
our modern standard.
It is also quite apparent that the Neolithic men in this
part of England did not depart very widely from their
modern successors as regards form of face and head.
How near those Coldrum skulls come to modern
specimens will be seen from fig. 4. I have taken one of
the Coldrum specimens and set it, as seen in true profile,
within a standard frame which bounds the chief limits
of a modern Englishman's skull of mean size. The
dimensions actually used are founded on the measure-
ments made by Dr Macdonell * on a large number of
plague-pit skulls (seventeenth century) exhumed in the
East End of London some years ago. Dr Macdonell
determined the mean length of the male skulls to be
189-1 mm.; I have made the length of the standard
frame in round numbers, 190 mm. just under 7^
inches. The width he found to be 140*7 mm.; again
I have taken round numbers and made it 140 mm.
The width is approximately 74 per cent, of the length.
Any race of men in which the width of the head measures
75 per cent, of the length, or less, we count long-headed
or dolichocephalic ; if the width is 80 per cent, or more
of the length, then the race falls into the short-headed or
brachycephalic group ; the races falling above 75 per cent.,
1 Bioinctrika, 1904, vol. iii. p. 191.
10
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
and under 80 per cent., form an intermediate or meso-
cephalic group. Amongst individuals of even the purest
races a wide degree of variation in head width is found ;
we determine the place of the race by striking the mean
of a series of measurements on many individuals.
The height of the vault above the ear-holes is also
important. In the Whitechapel skulls those regarded
as males the vault rises to 114 mm. above the ear-
holes ; the vaults of the English skull are low pitched.
In the standard frame I have pitched the vault level at
1 1 5 mm. Now, when one of the Coldrum skulls is placed
FlG. 4. One of the Coldrum skulls set. within a framework of lines which bound
the chief diameters of a modern skull of mean size. The skull is repre-
sented in two aspects profile and full-face.
within the standard frame (fig. 4) it is seen to fit fairly
well. If a composite outline were made from the three
male skulls, the length of the composite skull would be
190*5 mm., its width 140 mm., the height of the vault
118 mm. The width is 73*3 per cent, of the length.
The two skulls regarded as females are relatively wider,
the width index (cephalic index) being 77*9. We are
clearly dealing with a race with a head form lying towards
the upper limits of the long-headed range. In actual
dimensions of the head and in the proportion of width to
length, this small sample of Neolithic people is not
materially different from a modern group of English
A NEOLITHIC COMMUNITY OF KENT n
people of the industrial class ; but they do differ from
a sample of the Kentish people who lived at Hythe, on
the southern coast of Kent, in mediaeval times. During
the last few years my friend. Prof. F. G. Parsons, 1 has
done much to unravel the evolution of the modern
Englishman. In the crypt of the church at Hythe, he
examined nearly five hundred skulls of people who lived
in mediaeval times. The heads of those Hythe people
were differently shaped from the Neolithic people of
Coldrum. They were shorter and broader and higher ;
the maximum length of the males was only 179 mm.,
the width 142 mm., the height 120 mm., the cephalic
index 79*9 per cent. The mediaeval people of Hythe
are on the border-line of the short-headed class. In
accounting for the difference in head form between
Neolithic and mediaeval people, one has to remember that
in the Bronze age typical round-headed people invaded
Kent, and at later dates, during the Roman occupation,
and also during the Anglo-Saxon invasion, many fresh
racial elements were imported into the population of this
county.
I am lingering round this small group of Coldrum
people because they have to serve as a standard for our
subsequent inquiries regarding the bodily features of
ancient races of men. When a skull is viewed in full
face (fig. 4) we have an opportunity of standardising
its dimensions as seen from that point of view. The
greatest width of the face is measured between the cheek
or zygomatic arches. The width of the face of the male
Whitechapel skulls is 130 mm. ; that we shall use as a
standard width. The width of the forehead is also
important. The lower width is taken between the outer
ends of the ridge which crosses the forehead above the
orbits from the outer end of one external angular
process to the outer end of the opposite process. The
upper width (indicated by a stippled line in fig. 4) is
taken between the temporal lines which bound the areas
1 See Journ. Anthrop. Instit., 1908, vol. xxxviii, p. 419; also 1910,
vol. Ix. p. 483.
12 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
on the sides of the skull occupied by the temporal muscles
muscles of mastication. The difference between these
two frontal measurements is of some value. In skulls of
a primitive race the lower or supra-orbital width is much
greater than the upper or true frontal width. As regards
the frontal widths, the Coldrum individuals show the
same relative proportions as modern English people.
In measuring the length of the face the forehead is not
included. The forehead is really the anterior wall of the
brain case ; it is not, in an anatomical sense, part of the
face. The length one desires to measure is from the
nasion the point where the bridge of the nose abuts on
the forehead to the lower margin of the chin. The
lower jaw is so often missing in ancient skulls that it is
usually impossible to obtain the " total " face length ;
hence we have to rest content with what is known as the
"upper" face length the distance as measured by calipers
between the nasion and the point between the roots of
the two central upper incisor teeth, the gnathlon. Even
as regards this measurement there is only one Coldrum
skull available. All we can say, taking certain fragmentary
parts into account, is that the face of this group of Neolithic
people was rather shorter than in modern people and of
about the same width.
When we come to analyse the characters which dis-
tinguish the people of the Neolithic period from the
present population of Britain, we see that the changes
affect, in the first place, the teeth, jaws, and face.
Amongst modern Kentish folk, as is the case all over
modern Britain, there is a tendency to crowding and
irregularities of the teeth ; the palate and jaws do not
grow and expand sufficiently in youth to give room for
a symmetrical eruption of the teeth. There is a decided
tendency to narrowing and elongation of the face a
tendency to produce a face of a hatchet-shaped pattern.
The nose is narrow and the palate contracted, and its
vault is high. The teeth are not worn down as in
Neolithic men ; they are very liable to be attacked by
caries. The front teeth, when the jaws are closed, do
A NEOLITHIC COMMUNITY OF KENT 13
not meet edge to edge as in primitive races ; like the
blades of scissors, they overlap, the lower passing behind
the upper. In the Neolithic people all these modern
characters are absent. Abscesses or gumboils at the roots
of the deeply ground teeth, however, were common ;
but there is not a single carious tooth to be seen in the
Coldrum collection. The teeth are regular in their
arrangement, the palates were well formed, but in actual
size the teeth possess the same dimensions as those of
modern English people. All these changes, which are
appearing in the teeth and jaws of modern British people,
arise, we suppose, from the soft nature of our modern
diet. We believe that were modern men to resume a
Neolithic diet their teeth and palates would again be
moulded in the ancient manner.
It is not only in face and mouth that well-marked
changes can be recognised. The bones of the lower
extremities of Neolithic people were shaped in a different
mould. The upper parts of the shafts of the Coldrum
thigh bones are flattened in their upper parts, as if they had
been compressed from front to back ; the bones of the leg
or shin are much more flattened from side to side, and the
bones which form the ankle and foot are shorter, stouter,
and show more extensive joint surfaces evidence of
freer movement. We cannot explain the disappearance
of these characters. Perhaps the modern conditions under
which we live our clothing, our boots, our roads and
streets have brought about a remoulding of the lower
limbs. The solution of those problems awaits further
investigation. In the meantime we merely note the fact
that the men of Kent do differ in certain bodily features
from their predecessors of four thousand years ago.
Time and environment appear to have worked certain
changes in the structure of the human body.
The Neolithic men of Kent were thus of short stature, 1
1 The standard article on the stature of prehistoric man is that by
Prof. Karl Pearson in the Philosophical Transactions, 1898, vol. cxcii.
p. 169. The stature of the modern Englishman he estimates at 1700 mm.
The mean of the three Coldrum men I have calculated to have been 1645
mm. 2 inches less.
i 4 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
with rather large heads in which the width was about
75 per cent, of the length. What were people in other
parts of England like at this period the later part of
the Neolithic age ? So far as we know they were all
long-headed, not very different in size and form from
those found at Coldrum. The people found in the long
barrows of the Neolithic period appear to belong to the
same race as the Coldrum individuals. The skull I wish
to cite as typical of the Englishmen of the Neolithic
period is that known as the Trent or Muskham skull.
It was found in an ancient bed of the Trent, at Muskham,
near Newark, Nottingham, buried naturally in deposits
TRENT.
FIG. 5. Side and front views of the Trent cranium.
laid down by the river. The objects found with it
show that it is of Neolithic age. Huxley 1 described it
in 1862, and made it the representative of what he named
the " river-bed type " (fig. 5). The earliest Neolithic
skulls we know of in England are of this type ; the
Coldrum and long-barrow skulls are merely variants
of the type. The " river-bed " form of head is not
confined to Neolithic England. In an adjoining figure I
have placed corresponding drawings of a skull from
Malta from that subterranean sepulchre of the Neo-
lithic age, the Hypogeum at Hal-Saflieni which Dr
1 Prehistoric Remains of Caithness, by Samuel Laing. Williams &
Norgate, 1866. The Muskham or Trent skull is in the museum of the
Royal College of Surgeons, England.
A NEOLITHIC COMMUNITY OF KENT 15
Zammitj 1 the curator of the museum at Valetta, has
given me an opportunity of investigating, as well as
several other specimens from Malta of the Neolithic
period. When we compare the Neolithic skulls from
Coldrum and from Malta we see so many points of
resemblance that we must regard them, not perhaps as
of the same race, but as belonging to members of a
closely related group of races. The name which must be
given to this group of Neolithic races the races charac-
terised by a " river-bed " type of skull there also can
be no doubt about. The veteran Italian anthropologist,
Professor Sergi, 2 has clearly proved that the type of
FIG. 6. Side and front views of a skull from a Neolithic burial-place in Malta.
skull represented by the Maltese specimen (fig. 6) is
characteristic of the people who lived in the lands which
bound the Mediterranean from the Levant to the
Straits of Gibraltar during the Neolithic period.
Sergi's Mediterranean race had heads which in size and
form were of the " river-bed " type. The back of the
head, in place of being flattened, projected backwards as a
boss or cap the occipital boss seen in the Coldrum skulls.
The ancient Egyptians were also members of the
Mediterranean group perhaps rather aberrant members.
In fig. 7 I reproduce a composite diagram, made from
1 See Reports of Explorations of Hal-Saflieni Prehistoric Hypogeum.
Malta, 1911, 1912.
2 The Mediterranean Race, London, 1901.
i6
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the measurements of five specimens, representing the
skull-form of male Egyptians of the Sixth Dynasty of
men who were living in Egypt between four thousand
and five thousand years ago. When the Egyptian,
Maltese, and Kentish skulls of the Neolithic period at
least Neolithic as far as England is concerned, for in
Egypt and along the shores of the Mediterranean the use
of copper and bronze was already known are compared,
it will be seen that they differ in detail, but in general
form are of the " river-bed " type. We find the same
type in the Neolithic people of Spain, France, Switzerland,
North Germany, and Scandinavia.
FIG. 7. Form of skull of ancient Egyptians of the Sixth Dynasty,
from the side and from the front.
We see, then, that the little group of people whose
remains were buried in the central chamber at Coldrum
are not an isolated patch of people ; they are a sample of
the kind of men who lived in Western Europe in the
Neolithic period. The same, or a closely allied race,
spread eastwards along the shores of the Mediterranean,
both on the European and on the African side.
Already in the Neolithic period the Mediterranean type
of man, with a well-defined form of head or skull, was
differentiated into local groups or varieties. It must not
be thought that the people who built the Coldrum
monument are counterparts of the people who built the
A NEOLITHIC COMMUNITY OF KENT 17
pyramids. They were men of the same type, and we
must suppose, in order to account for their resemblances,
that they arose, at some remote period, from a common
race or stock. We can detect, however, in the ancient
Maltese and in the ancient Egyptian skulls certain
negroid features features which are absent in the skulls
of the Neolithic people of Western Europe. Further, we
know that at the very dawn of the Neolithic period a
great wedge of round-headed humanity had been thrust
into central Europe with its base in the East and its
advancing Western edge almost on the shores of the
North Sea. An anthropologist in the Neolithic period,
if he had tried to account for the origin and distribution
of the races of Europe, had to face just the same
complicated problems as we have to grapple with now.
Mankind was already old ; the human web already
universal.
The Coldrum people not only shared their physical
characters with the people of Western Europe, but they
also participated in the mental life of their time. The
monument itself is proof of that. We must infer that
the people who set up such monuments along the shores
of the Mediterranean and in Western Europe during
Neolithic times must have been stirred by a common
code of beliefs concerning life and death. In seeking
for an explanation of the Coldrum monument, I follow
the lead of Professor Elliot Smith. 1 In his opinion, the
birthplace of such monuments is ancient Egypt, the time
of their evolution there the five or six centuries which
mark the establishment of the early dynasties from
3400 B.C. onwards. During that period, the original
simple Egyptian grave became an elaborate home for
the dead such as is shown in the accompanying diagram
(fig. 8). Such a grave consisted of a mound or tumulus
bounded by four stone walls (the mastaba). The ap-
proach to the tomb was usually placed on the eastern
1 See Ancient Egyptians, Harper Brothers, 1911. Essays and Studies
presented to William Ridgway on his Sixtieth Birthday, Cambridge,
1913. Man, 1913, vol. xiii. p. 193.
2
1 8
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
side, where the retaining walls formed a vestibule or
chapel, in which offerings were made to the dead. Within
the mound or tumulus was a small chamber the serdab
" the home of the dead man or of his disembodied spirit,"
an opening or Stella allowing the spirit access to the
offerings in the chapel. Under the tumulus lay the
burial chamber, connected with the mound or tumulus
by a vertical shaft. That is the type of structure which
had been elaborated in the course of centuries by a highly
MASTABA
RETAINING
WALL
MOUND
SERDAB
STELLA OR OPENING
FIG. 8. Ground-plan of an ancient Egyptian tomb (Elliot Smith).
organised and ancient Egyptian community. In the
Neolithic tombs of Sardinia the giants' tombs l the
structure is somewhat simpler (fig. 9). The spirit
chamber or serdab and the burial chamber are not
separated ; the common central chamber of the tumulus
or mound now represents, in the opinion of Professor
Elliot Smith, the united serdab and burial chamber.
The supporting walls or mastaba are prolonged on one
side to form an approaching chamber or chapel. The
plan of the Sardinian tomb proves of assistance when
we come to interpret the various parts of the Coldrum
1 See Dr Duncan Mackenzie's article in Memnon, 1909, vol. ii.
A NEOLITHIC COMMUNITY OF KENT 19
monument. It possesses the great central chamber,
originally approached by the declivity on the eastern side
(fig. 9). The stones, now disposed irregularly round the
central chamber, evidently formed a supporting wall or
mastaba for the mound long since removed. At the
eastern end, it is evident from the disposition of the out-
lying stones (fig. 9) that the retaining wall on each side of
the approach or entrance was carried forwards to enclose a
chamber similar to the chapel of the Egyptian tombs.
In the monument, then, we have evidence that the
Coldrum people participated in the beliefs which swayed
FlG. 9. On the left, a ground-plan of a "giant's tomb," Sardinia. On the right,
a sketch-plan of the Coldrurn monument, showing points of resemblance
to the " giant's tomb."
the people of Western and Southern Europe in the
Neolithic period. The Megalithic monuments represent
the mosques, the churches the chapels of the Neolithic
age concrete expressions of inward beliefs.
I have selected Coldrum as a starting-point for a
survey of ancient man because it provides us with a
series of facts which show us that in the essentials
of life and of bodily form the Englishman of the
Neolithic period of four thousand years ago was not
materially different from his modern successors. We
have changed the form of our beliefs, we have trans-
formed our clothes and our homes and revolutionised
20 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
our means of livelihood, but in brain and body we have
changed only in minor details. We may presume that
evolution works slowly so far as the human body is
concerned.
One other point may serve to show that the status
of Neolithic man was higher than is usually supposed.
The people of France of that period buried their dead
in caves or large artificially prepared subterranean
chambers. None of these Neolithic sepulchral chambers
have been more systematically and scientifically investi-
gated than the one accidentally discovered in 1908 on
the side of a hill, at Vendrest, some sixty miles to the
east of Paris. 1 Remains of over a hundred and twenty
individuals, representing both sexes and all ages, were
found within this ancient tomb. A fall of earth and
rocks had buried the doorway of the sepulchre about the
close of the Neolithic period, for all the worked flints and
ornaments found within the sepulchre were of that age
of culture ; no traces of the Bronze or Iron periods were
found. No less than eight of the skulls had been
opened during life by the operation known as trepanning
or trephining. It is clear, too, that in the majority of
cases those Neolithic men undertook and successfully
carried out operations which even modern surgeons
hesitate to perform (fig. 10).
When we try to fathom the reasons which led men so
long ago to practise these daring surgical procedures, we
have to study the art of surgery as practised amongst
modern primitive races. Lately, Dr W. E. Redman
presented to the museum of the Royal College of
Surgeons, England, five skulls showing how the
operation of trepanning is carried out by the natives of
New Ireland, one of the islands in the Bismarck
Archipelago, to the east of New Guinea. Accompanying
the skulls are the sharp obsidian flakes with which
the operation was performed and the vegetable bandage
which was applied to secure the dressings over the
1 La sepulchre ndolithique de Belleville a Vendrest : Rapport general
par Dr Marcel Badouin. Societe Prehistorique Franchise, 1911.
A NEOLITHIC COMMUNITY OF KENT 21
wound. Recent discoveries have explained why an
opening in the skull may relieve certain forms of
headache, and it is probable that the operation is
sometimes performed amongst primitive people for such
a condition. At other times, perhaps, trepanning is
performed to allow the evil spirit of insanity, or of
delusion, to escape. Trepanning was frequently per-
formed by the ancient Peruvians. During the Neo-
lithic period, this operation was apparently unusual in
England, for I have found
records of only three or
four examples. 1
The reader may draw
the conclusion that an
operation performed by
the natives of New Ireland
cannot be regarded as a
mark of a high state of
mental evolution. Such an
inference is scarcely just :
a people who practise the
operation of trepanning
must entertain certain be-
liefs concerning the consti-
tution of the human body
hpliVfQ hiVJi nrnviHp FIG. 10. Skull from a Neolithic sepulchre
WniCn provide in France> which had been trepanned
them with the principles in three places. The patient had
i i ,1 , recovered, for the margins of the
On Which their actions are openings are healed over
based.
The instances 1 have just cited have other bearings on
the problem of man's antiquity. How does it come
about that in ancient Peru, in Neolithic France, in the
New Ireland of to-day, we find the same daring and
difficult operation carried out ? Has each people dis-
covered the practice for itself, or as seems to me more
probable was it not evolved so long ago that it has per-
meated the whole stock of modern man ? Further, the
operation of trepanning shows us that a civilisation which
1 See article by Dr Wilson Parry, Lancet, 1914, i. p. 1699.
22
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
prevailed four thousand years ago in one part of the
world is still represented in the modern world. There
are many modern races still in the stage of culture which
was reached by the people of Europe four or five thousand
years ago. The Neolithic culture, although ancient, is
still modern. It requires many thousands of years to
move the whole world up a stage in civilisation.
FIG. IDA. Kits Coty house, a Megalithic monument near Coldrum.
CHAPTER II
THE PEOPLE OF THE SUBMERGED FOREST
THE Megalithic monuments and the people who built
them belong to the closing phases of the Neolithic period.
We are now to seek traces of the people who lived in
England towards the commencement of that period.
The records of the time are not beyond recall, for we now
know that large tracts of country over which the early
Neolithic people roamed and hunted, perhaps established
their village communities and, in all likelihood, cultivated
their little plots of ground, are preserved beneath the
waters of surrounding seas. At various parts of the
English coast a low tide exposes the fringes of these
Neolithic territories along the foreshore. The old land
surfaces are easily recognised when they are marked, as is
the case in some localities, by the blackened stumps of
trees, still rooted to the soil on which they flourished long
ago. Remnants of these submerged forests are to be seen
along the West, South, and East coasts of England, round
the Channel Islands, and along the North- West coast of
France. They extend far out into the bed of the North
Sea. The Dogger Bank (see Mr Clement Reid's map,
fig. 1 1), now covered by 60 feet of water at low tide, still
yields, when dredged, peat and the remains of the marsh-
plants which once grew where now great steamers come
and go. Even at greater depths at levels which lie 120-
130 feet below the surface of the sea the same evidences
of an old land surface are to be found. 1 Mr Clement Reid
1 See Mr Clement Reid's excellent manual on Submerged Forests,
Cambridge University Press, 1913.
23
2 4
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
has studied the plants which grew on the Dogger Bank
when it formed part of Continental England, and in his
opinion they are modern in character. They represent
living species, of the kind which favour a moderate climate
FIG. II. The land-connection between England and the Continent in
early Neolithic times (Mr Clement Reid).
and marshy surroundings. My friend, Mr J. Sinel, 1 has
studied the submerged forests off the coasts of Jersey.
He has traced the old land surface, on which the forest
grew, right out into the English Channel, until a depth
1 Prehistoric Times and Men of the Channel Islands, Jersey, 1914
PEOPLE OF THE SUBMERGED FOREST 25
of 140 feet is reached. When that land surface was in
existence, it is highly probable, as already stated, England
was joined to the Continent of Europe. Now, at various
places and at various times, worked flints have been
discovered on and under this old land surface. They have
always been worked in the style adopted by the men of
the Neolithic period. The remains of the animals which
have been unearthed at the " submerged-forest " level
are those of beasts which are known to belong to the
Neolithic period.
The Neolithic territories which lie deep beneath the
sea are beyond our reach ; at some future and far distant
period, perhaps, they may again become dry land and
afford the anthropologists of the time ample means of
studying some of their Neolithic ancestors whose bones,
no doubt, lie preserved there for all time. Fortunately
for us, there are certain marginal corners of the sub-
merged forest land within our reach. As the sea crept
upon the land, at so slow a rate, we must suppose, that
its gain was not apparent in the life-time of a generation,
the estuaries of the sea invaded our river valleys. The
estuary of the Thames, for instance, before the sub-
sidence of the Neolithic period began, was far out in the
North Sea ; London we must presume lay far above the
tidal limit (fig. 1 1). In the course of time, as subsidence
proceeded, the meadows and woodlands lying along the
bottom of the valley became submerged in times of flood.
Every flood or high tide left a veneer of slime behind,
coating the floor of the valley and turning forest and
meadow land into marsh. In the course of centuries,
the rnarsh became a slimy expanse of mud, and the old
land surface became buried under many feet of alluvial
deposit or river sediment. That such has been the
recent history of the Thames valley we have the most
ample evidence. At the present time a trench, over 100
yards wide, a mile in length and 40 feet in depth, has
been cut across the marshland of the Thames valley to
form a new dock for London (see fig. i). Along the
whole length of the exposed sides of the trench about
26
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
30 feet below the marsh level can be traced a thick
layer of peat, strewn with the trunks of great trees, all
of them uprooted ; not one is to be seen standing as it
grew on the ancient land surface. They represent, we
suppose, the crop of trees which flourished when the
backwaters of the Thames first invaded the forests which
grew on its banks. Below the marsh deposit and the
peat is a thick stratum of ballast gravel water-rolled
stones, many of which are of considerable size, deposited
in the river bed when the
Thames was a powerful,
rapid stream. In places,
the ballast gravel is so
thick that its deepest
layer lies 60 or 80 feet
below the present bed of
the river. The bottom
layer of the ballast gravel
marks the time when the
land had reached its
highest point of eleva-
tion, and the estuary of
the river reached its
furthest limit in the
North Sea.
FIG. 12. Diagram to show the various strata The trench jUSt de-
the scribed gives us a section
across the floor of the
valley of the Thames, five miles below the central part
of London. To ascertain the kind of people who lived
in England when the old land surface was clad with a
flourishing forest, we have to go down the river still
further, to Tilbury docks, situated on the marshland
on the north bank of the river, twenty miles below
London. When these docks were being made in 1883,
the old land surface the Neolithic valley bottom was
met with at a depth of 32 feet below the level of the
marsh, 36^ feet below the limit reached by the water at
high tide. Three feet beneath that old land surface was
MUD > PEAT\\X\\x\\\^-^\
i' Vi I'M ftEA'ri M 1 1 Y MM 1 1 1 ., 1 1 ,i . l Mm l\ . _ _
r^r^^iAs^'.QRAyE'Li-gi.^.^-o.'-- -;-.
PEOPLE OF THE SUBMERGED FOREST 27
found the skeleton of the Tilbury man. When a complete
skeleton, or rather, representative parts of a complete
skeleton, are found together, it is almost certain the
person to whom that skeleton belonged was buried by
human hands.
It could happen that the entire body of an individual
might come to rest in a deep, quiet, muddy pool, and
thus become naturally entombed, but in the bed of a
quick-flowing river, such as the Thames then was, such
a fate is improbable. As decay set in, the various
FIG. 13. The Tilbury skull fitted within the standard frame for modern
British skulls of average size.
parts of the body would become dismembered and
scattered. We may reasonably presume, when a com-
plete human skeleton is found, that we have to do with
a burial. In 1883, when the Tilbury remains were
found, men were not on the alert for the evidence which
might have confirmed such a supposition ; no one ex-
pected to find " buried " human remains at such a depth.
By the fortunate find at Tilbury, an Englishman of the
submerged-forest age was revealed to us. When the
skull is placed within the frame which fits the head of
the average modern Englishman, it is seen that the
ancient man of Tilbury reaches our modern standard.
28 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
There is no feature of his head which marks him off
from his successors of to-day. Like the people of
Coldrum, he has a skull of the river-bed type. In brain
capacity he is the equal of the average man of to-day,
his capacity being just under 1500 c.c. In height he
was about the same as the Coldrum men about 5
feet 4 inches (1*630 m.). He has the same flattening
of the thigh and leg bones as is to be seen in them. The
skeleton lay 3 feet below the old land surface, laid to
rest there, we presume, by the hands of his comrades.
Neither he nor they could ever have dreamed of the day
when great steamers would sail over the land which was
their home. Such worked flints and animal remains as
have been found, indicate that the old land surface the
submerged-forest surface was inhabited at an early part
of the Neolithic period.
Can we form any reasonable estimate of the centuries
which have passed since the Tilbury man lived ? Only
three years ago, when I last discussed the discovery at
Tilbury, 1 I was impressed by the generally accepted
opinion that there was no definite evidence of submergence
in the lower valley of the Thames since the Roman occupa-
tion. Apparently, the land had been stationary during
the last two thousand years. It therefore seemed to me,
then, that submergence must be a slow process. If we
supposed it to take place at the rate of 2 feet in a thousand
years, it would take quite fifteen thousand years for the land
surface which carried the submerged forest to sink, as at
Tilbury, over 30 feet beneath the present level of the marsh.
Subsidence evidently occurs at a more rapid pace than I
had estimated. Mr Spurrell noted, when the Tilbury
docks were being cut, that an old land surface, " strewn
with Roman refuse," lay about 7 feet below the present
surface level. At first sight that observation seems to
show that the land surface at Tilbury had sunk 7 feet
since the Roman occupation. Mr Clement Reid, whose
opinion must carry weight in such a matter, thinks that
much of this subsidence is only apparent, and is really due
1 Ancient Types of Man^ Harper Brothers, 1911.
PEOPLE OF THE SUBMERGED FOREST 29
to a compression or condensation of the various layers of
peat at least two in number (see fig. 12) which lie
between the " Roman " and "submerged-forest" strata.
When, however, we find in the neighbouring valley of the
Medway, evidence of a similar degree of subsidence, one
is led to the conclusion that we have to deal with a
simultaneous process affecting the whole country. The
ford by which the Romans crossed the Medway at
Rochester, and the road which led to the ford, are now
about 8 feet below the level of mean tides. The borough
surveyor of Rochester is of opinion that there has been
a subsidence of about 8 feet since the Romans used the
ford. The evidence, then, points to a subsidence in the
lower parts of the adjoining valleys of the Thames and
Medway of about 4 feet in a thousand years. If the rate
of subsidence has been nearly uniform, then it would
take between seven thousand and eight thousand years to
give a submergence of 30 feet at Tilbury. In that
case the Tilbury man would have been a contemporary
of the predynastic Egyptians.
In producing such evidence, we are trying to obtain
some conception of the duration of the Neolithic period.
It is clear that if the process of subsidence is not
continuous, but takes place at irregular intervals, with
upward as well as downward movements, our calculations
may be seriously upset. Besides the deepest old land
surface represented by the submerged forest zone, there
may occur, in the submerged land deposits, three other
zones of peat or vegetable matter, which seem to indicate
three later stationary periods intervals at which subsidence
did not occur, or took place very slowly. The antiquity
of the Tilbury man and the duration of the Neolithic
period may be longer than the estimate just given.
Indeed, there are two lines of evidence which lead us to
suspect that such may be the case. The submerged forest
sprang up on a soil deposited over the wide and deep
stratum of ballast gravel. At some places the ballast gravel
is 50 or 70 feet deep, and stretches across wide tracts of
the bottom of the Thames valley. The gravel represents
30 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
deposits made in the bed of the river prior to the era
of the submerged forest when the period of land elevation
was at its climax, and when the estuary of the Thames
was far away in the North Sea. Yet, apparently, that
deposit occurred at a very early point in the Neolithic
period. A series of worked flints which Dr Frank Corner
has collected from the ballast gravels of the Thames bed
are of an early Neolithic type. Apparently, then, the
submerged forest and the Tilbury man belong not to the
beginning, but only to an early phase of the Neolithic
period. One other consideration leads us to believe that
the Neolithic culture extended over a long period of
time. The earlier flint implements of this period are
often weathered, so altered on their chipped surfaces that,
in the opinion of Dr Allen Sturge, a very long period
of time, much longer than I have postulated, must be
assigned to the Neolithic period, in order to account for
the degree of weathering or patination of the flints belong-
ing to that period of culture. We are justified, on the
evidence available at present, in regarding the Neolithic
period as covering a period of six thousand or eight
thousand years. We are on much surer ground, how-
ever, when we state that the period closed about 2000
B.C., than when we date its commencement at 10,000
B.C. The discovery at Tilbury shows us at least that
the modern type of man was already established in
England towards the commencement of that period.
The records of the Neolithic period which we have
just deciphered at Tilbury are not confined to the lower
valley of the Thames. When we cross the English
Channel we find that contemporary deposits were
accumulating in the Island of Jersey. We meet with
traces of the same men, the same Neolithic culture, the
same evidence of subsidence. As the steamer carries us
along the south coast of the island in the early morning,
past the rocky cliffs on the left, where remains of
Neanderthal man were discovered only three years ago,
we come presently in sight of the capital town, St Helier's,
descending from the uplands of the plateau to extend
PEOPLE OF THE SUBMERGED FOREST 31
"^F RECENT ALLUVIAL =
itself on the low-lying lands surrounding the harbour.
Near the harbour are the offices and the museum of the
Societe Jersiaise, a centre of prehistoric research. The
Jersey Society has devoted particular attention to the
Megalithic monuments and other records of the Neo-
lithic period in which
the island is particularly pu^au**!^^^
rich. Among its mem-
bers none have given
their time and ability to
the study of this period
with greater success
than the curator of the
museum, Mr J. Sinel. 1
We propose to follow
him to a deep excavation
which has just been made
for the foundation of a
new building in the
lower part of the town.
Mr Sinel's diagram (fig.
14) shows the various
strata which have been
cut through ; they have
a certain degree of corre-
spondence with the sec-
tion at Tilbury. Beneath
the surface layer of sand
and clay, about 4 feet
deep, is a layer of peat, FlG - H-.^-Section of the deposits exposed
f r in A site at Si Helier's, Jersey (J.
containing fragments or sine!).'
pottery of the Roman
period. That layer of peat was a " land surface " in
Roman times. Beneath the peat comes a stratum laid
down by the sea made up of clay, containing stones
and shells. That stratum bespeaks a passing period of
subsidence, which might have occurred at Tilbury and
left no trace behind. Then, beneath the marine stratum
1 See reference, p. 24.
: MARINE t FORMAION "" 4
-=^-~ ~=^-^^=:
4to6
I to 3f ?
2 to 5ft
5 to 1 4ft
3 to 5ft
6 to 8ft
3 to 4ft
32 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
comes the submerged-forest zone, here represented by
a layer of vegetable debris of oak, alder, hazel, etc.
ranging in thickness from 5 to 14 feet. So great an
accumulation shows how long the forest age must
have flourished here. Beneath the forest zone comes
another sea deposit, a stratum of marine clay, sand,
and shells, 3 to 5 feet in thickness, indicating a period
of subsidence prior to the forest age. This zone may
represent a deposit contemporary with the ballast gravel.
Beneath the marine deposit comes one of clay with
stones rubble drift a mark of the colder or glacial
period. It was known, when this excavation was made
in St Helier's, that flints, pottery, and remains of animals
of the Neolithic period occurred in the great bed of peat
representing the forest period. Mr Sinel observed these
traces of Neolithic man, not only at various depths of the
peat zone, but also in the upper part of the marine deposit.
The marine deposit formed the land surface on which
the submerged forest first grew. Men of the Neolithic
culture were thus in Jersey at the very commencement
of the forest era. The ancient forest land surface can be
traced to the coast of France and far into the English
Channel to a depth, according to the observations of
Mr Sinel, of 140 feet. In the earlier part of the
Neolithic period, Jersey and Guernsey all the Channel
Islands were, like England, joined to the Continent.
When we come to measure the antiquity of that time we
must keep in mind the width and depth of the English
Channel and of the Straits of Dover. They were carved
out of Neolithic lands. When we suppose such changes
have happened in eight thousand or ten thousand years,
we seem to set time, with all the forces she usually
commands, a task beyond her power.
The fortune which attended the sinking of the docks
at Tilbury did not follow the excavation in St Helier's.
Mr Sinel discovered no remains of a Neolithic man either
in or below the forest zone ; but in a small island La
Motte, or the green island on the south coast of Jersey
and three miles to the east of St Helier's, remains of
PEOPLE OF THE SUBMERGED FOREST 33
Neolithic man were found. Dr R. R. Marett has given
a full account of this discovery. 1 At no very distant
period La Motte had formed a small peninsula, but now
its connection with the shore is broken, and it is accessible
on foot only when the tide is out. At high-water the
waves beat round the base of the island it is so small
that its final demolition is almost in sight wearing away
its substance and exposing to full view an exact section of
its strata. The islet rises 30 feet above high-water mark.
No sign is to be seen of the forest zone, but the yellow
clay a glacial deposit on which the forest bed should
rest forms the basis of the islet. Over the basal 15 feet
of yellow clay lies a stratum of sand and clay a loess
4 feet in thickness. Above that, and forming the surface
stratum, is a layer of blown sand covered with vegetation.
Below the blown sand lies the surface on which Neolithic
man lived, for here are abundant remains of a " kitchen-
midden " charcoal, bones of ox, pig, red deer, shells of
limpets, fragments of Neolithic pottery, and abundance of
flint chips. In 1911 a landslide from the side of the
island exposed a fresh section, in which Mr Sinel's son
detected the projecting ends of a stone cist. It did
not lie at the level of the kitchen-midden, but 4 feet
deeper, at the junction of the loess with the glacial
clay. A careful exploration, undertaken by the Societe
Jersiaise, showed that there was a series of stone cists
placed side by side, underlying the stratum of loess.
The cists were filled with clay, from which Mr Sinel, by
exercising great care, was able to" remove some of the
remains of the people who had been buried in these
Neolithic tombs. He was able to restore, from fragments,
three of the skulls. To me it seems reasonable to
suppose that the people buried in these cists were
members of the community who occupied the site of the
kitchen-midden. At a much earlier period 1861 a
skull was found at La Motte. It lay within the glacial
deposit, at a depth of 1 8 or 20 feet below the surface of
1 " Further Observations on Prehistoric Man in Jersey," Archceologia,
1912, vol. Ixiii. p. 203.
3
34
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the island. This skull is exactly similar in type to those
recovered from the cists, and it is safest to presume that
it reached the depth at which it was found in a fall of
earth from the level of the tombs.
On the occasion of my visit to Jersey, three years ago,
I had an opportunity of making a close examination of
the skulls from the cists at La Motte. 1 All are of the
river-bed type. In fig. 15, I have placed one of them
that of a woman, aged about thirty within the standard
frame of lines employed in the case of other Neolithic
skulls. In size and shape the Jersey specimen differs
FIG. 15. Skull of a woman, from a Neolithic cist, La Motte, Jersey.
very little from the skull from the monument at Coldrum,
represented in fig. 4 (p. 10). In the Neolithic period,
that human stock, to which the name "Mediterranean"
has been given, had reached Jersey as well as England.
In the early part of the Neolithic period the people with
the river-bed type of head could reach both Jersey and
England by land.
We are now to recross the English Channel to take up
the study of Neolithic man in Cornwall the extreme
south-west corner of England. Jersey and Cornwall
have much in common. On the uplands of both,
1 See Bulletin de la Societe Jersiaise, 1913, vol. xxxviii. p. 306.
PEOPLE OF THE SUBMERGED FOREST 35
Megalithic monuments of the Neolithic period abound.
Beneath the blown sand of the " links " occur, as at Harlyn
Bay, the same serried cist tombs, the same Neolithic
kitchen-middens. On the foreshore of Cornwall as of
Jersey we can see at low tide remnants of the same
ancient land surface, marked by the peat-stained stumps
of the trees of the submerged forest. In Cornwall,
remains of the men who lived on that ancient land
surface have been found. In their day the cliffs of
Cornwall overlooked wooded plains where now coasting
steamers come and go. The submerged forest is not
confined to the foreshore of Cornwall. It creeps up the
estuaries of the streams which drain the tin-producing
hills of the inlands. In those estuaries of the Cornish
coast, the submerged forest lies buried, as in the valley
of the lower Thames, beneath 30 to 50 feet of deposits
laid down by the streams as the land sank and the
invading sea crept inland. The submerged forest in the
Thames valley grew on the " ballast-gravel " bed of the
Thames. In the Cornish estuaries the submerged forest
rests on a corresponding deposit laid down in the original
or deepest bed of the streams. The Cornish streams,
in ancient times, brought, not only the debris from the
weathered granite of the hills, but also tin ore, which
came to rest in the bottom stratum of the valleys and
estuaries.
To the student of ancient man, that proved a fortunate
circumstance, for the tin miners had frequently to
expose and explore the old forest bed overlying the
tin-producing stratum. In the museum of the Royal
College of Surgeons of England, there is the roof and
sides of a skull from the horizon of the Cornish sub-
merged forest. It was found in 1809, at a depth of
36 feet, in the Carnon Stream Tin Works, which were,
for these river-bed workings came to an end nearly a
century ago, situated on a western branch of that inlet
of the sea which pierces Cornwall at Falmouth. Fortu-
nately, we have a record of the strata exposed at the
Carnon Works in 1807 two years before the skull was
36 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
discovered, the record being made by Mr Edward
Smith. 1 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
140 I1O 100 8O 6O 4O 20
FIG. 1 6. 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 women'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
1 See Memoirs of the Geological Sutvey : Geology of Falmouth and
Truro, 1906.
PEOPLE OF THE SUBMERGED FOREST 37
some unusual substance, not black as are skulls which
have been buried in peat. In size and shape the Carnon
skull or calvaria shows all the river-bed characters.
The maximum length is 184 mm.; its maximum width
137 mm. ; the height above the ear-holes is estimated
to have been 117 or 118 mm. The width is 74/5 per
cent, of the length ; the brain capacity must have been
about 1380 c.c. slightly above the average for modern
women.
An accurate record of another of these Cornish
Neolithic skulls
has been pre-
served by one
of the best Eng-
lish anthro-
pologists of the
Mid - Victorian
era Mr George
Busk. In 1862,
Mr Busk gave
an account of the
famous Nean-
derthal skull,
discovered in
I857. 1 He also
n-aw^ o^nt-af^
gave ^ accurate
drawings or cer-
tain other ancient skulls. Amongst these he included one
from an alluvial tin mine at Sennen, close to Land's End.
The skull was found at a depth of 30 feet. That is all we
know of the Sennen skull, except that it was found beneath
the level of the sea. Where that skull is now we do
not know probably destroyed, so careless are we of our
records of ancient history. There can be no reasonable
doubt, however, that the Sennen skull also comes from
the submerged-forest zone. Mr Busk's drawing of the
skull 1 have copied and reproduced here. He does not,
unfortunately, represent it either from above or from the
1 Natural History Review, 1861, vol. i. p. 155.
FlG -
- Side view of a skull at a depth of 30 feet in an
alluvial tin mine at Sennen, Cornwall.
3 8 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
front. The skull is that of a man. Its maximum length
o 8
is 196 mm., somewhat longer than is usually the case in
the river-bed type. The height of the vault is 116 mm.
above the ear-holes. In all its markings it is modern in
shape and size. There are thousands of men in England
to-day with skulls of the same size and form.
We owe many of the discoveries of ancient man to
industrial enterprises. The mining operations of the
Cornish engineers brought them face to face with the
records of the Neolithic period ; house-builders revealed
the submerged forest and Neolithic flints in the foundations
of St Helier's ; the Tilbury man came to light because
deep docks were needed for great steamships. Along
the south coast of Wales, which forms the northern
shore of the Bristol Channel, the dock engineer has
brought traces of the submerged forest and of Neolithic
man to the light of day. It is to this region we are now
directing our steps. At various points along the coast
of South Wales, as on the opposite or southern side of
the Bristol Channel, remnants of the submerged forest
are exposed when the tide is low, especially after a storm.
At various points along the coast, docks have been cut
and the land surfaces of Neolithic times exposed. There
seems to be no doubt that subsidence has been in
progress along this coast since the Roman period. Major
Thomas Gray has supplied me with evidence that the
land has sunk at least 8 feet, perhaps more, since the
Roman occupation quite as much as at Tilbury and
Rochester on the east side of England. Four years ago,
Dr Arnalt Jones presented to the museum of the Royal
College of Surgeons the frontal part of a skull which was
found when docks were being made at Aberavon on the
South Welsh coast, a few miles east of Swansea. This
fragment came from a submerged layer of peat. Side by
side with it was the pelvis of an Irish elk, which became
extinct in England before the end of the Neolithic period.
The layer of peat, 2^- feet thick, lay at a depth of 15 feet,
beneath strata of sand and clay. The peat may represent
the submerged-forest zone, or one of the later land
PEOPLE OF THE SUBMERGED FOREST 39
surfaces. At least it belongs to the Neolithic period.
This case is of some interest because it raises the question :
Is a fragment of a skull, such as that found at Aberavon
(fig. 1 8), sufficient to indicate the kind of man of which
it formed a part ? The fragment, consisting of the
frontal bone, forming the forehead, and a small part of
the parietal bone, forming the vault, is shown in fig. 18.
It has been superimposed on the outline of another skull
one found at Newport also of Neolithic date. It fits
that skull not quite accurately, but sufficiently well to
show that it was part of a skull of similar shape, but of
rather larger dimensions. We are therefore at liberty to
.90 |60 120
FlG. 18. Fragment of skull found at Aberavon, superimposed on an outline of
the Newport skull.
infer that it formed part of a skull very similar to the
usual type of Neolithk: crania. The Aberavon fragment,
however, has certain characters which deserve attention.
The eyebrow ridges are particularly well developed ; it
shows a robustness in the lines of attachment of the
temporal muscles which is not usual in modern skulls.
Major Gray has also given me the opportunity of
examining a skull dredged in 1840 from the same peat
deposit as the Aberavon fragment came from. This is a
complete specimen, and, in the frontal region, is a counter-
part of the fragment just described.
In all these finds of Neolithic man in England, the
reader will note an unfortunate deficiency ; there is a
40 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
complete absence of any record of the culture of the
people ; in not a single case is the discovery mentioned
of a typical example of a Neolithic implement or of even
a flint chip. That is because we are only now awakening
to the kind of evidence which is required to give our
discoveries a true value as historical documents. The
need of such evidence is exemplified in the next dis-
covery I am to mention one made when new docks
were constructed at Newport, which lies also on the
south coast of Wales, almost on the estuary of the
Severn. Mr J. D. C. Couper, the resident engineer,
made most careful records of the sections which were
cut in the alluvial deposits at the mouth of the Ebbw,
covering the old submerged-forest zone. The excava-
tions exposed a deep layer of silt or mud overlying an
equally deep layer of gravel. Lying within the gravel,
at a depth of 60 feet below the surface level of the land
and 20 feet below the Ordnance datum level, was found
a human skull. 1 Also remains of the wolf, of the red
deer, the pelvis of a large ox (curiously ground and
polished on one aspect, as if it had been used as a sledge
on ice), of the horse, of all the mammals which flourished
in Neolithic times. These were found at the same level,
or near the same level, as the human skull. Worked
flints were also found, but, unfortunately, no record was
kept of them. We are thus not certain that the skull
found is that of Neolithic man ; the evidence, however,
does justify us in presuming that it is of that date. The
outlines of the skull are given in fig. 19, and again it
will be seen we have to deal with a man's skull of the
type we have already seen from other Neolithic horizons.
It is not necessary to multiply such examples. I may
refer, however, to a skull 2 which was discovered when the
Manchester ship canal was being made in 1890. It lay
in a deposit of fine, sharp sand, covered by silt and other
strata, amounting to 27 feet. No record was made of
any objects of culture found in the same stratum as the
1 See Reports of Newport Museum, 1911.
2 Now in the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, England.
PEOPLE OF THE SUBMERGED FOREST 41
skull. Dr Aubrey Strahan, who has investigated the
geology of the district in which the skull was found, is
of opinion that the deposits which lay over this skull
may have been formed in the last two thousand years, and
that a skull found at such a depth may not be Neolithic.
In characters the skull agrees absolutely with the river-
bed type. Another skull of this type was shown to me
by Mr Robert Newstead, curator of the museum at
Chester. The skeleton of which it formed part lay at
a depth of 5 feet 3 inches, in a clay deposit in the valley
of the Dee, near Chester. The skeleton is certainly
older than the Roman period, for at a depth of i foot
ISO 160 140 120 100
60 -K> 20 O
FlG. 19. Side and full-face views of the skull found during excavations
at Newport.
in the clay, pottery of that period was found. The exact
age of the remains cannot now be fixed ; evidence for
regarding them as Neolithic is merely presumptive.
In this group of doubtful early Neolithic English skulls
recovered from river-bed deposits, we must place the
" Mickleton " skull, one which gave rise to much dis-
cussion in pre-Darwinian days. In 1852, the railway
from Oxford to Worcester was being made. It crossed
the Cotswold Hills in the northern part of Gloucestershire,
where a tunnel had to be cut, near the village of Mickleton.
During the excavations at one end of the tunnel a human
skull was found, now preserved in the museum of the
Royal College of Surgeons. The skull lay 17 feet
4 2
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
beneath the surface of the land, within a stratum of blue
clay, 5 feet in thickness. Over the clay was a layer of
peat, 9^- feet in thickness, containing remains of pig, fox,
etc. Over the peat was a surface stratum, 3 feet in
depth, made up of loam, sand, and gravel. The date of
the discovery is 1852. Darwin had not yet published the
Origin of Species (1859), but the Vestiges of Creation was
passing into a tenth edition. Orthodox minds were being
disturbed by the discovery of facts which seemed to be
at variance with Biblical tradition. The antiquity of the
Mickleton skull 1 became a matter of public controversy.
A learned Scottish clergyman publicly censured Professor
I2O IOO 80 60 40 2O O
50 ro
MICKLETON
FIG. 20. The Mickleton skull, side and front.
Baden Powell of Oxford University for countenancing a
" pre-Adamite " date for the Mickleton skull. 2 Mr Gavey,
who discovered the Mickleton specimen, was of opinion
that the age of the deposit was clearly indicated by the pres-
ence of a human skull : the deposit could not be earlier than
the historical date assigned to the act of man's creation.
In Mr Gavey's opinion, tht skull of this reputed " pre-
Adamite " was probably that of a " drunken sheep-stealer,
drowned in the bottom of a hill pond, in all likelihood
not more than eighteen hundred years ago." There is
something to be said for Mr Gavey's contention. The
1 Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, 1856, vol. iii. p. 247
2 Quart. Journ. of GeoL, 1853, vol. ix. p. 29.
PEOPLE OF THE SUBMERGED FOREST 43
layer of clay in which the skull rested is the silt formed
in the bottom of a hill pool ; the deep layer of peat,
9^ feet thick, may have formed over the silt in a thousand
years, and the superficial stratum, 3 feet in thickness, at
a rapid pace. The animal remains found in the peat may
be Neolithic or mediaeval in date. The value of worked
flints as a means of dating a deposit was then unknown ;
no evidence of this kind was looked for. The Mickleton
skull is a typical example of the river-bed type, and the
manner in which it has been preserved provides an
excellent illustration of how the earth records its own
history and stores within itself traces of the living things
which inhabit it.
Our survey of the Neolithic period in England reveals
a remarkably uniform and unchanging race of people of
less than medium stature, with well-shaped heads of rather
more than average size. If we centre our attention
merely on the physique of the people and note how little
it changes, we may be led to the belief, if we think our
bodily characters must change during the lapse of long
periods, that the Neolithic period could not have covered
a great space of time one of eight thousand or ten
thousand years. The animals which accompanied man in
that period also changed very little ; the natural plants of
the country remained the same. Such changes as are
noted in the fauna and flora are, we have every reason to
think, due to the direct influence of man. In the four
thousand years which have come and gone since the
Neolithic period closed, we have revolutionised the con-
ditions of life. From time to time, fresh blood, drawn
from many racial stocks, has been introduced into Britain ;
the tongue spoken in England has changed several times,
yet the backbone of the British population at the present
time is a direct continuation and perpetuation of the river-
bed stock of the Neolithic period.
If we reckon time by the degree of change wrought on
the human body, we must count the Neolithic a short
period. When, however, we note the changes which
have occurred in the configuration of the land, our minds
44 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
are drawn in an opposite direction. There is the most
clear evidence that, at the commencement of that period,
England and the Channel Islands were joined to the
Continent. A common estuary received the Rhine and
Thames. The English forest lands were continuous with
those of France. And now, where those forests grew,
are the wide Straits of Dover, the North Sea, the English
Channel, and the silted-up estuaries. When we come to
estimate the period of time in which those changes could
have been effected, we are met at once with our ignorance
\ of the causes which underlie earth-movements. Mr
Clement Reid has given years of study to the matter,
and, in his opinion, such changes might have been effected
in a short period of time fifteen hundred years. Those,
however, who base their speculations regarding what has
happened in the past on what is happening in the present,
will allow a much longer period ; but all must admit that
our estimates are, at present, little more than guesses.
To account reasonably for all the facts we have at present
at our disposal, we must, I think, allow a period of at
least ten thousand years for the Neolithic period.
There is a considerable body of evidence in favour of
explaining the elevation and depression of the land in
relation with the periods of glaciation. The elevation of
the southern part of England is believed to have occurred
when the ice-sheet of thelast glaciation was retreating north-
wards. When subsidence was taking place in England,
elevation was evidently at work in Scotland, for, as we
have just seen, the Neolithic beaches of England are sub-
merged, while those in Scotland are situated above the
present shore-line. In one of these raised beaches, on
the south shore of the Firth of Forth, Dr Edward Ewart
discovered Neolithic flints in abundance, and certain
burials apparently of the same period. The skulls of
these ancient Scots are also of the river-bed type very
similar in size and form to the Coldrum skulls. Further
north, in the Scandinavian Peninsula, elevation is now
taking place at a rapid rate. Beyond the northern limits of
Scandinavia lies the edge of the great perpetual ice-sheet.
PEOPLE OF THE SUBMERGED FOREST 45
It is believed 1 that the accumulation of a sheet of ice,
several thousand feet in thickness, will depress that part
of the earth's crust on which it rests. On the other hand,
the part of the crust which lies immediately to the south
of the ice-sheet will well upwards, it is believed, in the
form of a wave, giving rise to such an elevation as is
occurring in Scandinavia now. Still further south, beyond
the wave of elevation, there is a secondary trough or
depression. At the commencement of the Neolithic
period, if we entertain the explanation just given, the ice-
sheet was disappearing from North Britain, and England
was elevated on the wave which follows the retreating
edge of the ice. During the Neolithic period, as the ice-
margin retreated further to the north, England was over-
taken in the succeeding wave of depression which
apparently still continues. Such a hypothesis, purely
speculative in nature, helps us to explain some of the
phenomena with which we have to deal in future chapters.
At least, it fixes in our minds the fact that the Neolithic
age lies wholly within the milder period which followed
the last long spell of glaciation.
1 See article by Dr John W. Evans, Nature, 1911, vol. Ixxxvii. p. 438.
CHAPTER III
THE DISCOVERY OF PRE-NEOLITHIC MAN
IN tracing the various kinds of men who lived in the
Neolithic period, the open country, the river valleys, and
the submerged land surfaces served us very well. When,
however, we try to follow man beyond the bounds of the
Neolithic period when the Thames was depositing the
deepest layers of ballast gravel in her ancient bed we
must seek sequestered nooks where the earth keeps a
more orderly register of events than in the turmoil of
flooded valleys. The ideal place we seek is a cave,
particularly a limestone cave, for the drip from the roof,
laden with lime salts, seals up with a covering of stalag-
mite any bones which chance to lie on the floor. The
floor of such a cave is always having additions made to
it. If men make their hearths on it, human debris ac-
cumulates. Chips and dust are always falling from the
roof ; the mud washed in by rain or flood is added to
other accumulations. In course of time the floor may
grow until it actually reaches the roof, thus obliterating
the cave. If no living thing has visited the cave as it
became filled up, then the strata of the floor are " sterile " ;
but if men have used the cave as a habitation or as a
passing shelter, or if they chance to die there, then the
earth-buried stratum of the floor becomes a page of
history. It has taken us nearly a century to understand
that caves may contain historical documents of the most
precious kind. By a study of cave records, we have come
by a knowledge of the races who preceded the men of
the Neolithic period the races of the Palaeolithic period.
4 6
DISCOVERY OF PRE-NEOL1THIC MAN 47
We cannot begin a brief survey of how the very ancient
world of Palaeolithic man has been revealed to us more
profitably than by taking our stand on the south coast of
Wales, where we studied Neolithic man of the submerged-
forest period. To the west of Aberavon and Swansea,
the peninsula of Gower juts southwards, exposing its
limestone cliffs, 100 feet high, on the shore of the Bristol
Channel. The Paviland cave opens on the seaward face
of the cliffs, 30 feet above the tide, but not beyond the
reach of the waves in time of storm. In the latter part
of the eighteenth century news of the discovery of extinct
forms of animals elephant, rhinoceros, bear, lion, and
hyena in the strata of caves in South Germany had
spread abroad, and the antiquarians of South Wales were
led to seek for and to find similar remains in the floor of
the Paviland cave. This discovery brought Dean Buck-
land, then reader of Geology in the University of Oxford,
hot-foot to South Wales in 1822. The Dean found
abundance of the bones of these extinct animals in the
strata of the floor ; he also discovered the skeleton l of a
tall man, coloured red with ochre, buried side by side
with the bones of extinct animals. Curiously shaped
flint implements, with ornaments and implements worked
in bone and in ivory, lay in the same stratum. The Dean
was able to explain the occurrence of a human skeleton
side by side with the bones of extinct animals in a manner
satisfactory both to himself and the men of his time.
The animals were pre-diluvian ; they had been swept
within the Paviland cave by the great flood through which
the ark rode in safety. The human remains were post-
diluvian ; they had been buried there by people who had
settled in Britain after the universal deluge. It was then
an article of faith that man did not exist in Western
Europe before the flood.
About the same time a Roman Catholic priest, the
Rev. J. MacEnery, stationed near Torquay, became in-
terested in caves. In 1825, in one of the wooded dales
1 See Professor Sollas's Huxley Lecture, Journ. Roy. Anthrop. Instit^
1913, vol. xliii. p. i.
48 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
lying behind the picturesque town of Torquay, on the
south coast of Devonshire, Mr MacEnery began to
explore that great rambling subterranean series of
chambers known as Kent's Cavern. In the dense layer
of stalagmite, covering the floor of the cave, he found
implements in stone and in bone, shaped by the hand of
man, mingled with the bones of the same extinct animals
as Dean Buckland had found at Paviland. The priest
had the courage to draw a just conclusion from these
observations in Kent's Cavern, and to face the opposi-
tion of the Dean and of the opinion of his time. Mr
MacEnery was convinced that man had lived in England
as a contemporary of the mammoth, the rhinoceros, the
cave-bear, and all those animals which we now know were
native to Europe before our present climatic conditions
dawned with the advent of Neolithic man. Mr MacEnery
did not dare to even publish his records ; they were
discovered and published by the Torquay Natural History
Society many years after his death. 1 It was thus a priest
who first broke into the world of Palaeolithic man at
least in England.
How slowly a belief in man's antiquity made headway
will be realised if we follow Sir Charles Lyell in his
journey abroad in 1833. He, the great geologist, was
preparing a third edition of his Principles, and, as was
his habit, visited every site in Europe where any discovery
of note had been made. In 1833 his way lay through
Belgium, and he stopped at Liege to see one of the
Professors at the University Dr Schmerling. The
banks of the Meuse, before that river reaches Liege, are
flanked by steep limestone cliffs, often 200 feet in height.
On their vertical face open many rambling caves. Dr
Schmerling had been caught in the vortex of cave explora-
tion, and was able to place before the English geologist in
1833 the results gained by four years of severe toil
in over forty caves. The collection represented those
extinct forms of animals which Dean Buckland discovered
1 See a Memoir of William Pengelly, by Hester Pengelly (Mrs Forbes
Julian), London, 1897.
DISCOVERY OF PRE-NEOL1THIC MAN 49
in the Welsh cave, but Dr Schmerling had found them
in greater abundance and in greater variety. The same
evidences of man's presence were found mingled with
the fossil remains of animals worked flint implements,
weapons and ornaments in ivory and in bone. In one
of the caves that of Engis Dr Schmerling found a
human skull, besides other fragments in the same
cemented stratum of stalagmite as contained the fossil
bones. " The cranium," says Dr Schmerling, 1 " was
met with at a depth of a metre and a half (nearly 5 feet),
hidden under an osseous breccia, composed of the
remains of small animals, and containing one rhinoceros
tusk. . . . The earth which contained this human skull
exhibited no trace of disturbance ; teeth of rhinoceros,
horse, hyena, bear, surrounded it on all sides." Dr
Schmerling had thus advanced our knowledge of man's
antiquity a point beyond that reached by the Rev. Mr
MacEnery at Kent's Cavern. Not only had he found
proof of man's existence with animals now extinct
animals which had disappeared from the face of Europe
before the Neolithic age dawned but he had actually
discovered Palaeolithic man himself. Sir Charles Lyell
was a true scientist, with an open and just mind, but
he turned away from Dr Schmerling's discovery still
sceptical. Thirty years after the date just mentioned
(1833), Sir Charles published a work which convinced
thinking minds that man's antiquity was infinitely greater
than usually believed. It took the scientific world thirty
years to assimilate Schmerling's discovery. The discovery
of the remains of a human being as the contemporary of
extinct animals was more than even the open, well-
balanced mind of Sir Charles Lyell could admit in 1833.
Schmerling's work, like that of other pioneers, had to
wait for a new generation.
We shall examine presently the facts which afterwards
convinced Sir Charles Lyell that Dr Schmerling had made
a great discovery. Meantime, let us see what kind of man
1 Recherches sur les ossemens fossiles decouverts dans les cavernes de
la province de Liege , 1833.
50 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
he discovered the man who lived when the mammoth
and woolly rhinoceros had a home in Belgium. When
an exact drawing of the Engis skull is placed within the
standard frame, the one we have employed in the case of
Neolithic skulls, we see that in shape and size it is merely
a variant of the river-bed type. It is longer, higher,
and rather narrower ; it is very similar to the skull of
the Neolithic man found at Sennen, in Cornwall. The
skull is that of a man of middle age. The maximum
length is 198 mm. ; the width, 140 mm., is 70-7
per cent, of the length. The height of the vault above
the ear-holes is 121 mm. ; the calculated brain capacity
FIG. 21. Views of the Engis skull from the side and from above.
1 500 c.c. a little above the modern average. There is
not a single feature that marks this skull off from
men of the Neolithic or modern times. No doubt, if
the face and the jaws had been found we should recognise
certain points of difference in them, but, unfortunately,
these parts were not recovered. If we believe that the
human frame must change during the lapse of a long
period, then we shall be inclined to regard the evidence
of the Engis cave with scepticism. If, however, we
regard Dr Schmerling as a competent and truthful
observer and I think the time has come when belated
justice must be done to him then we must conclude
that a human type can be reproduced for many genera-
tions and over a very long period of time, and still
remain almost unchanged. The man who lived in Bel-
DISCOVERY OF PRE-NEOLITHIC MAN 51
gium with the extinct animals of the Pleistocene period
was reproduced in the Neolithic period, and still abounds
in modern times. When Professor Boyd Dawkins wrote
his classical work on Cave Hunting? he was not con-
vinced on the evidence produced by Schmerling that
the skull was contemporaneous with the fossil animals.
Lately, my friend, Dr Rutot, has again, in company
with Professor Fraipont, examined the Engis skull, and
he, too, is inclined to place it in the list of doubtful
specimens. 2 It is true, as we shall see presently, that
people of the Neolithic period did use caves as sepulchres,
but there is no instance of Neolithic man having dug a
hole in the hard breccia of a cave floor and buried his
dead at a depth of 5 feet : Schmerling has placed it on
record that the breccia was intact, and therefore we must
admit that the river-bed type of skull was already evolved
in the Palaeolithic period.
The discovery which cleared away all doubts as to the
great antiquity of man which carried home the convic-
tion that he was contemporary with extinct animals
takes us to the year 1860. The discoverer was Edouard
Lartet, then aged fifty-nine. He had, in his early years,
forsaken law for geology, and latterly had been caught in
the passion for cave exploration. The year 1860 found
him visiting the caves of Southern France, particularly
those situated in the departments lying among the
northern spurs of the Pyrenees. We have to deal with
two of these particular departments of France Haute
Garonne and Ariege, drained by rapid-running tributaries
of the Garonne. Lartet's excursion took him to the
village of Aurignac, in Haute Garonne (see fig. 38).
Near by the town is a little hill ; on the side of the
hill a cave had been discovered, buried beneath a mass
of debris, which had fallen from the face of a cliff.
Apparently in ancient times the cave had opened on the
face of the cliff. In fig. 22, I reproduce the drawing
1 Cave Hunting, Macmillan & Co.. 1874.
'Coup d'oeil synthetique sur 1'epoque des cavernes," Bull, de la Soc.
Beige de Geologie, 1909, vol. xxiii. p. 227.
52 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
with which Lartet illustrated his discovery. When the
debris which hid the cave was removed, the opening
was found to be closed by a great vertical slab of stone.
Before Lartet's arrival, the human skeletons seen piled
up within the cave (fig. 22) had been given a Christian
burial by order of the Mayor. We now know, although
Lartet was not then aware of the fact, that the pile of
skeletons representing at least seventeen individuals of
various ages were in reality the remains of Neolithic
people. It was the Neolithic men who set up the slab
at the entrance and used the cave as a sepulchre,
SLAB AT FORMER ENTRANCE
FALLEN DE'BRIS
OLD FLOOR ON TERRACE
HEARTHS
CAVE FLOOR
NEOLITHIC BURIALS
FIG. 22. A section of the cave explored by Lartet, near Aurignac, in 1860.
a custom of the period. But when Lartet came to ex-
plore the floor of the cave 2 to 3 feet in thickness he
found it to abound in evidences of human habitation, and
to contain the remains of extinct animals, which were
charred, cut, and artificially broken, showing that man not
only lived at the same time as extinct animals, but actually
used them as sources of his food supply. He found
remains of the cave-bear, the cave-lion, the cave-hyena,
the mammoth, the woolly rhinoceros, the wild pig, the
Irish elk, the bison ; and also remains of animals which
live in our time. He found, further, as will be seen from
his drawing, that the strata of the floor extended out to
DISCOVERY OF PRE-NEOLITHIC MAN 53
cover the little terrace in front of the cave. Under the
floor of the terrace he found abundance of charcoal and
remains of hearths. Embedded in the debris of the
floor he found implements and ornaments of that form
of human culture which is now known as Aurignacian
the same culture as was exposed at Paviland and at
Engis. The flint implements of all three caves were
worked in the same style in all there were the same
carvings in ivory, the same ornaments, necklaces of
shells and perforated teeth, the same kind of barbed
implements in bone, antlers of reindeer, and in ivory.
When we consider that the culture of the people on
the South Welsh coast was the same as that at the
northern foot of the Pyrenees, we begin to realise that
already in the Pleistocene period when animals now
extinct abounded in Europe interchange and intercom-
munication had already made Europeans sharers in a
common culture. Lartet also found amongst the undis-
turbed debris in the floor of the cave, fragments of
human bones not enough to tell us what kind of
men these ancient Aurignacians were, but sufficient to
indicate their bodily presence. It was the discovery at
Aurignac that convinced Sir Charles Lyell that man
went beyond the Neolithic horizon, and with his con-
version, the new conception of man's antiquity made
rapid progress.
Eight years later, in 1868, M. Louis Lartet discovered
the actual men of the Aurignacian culture. The scene
of the discovery is not in the region of the Garonne, but
in the watershed of a companion river, the Dordogne,
which, rising in southern central France, joins the Garonne
at Bordeaux (see fig. 38, p. 109). The Vezere is a northern
tributary of the Dordogne. The caves and rock-shelters
in the cliffs which border the Vezere have yielded some
of the most important and most complete records of
ancient man. In 1868, when a railway was being made
along the lower part of the valley of the Vezere to unite
the town of Perigueux with the main line along the
Dordogne valley, an old rock -shelter was opened at
54 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
Cromagnon, a little above the picturesque cliff-set village
of Les Eyzies. The strata on the floor of the shelter or
cave were marked by hearths and the culture of the
Aurignacian period. In the upper strata were found the
remains of four skeletons. They were tall people ; the
men were about 5 feet n inches in height (r8 m.) tall,
lanky fellows, more like, so far as bodily physique is
concerned, the tall Sikhs of the Punjaub than any race
now living. The proportion of their limbs was some-
what peculiar ; their tibiae or leg bones were relatively
long, their humeri or upper arm bones, short. Individuals
with similar limb proportions still occur amongst negroid
races, but no modern European race can show the
negroid limb proportions of the Cromagnon race men
of the Aurignacian period. The skeleton which Dean
Buckland had found in the Paviland cave, regarded by
him as that of a woman buried in Neolithic times, but
which we now know, as proved by Professor Sollas, 1 to
be of Aurignacian age, was also a tall, slender man-
about 5 feet 10 inches in stature. The skull of the Pavi-
land man is not known, but we do know the form of
head which characterised the Cromagnon men. Their
skulls cannot be classed in the river-bed groups ; they
are too large and too much flattened on the vault to be
assigned to that type. They differ from the Aurignacian
man of Engis, who, we have seen, had a skull of the
river-bed type. At Cromagnon, then, we meet with
another race of men. They had massive skulls, large in
all dimensions, as will be seen from fig. 23, where the
skull of the " old man of Cromagnon " is fitted within
the standard frame used for Neolithic and for modern
skulls. It is much too large for the conventional modern
frame. The maximum length is 203 mm., half an inch
beyond the modern or Neolithic mean ; the width, 150
mm., 10 mm. beyond ; the height of the vault, 125 mm.,
also 10 mm. above the modern mean for British men.
It will be observed, however, that although the actual
dimensions are greater, in the relative proportions of the
1 See reference, p. 47.
DISCOVERY OF PRE-NEOLITHIC MAN 55
diameters the Cromagnon skulls are not unlike those of
the river-bed type. The width is very nearly 74 per
cent, of the length, just as in skulls of the river-bed
type. The brain capacity is much greater roughly
1660 c.c., being 180 c.c. above the modern average.
We have to remember that a certain amount a small
amount of that is due simply to a big body ; a big
body needs a bigger brain for its animal administration.
We have come across, in those large heads, a puzzling
and unexpected fact ; we are naturally astonished to find
that men who have preceded us so long ago men of a
former geological epoch should so far outstrip their
FIG. 23. Skull of Cromagnon man viewed from the side and from the front.
successors of to-day who regard themselves as " the
survival of the fittest," and believe the fittest to be the
race with the biggest brains. We cannot quarrel with
the facts, but how are we to explain them ? The
conclusion to be drawn is, not that brain mass, on the
average, is to be rejected as an index of brain power, but
that there are other virtues or characters which go to
ensure success of a human race in the struggle of life
other than brain power. A philosopher may be
miserable or die childless, when a brainless savage or an
industrious labouring man may be happy and leave a
large family.
Since 1868, as we shall see later, many further dis-
56 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
coveries of the Cromagnon race have been made. Mean-
time, we simply note that, although in dimensions in
stature and in size of body these Cromagnon people far
outstrip the river-bed type of Neolithic period, and
probably also of the Palaeolithic period, the two types are
not radically different. To me, they seem to represent
the "longs" and the "shorts" derived from a common
stock.
At all those sites, at Paviland, Kent's Cavern, Engis,
Aurignac, and Cromagnon, the discoverers of man's early
history stumbled across a stage in human evolution which
was manifestly older than the Neolithic phase ; but how
much more ancient they could not then tell. That
secret they soon set out to discover. When the skeletons
were found at Cromagnon (1868), it was becoming
apparent to the explorers of the French caves that the
Palaeolithic period, into which they had forced a way, had
seen the dawn and the close of many phases of human
culture, and that, in the floors of the caves, there was
clear evidence that these phases passed in an orderly
succession. It became clear to them that, as in historical
times, a new form of culture gradually arose, and as
gradually replaced the older modes of life. Hence we
find, from this time forwards, that the investigators of
France bent all their efforts to distinguish the various
cultures represented in the caves, and to establish the
order of their succession. As early as 1869, M. Gabriel
de Mortillet 1 elaborated an orderly classification of the
cave cultures ; but the exact position represented by the
culture of the caves at Aurignac and at Cromagnon was
not finally settled until 1905, when the Abbe Breuil
finally proved that at least two periods of culture, the
Solutrean and the Magdalenian, intervene between it
and the dawn of the Neolithic period. 2 During those
intervening periods, the climate of Europe changed ; the
1 See Musee prehistoriqtie, by G. and A. de Mortillet, 1903.
2 See Bibliography of the Abbe Breuil's researches from 1899-1910,
published at Fribourg, Switzerland, 1910. His more recent publications
will be found in full or in abstract in that excellent periodical
L?A nthropologie.
DISCOVERY OF PRE-NEOLITHIC MAN 57
mammoth, the woolly rhinoceros, the cave-bear, the cave-
lion, the cave-hyena disappeared ; the reindeer became
the characteristic animal in Europe in the closing phases
of the Palaeolithic period.
Aurignac, we have seen, is situated on a tributary of
the Garonne the Ariege. A neighbouring tributary, the
Arize, issuing from the Pyrenees to the east of the
Ariege, pierces a spur of limestone rocks, near the village
of Mas d'Azil, forming a great tunnel or subterranean
gallery, 500 yards in length (fig. 38). When the public
road, which follows the tunnel made by the stream, was
being repaired, the strata on the banks of this subterranean
stream revealed the hearths and implements of ancient
man. In 1887, M. Edouard Piette, a magistrate, who
spent his leisure hours and his income most liberally
in advancing our knowledge of ancient man, began a
systematic exploration of the strata in the recesses of the
cavern of Mas d'Azil, and discovered cultures which mark
the transition from Palaeolithic to Neolithic times. In
1895 he published 1 a section (fig. 24) showing the various
strata which are piled one above the other on the western
bank of the Arize, as it issues from the tunnel. The
uppermost, and therefore latest stratum, is situated
1 3'6o m. (44 feet) above the level of the stream. The two
upper deposits, composed of black clay with intermingled
debris, amounting to a depth of 5 feet, were formed
between the closing phase of the Neolithic period and
the time of the Roman occupation, for they contained
abundant traces of the civilisation which came and went
during that interval of time some two thousand years.
The third stratum, counting from the surface downwards,
is little more than a foot and a half in thickness, and,
composed of a laminated assortment of differently coloured
clays, brings us well within the Neolithic period, for the
objects of culture are such as are found in the kitchen-
middens. The fourth stratum reveals the transition
culture, the one now distinguished as Azilian. The
1 "Etudes d'ethnographie prehistorique," LAnthropologie, 1895,
vol. vi. p. 276.
58 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
fourth or Azilian stratum is only half a metre thick
(19-6 inches), intensely red in colour, due to the
abundance of oxide of iron which it contains. Beneath
the Azilian stratum lie five others, forming collectively
a deposit over 17 feet in thickness, all of them marked
by the culture of the last great Palaeolithic period the
Magdalenian. The deepest Magdalenian stratum, made
of gravel, lies on the bed-rock, 23 feet above the present
bed of the Arize. The men of the Magdalenian period
settled on the ancient gravel bed of the Arize. In the
bottom stratum occur the remains of their hearths.
The period during which these Palaeolithic deposits were
LATE NEOLITHIC, BRONZE.,CELTJC-~
NEOLITHIC -;-'"-2 pt-
AZIHAN-"-- \'/l f ?
'MAGDALENIAN
FIG. 24. M. Piette's section across the strata at Mas d'Azil.
being formed was marked by two great intervals of flood
or submergence, for the various strata, showing periods
of human occupation, are separated by two thick deposits
of yellow loam the products of great and continuous
floods. In all the Magdalenian strata, remains of the
reindeer occur abundantly. In the Azilian stratum,
which follows the Magdalenian strata in orderly sequence,
the reindeer disappears ; its place is taken by the stag,
the remains of extinct mammals no longer occurring in
the Azilian layer. The human culture, however, did not
change much. The Azilians worked their flints in the
Magdalenian manner ; they fashioned the same carved
and barbed harpoons and arrow-heads from bone and
from antlers. They were partial to the use of red ochre
DISCOVERY OF PRE-NEOLITHIC MAN 59
as a pigment. Rounded pebbles, marked with coloured
hieroglyphics, formed a peculiar and enigmatical part of
their civilisation. Perhaps they had taken the first steps
in agriculture ; at least M. Piette found in the Azilian
stratum traces of wheat husks and stones of cherry
and plum.
In this way M. Piette revealed at Mas d'Azil the long
records of the closing phases of the Palaeolithic period
and the opening stages of the next or Neolithic period.
In the Azilian stratum he found two sepulchres, but the
human remains discovered by him are insufficient to give
an accurate picture of the people. So far as our evidence
goes, it supports the opinion that the Europeans of the
Azilian civilisation were members of the Mediterranean
race, and had heads of the river-bed type. Although
numerous Azilian stations have been discovered in recent
years, particularly in France, none have revealed the
peoples of the period, with perhaps one exception. In
1895, Mr Anderson 1 described the exploration of caves
situated on the west coast of Scotland near Oban,
Argyllshire, and the discovery of objects of culture which
characterise the Azilian period. During the exploration
certain human remains were found, which have been
described by Sir William Turner. 2 The skulls of the
people thus discovered are clearly those of the river-bed
type in no way differing from those of a Neolithic date.
Unfortunately, the evidence which associates these skulls
with the objects of Azilian culture is not complete. 3
We have no reason for supposing that the transition
from the Palaeolithic to the Neolithic period was marked
by the appearance of a new or higher type of man.
Indeed, in artistic ability, there must have been a decline,
for the later Palaeolithic periods have furnished us with
the most abundant and surprising evidence of a high
artistic ability.
Hitherto, so far as we have followed the history of
1 Proceedings Soc. Antiquaries, Scotland, 1895, p. 211.
2 Ibid., p. 410.
3 See Appendix A.
60 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
man into the Palaeolithic period, we have sought his
traces in caves. In 1866, two French antiquaries began
a series of explorations which revealed the habitation of
Palaeolithic man in the open country. The site of their
discovery lies near the village of Solutre, situated on the
western slopes of the country drained by the Saone, which
flows southwards to join the Rhone at Lyons. Although
MM. Ferry and Arcelin commenced their investigation
in 1866, inspired by the writings of Sir Charles Lyell,
such was the extent of the Palaeolithic deposit at Solutre,
covering as it does more than 2 acres of ground, that
SOLUTREAN STRATUM
25ft
EQUINE STRATUM
AURICNACIAN
HEARTHS
FIG. 25. Diagram of the ancient hearth-strata exposed in the
deposits at Solutre.
its exploration occupied one of them M. Arcelin until
his death in I9O4. 1 In a paper which he published in
1890^ he reproduced a section of the deposits at Solutre,
which serves to convey the results of his toil at a glance
(fig. 25). At the western end of the section, the rock of
Solutre rises to a height of 400 or 500 feet. The land
slopes eastwards from the base of the rock towards the
Saone, and covers the deposit which reveals the hearths
of ancient man. At certain points the exploring trench
had to be sunk to a depth of 34 feet to reach the original
surface of the land. Wherever the trench was sunk in
this ancient and extensive station, one remarkable stratum
was encountered, usually at a depth of about 10 feet below
1 See Dechelette's Manuel tfarcheologie prehistorique, 1912, vol. i.
UAnthropologie, 1890, vol. i. p. 295.
P- 133-
2 /'
DISCOVERY OF PRE-NEOL1TH1C MAN 61
the present surface. This, the " equine " layer, varying in
thickness from 1 5 to 20 inches, was made up of bones of
horses, broken, cut, and charred, mixed up with the
debris which accumulate on and around the hearths of
ancient man. The implements of flint and of bone, the
ornaments, the works of art, the remains of extinct
animals, found in the equine layer, are those which
occurred at Aurignac. The equine layer represents a
vast kitchen-midden of man during the Aurignacian
period. It has been calculated that the colony at Solutre
had consumed at least one hundred thousand horses in
their time. Beneath the equine stratum one occasionally
two older Aurignacian floors, marked by extensive
hearths, were found (fig. 25). In the deepest of these,
implements which characterise a still older Palaeolithic
culture were found implements of the Mousterian type.
Above the equine layer, there is a stratum or ancient
floor yielding abundant evidence of a more recent
culture, the culture which succeeded the Aurignacian, and
which has been named, because of its discovery here,
" Solutrean." A form of finely worked flint implement
shaped like a laurel leaf appears for the first time in
this culture. Certain animals of the Aurignacian period
were dying out ; reindeer were becoming more abundant.
Art, we know from discoveries elsewhere, was reaching a
higher standard. In the Solutrean period, Solutre itself
ceased to be a site of habitation, for it shows no trace of
the men of the succeeding Magdalenian period which we
saw at Mas d'Azil. The land surface had reached its
present level when people of the Neolithic and subsequent
ages buried their dead over strata containing the remains
of two long Palaeolithic periods.
It will be noticed that the cave strata at Mas d'Azil
take up the story of ancient man where the deposits at
Solutre leave off. In the 60 feet of strata, represented
at the combined sites, are found the cultures of four con-
secutive periods Aurignacian, Solutrean, Magdalenian,
and Azilian, with superficial traces of the Neolithic period.
It is plain that we have made a long journey into the past
62 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
to reach the Aurignacian period ; how long, we can but
dimly perceive at present. The formation of a deposit,
30 feet deep at Solutre, must have occupied a long space
of time. The process of its formation is revealed by
M. Arcelin's section. The great block of stone and the
rocky debris which lie in the strata between the layers
containing the ancient hearths have been detached from
the face of the adjacent hill, as its exposed face weathered
under the frost, the wind, and the rain. The debris thus
detached from the hill tended to drift down the slope in
times of rain, snow, and flood, gradually covering and
burying the human habitations, and sealing them up
as historical records. The climate has changed since
Aurignacian times, for the Palaeolithic cultures lie within
what is regarded as the Ice age, but which it is better to
speak of as the Pleistocene epoch. We know from the
kind of animals which live in the Aurignacian period that
the climate was milder than in the Magdalenian age.
Indeed, we shall see later that the last of the glacial
phases occurred when the Magdalenian culture was at
its height.
Before returning to England to apply the knowledge
we have gained from our tour in France, there are two
other classical sites which demand our attention. Neither
at Mas d'Azil nor at Solutre, abundant as the traces of
Palaeolithic man were, did we find the men themselves.
To supply this blank in our knowledge we must glance
at the remarkable discoveries made in the caves situated
in cliffs along the French coast of the Mediterranean.
A little over a mile to the east of Mentone, just beyond
the French frontier, the red rocks of Grimaldi rise from
the sea. The caves, where ancient man made a home,
open on their southward face about 60 or 70 feet above
the level of the sea. A terrace made along the foot of
the cliffs serves as a highway between France and Italy.
Indeed, many of the caves open just above the road.
In 1872, M. Emile Riviere discovered remains of ancient
man in some of the Grimaldi caves. Further discoveries
were made subsequently, and disputes arose as to their
DISCOVERY OF PRE-NEOLITHIC MAN 63
authenticity and antiquity. In 1895, the Prince of
Monaco undertook their investigation. He summoned
the best talent of France : Canon de Villenneuve to
write the historical account ; M. Cartailhac to describe
FIG. 26. Section of the strata of the Grolte des Enfants, near Mentone.
(After the section given in Professor Boule's Monograph.)
the articles of culture ; Professor Boule to investigate
the geology and the fauna ; and Dr Verneau to report on
the human remains. Systematic work was commenced
in 1895, an d by 1902 five great caves and several rock-
shelters had been scientifically explored. Between 1906
and 1911 two magnificent volumes, issued in separate
64 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
parts, were published at the expense of the Prince of
Monaco, placing at the disposal of the scientific world a
rich and instructive harvest of new facts. Altogether the
remains of sixteen individuals were found in the Grimaldi
caves. Here we shall deal with those discovered in
only one of them the Grotte des Enfants, so named
because the skeletons of two children were discovered in
its upper strata.
A summary of what was discovered during the explora-
tion of the Grotte des Enfants is shown in fig. 26.
Over 3 feet had been removed from the surface of
the cave deposits before the systematic exploration com-
menced. Twenty-eight feet of accumulations on the
original floor still remained. Nine 'ancient floors were
found, marked by hearths and the debris of human
occupation ; they occurred from the top to the bottom
of the cave strata. From the lowest and oldest to the
highest and most recent hearth, the type of culture was
the same Aurignacian. The ornaments, the imple-
ments in stone and bone were of the same kind as were
found in the cave at Aurignac. The remains of the same
extinct animals came to light with a few exceptions ; the
woolly rhinoceros, and apparently the mammoth, never
reached the sunny coasts of the Riviera. The remains
of the reindeer and of the ibex occurred ; so did those
of the cave-bear, the cave-lion, and the cave-hyena. In
the very lowest stratum of all, however, were found the
remains of a species of rhinoceros, more ancient than
the woolly form the kind known as Rhinoceros Mercki.
The presence of this southern form in the deepest stratum
of the cave, accompanied by remains of the hippo-
potamus, an older form of elephant Elephas antiquus
suggests that the Grimaldi caves became inhabited at the
close, or soon after the close, of a mild or warm period,
during which Neanderthal man appeared in Europe.
At the level of the second hearth in the Grotte des
Enfants, 1-70 mm. below the surface, was found the
skeleton of an old woman of small stature, but so broken
that a restoration was impossible. It was clear she had
DISCOVERY OF PRE-NEOLITHIC MAN 65
been buried, and that ornaments of her time (Aurignacian)
had been interred with the remains. At the level of the
third hearth, 2-70 m. (9 feet) in depth, the skeletons
of two young children were found, laid on their backs,
with the heads to the west. At the level of the eighth
hearth, 7*05 m. (23 feet) below the surface, occurred
the remains of a very tall man (6 feet 2-J- inches) a
representative member of the Cromagnon race. He was
extended on his back, in a grave which had been prepared
for him a slab of red clay under his head, a flat stone
over it, large stones grouped round his feet. A worked
piece of a deer's antler lay close by ; the shells and
perforated teeth which formed his necklace were placed
near him. The objects of culture were the same as
accompanied the men at Cromagnon. At the level of
the underlying ninth and oldest hearth, over 25 feet from
the surface stratum of the cave, was found another grave.
It contained two skeletons, one of a woman of middle
age, the other of a youth of about sixteen. The tall
Cromagnon man lay extended on his back, but those
short people lay huddled up in the contracted posture.
The same kind of provision had been made for them
at their death as for the tall man. Stones had been
placed to protect the head ; the remains of the usual
kind of necklaces and bracelets were found ; near by
were the worked flints of the period. As is so often the
case in Aurignacian burials, the skeleton of the lad was
stained by red ochre.
It is a feature of the Cromagnon race the Frenchmen
of the Aurignacian period for the men to be very tall,
but for the women to be of moderate or even small
stature. The little woman found at the level of the
second hearth was probably of the same race as the tall
man found at the level of the eighth. But what of the
lad and the small woman found at the level of the ninth
and oldest hearth ? Dr Verneau had no doubt about
them ; they represented a negroid race one not pre-
viously discovered in Europe. By a negroid race, we
understand one in which the skin is pigmented ; as
5
66 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
regards the Grimaldi people we have to judge from the
skeleton alone. One important negroid feature is absent
from both of these Grimaldi skeletons, namely, the
negroid contour of the forehead. In pure negroes and
in negroid races, the right and left eminences of the
forehead of the frontal bones tend to fuse together
in the middle line so as to form a single eminence
of peculiar shape, such as we have seen in a Neolithic
skull from Malta (fig. 6, p. 15). In the Grimaldi lad
and woman, probably his mother for they are very much
alike the forehead is of the European form, the frontal
bosses are not fused. The skull is long and narrow, as
is the case in most negroes, but the same head measure-
ments also occur in white races. When we come to deal
with the features of the face, we recognise that there are
some negroid traits. The teeth are large, causing the jaw
to protrude in front of the nasal opening and the chin to
recede. The lower margin of the nasal openings as seen
on the skull are not sharp as in white races, but grooved
or guttered as in pigmented races. The face, too, is short,
as in most black races. The orbits, although of more
than average width, are narrow from above downwards
the upper and lower orbital margins are unduly approxi-
mated, giving the face a sinister look. That, we have seen,
is also a character of the Cromagnon race. The nose
was apparently shaped much as it is in native Australians.
These two Grimaldi skeletons then do show certain
negroid features, and still, to my mind, a full analysis will
prove that they are of the Cromagnon race, or of a people
nearly allied to that race.
In the proportion of his limbs, the negro shows certain
peculiar features which distinguish him from modern
European races. In the first place, his leg is long as
compared with his thigh. In the European, the leg bone
(tibia) is less than 80 per cent, of the thigh bone or
femur ; in negroes, the tibia is over 80 per cent., usually
between 81 and 84 per cent. In Cromagnon skeletons
from the Paviland cave in Wales, from Cromagnon itself,
and from the Grimaldi caves the tibia varies from 8 1
DISCOVERY OF PRE-NEOLITHIC MAN 67
to 85 per cent, of the femoral length. In the two negroid
Grimaldi skeletons the tibial proportions are 83*8 per cent,
for the woman, 83*7 per cent, for the lad. They agree
with the Cromagnon race. The same result is obtained
when we inquire into the proportion which the forearm
bears to the upper arm. In modern Europeans, the
radius of the forearm is about 74 per cent, of the
humeral or upper arm length ; in modern negroes,
the proportion of the radius is 79 per cent. The
same proportion holds true of the Cromagnon race and
of the so-called Grimaldi negroids ; the radius of the lad
is 79 per cent., that of the woman 85 per cent, of the
length of the humerus. The stature of the negroid
woman is not low 1*595 m. (5 feet 2f inches) ; the lad
of sixteen measures 1*560 m. (5 feet i^ inches). If he
had lived, he might have added 6 or 8 inches to his
stature. On the palate of the Cromagnon people there
is usually a bony elevation the torus palatinus often
seen on the palate of primitive negroid races. The torus
is present in the Grimaldi negroids. The woman and
the lad share the ample brain capacity of the Cromagnon
race. The capacity of the woman is estimated by Dr
Verneau to have been 1375 c.c., that of the boy 1580 c.c.
both above the modern average. Those Aurignacians
had large brains. 1 am of the opinion that it is a
mistake to separate those two Grimaldi individuals, the
mother and son, as types of a new race a negroid race
indigenous to Europe. To me these characters suggest
that they are only an aberrant Cromagnon form, perhaps
primitive, but nevertheless true members of the Cro-
magnon race. That race, in the proportion of its limbs
and in certain features of the face, does show negroid
traits. If I had to seek for the people which most nearly
represent the Cromagnon blood in the modern world, I
would seek them amongst the tall races of the Punjaub
of India.
When one of the skulls of the Grimaldi negroids is
fitted within the standard frame, which we have applied
to Neolithic skulls, the fit is seen to be a good one (see
68
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
fig. 27). The maximum length of the woman's skull
is 191 mm., its width, 131 mm. ; the height of the vault
above the ear-holes, 115 mm. ; the proportion of width
to length 6 8 '5 per cent. Her head was long and narrow.
The corresponding measurements of the lad's skull are :
length, 192 mm. ; width, 133 mm. ; height, 125 mm.
The width of the skull represents 69*2 per cent, of the
length. The chief point of difference between the typical
Cromagnon skulls and those of the two negroids lies
in the characters of the cranial vault. The flattening
FIG. 27. Profile and full face of the Grimaldi woman.
of the vault seen in Cromagnon specimens is absent in
the negroid skulls. The vaults are raised as in negro
skulls.
A discovery of a type of man differing somewhat from
the Cromagnon form, but still a European of the Aurig-
nacian period, needs only a brief description. In 1891, a
canal was being made in Brunn, the capital of Moravia,
some sixty miles north of Vienna, when a human skull
was found at a depth of 1 1^- feet. In the same stratum,
and near the skull, were found the objects of culture-
perforated shells and an ivory image and the remains of
the extinct animals which characterise the Aurignacian age.
The same ancient culture which we saw on the shores
DISCOVERY OF PRE-NEOLITH1C MAN 69
of the Mediterranean extended to Wales and to Moravia.
When the Brunn skull the larger of the two described
by Professor Makowsky 1 is placed in a standard frame
(fig. 28) we are impressed by its dimensions. The
maximum length is 206 mm., its width, 144 mm. ; the
height of the vault above the ear-holes, 125 mm. ; the
width is 69 per cent, of the length ; the capacity,
estimated by the Lee-Pearson formula, a little over
1600 c.c. It is a man's skull, showing strong and
rugged characters in the forehead and in the area
for attachment to the neck. The Brilnn type is a
variant of the Cromagnon the man was apparently a
FIG. 28. The Brtinn skull (No. i) from the side and from above.
member of an allied race. On my visit to Jersey, 2 I was
surprised to find in the museum of the Societe Jersiaise
a skull which was a replica of the Briinn example. All that
is known of the Jersey specimen is that it was brought
from South America. As is so often the case with the
Aurignacian skulls, the Jersey skull is of a brownish-
red colour, as if it had been embedded for a long time
in soil rich in iron.
Another Aurignacian skull, that found by Dr Hauser
at Combe Capelle in 1907, in the region of the
Dordogne, France, will be described at a later period,
when we pass to the consideration of the Neanderthal
tice. In the meantime, we simply note that when
1 "Der deluviale Mensch in Loss von Briinn," Mitth. Anthrop.
esellsch. in Wien, 1892, vol. xxii. p. 73.
2 See Bullet. Socitte Jersiaise, 1913, vol. xxxviii. p. 310.
7 o THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
we survey the people and the state of Europe in the
latter third of the glacial period, we find it populated
with tall men, evidently separated into distinct races,
having long, narrow heads containing large brains
brains which were capable of conceiving and appreciat-
ing high works of art. It is clear that we have to
go much further backwards in time to find human
beginnings.
CHAPTER IV
ENGLISHMEN OF THE LATER PALEOLITHIC PERIODS
IN this chapter we return to England to again take up
the story of ancient man. Our object is to see what
traces have been discovered of the various cultures
revealed by the caves of France, and specially to ascertain
what kinds of men lived in England before the days
of Neolithic man. The scene of our first inquiry is
again in the south-east corner of England, in the county
of Kent, and within a few miles of the Megalithic
monument at Coldrum described in the first chapter.
From Coldrum, we must follow the Medway north-
wards as it leaves the Weald to enter the valley in
the North Downs by which it reaches Rochester and
Chatham and finally ends in the estuary of the Thames
(fig. i). Within this valley, and on the western side of
the Medway, is the busy little town of Hailing, robbed
somewhat of its ancient picturesqueness by the invasion
of cement works, which throw a pall of smoke, obscuring
our view of the rising domes of the Downs. Opposite
Hailing the Medway is banked ; at high tide the barges
with their large brown sails seem to float some feet above
the level of the wide stretch of marshland half a mile
wide which separates Hailing from the river. Between
Hailing and the marsh, however, is a natural terrace
8 feet above the level of the marsh and 15 feet (4*5 m.)
above the zero level of the Ordnance Survey (Ordnance
datum). The terrace follows the margin of the marshy
floor of the valley as if it represented an ancient bank
of the Medway, which it probably does. It was in this
71
72 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
natural terrace, at a depth of 6 feet (i'8 m.) 5 that a
human skeleton was found the skeleton of the Hailing
man. The evidence, we shall see, leads us to the
conclusion that this man belongs to one of the later
periods of Palaeolithic culture. His horizon in time
lies in that phase of the earth's history which geologists
term the Pleistocene epoch.
The discovery of the skeleton came about in this way.
In 1912, Hailing required a new drainage system, and in
August of that year, the terrace of brick earth on the
edge of the marsh was excavated to form a large sewage
tank. The working face of the trench was 1 1 feet in
depth (3*4 m.), exposing nine strata, all laid down
in running water, the various superimposed layers being
clearly differentiated. As the men worked, a slip of
earth occurred from the side of the trench, exposing parts
of a human skeleton embedded in the fifth stratum from
the top, and lying 6 feet (1*8 m.) from beneath the
surface of the terrace. As the fall of earth occurred a
labourer caught the skull in his hands. The brain space
was filled with a firm cast of fine loam or brick earth,
similar to the deposit in which the skeleton lay. By a
happy chance, part of the skeleton remained embedded
in its place on the bank. It was also a fortunate cir-
cumstance that the scientific study of early man finds a
home in the valley of the Medway. The engineers in
charge of the works were alive to the importance of the
discovery, and called in Dr Spencer Edwards and Mr
W. H. Cook, active members of the Medway Valley
Scientific Research Society, of which Mr F. J. Bennett,
F.G.S., was then president. They proceeded at once
to investigate and to record all the circumstances con-
nected with the discovery. They examined the strata
(fig. 29) overlying the skeleton, and found they were
unbroken and undisturbed. No one could assert that
the skeleton had been buried from the present surface
of the terrace, for the demarcating lines between the strata
were sharp and unbroken. Dr Edwards observed, from
the position of the bones which still remained in the
PALAEOLITHIC ENGLISHMEN
73
bank, that the body had been laid on its back, but
turned slightly so as to lie on the left arm. Amongst
the ribs, which had fallen out in a mass of brick
earth, lay the lower jaw, showing that the head had
been bent on the breast. The leg bone lay near the
shoulder blade, showing that the lower limbs must have
been flexed on the trunk. The body must have been
in the flexed or contracted posture, for the extreme
parts of the skeleton were less than 3 feet apart.
DARK RED LOAM
GIO m:
BUFF COLOURED
BRICK EARTH
G60 m.
BUFF COLOURED SAND
/SOm:
BUFF BRICK EARTH
BUFF BRICK EARTH
570 m
BROWN SAND
500:
BUFF BRICK EARTH
300m:
FIG. 29. A section of the strata at Hailing, showing the position of the skeleton.
The dip in the second stratum, over the skeleton, marks the bed of a buried
stream.
As they proceeded in their investigation an extremely im-
portant discovery was made one which reminds us of the
buried Palaeolithic hearths discovered in the open country
at Solutre. In another part of the trench, a long black
stratum was exposed between the deposit in which the
skeleton lay, the fifth layer, and the overlying or fourth
deposit (fig. 29). In the black intermediate zone, remains
of ancient hearths abounded charcoal, flints splintered by
heat " pot-boilers," chipped flints, worked implements,
bones of animals. It was clear, from this discovery, that
an old land surface was represented by the black zone
74 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
between the fourth and fifth strata. The strata over
the black zone were unbroken ; the skeleton which lay
in the fifth stratum was evidently the remains of a man
who had lived on the old land surface, had sat round
the ancient hearths, and ultimately had been laid in a
superficial grave before the upper four strata had been
deposited. That was the only reasonable explanation of
the facts.
The question which then presented itself to Mr Cook l
was : How old is that land surface ? He collected all
the flints and animal remains which were to be found on
it and below it. The assemblage of implements represent,
in the opinion of experts of M. 1'Abbe Breuil, Mr
Reginald Smith, Mr Reid Moir a " late cave period,"
which may mean one anywhere between the Aurignacian
and Azilian cultures mentioned in the last chapter.
Further discoveries point definitely to the age of the
Hailing hearths as Aurignacian the same age as Paviland
and Cromagnon and therefore lying well within the
Pleistocene period. The Hailing man thus falls in a
closing phase of the Ice age.
It is important, before inquiring into the physical
appearance of the Hailing man, to fix as nearly as possible
his horizon in time. The flint implements which were
found in and round the hearths, covering the land
surface under which he was buried, suggest the Aurignacian
period. The carvings in bone and in ivory, the necklaces
of perforated shell and tooth, which characterise this
period were not found. If the date is such as has been
suggested, then in those brick earths of the terrace we
should find remains of extinct animals, such as the
mammoth, the woolly rhinoceros, and reindeer. The
remains actually found are those of a horse, of a sheep
or goat, and of a rhinoceros. The radius of the rhinoceros
is mineralised to a much greater degree than the other
bones ; it evidently has been derived from an older
deposit. In the opinion of Dr A. Irving, the remains
1 In his geological investigations Mr Cook had the help of an expert
geologist, Mr J. A. Bullbrook.
PALAEOLITHIC ENGLISHMEN
75
of the horse may represent a Pleistocene variety, but the
parts discovered are not sufficient to make the identifica-
tion certain.
The corresponding terrace on the opposite or eastern
side of the Medway valley, a counterpart of the Hailing
terrace, yields abundant remains of Pleistocene animals
(fig. 30A). In the opinion of Mr A. S. Kennard, who
must be regarded as one of our highest authorities
on the age and nature of English valley deposits,
the brick earths of the Hailing terrace do belong to the
Pleistocene period. All the evidence, then, if not
definitely proving, at least gives us a very high degree
of assurance in regarding the Hailing man as of the
Aurignacian age.
In our survey of Neolithic man in England, the Tilbury
skeleton represented the most remote in point of time.
That skeleton lay 34 feet beneath the submerged marsh
surface in the adjoining Thames valley. The Hailing
man lay in a deposit of brick earth which rises 7 feet
above the level of the marshy floor of the Medway. What
were the changes which occurred in the neighbouring
valleys of the Medway and Thames between the time of
the Tilbury and Hailing men ? In the first place, we
must examine, as Mr W. H. Cook and Mr J. A.
Bullbrook have done, 1 the nature and formation of the
Hailing terrace. We have already seen that there are at
least nine distinct strata in the terrace. Each of these
denotes a phase in the action of the Medway its condition
of flood, the nature of the debris it was scouring off the
face of the Weald and depositing on its bank at Hailing.
It is also apparent that in order to have the strata deposited
one above the other, either the waters of the Medway
came down in greater and greater volume, or, as is more
likely to have been the case, the land was sinking at the
time the terrace was being formed. There was then in
operation a process of submergence, with filling up of the
valley. The subsidence could not have been continuous,
for under the fourth deposit from the top is the old land
1 Seefourn. Roy. Anthrop.\Instit., vol. xliv., July 1914.
76 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
surface on which Palaeolithic man made his hearths.
Eventually that land surface became covered with 5 feet
of deposit, and then the formation of the terrace ceased.
We know why the formation ceased. Under the valley
of the Medway, recalling the condition seen in the adjoin-
ing valley of the Thames, is the old buried channel of the
river. Its bottom lies about 60 feet below the level of
the Hailing terrace. We have seen that it was about
the commencement of the Neolithic period that the land
reached its highest point of elevation ; it was then that
the Medway occupied its buried channel. It is apparent,
then, that the formation of the Hailing terrace must
have ceased when the process of elevation set in the
process which culminated in the Medway carving out the
HIQHER TftffACE
Bft/CX EARTH HIGHER TERRACE
GRAVEL
&t)R/ED CHAMMEL.
HALLING MAN
TILBURY MAN
FIG. 30. Diagrammatic section across the valley of the Medway (W. H. Cook).
valley to the depth of the buried channel. If Neolithic
man appeared when the land had reached its highest point
of elevation, and when the Medway had reached its lowest
bed, he would have found the Hailing terrace, not as we
see it to-day, only a few feet above the level of the tide,
but on the sides of the valley, 40 feet or more beyond
the reach of the greatest floods. Tilbury man did not
appear at the point of greatest elevation ; submergence
was well under way the river valley was being submerged
and filled up when he was living. Since his day, sub-
mergence had proceeded, bringing the Hailing terrace
almost back to its original level as regards the river bed.
Now, it is plain that if we allow eight thousand or ten
thousand years for the antiquity of the Tilbury man, we
must, if we count by the rate of elevation or submergence
of the land, allow much more than that period of time
to cover the centuries which must have elapsed between
PALAEOLITHIC ENGLISHMEN 77
the Hailing and the Tilbury men. After the Hailing
man was buried, the terrace went on forming ; then
ensued a period of elevation, during which the Medway
deepened its valley by 50 feet or more. Then the sub-
mergence began ; at an early phase of the submergence,
Tilbury man appeared. It seems to me that a period
of at least twelve thousand or fifteen thousand years
must be allowed for the Halling-Tilbury interval. Our
inquiries into the cave formations showed us that the depth
of the deposits formed during the later Palaeolithic periods
may amount to as much as 60 feet ; we saw, too, the suc-
cession of various forms of cultures, the extinction of many
animal species, and a great change in climate. But we
had no opportunity of forming an estimate of time by such
FIG. 3<DA. A later and more accurate section across the valley of the Medway
at Hailing by Mr W. H. Cook.
means as we find at Hailing the work done by rivers, the
deepening and the filling up of valleys. I do not see,
when we take all these considerations into account, that
we can allow less than twenty-five thousand years as the
age of the Hailing skeleton.
We now turn to ascertain what kind of man lived so
long ago in the Medway valley. We have seen what
the Aurignacian men of the Continent were like the tall,
lank, rather negroid Cromagnon people, the robust, large-
headed Brunn type, and the river-bed type of Engis. At
Hailing, we again meet with the river-bed type of skull.
In fig. 31, this skull is placed within a standard frame,
designed to fit the average-sized head of to-day. It is
seen to fit the Hailing skull very closely. The length of
the skull is 187 mm. 3 mm. short of the conventional
standard ; the width is 142 mm., being 75 per cent, of
78 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the length ; the height of the vault above the ear-holes is
124 mm. nearly 9 mm. above the mean amount for
males. 1 The size of brain was, as is so often the case in
Palaeolithic races, above the modern average the cranial
capacity in this case being 1500 c.c. The measurements
cannot be regarded as exact, for, although the cavity of
the skull was filled with a solid cast of brick earth, yet all
the bones were much broken, and, in the replacement of
fragments, some degree of error may have crept into the
reconstruction. There is not a single feature of the skull
140 IZO JOO SO,
FIG. 31. The Hailing skull viewed from the side and from above.
which one can say is primitive or ape-like. The forehead
is well formed, of average size, with supra-orbital ridges
moderately developed. The areas for the muscles of
mastication are not larger than in modern skulls. The
bones which enclose the brain cavity, often 8 or 10 mm.
thick in ancient skulls, are in the vault of this specimen,
only 4 to 5 mm. thick in reality thin bones. The
mastoid processes and other areas of the skull to which
the muscles of the neck are attached do not differ in any
point from those seen in modern races. Indeed, were it
not for the evidence of the strata in which the skeleton lay
1 For full account of skeleton, see Journ. Roy. Anthrop. Justit.^ vol.
xliv., July 1914.
PALEOLITHIC ENGLISHMEN 79
and the hearths which were superimposed, and particularly
the conditions of the bones themselves, one would not
have suspected that this was the skull of a man who
lived many thousands of years ago. The bones when
originally found were soft ; when dried they became hard,
porcellanous, and brown in colour. Now a year later
they have become of a light, stone-grey colour, with
absolutely no animal matter left in them. When placed
in a solution of hydrochloric acid, they crumble into a
fine, grey sediment.
Of the face, no clear picture can be drawn. All the
bones between the lower jaw below, and the forehead
above, had been dissolved away in the brick earth. The
dimensions of the lower jaw suggest a face of moderate
length, contracted at its lower part, especially at the
jowls or angles of the mandible, in front of and below
the ears. The chin is moderately developed, narrow
and peaked in shape ; the height of the mandible at
the symphysis is 30 mm., its thickness, 14 mm. both
moderate dimensions. The width between the angles of
the jaw was 96 mm.; the bicondylar width, 120 mm.
measurements which the expert anatomist will recognise
as moderate for even modern men. The zygomatic or
cheek arches were broken, but the total width of the
face could not have appreciably exceeded the modern
average.
The characters of the skull and skeleton leave no
doubt as to the sex : the skeleton was that of a man, and
from the condition of the sutures between the bones of
the skull all of which were open a man not over forty
years of age, probably considerably under. For a man
of this age the teeth were in a surprisingly bad condition.
They were deeply worn ; the enamel had disappeared by
wear from the chewing surfaces of the crowns, exposing
the dentine, and, in some cases, the pulp cavities. Of
the six molar teeth of the lower jaw, five had been lost
from disease not from caries, but from abscesses or
gumboils forming at their roots. One of the premolar
teeth had also perished before death ; the incisors, canine,
8o THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
and premolars, some of which had fallen out after death,
were much worn. The food of the Hailing man was
rough in nature, and he had suffered severely from dental
disease. It was possible to estimate the size of his palate.
It was rather shorter and wider than is common in
modern Englishmen. An unexpected feature of a primi-
tive jaw is the position of the third molar or wisdom
tooth. It springs, as may be seen from fig. 31, not from
the body of the jaw, but from the root of the ascending
branch of the mandible, indicating that there was in-
sufficient growth in the jaw to provide accommodation
for the last tooth to come into its proper position. As
regards the dimensions of the teeth, such of them as have
been preserved, there is no point in size or form which
differentiates them from the teeth of modern British
people. The criticism may be made that such a skull
is of no intrinsic interest because it shows no new
or primitive feature. On the contrary, the discovery
is of the greatest interest ; it shows how steadfastly
human characters are transmitted from generation to
generation. If we accept the degree of antiquity I
have presumed twenty-five thousand years and allow
forty generations to each thousand years, then we see
that racial characters can be transmitted for a thousand
generations, and still retain their essential features almost
unchanged.
Mention has been made already of the broken condition
of the bones of the skull. The bones of the skeleton, in
spite of the greatest care, could not be reconstructed with
absolute accuracy. The shafts of the long bones, which
are always dense and compact in structure, were preserved,
but the spongy texture at their extremities had become
reduced to dust. The thigh bones were fairly complete.
Their total length was approximately 435 mm. Applying
the formula used by Professor Pearson for calculating
the stature of the individual from the length of the thigh
bone, we estimate the height of the Hailing man at
1630 mm. (5 feet 4 inches) somewhat under medium
height. His collar bones were also short, 130 mm., but
PALEOLITHIC ENGLISHMEN 81
stout, indicating a man with a narrow, round chest. The
ribs were broad and strong. Clearly the Hailing man
is not of the tall, Cromagnon breed. His low stature
agrees with that of the Neolithic river-bed people. Yet
he differs markedly from them in certain features. In
Neolithic skeletons, the upper extremity of the thigh bone
usually shows a marked degree of flattening from front
to back. In the Hailing thigh bone, as is the case in
many Continental skeletons of a Palaeolithic date, this
feature is absent. 1 The thigh bone in this respect is also
like that of modern man. The head of the thigh bone
of the Hailing man is very massive 52 mm. in diameter,
an excessive amount when one considers the shortness
of the bone. His tibia does not show the compression
or flattening from side to side which appears in races of
Neolithic and later times. In this respect also, the tibia
approaches more nearly to that of modern man. We
have seen, too, that in the proportion of the limbs the
Cromagnon type resembled negro races, the tibia being
very long when contrasted with the femur, and the radius
long when compared with the humerus. Unfortunately,
the extremities of nearly all the long bones are deficient
in the Hailing skeleton, precluding an exact estimate of
their lengths, but one can be certain that these negroid
features were not present at least not in the marked
negroid degree found in the Cromagnon race of the
Aurignacian period.
One very anomalous and puzzling feature was found
in the vault of the skull (see fig. 31). The coronal
suture which crosses the vault between the frontal and
parietal bones bends towards the forehead as it approaches
the middle line of the vault. So anomalous is the con-
dition that it seemed most likely to be due to an error
in reconstruction. A full investigation excluded such
an explanation. In one of the Neolithic skulls found at
Coldrum, a large Wormian bone was interpolated in
the same part of the vault (see fig. 4, p. 10). In
1 Details of measurements will be found in the fourn. Roy. Anthrop.
Instit., vol. xliv., July 1914.
82 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the Hailing skull, the irregularity may arise from the
presence of such a bone, which has become joined to the
left parietal bone. It is a remarkable circumstance that
one should find two ancient skulls from neighbouring
localities showing such a very uncommon form of
abnormality.
When we sum up the lesson to be learned from the
discovery at Hailing, it falls under two heads. First,
that at this early date the river-bed type of man was
already in England. We have seen that Dr Schmerling
had discovered this type in the Engis cave with the
remains of extinct animals and the culture which
characterise the Aurignacian age. The inference we
draw from the discovery at Hailing is that a human type
may be transmitted over a long period of time and
remain almost unchanged as regards size of brain and
cranial characters.
But there is a much more important lesson to be
learned, namely, that there probably still remain many
untouched and undiscovered records of Palaeolithic man
in England, similar in nature to the hearths and skeleton
discovered at Hailing. Hitherto, we have sought for
traces of Palaeolithic man in caves ; we hardly expected
to read his history in the open country, in exposed
valleys and in submerged land surfaces. Near Hastings,
on the south coast of Sussex, not more than fifty miles
from Hailing, Mr Lewis Abbott discovered work-floors
of Magdalenian date. Before the Hailing discovery
had been made, Mr J. Reid Moir had discovered and
described a true Aurignacian floor, marked by hearths
and characteristic flints, in a valley to the north of
Ipswich, in Suffolk. Almost at the same time, Dr Allen
Sturge discovered a similar floor in another part of Suffolk,
near Mildenhall. More recently, Mr Reginald Smith,
of the British Museum, has described a series of
Aurignacian floors found in England all of them buried
under sandy (loess) deposits. 1 We see, then, that it is
possible that we may still find under or near those
1 Seejourn. Roy Anthrop, Instit., vol. xliv., July 1914.
PALEOLITHIC ENGLISHMEN 83
ancient hearths remains of men who were living in
England during the later phases of the glacial age.
Within a year of his first discovery, Mr Reid Moir
found another Palaeolithic floor in the excavations for
the foundations of a house in one of the streets of
Ipswich. The flints were of a later period than the
Aurignacian, namely, the Magdalenian.
CHAPTER V
FURTHER EXAMPLES OF LATER PALEOLITHIC MEN
IN ENGLAND
IN our pursuit of Englishmen of the later Palaeolithic
phases of culture, we now pass to the very centre of
England to the eastern strip of the county of Derby
which is crossed by the direct railway route from
Mansfield, in the neighbouring county of Notts, to
Sheffield, in the adjoining county of York to the north.
Limestone crags crop up in the eastern part of Derby-
shire and streams pass eastwards to join the Trent. The
eye of the passenger, as he journeys to Sheffield through
this part of Derbyshire, is certain to catch the picturesque
outlines of the Cresswell Crags, famous for their caves.
Between 1873 and 1875, tne ^- ev - J- Magens Mello 1 and
Professor Boyd Dawkins explored the strata of those
caves, and found, not only the remains of the various
extinct animals which characterise the later Palaeolithic
periods, but also the first ever discovered in England-
one of those remarkable engravings on bone which give
the cultures of the Continental caves a high place in the
estimation of artists. The carving found represents
the head of a horse worked in the style of the cave
men probably of Magdalenian date. They also found
flints worked in the same manner as the implements at
Solutre. The discoveries at Cresswell Crags showed that
the cultures of the late cave periods existed in England
as well as France. The cave which is to give us the
1 Quart. Journ. GeoL Soc., vols. xxxi. p 679, xxxii. p. 240, xxxiii. p. 579,
and xxxv. p. 724.
84
FURTHER EXAMPLES 85
evidence of which we are in search the kind of man
who lived in England during the Aurignacian period
is near a station short of the Cresswell Crags, three miles
to the south of them, the station of Langwith. A little
way to the east of the station lies the church and rectory
of Langwith Bassett. Behind the clump of trees which
surrounds the church and rectory runs a brook, the
Poulter, flowing eastwards along a narrow valley. The
rector, the Rev. E. H. Mullins, is an accomplished
geologist. He had lived many years in the parish
before he discovered that in the little valley, just behind
the rectory, lay a buried cave rich in records of Palaeolithic
date. The discovery came about in this way. In the
autumn of 1903 his son, Mr A. F. Mullins, then a
Cambridge undergraduate, along with two college friends,
was seeking a subterranean passage which tradition said
existed between the valley and the church. They began
to explore an old fox's earth which was hid amongst
nettles and weeds on the side of the valley, just under
a projecting outcrop of limestone rock and a little
distance above the northern side of the stream the
Poulter. Forcing their ' way in on hands and knees,
they discovered that the space widened and led, by
spaces they could just squeeze their bodies through, to
other passages and expansions. It was then that it
dawned on Mr Mullins that they had discovered a buried
or filled-up cave which might yield similar treasures to
those revealed by the neighbouring caves in the Cresswell
Crags years before.
The household of the rectory began a systematic
and laborious exploration of the cave extending over
a number of years from 1903 onwards. The net result
of their labours, 1 I have represented diagrammatically in
fig. 32. It will be seen that the cave had become filled
almost to the roof, the deposit on the floor amounting
in depth to about 12 feet (3-6 m.). When the entrance
and the first or central chamber (about 13 feet in dia-
1 See account by Mr Mullins, Derbyshire Archceological and Natural
History Societies Journal, 1913, p. i.
86
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
meter) were cleared, the original floor of the cave was
found to be about 8 feet above the stream which flows
past the entrance the level of the stream at this point
being 300 ieet above Ordnance datum. In the deposit
which rilled the cave, Mr Mullins recognised three
horizons, the upper horizon fading into the middle, and
the middle into the lower zone. The upper horizon,
about 3 feet in depth, made up of loam similar to that
forming the surface soil of neighbouring fields, yielded
remains of modern small animals. The middle horizon,
varying from 5 to 6 feet in depth, made up of the same
ROOF
CENTRAL CHAMBER
FORMER ENTRANCE
HORIZON
3-4 F? MIDDLE HORIZON
5-6 P?
LOWER HORIZON
2-3 P?
FIG. 32. A diagrammatic section to show the horizons Mr Mullins
recognised in the cave earth at Langwith.
material as the upper horizon, was studded with blocks
and chips of limestone, often partially cemented together.
No layer of stalagmite was seen either above or below
the middle horizon. The middle stratum yielded abun-
dant remains of extinct animals, such as characterise the
later phases of Palaeolithic culture. In this stratum,
near the entrance, at a depth of 2 feet, was found the
radius of a woolly rhinoceros ; in the same stratum of
the central chamber, the humerus of a cave-bear which
had been gnawed by a cave-hyena. The lower or bottom
stratum, made up of a sandy loam and varying in thickness
from 2 to 3 feet, yielded abundant evidence of man's
occupation. As will be seen from fig. 32, the bottom
FURTHER EXAMPLES 87
layer of the central chamber extended through the
entrance towards the present bank of the stream. The
remains of ancient hearths and floors occurred at all
levels of the bottom stratum, in the central chamber, at
the entrance, and on the old terrace in front of the
entrance. Calcined stones, " pot-boilers," and numerous
worked flints and a bone pin occurred at this horizon.
So did the remains of extinct animals the woolly
rhinoceros, the cave-bear, brown bear, the reindeer, the
urus (Bos primigenius\ the lemming, the Arctic hare, and
many other members of a fauna indicating a colder
climate than the present. Mr Mullins had the advantage
of expert advice from Mr E. T. Newton, Mr A. C.
Hinton, and Mr A. S. Kennard in identifying the fauna
yielded by the Langwith cave a fauna represented by
sixty different species. As to the flint implements there
can be no doubt ; they represent the culture of the
Aurignacian, and probably also of the Magdalenian
period. The remains of the extinct animals found with
the flints and hearths in the bottom stratum are those
which usually occur in cave deposits of the Aurignacian
culture. There can, therefore, be no hesitation in re-
garding all that lay in the deepest stratum of the
Langwith cave as belonging, not to our modern period,
but to the Pleistocene epoch.
The following account of the discovery of the remains
of the man himself, in the deepest stratum, is given in
Mr Mullins' own words : l
" On the left-hand side of the entrance and 9 or
10 feet down, quite close to the floor, and also on
the side wall of the cave, under what seemed to be
a natural arch, formed by a fall of the roof in an
early age (but there is no sign of any such fall in
the present roof), we found the Langwith skull.
There were no signs of other bones along with it,
but it was clear that the skull could not have been
interred in any historic time by man's agency. . . .
1 Letter to the Author, October I2th, 1909.
88 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
How did the rock arch fall after the skull was
there ? How did 9 to 10 feet of stone blocks,
chips, Pleistocene bones, sand, clay, etc., completely
fill up the space near this skull ? "
From what we have seen at Solutre, in the caves of
Mentone and Engis, at Hailing and at Paviland, we are
not surprised to find a skull buried beneath or near the
hearths of Aurignacian man. We also see the most
likely explanation of the arch of stones over the skull ;
it appears to represent part of the grave. At Paviland
and in the Grimaldi caves, Aurignacian man protected
the head of the dead by an arrangement of stones. But
where is the rest of the skeleton ? Only the brain case
of the skull remains the face, the teeth, and the jaws are
gone. Parts of the backbone were found two vertebrae
from the dorsal region ; some joints of the fingers were
recovered in the neighbourhood, but not a trace of the
long bones of the limbs. We have seen, however, that
at certain periods hyenas frequented the cave, and their
presence may explain the disturbed and dismembered
skeleton. A fragment of the skull of a young child was
also obtained in the bottom stratum.
For three reasons, I failed at first to recognise the im-
portance of the discovery Mr Mullins had made. The
skull he put into my hands gave us, for the first time,
positive evidence as to the kind of man living in England
during the period of Aurignacian culture. My reasons
or prejudices fell under three heads. The skull was a
duplicate of the specimen found in the old deposits of
the Trent at Muskam only thirty miles to the east of
Langwith. The Trent skull is the standard example of
the river-bed type. I then shared the prevalent belief
that the river-bed type of skull was characteristic of the
Neolithic period, and that when we passed into that in-
definite hinterland of time, known as the Pleistocene and
characterised by Palaeolithic forms of culture, we should
certainly find a very different type of man. Many
animals of that time had become extinct ; it was probable
FURTHER EXAMPLES 89
that Palaeolithic races of men shared their fate. Hence I
kept searching for evidence which would justify me in
assigning the Langwith skull to the Neolithic period. In
the second place, I failed to perceive how completely Mr
Mullins had proved that the skull was contemporaneous
with the deepest horizon and that the culture of that
horizon was truly Palaeolithic. My third prejudice
related to the condition of the skull ; it was brown in
colour, dense and heavy, but so fresh in its composition
that I could not think it to be really ancient. The
following note (February 2 yth, 1911) from Mr Mullins
will explain how my doubts on this head were removed.
I made a careful examination, and also records of the
skull, and returned it to the discoverer, expressing my
doubts as to its antiquity. Mr Mullins sent the skull
back to me accompanied by bones of the bison, cave-bear,
woolly rhinoceros, reindeer, and a bone awl, with the
accompanying information : " These are sent for Dr
Keith to note their state of preservation. They all come
from the same side of the cave and the same horizon,
except the bone awl, which I believe came from the north-
west passage of the cave upper horizon."
I had, therefore, to abandon the belief that people
with heads of the river-bed type did not transcend the
Neolithic period. Langwith cave revealed the fact that
this type goes far back into Palaeolithic times. The type
is infinitely older than we had originally supposed. The
discovery made by Dr Schmerling revealed this river-bed
type in a cave of Aurignacian date in Belgium. The
discovery at Hailing was not made until 1912. At Pavi-
land, the skull of the Aurignacian skeleton was not found.
Here, then, we have the most positive evidence of the
persistence of certain human types. The river-bed form
of skull still abounds in Europe particularly in England ;
we find it also in the Pleistocene epoch, twenty-five
thousand years ago or more.
The characters of the skull do not require minute de-
scription. In fig. 33, the skull is set in the conventional
frame of lines and viewed from the side and the front.
9 o
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
In fig. 34, it is represented from above and compared
with the Trent (Neolithic) skull. The brain capacity is
190 160 HO 120 IPO 80 60 40 20 O
70 50
FIG. 33. The Langwith skull viewed from the side and from the front.
low ; when measured by filling the cavity of the skull
with millet seed, the size of the brain is found to be only
7O 50 O
LANGWITH
50 70
FIG. 34. The upper aspect of the Langwith skull contrasted with the
Trent skull of Neolithic date.
1250 c.c. about 230 c.c. under the modern average.
In this respect it differs from most skulls of the Palaeolithic
period, which are commonly above the modern standard.
FURTHER EXAMPLES 91
But, if small, the skull shows no feature which we can
call low or primitive, except that, as is so often the case in
the skulls of Australian natives, the brain chamber gives
one the impression of being imperfectly filled the sides
are flat and the vault rises almost to a keel. Neverthe-
less, it is a strongly modelled skull, of a man aged
between forty and fifty years so we infer from the
partly closed condition of the sutures between the several
bones of the vault. Very probably the man was of small
stature and of slight make, as is usually the case in
races with the river-bed type of skull. The maximum
length of the skull is 192 mm., 180 mm. of that
measurement being due to length of brain, the rest to
thickness of bone in the frontal and occipital walls.
The maximum width, just above and behind the ear-
holes, is 135 mm., the width being 70 per cent, of the
length a narrow skull. The height of the vault above
the ear-holes, 113 mm. a small amount, especially when
one remembers the bone along the vault is much thicker
(9 mm.) than in most modern skulls (5-6 mm.).
Another measurement indicating the total height of the
skull (basi-bregmatic) is 127 mm. also a low amount.
The distance between the orbits at the root of the nose
is, as in modern British skulls, 24 mm. The eye-
brow ridges are pronounced, the frontal air sinuses
large. The difference between the minimum width of
the forehead (95 mm.) and the maximum width (no
mm.), which is measured between the extremities of the
supra-orbital ridges, is considerable (15 mm.), certainly a
primitive character. The temporal muscles of mastication
are rather larger than usual. At least the lines which
mark the upper limit of the attachment of those muscles
are placed, as is often the case in small modern skulls,
unusually far above the zygomatic or cheek arches. In
the Langwith skull these lines are situated 100 mm.
above the zygomatic arches, and only 48 mm. from the
middle line along the roof of the skull. As is usual in
this type of skull, the occiput projects backwards as a
boss or cap. The area differentiated for the attachment
92 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
of the neck is of moderate dimensions, and the width of
the neck behind the ears, the bimastoid width, is 120
mm. The width of the face (bizygomatic diameter) was
about 130 mm. It is a small-headed man we have to
picture in the Langwith cave, but one not showing any
markedly low or primitive character.
To continue our survey of the remains of late
Palaeolithic man in England, we now move from the
centre to the south-west of England to that part
of the county of Somerset which bounds the eastern
shore of the Bristol Channel. Here a range of limestone
hills the Mendips run from east to west. Along
their southern base flows the Axe, making a westward
course through a marshy, flat strip of country. Near
the cathedral town of Wells, only sixteen miles distant
from the Bristol Channel, the Axe issues from a cave in a
southern clifF of the Mendips. Close by is the famous
hyena cave Wookey Hole first explored by Professor
Boyd Dawkins in 1859, the year before Lartet examined
the cave at Aurignac. In that year, and in the following,
he discovered in the buried floor of the cave the hearths,
the flints, the bone implements, and the extinct animals
which Lartet found in the cave at Aurignac only more
abundantly ; he found no human remains. Professor
Boyd Dawkins arrived at the same conclusions Lartet
did, namely, that man must have existed as a con-
temporary of the extinct Pleistocene animals. The
veteran pioneer of " Cave Hunting " l has lived to see a
revolution in our attitude towards the question of man's
antiquity. A passage he wrote in 1860 will show that
the truth he contended for then is now admitted by all.
" It is certain that man was contemporary in the district
with the hyena and the animals ^on which it preyed, and
the fact that the ancient implements were found only on
one spot implies that they were deposited by the hand of
man. To suppose that a savage would take the trouble
to excavate a trench 24 feet long with miserable
implements and consequently with great labour, and,
1 Cave Hunting, Macmillan Co., 1874.
FURTHER EXAMPLES
93
having excavated it, again to fill it up to the very roof,
is little less than absurd." With every word of which, 1
am sure, the reader will agree. Nor will he more easily
believe that Neolithic man would take the labour to cut
through the thick stalagmitic floors of such caves to
bury his dead in a stratum with extinct animals and
Palaeolithic flints, and take pains to cover up the date of
his deed in order to deceive his cave-hunting descendants.
No human remains were found at Wookey Hole. To
reach the cave which disclosed the remains of Palaeolithic
man himself, we have to follow the Axe along the
southern foot of the Mendips until it guides us to
the village of Cheddar, halfway between Wells and the
coast. . The caves at Cheddar have been famous for a
long time, and, with the museum attached to them, form
a popular resort for summer visitors. The proprietor,
Mr R. C. Gough, began the excavation of a " new " cave
in 1892. In the debris at the entrance were found, as at
Wookey Hole, traces of all the cultures which succeeded
the Neolithic period. The floor of the cave had the
usual structure a superficial stratum of recent deposit
2 to 4 feet thick. Then followed a layer of stalagmite,
5 to 12 inches (10 to 25 cm.) thick. Beneath the
stalagmite lay a stratum of red cave earth, 6 to 8 feet in
depth, containing abundant remains of extinct Pleistocene
animals. There were also found the hearths, the flint and
bone work of, not the Aurignacian, but as Mr H. N.
Davies was the first to recognise a later Palaeolithic
period, the Magdalenian, the culture found in its re-
presentative form in the station of La Madeleine in the
ravine of the lower Vezere, France.
In December 1903, Mr Gough, to secure better
drainage for the central chamber of the cave, began to
open up a side recess or fissure. It was filled with the
usual red cave earth and capped by a layer of stalagmite.
Under the stalagmite, and embedded in the cave earth
to a depth of i|- feet ('450 m.), he exposed a human
skeleton, lying back down, and the thighs partly drawn
upwards, as if it had been placed in the partially con-
94 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
tracted posture. The skeleton was seen and examined
by Mr H. N. Davies, and all the facts relating to the
discovery were collected and placed on record by him. 1
Lately, these remains have been more fully examined by
Professor Parsons. 2 In all its characters, the skull falls
into the river-bed group. Its length is 196 mm. ; its
width, 1 3 8 mm., is 70-4 per cent, of the length ; the height
of the vault above the ear-holes, 115 mm. The brain
capacity is estimated to be approximately 1450 c.c. It
is thus 200 c.c. larger than the Langwith skull, and
resembles that specimen in many of its features. The
vault in both is 9 mm. thick. The face, however, is
preserved in the Cheddar specimen, but it shows no
exceptional feature. The thigh bone is 435 mm. long,
from which we infer that the Cheddar man was of low
stature about 1620 mm. (5 feet 4 inches). The leg
bone (tibia) shows the side-to-side flattening seen in
Neolithic races less commonly in races of Palaeolithic
date. Thus we see, so far as the evidence will take us
at present, that a people with the river-bed type of head
inhabited England from the Aurignacian period onwards.
In our search for the remains of cave man in England
we pass from Somerset to the shores of Torbay, situated
on the south coast of the neighbouring county of Devon.
The bay, one of the most beautiful in England, is
bounded by two headlands or horns, about five miles
apart. Amongst the green, terraced, limestone hills of
the northern headland is situated Torquay, with Kent's
Cavern hid in a valley in the suburbs of the town ; on
the southern headland is the busy fishing town of Brixham.
In 1858, Mr Philp of that town was preparing to build on
the limestone hill above the harbour, when his workmen
opened an unknown natural subterranean passage or
cavern some 600 feet in length from then onwards
1 H. N. Davies, Quart. fourn. Geolog. Soc., 1904, vol. Ix. p. 335.
2 Reports of Seventeenth Internal. Med. Congress, 1914, Section I., Part
II., p. 91. Professors C. G. Seligman and F. G. Parsons contributed a
paper on the Cheddar man and his civilisation which appeared in the
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 1914, vol. xliv. p 241.
The measurements given in the text are those by Professor Parsons.
FURTHER EXAMPLES
95
known as the Brixham cave. In 1858, the question as
to whether man did, or did not, exist with extinct animals
was being hotly debated. One of the leading geologists
of the time, Dr Hugh Falconer, induced two of the
premier London Societies the Royal and the Geological
to explore the cave and settle the question. A pioneer
in cave exploration, Mr William Pengelly, 1 undertook to
direct the work and record the results. In fig. 35, I
reproduce a copy of his section across the cave to show
the strata of the floor.
They correspond to those
just seen in the caves
of the Mendips. There
was a bottom stratum of
gravel ; a middle stratum
of 5 to 6 feet in thickness
of red cave earth, which
A N Cl T/MT
ri.oo R
Cfi ^V EU
ST^ L A CN)
FLOOR
FIG. 35. Section across the Brixham
cave showing the strata of the
floor.
;
contained bones of the
woolly rhinoceros, mam- C * VE
moth, hyena, lion, bear,
etc. Then over the cave
earth came a stratum of
stalagmite about a foot in
thickness, in which an
antler of the reindeer was
embedded ; over the stalag-
mite a surface stratum of
recently formed earth. In the cave earth, mingled with
the bones of the extinct animals, were found flint tools
shaped by man. The exploration thus settled the question
as to man's contemporaneity with extinct animals, but
threw no light on the kind of man nor the place of his
culture in the scheme of human evolution.
To obtain light on those problems, we must pay
the great neighbouring cave Kent's Cavern a cursory
visit. In 1846, the Torquay Natural History Society, of
which William Pengelly was the moving spirit, began to
explore this vast series of damp, dark passages, vaults,
1 See reference, p. 96.
96 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
chambers, and subterranean corridors. The task was
one beyond its means. In 1864, Pengelly induced
the British Association to take up the work. From
1864 to 1880 nearly ^2000 was spent on the work,
and although 50,000 fossil specimens were excavated,
cleaned, identified and labelled, the Herculean task of
exploring Kent's Cavern is little more than begun. 1
The upper strata of the floor are the same as at
Brixham a surface earth containing traces of all
cultures from Neolithic down to the present. 2 Below
the superficial debris came : (i) the upper stalagmite,
in some places 3 feet thick ; then (2) the red cave
earth, 3 to 5 feet thick, with bones of extinct animals
and Palaeolithic implements. Beneath the cave earth
began a second and older series of deposits, commenc-
ing with (3) the lower stratum of stalagmite, covering
(4) a g reat depth of breccia, composed of chips of
sandstone and slate firmly cemented together. The
lower or older deposits contain evidences of early
human cultures which do not concern us at present.
The upper strata, however, have a direct interest
for us because they belong to the time of the later
phases of Palaeolithic culture. In the upper stalag-
mite, and in the upper layer of cave earth, just under
the stalagmite, were found implements in bone and stone
worked in the last Palaeolithic phase the Magdalenian
the same culture as characterised the cave at Cheddar.
In 1867, Mr Pengelly found the right half of a
human palate, with four teeth still in place, at a depth
of 20 inches ("500 m.) in the upper stalagmite. The
palate lay unnoticed in its museum case at Torquay
until 1912, when my friend, Dr W. L. H. Duckworth,
1 See a Memoir on William Pengelly, F.R.S., by his daughter, Mrs
Forbes Julian, London, 1897.
2 I am much indebted to the late Mr Arthur R. Hunt and other members
of the Torquay Natural History Society for information regarding the
exploration of Kent's Cavern, and for opportunities of seeing the collections
in their museum. See Mr Hunt's papers on Kent's Cavern in Geological
Magazine, 1902, vol. ix. p. 114 ; Proc. of Geologist? Assoc., 1900, vol. xvi.
p 425 ; Journ. Torquay Nat. Hist. Soc., 1914, vol. i. p. 267. Also a short
account of Kent's Cavern, Torquay, i. r
FURTHER EXAMPLES
97
rescued it from oblivion. 1 In fig. 36, I give a drawing
of this specimen the right half of a palate. Side by side
I have set the left half of a palate from a famous French
skull of Aurignacian date, that found at Combe Capelle. 2
In shape and size, these two halves are very similar.
The teeth, too, agree in dimension, shape, and character.
In the adjoining drawing in fig. 36, I have represented
the left half of the palate of a modern English skull,
and the right half of the palate of a member of an extinct
primitive race the Tasmanian. The area of a well-
e-e
30 20 10
KENTS CAVERN.
AREA 2960mm.
to 20 30
COMBE CAPELLE
Z9OO mm:
TASMANIAN.
3680mm.
MODERN ENGLISH.
Z83O mm-
FIG. 36. A. Right half of palate from Kent's Cavern.
B. Left ,, ,, Combe Capelle.
C. Right ,, ,, Tasmanian.
D. Left ,, ,, modern Englishman.
developed palate of a modern Englishman is about
2800 mm., the area being the space bounded by the
outer margins of the crowns of the teeth. The hinder
border of the area is demarcated by a line joining the
posterior margin of the last or third molar teeth (see
p. 150). The particular Tasmanian palate represented
in fig. 36 has an area of 3680 mm., 1200 mm. more than
in the English palate. In the case of the two palates of
Paleolithic man represented in fig. 36, the palatal area
1 See Journal of the Torquay Natural History Society, 1913. See
also Brit. Assoc. Reports, Dundee, 1912.
2 See p. 1 08.
98 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
is only about 100 mm. above the average modern English-
man. The palate and teeth from Kent's Cavern do show
a degree of robust development which is uncommon in
modern mouths, but there is no character present which
suggests that a strange or unknown race is represented.
The back-front diameters of the teeth are also given
on the drawings. Measured along the line of the arch
of the teeth, the three molars of the Kent's Cavern palate
have a combined length of 30*5 mm., which, although
above the average of our modern molars, is yet rather
below that of primitive native races such as Australians
or Africans (see dimensions on fig. 36). The cusps are
worn off the chewing surfaces of the first and second
teeth ; they had each four cusps the full number but the
fourth cusp is absent from the last molar. The roots of
the teeth are long and well separated, and, in my opinion
but here I differ somewhat from Dr Duckworth show
no trace of those features which characterise that peculiar
and ancient Palaeolithic race Neanderthal man. 1 Mr
George Jackson has shown me similar teeth and palates
from caves opened near Plymouth. Thus, at Kent's
Cavern, we have evidence of a closing phase of the
Palaeolithic culture, and just enough of one of the men of
the time to show that he was not different to those found
in other English caves.
To complete our survey of late Palaeolithic man in
Britain, we must continue our tour by passing eastwards
along the south coast of England to the summit of the
South Downs in the county of Sussex. The remarkable
earthworks or camps on the top of the Downs at Cissbury,
near Worthing, belong to the Neolithic period ; but the
circular pits and depressions, about fifty in number, which
occupy the same site, have yielded a peculiar culture, at
first supposed to belong to an early part of the Neolithic
period. In 1868, General Pitt Rivers began an investiga-
tion of those pits ; the result of his explorations, and of
others of a later date, was to show that the pits were in
reality the filled-in mouths of vertical shafts which went
1 See p. 147.
FURTHER EXAMPLES 99
down 30 to 40 feet in the chalk. The significance of
these shafts or mines was also clear ; they were sunk to
obtain the kind of flint most suitable for working into
implements. They were flint mines. The veins of
suitable flints were followed by driving horizontal
galleries from the vertical shaft. The miners left tools
behind them now preserved in the filled-up mines. It
has been customary to regard the culture of the Cissbury
miners as representative of the dawn of the Neolithic
civilisation. Recently, Mr Reginald Smith, of the British
Museum, has again examined the Cissbury culture, and
the objects of the same period obtained from Grimes
Graves, near Brandon, in Norfolk, and, in the light of
what is now known of the cave men of the Aurignacian
period, has come to the conclusion that the Cissbury
miners were not a Neolithic, but a Palaeolithic people.
The evidence l he has produced is such that most students
will now agree with Mr Smith that the flint implements
probably belong to the period of the Aurignacian culture
the period of Cromagnon, of Grimaldi, and of Hailing.
Remains of the reindeer, of the mammoth, and of the
rhinoceros occur in the caves of that period of culture ;
not a trace of them has been found at Cissbury. The
ancient ox or urus (Bos primigenius), however, occurs.
We scarcely expect the fauna of the period to be fully
represented in mines. In Belgium, similar ancient flint
mines occur. The Belgian miner as may be seen
in the Royal Natural History Museum of Brussels
was a short-headed or brachycephalic man, quite different
from all Aurignacian races ; his civilisation was not
Aurignacian, but that of the Neolithic period. The
miners at Cissbury, on the other hand, had heads of the
river-bed type. In the buried shafts at Cissbury, the
skeletons of two individuals were found and described by
Professor Rolleston. One is the skeleton of a man
under 5 feet (1*500 m.) in height, and showing a
left-sided palsy, contracted in boyhood. 2 The length of
1 See Archceologia, 1912, ser. 2, vol. xiii. p. 109.
2 See Rolleston, Journ. Anthrop. Instit., 1878, vol. viii. p. 377.
ioo THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the skull is 184 mm., width 132, the width index being
71. He had a brain capacity of 1350 c.c. about the
same as the Cheddar man and was buried in the con-
tracted posture with his grave protected by blocks of
chalk. The other skeleton 1 was that of a woman with a
very large head (length 195 mm., width 144 mm., the
width index being 74). The brain capacity was estimated
by Professor Rolleston to be 1732 c.c. a great amount,
particularly in a short woman with a stature of only
5 feet. If Mr Reginald Smith is right in regarding the
Cissbury people as Aurignacians the exploration of
Grimes Graves now undertaken by the Prehistoric
Society of East Anglia will settle the matter then we
have to enlarge our conception of the activities and
amenities of that time. 2 We know that on the Continent
art reached a higher standard in the later phases of the
Palaeolithic period. Cissbury was evidently the home of
a community of miners. Even at this early date there
was a tendency towards the specialisation of human
industries a tendency which has become so pronounced
in modern civilisation.
To bring this chapter to a close, we shall return to the
very centre of London, to the north bank of the Thames
between Trafalgar Square and Westminster. The land
here holds the same relationship to the Thames as the
Hailing terrace at which we started bears to the
Medway. In 1892, foundations were excavated in this
area for a new Admiralty building, exposing a section
of the north bank, or low terrace of the Thames, which
was carefully studied and recorded by Mr Lewis Abbot. 3
Eleven feet below high-tide level was found an old land
surface, bearing in an " Arctic bed " remains of plants
which are natives of a cold climate. That bed marks a
closing phase of the glacial period, evidently corresponding
to the date of the formation of the lowest terraces of the
1 See Rolleston, Jcurn. Anthrop. Instit., 1876, vol. vi. p. 20.
2 A human skull has been found. It is of the same type as the Cissbury
specimens.
3 See Proc. GeoL Assoc., 1892, vol. xii. p. 346.
FURTHER EXAMPLES 101
Thames and Medway valley. Mr Hazzeldine Warren 1
has described a similar and apparently contemporaneous
Arctic bed in the valley of the Lea, to the east of London.
Over the Arctic bed in the foundation of the Admiralty
building, Mr Abbot found a deep bed of gravel, con-
taining remains of Pleistocene mammals and also a flint
implement typical of the Solutrean culture the culture
following the Aurignacian, but preceding the Magdalenian.
We have seen that in the cave at Langwith, with the
evidence of an Aurignacian and of a Magdalenian culture,
animals of a sub-Arctic climate were present. We are
therefore justified in concluding that towards the close
of the Palaeolithic period the climatic conditions were
much colder than now. We are uncertain as to the
causes of climatic change, but we cannot believe, from
our knowledge of historic times, that such changes can be
brought about except by imperceptible degrees extending
over a long period of time. Yet, long as is the period
which has elapsed since Arctic conditions last ceased, the
river-bed type of man has persisted, with his body altered
only in minor details.
Note. The skeleton of the Cissbury man is preserved
in the University Museum, Oxford. Professor Arthur
Thomson and the author have re-examined this skeleton,
and regard the somewhat peculiar features of the limb
bones as due to natural rather than to pathological causes.
The recent exploration of Grimes Graves has revealed a
mixture of cultures of both Neolithic and Palaeolithic
dates.
1 See Quart. Journ. GeoL, 1912, vol. Ixviii. p. 213.
CHAPTER VI
THE MOUSTERIAN PERIOD IN ENGLAND AND THE
MEN OF THAT PERIOD IN FRANCE
IN this chapter we are to take another great step back-
wards into the past. The period of Neolithic man lies
far behind us ; in the two preceding chapters we have
made a cursory survey of the men of the late Palaeolithic
cultures, and formed, on the limited evidence at our
disposal, some estimate of their antiquity. As nearly as
we can guess at present, the point in time which we
have reached is some twenty-five thousand or thirty
thousand years back. We are now to enter a middle
Palaeolithic period during which the men of Europe
worked their stone implements in a very characteristic
style the fashion and culture which is universally known
by the name of Mousterian, because the workmanship,
in its typical form, was found at an early stage of pre-
historic exploration (1863) in one of the Vezere caves
of France, Le Moustier. The Mousterian period was
probably as long in its duration as the late Palaeolithic, the
Neolithic, and the Metal ages put together twenty-five
thousand years. The evidence on which this statement
is based will become apparent as we proceed with this
survey. Thus, we are writing under the belief that the
Mousterian age commenced some fifty thousand years
ago. Very probably these estimates may need readjust-
ment in the light of further discoveries.
The story of late Palaeolithic man, as told in the last
chapter, came to an end on the low or 2o-foot terrace
of the north bank of the Thames, at the British Admiralty
102
MOUSTERIAN PERIOD 103
Buildings. The scene of our search for the records
of his predecessor Mousterian man lies also in the
Thames valley, on the south bank of the river, ten or
twelve miles below London. In this region the North
Downs invade the valley of the Thames, exposing their
flanks to the enterprise of the makers of cement who have
attacked them from the strips of flat land bordering the
river. We may complain of the pestilence of smoke
with which these manufacturers both of brick and
cement fill the valley below London, but as students
of ancient man we are deeply indebted to them. Without
them, we should never have known that in the stretch of
bank which faces the full tide of traffic on the Thames,
early man has left his records more abundantly than in
almost any other part of the world. The manufacturer
has exposed the ancient work-floors and the scattered stone
implements, but the recognition of their nature and
significance has been the work of an army of voluntary
students and collectors who, in a brief history like this,
scarcely receive the mention their labours have well
earned.
The records of the Mousterian period the one which
is to engage us in this chapter lie in this stretch on the
south side of the Thames valley, especially in a side recess
where the Darenth, breaking through the North Downs
from the Weald of Kent, receives a tributary the Cray
and joins the Thames (see fig. 56, p. 161). On the
western or London side of the Darenth estuary have been
deposited the Crayford brick earths, rising 60 feet (18 m.)
above the level of the river. Those brick earths, deposits
of the ancient Thames in times of flood, have been studied
by many men, but the authorities who are to be our chief
guides are two in number : firstly, Messrs Hinton and
Kennard, 1 and secondly, Mr R. H. Chandler. 2 In fig. 37,
I have combined the diagrams those authorities have
drawn embodying observations which they have made
at Crayford. We see, in the first place, the submerged
Neolithic surface, with the horizon of Tilbury man
1 See reference, p. 107. 2 See reference, p. 105.
io 4 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
indicated, although Tilbury is a few miles lower down
the river, and on the opposite or northern bank. Then
comes, in point of antiquity, the low or 2o-foot terrace
the terrace in which the Hailing man of the Aurignacian
period was found, but 1 must also state that the representa-
tion of this terrace at Crayford has been washed away
by the Thames long ago. Then, above the level of the
low or 2o-foot terrace come the Crayford brick earths,
representing a still older deposit of the Thames the
85ft
THANET
SAND
CHALK
FIG. 37. Diagram showing the submerged bed, the low or 2O-foot terrace, the
middle or 5O-foot terrace in the valleys of the Thames and Medway (after
Hinton, Kennard and Chandler).
middle or 5o-foot terrace. We must examine the structure
of this terrace. In the first place, its lowest layer or
stratum is made up of gravel the ballast gravel which
marks the ancient bed of the river. That gravel rises now
30 feet above the present level, not of the bed of the
river, but of the river itself. When the beginnings of
the middle terrace were being laid down, the Thames was
flowing on a bed at a level more than 30 feet above its
present bed. Were the Thames to resume the level of
its ancient bed it would bury a considerable part of
London by its sediment. Then, above the gravel bed,
follow strata of sand, about 14 feet in depth, indicating
MOUSTERIAN PERIOD 105
that the river was flowing more slowly the land was
subsiding, and the valley was being filled up. Above
the sands come another series of beds, known as the
Cyrena beds, containing in abundance the shells of
certain molluscs and bones of small mammals. Then
follow the typical brick earths loamy deposits from the
backwaters of a muddy and flooded river. From the
gravel of the old river bed to the surface of the brick
earth the deposits laid down by the river during a period
of land subsidence amount to over 30 feet in depth.
From the very beginning to the very end of this deposit,
men who worked their flint implements in the Mousterian
style lived on the southern bank of the Thames, for,
at all levels of the brick earths, these implements have
been recovered. Messrs Hinton and Kennard, and Mr
Chandler, recognised that the implements were Mousterian
in type in 1905,* and their inferences were fully supported
by the collection of implements which Mr Brice Higgins
obtained from all horizons of the Crayford brick earths,
and which have been described and recorded by Mr
Reginald Smith. 2
The section of these brick earths as recorded by Mr
Chandler and Mr Leach 3 (see fig. 37) throws a very
definite light on the climate both before and after the forma-
tion of the 5O-foot terrace. Over the brick earths lies a
deposit technically known to geologists as a drift or " trail "
a mixture of chalky blocks, gravel, sand, and sludge.
Such a deposit results from the freezing of a surface soil,
which in the thaw slips bodily down from higher to lower
ground. After the Crayford brick earths were deposited,
there evidently followed a cold period marked by the
formation of trail. We have seen, from the Arctic beds
in the low terrace at the Admiralty Buildings, and from
Mr Warren's discovery in the low terrace of the adjoining
Lea valley, that during the late Palaeolithic periods there
was a return to a sub-Arctic climate. The drift or covering
1 See reference, p. 107.
2 See Man^ 1914, vol. xiv. p. 4 and p. 31.
3 See Proc. GeoL Assoc., 1912, vol. xxiii. p. 186.
io6 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
over the Crayford brick earths may have been produced
then ; at least it was formed before the lower terrace was
finished, for that terrace shows no disturbance of ice
action in its upper strata.
Not only is there a trail over the Crayford brick
earths, but, as Mr Chandler shows in his section (fig. 37),
and as has been recognised for a number of years, there
are the most definite signs of another drift or trail a
frozen landslide on the side of the valley, occupying a
period in time prior to the deposition of the Crayford brick
earths in which the tools and culture of Mousterian man
are embedded. This earlier trail or ice-deposit is known
in England as " Coombe rock " a mixed, contorted
mass of chalk, sand, and loam, the results of a partially
thawed landslide. Even before the period of the earlier
trail, Mousterian man was in the valley of the Thames,
for under the Coombe rock occur his old work-floors.
Five miles lower down the valley almost opposite
Tilbury there is another deposit of brick earths, which,
like those at Crayford, form part of the 5O-foot or
middle terrace. They occur on the western bank of a
side valley by which the Ebbfleet enters the Thames,
being exposed at an excavation or pit known as Baker's
Hole (fig. 56, p. 161). Here, 1 under the Coombe rock,
were found several thousands of Mousterian implements
evidently representing a tool manufactory or workshop
of this remote period.
From the study of the deposits in the valley of the
Thames, we are able to form some conception of the
position which the Mousterian period occupies in the
scale of prehistoric time. It is manifest that this period
is older than the formation of the low or 2o-foot terrace,
for when the middle or 5o-foot terrace is traced towards
the river, it is found to dip under, and therefore to have
been deposited before the lower or more recent terrace.
Further, we see that it lies between two cycles of severe
climate. The duration of the Mousterian period was
1 See Archceologia, 1911, vol. Ixii. p. 522; also G. C. Robson, Trans.
Oxford University Junior Scientific Chib, 1910, June, p. 337.
MOUSTERIAN PERIOD 107
sufficiently long to cover a period which saw a wide
variety of climatic changes in England. We have no
reason to suppose such changes occurred more rapidly
then than they do now. We see, too, that at the begin-
ning of the period the Thames had excavated its valley
to almost its present level, and then subsidence of the land
set in, and the valley was filled up at least to the height
of the Crayford brick earths 60 feet above the present
level. The 5<D-foot terraces on both sides of the river
are all that remains of the great bed of deposits laid down
in the valley during the time the men of England were
in that stage of culture called Mousferian.
The south side of the Thames valley is not the only
place where old Mousterian work -floors have been
found. In drawing up a list of the deposits of the
Thames valley, arranged in their order of formation,
Messrs Hinton and Kennard l mention the discovery
of Mousterian floors on the north bank of the Thames
at Grays, almost opposite Crayford, at Stoke Newington,
over which northern London has extended, and at Acton,
to the west of London. No true cave-habitation of this
date has been found in England, but near Mildenhall,
in the county of Suffolk, East Anglia, Dr Allen Sturge
found a Mousterian work-station or floor. 2 The brick
earth, fully 30 feet in depth, in which the flints were
found by Dr Sturge, is situated on the side of a low hill
which rises on the eastern side of the valley of the Lark
a tributary stream of the Great Ouse. The Mildenhall
brick earths are of the same geological age as those at
Crayford. Further, as Dr Allen Sturge discovered,
they have been overwhelmed by a glacial movement, just
as the brick earths at Crayford were covered over by
" drift."
Thus we have the most ample evidence that England
was inhabited by men of the Mousterian culture ; but so
far not a trace of his actual body has been found. That
1 "The Relative Ages of the Stone Implements of the Lower Thames
Valley," Proc. Geol. Assoc., 1905, vol. xix. p. 76.
2 See Proc. Prehistoric Society, East Anglia, 191 1, vol. i. p. 69.
108 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
is the more strange, seeing that remains of the animals
of the period are well preserved in the brick earths which
contain Mousterian flints. Two forms of elephants
occurred with him in the Thames valley the mammoth
and a form nearly allied to the African elephant (E.
antiquus) ; three forms of the rhinoceros ; the musk
ox, and other mammalian species associated with a cold
climate. 1 " In the brick earths of the middle terrace
of the Thames," writes Mr Hinton, 2 "we meet with
evidence of the invasion of England by swarms of
mammals which can only have come from Siberia and
Eastern Europe the lemming, numerous voles, the
reindeer, and the saiga antelope." At some part of the
Mousterian period perhaps during its whole extent
England was part of the Continent ; otherwise such an
invasion of mammals which were then new to this
country could not have taken place. We see, therefore,
that Mousterian man and his culture could have entered
England by land.
To study the men of the Mousterian times, we must
transfer the scene of our inquiry to the Continent
preferably to that part of France we have already visited
in search of the men of the later Palaeolithic periods,
the region drained by the Dordogne and its tributaries.
A little over sixty miles from Bordeaux, the Dordogne
receives a small southern tributary, the Couze. In the
face of the terraced limestone cliff or hill on one side of
this valley, at a site known as Combe Capelle (fig. 38),
a Swiss archaeologist, Herr O. Hauser, made an important
discovery one which serves exceedingly well to introduce
us to the Mousterian period of France.
In the opening months of 1909, he commenced a
systematic exploration of a terrace, almost on the summit
of one side of the valley, which was known to yield
numerous Palaeolithic flints, and suspected to have served
as a rock-shelter for ancient man. His excavation at the
foot of the sheltering rock exposed the following strata
1 Messrs Hinton and Kennard, Proc. GeoL Assoc., 1905, vol. xix. p. 83.
2 Proc. GeoL Assoc., 1907, vol. xx. p. 53.
MOUSTERIAN PERIOD
109
39) : (0 a layer of soil, about a foot in depth,
containing blocks of limestone detached from the face
of the rock by exposure to wind, wet, and changes of
temperature ; (2) a stratum, over a foot in depth,
containing flints and other evidences of the Solutrean
culture the one preceding the Magdalenian, the latter
being unrepresented at Combe Capelle. Then followed
three strata belonging to various phases of the Aurignacian
FIG. 38. A sketch map of the chief sites of prehistoric discovery in the
region of the Dordogne, France.
culture the lower, the middle, and the upper separated
by two sterile deposits, showing that during two intervals
the rock-shelter had been forsaken as a human habitation.
At the bottom of the lowest Aurignacian stratum a
human skeleton was found, with the clearest evidence
that it had been buried. As was the custom in those
times, the site selected for the grave was near the place
of habitation. The position of the skeleton was much
the same as at Hailing, the knees being bent and the
thighs drawn up. He, the dead man, had been provided
I 10
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
with abundance of flints, and the perforated shells, which
probably ornamented his body in life, were close by.
50LUTREAN CULTURE
STERILE LAYER
UPPER AURIGNACIAN
.- ^ s>^^s STERILE LAYER
MIDDLE. AURIGNACIAN
JI! STERILE LAYER
LOWER AURIGNACIAN
MOUSTERIAN
HUMAN REMAINS
ROCK
FIG. 39. The strata at the rock-shelter at Combe Capelle, showing the
position of the human skeleton discovered by Herr Hauser.
What is most important for our present inquiry is that
the bottom stratum of all contained, not objects of the
MOUSTERIAN PERIOD in
Aurignacian culture, but of the preceding or Mousterian
civilisation. Indeed, one of the implements which lay
near the skeleton, and was probably interred with the
body, was a Mousterian " point " a small, wedge-shaped,
flint implement or scraper.
On the evidence observed and recorded by Herr
Hauser, 1 we must regard the man found at Combe Capelle
as representative of a native of the Dordogne about
the beginning of the Aurignacian period. The type is
familiar to us it is a variant of the modern-looking,
narrow-headed men of the Aurignacian period, a type
which would excite no comment, if dressed in modern
garb, in any assemblage of modern Europeans. The
head is merely a variety of the river-bed type. 2 The
length of the skull, 198 mm., is 6 mm. longer than the
Langwith specimen; its width is only 130 mm. 5
mm. narrower. The narrowness of the head is very
apparent when a comparison is made of the width and
length the width is only 65-7 per cent, of the length, a
narrower head than even that found at Langwith. The
vault of the skull is well sprung, its height above the
ear-holes being 120 mm. The brain capacity is about
1440 c.c. slightly under the modern average. The
facial features are those we are familiar with to-day.
The size of the teeth and development of the palate are
average, the length of the palate being 51 mm. ; its
width at the second molars, 64 mm. (see fig. 36, p. 97).
The three molar teeth, measured along the line of the
crowns, are '28*5 mm. for the upper, 34 mm. for the
lower rather more than is usual in modern dentitions.
He was a man of small stature, unlike the Cromagnon
type, also of the Aurignacian period, but in this respect
like the river-bed people. The length of his thigh bone
is only 425 mm. ; his stature, a little over 1550 mm.
(5 feet 2 inches). Thus, we see, at the close of the
Mousterian period and at the beginning of the Aurignacian
1 Praehistorische Zeitschrift, 1910, vol. i. p. 273.
2 For full description of skeleton, see Professor Klaatsch's account,
Praehistorische Zeitschrift, 1910, vol. i. p. 285.
ii2 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the men in the Dordogne valley were people of modern
types the Cromagnon people, tall ; the Combe Capelle,
short.
In the autumn of 1909, while Herr Hauser was
exposing the Aurignacian man at Combe Capelle, M. Pey-
rony, the schoolmaster at Les Eyzies, the picturesque cliff
village on the Vezere, was uncovering a human skeleton
in a stratum of Mousterian age. M. Peyrony had
devoted many years to the exploration of the prehistoric
sites along the valley of the Vezere, and, at the time of
which I write, the autumn of 1909, was exploring the
deposits at the foot of a rock-shelter at La Ferrassie
(fig. 38), on the western side of the valley, four miles above
the point at which the Vezere joins the Dordogne, and
nearly twenty miles to the north of the site at which
Herr Hauser was excavating. M. Peyrony worked in con-
junction with Professor Capitan of the College de France,
Paris. The deposits at the rock-shelter showed the
following strata 1 (see fig. 40). The upper stratum, 4 feet
in depth, was made up of soil, with blocks of limestone
which had fallen from time to time from the face of the
sheltering rock. Then followed three strata of Aurig-
nacian age representing three phases of the culture of
that time forming a thickness of 6 feet. At a depth of
10 feet came the deposit which particularly interests us
here a deposit of the Mousterian period. It was about
20 inches in thickness, and contained the typical flint
implements and chips of the period, with broken
fragments of the bones of reindeer, bison, and horse
remnants of ancient feasts. In the lower part of this
stratum a skeleton came to light, lying on its back with
the lower limbs strongly bent. There were no evident
signs of grave furniture or of deliberate burial, but we
may be certain, seeing that a complete skeleton was
represented and that the strata had been the site of human
habitation, that the body had not been entombed by
1 For an account of this station, see Revue Scientifique, 1910, vol. xlviii.
p. 193 ; Bull, et Mtm. Soc. (PAnthrop. Paris, 1910, ser. 6, vol. i. p. 48.
The skeletons are also described by Professor Boule (see reference, p. 117).
MOUSTERIAN PERIOD
natural means. Unfortunately, the skull was broken
beyond repair, but other parts of the skeleton were fairly
complete, every bone being marked by those peculiar
characters which denote, as Professor Capitan recognised,
the Neanderthal race. In the same stratum, another
skeleton showing Neanderthal characters was discovered
in the following year, 1910. Thus, almost in the same
HUMUS
UPPER AURIGNACIAN
CLAY
MIDDLE AURIGNACIAN
LOWER AURIGNACIAN
MOUSTERIAN
ACHEULIAN
STERILE LAYER
FIG. 40. Section of the strata at La Ferrassie.
month, and less than twenty miles apart, two ancient
human skeletons were discovered, one at La Ferrassie
and one at Combe Capelle. The last named was found
in the oldest Aurignacian stratum, and belonged to a man
akin to modern races, while the skeleton found at La
Ferrassie, in the Mousterian stratum, was of a race or
type totally different from any human race now living.
They were found folded down between untorn and
undamaged pages of the records which Nature makes of
the earth's history. As will be seen by a comparison
u 4 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
of figs. 39 and 40, the La Ferrassie record is the older.
Men began to live at the rock-shelter of Combe Capelle
in the Mousterian period ; their records cease at the
Solutrean. At La Ferrassie, the records begin in pre-
Mousterian times it was inhabited when the characteristic
hand-axes of the Acheulean culture were fashioned ; the
records at Ferrassie close with the Aurignacian period.
It was not the discovery at La Ferrassie, however,
which drew the attention of Europe to the unexpected
fact that the Neanderthal type of man was immediately
succeeded by men of the modern type. The credit of
having first demonstrated that Neanderthal man was not
converted into modern man, during the middle part of
the Pleistocene period, must be assigned to Herr O.
Hauser and his colleague, Professor Klaatsch of Breslau.
In 1908, the year before the exploration at Combe
Capelle, Herr Hauser was excavating on the west bank
of the Vezere, fifteen miles above La Ferrassie, in a cave
on the lower terraces behind the little town of Le
Moustier (fig. 38).
The site he had chosen was situated at a lower level
than the famous cave investigated by Lartet and Christy
in 1863, where they found the types of flint workman-
ship which are now regarded as characteristic of the
Mousterian period. Early in 1908, Herr Hauser's
workmen began to expose, at a depth of 5 feet below the
floor of the cave, and accompanied by objects of the
Mousterian period, a human skeleton. Further excava-
tion was stopped until the autumn, when, surrounded by
a company of German anthropologists, in the heart of
France, the skeleton was finally extracted from its ancient
bed, with expert eyes looking on to bear witness to its
authenticity and antiquity. The skeleton was that of a
lad of perhaps sixteen years of age ; his canine teeth and
third molars were not fully erupted ; the growth lines of
the long bones were unclosed. There could be no
question : he had been deliberately buried. Near his right
hand was a hand-axe of the Acheulean culture, but typical
implements of the Mousterian period were near by.
MOUSTERIAN PERIOD
IJ 5
Charred remains of the ancient ox the urus were
noted. The body had been laid on its right side, with
the face turned down, and a pillow of stones placed under
the head. The skull was badly crushed, and Professor
Klaatsch was not altogether fortunate in the reconstruc-
tion of its fragments. The head was remarkably large
and capacious, and showed all the curious features of the
Neanderthal race. Every bone of the body, as Professor
Klaatsch has described in great detail, 1 showed certain
features which differentiate them from the corresponding
bones of modern man. The skeleton, or what remained
of it, was subsequently acquired by the Museum of
Ethnology, Berlin, where it is now preserved, the skull
having undergone recently another reconstruction. Herr
Hauser's discovery of a Neanderthal skeleton in a stratum
of Mousterian age in 1908, and in the following year,
of a skeleton of the modern type in a stratum of
Aurignacian age, effected a revolution in our attitude
towards the nature of Neanderthal man, and our
conception of the antiquity of men of the modern type.
While these explorations were being carried out at La
Ferrassie and at Combe Capelle, in the autumn of 1909,
equally important in their final result, perhaps more
important discoveries were being made higher up in the
valley of the Dordogne. Seventy miles to the east of
the Vezere, the Dordogne is joined from the north by a
small tributary stream, the Sourdoire, which has carved
a valley out of an agricultural country a plateau of lime-
stone in the department of Correze. For some years
three excellent archaeologists, the Abbes A. and J.
Bouyssonie and Bardon, then stationed in that part of
France, had investigated local sites of prehistoric man
with great skill and success. In the autumn of 1908,
they were exploring a small cave, situated in a terraced
field rising on the side of the valley of the Sourdoire,
near the agricultural village of La Chapelle-aux-Saints.
The cave was of small dimension even when cleared
1 Archives fur Anthropologie, 1909, ser. 7, vol. iv. p. 287. Ergebnisse
~der Anatomie und EntwickL, 1907, vol. xvii. p. 431.
n6
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
out it was not high enough for a man to stand erect in.
At its widest part it only measured about 13 feet
(4 m.), whilst the furthest recess was less than 20 feet
from the low entrance on the face of the limestone
terrace. The deposits on the original floor were about
3 feet in depth, and exhibited two strata or zones (fig. 41),
an upper one, rather less than 2 feet in depth, and a
deeper, a little over a foot in thickness. The upper
stratum was sterile so far as our present inquiry is con-
cerned, but the deeper one, a yellowish clay laden with
SKELETON
MOUSTERIAN STRATUM
LATER DEPOSIT
FIG. 41. Section of the cave at La Chapelle-aux-Saints (Boule).
remains of extinct animals and implements of the
Mousterian culture, has an immediate bearing on our
search. The animals represented in the deeper stratum
were the woolly rhinoceros, the reindeer, a Pleistocene
form of horse, the boar, the ibex, the bison, the cave-
hyena, and the Alpine marmot. The implements, over
a thousand in number, were the typical products of the
Mousterian period the Mousterian " points," scrapers,
and flakes. The remains of two distinct hearths were
noted near the level of the original floor.
The Mousterian stratum was observed to dip down
into a depression in the floor, near the centre of the cave
(fig. 41). In this depression, the abbes exposed the
skeleton of a man again of the Neanderthal type. The
MOUSTERIAN PERIOD 117
body had been laid on its back, head to the west, and
with knees, thighs, and elbows flexed the contracted
posture. The head was protected by an arrangement of
flat stones, near which was part of the skeleton of the leg
and foot of an ancient type of ox. Other stones were
placed round the body, between it and the sides of the
depression in the floor regarded by the abbes as a
grave purposely dug for the body. Numerous beauti-
fully worked flints of the Mousterian period lay near the
skeleton. The Mousterian stratum over the gravel was
intact ; the cave had been occupied in the Mousterian
period long after the body had been laid to rest. Even
at this early period, a species or kind of man, not directly
related to modern races, was burying the dead and
furnishing them with an outfit as provision for a long
journey. The human mind, even then, held hopes and
beliefs as to what happened after death. Clearly the
Mousterian period and Neanderthal man do not represent
the human dawn. Still, they belong to that remote date
at which the middle terrace of the Thames valley on
which so much of central London is now built was
being formed by the action of the river.
The discovery at La Chapelle-aux-Saints marks a stage
in the progress of our knowledge of ancient man. We
see, in 1908, that the methods employed in the explora-
tion of caves have become exact and systematic, replacing
the somewhat haphazard efforts of an earlier period.
The splendid memoir 1 written by M. Marcelin Boule,
Professor of Palaeontology in the National Museum of
Natural History, Paris, where the La Chapelle man now finds
a home, represents the most thorough and exact investiga-
tion ever made of an ancient human skeleton. The man
of La Chapelle-aux-Saints was worth all the pains which
Professor Boule has bestowed on him. The skull was
broken, parts of the face were defective, some parts of the
skeleton were missing, but such blanks were supplied by
the two skeletons found by MM. Capitan and Peyrony
at La Ferrassie. Professor Boule estimates the age of
1 Annales de PaUontologie, 1911, vol. xi. pp. 1-270, 16 plates.
n8 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the La Chapelle man at fifty or fifty-five years, but the
open condition of the sutures between the bones of his
massive skull suggests a younger age perhaps under forty.
For such an age, the teeth, which were planted in jaws
of exceeding strength and size, are in a surprisingly bad
state. All the molar or chewing teeth had been lost from
disease during life. The dimensions of the skull (see
fig. 45) greatly exceed those of an average modern man.
The maximum length is 208 mm. ; the width, 156 mm.,
represents 75 per cent, of the length ; the skull being
thus, in spite of its great length, on the border line
which separates the long-headed and medium-headed
groups. The height of the vault above the ear-holes is
about 118 mm. a low amount for such a long and
wide skull. The great capacity over 1600 c.c., at least
1 20 c.c. above the modern average seems inconsistent
with the great beetling, ape-like eyebrow ridges and
massive jaws. Nor was it a simple brain. The cast taken
from the interior of the skull the subject of a special
memoir by Professor Anthony 1 shows that all the parts
of the human brain were already fully represented. Like
all men of the Neanderthal race, 2 the La Chapelle man
was not tall under 5 feet 4 inches (r6oo m.). He
had many characters which may justly be called simian
or primitive, but he had others which cannot be so classed
such as the size of the brain and the relative proportion
of the limbs. In apes, in certain modern and ancient
races such as the Cromagnon people of the Aurignacian
period the forearm and leg are relatively long as com-
pared with the upper arm and thigh, but in Neanderthal
man, the forearm and leg are relatively short, even when a
modern European is taken as the standard.
In the evidence provided by the discoveries at Le
Moustier, La Ferrassie, and La Chapelle-aux-Saints, one
is forced to the conclusion that the Dordogne, during
the Mousterian period, was inhabited by men of the
Neanderthal type ; in the succeeding period the Aurig-
1 UAnthropologie, 1911, vol. xxii. p. i.
2 See p. 137.
MOUSTERIAN PERIOD 119
nacian men of the modern type took their place. At
least, men of the modern type have never been found in
a stratum of Mousterian age in this region ; only remains
of Neanderthal man have been so found. Such an infer-
ence has the further support of discoveries made by Dr
Henri Martin in the department of Charente, adjoining
the department of the Dordogne on the north-west.
For several years, Dr Martin has explored a deposit of
the Mousterian age, situated at the foot of an old rock-
shelter at La Quina and buried under debris which had
fallen from the cliff. In the valley near the cliff flows
a small stream the Voultron on its way to join the
Dronne (fig. 38), another of the northern tributaries of
the Dordogne. The deposit at La Quina showed three
strata, belonging to different phases of the Mousterian
period. Dr Martin found not only the typical imple-
ments of the middle and later stages of the period, with
remains of the reindeer, the horse, and primitive ox (Bos
pnmigenius\ but also rude implements worked in bone.
In 1910 he found a human astragalus or ankle-bone
which was recognised by its peculiar form to be that of
a man of the Neanderthal type so distinctive is the
structure of this race. In September 1911, two years
after the famous discoveries in the region of the Dordogne,
Dr Martin found in the lowest part of the deeper of
the two Mousterian strata, a human skeleton, again of
the Neanderthal type. The bones were embedded in a
greenish sandy clay, a silt deposited in the bed of the
Voultron when that stream flowed nearer to the foot of
the rock-shelter than it does now. The discoverer formed
the opinion that the body had fallen in the stream and
had thus become naturally entombed. When we remem-
ber the instances already cited, where men of both the
Mousterian and Aurignacian periods have buried their
dead near or under the sites of habitation, we are inclined
to regard La Quina as a similar case one of burial.
The skeleton found at La Quina is probably that of
a woman the first of her race to be discovered in France.
Neanderthal women, we shall see, have also been found
20
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
elsewhere in Croatia. Probably, too, the Gibraltar skull
is that of a woman. We are familiar with the sexual
differences which distinguish the average modern man
from the average woman. Our knowledge is founded
on the study of hundreds of individuals. When a totally
new form of mankind is discovered, we cannot foretell
the manner or the degree of sexual differentiation. Hence
Of
SKELETON
FIG. 42. Section of the strata at La Quina, the strata removed during
excavations being represented by stippled lines (Dr Henri Martin).
the uncertainty as regards the sex of the individual
represented by the La Quina skeleton. The skull is
long, 202 mm. ; rather narrow in comparison with the
length, 137 mm., giving a head index of 67. l The
eyebrow ridges are as greatly and prominently developed
as in male skulls, and such is not the case in skulls of
modern women. The jaws of the La Quina woman are
strong and the teeth big. The bones of the vault of the
1 For a full account of the La Quina skeleton and its discovery, see
account by Dr Henri Martin, Revue Scientifique, 1912, p. 49.
MOUSTERIAN PERIOD 121
skull are about 5 mm. in thickness, the same as in modern
skulls of average thickness, whereas in the skulls of
Neanderthal men in particular and Palaeolithic men in
general, the vault has a thickness of 8 or 10 mm. The
brain capacity of the skull is estimated by Professor
Anthony 1 at 1350 c.c., about the same as for modern
women, but 250 c.c. less than the capacity of the La
Chapelle man's skull. The stature is calculated to have
been 1*500 m., about 5 feet.
The four years between 1907 and 1911 witnessed a
remarkable series of discoveries of Neanderthal man in
France. All of them belonged to the Mousterian period.
Before 1907, several important finds had also been made
in France. In 1889, a lower jaw was discovered in the
cave of Malarnaud, in the famous department of Ariege,
at the foot of the Pyrenees. In 1895, in a cave some
distance to the west, at Isturitz (Basses-Pyrenees), M.
1'Abbe Breuil discovered the lower jaw of an individual
of the Neanderthal race. In the same year as the
Malarnaud specimen was discovered, M. Piette, who ex-
plored the Mas d'Azil deposits, found certain fragmentary
bones of the face in a cave near Gourdan, in the valley
of the Cean, a southern tributary of the Dordogne.
The list for France is complete when the discovery of
three fragments of jaws by M. Favraud, in a Mousterian
stratum in the department of Charente, is mentioned.
1 The brain is fully described by Professor Anthony. See reference,
p. 407.
CHAPTER VII
THE DISTRIBUTION OF NEANDERTHAL MAN IN EUROPE
IN the light of those recent discoveries of Neanderthal
man in Mousterian strata of South- Western France, we
may now proceed to give a brief review of similar finds
made in other parts of Europe. Taking Spain first, there
is only one discovery to note, but it is an important one.
Recent correspondence proved that the skull found at
Gibraltar in 1848 was the very first recorded discovery
of the remains of Neanderthal man. 1 Colonel Kenyon,
Commandant of the Royal Engineers at Gibraltar in
1910, found the following entry in the Minutes of the
Gibraltar Scientific Society, dated March 3rd, 1 848 :
" Presented a Human Skull from Forbes Quarry, North
Front, by the Secretary." The secretary then was
Lieutenant Flint of the Royal Artillery. The skull was
brought to England by Mr George Busk in 1862, and
presented by him, in 1868, to the museum of the Royal
College of Surgeons, England, where it is now preserved.
The subsequent history of this specimen is instructive.
Exhibited at scientific meetings in England and France,
examined by Huxley, Broca, Busk, Falconer, who pro-
posed the name of Homo calficus (from Calphe, the ancient
name for Gibraltar), 2 the place of this skull among the
records of ancient man did not become apparent until the
twentieth century was well begun. 3 Dr Gustav Schwalbe,
the veteran Professor of Anatomy in the University of
1 See Nature, 1911, vol. Ixxxvii. p. 313.
2 Ibid., p. 3M.
3 For a full description of the Gibraltar skull, see Professor Sollas's
account, Phil. Trans., 1908, ser. B, vol. cxcix. pp. 281-339.
122
NEANDERTHAL MAN IN EUROPE 123
Strassburg, had by then established the separate identity of
the Neanderthal race. 1 Anthropologists gradually came
to see that the Gibraltar skull hitherto so obscure in
its nature was only a variant of the Neanderthal type.
Further inquiries were made into its history. In 1910,
Dr W. H. L. Duckworth 2 of Cambridge University
explored the site of Forbes Quarry from which the skull
came. He found the quarry was situated under the
northern face of the famous rock on the side looking
across the flat tongue of land which joins the rock to
Spain. Even in 1910 sixty-two years after the dis-
covery of the skull there could still be seen the remains
of a cave in the limestone cliffs of the quarry. The
operations carried out by the quarrymen also exposed a
section across the debris of chips and blocks which had
been detached from the face of the cliff and gathered at
its foot as a cemented mass or breccia. In the floor
of the cave Dr Duckworth found alternate layers of
stalagmite and sea-sand, which had to be explored by
blasting, so strong a cement did the compound form on
the floor. He found neither fossils nor implements there.
In other caves, however, he did make an important dis-
covery namely, flints worked in the Mousterian manner.
It was clear the rock had been inhabited in Mousterian
times. The Gibraltar skull itself carries evidence of
having come from the floor of such a cave as Dr Duck-
worth saw at Forbes Quarry : the nose and orbits are
still choked with a mixture of sand, limestone, and cement,
similar to the material in the floor of the cave. In the
cemented matter on the skull there still remain shell
fragments. After sixty-two years of investigation we
are now in a position to assign this remarkable document
the Gibraltar skull to its approximate place in time.
All the skulls of the Neanderthal type have come from
deposits of Mousterian age ; we may allocate the Gibraltar
1 See Verhand. der anat. Gesellsch., 1901, p. 44 ; also see reference,
p. 157.
2 Journ. Roy. Anthrop. Institute, 1911, vol. xli. p. 350 ; '* An Account of
a Second Visit," ibid., 1912, vol. xlii. p. 515.
i2 4 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
individual to that period now with some degree of
certainty.
In spite of the numerous discoveries which have added
to our knowledge of Neanderthal man, the Gibraltar skull
still holds a unique place. In no other specimen is the
base of the skull preserved. The base of the Gibraltar
skull is remarkably straight and simian in its conforma-
tion (fig. 54). 1 The face, too, is less broken than in any
other specimen (fig. 46). The nose is most capacious,
and reminiscent, in the region of the face surrounding
the nose, of the condition seen in the skulls of gorillas.
Yet the upper jaw is not projecting or simian ; the face
is not prognathous. The lower jaw, unfortunately, was
never found, and a part is missing from the vault of the
skull, leaving some doubt as to the exact size of the
brain. On a former occasion I estimated the capacity by
measuring the more intact half of the skull with millet
seed, and found the brain space to be just under iiooc.c. 2
At a subsequent date a brain cast was made of plaster ;
the cast displaces 1 1 50 c.c. of water. The cast is too flat
on the vault, and hence a little must be added perhaps
50 c.c. making the brain size about 1200 c.c. Professor
Sollas and Professor Boule give slightly higher estimates
the former giving 1260 c.c., the latter 1296 c.c. The
brain is smaller than that of any other Neanderthal
individual so far discovered. The La Quina specimen
makes the nearest approach, with a capacity of 1367 c.c.
Very probably, as Professor Sollas has supposed, the
small brain may indicate that the skull is that of a woman.
We shall return to some of the most peculiar features of
the Gibraltar skull in another chapter. 3 The fact which
we note at present is this, that, whether of the Mousterian
date or of an earlier one, we have in this specimen the
most definite evidence that the Neanderthal type of man,
like men of the modern type, was divided into races, the
1 See the investigations of Professor G. L. Sera, Archimo per VAntro-
pologia, 1909, vol. xxxix. pp. 5-66.
2 See Ancient Types of Man, 1911, Harper Brothers ; also Nature^ 1910,
vol. Ixxxiii. p. 88.
3 See p. 1 56.
NEANDERTHAL MAN IN EUROPE 125
Gibraltar race differing very materially from its allies
perhaps contemporaries in Central and Southern France.
As we look into the world of ancient man, the problems
of human origin become more complex, and their solution
more intricate and difficult. The world of ancient man
was apparently more complex than the highly variegated
one of modern times.
In this cursory survey of Europe in search of the
discoveries of Neanderthal man, we pass from Spain to
Jersey. An elevation of 60 feet would unite Jersey
to the west coast of Normandy by dry land a union
which has been made and broken many a time even in
recent geological history. At St Brelade's Bay, on the
south coast of Jersey, granite cliffs rise to a height of 200
or 300 feet. In a cleft on their face opens La Cotte de
St Brelade a cavern excavated by the sea when the
waves beat against the coast, 60 feet above their present
level. Until 1910 the cave was buried beneath a mass
of rubble, 30 feet deep. The chance discovery of a flint
implement on the beach below the site of the cave led to
its exploration by the Societe Jersiaise. Dr R. R. Marett
of Oxford University has published a full and clear
account of the discoveries at St Brelade. 1 In the deeper
strata of the cave, representing ancient floors, remains of
hearths were discovered. The prehistoric strata of the
floor yielded an abundance of flint implements worked in
the typical Mousterian manner. Remains of the woolly
rhinoceros, the reindeer, a species of horse and of ancient
ox, revealed the sources from which the ancient cave men
drew their food supply. Near one of the hearths twelve
human teeth were found, all of them parts of a single set,
and all of them showing those peculiar features which
stamp and distinguish the teeth of Neanderthal man. 2
1 See Archceologia, 1911, vol. Ixii. p. 449 ; vol. Ixiii. p. 203. Also E. T.
Nicolle and J. Sinel, Man, Dec. 1910, p. 185. Bullet. Societi Jersiaise,
1912, vol. xxxvii. p. 213.
2 See account of the teeth by Keith and Knowles,/0wr;z. of Anat. and
Physiol., 1911, vol. xlvi. p. 2. Also Bullet. Soc. Jersiaise, 1912, vol. xxxvii.
p. 223. The characters of Neanderthal teeth are again mentioned at
p. 147 of this book.
126 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
The evidence from Jersey is thus in harmony with that
obtained from the caves in France the Europeans of the
Mousterian period were people of the Neanderthal type.
Further, we see that this peculiar human species reached
the western seaboard of the Continent l in Mousterian
times.
From Jersey we proceed to Belgium, where some most
important discoveries of Neanderthal man have been
made. In the Royal Natural History Museum at
Brussels is preserved the famous specimen known as
the Naulette mandible. Only the region of the chin
and the left part of the body of the jaw remain enough
to tell us that it is from the face of a woman of the
Neanderthal race. All the teeth had dropped from
their sockets after death. The region of the chin and
the tooth sockets show those peculiar features which
mark the Neanderthal species of man. The Trou de
Naulette, in which this specimen was discovered in 1866,
is one of a series of great limestone caves visited by the
modern tourist as he passes up the valley of the Lesse,
on his way to the Ardennes, in the eastern part of
Belgium. Its exploration belongs to the early period,
18651866, and was carried out by M. Edouard Dupont,
aided by a grant from the Belgian Government. The
strata on the floor reached a great depth ; the actual stratum
in which the mandible was found lay 14 feet (4*50 m.)
below the present surface. Remains of the mammoth,
rhinoceros, bear, and reindeer occurred in the same
horizon, and with them were found worked implements
of the Mousterian culture. The Naulette jaw, like the
Gibraltar skull, had to wait until the beginning of the
twentieth century for its real nature to be recognised.
Twenty years later than the exploration of the Naulette
cave a party of explorers from the University of Liege
Marcel de Puydt, Julien Fraipont, and Max Lohest
made a discovery of the highest importance. The Lesse,
1 For a general account, see Prehistoric Man in the Channel Islands,
by T. Sinel, 1914. Another Jersey cave of Mousterian date is mentioned
by Mr Sinel.
NEANDERTHAL MAN IN EUROPE 127
on which the Naulette cave is situated, joins the Meuse at
Dinant ; fifteen miles further down (northwards) is the
busy town of Namur ; thirty miles beyond Namur, Liege.
The little valley in which the party from Liege made their
famous discovery l lies about eight miles to the east of
Namur. On the eastern side of the valley is a limestone
cliff sheltering a cave the "grotte de Spy." A terrace
in front of the cave slopes down to the little stream
which flows southwards along the valley. The skeletons
of two men of the Neanderthal species were exposed in
the terrace at a depth of 14 feet. Strata representing
three different periods of ancient human occupation were
passed through. The bodies lay on the hearths of the
third stratum, a layer only 6 inches thick. Lately, Dr
Rutot 2 has again examined the evidence relating to the
antiquity of that stratum, and from the remains of the
extinct animals, the workmanship of the flints, and also
a piece of bone used as a human tool, concludes that the
skeletons are of the same date as the men found at Le
Moustier, La Chapelle, and at La Quina, with this
difference, that, in his opinion, the culture accompanying
all of them, including the men of Spy, should be assigned
not to the end of the Mousterian, but to the beginning
of the Aurignacian age. These Spy men were typical
representatives of the Neanderthal species, with large,
robust skulls, holding brains which, in point of size, were
above the average of the modern European.
From Belgium we pass northwards to Germany. To
reach the lower valley of the Rhine, where we propose
to begin a survey of the discoveries of men of the
Mousterian period in Germany, we may follow the
Meuse northwards, or, as will suit our purpose better,
pass directly to Dusseldorf, situated some sixty miles to
the north-east of Liege. In the valley of the Diissel,
which joins the Rhine at Dttsseldorf, is situated the
1 " Le race humaine de Neanderthal," par Julien Fraipont et Max
Lohest, Archives de Biologic, 1887, vol. vii. p. 587.
2 " La position reelle des squellettes de Spy," Bullet. Sociele Beige de
Geologic, 1909, vol. xxiii. p. 235.
128
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
celebrated Neanderthal cave. This northern tributary of
the Rhine, after passing Elberfeld, and some distance
above its termination, enters a deep ravine, with a lime-
stone cliff on one side the left or south side rising to
a height of 160 feet. At the time of the discovery,
the early spring of 1857, the Neanderthal cave opened
on the face of this limestone cliff, 60 feet above the level
of the Dussel and 100 feet below the neighbouring
plateau (fig. 43). By good fortune a physician in the
adjacent town of Elberfeld, Dr Fuhlrott, was interested
in fossil remains and in cave exploration, and kept a
PLATEAU
FIG. 43. Lyell's diagram of the Neanderthal cave.
watch on a party of workmen who were quarrying near
the cave. When the cave was cleared out, Dr Fuhlrott
secured from the workmen certain remarkable bones,
which at first he did not believe to be those of a human
being. They lay at a depth of 4 or 5 feet in the loam
filling the floor of the cave. Dr Fuhlrott afterwards
dispatched the various parts of the skeleton the vault
of a skull, right and left thigh bones, and right and
left humerus (the left was imperfect), fragments of the
pelvis, shoulder blade, and of ribs to Professor Schaaff-
hausen of Bonn, an expert anatomist. Nothing was found
in the cave or observed afterwards which gave a clue
to the antiquity of the Neanderthal skeleton ; no remains
NEANDERTHAL MAN IN EUROPE 129
of extinct animals were discovered. No implements
were seen or found, for at that time (18^7) the various
cultural phases of the Palaeolithic period had not been
recognised. Professor Schaaffhausen had no doubt as
to the antiquity or humanity of the cave-bones from
Neanderthal. In 1858,* he published an excellent
description of them, in which the following passage
occurs : " Whether the cavern in which they were found,
unaccompanied with any trace of human art, was the
place of their interment, or whether, like the bones of
extinct animals elsewhere, they had been washed into it,
they may still be regarded as the most ancient memorial
of the early inhabitants of Europe."
Now that we are fairly certain as to Neanderthal man's
place in time and his relationship to other human races,
it is interesting to survey the original and classical dis-
covery as it appeared to a contemporary spectator keenly
interested in the problem of man's antiquity Sir Charles
Lyell. 2 "I visited the spot in 1860," he writes, "in
company with Dr Fuhlrott, who had the kindness to
come expressly from Elberfeld to be my guide, and who
brought with him the original fossil skull, and a cast of
the same, which he presented to me. 3 From a printed
letter of Dr Fuhlrott we learn that, on removing the loam,
which was 5 feet thick, from the cave, the human skull
was first noticed near the entrance, and further on the
other bones lying in the same horizontal plane. It is
supposed that the skeleton was complete, but the work-
men, ignorant of its value, scattered and lost most of
the bones, preserving only the larger ones. . . . On the
whole, I think it probable that this fossil skull may be of
about the same age as that found by Dr Schmerling in
the Liege cavern ; but, as no other animal remains were
found with it, there is no proof that it may not be
newer. Its position lends no countenance whatever to the
1 See translation of paper by Geo. Busk, Natural History Review,
1861, vol. i. p. 283. The original is in Mutter's Archives, 1858, p. 453.
2 Antiquity of Man, 1863, p. 76.
3 Now in the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, England.
9
1 30 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
supposition of its being more ancient. . . . When, on
my return to England, I showed the cast of the cranium
to Professor Huxley, he remarked at once that it was the
most ape-like skull he had ever beheld."
To Sir Charles Lyell the discovery of the skeleton was
an isolated and puzzling event. He never guessed it
was the first representative of a distinct race inhabiting
Europe during a definite part of the Pleistocene period.
We see, too, how narrowly the Neanderthal remains
escaped destruction at the hands of the workmen, and
how Huxley became interested in fossil man through Sir
Charles Lyell. Huxley's contribution to our knowledge
of Neanderthal man l is certainly one of the most complete
and incisive analyses ever made of this peculiar fossil man.
His final judgment was to the effect that, ape-like as many
of the characters of the skull were, Neanderthal man was
merely an extreme variant of the modern type of man,
not a separate species or type. A contemporary of
Huxley's, Dr William King, Professor of Anatomy in
a remote college Queen's College, Galway, Ireland-
reached an opposite conclusion ; 2 but his quietly worded
verdict was rendered ineffective partly by the vigour and
emphasis of Huxley's statement, and partly because at
that period men were not prepared for a prehistoric
world peopled by different species and different genera of
mankind. " So closely," Professor King wrote, " does
the fossil cranium resemble that of the chimpanzee as to
lead one to doubt the propriety of generically placing it
with man. . . ." He was inclined to regard the Neander-
thal remains as representing not a new species, but a
new genus of mankind. He was content, seeing that
only the vault of the skull was known, to create a new
species Homo neanderthalensis for the reception of the
new species of man discovered by Dr Fuhlrott at
Neanderthal. Professor King did not know, however,
1 Man's Place in Nature, 1863. See also Natural History Review,
1864, vol. iv. p. 429.
2 " The Reputed Fossil Man of the Neanderthal," Quart. Journ. of
Science, 1864, vol. i. p. 88.
NEANDERTHAL MAN IN EUROPE 131
what we are now well aware of, that Neanderthal man
had a large and complex human brain, that he was a skil-
ful artisan, that he buried his dead and had certain beliefs
regarding death. If he had known those things he
would not have written : " The Neanderthal skull is so
eminently simian ... I am constrained to believe that
the thoughts and desires which once dwelt within it
never soared beyond those of the brute." Professor
King was not prepared to believe that a human brain
might be wrapped in an ape-like skull, nor that human
civilisation was so old that since its dawn mankind had
lived long enough to actually become separated, not
into distinct races, as we see in the world to-day, but
into distinct species, of which apparently Neanderthal man
represents merely one, while all the modern races of
mankind represent a second.
The discovery of the Spy men in 1886, so similar in
all their characters to the prototype found at Neanderthal,
dissipated the idea which was held by many anatomists
that the peculiar characters of the Neanderthal cave bones
were due to the chance incidence of disease or to a dis-
ordered form of growth. It took sixty years to show
that King was right and Huxley wrong. The researches
of Professor Schwalbe, of Professor Klaatsch, and, more
recently, of Professor Boule, have firmly established King's
verdict that Neanderthal man represents a separate
species. Nor can we doubt, from what has been dis-
covered in recent years, that the remains discovered in
the Neanderthal cave belong to the Mousterian period.
A cave in the same locality yielded the remains of the
extinct kinds of animals which are usually associated with
implements of the Mousterian culture.
When it is remembered that the classical discovery of
Neanderthal man was made in Germany, it is surprising
that so few traces of him have been found in that country
during the intervening half-century. At Taubach, near
Weimar, a hundred and seventy miles to the east of
Dtisseldorf, there is a deep deposit of the Pleistocene
period, varying in thickness from 20 to 30 feet. The
1 32 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
deposits were apparently laid down on the bottom or on
the beach of an ancient inland lake. A primitive race of
men seem to have lived on the shores of the lake. At
least the flints they shaped are found abundantly in a
stratum probably an old land surface 18 feet below
the present soil. In the same stratum occur the remains
of a fauna which seems older than that of the Mousterian
period, for the rhinoceros (R. Mercki) and the elephant
(E. anfiquus) are not the forms we expect to find with
Neanderthal man. The implements, however, have been
adjudged by many experts to belong to the period of the
Mousterian culture ; by others they are assigned to other
dates more ancient and also more recent. 1 Two human
teeth were discovered at this cultural level (see fig. 50,
p. 147) ; a description of them was published in 1895 by
Dr Nehring. 2 These teeth, although they do not show
the typical Neanderthal characters, may very well have
belonged to an individual of this race. 3
The further discoveries of Neanderthal man in Europe
need only a brief mention. In Moravia, within the
northern outskirts of the watershed of the Danube, two
discoveries have been made of Neanderthal man. In
both cases only fragments of the lower jaw were found.
They were found in the floor strata of a cave one at
Schipka and another at Ochos in 1906. The remaining
discovery requiring our attention one of the very first
magnitude takes us to the Hungarian province of
Croatia, stretching westwards to the Adriatic. We owe
the discovery to Professor Gorjanovic-Kramberger, a
Professor in the University of Agram. In 1899, he
commenced the exploration of a deposit, situated on a
terrace on the side of a valley near the little town of
Krapina, and through which the Krapinica flows an
early feeder of the Save. The section of the deposits
exposed in his investigations is shown in fig. 44. He
1 See Aus dem Werdegang der Metischheit^ Dr H. von Buttel-
Reepen, Jena, 1913.
2 Zeitschrift fitr Ethnologte, 1895, vol. xxvii. p. 338.
3 See Prehistoric Man, by W. L. H. Duckworth, Cambridge, 1913.
P. Adloff, Deutsch. MonatsschriftfiirZahnheilk., 1911, Heft ii. p. 804.
NEANDERTHAL MAN IN EUROPE
133
began his work at the end of 1899, an d in 1906 was in
a position to publish a splendid monograph embodying
his observations and conclusions. As will be seen from
fig. 44, the deposits he explored on the side of the
valley, 24 feet in depth, represent the accumulations on
the floor of a rock-shelter which had been occupied by
ancient man. On the original floor of the shelter lay a
CULTURAL ZONES
HUMAN REMAINS
FIG. 44. Section of the deposits in the rock-shelter at Krapina ( Kramberger).
The numbers I to 9 indicate the deposits formed during periods of human
habitation.
bed of gravel deposited when the Krapinica flowed flush
with the floor of the cave 80 feet above its present
level. The superimposed strata, showing nine different
horizons marked by human occupation hearths, tools,
and debris of meals proved to be the richest treasury of
the Neanderthal race ever opened by the explorer's spade.
Over two hundred fragments of human skeletons were
found, representing at least ten individuals of all ages and
both sexes. One hundred upper and one hundred and
134 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
twenty lower human teeth were collected, all of them
showing, in a varying degree, the characteristic form we
now associate with the Neanderthal race. Over two
thousand fragments of bones of the animals of the period
were found, including those of the same ancient form of
rhinoceros as occurred at Taubach (R. Mercki). The
cave - bear occurred abundantly ; it was evidently a
favourite article of diet. The rhinoceros bones had been
broken open to extract the marrow. The mammoth and
many other ancient and modern animals were also
represented. Some of the human bones were charred,
and some had been apparently split open : on that
slender basis the Krapina men have been suspected of
cannibalism. The implements, like those at Taubach,
are not of the typical Mousterian forms, but experts
ascribe them to the culture of that period. Some
evidence, as at La Quina, was noted of bone having been
shaped for use as a tool ; perhaps wood was also worked.
Krapina provided, for the first time, an opportunity
of studying the children and the youth of this strange
species of man. As is well known, there is a close
superficial resemblance between the skulls of man and
anthropoid ape during infancy and childhood. The brutal
and distinguishing features appear on the ape's skull
during the years of growth ; the human skull during
that period changes to a less degree. Hence it is not
surprising to observe that the children at Krapina were
in form of head and face more like men of the modern
type than is the case with their parents. The great
simian eyebrow ridges assume their massive size and
characteristic Neanderthal form at maturity. The skulls
of the women retain the cranial features of the young
to a greater degree than is the case with the male sex.
Hence the Neanderthal women were less distinctly
marked off from the modern type of mankind than was the
case with the men. Indeed, to account for the variety of
forms found at Krapina, Professor Klaatsch has suggested
that some of the individuals may represent captives
which Neanderthal people had made from their enemies
NEANDERTHAL MAN IN EUROPE 135
the contemporary representatives of Homo sapiens.
Professor Kramberger is of opinion that, amongst the
individuals he discovered, there are some which bridge
the gap between these two types of man the Neander-
thal and the modern. The writer has observed no fact
which supports such an opinion ; the closer the records
from Krapina are studied, the more one becomes
convinced that there are no intermediate or hybrid
individuals represented. The skulls are fragmentary ;
not one is complete. Yet they are sufficiently perfect to
show that they carry all the marks of the Neanderthal
race. Further, as we saw from the Gibraltar skull, those
Krapina people give us the most certain assurance that
the Neanderthal species of man, like the modern species
(Homo sapiens}^ was separated into distinct races. The
Krapina and Gibraltar races differed from their con-
temporaries in France and Belgium. As in modern races,
there were, in the Neanderthal species, both long-headed
and the round-headed races. The skull from the
Neanderthal cave is a sample of the long-headed race ;
those of the Krapina people represent a short-headed
variety ; the Gibraltar skull belongs to an intermediate
group.
Thus we see that, in the Mousterian period, in the
middle Pleistocene age, when the middle or 5O-foot
terrace was being laid down in the Thames valley,
Europe was inhabited by a peculiar race of mankind
of quite a different type from the races which now popu-
late it. This race spread from Gibraltar in the South
to Weimar in the North, from Croatia in the East to
Jersey in the West. The culture of this period has been
found both in Italy and in England. In neither of these
countries, however, has any fossil trace of Neanderthal
man been found so far. The future may make good
that blank, for we see no reason why he should not have
occupied both of these countries as well as Central
Europe. The most marvellous aspect of the problem
raised by the recognition of Neanderthal man as a distinct
type is his apparently sudden disappearance. He is
136 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
replaced, with the dawn of the Aurignacian period, by
men of the same type as now occupy Europe. What
happened at the end of the Mousterian period we can
only guess, but those who observe the fate of the
aboriginal races of America and of Australia will have
no difficulty in accounting for the disappearance ot
Homo neanderthalensis. A more virile form extinguished
him. He suddenly appears in Europe from whence,
future investigations may disclose ; the one thing we
are now certain of is that he was not suddenly converted
into the modern type of man.
CHAPTER VIII
THE ANATOMICAL PECULIARITIES OF NEANDERTHAL MAN
IN the two preceding chapters attention has been con-
centrated on the various sites and dates at which the
remains of Neanderthal man have been found, and on
the varying place which has been assigned to him by
anthropologists. We have seen him regarded as the
product of disease, of Nature in a freakish mood, as an
ancestral form of man, representing the stage mankind
passed through during the Pleistocene period, as an
extreme variant of modern man which had retained
an undue proportion of simian or ape-like characteristics.
Then we reached our present concept of him as a
separate and peculiar species of man, which died out
during, or soon after, the Mousterian period. All the
time we have been talking round him, as it were, never
attempting to lay bare or analyse those features which
mark him off from all the modern races and varieties of
mankind, and give him, in the eye of the anthropologist,
an altogether novel and peculiar position.
To make the structural differences between the
Neanderthal and modern species of mankind clear we
cannot do better than select those two Pleistocene skulls
found in the region of the Dordogne the one at Combe
Capelle representing the modern type, and the other
from La Chapelle-aux- Saints, the Neanderthal type.
In the instances chosen, the Neanderthal is the larger
in all dimensions, save one. It is the more capacious,
having the larger brain capacity ; it is longer and wider,
but it is not so high ; its vault is peculiarly low. The
I 3 8
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
depression of the vault is even more marked when the
Combe Capelle skull is set side by side with the one
'0 ISO I'+O lap IOO 6O 60 4O 2p O
FIG. 45. Skulls of the modern type (Combe Capelle) and of the Neanderthal
type (La Chapelle) contrasted on their lateral aspects.
from Gibraltar. The first rises above the upper limit in
the conventional linear frame ; the second falls far short
GIBRALTAR
FIG. 46. A skull of the modern type (Combe Capelle) contrasted with the
Neanderthal type (Gibraltar) as seen in full face.
(fig. 46). The Neanderthal skull gives us the impres-
sion of being compressed from above downwards into
ANATOMICAL PECULIARITIES 139
a bun-like form ; the modern skull is flattened in an
opposite direction, from side to side. All Neanderthal
skulls show this peculiarly depressed platycephalic
form especially apparent in the hinder or occipital
region a feature which must have given Neanderthal
man in life the peculiar appearance of having the hinder
part of his head buried, apparently, in a thick, bull-like
neck (see fig. 53). It is true that in certain modern
varieties of mankind as in a strain which still occurs
in Holland, in England, and has been also found in
ancient graves in America l the skull is low-domed or
platycephalic, but the resemblance to the Neanderthal
type is only superficial. To find a counterpart of the
platycephalism of Neanderthal skulls we have to go
outside the limits of human species to the skulls of
such anthropoids as the gorilla and chimpanzee. The
functional meaning of this peculiar form of skull, found
in anthropoid and in the Neanderthal species of man, will
be discussed at a later stage in this chapter (see p. 157).
Meantime we simply note the fact that the general form
of the brain is modified to suit the skull in which
that brain is contained. Hence, although the brain of
Neanderthal man equals or exceeds that of the modern
type of man in point of size, yet in its general conforma-
tion it resembles the brain casts taken from anthropoid
skulls.
The kind of skull, just described, reveals a radical
difference in head-formation, and can be readily recognised
in a museum or laboratory. But let us suppose we are
back in the world of Pleistocene man and are brought
face to face with Neanderthal man in life which of his
features would force themselves on our attention as
distinctive marks ? The colour of the skin, the texture
of the hair, the cast of countenance, the play of eye
and lips which distinguish at a glance the better-marked
varieties of modern mankind the African, the Mongolian,
the European are not available, for we have only, as
regards fossil forms of man, the limited range of characters
1 See reference, p. 273.
4 o
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
revealed by the dry bones of the face and limbs. We
feel assured, however, that certain features of the face
would have at once struck us as totally different from the
corresponding features in all varieties of modern man.
To find eyebrow ridges like those of Neanderthal man,
-70
120
FIG. 47. I. The supra-orbital ridge or torus and other features of the face of a
male chimpanzee. II. The form of articular cavity for the lower jaw in the
Gibraltar skull, contrasted with the forms in the gorilla and modern man.
A. Articular eminence. E. Digastric fossa.
B. Post-glenoid spine. F. Occipital condyle.
C. Meatus of ear. G. Tympanic plate.
D. Mastoid process. H. Mesial part of articular eminence.
great continuous horizontal bars of bone, overshadowing
the orbits a supra-orbital torus we have again to
refer to the anthropoid skull. In the skull of the
chimpanzee (fig. 47) and of the gorilla we see the same
development of the forehead and supra-orbital region.
In modern races the supra-orbital ridges vary enormously
ANATOMICAL PECULIARITIES 141
in form and in degree, but they never assume the
anthropoid or Neanderthal form. Their usual develop-
ment is that shown in fig. 46 (Combe Capelle). The
supra-nasal or middle parts of the ridge are quite dis-
tinguishable from the lateral or temporal parts. No doubt
they tend to become less developed in civilised races.
There is also no doubt that the supra-orbital ridge or
torus is part of that bony scaffolding erected on the face
and skull to serve the purposes of mastication. The outer
or temporal projections of the supra-orbital ridge give
attachment to two of the chief muscles of mastication
the right and left temporal muscles. The upper jaw
sends upwards, between the eyes, supporting processes to
transmit strains from the palate to the supra-orbital bar
(see fig. 46). On the outer side of each orbit, the cheek
or malar bone also reaches up to the supra-orbital bar,
transferring to it the strains and stresses caused by other
muscles of mastication the masseters which rise from
the cheek bones and from the zygomatic arches. A fuller
knowledge of the mechanism of mastication is likely to
throw light on the nature of the various shapes and
types assumed by the supra-orbital ridges. Meantime we
simply note the fact that Neanderthal man had eyebrow
ridges of the anthropoid type.
We have just seen that in general form of cranial
cavity and of supra-orbital ridges, Neanderthal man re-
sembles anthropoid apes, while, in these features, the
modern type of man differs from them. Are we, then, to
conclude that Neanderthal man is directly related to, is a
direct descendant of, an anthropoid form, while modern man
is not ? I do not think so. We must take into account
the condition of the supra-orbital ridges in all anthropoid
apes. In the Malayan orang, which is a distant cousin
to the African anthropoids the gorilla and chimpanzee-
the supra-orbital ridges do not form a prominent torus.
When the outlines of the skull of a chimpanzee and
orang are superimposed, as in fig. 48, some light is thrown
on the cause of their great development in the former
and slight size in the latter. In the orang the face is
1 4 2
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
turned more upwards, and holds such a relationship to
the whole skull that the strains and stresses arising
during mastication are transmitted, not to the forehead,
as in the chimpanzee, but to the skull as a whole. There
is no need in the orang for a frontal scaffolding of bone.
The retrogression of the supra-orbital ridges in the orang
is apparently secondary. The gorilla and chimpanzee
appear to retain the original form the form found in the
oldest and most primitive of anthropoid apes, the gibbon.
On the other hand, the divided or bipartite condition of
CHIMPANZEE
OCCIP: CONDYLE
CHIMPANZEE.
FIG. 48. The skull of an orang superimposed on that of a chimpanzee to
show the presence of a torus supra-orbitalis in the latter.
the supra-orbital ridge seen in modern human races
(fig. 46) is also met with amongst old-world monkeys. 1
If we suppose that the old-world monkeys are still more
ancient and primitive than the anthropoids, then it might
be argued that it is modern man that has retained the
primitive or original form of supra-orbital ridge, and that
the torus shape, seen in the gorilla, chimpanzee, and
Neanderthal man, has been evolved at a more recent date.
I am discussing at some length the development of the
1 D. J. Cunningham, " The Evolution of the Eyebrow Region of the
Forehead," Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin., 1908, vol. xlvi. p. 283.
ANATOMICAL PECULIARITIES 143
supra-orbital ridges, because we could not cite a better
instance of the kind of evidence we have to use in tracing
the genealogy of man. We might explain the presence
of a torus form of supra-orbital ridge in Neanderthal
man by supposing he has arisen from a gorilla-like stock,
and modern man from a monkey-like ancestry. That
would explain why modern man has a forehead of one
form and Neanderthal man one of quite another type.
We should thus fall back, as Professor Klaatsch 1 has
done, on the theory that mankind is multiple in origin
that one human race has been evolved from one ancient
stock of primates, while another race has arisen from
another and quite different simian stock. But in success-
fully explaining this one and minor feature we should
find, if we accept a " polyphyletic theory " of man's
origin, that the great majority of structural relationships
were not capable of being thus explained. We must
take all the characters of the human body into considera-
tion, not one or more isolated features, and when we do
so it is plain that the Neanderthal type and the modern
type of man share the great common inheritance of human
characters. We must suppose that this community of
structure is due to a community of origin to the fact that
they arise from a common ancestor. Further, when we
begin to analyse the structural nature of man and his
nearest allies the gorilla, chimpanzee, and orang we
find he shares so much with them, much more than with
old-world or new-world monkeys, that, to explain the
widespread community of structure, we are compelled
to suppose the great anthropoids and all human forms,
living and fossil, to have arisen from a common stock.
Now in that common stock from which anthropoids and
men have been evolved we have reason to believe that
the torus form of supra-orbital ridge was a character.
In the ancestry of modern races it has been modified.
Indeed, in many living peoples there is a tendency to
assume the condition seen in fcetal or infantile stages, where
those ridges are still undeveloped. In Neanderthal man,
1 See Nature, 1911, vol. Ixxxv. p. 508.
H4 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
on the other hand, the torus form of supra-orbital ridge
and the platycephalic shape of cranium of the simian
ancestor have been retained.
The great majority of those structural features which
mark Neanderthal species off from modern races are
essentially of a simian or anthropoid nature. For
instance, when the circumnasal region of the Neanderthal
face is examined (fig. 46) it will be seen to have the
inflated or blown-out appearance to be observed in the
gorilla or chimpanzee (fig. 47), differing materially from
the collapsed or deflated condition seen in the face of the
existing or modern types of mankind.
We are surprised to note, however, that one simian
feature is absent from the nasal region of the Neanderthal
skull. In the chimpanzee's skull (fig. 47) the lateral
margins of the nose descend towards the teeth, bounding
a groove or gutter on the floor of the entrance to the
nasal cavity. These nasal grooves or gutters are also
present in the skulls of many primitive modern races
an anthropoid or simian condition. The simian nasal
gutter is present in the Combe Capelle skull to a slight
degree, but not a trace of it is present in the Gibraltar
skull. There, as in the most highly evolved of modern
skulls, the lateral margins of the nose turn inwards to
the nasal spine, forming a sharp lower margin at the
entrance to the nose (fig. 46). The simian nasal gutter
is a character to be ascribed to the modern type of man
rather than to the Neanderthal type, although in the latter
it may, as in the specimen from La Chapelle-aux-Saints,
have some degree of representation.
From the time of the discovery of the Naulette jaw in
1866 it has been recognised that the Neanderthal species
have certain peculiar markings or 'characters of the chin.
In a later chapter (see p. 323) it will be necessary to
describe in some detail the exact manner in which certain
muscles of the tongue muscles which play an important
r61e in articulate speech make an attachment to the
hinder or lingual aspect of the mandible in the region of
the chin and symphysis of the lower jaw. At the present
ANATOMICAL PECULIARITIES 145
point it will be enough to refer the reader to the diagrams
given in fig. 49, which represent sections made at the
middle line or symphysis of the lower jaw. The first
figure represents a vertical section of the chin region of a
very young gorilla under two years of age. The upper
or alveolar border, on which the incisor teeth are
implanted, projects well in front of the lower border.
Strictly speaking, there is no chin at least no eminence
at the lower border. On the hinder aspect of the
symphysis (indicated by an arrow in fig. 49) there is a
pit the "genial" pit. From the lower part of this pit
arise the two chief muscles of the tongue the right and
re
YOUNG GORILLA 3 PV - NEW MODERN ENGLISH.
NEANDERTHAL CALEDONIAN.
FlG. 49. Sections of the lower jaw at the middle line or symphysis of a young
gorilla, a man of the Neanderthal type (Spy), of a native of New Caledonia,
and of a modern Englishman.
a, attachment of the genio-glossus muscle ; b, of the genio-hyoid muscle ;
c, of the digastric muscle. The arrow points to the genial pit.
left genio-glossal muscles (<?, fig. 49). Beneath these
muscles is a linear impression for another pair of muscles,
also concerned in the movements of the tongue, the
genio-hyoid muscles (). Below the linear impression
and on the lower border or aspect of the chin region
another pair of shallow impressions in the bone mark the
attachment of the digastric muscles which can depress the
jaw and help to open the mouth (, fig. 49). The
second section in fig. 49 represents the condition of parts
in a Neanderthal mandible one found at Spy. The
upper or alveolar border is still the more anterior or
projecting ; the lower border and the region of the chin
recede. There is no chin eminence. On the hinder
10
146 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
aspect the genial pit is almost filled up, but there is still
a remnant to be seen (fig. 49). The muscles of the
tongue arise from areas corresponding to those in the
gorilla (#, by f). The next section in fig. 49 shows the
region of the chin in a representative of a modern
primitive race a native of New Caledonia, in the Pacific
Archipelago. The upper and lower borders of the lower
jaw are nearly equally prominent in the anterior or
symphyseal region ; indeed, the chin eminence is slightly
developed. On the posterior aspect of this particular
mandible there is a trace of the genial pit a simian trait ;
but there are also present below the pit special minute
projections of bone tubercles or spines from which the
special muscles of the tongue arise (see fig. 49, a, ).
Those tubercles or spines are absent in mandibles of the
Neanderthal type. Lastly, the region of the chin of a
man of modern European origin is shown. The lower
border is the more prominent ; there is here a well-
developed chin eminence. On the posterior aspect there
is no trace of the genial pit ; the genio-glossus muscles
(a) arise from two projecting points or spines of bone.
We cannot account satisfactorily for the various
structural features exhibited by the series of specimens
just described unless we suppose the simian condition
to be the older, the ancestral form, and the others the
Neanderthal and the modern to represent modifications
of the simian form. There can be no doubt that, in the
region of the chin, Neanderthal man retains a simian
condition to a greater extent than does the mandible of
the modern type of man. When we seek to explain
these changes on a functional or physiological basis we
proceed on the belief that these changes have been
brought about by the interaction of at least two factors.
In the first place, the teeth have become smaller ; retro-
gression in the size of the teeth leads to the front or
incisor teeth receding backwards in the mouth, leaving
the nose above and the chin below more prominent.
Undoubtedly another process has been at work. The
lower border of the mandible, in the region of the chin
ANATOMICAL PECULIARITIES 147
as well as in the region of the cheek, bounds the floor of
the mouth. In order to secure free movements of the
tongue and easy, articulate speech, it is highly advantageous
to have the floor of the mouth opened out. In anthro-
poids the lower border of the mandible encroaches on,
and diminishes the area of, the floor of the mouth. In
the most highly evolved forms of men the lower border
of the mandible is widened or opened out (see fig. 167,
p. 449). In Neanderthal man the expansion of the lower
border of the mandible is less complete than in men of
the modern type.
It is when we come to study the teeth of Neanderthal
man that we first obtain a real clue to his position among
A.
FlG. 50. Four lower molars, as seen when examined by X-rays.
A. Of a chimpanzee. C. Of a tooth found at Taubach (Adloff).
B. Of a modern European. D. Of a Krapina individual.
the ancestral forms of modern man. In 1907, Professor
Adloff, then in Konigsberg, published a very important
series of conclusions he had reached from a study of the
teeth found by Professor Kramberger at Krapina. 1 What
he found is shown in a brief and diagrammatic manner
in fig. 50. In that figure, A represents the lower molar
of a chimpanzee, as seen when examined by X-ray
transillumination. The pulp cavity, in the body or
crown of the tooth, is small ; the fangs, containing ex-
tensions of the pulp cavity, as far as their tips, are long.
The lower molar of a modern European a man of the
modern type (fig. 50, B) shows a similar form of pulp
1 "Die Zahne des Homo primigenius von Krapina," Anat. Anz., 1907,
vol. xxxi. p. 273. See also Das Gebiss des Menschen und der Anthropo-
morphcn, Berlin, 1908. Also see reference, p. 473.
148 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
cavity and of roots. In Neanderthal man the pulp cavity
attained remarkable dimensions (fig. 50, D) ; the cavity
has extended downwards at the expense of the roots,
which accordingly become very short. The molar teeth
are large in crown and body and exceedingly short in
root. In C (fig. 50) the lower molar found at Taubach
(see p. 131) is represented. It has the Neanderthal
characters. To this peculiar form of molar tooth which
became evolved in Neanderthal man I have proposed
the name of " taurodont," because in general form there
is a resemblance to the molar teeth of the ox. 1 To the
more primitive form, seen in apes and also in modern
types of men, the name " cynodont " is given, because
there is a superficial resemblance to the condition found
in the molars of the dog. When I first studied Dr
AdlofFs observations and conclusions I admit that I was
not convinced that Neanderthal teeth represented a
high degree of specialisation. I was still, as was then
the case of many anatomists, under the belief that
Neanderthal man represented our Pleistocene ancestral
form. Even when I came to study the Neanderthal
teeth found at St Brelade in Jersey 2 I still clung to
the hope that the taurodont form of tooth seen in
Neanderthal man might have reverted to the more
primitive or cynodont form during the evolution of
modern man from a Neanderthal type. That belief
I now see to be untenable, and I admit that in the
character of the teeth Neanderthal man has departed
widely from the primitive or simian type, while races
of the modern type have retained the older or more
simian type of molar tooth. In short, with all his
primitive or simian features, there are certain structural
modifications in which Neanderthal man shows a greater
degree of specialisation than men of the modern type
do. We saw such a feature in the gutter or groove
at the entrance to the nose. The nasal gutter is a
1 See " Problems relating to the Teeth of the Earlier Forms of Pre-
historic Man," Proc. Roy. Soc. of Med., 1913, vol. vi. (Odont Sect.), p. i,
2 See reference, p. 125.
ANATOMICAL PECULIARITIES
149
simian feature which has persisted in modern races to
a greater degree than in this peculiar Pleistocene species
of man.
Indeed, were one to summarise the influences which
have led anatomists to give up the Neanderthal type as
an ancestral form of man, and to regard it as an extinct
FIG. 51. Drawing of the palate of the Gibraltar skull.
and separate species of humanity, Dr AdlofFs writings
must be given an important place, second only to the
influence exercised by Professor Schwalbe's early publica-
tions. 1 No doubt the change in our attitude towards
Neanderthal man was also affected by Hauser's discoveries
at Le Moustier and at Combe Capelle, and by the
inference which Professor Klaatsch drew from these
1 See reference, p. 123.
150
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
discoveries. 1 Professor Boule's 2 investigations finally
establish Neanderthal man as a distinct and extinct species
of man.
In the palate, as well as in the teeth, there is evidence
of a specialisation. The only skull in which the palate
has been preserved nearly intact is that found at Gibraltar ;
a careful drawing showing the exact dimensions and state
of that palate is reproduced in fig. 51. It is at once seen,
not only to be larger than the palate of modern man, but
also different in shape. Its distinguishing feature is its
great width, as compared with its length. The primitive
GIBRALTAR.
TASMANIAN.
FIG. 52. Outlines of the palate of the Gibraltar skull, and of a skull of a
native Tasmanian, showing a contrast in shape.
form of the palate that seen in anthropoid apes is one
with approximately parallel sides, on which the molar and
premolar teeth are set (see fig. 1 10, p. 328). In the figure
cited the palate of a female chimpanzee is represented.
The width, measured between the outer margins of the
second molar teeth, is 58 mm. ; its length, represented
by a line drawn from between the crowns of the middle
incisor teeth to a point situated at the middle of a line
joining the hinder borders of the last molar teeth (see
fig. 1 10), is 70 mm. The palate is long and narrow, the
width being 80 per cent, of the length. In fig. 52 the
outline of the palate of the Gibraltar skull is reproduced
1 See reference, p. 115. 2 See reference, p. 117.
ANATOMICAL PECULIARITIES 151
side by side with the palate of a native Tasmanian the
latter serving as a representative of the modern type of
man. It is at once seen that the Tasmanian is the more
simian in form of palate. Its length is 65 mm., its width,
70 mm., the width representing 107 per cent, of the length.
In the Gibraltar skull the length is much less, 54 mm.,
the width rather greater, 71 mm., representing 131 per
cent, of the length. From the drawing which Professor
Boule has reproduced of the reconstructed palate of the
La Chapelle man, 1 one estimates that its palatal length
was 59 mm., its width, 74 mm. ; the width proportion,
125 per cent. We thus see that not only the teeth, but
also the palate of Neanderthal man had departed more
widely from the simian type had undergone a greater
degree of specialisation than the palate and teeth of
races of the modern type. What was the meaning the
functional significance of such a specialisation ? The
Neanderthal teeth, in the writer's opinion, are of the type
seen in herbivorous mammals. The wide palate, the wide
dental crowns and big bodies of the teeth seem to indicate
powerful side-to-side grinding movements of the mandible
during mastication. On the evidence of the teeth and
palate one is inclined to regard Neanderthal man as
specially adapted to live on a rough vegetable diet.
In the evolution of the early ancestral form of man
from an anthropoid type, the palate, jaws, teeth, and other
parts concerned in mastication appear to have undergone
retrogression, as the brain became a larger and more
efficient organ. The brain, by its invention, saved the
labour of the jaws. The area of the palate (see p. 97)
may be taken as an index of the extent to which the masti-
catory system is developed. The capacity of the cranial
cavity of the skull serves as a rough index of the brain
power. It will be of interest to inquire how Neanderthal
man stands in respect of palate and brain development.
The area of the Gibraltar palate is 31*60 cm. 2 ; the brain
capacity, 1200 c.c. The ratio of brain to palate is 38 c.c.
of brain to i cm. 2 of palate. The corresponding area of
1 See reference, p. 239.
1 52 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the palate of the La Chapelle man is calculated from
Professor Boule's drawing to have been 35*00 cm. 2 The
brain capacity of the La Chapelle individual being about
1600 c.c., the brain-palate ratio is 46 : i, a higher brain
ratio than in the Gibraltar skull. Among anthropoid
apes, selecting a female chimpanzee as the most favourable
example for the purpose of comparison, the brain capacity
is found to be about 350 c.c. ; the area of the palate,
36*50 cm.' 2 ; the brain-palate ratio, 8*7 : i a small brain
and a large palate. The female chimpanzee and the
La Chapelle man have palates, although very different
in shape, almost of the same size. The brain of the
chimpanzee, on the other hand, is only a quarter or
one-fifth of the La Chapelle brain. Taking now a very
primitive example of modern man, the skull of a native
Tasmanian, in the museum of the Royal College of
Surgeons, England, we find the brain capacity to be
1350 c.c. ; the palate, 36-70 cm. 2 ; the brain-palate ratio,
36*7 : i. The palate, in comparison with the brain, is
larger than in the two Neanderthal specimens just cited.
In the Aurignacian man from Combe Capelle the area of
the palate is approximately 27* i cm. 2 ; the brain capacity,
1440 c.c. ; the brain-palate ratio, 53*3 : i a ratio which
holds true in a large proportion of modern races. The
brain-palate ratio of modern Englishmen is 56*3 : i.
The palates of Neanderthal men were absolutely and
relatively large, yet the ratio between brain and palate
falls within the limits of variation seen amongst existing
primitive races.
In fig. 47 (p. 140) another peculiar feature of Neander-
thal man is represented. The socket or cavity, in which
the condyles of the lower jaw are jointed to the base of
the skull, just in front of the ear-passages, is depicted in
the form seen in the gorilla, in the Gibraltar skull, and
in a man of the modern type. In the gorilla the socket
is very shallow, and is placed on a platform or thickening
of bone at the root of the zygomatic arch the articular
surface lying almost flush with the lower border or floor
of the ear-passage (fig. 47). In men of the modern
ANATOMICAL PECULIARITIES 153
type the hinder part of the socket the glenoid fossa
is deep, being excavated to the depth of the roof of the
ear-passage. The front part of the articular platform
has become developed as in the gorilla, forming an
articular eminence in front of the socket. It is only the
hinder or prae-auricular part of the anthropoid articular
platform which remains undeveloped, giving rise to the
well-known socket for the jaw the glenoid cavity.
When the condition of parts in the Gibraltar skull-
representing the Neanderthal type is examined, it is
seen that the resemblance is much closer to the anthropoid
than to the form found in the modern types of man. In
this region of the skull Neanderthal man shows distinctly
simian traits. So, too, in the passage of the ear. The
plate of bone which forms the floor of the passage the
tympanic plate is shaped in Neanderthal man as in the
gorilla. In the modern type of man it has come to form
the posterior slanting boundary for the glenoid cavity or
mandibular socket (fig. 47, II.).
In the auricular region of the skulls of Neanderthal
men there is another simian feature to which attention
may be directed, although it is not concerned in the
function of mastication. In skulls of the modern type a
pyramidal-shaped process of bone the mastoid process
descends immediately behind the ear. To this process
certain muscles of the neck, concerned in moving the
head, are attached (see fig. 53). It is only slightly
developed at birth, attaining its full size when the indi-
vidual has reached adult years. In the gorilla a mastoid
process is present, but in place of growing downwards to
form a pyramidal process, it expands into a flange-like
plate, forming part of the bony occipital platform on which
the muscles of the neck are implanted (see fig. 47, II.).
The pit or fossa from which the digastric muscle arises
is left exposed on the anthropoid skull below the mastoid
process. In skulls of the modern type the pyramidal
process covers and hides the digastric fossa (fig. 47). In
Neanderthal skulls the mastoid process does not assume
a distinct pyramidal form ; in its shape and relationship
154 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
it is intermediate to the form seen in young anthropoids
and that which occurs in men of the modern type. It
will thus be seen that in the mastoid region Neanderthal
skulls show a series of characters which may justly be
regarded as simian in nature and origin.
Mention has already been made of the flattened platy-
cephalic skull of anthropoids and of Neanderthal man.
It is now necessary to look somewhat more closely into
the nature of this character. In fig. 53 the poise of the
MODERN.
NEANDERTHAL.
FIG. 53. Diagram showing the poise of the head in the modern and Neanderthal
types of man. The Gibraltar skull was used as the basis of the drawing
of the Neanderthal type, a lower jaw being modelled from one of the
mandibles found at Spy.
head in the modern type of man and in the Neanderthal
type are contrasted. In the Neanderthal poise one has
the impression that the occipital region of the head was
partly buried in the neck, owing to the head being tilted
or extended backwards. To some degree this is true ;
the head was carried in a more extended or retroflexed
position, for it will be observed that the muscles of the
neck have attained a more extensive attachment to the
occipital region than in the contrasted type. In Neander-
thal man the muscles of the neck ascend above the
posterior end of the lateral blood sinus (see fig. 53, L.S.) ;
ANATOMICAL PECULIARITIES 155
in modern men the muscles of the neck are usually
attached short of this point. Indeed, the head is fixed to
the neck in the Neanderthal race in much the same
manner as in young anthropoid apes. We have just
seen that the mastoid process, also part of the area of
fixation of the skull to the neck, is also partially simian
in character.
It seems to me very probable that this peculiar poise
of the Neanderthal head is related to the great develop-
ment of the face and jaws. If the illustrations in fig. 53
be examined it will be seen that the hinder border of the
lower jaw lies just in front of the spinal column. If the
reader will let the head fall forwards on the front of the
neck, it will be found difficult to move the jaw, as in
chewing, because it is wedged behind against the backbone.
But if the face be thrown upwards the occiput, of
course, sinking backwards and downwards at the same
time it will then be found that the mandible has room
for the most ample movements. It is for a similar reason,
apparently, that Neanderthal man's head was fixed in an
extended pose one which gives his great lower jaw
room to move.
There is another modification in the basal part of the
skull which tends to throw the face forwards and thus
give freedom to the lower jaw. In 1863, Huxley 1 called
attention to the manner in which the base or cranial axis
of the skull becomes bent with the evolution of the
higher forms of primates. The greatest amount of
bending is seen in modern human skulls. Now, in the
illustrations given in fig. 53 the basal axis of the skull
is represented by the stippled area. The pit or fossa
for the small pituitary body or gland is situated on the
upper (intracranial) aspect of the basal axis. The part
of the base behind the pituitary the postphuitary part
slants downwards and backwards, lying over the pharynx ;
the part in front the prepituitary part stretches hori-
zontally forwards, towards the root of the nose. In
ordinary monkeys the prepituitary and postpituitary parts
Place in Nature, and other Essays, p. 192.
i 5 6
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
form an almost straight line there is little or no bending.
In anthropoids the bending becomes apparent. In fig. 54
the degree of bending at the pituitary angle in a gorilla
is represented ; it amounts to 142. Some years ago
Professor G. L. Sera l drew attention to the fact that
this angle is very open in the Gibraltar skull the only
Neanderthal specimen in which the base is preserved.
The angle is almost as great as in the gorilla, 140
(fig. 54). In skulls of the modern type it varies from
120 to 130. There can be no doubt that the wide,
OCC: CONDYLJE
FIG. 54. Superimposed tracings of the basi-cranial axis of the skull of a gorilla,
of the Gibraltar cranium, and of a modern English skull, to show the
extent of the pituitary angle.
open angle is the primitive or simian one ; in this respect
the Gibraltar skull is very primitive. We can see,
further, by a reference to figs. 53 and 54, that the wide,
open angle is related to the downward flattening to
the degree of platycephalism of the skull. A widely
open pituitary angle, as in the Gibraltar skull, tends
to pitch the face forwards, thus giving room for move-
ments of the mandible. It has the same effect as a
backward tilt of the head. The prepituitary part of the
cranial base represents the axis of the maxillary part of
1 " Nuove Osservazione ed Induzioni sul Cranio Gibraltar," Archtv.
Antropologia, 1909, vol. xxxix. p. 5.
ANATOMICAL PECULIARITIES 157
the face as well as of the cranial cavity. If this anterior
part of the cranial base is bent downwards towards the
nose and mouth as in skulls of the modern type, the
facial parts are also necessarily bent downwards and
backwards. The long base, the wide, open pituitary
angle of the cranial axis, the long compressed form of
the vault, the straight upper margin of the squama of the
temporal bone, as seen on the side of the skull (see fig. 53),
are all characters apparently correlated with a great
maxillary development. They are also primitive or
simian features. The essential difference between the
Neanderthal and the modern types of skull is that the
first, the Neanderthal, is an extended skull the cranial
base is opened out or extended at the pituitary angle.
In the second or modern type the skull is " flexed "
the bending of the cranial axis is increased.
I have dealt with the Neanderthal skull at some
length. Every bone of the skeleton has its distinctive
or specific characters. We have seen that Dr Henri
Martin was able to identify an astragalus found at La
Quina as that of a Neanderthal individual. It would
be impossible to distinguish one modern race from
another by the discovery of a single astragalus or ankle
bone. The ribs, too, are peculiarly rounded. Professor
Schwalbe 1 and Professor Klaatsch 2 have made detailed
analyses of the peculiar characters of the limb bones.
Lately, Professor Boule 3 has attempted to restore a
complete skeleton and give to it a life-like pose. He
represents Neanderthal man as a loose-limbed fellow
with an easy, shuffling gait knee and hip joints slightly
bent. All the parts of his body are as perfectly adapted
to the upright posture as those of modern man. I will
content myself here by merely giving an outline drawing
of the thigh bone of one of the Spy men set between
1 " Kritische Besprechung von Boule's Werk nhomme fossile de la
Chapelle-aux-Saints" Zeitschrift fur Morph. und Anthrop., 1914, vol. xvi.
p. 527.
2 Praehistorische Zeitschrift, 1910, vol. i. p. 272. Ergebnisse der
Anatomic, 1907, vol. xvii. p. 431.
3 See reference, p. 117.
158 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the thigh bone of a man of the modern type and of a
gorilla as a sample to stand for the rest of the skeleton.
It will be seen at a glance that the Neanderthal thigh
bone does manifest in its shape and general conforma-
tion a more simian character than the thigh bone of
modern man. In the case of the tibia or leg bone
anthropoid affinities are even more marked.
MODERN. NEANDERTHAL. GORILLA.
FIG. 55. The Neanderthal (Spy) thigh bone contrasted with the
corresponding bones of modern man and the gorilla.
A survey of the characters of Neanderthal man as
manifested by his skeleton, brain cast, and teeth have
convinced anthropologists of two things : first, that we
are dealing with a form of man totally different from
any form now living ; and secondly, that the kind of
difference far exceeds that which separates the most
divergent of modern human races. If we were dealing
with a fossil animal which lay outside the pale of humanity
ANATOMICAL PECULIARITIES 159
we should probably give Neanderthal man, not only
separate specific, but even a separate generic, rank, and
distinguish varieties or even species of Neanderthal men.
Further, in most of the points in which the Neander-
thal man departs from modern man he approaches the
anthropoids. His peculiarities are pronouncedly simian.
But not all of them ; he has also his own peculiar
adaptations and specialisations.
It is when we survey the great assemblage of his
simian characters that we understand how he came at
first to be regarded as our Pleistocene ancestor. Evolu-
tion was in the air evolution from a simian ancestor.
Here was a human form with simian characters swarming
in the details of his structure. The belief in man's
recent origin was also, in those early days, dominant.
Neanderthal man presented himself to the pioneers of
evolution as a later or Pleistocene stage in man's
evolution. When, however, it was realised that men
of the modern type, just as highly evolved in structure
of bone and brain as men are now, must have been in
existence when Neanderthal man was still living, it was
apparent that if the Neanderthal type did at any stage
become converted into a man of the modern type, that
stage of evolution must have occurred before the
Mousterian period, the one we are now dealing with.
Further, in size of brain Neanderthal man was not a
low form. His skill as a flint-artisan shows that his
abilities were not of a low order. He had fire at his
command, he buried his dead, he had a distinctive and
highly evolved form of culture Neanderthal man was
certainly not a dawn form of humanity. To find that
form we must go to a period which lies far beyond the
mid-Pleistocene age.
CHAPTER IX
MEN OF THE IOO-FOOT TERRACE
OUR journey round Europe, described in the previous
chapters, has led to the conclusion that it was inhabited,
during the long Mousterian period, by a people altogether
different from ourselves. When, therefore, we set out to
seek for pre- Mousterian man, we are naturally on the
tiptoe of expectation to see what kind of being we shall
find. Was modern man evolved in some distant part of
the world, reaching Europe for the first time in the
Aurignacian period ? Or was he the original inhabitant
of Europe, being ousted during the time of the Mousterian
culture by an intrusion or invasion of a foreign and
strange species of man (Homo neanderthalemis) ? It is
clear that we must know the past history of the whole
world before we can answer those questions with certainty.
Meantime, we must rely on such facts as we now possess.
We are feeling our way into a very distant period one
which lies fifty thousand years or more behind the
present. Naturally, the further back we go the greater
become our difficulties and our doubts. Geological
records, like historical documents, suffer by the lapse of
time they become mutilated, destroyed, or completely
swept away. Seen in a distant perspective, a long period
of time appears to us a short one.
The culture of the period we now enter the Acheulean
is sparsely represented in the floor strata of caves and
rock-shelters. At La Ferrassie, it will be remembered
(fig. 40, p. 1 13), the stratum lying under the Mousterian
contained objects of the older culture the Acheulean.
1 60
MEN OF THE loo-FOOT TERRACE 161
The chief records of this culture lie in deposits along the
river valleys, in old stream-beds or deposits laid down
at various intervals during the Pleistocene epoch. The
site which yields the classic implements of this culture
(beautifully worked flint hand-axes) is situated at St
Acheul, near Amiens, in the valley of the Somme. A
replica of the terrace at St Acheul can be found in Eng-
land, in that stretch of the Thames valley where we
commenced to study the deposits and culture of the
FIG. 56. Swanscombe and neighbouring Palaeolithic sites on the south side
of the valley of the Thames, below London.
Mousterian period, and where I propose to take up the
search for man of the older or Acheulean period. Fig. 56
shows the position of the various deposits remnants of
ancient beds of the Thames to be investigated. The
Mousterian culture was found in the 5O-foot terrace
the low terrace of Continental writers ; it is the much
older terrace the loo-foot which is to yield us traces
of Acheulean man. At Swanscombe, situated on the
south side of the valley, half-way between Dartford and
Northfleet, the gravels and loams of the loo-foot terrace
form an extensive deposit, in some places over 30 feet in
1 1
1 62 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
thickness, resting on the chalk bluffs overlooking the
river. To obtain the chalk for the production of cement,
the overlying gravel deposits have to be cleared away.
In the process of removal thousands of flint implements
have been discovered at various levels in the gravel
deposits. They exhibit a variety of styles in workman-
ship, many of them bearing evidence of great technical
skill. In former days the implements were gathered by
the workmen, and, from them, passed into the posses-
sion of collectors. Swanscombe became renowned for its
palaeoliths.
In the corresponding deposits of the Somme valley,
Professor Commont, 1 by a careful series of investigations
extending over the opening decade of the present century,
observed that the implements were always arranged in
the same sequence or order when the deposits in which
they occur are rightly dated. It was formerly believed
that there was no cultural sequence of implements in the
Thames deposits. Collectors believed that the same
stratum might yield implements of the most varied types
of workmanship. To settle the question of sequence, a
representative of the British Museum, Mr Reginald
Smith, and one from H.M. Geological Survey, Mr
Henry Dewey, were delegated, in the summer of 1912,
to investigate the- implements and deposits of the 100-
foot terrace at Swanscombe. 2 The Associated Portland
Cement Manufacturers, the owners of the chief pit at
Swanscombe at one time known as the Milton Street
pit, but now as the Barnfield gave them every facility
and encouragement in their investigation. In fig. 57, I
give, in a diagrammatic form, the chief results of their
inquiry. They found that three series of deposits were
represented in the i oo-foot terrace each series represent-
ing formations of a distinct period, each period marked
by its own form of culture, a distinctive style of flint
workmanship. The deepest and oldest of the three
1 See reference, p. 194.
2 See their report : " Stratification at Swanscombe," Arckaologia, 1912,
vol. Ixiv. p. 177.
MEN OF THE loo-FOOT TERRACE 163
series of deposits is named here the " Strepyan," because
the implements found in it are of the type which M.
Rutot discovered and named in the corresponding valley
deposits of Belgium especially at Strepy, a village to the
west of Charleroi, lying within the watershed of the
Meuse. The Strepyan series of deposits consist of a
deep bed of gravel (the " lower " gravel), made up of
several layers ; over the gravel a deposit of loam (" lower "
loam) (see fig. 57). The gravel was laid down in the bed
of the Thames when the river was flowing at a level of
about 100 feet above its present bed. The Strepyan series
SOIL
UPPER GRAVEL
UPPER LOAM
BEDDED SANDS
FIG. 57-' Diagram showing the various deposits of the loo-foot terrace of the
Thames valley at Swanscombe, modified from Mr Dewey's sections.
ends with a stratum of loam a deposit formed in still
water in times of flood. The second series of deposits,
lying over the Strepyan, and therefore more recent,
yielded, in its basal bed of gravel, the same kind of flint
implement as occurs in the ancient deposits at Chelles, in
the valley of the Marne, about eight miles to the east of
Paris. At the time, then, when the second series of
deposits in the loo-foot terrace began to be deposited,
culture or civilisation of the natives of the Thames valley
had entered the " Chellean " phase or stage. In the sands
and loam, the later deposits of the second series, another
culture appears the older Acheulean, usually known as
St Acheul I. The third and most recent series of the
loo-foot terrace again commences with a stratum of
164 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
gravel, in which implements of the later Acheulean type
occur St Acheul II. The stratum of gravel (" upper ' :
gravel), marking the commencement of the third series,
lies under the surface soil (fig. 57). The sands and brick
earths which were probably present when the terrace was
finished have been washed away long ago. To find the
continuation of the third and last series of the loo-foot
terrace, we must descend from the level of that terrace at
Swanscombe to the level of the 5O-foot terrace. That
terrace has been already mentioned at Crayford and at
Baker's Hole (p. 103). Lying at the base of the brick
earths, in which the culture of the Mousterian period is
preserved, occur Palaeolithic floors of the late Acheulean
period. Acheulean man lived on the floor of the valley
before the brick earths of the 5<D-foot terrace were
deposited. In 1880, Mr F. C. J. Spurrell 1 found such
a floor under the brick earths of the 5o-foot terrace at
Crayford. From the floor he gathered not only a finished
implement, but also the chips which the workman had
struck off in fashioning it, and part of the lower jaw of a
rhinoceros all of which he presented to the Natural
History Museum at South Kensington. It is clear, then,
the period we have now entered the Acheulean must
be one of great duration. At its close the valley of the
Thames was excavated almost to its present depth, for at
such a level, buried beneath the deposits of the middle
terrace, we find the work-floors of Acheulean- man.
The commencement of the Acheulean period is re-
corded, as we have just seen, in the upper series of the
loo-foot terrace. It is plain, then, that the Thames
carried out an enormous task during the Acheulean
period. At the beginning of the period the floor of the
Thames valley lay flush with the loo-foot terrace. A
process of land submergence was then in operation,
attended by a filling up of the valley, and by the
formation of the upper series of Acheulean deposits on
the loo-foot terrace. Afterwards an opposite movement
set in, one of elevation of the land, leading to an excava-
1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.^ 1880, vol. xxxvi. p. 544.
MEN OF THE loo-FOOT TERRACE 165
tion, or, more probably, a re-excavation of the valley
almost to its present depth. At Swanscombe the
magnitude of such an operation is apparent, for the
corresponding (loo-foot) terrace on the opposite or
north side of the valley lies eight to ten miles distant.
The whole width of the valley was apparently cut down to
an extent of TOO feet during the later part of the Acheulean
period. It does not matter for our present argument
whether the Thames cut her valley for the first time, or
whether, as seems more probable, she only cleared out
a former channel which had become silted up during a
former period of submergence. It it clear, when we
consider the magnitude of the operations involved, that
the Acheulean culture covers a long period of time, one
more than equal to all the later Palaeolithic periods put
together Mousterian, late Palaeolithic, Neolithic, and
Metal phases of human culture. If we pitch the com-
mencement of the Mousterian period, as a provisional
hypothesis, at a distance of fifty thousand years, we must
give fifty thousand years more to reach the opening
phases of the Acheulean period.
Considering the great duration of the Acheulean
period, and the abundant evidence of the activity and
culture of the men of that time, it is surprising that so
little has been discovered of the men themselves. In
nearly every case where remains of man have been
ascribed to the Acheulean period, the authenticity of the
discovery has been questioned or denied. The very first
instance I am to cite is one which is placed and rightly
placed so to what the geologist calls a " suspense "
account. Those suspense cases often prove the most
instructive. Such cases should not be allowed to pass
into oblivion ; the facts ought to be placed on record, to
await the fate which will be assigned to them in the light
of discoveries made at a future date. The suspense
cases may prove false or prove true. They stimulate
further research. The first discovery I am to mention
brought to light the " Dartford " skull supposed to be
of Acheulean date. Dartford, as may be seen from
1 66 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
fig. 56, lies some five miles to the west of Swanscombe,
situated in the valley of the Darent where that stream
breaks through the line of the loo-foot terrace and
enters the marshy land on the south bank of the Thames.
On the western side of the valley of the Darent, on the
outskirts of the town of Dartford, a pit had been opened
in a deposit of gravel, some 18 feet in depth. The
stratified gravels, containing interpolated patches of loam,
represented a deposit of the ancient Darent. The sub-
stratum of chalk on which the gravel rests is about 45
feet above the Ordnance Datum line, and 30 feet above
the Darent, which is about a third of a mile distant, to
the east. In 1902, the pit, having proved unprofitable
from a commercial point of view, was taken over by an
ardent student of ancient man Mr W. M. Newton
who then resided in Dartford. Between 1902 and 1908
" every bit of gravel excavated some 5000 tons-
passed under the deliberate scrutiny of my workman,
and every evening his daily finds had my careful
examination." 1 The majority of the implements dis-
covered were of the later Acheulean type. They
occurred especially plentifully near a black band in the
gravel, which Mr Newton regarded as an indication of
an old land surface. He also found numerous examples
of " figure-stones " curiously shaped natural flints,
which, in some cases, had been deliberately chipped to
give a semblance to the form of certain animals. Such
figure-stones received the serious consideration of M.
Boucher de Perthes (see p. 196).
The account of the discovery of a human skull, in the
gravel of the Dartford pit, I shall give in Mr Newton's
own words : 2
" I was, as you know, much interested in the
gravel as producing implements and other curious
forms of man-worked flints in the shape of animals
and heads of animals. I was in the pit almost every
1 See Mr Newton's paper on " Palaeolithic Figures of Flint," Journ.
British Archceolog. Assoc., March 1913, p. 3.
2 A letter to the Author, dated February 27th, 1911.
MEN OF THE loo-FOOT TERRACE 167
morning and evening. Two men were working the
face at the south end of the pit ; two Randall,
Heron the face at the north end. It was in the
north face that the skull was found -by the two
men just named. They had broken into what is
commonly termed a c pot-hole,' into which it was
impossible to see, as it lay 8 feet above the level
of the floor of the pit, and about the same depth
below the upper ground level. There was not
the slightest appearance of any disturbance of the
gravel such as might be produced by a deep grave
above the pot-hole, and below the hole there were
patches of sand, some loosely bedded large flints,
and a black band that crops out at several points in
the working.
" On the morning of May 26th, 1902, I entered
the pit soon after 6 o'clock, when the skull was
handed to me out of a heap of sand in which it
had been preserved during the night. I had been
in the pit the previous evening, after the men had
left, and noticed that there had been a c fall ' of
gravel from the north face. The men informed
me that with the fall the pot-hole disappeared and
the skull was found in the debris. The men and
I agreed at the time the skull must have come from
the pot-hole.
" In the afternoon of the same day on which
I obtained the skull, the north face of the pit
was photographed for me by Mr E. H. Youens.
Needless to say, I was impressed with the import-
ance of the discovery. I offered rewards for the
jaw, teeth, or any other bones ; but, after much
careful searching and sifting, no other human
remains were found except the small pieces from
the black deposit at a subsequent date. I did
not publish an account of the finding of the
skull, as I did not wish to draw attention to what
I was doing with respect to the animal forms
figure-stones."
1 68 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
Before discussing the value of the Dartford skull l as a
historical document, let us see what kind of man it
represents for there can be no doubt as to the sex,
so strongly are the male characters developed. The
skull, from which all the face is missing, is of unusual
dimensions. The brain capacity is 1 740 c.c. fully 250 c.c.
above the modern average. The great size of the brain
need not make us sceptical of the antiquity of the skull.
Even in the Neanderthal race, with all its ape-like
characters, we have seen that some individuals, as at
La Chapelle, went far beyond the modern average in
mass of brain. Indeed, when we have become familiar
with the implements of Acheulean man, we are prepared
to find that the brain that conceived and executed such
works of art must have been one of a high order.
The great dimensions of the Dartford skull are equally
apparent when it is measured within the conventional
frame (fig. 58). The maximum length is 207 mm. 17
mm. above the average for modern English skulls ; the
width, 150 mm., is 10 mm. above the average. The
width is almost 73 per cent, of the length : it is a
dolichocephalic skull. The height of the vault is equally
remarkable ; it rises 129 mm. above the ear-passages
13 mm. beyond the modern average. The supra-orbital
ridges are prominent, but moulded as in modern man.
The width of the forehead at the level of the supra-
orbital ridges is remarkable 120 mm. The face must
have been large and strongly developed. The forehead
is wide, measuring 1 12 mm. between the temporal lines.
The neck was thick, and the skull strongly implanted on
it. The mastoid processes are massive, their apices reach-
ing 35 mm. below the level of the upper border of the
ear-holes. The width of the skull taken over the mastoid
processes is 140 mm. The bones of the vault vary from
7 to 8 mm. in thickness.
If the question is put to a modern anthropologist : Does
1 Mr Newton presented the skull to the museum of the Royal College
of Surgeons in 1911, where it is now preserved. I am indebted to Mr
A. S. Kennard for the first knowledge of Mr Newton's discovery.
MEN OF THE loo-FOOT TERRACE 169
the Dartford skull show any feature which at once
distinguishes it from skulls of the modern type ? he
must return the answer : No, not one ! But it must
also be remembered that the same may be said of every
skull found in deposits which are later than the Mousterian
period the Combe Capelle, Cromagnon, Brllnn, Grimaldi
crania, not one of these shows any features which we
are not familiar with in modern skulls. Indeed, in many
of its characters the Dartford cranium agrees with the
Cromagnon type (see figs. 23, 62). In some minor
characters it resembles the Piltdown skull. We thus
obtain little or no aid from the skull itself in fixing its
DARTFORD (PROFILE)
FIG. 58. Profile drawing of the Dartford cranium and its outline from
above, at right angles to the view given in profile.
degree of antiquity. That must be determined on the
evidence attending its discovery in the pit at Dartford.
We have to admit at once that the evidence of the
Dartford skull being Acheulean in date is purely pre-
sumptive ; the cranium was found apparently at a depth
of 8 feet below the surface, in a gravel pit yielding-
abundance of Acheulean implements. It is believed to
have been embedded at the level of the " black band,"
which may represent an old land surface. The pot-hole
signifies a local subsidence of the gravel. To carry con-
viction, the cranium should have been seen and examined
while still embedded in a stratum known to be Acheulean
in date. We must also be certain that the stratum con-
taining the skull, and all the more superficial strata,
1 7 o THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
were intact and undisturbed. We have no guarantee of
this kind in the case of the Dartford skull. In commercial
ventures it is seldom that such a degree of verification is
possible, and yet, if we insist rigidly on such conditions,
we may reject the most valuable of documents and records.
We should further expect that other bones besides those
of man should occur at the same level, but at the Dart-
ford pit no animal remains were observed. Further, we
should expect the skull to show a high degree of mineral-
isation or fossilisation but the Dartford skull is not
heavy. Its surface is weathered, pitted, and of a light
brown colour ; when a fragment is broken, the freshly
fractured surface is grey and chalky. The condition
does not suggest, but it does not exclude, a high antiquity.
There is one remarkable feature to be seen on the
inner surface of the cranium. The skull apparently lay,
while embedded in the gravel, with its right side down
and its left up. There was a perforation on the upper or
left side, at which a drip of water must have entered, and
then have passed round the inner aspect of the vault,
making its exit at a small hole on the right or deep side
of the skull. The drip has worn a groove or channel in
the bone, about 10 mm. wide and 3 mm. deep. The ear-
holes contained a brown, sandy loam similar to that found
in the pit. Further, the skull shows no signs of battering
or erosion ; it could not have rolled far in the moving
gravel in the bed of a stream. As a document, then, the
Dartford skull is inconclusive. We cannot cite it as
evidence that men of the modern type lived in England
during the Acheulean period ; yet we cannot reject it, for
it is probably authentic.
To visit the site of the discovery of part of a human
skull which can be assigned to the Acheulean period
with some degree of surety we must leave the valley of
the Thames for an interval and visit East Anglia, where
the older deposits of the Pleistocene period are represented
more completely and consecutively than in any other part
of England perhaps more fully than in any part of
Europe. Our quest takes us to the town of Bury St
MEN OF THE roo-FOOT TERRACE 171
Edmunds in West Suffolk, situated on the Lark, a
tributary of the Ouse. From the deposits in the valley
of the Lark, a few miles below to the north of Bury
St Edmunds, Dr Allen Sturge has gathered a collection of
implements which represent man's handiwork during all
the periods of Palaeolithic culture. About two miles to
the west of Bury St Edmunds lies the rural parish of
Westley, where the land rises about 100 feet above the
level of the Lark. On the highest ground, in this area,
numerous depressions or pockets in the chalk occur,
some 10 to 14 feet in depth, filled with deposits of
brick earth. In 1882, Mr Henry Prigg, a well-known
archaeologist, lived in the neighbourhood, and kept a
close watch on such pits as were worked for the brick
earth, because they were known to yield implements
of that type which we now recognise as characteristic of
the Acheulean culture. Remains of the mammoth also
occurred ; it was also said that a human skeleton had
been found at a considerable depth in one of them.
Late in the autumn of 1882 a workman found part of the
vault of a human skull at a depth of 7^ feet (2*27 m.) in
the brick earth. Mr Prigg verified the find, and published
an account of the fragment and of the palaeoliths found
in neighbouring pits at about the same horizon as the
skull. Mr Reginald Smith assures me that these
palaeoliths are of the type usually assigned to a late
phase of the Acheulean period.
In order to throw a clearer light on the age and
nature of the brick earths in which the Bury St Edmunds
find was made, it is advisable, before describing the kind
of man indicated by the fragment, to extend our journey
twenty miles to the eastward, to Hoxne, where the
implements of the Acheulean type were first discovered.
It is a cross-country journey, which takes us into the
shallow valley of the Waveney, a stream flowing eastwards
on the confines of Suffolk and Norfolk. As long ago as
1797, John Frere collected flint "spear heads" by the
score from the brick earths of Hoxne, described them, 1
1 Arckaologia, 1800, vol. xiii. p. 206.
172 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
and recognised both their antiquity and their human
origin. John Frere's discovery was forgotten until the
year 1859, when Boucher de Perthes, after a struggle
of twenty-five years, convinced the world in general and
the leading English geologists in particular, that the
curiously shaped flints in the terraces of the Somme
particularly those at St Acheul were of human work-
manship and fashioned when species of animals now
extinct were alive. It was then that the importance of
Frere's investigations at Hoxne was realised. Sir John
Evans and Sir Joseph Prestwich visited Hoxne, and
found the brick earths and Frere's implements. In
1895-96, nearly a century after Frere's discovery, the
British Association sent a Committee its most active
member being Mr Clement Reid to investigate the
relationship of the deposit of brick earth to that of
boulder clay, a deposit resulting from the greatest of
the Pleistocene glacial episodes. The annexed diagram
(fig. 60) is compiled from the records of the Committee. 1
The Committee found that the Hoxne brick earths, about
7 feet in thickness, represented the topmost of a series
of deposits filling an ancient valley which had been about
50 feet in depth. The valley had been cut by a stream in
the chalky boulder clay and the mid-glacial sands ; it was
clear the Hoxne valley had been formed and filled after
the time of the deposition of the boulder clay and the
close of the major glaciation. The bottom of this
ancient valley is rather below the present level of the
valley of the Waveney. The lower 20 feet of the
deposits filling the valley are composed of clay laid
down in still, fresh water. Then follows a deposit
containing remains of plants which prefer a temperate
climate. Then another deposit, about 20 feet in depth,
of black loam with remains of Arctic plants. Then,
finally, a layer of gravel on which rest the brick earths,
containing Acheulean flints.
An inspection of the strata at Hoxne convinces us that
1 See Report of British Association for 1896 (Liverpool), Section C,
p. i.
MEN OF THE loo-FOOT TERRACE
73
the Acheulean period occurred long after the time of the
major glaciation ; a valley had been cut to a depth of at
least 50 feet and filled up again. In the interval between
the formation of the boulder clay and the brick earth the
climate had changed at least twice. We have seen, from
the formation of the loo-foot terrace, that the Acheulean
period is very remote from our day ; at Hoxne we see
that the major glaciation was equally distant from the
Acheulean period.
Returning now to the pit at Bury St Edmunds, we
BRICK EART
SAND . LOAM . GRAVEL
PALEOLITHS.
LOAM
WITH ARTtC PLANTS.
FVS/T/O/V
OF
SKULL.
BURY STEDMUNDS.
FIG. 59. Sec
tion of the pit
in which the
Bury St Ed-
munds frag-
ment was
found.
BOULDER CLAY
HOXNE.
FIG. 60. Section of the deposits at Hoxne.
cannot have any doubt that the brick earth, in which the
fragment of skull was found, is of the same age and
formed in the same way as the brick earth at Hoxne
(fig. 60). They are dated by the later type of Acheulean
implements. The fragment itself, which is preserved in
the Moyses Hall Museum at Bury St Edmunds, still
shows, in its interstices, particles of red brick earth. It
is stained a light reddish-brown. When struck, it has
the resonance of porcelain. The freshly fractured surface
has the colour of chalk, except that the spaces in the
bone are tinged from the brick earth. The edges of
the fragment are brown and rounded. It is evident,
i 7 4 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
from the weathered, rounded edges of the specimen,
that only a fragment had been present in the pit ; the
workmen had not detached it from a complete skull. It
may have been the stray part of a skull, lying on the
surface of the land in Acheulean times, and washed, with
other surface deposits, into the pit. At the present time
the Lark is TOO feet below the level of the pits.
Unfortunately, the fragment is not sufficient to permit
one to reconstruct the original skull with any degree of
certainty* A short time ago l an opportunity was given
me of making a minute examination of this fragment of
a human skull. From the appended illustrations the
extent of the fragment will be seen. The upper two-
thirds of the frontal bone, and about the anterior third
of the right and left parietal bones are preserved. In
attempting to reconstruct the original, I first searched for
an English skull showing, in the fronto-parietal region,
the same form and proportion of parts, the same kind of
sutural lines between the bones. Its prototype I found
in a skull obtained from a gravel deposit in the east
end of London of uncertain antiquity. I next tried to
find a counterpart for it amongst all known examples
of Neanderthal skulls. The male crania, such as the
Neanderthal calvaria itself, the specimens from Spy or
from sites in France, were altogether different. The
only crania, presumably Neanderthal in nature, which
at all resembled the Bury St Edmunds specimen were
those fragmentary skulls of women and children found
at Krapina. In none of those, however, was the sharp,
frontal bend present which is to be seen in the upper
region of the forehead of the Bury St Edmunds fragment.
The frontal bone, at this bend, is remarkably thin only
3*6 mm. ; I cannot believe that on such a forehead great
simian eyebrow ridges were implanted. In the upper
part of the frontal bone, and in the parietals, the bones
thicken to the moderate dimensions of 6 to 8 mm. The
characters, so far as we have examined them, clearly
indicate a person with a head of the modern type.
. Anat. and PhysioL, 1913, vol. xlvi. p. 73.
MEN OF THE loo-FOOT TERRACE 175
Mr Prigg formed the opinion that it was part of a
woman's skull, and with that conclusion I agree. Further,
from the fact that the sutures between the separate bones
are closed on the inner aspect and open on the outer,
the woman may be regarded as over forty' years of age.
The next point I tried to determine was : How much
of the frontal bone is missing ? In an average English
skull the length of the frontal bone, measured from the
bregma (see fig. 112, p. 331) to the nasion at the root of
the nose, measures about 130 mm. The actual amount
present in the Bury St Edmunds fragment is 89 mm.
I have presumed that about 35 mm. was missing from
BURY ST EDMUNDS
FiG. 61. Bury St Edmunds cranial fragment viewed from the side
and from the front.
the lower part. If such an amount is restored, the
forehead assumes a natural proportion. It is not likely
that 1 have underestimated the amount missing, for, in
the lower part of the frontal bone (see fig. 61), there
is present an extension of the frontal air sinus. It is
unusual in skulls of the modern type to find the air
sinuses ascending more than 30 mm. above the nasion.
In Neanderthal skulls the frontal air sinuses have a less
extensive development than in skulls of the modern type.
From the drawings which are given in figs. 61 and 62
it will be seen that the Bury St Edmunds fragment can
be conveniently oriented within the outline of a modern
skull. The original skull was certainly, as regards length,
i 7 6
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
below the modern average, even for women. I have
allowed 125 mm. for the length of the parietal bones
measured along the vault of the skull a very ample
allowance. The lambda, at the hinder end of the sagittal
suture between 'the parietal bones (see fig. 61), has been
placed 10 mm. in front of the occipital projection or pole
of the skull. The length of the skull is thus represented
as 183 mm. ; it could be made shorter, not longer. The
vault is remarkably flat on the top a character in which
70 50 O
BURY ST EDMUNDS
70 50
CROMAGNON
FIG. 62. The Bury St Edmunds fragment viewed from above. The upper
aspect of a Cromagnon skull is placed beside it for comparison.
the Bury St Edmunds fragment resembles Neanderthal
skulls. It may be suspected that the pressure of the
earth, in which the fragment lay, has produced a
posthumous flattening, but such an explanation is im-
probable when the symmetrical character of the coronal
suture, between the frontal bone and the parietals, is
observed. From the width and flattening of the vault,
one infers that the original transverse diameter of the
skull could not have been less than 148 mm., the width
being thus 80 per cent, or 81 per cent, of the length.
Such a skull would be classed as brachycephalic, but it is
MEN OF THE loo-FOOT TERRACE 177
of a totally different type from modern brachycephalic
skulls, the vault is so low. At the utmost, on the
allowances given for the frontal and parietal bones, the
height of the vault above the ear-holes could not be more
than 105 mm. 1 The brain capacity of such a skull,
using the Lee-Pearson formula, 183 x 148 x 105 x '4 x
206= 1340 c.c. a brain capacity about equal to that of
the modern Englishwoman.
Thus of all the people who lived in England during
the long Acheulean period, fashioning the multitude of
implements which mark the deposits of their time many
of them implements which show high skill and artistic
tastes only two documents remain to tell us what kind
of men and women they were. One of these documents,
the Dartford skull, is of doubtful authenticity ; the other,
the Bury St Edmunds fragment, is such a mutilated
document that one may well hesitate in forming any
certain conclusion as to the type of person it represents.
We know only their flint implements. Such habitations
or shelters as they may have built, such implements as
they fashioned in less durable material than stone, have
been destroyed by the lapse of time. We have seen that
valleys, which had been filled up, were again excavated
during the Acheulean period, except in such cases as
at Hoxne, where the river system had been changed.
The filled-up valley at Hoxne, with brick earths on the
top, containing the implements discovered by Frere,
remains now as at the close of the Acheulean period. In
the Thames valley the Acheulean deposits have apparently
been swept away, all except a fringe or terrace here and
there.
In the next chapter but one a search will be made
on the Continent for remains of Acheulean man. The
Continent, it will be seen, repeats the story of England
such remains as have been found of the Acheuleans are of
the modern type of man, not of the Neanderthal type.
1 In my paper in the Journ. of AnaL the illustrations show the correct
height, 105 mm., but an error is made in the text. The height is given
as 115 mm. instead of 105 mm.
12
CHAPTER X
A MAN OF THE CHELLEAN PERIOD
IN this chapter we again return to the valley of the
Thames to take up the story of early man in England.
The period now entered the Chellean is one of greater
duration than even the Acheulean, which has just been
surveyed. The site of our first inquiry is at Galley Hill,
a few hundred yards to the west, and rather nearer the
river than the Barnfield pit at Swanscombe (fig. 56). The
school and schoolhouse at Galley Hill stand on the brow
of the loo-foot terrace, overlooking the river. The
London road passes behind the school as it threads its
way eastwards, along the brink of the loo-foot level.
In 1888 the cement workers had quarried into the chalk
bluffs both to the north and to the west of the school,
until they had almost reached the London road. Work-
men were then -in 1888 busy removing the gravel of
the loo-foot terrace in order to expose the underlying
chalk. The stratum of gravel as they approached the
road was between 10 and 11 feet in thickness. It was
while this area was being worked near the London road,
a little to the west of the school, that the skeleton of the
Galley Hill man came to light the only representative so
far discovered of the generations who lived during the
period of Chellean culture. Our conception of the antiquity
of man, especially of man of the modern type for un-
doubtedly the Galley Hill man is formed in the same mould
as we are turns on the authenticity of this discovery.
It is therefore of the greatest importance to examine with
care every fact relating to the find at Galley Hill.
178
A MAN OF THE CHELLEAN PERIOD 179
The discovery was made late in September 1888.
The first evidence I am to cite is a letter from Mr Robert
Elliott i a printer by trade, but an enthusiastic collector
of everything relating to prehistoric times to Mr E. T.
Newton, the letter being written when Mr Newton was
preparing for publication a descriptive account 2 of the
Galley Hill man in 1894 six years after the actual
discovery:
" According to my promise, I write to let you
know the particulars of my find of human remains in
undisturbed gravel, capping the chalk, at the top of
Galley Hill, in Kent, at the end of September 1888.
" It was my custom to visit the pits at Milton
Street, Swanscombe, Galley Hill, and neighbouring
excavations every fortnight regularly (in search of
flint implements) for more than two years before
the discovery of the human remains so that I was
well acquainted with the fact beforehand.
" It was on one of my fortnightly visits that I
was informed by a man, named Jack Allsop (who had
for a long time looked out and saved for me any
implements or stones of similar shape, obtained while
screening the ballast), that he had found a skull
under the gravel. This I could hardly credit at
first ; but on my asking him to show it to me, he
produced it in several pieces from the base of a pillar
of laminated clay and sand, where he had hidden
it. I asked where the rest of the bones were. He
pointed to the section opposite this pillar, and a few
feet from it, and told me that he had left the other
bones undisturbed for me to see ; and there, sure
enough, about 2 feet from the top of the chalk and
8 feet from the top of the gravel, portions of bone
1 Mr Elliott died, at the age of seventy, in 1909. He was a Scot one of
the " black " Elliotts from the border country. In his old age he fell into
financial straits, and had not Dr Frank Corner, at great personal sacrifice,
rescued the Galley Hill and other specimens, they would have passed
into a Continental museum.
2 See Quart. Journ. Geol Soc., 1895, vol. li. p. 505.
180 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
were projecting from a matrix of clayey loam and
sand. He also told me that several of the men
employed at the works, the master of the neighbour-
ing school, and others had seen the skull.
" The section of gravel was 10 or n feet thick,
and extended for a considerable distance along the
south and east end of the pit ; several pot-holes or
pipes running from it, deep into the chalk. I care-
fully examined the section on either side of the
remains, for some distance, drawing the attention
of my son, Richard, who was with me, and of Jack
Allsop to it. It presented an unbroken face of gravel,
stratified horizontally in bands of sand, small
shingle, gravel, and, lower down, beds of clay and
clayey loam, with occasional stones in it and it was
in and below this that the remains were found. We
carefully looked for any signs of the section being
disturbed, but failed: the stratification being un-
broken, and much the same as the section in the
angle of the pit remaining to this day ; but it was
then clear and not covered by rubbish, as it now is in
places, all the c callow ' loam at the top being at that
time removed to allow of the gravel being got at.
" 1 went on my knees, and with the point of my
geological hammer and a knife tried to work round
each piece of bone ; but soon gave up the attempt,
as the bones were so friable and fragile that many
went to pieces as soon as touched, so that I decided
to work about a foot each way from the bones.
Jack Allsop and I went to work, and we were
fortunate enough to obtain the fragments which
are now in your keeping [Mr Newton's]. So
friable were they that we had to place them on soft,
newly screened sand to harden in the atmosphere,
where I allowed them to remain between four and
five hours, by which time they became a little
hardened, and I carefully wrapped them in soft
paper and brought them home. These bones had
been left in situ by Jack Allsop, because of their
A MAN OF THE CHELLEAN PERIOD 18 1
being too soft for him to get out, and also in order
that I should see them exactly as he found them.
Within a few days of my obtaining them, you will,
I think, remember that I brought the skull to you
in pieces, and you kindly offered to piece the
remains together for me ; but I preferred taking
them away, as I then intended to work the subject
up and describe and publish my find. This I have
been unable to do, not having the necessary leisure
from business, and I regret not having placed them
in your hands before. The remains have been in
my museum ever since, and no one has interfered
with them, except myself and a few friends in my
presence. So you have them exactly as they were
found, except that I have dipped them in a solution
to preserve them. In May last, my friend, Mr
Frank Corner of Poplar, saw these remains and
urged me to place them in someone's hands, so that
a description of them might be published."
It will be observed from Mr Elliott's letter that the
master in the school, which overlooks the site of discovery,
also saw the remains when they were still embedded in
the gravel bank. By good fortune, the schoolmaster,
Mr Matthew H. Heys, was also interested in prehistoric
research, and was, as the following letter shows, alive to
the importance of the find made by the workmen. In
the summer of 1910, when Dr Frank Corner, into
whose possession the Galley Hill remains had passed,
gave me an opportunity of verifying Mr Newton's
description of the skull and skeleton, I obtained the
following letter from Mr Heys :
" Some time ago, in 1888, my attention was called
to some bones found in the gravel in close proximity
to the Galley Hill School, where I was then the head
teacher. As soon as the intimation of this find was
received, I visited the gravel pit, and there saw a
few bones and about a third part of a skull (part
of the top and side) just exposed by a workman
1 82 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
excavating the gravel. To all appearances these
bones were human. These were so intensely in-
teresting to me, as I found almost daily Palaeolithic
implements in this gravel, and here might be
the remains of a man belonging to the clan or
tribe who had made these very implements. No
doubt could possibly arise to the observation of
an ordinary intelligent person of their deposition
contemporaneously with that of the gravel, for
there was a bed of loam, in the base of which these
human relics were embedded. The underneath
part of the skull, as far as I could see, was resting
on a sandy gravel. The stratum of loam was
undisturbed. This undisturbed state of the stratum
was so palpable to the workman that he said, c The
man or animal was not buried by anybody.' The
gravel underneath the skull, of which I took
particular notice, was stratified and undisturbed.
" My next step was to induce the workman to
desist from exposing these relics further until a
photograph of them in situ had been taken ; and
meanwhile he was to cover them carefully with
gravel. To my utter astonishment and indignation,
a day or two after, and before I could get a
photographer, I found they had been removed by Mr
R. Elliott, then a stranger to me, and without their
having been photographed. My anticipated posses-
sion of them was thus thwarted. I soon learned
there was a working arrangement between Mr Elliott
and the workman whereby the latter was subsidised
to find fossils, implements, etc., for the former.
" For a long time I took but little interest in the
discovery, and this may account for my meagre
description given to Mr E. T. Newton at the time
when he read a paper before the Geological Society,
of their Galley Hill skeleton. However, since then,
I have been reconciled to the loss, for they fell into
better hands than mine in many respects.
"I cannot give details of the loamy stratum
A MAN OF THE CHELLEAN PERIOD 183
which formed the matrix for these osseous remains,
nor exact measurements of the position of the
ancient relics. The gravel bed was about 10 feet
thick, resting directly upon the chalk and the loamy
stratum, about 2 feet 6 inches from the bottom.
" MATTHEW H. HEYS.
"July \2th, 1910."
There can be no doubt that in September 1888 the
Galley Hill skeleton was found at a depth of about
8 feet in the loo-foot terrace, resting in a stratum of
loam. The workman, Jack Allsop, Mr Elliott, and
Mr Heys were all qualified to form an opinion as to
whether or not the terrace over the skeleton was intact.
In their opinion it was. That was also the opinion
which Mr Newton formed in 1894 on an examination
of all the evidence then available. Mr Newton's verdict
must carry weight with all geologists, for he has spent a
lifetime in laying, soundly and solidly, a foundation for
our knowledge of the animals which lived during recent
geological periods. His eminence as a geologist, and
especially his caution as a thinker, are the best guarantees
we could have that these human remains belong to a man
who lived while the zoo-foot terrace was still in process
of formation. As for my part, when I commenced a
systematic examination of these remains in 1910 my
attitude towards them was one of scepticism. The
discovery of a man differing only in details from men
now living in England in so ancient a formation seemed
at variance with a belief in the orderly succession of
evolutionary stages in man's early history. It was only
when I saw that there was no possibility of denying the
authenticity of the discovery without doing an injury to
truth, that it became apparent to me, as it had done to
many other inquirers, 1 that the find at Galley Hill had
1 M. A. Rutot, " L'age probable du squelette de Galley Hill," Bullet.
Societ^ Beige de GeoL, 1909, vol. xxiii. p. 239. Professor V. Guiffrida-
Ruggeri, Archiv. per VAntropoL, 1910, vol. xl. p. 3. Professor H.
Klaatsch, Zeitsch. fur Ethnologic, 1909, vol. xli. p. 537 ; Praehist.
Zeitschrift, 1910, vol. i. p. 296.
i8 4 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
to be accepted as a fact, and that our beliefs regarding
man's antiquity must be modified accordingly.
The gravel terrace in which the Galley Hill skeleton
was found represents a direct extension of the deposits at
Swanscombe. As was mentioned in a former chapter,
Mr Reginald Smith and Mr Dewey found that the
gravels in the Barnfield pit at Swanscombe represented
at least three series of deposits of three different ages.
In which of these three series of deposits were the human
remains embedded at Galley Hill ? In the Barnfield pit (see
fig. 57) there are two strata of loam an upper, containing
implements of the Acheulean period ; a lower, resting on
the deepest or basal layer of gravel, and lying under a
bed of gravel containing implements of the Chellean
age. In the gravels at Galley Hill the same types
of implements were found as at the Barnfield pit.
There can be little doubt that the skeleton lay in the
lower bed of loam the one under the Chellean gravel.
The stratum belongs to the oldest or basal series
of deposits of the loo-foot terrace. In the basal
gravel occur the Strepyan or oldest form of Palaeolithic
implements.
M. Rutot, who has done so much to systematise and
date the deposits found in river valleys, not only
recognised that Galley Hill man lay in a deposit of
Strepyan age, but regarded him as a representative of
that time. It is in the deposits of the same period, as
M. Rutot was the first to demonstrate, that the early
Europeans really applied themselves to stonecraft in
earnest shaping in a rough and crude manner the
kind of implements which foreshadow the magnificent
tools of the Chellean age. That the pioneers of the great
periods of stone culture the inventors of the palaeolith
should be highly evolved men with big brains did not
surprise M. Rutot. When, however, we look more
closely at the facts revealed at the time of the discovery
there is good reason for assigning the Galley Hill man to
the subsequent or Chellean period. When, as at Galley
Hill and at Hailing, representations of a complete
A MAN OF THE CHELLEAN PERIOD 185
skeleton are found, with all the parts in close proximity,
it is almost certain that the remains have not been
entombed by Nature, but by the hand of man. When
Mr Newton read his paper before the Geological Society,
Sir John Evans, who took part in the discussion which
followed, said that " the occurrence of a nearly perfect
skeleton was suggestive of an interment," and " ventured
to maintain an attitude of doubt regarding the antiquity
of the remains." At that time, twenty-six years ago,
the custom of burial was supposed to have been intro-
duced at a comparatively late stage of human evolution.
Since then, the discoveries in France have revealed
deliberate burials as long ago as the Mousterian and
Aurignacian periods. If we accept the discovery at
Galley Hill as authentic, we must also accept the great
antiquity of the human custom of burying the dead.
We hardly do justice to the men who shaped the
Chellean weapons if we hold them incapable of showing
respect for their dead. Certain it is that the remains
found at Galley Hill are not those of a low type of man.
In size, and in the richness of its convolutions, the brain
of Galley Hill man does not fall short of the average
man of to-day.
We must admit, then, that a burial had been made at
Galley Hill but when ? It was before the Thames had
laid down the final series of deposits in the loo-foot
terrace. Mr Elliott, Mr Heys, and Jack Allsop saw that
the overlying, stratified deposits were unbroken. They
showed no trace of having been broken by a burial made
from the present land surface. As at Hailing, we must
search for an old land surface, such as may be repre-
sented in the Barnfield pit by the stratum of gravel,
containing implements of the Chellean type, and lying
over the lower stratum of loam the one in which the
human remains were apparently embedded. Weighing
all the evidence, we are forced to the conclusion that
the Galley Hill skeleton represents a man of the
Chellean period, buried when the lower gravel formed
a land surface. The land surface of Chellean times
1 86 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
became submerged by the later or Acheulean deposits
of the terrace.
Having thus brought forward the evidence relating to
the high antiquity of the human remains found at Galley
Hill, we proceed to ascertain what kind of individual
they represent. As to the sex there can be no doubt
the bones of the skull and limbs show all the characters
which mark the male. Nor can there be much doubt
as to his age. The sutures between the bones on the
vault of the skull are almost closed represented only
by traces ; he was past middle age, probably about
fifty. His thigh bones, both of which were found,
measure 422 mm., indicating a stature of 1600 mm.
(5 feet 3 inches) a short man. Unfortunately, neither
of the leg bones tibiae are complete, but by compar-
ing the fragments with complete specimens of both
Neanderthal and modern types of man, an approximate
estimate may be made of their original length between
320325 mm. The leg was thus about 77 per cent, of
the length of the thigh the usual proportion for modern
man. The relatively long leg of negroid, Aurignacian,
and of some Neolithic races, was not a character of
the Galley Hill race. As to the relative proportions of
the upper limb, little can be said, for the bones of the
forearm were never found. The lower end of the right
humerus has been broken away. The original length
of this bone was probably between 305 and 315 mm.
a dimension to be expected in a modern man of 5 feet
3 inches. One peculiar feature of his organisation is
worth noting here. The pectoral muscle, which rises
from the inner third of the collar bone or clavicle,
and from the front of the thorax, and which passes in
front of the arm-pit to act on the upper end of the
humerus, was particularly well developed. The impres-
sions for this muscle on the collar bone and humerus
are extensive and pronounced. The bones are those
of a well-made man of medium strength. The skeleton
does not show a single feature which can be called
Neanderthaloid, nor any simian feature which is not
A MAN OF THE CHELLEAN PERIOD 187
also to be seen in the skeletons of men of the modern
type. The Galley Hill " man represents no strange
species of mankind ; he belongs to the same type as
modern man.
Such are the general features of the Galley Hill man.
For students of human races the form of head and face
has a special significance. In this part of our inquiry
a special difficulty confronts us. We have seen that the
bones when first exposed were quite soft ; the skull
warped as it dried. To anthropologists, who refuse to
recognise any but perfect specimens, the Galley Hill skull
will probably be regarded as an unreliable document.
Were we to wait for the discovery of perfect prehistoric
crania, the early story of man could never be written.
We have to make the best of what is found, and, in the
case of the Galley Hill skull, it is not difficult to make a
due allowance for defects which arise from warping or
earth-pressure. The skull, in all its characters, is of the
type familiar to students of the human body it is an
extremely long, narrow skull, with a low vault. When
viewed in profile and placed within the conventional
frame (fig. 63), it is seen to exceed the average modern
English skull by 14 mm. fully half an inch its
maximum length being 204 mm. From the front the
skull appears to be flattened from side to side (fig. 63),
the width having been originally just under 140 mm.
The man was pronouncedly long-headed, the width being
approximately 69 per cent, of the length. We have
already seen that most of the Palaeolithic Europeans,
especially of the Aurignacian period, had exceptionally
long heads. In any large modern population in the
western side of Europe, individuals with heads of a very
similar size and shape could still be found. The height
of the vault above the ear-holes in this ancient skull is
1 20 mm. a low amount when compared with the length,
and yet in absolute amount rather above the modern
average. In size of brain the Galley Hill man is not
unlike the modern average man, but an exact estimate is
not possible. From direct measurement it was found
1 88
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
that the brain mass measured between 1350-1400 c.c.,
but when we employ the indirect method and calculate
the capacity from the diameters of the skull using the
Lee-Pearson formula a capacity of 1500 c.c. is obtained.
In actual size of brain, the Galley Hill man did not differ
materially from modern men. The cast of the brain,
which Mr F. O. Barlow made from the skull, shows that,
so far as concerns the convolutionary pattern, the Galley
Hill man was not inferior to the average modern
European. The areas or lobes which are specially
FIG. 63. The Galley Hill skull viewed from the side and from the front,
the face being restored.
associated with the senses of sight, hearing, and touch,
are all there ; so, too, are the convolutions which are
concerned in speech and in movements of the limbs
and body.
The question of speech naturally leads our inquiry to
the lower jaw particularly to the region of the chin.
Fortunately, the greater part of the left half of the lower
jaw, and the whole of the region of the chin, were
recovered. There are no Neanderthal marks at the
symphysis of the jaw : the markings which indicate the
origin of the chief muscles of the tongue are shaped and
A MAN OF THE CHELLEAN PERIOD 189
placed as in modern man. From the conformation of
the brain and of the chin being exactly as in modern
man we draw the conclusion that the faculty of speech
was fully evolved. It is difficult to suppose that the
race who invented and mastered the high art shown by
Chellean implements had not, long before, attained the
gift of speech. When it is remembered we are dealing
with a period the Chellean which, so it is estimated
from the physical changes that have occurred since, lies at
70 50 O 50 70
GALLEY HILL (VERTEX.)
70 50 O
GALLEY HILL
FIG. 64. Drawings of the Galley Hill skull from above and below. The
latter shows the degree of twisting or torsion.
least between a hundred thousand and a hundred and
fifty thousand years beyond our time, it will be seen that
a great claim is made, not only for the antiquity of man,
but for the antiquity of human culture.
The reader will have a difficulty in believing that
human remains, to which so great an antiquity is assigned,
do not show in their structure, as well as in their degree
of fossilisation, some evidence of their ancient origin.
They do. In the first place, the condition of preservation
is peculiar quite unlike any bones of Neolithic or of
1 9 o THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
Palaeolithic date I have ever seen. Mr E. T. Newton is
perfectly familiar with the degree of fossilisation seen
in bones from the loo-foot terrace. He and other
authorities regard their condition as evidence of their
high antiquity. There are several structural parts which
indicate a primitive form of man. The skull is thick,
the vault varying from 10 to 12 mm. altogether an
exceptional measurement. The eyebrow ridges, although
of the modern, bipartite form, are yet exceptionally
pronounced. The middle or supraciliary parts are con-
tinuous with the lateral or malar parts, as in the most
uncivilised of modern races. In the lower jaw itself,
very primitive features are present.
A drawing of the mandible from the side is seen in
figs. 63 and 67. The ascending branch or ramus, which
articulates with the base of the cranium, by means of the
articular condyle, does not show the sigmoid notch or
bay usually seen on its upper border. This notch is
situated in front of the articular condyle, and behind the
coronoid process to which the chief muscles of mastica-
tion are attached. In all modern races, in most of
the late Palaeolithic, and in all Neolithic races, the
sigmoid notch is deep and well marked. In the Galley
Hill ascending ramus such a notch is almost absent.
Its absence is a primitive feature. The joint on the
base of the skull, for the condyle of the jaw, shows in
its shape and size the characters seen on the skulls of
primitive races of the modern type. The ear-hole is
remarkably large ; the mastoid process behind it, on
the other hand, is small. The area for the temporal
muscle, the chief muscle of mastication on the side
of the skull, is abnormally extensive, indicating large
muscles of mastication.
Five teeth remained implanted in the mandible the
two premolars and three molars of the left side. The
other lower teeth incisors and canine had dropped from
their sockets after death. The crowns of the molar teeth
are worn not deeply in the manner seen in the
dentitions of races living on a crude, vegetarian diet.
A MAN OF THE CHELLEAN PERIOD 191
The teeth themselves are not large, the total length of
the crowns of the three molar teeth being 34*5 mm.
The last molar is slightly longer than the second. The
width of the molars the diameter between the cheek and
tongue margins is less than the length. All of those
features are such as we expect in an individual of a very
primitive type : a combination of such characters would
be very difficult to find in any European of modern or of
Neolithic date.
When the Galley Hill jaw and teeth are examined by
FIG. 65. Radiograph of the Galley Hill mandible and teeth.
X-rays, we see that there is no trace of the peculiar
specialisation the enlargement of the pulp cavity
taurodontism which characterises, in a greater or
lesser degree, the teeth of Neanderthal man (see p. 147).
In fig. 65 is reproduced an X-ray photograph of the
teeth and mandible. The teeth show primitive characters ;
in all their parts they are of an older and a more simian
type than the molars of Neanderthal man. 1 The pulp
cavities, in place of being large, as in adult apes with
1 For an account of the Galley Hill teeth, see reference, p. 1 79 (Newton),
p. 148 (Keith).
1 92 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
worn teeth, are particularly small. The smallness of the
cavity is due to the fact that it is being rapidly filled up
by the formation of secondary dentine Nature's way of
protecting the sensitive pulp from being exposed, as the
crown is worn by chewing. In shape of root, as well as
in size and relative proportion of crown, Galley Hill
teeth show a primitive human type. We need not, then,
reject the Galley Hill remains on account of the modernity
of their structure and characters ; they do show such
primitive marks as we should expect in an ancient form
of European.
Mention has been made of the large muscles of
mastication. The facial parts of the skull are gone, and
we cannot measure the size of the palate directly. But
we can estimate its size by an indirect method. More
than half of the lower jaw is present ; the size of the
arcade, formed by the lower teeth, is known. From the
lower set we can calculate the form and size of the upper
set. In this way we reach the conclusion that the area of
the palate (see p. 97) was between 29 and 30 cm. 2 its
length being 53 mm., its width, 66 or 67 mm. These
dimensions are not exceptional ; on many modern skulls,
especially of primitive races, palates of equal or even
greater dimensions are to be found.
Why is it, then, that anatomists and geologists have
been so reluctant to acknowledge the antiquity of the
Galley Hill remains ? The anatomist turns away from
this discovery because it reveals no new type of man,
overlooking the much greater revelation the high
antiquity of the modern type of man, the extraordinary
and unexpected conservancy of the type. The geologist
regards the remains with suspicion for two reasons first,
he has grown up with a belief in the recent origin, not
only of modern civilisation, but of modern man himself.
He expects a real anatomical change to mark the passage
of a long period of time. Further, at a much later date
than the formation of the loo-foot terrace, a very
primitive type of man survived in Europe such a
type as answers exactly to the evolutionist's expectation
A MAN OF THE CHELLEAN PERIOD i
93
of a human ancestral form. The discovery of human
remains of the Neanderthal type confirmed geologists
in their opinion that Pleistocene man must be of a
more primitive at least, of a different type to modern
man. Hence the rejection of all remains such as
those found at Galley Hill which do not conform to
this standard.
CHAPTER XI
PRE-MOUSTERIAN MAN IN FRANCE AND ITALY
A JOURNEY of a little over one hundred miles from
Galley Hill lands the traveller at the town of Abbeville,
situated on the estuary of the Somme in the north-east
of France. On the higher grounds of the northern
suburbs of Abbeville, we find an exact counterpart of
the terrace we have left at Galley Hill. Thanks to the
pioneer labours of M. Commont, 1 Professor at 1'Ecole
Normale of Amiens, a city on the Somme fully twenty
miles above Abbeville, not only the exact structure of
the loo-foot or 3O-metre terrace also named the middle
terrace is known, but also the sequence of flint imple-
ments contained in the various strata of this terrace.
Indeed, it was M. Commont's discoveries in the terrace
of the valley of the Somme which led to the inquiries
at Swanscombe by Mr Reginald Smith and Mr Dewey.
These gentlemen found in the xoo-foot terrace of the
Thames valley, as we have just seen, the same triple
series of deposits, and the same cultures as M. Commont
had previously discovered in the 3O-metre terrace at
Abbeville and at Amiens. Even in the most ancient
Palaeolithic times, intercommunication between France
and England must have been sufficiently advanced to
allow a free interchange of culture. In fig. 66 is given
M. Commont's section of the loo-foot terrace at Abbe-
ville, as shown in the Carpentier gravel pit. The lowest
1 Les gisements paleolithiques d* Abbeville (Lille, 1910). See also
L! Anthropologie, 1908, vol. xix. p. 527; ibid., 1911, vol. xxii. p. 575.
Compt. rendu, 1911, vol. cliii. p. 1256.
194
PRE-MOUSTERIAN MAN
'95
series of deposits, resting on the chalk, is made up
of a gravel, a greenish clay, and a chalky loam or
marie. The worked flints found in this series belong
to an older culture than the Chellean they are pre-
Chellean. The second series of deposits is represented
by a gravel and an overlying bed of light-coloured sands
yielding flints of the Chellean period. The third series
of deposits begins with a seam of flints, or gravel,
containing implements of the first Acheulean l culture ;
ACHEULEAN II
ACHEUUEAN I
CHELUEAN -
-5
-.. MARLE _ ^ ;.}.":. "-:- -
(fpssilifWous) . : "";"3;:V
FIG. 66. Section of the 3O-metre terrace at Abbeville (V. Comment).
in the overlying bed of red, sandy, laminated loam
" limon fendille" occur the later Acheulean implements
of the type found in the brick earths at Bury St Edmunds.
Often in the deeper layers of the last-mentioned stratum
occur black bands of manganese. At the Carpentier pit,
as at the Barnfield, the series of deposits end with the
late Acheulean culture ; but in other sites in the same
terrace, and particularly in the lower or 5O-foot terrace,
deposits of a later date occur, containing implements of
the Mousterian, Aurignacian, and even late Palaeolithic
cultures. Our visit to Abbeville assures us that in the
1 St Acheul is near Amiens.
196 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
river valleys of the adjoining parts of France and
England occur the same sequence of terraces, deposits,
and cultures.
The investigations of M. Comment belong to the
commencement of the twentieth century. Seventy years
before his time even more remarkable discoveries were
made at Abbeville. In 1825, M. Boucher de Perthes,
then a man of forty-one, was placed in charge of the
customs of the town. In the years following the date
of his appointment, cave exploration was attracting the
attention of antiquaries. It was in 1833 that Schmerling
published the results of his investigations at Engis.
No one had ever looked, or even thought of looking,
in the gravel deposits of valley terraces for human
implements until Boucher de Perthes took up his abode
in the Somme valley. The terraces were known to
contain the remains of extinct animals, and their formation
was supposed to predate man's appearance. About the
year 1832 this antiquarian exciseman first noticed very
curiously shaped stones in the gravel pits. These stones,
we now know, represented human implements of the
Acheulean type. We are not surprised that he recognised
in those stones the work of man's hand and of man's
brain, but we have a difficulty in understanding why
those to whom he showed them did not agree with him.
Even in 1 847, when he had published the first part of
his great work, Antiquites Celtiques et Antediluviennes, he
had not gained a single convert. Indeed, his discovery
was regarded in the light of a joke. In 1858 the public
attitude towards Boucher de Perthes' work began to
change, and in that change Dr Hugh Falconer, whom we
have come across before as explorer of the Brixham cave,
gave a helping hand. He had in his younger days made
known the extinct animals found in the Siwalik forma-
tions in India, and in 1858 was searching the caves on
the shores and islands of the Mediterranean for fossil
animals. On his way to the caves he had the good
fortune to call at Abbeville and to meet Boucher de
Perthes. He realised at once that this local antiquarian,
PRE-MOUSTERIAN MAN
197
in charge of the customs-house at Abbeville, had made
a great discovery one which revealed an ancient and
unsuspected chapter of human history. Falconer was
one of a remarkable group of British scientists, embrac-
ing Sir Charles Lyell, George Busk, who brought the
Gibraltar skull to England, Joseph Prestwich, a wine
merchant and geologist, John Evans, a paper manufacturer
and antiquarian, and John Lubbock, banker, naturalist,
and anthropologist. Falconer prevailed on his friends
to visit Abbeville. The result was that this brilliant
school of geologists became convinced that Boucher de
Perthes' discovery was right the implements were of
human workmanship, and that man had lived when the
roo-foot terrace was being formed.
In 1863 another famous discovery by Boucher de
Perthes brought the English geologists back to Abbeville.
The discovery was made in the Moulin Quignon pit
in the zoo-foot terrace at Abbeville, a few hundred
yards to the east of the Carpentier pit (fig. 66), so
thoroughly investigated by Commont.
The Moulin Quignon pit, like others along the valley
of the Somme, had yielded a rich harvest of Palaeolithic
implements both Acheulean and Chellean types to
Boucher de Perthes, but not a trace of the man who
fashioned them, although liberal rewards were held out
to the workmen in the pits. On March 23rd, 1863, the
long-expected discovery was made ; on that day Boucher
de Perthes removed with his own hand a human jaw
from the lower gravels of the Moulin Quignon pit.
The mandible lay l in a well-known, particularly black
stratum of sand and gravel which contained many flints
of the Acheulean type " coup-de-poing," or " hand-axes,"
as they were then called. The black stratum was 5 m.
(16^ feet) below the surface of the pit, almost on the
chalk. The section of the Carpentier pit (fig. 66) shows
how the upper or third series of deposits may dip down
almost to the chalk, as they evidently did at Moulin
1 For a full account of the discovery of, and conference on, the Moulin
Quignon jaw, see Natural History Review, 1863, vol. iii. p. 423.
198 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
Quignon. The news of this discovery brought the
English group of geologists hot-foot to Abbeville. It
was the first discovery of "river-drift" terrace-gravel
man. At first the visitors were impressed favourably.
Then it was found that some of the implements in
Boucher de Perthes' collection were forgeries, foisted on
him by the workmen. The Englishmen returned home
in doubt, bringing with them the jaw, and also an isolated
human tooth found in the same stratum. Falconer and
Busk took the jaw to the museum of the Royal College
of Surgeons, and cut it across to see the state of fossilisa-
tion. They also made a section of the isolated tooth.
The cut surface of the tooth and of the jaw appeared
surprisingly well preserved and fresh ; they were really
shocked to find it contained as much as 8 per cent,
animal matter. That was the circumstance which turned
their suspicion into a serious doubt, although on the
shelves of the museum in which they had met there was
a series of specimens, prepared by John Hunter in 1792,
to show that the bones of Pleistocene animals may contain
as much as 30 per cent, of animal matter. Gimbernat
had even made a jelly from the bones of the mammoth.
Then a curious thing happened. In May of the same
year, 1863, the English geologists went to Paris to meet
in solemn conclave their confreres of France and pass
sentence on the jaw. The conference broke up leaving
the French section convinced that the Moulin Quignon
jaw was an authentic document, and the English that it
was a forgery. French anthropologists continued to
believe in the authenticity of the jaw until between 1880
and 1890, when they ceased to include it in the list
of discoveries of ancient man. At the present time
opinion is almost unanimous in regarding the Moulin
Quignon jaw as a worthless relic. We see that its
relegation to oblivion begins when the belief became
fixed that Neanderthal man represented a Pleistocene
phase in the evolution of modern races. That opinion,
we have seen, is no longer tenable.
Was Boucher de Perthes tricked ? Let us look at the
PRE-MOUSTERIAN MAN
199
specimen, or rather at an exact cast of the specimen, for
it is on that I have had to base my examination. The
mandible was originally covered by the black specks of
the stratum in which it lay. Mr Busk found he could
brush these specks off ; that does not invalidate its
authenticity. The shape of the mandible is remarkable.
In fig. 67, I reproduce the appearance of the jaw as seen
from the side, in true profile. Beside the Moulin
Quignon specimen, I have placed a similar outline ~of
ZO o 20
(A) MOULIN QUIGNON.
20
(B) GALLEY HILL.
FIG. 67. (A) A profile drawing of the Moulin Quignon mandible. (B) A profile
drawing of the Galley Hill mandible. On the latter a stippled outline of a
modern English mandible is superimposed.
the mandible of the Galley Hill man. It is then seen
that the ascending branch of the Moulin Quignon jaw,
bearing the articular condyle and coronoid process, is
altogether of remarkable width 50 mm. at its widest
part. The body of the jaw is not deep as measured from
its upper or tooth-bearing border to its lower. Indeed,
it is shallow, but its thickness, measured from the inner
to the outer surface in the region of the molar teeth,
is of more than average amount. In the region of the
chin and symphysis, all the markings and features found
in the chin region of modern man are present. When
a comparison is made with the Galley Hill mandible
(fig. 67), the Moulin Quignon specimen is, on the whole,
200 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the less primitive. Its ascending branch is the wider,
but the Galley Hill ramus shows the more shallow,
and therefore more primitive, notch between the condylar
and coronoid processes. The mandible which shows the
nearest approach to Boucher de Perthes' specimen is one
known as the Foxhall mandible. 1 It was found in
the same year, 1863, in the sand pit of Foxhall, near
Ipswich. The exact stratum from which it came is not
known. Huxley, Busk, and Falconer had the Foxhall
specimen by them when they were investigating the
Moulin Quignon mandible at the College of Surgeons.
MOULIN QUIGNON
FOX-HALL,
FIG. 68. Stippled outline of the Foxhall mandible superimposed on
a drawing of the Moulin Quignon specimen.
The condition of preservation was similar in both cases.
In fig. 68, I superimpose the drawing given by Dr
Collyer of the Foxhall jaw on a contemporary drawing
published of the Moulin Quignon specimen ; 2 they are
almost identical. In the following figure, 69, I contrast
the Abbeville jaw with that of a Neanderthal man one of
the specimens found at Spy. It is at once apparent how
different they are. The Neanderthal (Spy) specimen is
by far the more simian, and if we did not know that men
of the modern type must have been contemporaries of
the Neanderthal species, we should never hesitate in
1 "The Fossil Human Jaw from Suffolk/' Robert H. Collyer, M.D.,
Anthrop. Review, 1867, vol. v. p. 221.
2 J. L. Rome, F.G.S., The Abbeville Jaw, Hull, 1864.
PRE-MOUSTERIAN MAN
201
accepting the Spy mandible as the true representative
of Pleistocene man.
Were our predecessors right in rejecting the Abbeville
mandible ? I think not. Boucher de Perthes gives the
most circumstantial account of its discovery. There is
not a single point mentioned by Busk or by Falconer
which makes its antiquity impossible. It was almost an
isolated case in 1863, but since then the discoveries at
Galley Hill, at Bury St Edmunds, at Clichy, and at
Crenelle have been made. Our predecessors were largely
FIG. 69. Stippled outline of the Moulin Quignon mandible superimposed
on the Spy (Neanderthal) specimen.
influenced by prejudice. Time will probably show that
the pioneer of Abbeville was not only right about the
human implements of the terraces, but also about the
human remains. He died in 1868 : it was not until
1908 that a statue was erected to him in Abbeville.
In our search for men of the most ancient Palaeolithic
periods, we now move from Abbeville on the estuary of
the Somme to Paris on the banks of the Seine. The
greater part of Paris is built on deposits on terraces
laid down by the Seine. The river deposits of Paris
offer certain advantages for our present purposes.
Galley Hill and Abbeville lie in the tidal reach of their
valleys. When submergence of the land sets in, the
202 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
tidal reaches of the valleys become filled up. After-
wards, as the land rises again, the deposits are scoured out.
All that remains of these deposits are the fragments
preserved as terraces on the sides of the valley. At
Paris we are far enough above sea-level to safeguard the
valley deposits ; they may be disturbed in part, but at
many places we may expect to find the very oldest
deposits lying in their original condition on the lowest
part of the valley. At Chelles, for instance, eight miles
to the east of Paris, the ancient deposits, with typical
specimens of the Chellean culture, rest on the floor of
the valley of the Marne. If ancient river deposits do
contain human or other remains, there is no place where
they were so likely to be discovered as in the foundations
of Paris for no area has been so extensively excavated.
In the year 1868 a gravel pit was still worked off the
Avenue de Clichy, right in the heart of that part of
Paris which lies on the north bank of the Seine. The
problem of man's antiquity was still being debated. On
the 1 8th of April of that year 1868 M. Eugene
Bertrand, then a student in Paris, visited, as was his
wont, the gravel pit off the Avenue de Clichy to see
what fossil bones had come to light. The remains of
extinct Pleistocene mammals had been found from time
to time. On that morning he was informed that the
labourers had exposed a human skeleton on the working
face of the pit. M. Bertrand was an expert observer and
familiar with the strata of the pit. The depth at which
the skeleton lay was 5-25 m. (17-3 feet) from the
surface. It was embedded in the fourth layer from the
top. Fig. 70, which shows the sequence of the overlying
strata, is taken from a paper recently published by M.
Rutot. M. Bertrand gave an account of his discovery to
the Anthropological Society of Paris in the same year. 1
The antiquity and authenticity of the Clichy skeleton
was accepted by all the authorities in France except one
M. G. de Mortillet, who believed that the workmen at
the pit had deceived M. Bertrand. The clear-sighted
1 Bull. Soc. cFAnthrop., 1868, ser. 2, vol. iii. p. 329.
PRE-MOUSTERIAN MAN
203
Professor Hamy had no doubt as to any of the facts
relating to the discovery. In his excellent treatise on
Ancient Man l he records all the essential facts bearing
on the authenticity of M. Bertrand's observations.
The same fate overtook the Clichy skeleton as the
Abbeville jaw. With the acceptance of Neanderthal man
as our Pleistocene ancestor, it was relegated to oblivion,
SOIL
GRAVEL & RED LOAM
RED SANDY CLAY
jyj. ". r iiv_ ''... ji '. : i'j. i. LI.': :'.... '.-.''.', "-''.'!.. .T,
5 -
: .YELLOW SANDS
SHARP SANDS
&
GRAVELS
HUMAN REMAINS
18ft
FlG. 70. Strata of the gravel pit at Clichy, Paris (after M. Rutot).
and would probably have remained there had it not been
for M. Rutot. M. Rutot has spent a lifetime in study-
ing the river deposits of the valleys of Belgium. He is
convinced that his observations of the valley deposits of
Belgium may be applied to the valleys of the adjoining
countries. He is certain that the terraces of the Seine
at Paris must have been formed at the same time and in
the same way as those in the valleys of the Meuse, of the
Thames, and of the Somme. In 1910 he visited Paris
1 Precis de paleontologie humaine, E. T. Hamy, Paris, 1870.
204 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
and verified his conclusions. 1 At Clichy he found the
same deposits, in the same order as at Abbeville, as at St
Acheul, and as at Galley Hill. Each stratum carried in
it the corresponding Palaeolithic culture. The skeleton
at Clichy, he has proved, lay in a deposit which corresponds
to the one in which the Galley Hill skeleton was em-
bedded. At Galley Hill the human remains lay in the
loam under the middle gravel, the stratum which contains
palaeoliths of the Chelles period. At Clichy the human
skeleton lay in a grey loam with bands of gravel and of
sand which at St Acheul contains the typical Chellean
industry.
The discoveries at Clichy and at Galley Hill revealed
very similar kinds of men. At Clichy a whole skeleton
was represented ; we have clearly to do with a burial-
one made probably from a Chellean land surface. As at
Galley Hill, the individual found had a remarkably long
head, 204 mm., with a width of 138 mm. almost to a
millimetre the length and width of the Galley Hill skull.
Unfortunately, at Clichy the lower part of the forehead
was broken away, but the bones of the vault have the
same extreme thickness as at Galley Hill 10 to 13 mm.
The height of the vault above the ear-holes is almost
the same 118 mm., a low roof for such a long skull.
The ear-holes are wide and the mastoid process small
exactly as in the Galley Hill skull. On the other hand,
there is a difference as regards the lower limbs. The
Galley Hill tibia was not flattened from side to side ; in
the Clichy skeleton flattening was present. Both were
persons of low stature. Can we suppose that the work-
men at Galley Hill and at Clichy had a supernatural
knowledge and implanted those two similar but peculiar
varieties of men in the same geological stratum, and in
the midst of the same ancient, Palaeolithic culture ? As
regards size of brain, the Clichy man, judging from the
measurements of the skull, should be about of the same
brain capacity as the Galley Hill man under 1 500 c.c.
1 " Revision stratigraphiques des ossements humains quarternaires
de 1'Europe," Bull. Soc. Beige de Ge'oL, 1910, vol. xxiv. p. 123.
PRE-MOUSTERIAN MAN 205
I have cited only this one instance from the ancient
valley deposits of Paris, because it is not necessary to
prove more than one case one instance of a modern
type of man who lived before the Mousterian period,
the heyday of Neanderthal man in Europe. At Crenelle,
on the south bank of the Seine, in Paris, human
remains of the same type have been found at an even
greater depth, and others of a different type at more
superficial horizons. There is no doubt that even in the
earliest Palaeolithic periods one hundred thousand or
even one hundred and fifty thousand years ago the
culture and the people in the valley of the Seine and in
the valley of the Thames were very much alike.
From Paris our present inquiry takes us along the
valley of the Rhone towards the north of Italy. At
Lyons it is well to break our journey and visit Le Puy,
situated on the upper waters of the Loire in a mountainous
country to the north of the Cevennes. In the museum
of the town is preserved the frontal bone of a human
skull, which was found embedded in a volcanic matrix.
The history of the specimen is well known. An account
of it was published in 1844, but the fullest description
is that given by Dr Sauvage in I872. 1 In 1859, Sir
Charles Lyell visited Le Puy, and examined the volcanic
deposits on Mount Denise, where the specimen was
found. The actual site of discovery is situated in a
vineyard terrace near the summit of a hill. The
matrix in which the specimen is embedded guarantees its
antiquity. The frontal bone is that of a person who
lived before the last volcanic eruption which occurred in
Central France. In the same deposit as the skull are
found the remains of the cave-hyena and hippopotamus.
The date of the eruption and of the skull is therefore
mid-Pleistocene about the same age as the Bury St
Edmunds fragment. Perhaps it may be older. Its
interest for us is that although so ancient it differs in no
essential particular from the frontal bone of a modern
skull (fig. 71). From its dimensions one infers that it
1 "L'homme fossile de Denise," Rev. tfAnthrop., 1872, vol. i. p. 289.
206
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
formed part of a relatively small skull somewhat larger
than the skull represented by the Bury St Edmunds
fragment. The frontal bone is not thick, only 6*5 mm.,
and the supra-orbital ridges are not pronounced. From
other features we infer the Denise skull was that of a
young woman. Other bones of the human skeleton
have also been found in the same volcanic deposit, but,
unfortunately, to meet a demand on the part of visitors
to Le Puy, many spurious specimens were offered for
150
100
FIG. 71. The Denise frontal bone.
sale, thus throwing doubt on those which are undoubtedly
genuine.
The final discovery I am to site as evidence that the
inhabitants of Europe in pre-Mousterian times were
people, not of the Neanderthal, but of the modern type,
is that made in 1863 by Signor Cocchi, Curator of the
Museum of Geology in Florence. 1 In making the
railway southwards from Arezzo, in the upper waters of
the Arno, a cutting or trench over 50 feet deep had to
be dug. During the excavation the Olmo skull was
discovered. It lay at a depth of almost 50 feet (15 m.)
1 " L'Uomo fossile nell' Italic Centrale," Mem. dell. Soc. ItaL de Sc. Nat.
Milan, 1867, vol. ii. No. 7. Abstract in Bullet. Soc. d'Anthrop., 1868,
sen 2, vol. ii. p. 40.
PRE-MOUSTERIAN MAN
207
beneath the surface, in a deep stratum of blue clay a
deposit formed in the floor of an ancient lake. That
the skull lay in this stratum there can be no doubt. It
is still preserved in the Geological Museum of Florence,
its cavity being filled as when found by a mass of the
blue clay. Over the blue clay of the railway cutting
were deposits about 12 feet in thickness which Cocchi
regarded as of late Pleistocene and also of recent
formation. The blue clay in which the skull was
embedded he assigned to the older Pleistocene deposits.
The remains of the mammoth, and of an early form
OL-MO. (PROriLEj OLMO (fULL
FIG. 72. The Olmo cranium viewed from the side and from the front.
of Pleistocene horse (Equus larletf) occurred at the same
horizon as the skull. Near the skull, charred wood
marked the site of an ancient hearth. The culture of the
period is represented by a Palaeolithic implement which
may well belong to the Chellean period. The exact
cultural horizon to which the skull should be assigned
cannot be fixed with any degree of certainty, but for our
present purpose it is sufficient to be convinced that the
skull is older than the period of Mousterian culture. Of
that, I think, there can be no doubt.
The skull is clearly a variant of the modern type. A
few years ago, my friend, Professor Sera, was good
enough to obtain for me an exact cast of the Olmo skull,
and it is from that cast that the accompanying drawings
have been made. When viewed in profile, the skull is
208
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
seen to be of about the same length as the Galley Hill
and Clichy specimens (fig. 72). Its length is 202 mm. ;
its width is more difficult to estimate exactly, owing to
some degree of distortion by earth -pressure, but it
cannot have been less than 150 mm. giving a head index
of 74. The vault is low, about 1 1 6 mm. above the ear-
passages, and remarkably flat a feature recalling the Bury
St. Edmunds fragment. As in that fragment, the frontal
bone is sharply bent, producing a wide and vertical fore-
50 O 50 70 70 50 50 70
OLMO (VERTEX) SPY . (NEANDERTHAL^.
FlG. 73. The Olmo cranium viewed from above, compared with a
similar view of the vault of the Neanderthal calvaria.
head. The brain capacity is estimated at 15601600 c.c.
a large and capacious skull. The forehead shows a
smaller development of supra-orbital ridges than in the
skulls of the more primitive of modern races. The
width of the forehead, at the level of the upper margin of
the orbits, is only 106 mm. ; higher up, the minimum
width is 100 mm. On the other hand, the bones of the
vault are remarkably thick n mm. There is not a
single feature in this skull we can call simian. In this it
agrees with other human skulls of great antiquity.
We have now completed a tour of Europe in search of
pre-Mousterian man. The European of the Mousterian
PRE-MOUSTERIAN MAN 209
period Neanderthal man from an anatomist's point of
view, was of a most primitive type. He possessed many
features which are rightly regarded as ape-like. In the
deposits of the two long periods which preceded the
Mousterian the Acheulean and Chellean probably cover-
ing between them a stretch of a hundred thousand years
at least, the Thames filled up and scoured out its valley
twice during that space of time we have found no trace
of Neanderthal man, nor of his ancestor. The deposits
of the Thames, of the Somme, of the Seine, of the Arno,
from one side of Europe to the other, have revealed the
same story the existence of a man, a mere variant of
modern man, one with a thick skull, a big brain, and a
long head. How are we to account for this unexpected
revelation ? There are two ways : we may hold with the
majority of anatomists and geologists, and simply refuse
to believe in the authenticity of these discoveries because
they run so contrary to our preconception of how and
when modern man was evolved. Or, with Sergi and with
Rutot, we may put our preconceptions aside, and, as we
are bound to do, accept the revelations of those discoveries
as facts, and alter our conception of man's evolution to
harmonise with our facts. We have, in the first place, to
conclude that man of the modern type is much older than
we supposed. We expected to find him in a process of
evolution during the Pleistocene period, but we have
traversed more than the half of that period and find our
own species much as we find him at the present day. It
is clear we must seek for his evolution at an earlier time
than the Pleistocene. Neanderthal man is a different and
very primitive species of man. Where and when he was
evolved we do not know, but clearly he was an intruder
when he entered Europe at a late stage of the mid-
Pleistocene period. Further, we have to take a more
complex view of the world of ancient man. In our first
youthful burst of Darwinianism we pictured our evolution
as a simple procession of forms leading from ape to man.
Each age, as it passed, transformed the men of the time
one stage nearer to us one more distant from the ape.
210 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
The true picture is very different. We have to conceive
an ancient world in which the family of mankind was
broken up into narrow groups or genera, each genus
being again divided into a number of species much as
we see in the monkey or ape world of to-day. Then out
of that great welter of forms one species became the
dominant form, and ultimately the sole surviving one
the species represented by the modern races of mankind.
CHAPTER XII
THE IPSWICH MAN
ON several occasions, in the course of our search for
traces of ancient man, a cursory glance has been bestowed
on the three eastern counties of England Norfolk,
Suffolk, and Essex which represent East Anglia. At
Ipswich, in Suffolk, Mr Reid Moir discovered, in quite
superficial strata, work - floors and hearths of two of
the later Palaeolithic periods the Aurignacian and the
Magdalenian. A little further to the north, near
Mildenhall, Dr Allen Sturge's excavations revealed work-
floors of the Magdalenian and of the Mousterian periods
the work-floor of the latter being overwhelmed by an ice-
movement of the last glacial phase of the Pleistocene period.
Between Mildenhall and Ipswich lies Bury St Edmunds,
with its deposits of brick earths and its remains of
Acheulean man and his culture. Twenty miles to the
east of Bury St Edmunds, in the watershed of the
Waveney and on the borders of Suffolk and Norfolk,
are the Hoxne brick earths, with worked implements of
the Acheulean period. Those brick earths, we have seen
(fig. 60, p. 173), are the upper of a series of deposits which
fill an ancient valley which was some 50 feet in depth.
In the deeper deposits of this buried valley no flints of
the Chellean or of any previous period were encountered.
We shall probably be near the truth if we regard the
lignite deposit of the Hoxne valley laid down in a
temperate interval as being as old, or older, than the
Chellean period. The Arctic bed between the lignite
deposit and the Acheulean brick earths on the surface
211
212 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
may well represent one of the sub-Arctic oscillations
which are attributed to the Chellean period. However
that maybe, it is quite evident that the great layer of chalky
boulder clay, and the thick bed of glacial sands which lie
under the boulder clay, are very much older than the
deposits of the Hoxne valley, for the valley had been
carved out of these deposits by a stream which no longer
exists. Any remains of man or of his works found in or
under undisturbed chalky boulder clay belong to a much
older period than any we have dealt with in former
chapters.
The boulder clay, which forms a thick sheet over a
great part of East Anglia, is regarded by geologists as a
GRAVEL PE.ATY DEPOSIT
FIG. 74. Section of the Pleistocene deposits near Cromer, Norfolk
(Sir Charles Lyell).
product of the most severe of all the glacial cycles. It
is important for our present inquiry to ascertain the
position of the chalky boulder clay in the series of
deposits laid down at an early part of the Pleistocene
period. The accompanying illustration (fig. 74) is
copied from the first edition of Sir Charles Lyell's
Antiquity of Man (1863). In that illustration the Rev.
S. W. King represents a section of a cliff, on the coast
of Norfolk, a few miles to the east of Cromer. The
cliff is there 35 feet high. The section is similar to that
at Hoxne. An ancient valley is seen in the section,
filled with various deposits. The valley has been cut
in the boulder clay, which is here capped by a stratum
of "contorted drift" and a layer of gravel. The mid-
glacial sands, seen at Hoxne, are absent. In their place
THE IPSWICH MAN
213
is an early Pleistocene deposit upper or Runton beds,
composed of laminated mud, loam, sand, and vegetable
debris, laid down in valley, estuary, and sea during
many an alteration in the level of the land. Deeper
still are the remains of an ancient submerged forest the
Cromer forest bed. Tree trunks, some of the stumps
still rooted as they grew, make up the Cromer forest
beds. These beds take us to the boundary line between
the Pleistocene and the Pliocene. Sir Charles Lyell
looked on them as representing a transition period. The
plants and trees are those which are still familiar to us,
but the mammals are of a kind which mark the fauna
of the late Pliocene period. Three forms of elephants
then lived in East Anglia the predominant species
being Elephas mendionalis. The modern roebuck and
beaver were also there ; so were an ancient form of
rhinoceros (R. Etruscus\ a large, extinct form of beaver
(trogontherium). Lately, Mr A. C. Hinton has detected
in these beds part of the arm bone of a monkey
belonging to a species very like the kind still living
at Gibraltar. These deposits represent a long period of
time. Sir Charles Lyell was of opinion that the interval
between our time and the deposition of the zoo-foot
terrace was much shorter than that which lay between
the terrace formation and the deposition of the Cromer
beds.
Having thus ascertained the position of the boulder
clay among the deposits belonging to the early part of
the Pleistocene period, it is necessary to fill in some
details bearing on its relationship to the loo-foot terrace
of the Thames valley. Most geologists hold the opinion
that the boulder clay is older than the roo-foot terrace
because, at Hornchurch, in Essex, the valley terrace rests
on the boulder clay. My friend, Mr A. S. Kennard, has
called this opinion in question. 1 He regards the 100-
foot terrace as the older. Both views are probably right,
for in the loo-foot terrace there are deposits of very
different ages. In the deepest stratum of gravel of the
1 See Proc. Soc. Antiquaries, April lyth, 1913.
2i 4 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
zoo-foot terrace, M. Rutot recognises deposits which
belong to the very beginning of the Pleistocene period.
The deepest stratum of the terrace l may thus be older
than the chalky boulder clay. But the upper strata of
the terrace are certainly more recent than the chalky
boulder clay, for in and under that deposit Mr Reid
Moir has discovered worked flints which belong to a
much more primitive culture than the Chellean more
primitive than even the Strepyan, which preceded the
Chellean. There can be no doubt, therefore, that human
remains lying in or under a bed of undisturbed, chalky
boulder clay belong to a much earlier phase of the
Pleistocene period than any yet discovered in the 100-
foot terrace.
The circumstances attending the finding of a human
skeleton under a stratum of chalky boulder clay I will
give in the words of the discoverer, Mr J. Reid Moir : 2 -
" About a mile to the north of Ipswich, on the
estate of Mrs W. N. Fonnereau, is situated the
brickfield of Messrs Bolton and Laughlin, which is
famous to geologists for the various deposits which
have been exposed by the excavation of the London
clay for brickmaking. These deposits, which are
given in descending order, are :
Chalky boulder clay.
Middle glacial sand and gravel.
Decalcified red crag.
London clay.
Woolwich and Reading beds.
cc This brickfield is about ten minutes' walk from
my house, and for the past six years I have been in
the habit of visiting it on an average three times a
week, and searching for flint implements in the beds
above the London clay. It will thus be seen that I
1 See p. 162.
2 For a full account of the discovery and of the anatomical characters
of the Ipswich skeleton, seejourn. Roy. Anthrop. fnsttt., 1912, vol. xlii.
P- 345-
THE IPSWICH MAN 215
have had every opportunity of making myself fully
acquainted with this particular district. Realising
the importance of finding human bones in any of
the deposits from which I have obtained implements,
1 have always impressed upon the workmen the
necessity of keeping a sharp look-out for such
remains, and of immediately communicating with
me should any come to light.
"On Friday, October 6th, 1911, Mr Bolton and
Mr Laughlin, for the purpose of measuring up the
amount of work done by the workmen, were in one
of their pits when one of the men called out that he
had found a portion of a human skull. Mr Laughlin
went over to the spot, and, giving instructions for
the remains to be carefully preserved and further
digging to cease, went up to his office and telephoned
to me. This was about ten minutes to two, and by
2 o'clock I was down at the pit, and found that a
portion of a human skull, attached to an almost
perfect cranial cast, and some teeth, had been re-
covered. It was pointed out to me that two bones
were projecting from the vertical face of the section,
and at a depth of about 4 feet from the surface,
but as I had to be back at my office before a quarter
to three I did not stop to examine the site, but,
wrapping the skull fragment and cast in a piece of
sacking, carried them home. Before leaving the pit,
however, I arranged for two of the workmen to
meet me at 2 o'clock on the following day and
dig out the remainder of the skeleton. At this time
it had never even crossed my mind that we were
dealing with anything of great importance, and, in
fact, I was quite under the impression that the bones
belonged to a late interment.
" Thinking, however, that my two friends, Messrs
Canton and Snell, who had been associated with me
in my work for some little time, would care to come
with me, I telephoned to them, and they agreed to
do so. I also asked Mr Frank Woolnough, the
216 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
curator of our museum, if he would care to go
down and take some photographs of the spot where
the bones were, as I knew he was anxious to get a
series of interesting local views. Before any digging
commenced we had a good look at the material a
hard clay which covered the bones, and were
surprised to find that no signs of any previous
digging were visible. We therefore got the work-
men to remove the overlying material with the
greatest care, and kept the work under continual
observation.
" When the bones were reached it was found they
were in a most friable condition, so I gave orders to
have the surrounding material dug up in large
blocks, and this was accordingly done. When we
came to examine these blocks and their contained
relics, my friend, Mr Canton, who is a member of
the Royal College of Surgeons, strongly advised me
to send them off at once to the museum of the
College, where they would be properly treated by
experts. Seeing the condition of the bones, and
recognising the importance of having them attended
to without delay, I at once agreed to his advice, and
the same evening carefully packed the remains in a
suitable box, which was forwarded to Professor
Keith, the Conservator of the College Museum."
The accompanying sketches, figs. 7 5 A and 756, will
make clear the position of Mr Moir's discovery. Ipswich
is situated in the valley of the Gipping ten miles from
the open sea. On the sides of the valley the same
terraces and the same deposits are to be recognised as in
the valley of the Thames. Passing northwards through
Ipswich the traveller soon leaves the town and the valley
and finds himself on a plateau, about 150 feet above the
level of the sea, and covered everywhere by a thick
stratum of chalky boulder clay, varying in depth from 1 5
to 25 feet. The plateau slopes gently to the west until
it reaches the brim of the valley of the Gipping or
THE IPSWICH MAN
217
rather a side recess of the main valley. Messrs Bolton
and Laughlin's brickfield is situated on the edge of the
valley the surface level of the plateau at this spot being
129 feet O.D.
At the brickfield the chalky boulder clay has become
BOULDER CLAY
MtD GLACIAL SANDS
RED CRAG
B.
LONDON CLAY
FlG. 75A. Sketch of the valley of the Gipping to show the locality in
which the Ipswich skeleton was found.
FlG. 75B. Sketch of a section across the Gipping valley to show the horizon
of the discovery (the line of section is shown in 75A).
reduced to a stratum of about 4 feet in depth. In parts
it is " weathered " the chalk and clay being altered
in composition and appearance by exposure. That the
stratum at the brickfield represents a direct extension of
the great sheet of boulder clay, Mr Moir proved by sink-
ing a series of pits from the brickfield to the crown of
218 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the plateau. In the map prepared by the officers of the
geological survey the chalky boulder clay is shown to
extend to the pit.
Immediately after the discovery, Mr Moir called in
the help of expert geologists. Mr Wm. Whitaker,
F.R.S., wrote: 1 "There is no doubt in my mind that
the pit gives a junction section of the boulder clay with
the underlying sand and gravel. ... I fail, however, to
understand how man could have lived at the time of the
commencement of the boulder clay, and 1 am in hopes
that further excavation may throw more light on this
strange occurrence. As yet we have the skeleton and
nothing else." Professor Marr, F.R.S., of Cambridge
University, examined the site of the discovery, but, while
admitting that the stratum over the skeleton represented
boulder clay, thought it possible that " the clay may have
moved from another place " after its primary deposition.
The Rev. Dr A. Irving of Bishop-Stortford, who has
paid close attention to the more recent deposits of Essex,
also examined the stratum which lay over the skeleton,
and formed the opinion that it does not represent an
extension of the chalky boulder clay, but is a much more
recent deposit, to which he applies the term of " rubble
drift."
The antiquity of the Ipswich skeleton thus depends
on the proof of two things : (i) that the stratum which
lay over the skeleton was truly a part of the great sheet
of chalky boulder clay, laid down during or after the
period of maximum glaciation ; (2) that it was absolutely
intact and undisturbed since the time of its deposition.
Mr Moir was keenly alive to the fact that a skeleton
found at a depth of 4^ feet (1*38 m.) was, unless con-
vincing evidence to the contrary could be produced,
most probably placed there by a gravedigger's spade.
He therefore took every means of verifying the un-
broken and undisturbed nature of the stratum in and
under which the skeleton lay, for it was embedded
between the weathered boulder clay above and the
1 See Journ, Roy. Anthrop. Instit., 1912, vol. xii. p. 351.
THE IPSWICH MAN 219
mid-glacial sands below. He and those who worked
with him satisfied themselves that the overlying stratum
was continuous and unbroken. We have already seen
the measures he took to prove the continuity of the
stratum with the main sheet of chalky boulder clay.
We now turn to the skeleton itself to see what
evidence may be obtained of its antiquity by a close
examination of its state of preservation and of its
structure. When the blocks of matrix containing the
fragmentary remains of the skeleton came to the
museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, we set to
work and slowly dissected away the boulder clay, leaving
the fragments implanted on a matrix of glacial sands.
By placing the blocks together it was easy to reconstruct
the original posture of the skeleton. From fig. 76 it
will be seen that a whole skeleton was represented, and
that it was placed on the right side in the ultra-contracted
posture. We have already discussed the significance
which is usually attached to the discovery of a complete
human skeleton, with all the parts in their natural
position. The most reasonable explanation is to suppose
that it has been placed where found by burial. In this
case, unfortunately, we have no clear idea of the con-
ditions under which the chalky boulder clay was deposited
whether in deep water or on an old land surface. If,
as Mr Moir supposes, it was laid down on an old land
surface, then it is possible that the burial was made from
that surface. At least it was not made from the present
land surface, for the overlying stratum was intact. The
contracted posture scarcely helps us in fixing a date.
Contracted burials occur at all periods Neolithic and
Palaeolithic. It will thus be seen that it is necessary to
believe, if a pre-boulder clay date is accepted, that the
custom of burial may even go back to the earliest part
of the Pleistocene period.
Nothing was found with or near the skeleton to give
a clue to date. If the conditions were such as to secure
the preservation of a human skeleton, it is also probable
that remains of animals of the same period should be
22O
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
preserved in the same stratum. At the horizon at which
the human skeleton lay no animal remains have been
found at Bolton and Laughlin's pit. In the glacial sands,
however, bones of Pleistocene animals occur, and in
SKULL $
BRAIN CAST
RIGHT HAND
RIGHT TIBIA.
RIQMV flBULA
RICHT FEMUR
LETT HUMERUS.
LEFT HAND.
LEFT FOREARM.
RIGHT HUMERUS.
RIBS.
RIGHT FOREARM.
LEFT FEMUR.
VERT COL.
RIGHT ILIUM
RIGHT JSCHIUM
FIG. 76. The parts of the Ipswich skeleton replaced in position.
many cases the condition of these bones is very similar
in their state of preservation to the bones of the Ipswich
skeleton. The substance of the bones is grey and chalky
in appearance, crumbling to a white dry dust on pressure.
The bones, when dissolved in hydrochloric acid, leave
THE IPSWICH MAN 221
no animal matrix behind. No stone implements of any
kind were found with the skeleton, but in the boulder
clay at the place of discovery, and in other localities,
Mr Moir has collected many specimens representing a
rude and early stone culture, very similar to the series
of implements which M. Rutot has obtained from the
older Pleistocene deposits in Belgium. To this early
Pleistocene culture the one which precedes the Strepyan
M. Rutot has given the name of Mesvinien. Whether
or not the Ipswich man represents an inhabitant of East
Anglia prior to the deposition of the chalky boulder
clay, there is no doubt men were then in that part of
England ; and in the opinion of those who have studied
the works of their hands and brains, they were workmen
who showed a considerable knowledge of flint fracture.
The Ipswich skeleton represents a tall man, 5 feet
i of inches (i'8oo m.) in height. The cavity of the skull
was filled with a sandy, chalky loam, giving a fairly
accurate cast of the brain which had at one time occupied
the space. The skull itself was much broken, but it was
possible to reconstruct the main features of the head.
The brain capacity for so tall a man is low, only 1430 c.c.
All the characters of the skull are those we are familiar
with in modern man. The characters we associate with
Neanderthal man were absent. The forehead was re-
treating, and the supra-orbital ridges were pronounced,
but of the divided modern type. When viewed from
the side and from the front (fig. 77), the skull fits
comfortably within the frame designed for modern
English skulls. The maximum length is 192 mm.,
about the same as in an average modern Englishman.
Its width is 144 mm., slightly beyond the modern
average, giving a cephalic index of 75. The vault is
flat on the top and also remarkably low, only 1 1 1 mm.
characters reminding us of the Bury St Edmunds
fragment belonging to a time long after the deposition
of the chalky boulder clay.
The characteristic mark of the Ipswich man lies in his
tibia or shin bone. No human tibia of a similar shape has
222
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
ever been described before, and after a prolonged search
I have been unable to find any specimen which resembles
it either in ancient or modern man, in health or in
ISO ISO
FIG. 77. Drawings of the Ipswich skull from the side and from the front.
disease. As regards the Ipswich tibia, there is no sign
of inflammation, nor is there any reason to attribute its
peculiar features to either a freak of growth or to an
$ MOD: ENGLISH.
C) SPY.
Q) CftO MAQNQN
NEOLITHIC
H) QORIL.L.A
l) AUSTRALIAN
rtbu/a
J) AUSTRALIAN
FIG. 78. Sections across a series of tibiae of various races. A. A section across
a modern English tibia at the junction of upper third with lower two-
thirds, compared with similar section of the Ipswich tibia. The others
represent sections at the mid point of the tibia, except the last, which repre-
sents a section of the fibula.
individual peculiarity. I expect it to prove a character
of the race.
To give a clear idea of the peculiar characters of the
Ipswich tibia, I reproduce in fig. 78 a series of sections
THE IPSWICH MAN
223
across the tibiae of various races of men, giving with each
an outline section of the Ipswich tibia. 1
The peculiar feature of the Ipswich tibia is the absence
of the sharp, bony crest, which can be felt in all modern
bones, descending on the front of the leg, just under the
skin. In place of a sharp crest there is a flat, anterior
surface. Although the absence of this sharp crest is a
simian character, yet the Ipswich tibia cannot be said to
resemble the same bone of anthropoid apes (fig. 78, H),
whereas the tibia of Neanderthal man does show a distinct
approach to the anthropoid form (fig. 78, C). In the
Ipswich man the tibia is the opposite of the platycnemic
leg bone of Neolithic races, in which there is a side-to-
side flattening (see fig. 78, G). In the Ipswich specimen
the flattening is from front to back. The functional
meaning of this peculiar character I cannot explain ; I
look upon it, as on the teeth of Neanderthal man, as a
form of specialisation, the functional significance of both
characters being unknown. The Ipswich fibula, too, is
of a peculiar form (fig. 78, J). The femur shows none
of the flattening in its upper third which is so frequently
present in Neolithic races.
With that brief description we shall leave the Ipswich
skeleton. As Mr Moir and the writer are well aware,
the discovery of human remains so near the surface, so
destitute of all characters of a primitive or ape-like nature,
cannot carry the conviction of a skeleton found at a depth
which places its antiquity beyond dispute. If, however,
the Ipswich skeleton had shown characters as distinctive
as those of Neanderthal man, or as those of the Piltdown
man found at a depth of a little over 3 feet below the
surface would anyone have doubted that its age was
older than the deposition of the boulder clay ? I do not
think the age would then have been called in question.
But under the presumption that the modern type of
man is also modern in origin, a degree of high antiquity
is denied to such specimens. It is, therefore, all the
more important that every discovery of human remains,
1 For full description of skeleton, see reference, p 218.
224 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
made under circumstances which makes their high
antiquity a reasonable presumption, should be placed
fully on record, with no fact kept back and none put
forward that is not proven.
In a former chapter, while describing the Moulin
Quignon mandible, reference was made to a lower jaw
found at Foxhall (see p. 200), which lies a few miles
to the east of Ipswich. The deposit from which the
mandible is believed to have come is formed of mid-
glacial sands, a stratum of which is to be seen under
the boulder clay at Bolton and Laughlin's pit (fig. 75).
As already said, the evidence in favour of the antiquity
of this specimen is only presumptive.
If we are unable to trace man by his actual remains to
a point beyond the boulder clay, in the deposits of East
Anglia, it is otherwise as regards his implements. Sir
Charles Lyell expected these deposits to yield traces of
early man. In 1863, when he wrote the first edition
of his Antiquity of 'Man , he expressed this conviction very
clearly as follows :
" Neither need we despair of one day meeting
with the signs of man's existence in the Cromer
forest bed (see fig. 74, p. 212), or in the overlying
deposits, on the ground of any uncongeniality of the
climate or incongruity in the state of the animate
creation with the well-being of our species."
It is clear Sir Charles Lyell realised that the world was
suitable for man's habitation at the end of the Pliocene
period, and that he was prepared to find human remains
in deposits as old as the Cromer beds. Before the
nineteenth century was out his prophecy came true. In
1897, Mr Lewis Abbott discovered flint implements
definitely shaped by man's hand in the " elephant "
stratum of the Cromer beds. 1 In 1911, Dr W. L. H.
Duckworth of Cambridge found another specimen. 2 So
1 W. J. Lewis Abbott, F.G.S., u Worked Flints from the Cromer Beds,' 1
Natural Science, 1897, vol. x. p. 89.
2 W. L. H. Duckworth, Cambridge, Antiquar. Soc. Communic., 1911,
vol . xv. p. i 56.
THE IPSWICH MAN 225
far, however, no skeletal remains of the Cromer men
have come to light.
Early in the present century, the members of the
Prehistoric Society of East Anglia carried the history
of man far beyond the limit predicted by Lyell. Three
well-known formations or deposits of the Pliocene period
occur in East Anglia the Norwich Crag, the Red Crag,
and the Coralline Crag. The Coralline Crag is the
oldest, dating back to at least the middle of the Pliocene
period. Then follows the Red Crag ; then the Norwich,
which, in turn, is succeeded, in point of time, by the
Cromer beds. The deepest stratum of both the Norwich
and Red Crags is formed by a " stone-bed," representing,
apparently, the sweepings of the old land surface which
preceded the deposition of the stratified, shelly, sandy
formations of the Crags. In 1910, Mr Reid Moir 1
discovered that the stone-bed under the Red Crag
contained a series of flints showing definite evidence of
man's work. The worked flints, collected by Mr Moir,
prove that pre-Crag man man of the Pliocene epoch-
had already evolved a series of implements, representing
several types as regards shape and workmanship. It is
true that the " humanity " of the sub-Crag flints has been
questioned, and even denied, by men who have given the
subject of flint fracture their serious consideration. We
have seen, however, that it took Boucher de Perthes
a great part of a lifetime to convince his fellows of the
humanity of those high works of art palaeoliths. A
more rapid success has attended the labours of Mr Reid
Moir. The ready acceptance of his results is largely
due, as he would be the first to acknowledge, to the
support and advocacy of Sir E. Ray Lankester. 2
As early as 1905, Mr W. G. Clarke 3 had observed
" eoliths " in the stone-bed under the Norwich Crag.
Since then Mr Clarke has collected a series of worked
1 See Proc. Prehist. Soc. East Anglia, 191 1, vol. i. p. 17.
2 See Proc. Roy. Soc., Nov. 16, 1911 ; also special publication of the
Roy. Anthrop. Instit., 1914.
3 Proc. Prehist. Soc. East Anglia, 1912, vol. v. p. 160.
15
226 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
flints representing an " industry " of a later date than
Mr Moir's series which come from under the Red Crag.
Thus it will be seen that recent discoveries in East
Anglia carry the history of man in England to beyond
the bounds of the Pleistocene epoch well into the
Pliocene period. We shall see that M. Rutot had,
before these discoveries were made in East Anglia, classi-
fied the Pliocene " industries " represented in the Pliocene
deposits of the Continent.
The antiquity represented by the sub-Crag flints cannot
be calculated with any degree of accuracy. Geologists
assign to the Pliocene period a duration of over a million
of years. Estimates of the Pleistocene period, as we shall
see in another chapter, vary from one hundred thousand
years to one million five hundred thousand years. The
more I become familiar with the evidence relating to this
period, the more my judgment is drawn towards the
lower estimates. The scale employed in the preceding
chapters allows for about three hundred thousand years
for the Pleistocene period. If that allowance is accepted,
then an equal period must be added to take us back to
the time of the pre-Crag man.
So far only passing allusions have been made to the
glacial cycles which occurred during the Pleistocene epoch.
Mention was made of a disturbance due to sub-Arctic
conditions which followed the Mousterian period. This,
the last of the glacial phases of the Pleistocene period,
was recognised by Professor James Geikie, 1 who named
it the " Mecklenburgian " glacial epoch in 1894. Sub-
sequently, it has come to be known as the " Wurmien "
glacial epoch the term introduced by Professor Penck
of Berlin in I9O3. 2 We have also seen that under the
Mousterian brick earths at Crayford there are signs of
a pre-Mousterian glaciation probably occurring in the
1 The Antiquity of Man in Europe, Edinburgh, 1914. In the 3rd
edition of The Great Ice Age (1894) Professor Geikie distinguished
four periods of glaciation, separated by three interglacial phases. In-
dependent researches led Professor Penck to a similar conclusion.
2 See his later paper, " Das Alter des Menschengeschlechtes," Zeitsch.
fur Ethnologie, 1908, vol. xl. p. 390.
THE IPSWICH MAN 227
Acheulean age. The disturbed appearance seen under
the brick earths may represent effects of Professor Penck's
third glaciation, the " Rissien," the "Wilrmien" being
the fourth. The chalky boulder clay belongs to Professor
Penck's second and major epoch the " Mindelien." His
first glaciation the " Gilnzien " fell in the Pliocene
period, and corresponds in time to the deposition of the
Norwich Crag.
The glacial phases afford the student of ancient man
a series of milestones to mark his journey into the past.
Unfortunately, we are not certain of the exact number
of glacial phases, and, what is still more unfortunate, we
are not yet in a position to offer a complete explanation
of their occurrence and recurrence. The day will certainly
come when their cause, their duration, and their sequence
will become common knowledge. At the present time,
the only explanation which answers the needs of those
who are tracing man's history in recent deposits is that
put forward by the late Major-General Dray son in
i888. 1 He postulated a secondary rotation of the
earth a rotation completed in a cycle of 31,602 years.
It is unnecessary here, even if the writer were qualified,
to undertake the task of analysing General Drayson's
explanation. His work and conclusions are being
vigorously advocated by Major R. A. Marriott, 2 D.S.O.
The important point for us is this, that if Drayson's
hypothesis is well founded, the last ice age reached its
maximum about thirteen thousand years ago, a date which
fits very well with the evidence brought forward by
geologists.
1 The Earttis Past History, Chapman & Hall, 1888.
2 Major R. A. Marriott, D.S.O., The Change in the Climate, Marl-
borough, London, 1914.
CHAPTER XIII
HEIDELBERG MAN
IN this chapter we set out from England to make our
last tour of Europe in search of the remains of ancient
man. On our last journey attention was directed to such
remains as could be ascribed to men of the Acheulean and
Chellean periods. On the present occasion we are in
search of human remains belonging to a still earlier part
of the Pleistocene period to the very earliest part of that
epoch, which, as we have just seen, is represented in
East Anglia by the deposits of glacial sands and boulder
clay. On such a quest our steps are naturally directed
to Belgium, because of the labours and discoveries of
M. Rutot, Conservator of the Royal Museum of Natural
History in Brussels. He has spent a lifetime in the
study of the various deposits which have accumulated in
the valleys of Belgium particularly in the industrial
southern part of that country, where the valleys have
been carved out and filled up by streams flowing east-
wards to join the Meuse. In fig. 79, I reproduce an
illustration of M. Rutot's which gives in brief the
conclusions he has reached concerning the number and
the order of the deposits laid down in the valleys of
Belgium during the Pleistocene period. 1 From the
diagram (fig. 79) it will be seen that M. Rutot recognises
five series of strata in these deposits ; but for our present
1 See the following papers by M. Rutot : " Glaciations et humanite,"
Bull. Soc. Beige de GfoL, 1910, vol. xxiv. p. 59. " Revision stratigraphique
des ossements humains quaternaires," ibid., 1910, vol. xxiv. p. 123.
" L'age de la machoire humaine de Mauer," ibid.) 1908, vol. xxiii. p. 117.
228
HEIDELBERG MAN
229
purpose we need only direct attention to three of these.
In the deepest and oldest series of all lower Pleistocene
series occurs a thick bed of clay to which M. Rutot
attaches particular importance, and names " glaise
moseen," indicated simply as "clay" in fig. 79. That
stratum he regards as marking the great floods which
followed the break up of the second and most severe of
the Pleistocene ice ages the " Mindelien." The chalky
MAGDALENIAN
SOLUTREAN
AURIGNACIAN
MOUSTERIAN
ACHEULEAN It
ACHEULEAN I
CHELLEAN
STREPYAN
MESVINIAN
MAFFLIAN
UPPER
PLEISTOCENE
MIDDLE
PLEISTOCENE
LOWER
PLEISTOCENE
FIG. 79. M. Rutot's schematic section showing the number and sequence
of the strata in the valley deposits of Belgium.
boulder clay of East Anglia is also looked upon as a
product of the same glaciation. If the age ascribed to
the Ipswich man is well founded, then his place, in
M. Rutot's system, lies below the " glaise moseen "
in the oldest deposits of the Pleistocene floor of river
valleys.
The second of the strata in M. Rutot's section which
demands our attention is a mixture of fine sand and clay
"ancient loess" or "limon gris " a deposit which, in
M. Rutot's opinion, was laid down during the floods
2 3 o THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
following the " Rissien " or third glacial phase. The
ancient loess was certainly in process of formation
during the period of Acheulean culture, for it contains
implements of that culture (fig. 79). The upper loam
of the loo-foot terrace in the valley of the Thames
(see fig. 57, p. 163) appears to correspond in time
and circumstance to the ancient loess. The Bury St
Edmunds cranial fragment finds its place in this horizon
of M. Rutot's scheme. Lastly, in the upper and final
strata of his scheme, M. Rutot recognises in the brick
earths and loams the deposits which followed the fourth
and last of the Pleistocene ice ages the " Wilrmien."
In such deposits are found the implements of the two
final Palaeolithic cultures the Solutrean and Magdalenian.
The strata of brick earths which covered the skeleton in
the low terrace at Hailing may be correlated with the
final deposits of M. Rutot's scheme. M. Rutot's
observations and conclusions have a very direct bearing
on the inquiry we now have on hand, for he has shown
that his scheme holds true, not only for Belgium, but is
also applicable to the valley deposits of the Rhine, the
Somme, the Seine, and apparently also to those of the
Thames valley.
The elaboration of the valley deposits of Belgium into
a complete system forms only a part of M. Rutot's
discoveries. In the lower or older series of the
Pleistocene valley deposits he has recognised certain
forms of worked flints which represent the earliest phases
of Pleistocene culture. The implements are of the type
known as eoliths. He recognises three stages in the
evolution of such early forms towards the true Palaeolithic
types. The first and oldest Pleistocene cultures he has
named " Reutelien," the second " Mafflien," the third
and final of the Eolithic stages " Mesvinien." Then
follows, in the lowest of the middle Pleistocene beds, the
most primitive of the Palaeolithic cultures, the one to
which M. Rutot gave the name " Strepyien " the
prelude of the high art of Chellean culture.
It is also of importance for our present inquiry to note
HEIDELBERG MAN
231
that M. Rutot distinguishes the deposits corresponding
to those of the 5o-foot terrace of the Thames valley as
the deposits of the low terrace ; those corresponding
to the loo-foot terrace as the middle terrace. In the
deepest or oldest deposits of the low terrace, he finds the
shaped stones which represent his second Pleistocene
culture the " Mafflien." Then follows the " Mesvinien."
Both of these cultures lie in and under the " glaise
moseen " which we suppose to correspond to the
chalky boulder clay. At least it is a remarkable fact that
in the chalky boulder clay and mid-glacial sands of East
BRICK EARTH
I CLAYS
(Glctt'st Mo&ten)
.PLEISTOCENE
PLIOCENE
FIG. 80. Section of the middle (loo-foot) terrace at St Prest, near Chartres.
Anglia Mr Reid Moir has found Eolithic cultures very
similar to those distinguished by M. Rutot as " Mafflien "
and " Mesvinien."
One other observation of M. Rutot, with an important
bearing on our present inquiry, is reproduced in fig. 80.
The figure reproduces M. Rutot's section of the famous
gravel deposits at St Prest, situated in the valley of
the Eure, a tributary of the Seine, about fifty miles
to the south - west of Paris. The deposits at St
Prest represent those of the loo-foot terrace M.
Rutot's middle terrace of river valleys. The section at
St Prest is of particular interest because here the
Pleistocene deposits of the terrace rest directly on other
formations of a late Pliocene date. It was in the deep
232 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
Pliocene gravels of St Prest, containing remains of a Pli-
ocene elephant (Elephas meridionalis), that M. Desnoyers 1
found, in 1863, the bones of extinct animals showing
clear signs of having been cut or hacked by man
(see p. 313). Four years later, M. Bourgeois found in
the same Pliocene gravels, flint implements representing
the last of the Pliocene cultures to which M. Rutot
has given the name " St Prestien." Over the Pliocene
strata at St Prest, M. Rutot recognises the usual
Pleistocene deposits of the loo-foot terrace particularly
the " glaise moseen " (fig. 80). It is at the horizon
represented by the junction of the Pliocene and the
Pleistocene deposit of the xoo-foot terrace that M. Rutot
finds the earliest of the Pleistocene cultures the
" Reutelien."
Having thus surveyed the early Pleistocene deposits
of Belgium and of Northern France through the eyes of
M. Rutot, and the phases of human workmanship which
he has detected in them, our next step is to seek for the
remains of the men who lived when such valley deposits
were being formed. At the present time only one
specimen is available the famous Heidelberg mandible.
The mandible was found in the deepest strata of a
valley deposit, lying ten miles to the south-east of
Heidelberg. That old University town is situated on
the Neckar, ten miles above its junction with the Rhine
at Mannheim. Below Heidelberg, the Neckar is joined
by the Elenz, a stream flowing northwards along a shallow
valley, and through a rich, agricultural country. On
the eastern side of the valley, fully four miles above
the junction of the Elenz with the Neckar, is the rural
village of Mauer. Close by the village is the sand-pit
of Mauer also on the eastern side of the Elenz valley.
Opposite the pit, the bottom of the valley stands 134 m.
(440 feet) above the level of the North Sea, and two
1 M. J. Desnoyers, Compt. Rendu, 1863, vol. Ivi. pp. 1073, 1199.
E. T. Hamy, Precis paleontologie humaine, Paris, 1870. M. G. Gourty,
" Les Depots de St Prest," Bull Soc. <?Anthrop., 1913, ser. 6, vol. iv.
p. 6.
HEIDELBERG MAN 233
hundred and sixty miles distant from the mouth of
the Rhine. On the side of the valley, where the great
sand-pit has been dug, the land rises 85 feet above the
bottom of the valley, but so extensively and so deeply
has the pit been worked that its floor has almost
reached the level of the bed of the present stream.
The working face of the sand-pit has a total depth of
25 m - (79i feet )-
For a long time the Mauer pit has been closely studied
by geologists on account of its clear representation of
Pleistocene deposits, and because of the extinct fauna
preserved in its deeper strata. No site in Europe, it
was realised, was more likely to yield the bones of early
Pleistocene man than the sand-pit at Mauer. No one
was more fully alive to this possibility than Dr Otto
Schoetensack, Lecturer on Geology in the University of
Heidelberg. Half an hour's journey by rail took him
to the pit almost daily. After waiting and searching for
twenty years, the owner of the pit, Herr J. Rosch, was
able to inform him on October 2ist, 1907, that his twenty
years' search had at last been realised. " Yesterday,"
he wrote, "the desired evidence was obtained, for
20 m. below the surface soil, and above the floor of my
sand-pit, there was found the lower jaw of primitive
man, in good preservation, and with all its teeth." In the
following year, 1908, Dr Schoetensack prepared and
published a monograph on the lower jaw of Homo
heidelbergemis which in exactness, directness, and fullness
will always serve as an example for future discoverers
of prehistoric remains. 1
Before discussing the anatomical characters of the
Heidelberg mandible, it is necessary to see what light
may be obtained as to its antiquity. Concerning the
authenticity of the find there cannot be any doubt ; the
bed in which the mandible ky was covered by a series
of deposits, amounting in all to 78 feet. In the deposits
1 " Der Unterkiefer des Homo Heidelbergensis," Ein Beitrag zur
Palaeontologie des Menschen, von Otto Schoetensack, Leipzig, 1908. I
regret to add that Dr Schoetensack died in 1913.
234 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
over the mandible Dr Schoetensack recognised twenty-
four different strata. They fall into three series : (i)
the uppermost, formed by recent loess (fig. 81, D),
a fine earth, a product of floods and drought ; (2) the
ancient loess (fig. 81, C), a sandy loam, also a deposit
from muddy waters ; (3) the Mauer sands (fig. 81, A, A,
B, B). In one of the lower strata of this series the mandible
was found. In the lower strata, remains of the following
extinct animals were found: the lion (Felis leo fossilis\
an extinct form of cat, a dog (Cants neschersensis\ two
forms of bear, a species of bison, an early Pleisto-
cene form of horse, and an early form of rhinoceros
(R. etruscm\ and an elephant (E. antiquus). From this
fauna, Dr Schoetensack concluded that the Mauer sands
correspond in date of formation " to the preglacial
forest beds of Norfolk." If Dr Schoetensack's opinion
is right, then we ought to find the English contemporary
of the Heidelberg man in those beds which lie under
the chalky boulder clay of East Anglia or above the
Cromer forest beds (see fig. 74, p. 212).
By a different process of reasoning, M. Rutot reached
the same conclusion as Dr Schoetensack. The sands at
Mauer represent a valley deposit corresponding exactly
to those he has studied in Belgium, both in age and
in manner of formation. In fig. 81, I reproduce a
diagrammatic section of the strata in the sand-pit at
Mauer, as interpreted by M. Rutot. We have seen
that in the valley deposits of Belgium he has recognised
three particular strata, representing products of the floods
which followed each of the three cold phases which fall
within the Pleistocene period. The stratum of recent
loess, over 1 8 feet in depth the uppermost of the Mauer
pit represents, in M. Rutot's scheme, the debris of the
last or " Wurmien " ice age. The underlying strata of
ancient loess, over 17 feet in depth, is the product of the
third or " Rissien " glaciation. Although no traces of
human culture were found in the stratum of recent
loess at Mauer, there can be no doubt, for the following
reasons, that its deposition belongs to the later Palaeolithic
PRESENT
END OF
PLEISTOCENE
ft
CLIMAX OF
h GLACIATl
(WURM)
CLIMAX OF
3QLACIATION
(RISS)
2 n *GLACIATION
(MINOEL)
5-
10-
15
20
25
30
.25:
<fO
15
50
55
GO
65
70
75
r-^s^^v^^-^^^^^^^55^5^:
IRON CULTURE
BRONZE CULTURE
NEOLITHIC CULTURE
MAGOAL.ENIAN
CULTURE
SOLUTREAN
CULTURE
AURtGNACIAN
CULTURE
MOUSTERIAN
CULTURE
ACHEULEAN
CULTURE
(2.<* PHASE)
ACHEULEAN
CULTURE
(lt PHASE)
CHELLEAN
CULTURE
STREPYIAN
CULTURE
MESVINIAN
CULTURE
MAFFLIAN
CULTURE
^PLEISTOCENE
PLIOCENE
REUTELI AN
CULTURE
FIG. 81. Diagrammatic section of the strata of the sand-pit at Mauer, showing the
depth at which the mandible (A') was found (after Schoetensack and Rutot).
236 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
periods. Along the valleys of the Rhine and of the
Danube the deposits of recent loess are known to yield
implements belonging to the Aurignacian culture. In
the same regions, representations of the Mousterian
period are found under the recent loess, but above the
ancient loess. The latter deposit corresponds to the
" limon gris " of Belgium and France, and in that deposit
occur implements of the Acheulean period.
Near the middle horizon in the stratified series of
Mauer sands are thick beds of clay and sandy clay,
nearly 13 feet in total depth, which M. Rutot identifies
with the "glaise moseen " (A, A in fig. 81), and regards
as deposits of the great floods which marked the close of
the second and greatest of the glaciations (" Mindelien ").
The mandible lay 10 feet below the clay bed at Mauer.
In the strata of Belgium, which lie immediately over
the clay bed, occurs the last of the Eolithic culture, the
one to which M. Rutot gives the name of " Mesvinien " ;
in the strata below the clay bed are found M. Rutot's
" Mafflien " implements. He infers, therefore, that the
Heidelberg mandible represents a race belonging to the
"Mafflien" phase of Eolithic culture. The valley
deposits containing the still older Pleistocene phase
the " Reutelien " are not represented in the Mauer
deposits. Thus from two different lines of reasoning
we are led to the conclusion that in the Heidelberg
mandible we have a fragment of a European belonging
to a very early stage of the Pleistocene period.
An important inquiry has now to be made : How
much can be inferred concerning Homo heidelbergemis^
seeing that we know only his lower jaw and his lower
teeth ? In the first place, the characters of the teeth
leave us in no doubt as to his race ; he represents,
beyond all question, a variety a primitive variety of
Neanderthal man. It is strange that we have not found
a single trace of this race since we parted from the
deposits of the Mousterian period until now. The
pre-Mousterian strata have yielded us only remains of
men of the modern type. Here, however, we come
HEIDELBERG MAN
237
across Neanderthal man of a more primitive type than
any yet found in Mousterian deposits. The teeth show
those peculiar features which differentiate them from
those of men of the modern type the enlarged pulp
cavities, the swollen crowns and bodies, the curtailed
roots (see figs. 50 and 175). These are not primitive
or simian characters, but the reverse ; they are modifica-
tions confined, so far as we have yet discovered, to this
peculiar variety or species of man Homo neanderthalensis.
In these same features, man of the modern type Homo
sapiens^ as he is named resembles the apes. Here, then,
is an important fact that at the commencement of the
Pleistocene period that peculiar feature of the teeth
which characterises the Neanderthal species of men was
already evolved. It is true that on the last occasion
I wrote a systematic account of the remains of fossil
man, 1 I still clung to the belief that the Neanderthal
molars might in the course of further evolution revert
O
to the more primitive form, and that Neanderthal man
might stand to us as a direct ancestor. On the evidence
now available I see that such a belief is untenable.
One other feature of the Heidelberg dentition impresses
the anatomist. At such an early date as the beginning
of the Pleistocene period he was prepared to find in the
canine or eye teeth some resemblance to the pointed
canine teeth of apes. This expectation was founded on
the form of the canine teeth of modern man, and the
peculiar manner of their eruption. In the Heidelberg
dentition the canines are even less ape-like than in
modern man they have subsided into the ranks of
the ordinary teeth. In this we find a second point
which bears on the antiquity of man. In an early
species of man the canine teeth had assumed the
" human " form by the commencement of the Pleistocene
period.
The Neanderthal nature of the Heidelberg mandible
is rendered apparent by such a comparison as that made
in fig. 82. The body of the Heidelberg jaw, that part
1 Ancient Types of Man, Harper Brothers, 1911.
2 3 8
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
of it which carries the teeth, is set beside the opposite
half of a mandible from Spy. In the adjacent figure
halves of an English and of a Tasmanian mandible
are contrasted. The Spy mandible represents the
Neanderthal type ; the Tasmanian illustrates a primitive
modern type. It is unfortunate for our comparison that
the molars of the Spy mandible are the smallest known
in a Neanderthal specimen. Their total length, measured
along the arch of the teeth, is 32-2 mm. ; the three
Heidelberg molars measure 36 mm. Amongst the
Krapina molar teeth there are many of a larger size than
MODERN ENGLISH
TASMANIAN.
SPY. HEIDELBERQ
FIG. 82, The right half of the body and teeth of the Heidelberg mandible
viewed from above, and contrasted with halves of the mandibles of Spy
man, of a Tasmanian, and of a modern European.
those of the Heidelberg mandible. In the Tasmanian
mandible the molars are particularly large for a modern
dentition, totalling 36*4 mm., rather more than the
Heidelberg molars. The front teeth incisors, canines,
premolars of the Heidelberg mandible are of the same
shape as those in the Spy mandible, only slightly
larger. The Tasmanian teeth are quite different more
primitive.
The teeth of Neanderthal man are arranged in an arch
of characteristic form, the arch being flattened in front
and the two sides of the arch widely separated (fig. 167).
Those characters are easily recognised in the Heidel-
berg mandible. In the primitive modern jaw the dental
HEIDELBERG MAN
2 39
arch is elongated and more simian in form. As may be
seen from fig. 82, the long diameter of the dental arch
measured 62 mm. in the primitive Tasmanian, 60 mm.
in the Heidelberg mandible, and 54 mm. in the Spy
mandible. In width, however, the Neanderthal dental
arch is much the greater. It measures 68 mm. in the
Heidelberg specimen, 69 mm. in the Spy, and 61 mm.
in the Tasmanian mandible. The peculiar adaptation of
the Neanderthal teeth their wide crowns, large bodies,
short roots, and the wide and relatively short dental
arch, all point to a rough vegetable diet necessitating
40 30
30 40
HEIDELBERG .
LA CHAPELLE
FlG. 83. Reconstruction of the palate of the Heidelberg man, compared with
Professor Boule's reconstruction of the La Chapelle palate.
a grinding rather than a cutting manner of mastication.
From the arch of the lower teeth it is possible to re-
construct the size and arrangement of the upper teeth
and palate of the Heidelberg individual. In fig. 83
this reconstruction has been carried out in order that
a direct comparison may be made between the palate
of the Heidelberg man and the Neanderthal variety
discovered at La Chapelle-aux-Saints (see p. 151). The
palate in the latter case was broken and the teeth lost.
Professor Boule was therefore obliged to reconstruct the
palate in that case also. The palatal area in each is
almost the same 35 cm. 2 in the La Chapelle specimen,
36-7 cm. 2 in the Heidelberg specimen, and 36*7 cm. 2 in
240
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the Tasmanian. The width in the two palates shown
in fig. 83 is almost the same, 72 mm. ; and the length
is nearly the same, 60 mm. in the La Chapelle and
63 mm. in the Heidelberg palate. From the palate
we infer that the Heidelberg man cannot have stood
much lower in the human scale than Neanderthal man
of the Mousterian period.
If we confine our attention to the teeth, we have no
hesitation in assigning the Heidelberg jaw to a primitive
variety or race of Neanderthal man. From the very
first, anatomists have been struck by the apparent
"S / \ HEIDELBERG
AUSTRAL/AN
FIG. 84. Profile of the Heidelberg mandible compared with a corresponding
view of the mandible of an Australian native.
discrepancy between the "humanity" of the teeth and
the massive power almost bestiality of the jaw
itself. The impression we obtain from a close inspection
is one of its great strength. This is even noticeable
when a comparison is made such as is shown in fig. 84.
In that figure the Heidelberg mandible is shown in
profile, and placed beside a corresponding view of the
mandible of an Australian native. The comparison
brings out an extreme degree of divergence. This is
particularly evident in the ascending branch or ramus to
which the muscles of mastication are attached. The size
or area of this branch may be taken as an index of the
size and strength of the muscles of mastication. In
HEIDELBERG MAN 241
height the ascending branch of the Australian mandible
is practically the same as that of the Heidelberg specimen,
but in width the latter measures 60 mm. 22 mm. more
than the primitive Australian native. The area re-
presented by the outer surface of the ram us of the
ancient mandible is 34 cm. 2 ; the corresponding area in
the Australian measures 22 cm. 2 ; an average modern
European mandible, 18 cm. 2 These measurements give
some idea of the surpassing strength which must
have characterised the masticatory system of the
Heidelberg man. The chief difference, however, is seen
in the region of the chin and symphysis. In the
Australian, although there is no prominent chin, yet the
anterior or labial surface of the mandible ascends almost
at right angles to the lower border of the jaw. The
alveolar border, on which the teeth are implanted, is not
prolonged forwards markedly in advance of the lower
border of the mandible. The reverse is the case in
the Heidelberg jaw the alveolar border is prolonged
far forwards and the chin recedes almost as in an
ape. On its posterior or lingual aspect the symphysis
of the Heidelberg mandible shows the genial pit
already described in connection with the chin region of
Neanderthal man (see p. 145) ; but there is this difference,
the pit is deeper, wider, and more ape-like than in any
specimen belonging to the Mousterian period. As
regards the markings of the chin the markings connected
with the attachment and mode of action of the muscles
of the tongue the Australian mandible shows all those
features which characterise modern man. In the
Heidelberg mandible, on the other hand, we see the
same peculiarities as in Neanderthal man, but to an
exaggerated and to a more primitive degree.
To show how the Heidelberg mandible compares with
that of an anthropoid ape, I have superimposed its out-
line, in fig. 85, on a drawing made from the mandible and
face of a female orang both on the same scale. In
height and area of the ascending branch of the jaw there
is not much difference between the ape and Heidelberg
16
242
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
man, but in actual shape, particularly in the form of the
coronoid process, the anthropoid and Heidelberg types
depart widely. Although the Heidelberg muscles of
mastication must have been of great strength, yet the
markings for their implantation on the mandible are those
seen in human jaws but never on the mandibles of
anthropoid apes. In the region of the symphysis there
is also a striking difference. On the posterior aspect of
the anthropoid symphysis is seen the wide pit or genial
so
20
20
FIG. 85. Outline of the Heidelberg mandible compared with a drawing of the
lower jaw and face of a female orang. Both are drawn to the same scale.
fossa, bounded at the lower border of the symphysis by
the simian plate. There is no simian plate, nor any
trace of it, in the Heidelberg mandible.
In fig. 86 a final comparison is made to show the
degree of resemblance between the mandibles from Spy
and Heidelberg. The differences are those of degree,
not of kind. It is true that the ascending branch of the
Heidelberg specimen is much the larger. As regards
size and shape, the body of the mandible the part on
which the teeth are implanted is very much alike in
both cases. In the region of the symphysis the Heidel-
HEIDELBERG MAN
243
berg mandible shows more primitive characters ; its
upper or alveolar border is more projecting ; there is no
indication of a chin. In the Spy specimen the rudiment
of a chin is apparent. Again, on the posterior aspect of
the symphysis the genial pit a simian structure is
almost filled up in the Spy specimen. This pit is
open almost to the extent seen in young gorillas in the
Heidelberg mandible (see also page 433).
There is another feature worthy of note, illustrated by the
various drawings represented in fig. 82. In these drawings
HE/DELBERG
SPY
60 -TO 20 O ZO <K>
FIG. 86. Outline of the Heidelberg mandible compared with the Spy mandible.
the Heidelberg, the Spy, a Tasmanian mandible, and a
European mandible are represented from exactly the
same point of view at right angles to the chewing plane
of the teeth. Such a view gives a clear idea of what is
meant by the opening out of the floor of the mouth.
The lower border of the mandible bounds that floor.
Even in the primitive Tasmanian very little of the
symphysis or of the lower border of the mandible is seen
within the arcade of the teeth (fig. 82). In the
Heidelberg mandible, and to some degree in that from
Spy, the lower part of the symphysis encroaches, as in
the ape (see fig. 165, p. 446), on the floor of the mouth.
244 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
Yet, in spite of this ape-like feature, we must grant, I
think, the possibility of speech to the Heidelberg man.
We cannot withhold such a faculty from Neanderthal
man, such as the one found at La Chapelle-aux-Saints,
who had a brain above that possessed by the average
modern man. In the Heidelberg mandible we find the
usual Neanderthal features of the chin, only they are
more primitive more simian in their development. If
we allow full speech to the Mousterian man, we must,
at least, assume the beginnings of such a faculty for
Heidelberg man.
A suggestion made by Professor Elliot Smith 1 has a
direct bearing on the problem we are now considering.
He is of opinion that the human brain must have
reached almost its full development, and that speech was
probably in full process of evolution, before the mandible,
tongue, and other parts which subserve the purposes of
speech had become finally and fully adapted to their new
functions. That is very likely to have been the case.
At least, we find in men of the Mousterian period a
dentition very similar to that seen in the Heidelberg
individual, and with mandibles, perhaps not so robust or
so primitive, but yet in essential characters like the
Heidelberg. In Neanderthal man these characters of
teeth and jaw are associated with a large brain one
which was capable of subserving the faculty of speech.
We have every reason to suppose, then, that the
Heidelberg man, with similar characters of jaw and teeth,
had also reached a high development of brain. If
Professor Elliot Smith's suggestion holds true, namely,
that in the process of human evolution the brain leads
the way, it is possible that the brain of the Heidelberg
man may prove as large as that of Neanderthal man.
1 See his address as President of the Anthropological Section of the
British Association at Dundee, 1912.
CHAPTER XIV
CASTENEDOLO MODERN MAN
No revelation of prehistoric man could be more convincing
than the discovery of the Heidelberg mandible. We
have no shadow of doubt as to its authenticity or signifi-
cance. We accept as a definite and indisputable fact
that there lived a primitive form of Neanderthal man in
South Germany in early Pleistocene times, bestial in
structure beyond all kinds of men now living. The dis-
covery we are now to relate is the old and well-known
story of Castenedolo the antithesis of the one narrated
in the last chapter. At Castenedolo, in North Italy, we
obtain all the details relating to the finding of remains
of a people of the modern type embedded in strata much
older than the sands at Mauer. As the student of
prehistoric man reads and studies the records of the
" Castenedolo " find, a feeling of incredulity rises within
him. He cannot reject the discovery as false without
doing an injury to his sense of truth, and he cannot
accept it as a fact without shattering his accepted beliefs.
It is clear we cannot pass Castenedolo by in silence :
all the problems relating to the origin and antiquity of
modern man focus themselves round it.
If the map of North Italy be examined, it will be seen
that the railway between Milan and Verona keeps close
to the southern flanks of the Alps, and passes the town of
Brescia on the way. In 1860, Professor Ragazzoni an
expert geologist was a teacher in the Technical Institute
of Brescia. He was particularly interested in the fossil
shells of the Pliocene formations which abound in North
245
246
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
Italy. One of the favourite sites for collecting such
specimens was a low hill, only about 100 feet high, which
rises from the plain at Castenedolo, about six miles to
the south-east of Brescia. Fig. 87 reproduces a section
which he drew to explain the geological formation of the
hill. The exact number and sequence of the strata do
not concern us now. We note that the second stratum
is a deposit of boulder clay indicating one probably the
greatest of the Pleistocene glaciations. The strata which
have a direct interest for us are those numbered 8 and
9 : No. 8 a deposit of greenish-blue clay containing
shells about 5 feet in thickness ; No. 9 a deposit rich
HUMAN REMAINS
YELLOW SAND
FIG. 87. Section of the hill (Colle de Vento) at Castenedolo, near Brescia
(Ragazzoni).
in coral debris and in fossil shells. About the age of
the coral stratum there is no dispute ; it was deposited
when a Pliocene sea lapped against the southern flanks
of the Alps. Were it to occur in England it would lie
under the Red Crag of Suffolk, for it belongs to the older
Pliocene formation. The overlying blue clay, deposited
from still, muddy waters, is not much later in date than
the coralline stratum.
Late in the summer of 1860, Professor Ragazzoni
visited Castenedolo, and had descended the pit, cut at
the foot of the hill (see fig. 87), and was searching the
coralline stratum for Pliocene shells. As he searched he
uncovered, on the face of the pit between the blue clay
above and the coral stratum below, the fragmentary vault
CASTENEDOLO MODERN MAN 247
of a human skull. It was coated and impregnated by
the clay and shells of the strata between which it lay.
Ragazzoni examined the overlying strata one of yellow
sand, another of grey sand above the clay, and could
see no trace of a disturbance at their lines of junction.
He searched further and found a few other cranial frag-
ments near the same site. He took his " finds " home,
and showed them to some of his colleagues at the
Technical Institute. His discovery was received with
incredulity.
Until 1880 twenty years after the first discovery
nothing further was found in the pit. In that year,
however, a friend of Ragazzoni's who believed in the
first discovery commenced to excavate in the pit about
twenty paces from the site at which the human remains were
found. In two months he exposed, at the same horizon,
between strata 8 and 9, numerous and scattered fragments
of the skeletons of two children. The fragments were
left in situ until seen and examined by Professor
Ragazzoni. Again the overlying strata were found intact.
Then a further discovery was made the skeleton of a
woman in the contracted posture, compressed and dis-
turbed by earth-pressure. The woman's skeleton lay
within the clay stratum a little over 3^ feet from the
surface of the bank. The other human remains lay at a
depth of 6| feet from the top of the bank the surface
level of the soil.
In 1883, Professor Sergi, 1 then a rising anthropologist,
visited Ragazzoni at Brescia and saw the human remains
found in the Pliocene strata at Castenedolo still covered
by fragments of the original matrix in which they had
been embedded. He found that the remains were those
of people of the modern type. Two children, a man, and
a woman were represented by the fragments, but only
the skull of the woman was complete enough for a re-
1 Professor Sergi has kindly supplied me with copies of the papers he
has written on the Castenedolo remains. See Archimo per VAntrop. e
FEtnoL, 1884, vol. xiv., No. 3. Ibid., 1886, vol. xvi., No. 3. Rivista de
Antropologia, 1912, vol. xvii., fas. iii. See especially his latest work,
Le Origine Umane : Rtcerchepaleontologiche, r Tor\r\o, 1913.
248
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
construction. Professor Sergi was impressed by both the
discovery and the discoverer. He went with Ragazzoni
to the pit, made a fresh section of the strata, and was
convinced that all was as Ragazzoni claimed, namely, that
he had discovered human remains in undisturbed beds
of a Pliocene age. The race was of the modern human
type. Some time before he died, Professor Ragazzoni
placed the human remains discovered at Castenedolo in
Professor Sergi's custody, and they are now preserved
in his department in the University of Rome.
BREQMA
150 ! 100
FIG. 88. Woman's skull found at Castenedolo, viewed from the side and
from above (after Sergi).
In fig. 88, I reproduce two drawings of the woman's
skull copied from Professor Sergi's excellent illustrations,
but fitted within the conventional standard lines used in
former illustrations. The length is 189 mm. ; the width,
135 mm., being 71*4 per cent, of the length. The
dimensions are above those of the average modern
European woman. The vault of the skull rises 1 1 5 mm.
above the ear-holes, the pitch of the roof being thus an
ordinary one. The brain capacity must have been about
1340 c.c. the average for modern European women.
The bones of the vault are not thick. The forehead is
CASTENEDOLO MODERN MAN 249
wide (103 mm.) and almost vertical. There is a complete
absence of supra-orbital ridges. The lower jaw is small,
the chin pointed, the angle between the ascending ramus
and body very obtuse (130), as in women with long,
narrow, oval faces. It is a long, narrow skull, with not a
single character we can identify as primitive. Indeed, if
tested side by side with the skulls of modern women be-
longing to primitive races, we should select the Castenedolo
skull as representing the more highly evolved example
of the modern type. Yet there is also this striking fact
to be kept in mind : it is an exact counterpart of the
skull found at a depth of 50 feet in a Pleistocene deposit
at Olmo, which lies a hundred and fifty miles to the
south of Brescia. The Olmo skull is that of a male, the
Castenedolo that of a female, but both are of the same
race. The discovery at Castenedolo convinced Professor
Sergi that men of the modern type were already evolved
in the Pliocene period. His sincere and intrepid advocacy
compelled the attention of his contemporaries. The
leading anthropologists of Paris gave it a mixed reception.
Quatrefages believed in the Castenedolo discovery, and
he and Hamy gave it a place in that Valhalla of ancient
skulls the " Crania Ethnica." Gabriel de Mortillet and
Topinard refused to believe in it. Sergi, however, has
never faltered in his belief. Even, as he himself relates,
when Ragazzoni summoned him and Professor Issel to
examine another Castenedolo skeleton exposed in situ in
1888, and when both were convinced that the skeleton
represented a comparatively late interment, his faith in
Ragazzoni's former discoveries did not waver. To him
those early discoveries were guarantees that men of the
modern type were evolved as long ago as the beginning
of the Pliocene period.
Castenedolo is a test case : it raises all the issues relating
to the antiquity of modern man. Are we quite sure Sergi
is mistaken ? Let us review briefly the principal facts
on which our knowledge of the antiquity of man rests
man as we know him to-day separating "certainties"
from the " probabilities " and the " possibilities." Beyond
2 5 o THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
any doubt we have traced men of the modern type men
belonging to races as highly evolved in body and brain as
any race now living to the beginning of the Aurignacian
period. The men of Combe Capelle and of the Grimaldi
caves were as highly evolved as any modern people,
and yet they may have seen probably did see the
Neanderthal men, with their simian brow-ridges. In the
Mousterian period modern man appears to have existed
no longer in Europe. At least not a trace of him occurs
in any deposits of that period ; only the remains of that
man of an altogether different build of body Neanderthal
man. Then beyond the Mousterian period what do we
find ? In deposits of Acheulean and Chellean date not
a trace of Neanderthal man ; only remains of men of our
own type long-headed and big-brained. To me the
discoveries at Galley Hill, at Clichy, at Olmo are
certainties giving a sure foothold from which one may
safely step further back into the past. To others
equally competent to judge they are either impossible
or " not proven." They are " impossible " if we suppose
that the world has always been populated by a single
type or species of man, and that at every geological
period this single type of mankind was slowly progress-
ing towards his present state. Is such a belief well
founded ? Before we reach the middle of the Pleistocene
period we find humanity has been evolved for so long a
period that already there has been time for the differentia-
tion of at least two distinct species of men of a totally
different type modern and Neanderthal. Are we quite
certain the modern type may not be as old in point of
evolution as the Neanderthal ? That I think we must
admit, and with that admission we must also grant the
possibility of the discoveries at Galley Hill, at Clichy, and
at Olmo as true.
Our difficulties increase as we go back. The discovery
at Heidelberg is an unquestionable fact. It revealed a
primitive form of Neanderthal man living in Europe
early in the Pleistocene period. Have we any evidence
of modern man at that date ? There is the discovery at
CASTENEDOLO MODERN MAN
251
Ipswich. If the skeleton discovered there had been of a
type totally different to that of modern man its antiquity
as a " preboulder-clay " man would not have been
questioned. But being of the modern type, and lying
beneath only a shallow stratum, it can never be cited as
certain evidence that modern man was in East Anglia in
the opening third of the Pleistocene period. To me its
value is merely potential. All the facts pertaining to it
should be placed on record, but it can never be used as
the basis from which to make another step into the past.
Beyond Heidelberg our record ceases in Europe with
two exceptions the discovery at Piltdown and the one
discussed in this chapter, Castenedolo. One cannot say
that the existence of man of the modern type in the
Pliocene period is outside the range of possibilities. Sergi
can cite the evolution of the wolf, the bear, the gibbon,
and another anthropoid ape Dryopithecus as having
been already evolved early in Pliocene times, not the
same species which now lives, but from an anatomist's
point of view quite as highly evolved as the living species.
What is possible in the evolution of apes may also be
granted as a possibility in the case of man. But when I
grant the possibility of men of the modern type having
been in existence during the Pliocene period, I do not
think the discoveries at Castenedolo prove it. The
deepest of the bones lay only 6^ feet below the surface
of the land. Quatrefages mentions the fact that the
bones were not fossilised to the degree noted in animal
bones from the same deposit. A skeleton in a contracted
posture must be regarded unless proof to the opposite
can be produced as a burial, not necessarily from the
present land surface, but from a land surface. To me
the discovery at Castenedolo is simply a possibility ; it
does not provide us with any sure foothold in our search
into the antiquity of man. So far as modern man in
Europe is concerned, we lose all trace of him at Galley
Hill. We see the last of Neanderthal man in the
sand-pit at Mauer.
CHAPTER XV
DISCOVERIES OF ANCIENT MAN IN AFRICA AND JAVA
UP to this point our attempts to follow man's history
into the remote past have been confined to Europe. We
propose now to see what was happening to ancient man
in the rest of the world during the advance and retreat
of the ice sheet in Europe. We must confess at once
that as yet we know very little of ancient man outside
Europe, but nothing is more certain than that the coming
generation will make good the blanks in our knowledge
and explain many of the puzzling events of ancient
Europe such as the sudden appearance of men of the
modern type in the Aurignacian period.
Only a generation ago, when early or ancient man was
spoken of, our thoughts and minds turned involuntarily
to Babylonia or Egypt. As knowledge increased, these
ancient places moved gradually from the background to
the foreground of time. Behind ancient Egypt lie other
and more ancient Egypts, and it is in the valley of the
Nile we shall commence our survey. A rapid journey
from Cairo to Capetown will provide an opportunity of
judging what is known of the antiquity of man in Africa.
Students of Egyptian history are now generally agreed
that settled rule, under a dynasty of kings, commenced
in the lower valley of the Nile about 3500 B.C. In the
opening decade of the present century, archaeologists
began to recognise that certain graves and cemeteries
were older than the First Dynasty were " predynastic."
They presently were able to distinguish " late," " middle,"
and " early " predynastic interments. The people buried
252
ANCIENT MAN IN AFRICA AND JAVA 253
in such graves were contemporaries of the Neolithic
people of Europe. These predynastic graves, and the
ancient Egyptians buried in them, have been examined
and described by Professor Elliot Smith i 1
" The early predynastic graves consist of shallow
pits of a broad oval or rectangular form, scraped in
the gravel or fine, yellow-grey alluvium, immediately
beyond the area of cultivation. . . . The body was
buried lying usually on the left side, with the arms
and legs loosely flexed, the hands being between the
knees and the face. The head was usually directed
towards the south, or what those primitive people
considered south. . . . With the dead were buried
many objects which the deceased had treasured in
this life, or his friends believed he might need in a
future existence : pottery, vessels of stone, slate
palettes, ivory figures, beads, occasional objects
made of gold and copper, knives, and weapons made
of flint and other stone.
" The predynastic or proto-Egyptian was a man
of small stature, his mean height estimated at a little
under 5 feet 5 inches in the flesh for men, and
almost 5 feet in the case of women, being just about
the average for mankind in general, whereas the
modern Egyptian/?//^ averages about 5 feet 6 inches.
He was of a very slender build, for his bones are
singularly slight and free from pronounced rough-
nesses and projecting bosses that indicate great
muscular development. In fact, there is a suggestion
of effiminate grace and frailty about his bones which
is lacking in the more rugged outlines of the
skeletons of his more virile successors. . . .
" So far as their physical characteristics are con-
cerned, the predynastic Egyptians are probably the
nearest approximation to that anthropological ab-
straction a pure race that we know of. About 2
per cent, of them are definitely negroid, and perhaps
1 The Ancient Egyptians, Harper Brothers, 191 1.
254 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
another 3 or 4 per cent, display features which
suggest the influence of negro admixture, but in
so undecided a manner that it would be rash to
dogmatise concerning them.
"The problem of the relationship of the early
Egyptians and the Arabs is one that presents singular
elusive difficulties. . . . But the modern Arab, such
as those now dwelling in the provinces of Yemen
and Hejaz, and the wandering Bedouin who make
their way into Egypt, present so close a likeness to
the proto-Egyptian racial type that it would be a
matter of some difficulty to discriminate between
their osseous remains."
Dr Seligmann has also recognised the close resemblance
between the Hadendoa a tribe living on the western
shores of the Red Sea near Suakin and the predynastic
Egyptians.
Thus, although the inhabitants of modern Egypt differ
in many minor features from the men who lived along
the Nile six thousand years ago a difference which, as
Professor Elliot Smith has shown, is largely the result of
admixture with alien races yet the early predynastic type
still persists. We have seen the same persistence of
ancient type in England. The Neolithic Briton of the
river-bed type still survives.
The cemetery at Naga-ed-Der, which first provided
Elliot Smith with the skulls and remains of predynastic
Egyptians, lies on the Nile over four hundred miles south
of Cairo. Our next point of investigation takes us south
of Khartoum to Gebel Moya, a station situated on an arid
range of granite hills between the Blue and White Niles.
In 1910, Mr Henry S. Wellcome commenced a series of
explorations at Gebel Moya, and discovered a cemetery of
prehistoric date. Some of the graves may have been dug
in the time of the earlier Egyptian dynasties. In the
deeper graves "fossilised" skeletons of a tall negro race
were found, belonging to a race not unlike the tall, long-
limbed negro tribes who now live along the valley of the
ANCIENT MAN IN AFRICA AND JAVA 255
White Nile. The remains of those people have been
recently described by Dr Douglas Deny. 1 As in modern
negroes of the same region, lip ornaments were worn,
and in the women the lower incisor teeth were extracted.
The discovery is important in this respect : it shows us
that three thousand or four thousand years ago a tall
negro type was in existence, and inhabited this part of
the Soudan, practising the same bodily mutilations as
their modern successors.
The next point in our journey from Egypt to the
Cape takes us to German East Africa. In 1914, Dr
Hans Reck discovered in a stratified deposit at Oldoway,
in the northern part of German East Africa, a human
skeleton, in the contracted posture, and exhibiting all the
features of a typical negro. The stratum in which the
skeleton lay one composed of calcareous sand contained
remains of extinct animals of the Pleistocene period.
The antiquity of the skeleton is probably not so great as
the stratum in which it lay, for a complete human
skeleton laid in a contracted posture signifies a burial,
unless the opposite can be proved or, at least, unless a
natural entombment can be rendered probable. The
teeth were artificially pointed by having been filed a
custom still prevalent among negro tribes of East Africa.
It is very probable that the negro was fully evolved in
early Pleistocene times, but the evidence from Oldoway
cannot be accepted as having finally proved this degree
of antiquity. 2
So far as concerns ancient man, South Africa is dis-
tinctly a land of the greatest promise. In recent years
several announcements of the discovery of ancient human
remains have been made, but, so far, no full and authentic
details have been made public. In his presidential
address to the Royal Society of South Africa, Dr L.
Peringuey discussed the evidence relating to the antiquity
of man in South Africa. He could not show the fossil
1 See Proc . of Seventeenth Internat. Congress of Medicine, London,
1913. Sec. i : Anat. and Embryology, pt. 2, p. 99.
2 See Illustrated London News, April 4th, 1914.
256 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
bones of any African of Palaeolithic times, but he was
able to exhibit many examples of the workmanship of the
people of that period. In the ancient river deposits of
South Africa many implements very similar to those of the
Chellean, Acheulean, Mousterian, and Aurignacian cultures
have been discovered. The sequence of cultures in Africa
appears to be less definite than in Europe. Dr Peringuey
insists that stone implements of the Chellean type are
found lying side by side in the same stratum with the
implements of the Mousterian type, as if both cultures
had been prevalent at the same time. The remarkable
fact remains that, in South Africa, the European
Pleistocene cultures are represented in deposits contain-
ing the remains of extinct forms of animals animals
which were alive when Palaeolithic man lived in South
Africa.
No better evidence of the antiquity of man could be
provided than that afforded by the Bushmen of South
Africa a negroid race, rapidly hastening towards
extinction. As artists, the Bushmen represent Europeans
of the Aurignacian period ; they decorate their rock-
shelter with realistic representations of hunting scenes in
the same manner as Europeans did before the Ice age
came to a close. But it is not as modern representatives
of ancient artists that they are cited here : it is because
in the structure of their bodies they reveal a very highly
specialised form probably a very ancient form of man-
kind not primitive and ape-like, but a highly
differentiated form of the negro type. The Bushman is
the product of a long series of evolutionary stages. In
estimating the antiquity of man, we must allow sufficient
time for the evolution of such highly specialised
representative types of modern man such as the Bush-
man, the West African negro, the fair-haired North
European, and the yellow-skinned Chinaman.
From Africa we now pass to Asia a part of the world
from which the student of early man has expected so
much and, so far, has obtained so little. It is true that
we are provided in India and China with two very
ANCIENT MAN IN AFRICA AND JAVA 257
distinctive types of mankind, so divergent that we must
suppose them to be the product of a very long period of
time. In Egypt and in England we have seen how
little the native types have changed with the lapse of
six thousand years. India and China will yet reveal the
story of their prehistoric ancestral races, but in the mean-
time we must be content with citing one observation
that made by Dr Fritz Noetling of Tasmania when he
was in the service of the Geological Survey of India.
When investigating a conglomerate deposit in Burmah
which contained the remains of animals belonging to the
earliest part of the Pliocene period he found flints show-
ing distinct traces of having been worked by man. 1 As
in all cases where chipped flints of an Eolithic type have
been discovered, the " humanity " of Dr Noetling's
Burmah implements has been called in question.
So far, our search in Africa and Asia for traces of
ancient man has yielded only unimportant results. A
visit to Java, however, will make amends. This island
has given us the remains of a being which, after twenty
years of debate, still occupies an undecided place between
the realms of ape and man.
Dr Eugene Dubois, who discovered the remains of this
strange being, named it Pithecanthropus erectus, because,
although it possesses the human erect posture, yet
possesses many ape-like traits. 2 Dr Dubois saw in this
ancient being the representative of an extinct family of
animals which occupied a position between the human
family on the one hand and the anthropoid family on
the other. Pithecanthropus, in the opinion of the dis-
coverer, was but the harbinger of a family of " Missing-
links." The story of the discovery of Pithecanthropus
is well known. The site lies on the east bank of the
1 See Records of Geol. Survey of India, 1894, vol. xxvii. p. 101. Also
Natural Science, 1 897, vol. x. p. 89.
2 The more important papers on Pithecanthropus are : Dr Eugene
Dubois, Pithecanthropus erectus, Eine Ubergangsform, Batavia, 1894.
Professor G. Schwalbe, "Studien ueber Pithecanthropus erectus?
Zeitschrift fur Morphologic und Anthrop., 1899, Bd. i. pp. 16-240. Dr
Eugene Dubois, Trans. Roy. Dublin Soc., 1896, vol. vi. p. i.
17
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
Solo or Bengawan, a stream which, rising among the
volcanic hills of the province of Madiun, in the central
part of Java, pursues a north-easterly course to the sea.
A native hamlet named Trinil is near the scene of Dr
Dubois' explorations. A section of the deposits which
form the east bank of the Bengawan, with the stratum
in which the remains of Pithecanthropus were found, is
shown in fig. 8q.
O 7
The deposits are of the kind we have already studied
VEGETABLE SOIL
FOSSILIFEROUS
/ STRATUM
I/
MARINE BRECCIA
FIG. 89. Section of the east bank of the Bengawan, near Trinil, showing
the position of the fossiliferous stratum (Dubois).
in the river valleys of Europe. The stratum which
directly concerns us is the fossiliferous bed, about 4 feet
in thickness, lying at the level of the present stream
the Solo or Bengawan. The fossiliferous stratum is
well named. Between 1891 and 1894, Dr Dubois
removed from this layer fossil bones representing twenty-
seven different kinds of mammals most of them
belonging to species which are now extinct. After
comparing the animal remains thus discovered with
these which are found in Pliocene and Pleistocene
deposits of India, Dr Dubois came to the conclusion that
ANCIENT MAN IN AFRICA AND JAVA 259
the fossiliferous stratum must be assigned to a late part
of the Pliocene period. The section of the Trinil
strata reproduced in fig. 89 is therefore comparable to
that of the Cromer forest beds given in fig. 74, p. 212.
Below the fossiliferous bed is a stratum of conglomerate,
representing the gravel bed of the ancient Bengawan.
Under the conglomerate is a layer of clay a deposit laid
down in quiet, muddy water. Under the clay rests a
marine deposit containing fossil shells of early Pliocene
forms corresponding to the "Crag" formations of
East Anglia. Over the fossiliferous bed in which the
remains of Pithecanthropus were found are stratified
deposits amounting to 45 feet in thickness. These
stratified beds of sand and fine, volcanic debris recall
the Mauer sands overlying the Heidelberg mandible.
Both at Trinil and Mauer the strata represent valley
deposits. The fossiliferous bed, made up of a fine,
triturated deposit of volcanic ashes and sand, represents
the basal layer. After the valley deposits had been laid
down during a period of subsidence, elevation of the
land commenced, the stream then cutting a new valley
out of its old deposits and exposing the deeper strata on
its banks. Dr Dubois, who was a surgeon in the
colonial military service of Java at the date of this
discovery, and who is now Professor of Geology in the
University of Amsterdam, came to the conclusion that
the animal remains in the fossiliferous layer belong to a
late phase of the Pliocene period one corresponding
to the forest beds of East Anglia. The remains of
Pithecanthropus, which were discovered in that stratum,
would thus belong to a somewhat earlier date than the
Heidelberg mandible.
To settle the date more definitely, and in the hope
of finding further remains of this fossil humanoid form,
Frau Lenore Selenka, with assistance from certain
scientific societies in Germany, fitted out an expedition
in 1906 to continue Dr Dubois' exploration at Trinil. 1
1 Die Pithecanthropus Schichten auf Java, M. Lenore Selenka and
Professor Max. Blanckenhorn, Berlin, 1911.
260 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
From one point of view the expedition was eminently
successful. A great harvest of fossil forms was collected,
but no further trace of Pithecanthropus was discovered.
Seventeen specialists examined and described the great
collections brought home by the Selenka expedition.
The conclusions drawn by Dr Stremme and Dr Janensch
from a study of the mammalian remains was that the
fossiliferous bed was late Pliocene in date of formation,
but those who examined the other collections fixed its
date in the older Pleistocene. In this also we see a
resemblance to the Cromer forest beds, which oscillate
in the geological scale on either side of the border-line
between Pliocene and Pleistocene.
We now proceed to examine the kind of being who
lived in Java when the Cromer forest beds were being
formed in Norfolk. The picture has to be built from (i)
the vault of a skull ; (2) a left thigh bone ; (3) three
teeth, two of them belonging to the upper molar series a
second of the left side, a third or wisdom tooth of the
right side, the third or remaining tooth being a second
lower premolar of the left side. There can be no doubt
that all the parts, if not belonging to the same individual,
at least all belong to the same species. They were found
at the same horizon of the fossiliferous stratum. There
is no question of a burial here, for the various parts
were scattered over a distance of twenty paces spread,
apparently, by the running waters of the stream. If we do
not admit that the femur, the teeth, and the calvaria, which
lay near each other in the bed of an ancient stream, are
parts of the same individual or same kind of individual,
then we must make a very improbable supposition. We
must suppose that the femur is that of a man showing
a few, minor, ape-like traits ; that the teeth are from
another human being in which certain simian features
were manifest ; and that the calvaria belonged to a large-
headed anthropoid showing marked human affinities.
We cannot conceive that chance could bring three such
strange individuals side by side in one narrow area of the
bed of a stream. With Dr Dubois, we think there is
ANCIENT MAN IN AFRICA AND JAVA 261
only one explanation they represent parts of the same
individual.
How difficult it is to fix the exact position of Pithe-
canthropus in the common family tree of man and ape
becomes manifest when we consider the structural
characters of the thigh bone, the teeth, and the skull.
The thigh bone is less ape-like in its general form, and in
its individual features, than the thigh bone of Neanderthal
man. The human thigh is moulded to suit the needs
of a body balanced perfectly on the lower extremities. If
a thigh bone has a human form, we infer that the animal
to which the thigh bone belonged had a human gait and
a human posture of body. We infer that the feet, the
legs, the pelvis, the backbone, trunk, and neck of such
an animal were all shaped and adapted as in modern
races of mankind. The Trinil femur signifies a being
adapted to the upright posture. The erect posture was
already evolved in Pithecanthropus. Those who have
studied the complex structural changes needed to adapt
the human body to its peculiar posture cannot conceive
that such changes have been evolved twice once in the
human ancestry, and at another time in the forerunners
of Pithecanthropus. The natural inference is that the
human family of ancient Java and all human races are
the common descendants of a stock in which the human
posture and method of progression were already evolved.
In stature, shape, and weight of body, Pithecanthropus
was human. Dr Dubois estimates from the length of
the femur (455 mm.) that the stature should have been
about 5 feet 8 inches (1*700 m.), and the weight about
1 1 stones (70 kilos.).
From the three teeth discovered by Dr Dubois, one
infers that the dentition was, in the main, human in type.
No trace is to be seen in the molars of an expansion of
the pulp cavity or of a shortening of the roots characters
of the Heidelberg dentition. The roots of the molar
teeth of the Java individual are widely separated as in
apes, and as in the more primitive races of modern man.
The crowns of the teeth are large, and their humanity
262 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
is made manifest by the fact that their transverse (cheek-
tongue) diameter is absolutely and relatively great as
regards the long diameter. In simian teeth the length
exceeds the width of the crown. In some minor features
there is a resemblance to the molar teeth of the orang.
The upper wisdom tooth (third molar), although of great
size, being 15 mm. in width by 11*3 in length (the
corresponding diameters in a native Tasmanian are
12X10-5), yet shows a manifest reduction in develop-
ment. The two posterior cusps have become reduced
to form a crenulated, hinder margin on the crown
instead of distinct cusps. As to the development of
the canine teeth, a guarded statement must be made.
The temporal ridges on the skull, being only slightly
developed as compared with their condition in the skulls
of anthropoid apes suggest small temporal muscles and
canine teeth reduced to human dimensions. It will be
seen in a subsequent chapter that I applied a similar
process of reasoning to the skull found by Mr Charles
Dawson at Piltdown. The subsequent discovery of a
pointed canine tooth, which apparently belongs to the
same individual as the skull, showed that this line of
reasoning cannot be relied upon.
If in build of body and form of teeth Pithecanthropus
possessed just those features one would postulate for a
primitive form of man, it is otherwise as regards the
skull. When closely examined, its simian rather than
its human characters are forced on our attention. In
fig. 90 the Trinil calvaria is placed within the standard
frame in which skulls of the modern human type have
been set. As regards length, it falls well within the
range of human dimensions, being only 5 mm. short of
the mean for modern man. When we analyse the
various elements which go tojnake up the length of the
skull the length of the brain and the thickness of the
supra-orbital wall in front, the occipital wall behind we
see that the proportion of bone to brain is much greater
in Pithecanthropus than in modern man. His brain
cavity measured 155 mm. in length, the supra-orbital
ANCIENT MAN IN AFRICA AND JAVA 263
wall, 23 mm., the occipital, 7 mm. The bony walls make
up over 1 6 per cent, of the total length, whereas in
modern men they usually form about 7 to 9 per cent,
of the total length. In the gorilla the bony walls
may form 20 per cent, of the total length of the skull.
The width of the Trinil skull may be estimated at
135 mm., but only 7 mm. of that amount represents
the side walls of the skull, which are thin. The width
is 72*5 per cent, of the length. Pithecanthropus thus
falls into the long-headed group of humanity.
FIG. 90. Profile and vertex of the cranium of Pithecanthropus, from a
cast of the original.
How low Pithecanthropus must be placed in the human
scale how very simian he was becomes manifest in
the low pitch of his cranial vault. We have hitherto
measured the height of the vault from the ear-holes,
but there are two reasons why that base line must be
abandoned in this case : (i) because the temporal bone
and ear-passage are missing ; (2) because in anthropoid
skulls to which that of Pithecanthropus has certain un-
mistakable resemblances the ear-holes bear a different
relationship to the cranial cavity to that obtaining
in human skulls. We must therefore fall back upon
another zero or base line one which can be applied
264 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
to the Java fragment. The base line is that shown
in many of the illustrations in this book (see fig. 72).
Even when such a base line is used we meet with
a difficulty. Our base line crosses the hinder lower
angle of the parietal bone. That angle is present in the
calvaria of Pithecanthropus, and can be utilised (fig. 90).
In front the zero line should cross the fronto-malar
junction, but, as will be seen in fig. 90, this line is made
to pass nearly 10 mm. below this junction. The line is
placed at such a low position because the fronto-malar
junction in anthropoid skulls is situated much higher, as
regards the floor of the brain cavity, than in human skulls.
This point will be again discussed when we come to deal
with the Piltdown skull (see p. 380). It is sufficient at
present to draw attention to the fact that the bones
forming the side of the skull behind the fronto-malar
junction, the frontal and sphenoid (fig. 90), are disposed,
not as in human skulls, but as in those of anthropoids (see
fig. 138, p. 382). That is an important fact in fixing the
position of Pithecanthropus in the scale of human evolu-
tion. In the fronto-malar region of the Java skull all
the anthropoid traits are retained.
The importance of the height of the vault of the skull
above this zero line (fig. 90) is readily understood. As
the brain grows in size and complexity, the extra room
required is obtained as Professor Arthur Thomson
clearly demonstrated fifteen years ago l by the expansion
of the roof and sides. The vault rises above the base
line as the brain grows. In average skulls of the modern
type the vault rises about 100 mm. above this standard
line ; in the Gibraltar skull the lowest pitched of all
Neanderthal skulls the vault rises to 86 mm. above
the zero line, but in Pithecanthropus the height is only
74 mm. (fig. 91). In the great anthropoids the orang,
chimpanzee, and gorilla the height of the cranial vault
varies from 50 to 60 mm. above the base line. Thus in
height of cranial vault Pithecanthropus is rather nearer to
" On Man's Cranial Form," Proc. of Internal. Medical Congress,
Madrid, 1903.
ANCIENT MAN IN AFRICA AND JAVA 265
the anthropoid than to the human form. In total length
and width of brain, however, Pithecanthropus is altogether
human.
There is another important anthropoid feature in the
vault of the Java skull. When human skulls, whether of
the Neanderthal or modern types, are orientated on the
base line employed here, the highest part of the vault
lies between iJ- and 2| inches (35 to 50 mm.) behind
150 IOO 50
too
FlG. 91. Cranial vault of Pithecanthropus, of the Siamang (gibbon), and of a
modern European orientated on the zero base line. The Siamang's skull is
represented twice its natural size.
the bregma (see fig. 91). But in anthropoid skulls the
bregma itself forms the highest point. In this respect
the skull of Pithecanthropus is anthropoid (fig. 91). This
feature of the cranial vault depends on two factors. We
have already seen that in anthropoid skulls, and also in the
Gibraltar skull, the base is markedly extended or unbent
at the pituitary angle (see fig. 54, p. 156). The extension
of the cranial base leads to a flattening of the roof of the
skull. Another factor, probably a more important one,
in raising the vault of the skull so that its highest point
266 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
is post-bregmatic in position, results from the great
growth of that part of the brain which lies under the
parietal region of the vault. The parietal lobes of the
human brain are known to be the seats of the higher
functions of the brain. In the course of the evolution
of the human brain these parietal association areas have
undergone a great growth and expansion. Such a growth
tends to raise the part of the vault under which the
parietal areas are situated. We should expect these
parietal association areas to be of relatively small develop-
ment from a mere inspection of the Pithecanthropus
skull. As a matter of fact, such is the case. Dr Dubois
succeeded in taking a cast of the cavity of the skull.
The cast showed very clearly the convolutionary pattern
of the brain. He noted that in the region of the parietal
association areas the brain was poorly developed.
The forehead of Pithecanthropus shows many anthro-
poid features. It is low and receding ; the orbits are
crossed by a true simian bar of bone the torus supra-
orbitalis. This gorilla-like feature is one which also
persists in Neanderthal man. The forehead is very
narrow only 84 mm. when measured between the
temporal lines. In human skulls these lines diverge as
they ascend on the frontal bones ; in anthropoid skulls
they approach towards each other as they pass backwards
on the vault. In Pithecanthropus the temporal lines
run almost parallel with each other. This condition
represents a developmental stage in young anthropoids.
The minimum width of the forehead in Pithecanthropus,
as we have seen, is 84 mm. 10 to 20 mm. less than is
common in modern skulls ; but as regards the width just
above the orbits, the measurement is about the same as
in modern skulls 102 or 104 mm., nearly 20 mm. less
than in the more robust Neanderthal skulls.
In Pithecanthropus the head was attached to the neck
exactly as in a young anthropoid ape (see figs. 90, 136).
The occipital lines, which limit the area to which the
muscles of the neck are attached, and which spread out on
the skull as the muscles of the neck grow, almost reach
ANCIENT MAN IN AFRICA AND JAVA 267
the upper border of the occipital bone in Pithecanthropus.
The point named, the "lambda," is situated at the
upper border of the occipital bone (fig. 91). In the
skulls of adult anthropoids these lines ascend above
the lambda. The mastoid processes are broken away,
but we may safely presume that they were shaped as in
young gorillas mere bosses, not projecting, pyramidal
processes as in modern man. Thus in the region of
the orbits, and in the manner in which the skull was
fixed to the neck, Pithecanthropus had much more in
common with Neanderthal man and with anthropoid apes
than with men of the modern type.
If we knew only the calvaria, if Dr Dubois had not
discovered the human-like thigh bone, then we should
have regarded Pithecanthropus as a big form of anthro-
poid. The brain cast, however, would probably have
made us hesitate in coming to such a conclusion, for
in the cast Dr Dubois was able to recognise many human
characters. The brief preliminary 1 description which he
published in 1898 the final description and figures
have yet to appear depicts a very primitive form of
human brain. He estimated the brain capacity to be
about 850 c.c. In size of brain Pithecanthropus takes
a place between the great apes and the various races of
man. In orangs, chimpanzees, and gorillas the brain
capacity varies from 290 c.c. to 610 c.c., the mean for
male gorillas being 518 c.c. In human races the brain
capacity varies from 1300 c.c. to 1500 c.c., but the
capacity may be as low as 930 c.c. or as high as 2000 c.c.
Clearly, in size of brain, Pithecanthropus is a transitional
form between man and ape. If the specimen found
represents an average individual, then we may suppose,
as Dr Dubois has postulated, that in this humanoid race
the brain capacity ranged between 710 c.c. and 1060 c.c.
" The most peculiar feature of the brain cast," writes
Dr Dubois, " is the narrowness of the frontal part of the
1 " Remarks upon the Brain Cast of Pithecanthropus erectus? Fourth
International Congress of Zoology, Cambridge, 1898, p. 78. Journ.
Anat. and PhysioL, 1899, vol. xxxiii. p. 273.
268 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
cerebrum, whereby it differs from every normal human
brain, as from all ape brains. In the frontal region the
convolutions are perfectly distinct. The most conspicuous
feature is the second frontal fissure, as clearly developed
as in any human hemisphere. . . . The important inferior
frontal convolution has attained a fair development. I
found the average area of the exposed superficies equal to
half the average area in twelve European hemispheres,
but at least double that in the brain of a large chimpanzee
or an orang-utan. This seems to indicate that our fossil
being possessed already a certain amount of power of
speech. The pars triangularis is present in this convolu-
tion, as results from the presence of two anterior branches
of the Sylvian fissure. But the pars orbitalis has only
a very rudimental development."
It is clear, then, that the region of the brain which
subserves the essentially human gift of speech was not
ape-like in Pithecanthropus. The parts for speech are
there ; they are small, but clearly foreshadow the arrange-
ment of convolution seen in modern man. In another
equally important region of the brain in that part of the
parietal lobe which lies between the primary centres for
sight, hearing, and common sensation there is a simple,
rather pithecoid condition. In this intermediate region
the higher association areas are developed in the brain
of modern man areas in which memories are formed
in connection with things heard, seen, or touched. In
this area the brain of Pithecanthropus had not reached a
" human " level.
Taking it all in all, Dr Dubois' discovery in Java
throws more light on our early, human ancestry than any
other yet made. We were not prepared to find an
ancestral type in which the human posture was fully
developed, and yet in which the brain remained in so
primitive a condition as in Pithecanthropus. We had
pictured man rising to his present estate by a gradual
and simultaneous change in all his parts. In Pithecan-
thropus we find a being human in stature, human in
gait, human in all his parts, save his brain. The full
ANCIENT MAN IN AFRICA AND JAVA 269
development of the brain came last. Even in Pithe-
canthropus the parts of the brain connected with the
faculty of speech are present ; whether speech was
actually evolved is a moot point ; at least we may think
the potentiality was there.
All the structural characters of Pithecanthropus, so far
as we know them, are exactly of the kind we expect
to find in an early ancestral type of man. Does
Pithecanthropus, then, represent the stage of evolution
mankind had reached at the end of the Pliocene period ?
Can we conceive, keeping in mind the extraordinary
complexity of the modern human brain, that the simple
brain, human in form as it is, could have expanded into
the brain of modern man, with its crowded, highly
evolved " association " areas, in the course of the
Pleistocene period ? We know for certain that men
of different species Neanderthal and modern were
evolved by the middle of the Pleistocene period with
brains just as complex in form and large in size as the
modern brain. We have seen that a period of ten,
twenty, or thirty thousand years can pass and leave the
human brain almost unaltered. Can we conceive that
in the stretch of time between the end of the Pliocene
and the middle of the Pleistocene, even allowing two or
three hundred thousand years for that space, the brain of
Pithecanthropus could have evolved into the modern
human form ? I cannot conceive such a rapid rate of
evolution.
We see, however, in all forms of animal life the
persistence of certain archaic types certain groups of
animals retain the characters of an ancient stock, while
their cousins or collaterals branch out into new forms.
The fish is an older form than the amphibian, the
amphibian is older than the mammal, but all three types
still survive. The gorilla of to-day is not a human
ancestor, but retains, we suppose, in a much higher
degree than man does, the stock from which both arose.
It is in that light I would interpret Pithecanthropus ;
a true survival, into late Pliocene or early Pleistocene
270 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
times, of an early stage in the true and direct line of
human evolution a stage we may expect to find evolved,
not in the Pliocene, but in the preceding or Miocene
period. We may accept Pithecanthropus as representing
a very early stage in human evolution (see fig. 187,
p. 509).
Our search for traces of ancient man, outside the
bounds of Europe, has detained us rather too long in
Java. There are still the islands of the Pacific and
Australia to be surveyed. So far, no fossil remains of
man have been discovered in Australasia ; but there is
no need to seek there for fossil forms. Ancient and
primitive man still survives more primitive than any
fossil form of modern man yet found in Europe. Sir
William Turner measured the brain capacity of twenty-
four skulls of native Australian women. The mean
capacity was 1116 c.c. ; four of them were under 1000
c.c., one was as low as 930 c.c. With brains of a smaller
size than 930 c.c. we can scarcely expect a human
intelligence. Of all the races of mankind now alive,
the aboriginal race of Australia is the only one which,
in my opinion, could serve as a common ancestor for
all modern races. The common ancestor has to yield
descendants which, on the one hand, might become the
typical inhabitant of Central Africa, and, on the other,
the fair-haired native of North-Western Europe. The
Australian native has those intermediate and generalised
characters needed for such an ancestral form. If we
agree that the Australian native, or some other primitive
race, may be accepted as a common ancestor for white
and black races of mankind, let us ask the following
question : How long will it take for the evolution of
two such divergent races as the negro and European
from such a common stock ? In answering that question
we have to bear in mind how durable certain modern
human types are.
It is when we approach the antiquity of man from this
point of view that we see that we must postulate a very
long period of time for the evolution of modern types
ANCIENT MAN IN AFRICA AND JAVA 271
of man. The whole length of the Pleistocene period
does not seem to me sufficiently long for the purpose.
Certainly, the common ancestor of modern races must
have reached a higher stage by the close of the Pliocene
period than that represented by Pithecanthropus. It is
for that reason that we must regard the humanoid form
discovered by Dr Dubois in Java as representing a
Miocene rather than a Pliocene stage in man's evolution
(see frontispiece).
CHAPTER XVI
DISCOVERIES OF REMAINS OF ANCIENT MAN IN
NORTH AMERICA
OUR survey of the " old " world revealed two ancient,
extinct, and interesting human types Neanderthal man
and Pithecanthropus but the evolutionary stages of
modern man we did not discover. When we come
across him first, in mid-Pleistocene times, modern man
is already fully evolved. If the modern man was already
in existence soon after the close of the Pliocene period,
as the evidence given in former chapters leads one to
suppose, then we ought to find traces of him at an early
Pleistocene date in the " new " world, All geologists
are agreed that America and Asia were not separated by
Bering Strait in the earlier part of the Pleistocene period,
nor in the Pliocene period, and that man could then
have obtained easy access to the new world from the old.
Anthropologists are also agreed that the pre-Columbian
population of America did enter America from the Asiatic
side. 1 They are also agreed that the native peoples of
America, from Hudson Bay to Cape Horn, are descended
from the same human stock as has populated the eastern
regions of Asia and many of the islands of the Pacific.
The American Indian, in all his varieties, is a descendant
from a primitive Mongolian type of man. If, however,
we ask : How long ago is it since the Mongolian type of
modern man was evolved ? When did the American
1 See an excellent summary by Dr Ales Hrdlicka, " The Derivation
and Probable Place of Origin of the North American Indian," Proc.
Internat. Congress of Americanists^ London, 1912, p. 57.
272
ANCIENT MAN IN NORTH AMERICA 273
branch of this stock enter the new world ? we receive
very uncertain answers from those who have studied
the early population of America. At present, only a
tentative answer can be returned to the questions just
asked, but to those who watch the vigour and success
with which the thriving anthropological schools of
America are pursuing the study of ancient races and
ancient civilisations, it is quite apparent that a full answer
will be given us at no distant date.
There is no need here to give a general review of
the evidence relating to the antiquity of man in North
America. That has been excellently done in the publi-
cations issued by the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1
and by Dr G. Frederick Wright in his latest work,
The Origin and Antiquity of Man. The investigations
of Dr Wright, and of other American geologists who
have studied the physical condition of North America
during the Pleistocene period, are of the greatest service
to anyone in search of the remains of ancient man.
They have shown us that the variations of climate in
North America during the Pleistocene period were very
similar to those of Europe. There were the same
southward extensions of the ice sheet in the colder
phases ; the same northward retreats in the interglacial
or milder intervals.
It is beyond the scope of this work to give a systematic
description of the ancient remains of man discovered
in America. All we propose to do here is to make a
rapid journey across North America from east to west,
citing the evidence of the more important discoveries
of the remains of ancient man as we go. The line of
our journey follows the zone occupied by the fringe
of the ice sheet during the period of maximum glaciation.
In America, as in Europe, the glacial deposits are the
treasure-houses of the student of prehistory.
1 See Bulletins of Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, particularly No. 33: "Skeletal Remains
suggesting or attributed to Early Man in North America," by Dr Ales
Hrdlicka, 1907.
l8
274 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
We shall commence our journey some fifty miles to
the south of New York at Trenton City, situated at the
head of Delaware Bay, in the State of New Jersey. The
great expanse of gravel on which Trenton has been
built was deposited by the Delaware during the Ice
age. This gravel has yielded the kind of evidence of
which we are in search the stone implements and the
fossil remains of ancient man. During the most severe
of the glacial phases the edge of the ice sheet lay only
sixty-five miles to the north of Trenton. In the valley
of the Delaware river the deposits laid down along the
southern edge of the ice sheet can still be seen. The
marginal deposit of the ice sheet the moraine is con-
nected with the gravel bed on which Trenton is built by
a terrace which descends on each side of the valley of
the Delaware river. There can thus be no doubt that
the Trenton gravels are deposits of the Ice age. They
were laid down at the mouth of the river at sea-level.
Since their deposition the land has risen, so that now the
ancient gravel delta is 50 feet above the present level
of the sea.
The story of the discovery of traces of early man in
the Trenton gravels recalls early incidents in the valley
of the Somme. The place of Boucher de Perthes is
taken by Dr C. C. Abbott. In 1875 tne Pennsylvania
Railroad had opened a pit in the gravel bed near
Dr Abbott's house. Dr Abbott watched the pit from
day to day, and ultimately found numerous examples
of roughly chipped stone implements, recalling the
palaeoliths found in valley terraces of Europe. They
occurred at all levels of the gravel, and in strata which
had never been disturbed since the date of deposition.
Dr Abbott's discovery was received with the same degree
of scepticism as had been extended to the earlier efforts
of Boucher de Perthes in France. Fortunately, his
investigations attracted the attention of Professor F. W.
Putman of the Peabody Museum of Harvard University.
Under his direction Mr Ernest Volk commenced a long
series of accurate investigations which proved the truth
ANCIENT MAN IN NORTH AMERICA 275
of Dr Abbott's statements. 1 Under the surface layer of
black soil lay a stratum of yellow sand and loam, regarded
by American geologists as a post-glacial deposit. In this
post-glacial stratum were found traces of Indian occupa-
tion hearths, Indian stone implements, and Indian
burials. In the underlying beds of gravel, which, as
already mentioned, are glacial or Pleistocene deposits,
traces of man were also found in the form of rudely
shaped implements of stone.
Remains of the men who actually shaped those im-
plements were first discovered in December 1899 by
Mr Volk. A " railroad cut " had laid open a section of
the gravel in the suburbs of Trenton. On the exposed
face, within a stratum of sand and clay y-J- feet below the
surface, Mr Volk found part of the shaft of a human
thigh bone. He recorded his discovery by photographing
the fragment in place before removing it from the bank.
Parts of the bone of a human skull were also found.
In the opinion of Mr Volk and Dr Hrdlicka both
specimens the fragment of thigh bone and fragment of
skull show certain incised markings apparently made by
ancient man.
Through the kindness of Dr Peabody, the writer
obtained accurate casts of these two specimens found in
the Trenton gravels for the museum of the Royal College
of Surgeons, England. Only about one-third of the upper
part of the shaft of the left thigh bone is represented,
and about an equal proportion of the left parietal bone of
the skull (fig. 93). In the extensive collection of skulls
and skeletons in the museum of the Royal College of
Surgeons representing all races the writer could find
exact duplicates of those two fragments in only one
skeleton, that of an Indian from an ancient cemetery
in the State of Illinois. On the inner aspect of the
cranial fragment the impressions of the convolutions
1 "The Archaeology of the Delaware Valley," by Ernest Volk. Papers
of the Peabody Museum of American Natural History and Ethnology,
Harvard University, 1911, vol. v. See also note by Dr C. Peabody, Proc.
Internal. Congress of 'Americanists , London, 1912, p. 3.
276
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
of the brain are most sharply preserved. The main
fissure of the brain the fissure of Sylvius is clearly
represented, and the size and shape of the important
convolutions which surround the hinder end of the fissure
can be studied as clearly as on the brain itself. In size
and shape the convolutions do not differ from those of
the brain of modern man. The cranial fragment is clearly
part of a parietal bone, which in size and shape agrees
with the corresponding bone in a well-developed cranium
of an American Indian. The thigh bone is flattened
from back to front in its upper third a feature seen in
American Indians, and also many modern and ancient
primitive races (fig. 92). No one can study the Trenton
fragments and remain unconvinced that the man who
50
150
Ext:.
Int-.
Ext.
Post:
FIG. 92. Section across the upper third of Trenton femur (B) compared with
corresponding sections of a modern European femur (A) and that of a
Neolithic European (C).
lived in the valley of the Delaware when the Trenton
gravels were being deposited was a man of the modern
type, and almost certainly of the Indian race. In size of
brain and in posture of body he did not differ from the
men who succeeded him in post-glacial times.
The antiquity of modern man in the Delaware valley
thus turns on the age of the Trenton gravels. They are
admitted by all geologists to belong to the glacial period ;
but to what point of the glacial period ? Dr G. Frederick
Wright regards the gravels as deposits of the milder
interval which preceded the last extension southwards of
the ice sheet the extension to which American geologists
give the name of "Wisconsin," because the effects or
deposits of that, the final glaciation, are particularly
evident in the State of Wisconsin. Dr Wright is of
opinion that a period of twelve thousand or even
ANCIENT MAN IN NORTH AMERICA 277
fourteen thousand years may have elapsed since the
deposition of the Trenton gravels. Professor Chamber-
lin, on the other hand, regards the " Wisconsin "
phase as having reached its climax twenty thousand
or even sixty thousand years ago. If the deposition of
the Trenton gravels preceded the " Wisconsin " glacia-
tion, then a greater age than fourteen thousand years must
>50
IOO
50
100
120
FlG. 93. Drawing of a skull of an American Indian on which the cranial
fragment found at Trenton is represented.
be assigned to these human fragments. If the glacia-
tions of Europe and North America occurred at the same
time which is an unproved, but not improbable sup-
position then the last or " Wisconsin " phase of the one
and the last or " WUrmien " phase of the other would
correspond. We have seen that before the last glacial
phase in Europe occurred, mankind in the eastern hemi-
sphere had entered on the Aurignacian stage of culture,
278 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
and, in structure of body, belonged to the modern type.
The introduction of the Aurignacian culture in Europe
appears to have taken place about thirty thousand years
ago an estimate which must be regarded as merely a
tentative one. It does seem very probable, then, that
the ancient men of Trenton were living in the Delaware
valley when the Cromagnon race inhabited the rock-
shelters along the valley of the Dordogne.
The discovery at Trenton has a very direct bearing on
the antiquity of men of the modern type. Let us look
more closely at its significance. It is a guarantee that
before the last period of glaciation modern man, in the
form of that highly evolved race the American Indian
was living on the eastern sea-board of North America.
That race, as we have seen, represents a branch of the
Mongolian stock. It is therefore plain that, long before
the last period of glaciation, the Asiatic ancestry of the
American Indian must have been in existence. We
obtain, by researches carried out in Europe, a glimpse of
Palaeolithic man in the western part of the old world ;
the discovery at Trenton gives us, indirectly, the informa-
tion we stood in need of, namely, that, at an equally
early part of the Palaeolithic period, men of the modern
type were in existence in the eastern part of the old
world. It is plain, to account for modern man in Europe,
in Asia, in America, long before the close of the Ice age,
we must assign his origin and evolution to a very remote
period.
Having thus obtained reliable evidence of the great
antiquity of man on the eastern sea-board, we pass to the
Central States, approaching them from the south, along
the valley of the Mississippi. Our first stopping-place
is Natchez, on the eastern bank of the river, and about two
hundred miles above the delta. Here, in 1846, came
Sir Charles Lyell in search of evidence regarding man's
antiquity. On the eastern side of the valley at Natchez
rises a high terrace of yellow loam or loess, a deposit
formed by floods during the latter part of the glacial
period. At the time of Lyell's visit part of a human
ANCIENT MAN IN NORTH AMERICA 279
pelvis had been discovered in this ancient deposit. The
site of the discovery was a ravine cut in the loess deposit
by a tributary stream. Lyell visited the ravine to
examine the details of the discovery for himself.
"I satisfied myself," he writes, 1 "that the ravine had
been considerably enlarged and lengthened a short time
before my visit. From a clayey deposit, immediately
under the yellow loam, bones of the mastodon and the
megalonyx (an extinct form of sloth) had been detached
and fallen to the bottom of the cliff. Mingled with the
rest, the pelvic bone (os innominatum) of a man was
obtained by Dr Dickeson of Natchez, in whose collection
I saw it. It appeared to be quite in the same state of
preservation, and was of the same black colour as the other
fossils, and was believed to have come from a depth of
about 30 feet from the surface."
The pelvic bone thus brought to light differs in no
respect from that of modern man : it differs materially
from that of Neanderthal man. Professor Joseph Leidy,
an expert palaeontologist of the highest rank, examined the
specimen again in i889, 2 and observed that the degree
of fossilisation was exactly the same as that of the bones
of extinct mammals which were found with it, and that
" it differs in no respect from an ordinary average specimen
of the corresponding recent bone of man."
Lyell was afraid to use the bone found at Natchez as
evidence ; it seemed to him suggestive of too great an
antiquity for man. He had calculated that the formation
of the delta of the Mississippi had occupied a period of
one hundred thousand years, and he recognised that the
loam or loess lying over the fossil bones was older than
the delta. The plateau at Natchez was, in his opinion,
almost as old as the classical roo-foot terrace at Abbeville.
He, therefore, was inclined to regard the pelvic bone as
having slipped from a recent Indian grave in the loess
deposit, and subsequently had become mingled with the
bones of extinct animals. " No doubt," he adds, " had
1 Antiqtiity of Man, ist edition, 1863, p. 202.
2 See Dr Hrdlicka's account ; reference on p. 273.
28o THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the pelvic bone belonged to any recent mammifer other
than man, such a theory would never have been resorted
to ; but so long as we have only one isolated case, and
one without the testimony of a geologist who was present
to behold the bone, while still engaged in the matrix, and
to extract it with his own hands, it is allowable to suspend
our judgment as to the high antiquity of the fossil."
After what we have seen at Trenton, the plea of
" isolation " cannot any more be urged. The legitimate
inference must be drawn, be the loess of the Mississippi
valley what age it may, that man was living in the
Mississippi valley during its deposition.
Further evidence is found in support of this conclusion
as we journey northwards along the Mississippi, and
reach those states which were covered by the ice sheet
at intervals of the Pleistocene period. For our present
purpose it is more profitable to leave the Mississippi
and follow its great tributary, the Missouri. At Kansas
City we reach the "furthest south" of the ice sheet.
The loess deposits are everywhere abundant, forming
high terraces or bluffs on either side of the Missouri.
On the west bank of the river, some distance above
Kansas City, near Lansing, is the farm of Mr M.
Concannon. In 1902, Mr Concannon and his sons made
a tunnel into the terrace of loess, on the side of the
valley, to serve for the storage of apples and other farm
produce. At a distance of 70 feet from the entrance of
the tunnel, and at a depth of over 20 feet below the
surface of the land, a human skeleton was found. Some-
what nearer to the entrance a child's jaw and an artificial
chert chip were obtained.
There is no doubt as to the authenticity of the
discovery at Lansing, nor is there any room for difference
of opinion regarding the kind of man discovered. The
skull is now in the National Museum, Washington.
Both skull and skeleton have been examined and
described by Dr Hrdlic'ka. They are parts of a man of
medium stature (about 1*65 m.), and about fifty-five years
of age. " All the parts of the skeleton, and particularly
ANCIENT MAN IN NORTH AMERICA 281
the skull, approach closely in every character of import-
ance the average skeleton of the present-day Indian of
the Central States. . . . The forehead is somewhat low and
sloping when compared with that of a well-developed
skull of a white man, but appears normal in comparison
with the forehead of undeformed skulls of Indians."
The dimensions are such that the Lansing skull would
fit exactly within the conventional frame used for modern
specimens of average size. The length is 189 mm. ; the
width, 139 mm. ; the height of the vault above the ear-
holes, about 122 mm. ; the brain capacity a little over
1500 c.c. in all respects a well-developed skull of the
modern type. Clearly the men living in Kansas when
the loess at Lansing was being deposited had all the
physical characters of the American Indian.
As regards the age of the Lansing terrace, in which
these human remains were found, Dr G. Frederick
Wright, who has given a lifetime to the study of glacial
deposits, has no doubt. " A question has been raised,"
he writes, 1 " as to whether the deposit of loess at Lansing
was original or secondary. Professor T. C. Chamberlin
maintained that the evidence was doubtful, and that it
might be a secondary redeposition of the material, of
great age indeed, but much younger than the main body
of loess in the valley. Professor N. H. Winchell and
Dr Warren Upham (both very high authorities upon
such subjects), after repeated visits, adduce overwhelming
evidence that the deposit is original, and that the skeleton
was buried by the loess at the time of its deposition
during the c lowan ' stage of glacial recession." The
" lowan " interglacial period preceded the final or
" Wisconsin " glacial phase, and followed the " Illinoian "
glacial phase. 2 The age attributed to the Lansing skeleton
is thus about the same as the estimate for the Trenton
fragments. Both appear to belong to the temperate
interval which preceded the last glaciation.
Another discovery of the remains of " loess men " was
1 See reference on p. 273.
2 The writer here follows Dr Wright's terminology.
282 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
made some distance further to the north. The city of
Omaha is situated on the west bank of the Missouri,
about a hundred and fifty miles above Lansing. Some
ten miles north of Omaha, the State of Nebraska,
on the west side of the Missouri, " presents some rather
bold elevations composed of accumulations of loess,
modified in contour by the action of wind and rain.
The southern portion of one of the most prominent of
these elevations, known as Long's Hill, consists of a
ridge, about 600 yards long, running parallel with the
Missouri. The ridge is covered with timber of recent
growth/' 1
In 1906, Mr Robert F. Gilder, of the Omaha World
Herald^ commenced a series of excavations in a mound
on Long's Hill. The mound had, at a previous date,
been excavated by a party in search of the remains of the
famous Indian chief, Black Hawk. Beneath the level of
the mound, Mr Gilder's excavations revealed the remains
of a number of human skeletons. With or near the
bones several stone implements were found. Amongst
these were two flint blades of the ordinary type. When
a question subsequently arose as to the antiquity of these
human remains, Professor E. H. Barbour, of the
University of Nebraska, undertook the conduct of all
further excavations. The result of his exploration was
to show that fragments of the human skeleton were
found at a depth of 1 1^ feet in loess which had apparently
never been disturbed since its deposition. Professor
Barbour was convinced that the deeper human remains
were as old as the deposit in which they were embedded.
In his original excavation, Mr Gilder encountered, at a
depth of 5 feet below the surface of the mound, a layer
of clay, hardened by fire. Above this layer of baked clay
were found remains of at least twelve individuals,
representing men, women, and children. Beneath the
baked clay stratum the remains of eight or nine bodies
were unearthed, some of the fragments lying as much as
u^ feet below the overlying surface of the land. Dr
1 Quotation from Dr Hrdlicka's description.
ANCIENT MAN IN NORTH AMERICA 283
Hrdlicka made a minute examination of these skeletal
remains, and found that they possessed all the features
which characterise the American Indian. The foreheads
of some of the men's skulls were particularly low and
receding, with strongly marked supra-orbital ridges
features which still occur in certain Indian tribes of the
Central States.
I agree with Dr Hrdlicka that at Long's Hill we have
to deal with an ancient Indian cemetery. The question
is : How ancient is that cemetery ? In Europe we
find the custom of burial practised as early as mid-
Pleistocene times. The evidence we have obtained at
Trenton, at Natchez, at Lansing justifies us in regarding
North America as already inhabited by races of Indians
during deposition of the loess. Is it not probable, then,
that the earliest burials at Long's Hill date back to that
interglacial phase which saw the deposition of the loess ?
It is clear from the researches published recently by
the late Professor N. H. Winchell 1 that the Middle
States of America were inhabited at an earlier date than is
indicated by the discoveries just described. The loess men
are supposed to belong to the last interglacial period the
milder interval between the last two phases of glaciation,
the " Illinoisan " and " Wisconsin " phases. Beneath the
deposits of the Kansan glaciation, which preceded the
Illinoisan, Professor Winchell has found stone imple-
ments of a rude Palaeolithic type, fashioned by the men who
lived before the great Kansan glaciation. The remains
of the men of that period have not yet been discovered.
From the Middle States we now pass westwards to the
Pacific slopes in search of the ancient men of America.
The story of the Calaveras skull, although grown stale
from frequent repetition, cannot be passed over. 2 It is
the" bogey " which haunts the student of early man-
repelling some, fascinating others, and taxing the powers
1 N. H. Winchell, "The Palseoliths of Kansas," Minnesota Historical
Society, 1913, vol. xvi. part i.
2 For the literature referring to the history and nature of the
Calaveras skull, see reference on p. 285.
284 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
of belief of every expert almost to breaking point. The
skull itself or what was found of it, for the greater
part of the vault was missing is now preserved in the
Peabody Museum of Harvard University. It passed
into the Peabody Museum in the following manner.
Soon after its discovery in 1866, Professor J. D. Whitney,
State Geologist of California, having verified its reputed
history, brought the skull to Harvard University, and
examined it in conjunction with Professor Jeffreys Wyman,
one of the most skilled anatomists then living. The
matrix of gravel which adhered to the skull was observed
to be similar in character to that of the gold-bearing
stratum in which the skull is said to have been found.
In Professor Wyman's opinion, there were no signs of
an inferior race in the characters of the skull. " It
agreed," he wrote, "with other crania from California."
A recent examination by Dr Hrdlicka confirms Professor
Wyman's observations. On searching the great collection
of human crania in the National Museum at Washington,
Dr Hrdlicka found two crania and some fragments of
skulls from caves in Calaveras county, California, collected
in 1857. One of these cave skulls is, in all essential
features, closely related to the Calaveras specimen. The
cave skulls show a greyish, calcareous, stalagmitic deposit,
much like that which partially covers the Calaveras skull.
In Dr Hrdlika's opinion, the infiltration and fossilisation
of the Calaveras skull furnishes no test of its antiquity.
The fact that the Calaveras skull is similar in form and
in state of preservation to Indian skulls found in the
Calaveras county must raise a suspicion as to the
authenticity of the original specimen. It does not prove,
however, that the original specimen is not really ancient.
We have seen from the discoveries made in the loess
deposits how persistent the American-Indian type may be.
If we regard the Calaveras skull as really a cave
specimen, in spite of its history, there still remain other
mysteries connected with the ancient bed of the Stanislas
even more difficult of solution. The skull was not the
only evidence of man in the ancient gold-bearing river
ANCIENT MAN IN NORTH AMERICA 285
gravels in Calaveras county. These gravels lie buried
under tides of lava which swept the western flanks of the
Sierra Nevada in the Miocene and Pliocene periods.
There are the most circumstantial accounts of the
discovery, in the gravel beds of these ancient Pliocene
streams, of stone mortars, stone pestles, hammer stones,
spear heads, etc., not only by miners, but by expert and
reliable geologists. Indeed, were such discoveries in
accordance with our expectations, if they were in harmony
with the theories we have formed regarding the date of
man's evolution, no one would ever dream of doubting
them, much less of rejecting them. The consequence of
accepting the discoveries of Calaveras county as genuine
have been well expressed by Professor W. H. Holmes,
when he presented the results of his investigations to the
Smithsonian Institution in I899. 1 "To suppose that
man could have remained unchanged physically, mentally,
socially, industrially, and aesthetically for a million of
years, roughly speaking (and all this is implied by the
evidence furnished), seems in the present state of our
knowledge hardly less than admitting a miracle." It is
equally difficult to believe that so many men should have
been mistaken as to what they saw and found. In the
meantime, and until the matter of Pliocene man in
California has been finally settled by a new and systematic
exploration, we must be content to return the same
verdict for Calaveras as for Castenedolo the Scottish
verdict of " not proven."
The reader must not think, because our journey across
the States along a tract of country which at one time lay
buried beneath an extension of the Arctic ice sheet has
revealed no strange, primitive, or new type of human
being, that it has been made in vain. On the contrary,
we have received the most ample confirmation of the
conclusions forced on us by the evidence in Europe, viz.,
that the antiquity of the modern type of man is much
greater than is usually supposed.
1 " Review of the Evidence relating to Auriferous Gravel Man in
California," Smithsonian Report, 1899, pp. 419-472 (issued 1901).
CHAPTER XVII
EARLY SOUTH AMERICANS
AT the time Boucher de Perthes was striving to convince
his contemporaries that man had existed in Europe with
extinct forms of animals, a famous Danish traveller and
naturalist, Dr Lund, was exploring caves in Brazil and
coming to a similar conclusion as regards the antiquity
of man. He left Europe in 1835 when the tide of
curiosity in man's antiquity was rising. In 1844 he
was able to report that he had examined eight hundred
caves, in the limestone hills of Lagoa Santa, in the
Brazilian province of Minas Geraes. Six of these caves
yielded remains of man some so abundantly that they
must have served as ancient sepulchres, as was the case
in early Europe. Up to 1844, Dr Lund remained un-
convinced that these early Brazilians, whose bones he
found in the caves, had been contemporaries of the
extinct animals, represented so plentifully in cave deposits.
In one of the caves he at last found the bones of man
and of extinct animals, mingled together, and in a like
condition of fossilisation. If the bones had been of any
animal other than man, their antiquity would never have
been questioned, but being human all sorts of doubts
were raised as to how and when they became mixed with
remains of extinct animals.
The final result of his investigations Dr Lund gave
as follows r 1
1 See Dr Hrdlicka's excellent, if somewhat critical, account of Lund's
discoveries : " Early Man in South America," Bulletin No. 52, Bureau of
American Ethnology, 1912, p. 159.
286
EARLY SOUTH AMERICANS 287
" In view of the facts to which I have here
referred, there can then remain no doubt as to the
existence of man on this continent in an epoch
anterior to that in which the last races of the gigantic
O O
animals whose remains abound in the caves of this
country became extinct, or, in other terms, as to
his existence here anterior to the historic period.
" As to the ethnographic peculiarities of the skulls
from this deposit, I had occasion to confirm my
former conclusions, namely, that they offer all the
characteristic features of the American race ; and
I have firmly convinced myself that the extra-
ordinary depression of the forehead which is
observed in some of the individuals is not artificial."
It must be kept in mind that Dr Lund's investigations
were carried out long before methods of precision and
of dating had been applied to cave exploration in Europe.
As our knowledge of the early cultures of South America
increases, the objects of human workmanship which were
collected by Dr Lund during his investigations of the
deeper strata of the caves may give a clue to the
antiquity of the human remains. We do not know when
the strange animals, which apparently lived at the same
time as the Brazilian cavemen, became extinct, but if we
apply to South America the rules which guide the
palaeontologist elsewhere, we must regard them as being
at least as old as the latter part of the Pleistocene
period.
As to the kind of man discovered by Dr Lund in the
Lagoa Santa caves, there is no difference of opinion.
Those who have examined his collections in the University
Museum, Copenhagen, and in the Natural History
Museum, South Kensington, London, agree that, in
racial features, those ancient Brazilians do not differ
from tribes still living in South America. The skulls
are not unlike those of the low-browed " Nebraska
loess men." We have in Dr Lund's discoveries further
evidence of the persistency of the American-Indian type.
288 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
Dr Lund's discoveries gradually passed out of notice,
and South America, as a possible home of ancient man,
ceased to attract attention until the commencement of
the present century, when there was a sudden revival
of interest. That revival was entirely due to Dr
Florentino Ameghino. He became interested in pre-
historic research at an early age. 1 In 1873, being then
in his nineteenth year, he made his first discovery of
ancient man. At that time he was living in the town
of Mercedes, some distance to the west of Buenos Aires
(see fig. 94), on a flat sweep of the pampas across which
there meandered a stream named the Frias. On one side
of the stream, the banks of which rose over 6 feet above
the level of the water, young Ameghino began to disinter
the partially exposed carapace of an extinct Edentate near
to a spot at which he had previously found a human skull.
In the soil round and under the carapace he was surprised
to note traces of charred wood. He then sank a trench
on the side of the stream, in order that he might examine,
in a systematic manner, those strata containing traces
of man (fig. 94).
He carried the trench down to a depth of about 5 feet
below the bed of the stream, and about 10 or n feet
below the surface of the bank. Altogether seven strata
were exposed (see fig. 94) ; in the deepest layer, below the
level of the bed of the stream, he found human remains.
In the same stratum as the human bones he found parts
of extinct animals, living animals, worked flints, fragments
of charred bone, bones which were broken, perforated, and
incised, baked earth, and a great attendance of charcoal. He
believed he had discovered " the fossil man of Argentina."
In 1875 tne Argentine Scientific Society awarded him
a diploma on account of his investigations, but in 1878,
when he wished the Society to publish an account of
his discovery, it refused to help him. Thereupon he
1 For an account of Ameghino's anthropological discoveries, see
Robert Lehmann- Nitsche's " Nouvelles Recherches sur la Formation
Pampeenne," Rivista del Museo de la Plata, 1907, vol. xiv. pp. 143-488.
Also Dr Ales Hrdlicka's work referred to on p. 286.
EARLY SOUTH AMERICANS
289
carried his results to Europe, and obtained the sympathetic
attention of the leading anthropologist in France
Paul Broca.
Certain defects which mar all of Ameghino's scientific
papers are apparent in his very first effort a lack of
precision and of detail, and particularly a decided
tendency to overestimate the antiquity of all the
geological strata of the Argentine Republic. The
stratum on the Frias (fig. 94) which contained the
FlG. 94. Sketch map of the sites of Ameghino's chief discoveries of ancient
man. Inset is his section across the Frias, showing the strata and the
position of the exploratory trench.
human remains he regarded as of Pliocene date, and
supposed the bones had become naturally entombed, not
deliberately buried. The accepted opinion regarding
these Pampean formations is that they are alluvial
deposits belonging to the Pleistocene period formations
not unlike the loess of the Mississippi valley in manner
and date of formation. There can be no question that
the bones were buried by human agency. The greater
part of a skeleton of an old woman of short stature
(1*500 m.) and fragments of another individual were
19
290 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
represented in his first discovery. There is no question,
then, that Dr Ameghino's first discovery represented a
burial. It is clearly not a burial made from the present
land surface, but when and how it was made are problems
which cannot now be solved definitely. The human
remains are clearly of some degree of antiquity.
In 1902, at the age of forty-eight and after an uphill
life-struggle, Ameghino found himself Director of the
National Museum of Buenos Aires. With a series of
discoveries, following each other in rapid succession, he
really startled the anthropologists of Europe. He claimed
to have discovered fossil forms which demonstrated the
evolution of modern man or of a form of man of the
modern type in the southern regions of South America.
The oldest and most primitive human ancestor he named
Tetraprothomo, and regarded the only remains which
were found of this ancient, human type an atlas and a
thigh bone as of Miocene age. As will be seen from
fig. 94, the remains of Tetraprothomo were discovered
at Monte Hermosa, on the east coast of Argentina, some
distance north of the mouth of the Rio Colorado.
The second and later stage in man's evolution
Diprothomo was based on the fragment of a skull,
obtained from a formation which he regarded as of early
Pliocene date. The third link in Ameghino's human,
ancestral chain was Homo pampteus, also a Pliocene form.
The fourth and final stage, Homo sapiens, appeared in the
Pleistocene deposits of the pampas. 1
It will be sufficient to give a brief account of the
discovery of Ameghino's early Pliocene forerunner of
man Diprothomo. In 1896 an English firm of con-
tractors had almost finished the construction of a dry
dock on the south bank of the La Plata, at Buenos Aires.
The concrete floor of the dock had been sunk to a depth
of 12-36 m. (40-7 feet) below the level of the water at
low tide. Subsequently, an additional hollow, 20 inches
deep, had to be sunk through the floor of the dry dock,
reaching a total depth of about 42 feet below the level of
1 For full account, see references on p. 288.
EARLY SOUTH AMERICANS 291
low tide. In sinking the additional pit, the fragment
of a human skull was found by a workman. The
fragment was given to Mr Junor, who was in charge of
the works, and by him it was presented to the National
Museum, Buenos Aires. Thirteen years later, Dr
Ameghino published an account of this fragment. The
deep stratum of the Pampean formation from which it
was extracted he regarded as early Pliocene in date of
formation, and the fragment he conceived to be part of
a small and peculiar skull of an ancient and extinct
genus of humanity, which he named Diprothomo.
There is no reason why the specimen should be rejected
as worthless because of its defective history. On the
other hand, there are the very soundest grounds for
rejecting Ameghino's conclusions as regards the age of
the stratum and the nature of the cranial fragment.
Geologists refuse to regard the stratum in which the
fragment was found as older than Pleistocene, and
anatomists are unanimous in regarding the cranial
fragment as representing the frontal bone and part of
the parietals of a human skull which in size and shape
must have been very similar to skulls of American
Indians. 1 From what has been shown in this and in
the previous chapter, there is no reason for being
surprised at the discovery of a fossil skull, showing
American-Indian features, in a deposit of Pleistocene age.
Ameghino's Diprothomo thus represents a man of the
American-Indian type living in the Argentine during
Pleistocene times.
Ameghino's Miocene form of man Tetraprothomo
had also to go by the board. Only the atlas and the
thigh bone of this strange evolutionary form were dis-
covered. The thigh bone proved to be that of an extinct
carnivorous animal of the cat genus, and as large as a
puma ; but the atlas was human. Unfortunately, the
antiquity of the atlas may very well be called in question.
1 See Professor Schwalbe's " Studien zur Morphologic der siid-
amerikanischen Primatenformen," Zeitsch. fur Morph. und Anthrop.,
1910, vol. xiii. pp. 209-258.
292 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
The exact stratum from which it was obtained is
unknown.
There is no need to recount the remaining discoveries
which have been made in the Argentine Republic. They
are fully described by Dr Lehmann-Nitsche and by Dr
Hrdlicka. 1 The result of a survey of the discoveries
of ancient man made in South and North America leads
to the same conclusion, that we cannot trace man beyond
a point in the Pleistocene period, and that the oldest
human remains so far discovered, both of the northern
and southern parts of the western hemisphere, are of
the same American-Indian type. Indeed, the resemblance
between the skulls recovered from deposits of a Pleistocene
age in the United States and those found in the Pampean
deposits of the Argentine Republic is very striking.
They are not only of the same race ; they might belong
almost to members of the same tribe. We have seen no
evidence to lead us to suppose that any race preceded the
American Indian in the new world.
Yet, one cannot conclude such a survey as this with
any feeling of satisfaction or of certainty. We seem to
leave so much unexplained. Those who have studied
the elaborate civilisations and the multitude of languages
of America are almost unanimous in regarding them as
independent evolutions. 2 The animals which had been
domesticated, and the numerous native plants which had
been brought under cultivation by indigenous races in pre-
Columbian times, seem to point to an antiquity beyond
that revealed by the discoveries of the geologist or of the
anatomist. The writer feels certain that human secrets
still lie hidden in America. The discovery of implements
of a Palaeolithic type in the State of Kansas under deposits
of the phase of maximum glaciation suggests an earlier
history for man in America. 3
1 See references, p. 288.
2 See South American Arch&ology, by T. A. Joyce, London, 1913,
p. 189.
3 See "A Consideration of the Palaeoliths of Kansas," by N. H.
Winchell, Minnesota Historical Society, 1913, vol. xvi. part I.
CHAPTER XVIII
THE DISCOVERY OF THE PILTDOWN SKULL
ENGLAND owes much to the disciples of Gilbert White.
Everywhere, especially within her southern parts, you
will find them observing and recording those strange
facts which, when rightly understood, will carry our
island story leagues beyond the dawn of written history.
The little jealousies and disputes which occasionally ruffle
the serenity of their lives leave untouched the splendid
freemasonry which binds them together, and which knows
no distinction of class. The lord of the manor and the
village shoemaker meet at this point on equal terms. Those
local historians are drawn from all classes ; the squire, the
vicar, the lawyer, the doctor, the bank clerk, the watchmaker,
the grocer, the baker, and the village labourer all enroll
themselves amongst the followers of the immortal Gilbert.
It is to one of these men we owe the finding of the
Piltdown skull, which, from a historical point of view, is
the most important and instructive of all ancient human
documents yet discovered in Europe. Mr Charles
Dawson, its discoverer, a lawyer by profession, lives in
the historic town of Lewes, situated picturesquely in a
gap of the South Downs where the Sussex Ouse breaks
through from the Weald and empties its silent waters in
the English Channel at Newhaven (fig. 95). It is just in
such a quiet town as Lewes that we expect followers of
Gilbert White to appear. It was in Lewes that Dr Gideon
Mantell practised as a physician in the earlier part of
last century, and spent his leisure time in making known
to all the world the remarkable reptiles which abound in
293
294
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the old-world strata now exposed in the cup or hollow of
the Weald. Mr Charles Dawson followed in his foot-
steps ; for twenty years and more he has spent his
leisure hours in searching the strata of the Weald, and
has brought to light many things new to science.
About the time he began to search the Weald a new
influence was at work among the naturalists in the south-
east corner of England. Lewes is situated on the south
side of the green cup of the Weald ; on the other side of
FIG. 95. Sketch of the south-east corner of England, to show the Weald, the
position of Piltdown, and the course of the Sussex Ouse, The former
extension of the boundaries of the Weald to France is indicated.
the cup, thirty miles north of Lewes, lies the Kentish
village of Ightham, and it was here, in a grocer's shop,
that the new influence had its mainspring Mr Benjamin
Harrison. He was a young man in 1859 when M.
Boucher de Perthes was compelling his reluctant con-
temporaries to acknowledge that the elaborately worked
flints he had recovered from the ancient gravel terraces
of the Somme, in the north-west of France, were the
handiwork of long extinct races of man. Mr Harrison 1
1 For further details of Mr Harrison's busy life, see Ightham : the Story
of a Kentish Village, edited by F. G. Bennett, F.G.S., The Homeland
Association, Ltd., London. Also Brit. Med.Journ., 1912, ii. p. 805.
DISCOVERY OF THE PILTDOWN SKULL 295
searched the gravels of his own locality, and soon found
implements of the same types as M. Boucher de Perthes
had found in the deposits laid down in former times by
the Somme. Mr Harrison, however, carried the history
of flints a great stride further back. Little more than a
mile north of Ightham rises up the chalky bank of the
North Downs which forms the northern lip of the
Wealden cup. Crossing the Pilgrims' Road, which winds
along the foot of the bank or escarpment, Mr Harrison
had, in his almost daily excursions, a stiff upward climb
of some 500 feet to reach the plateau of the North
Downs, stretching away northwards into the valley of
the Thames. Here, in the gravel deposits of the plateau,
immensely older than the terrace gravels of the valleys,
Mr Harrison found rudely shaped flints, which he
recognised as being of human workmanship. They were
primitive in form when compared with the palaeoliths
from the valley gravels, and he distinguished them as
"eoliths." Although he recognised them first in 1865
forty-eight years ago eoliths were not accepted as
genuine products of man's hand until 1888, when the
late Sir Joseph Prestwich a geologist noted for his sound
judgment brought them before the scientific world.
Even when Mr Dawson began his researches in the
Weald twenty years ago, eoliths, although gradually
gaining adherents, were still the subject of hot contention.
It was about this period, too the end of last century
that a great truth, the inception of which we owe to our
colleagues of France, began to leaven the researches of
the Wealden workers. This truth is simply the recog-
nition that the law of change or progress, which influences
all the worldly affairs of men, holds true not only of
present but also of past generations of mankind. Every
generation has its own distinctive fashions and ideas ; it
builds its houses, it tills its fields, it makes its implements,
it writes its books, it wears its clothes and paints its
pictures in a manner slightly different to the generation
which went before it. It is not difficult to distinguish a
house built in the time of Queen Elizabeth from one
296 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
built in the time of her great successor Queen Victoria.
The law of evolution and of change has always held true.
The French archaeologists recognised that this law is
valid for the men who shaped the implements found in
caves and valley gravels.
When the stages in the evolution of these implements
have been distinguished, we are provided with a scale of
sequence of time to guide us safely and surely towards
the very beginnings of humanity in the far past. Each
generation of Palaeolithic men we now know copied and
modified the flint tools of an older generation. One has
only to survey the researches which Mr Lewis Abbot has
made in the deposits and strata of the Weald to see how
fruitful the acceptation of this conception has proved to
the Sussex naturalists.
From this cursory introduction the reader will perceive
that Mr Dawson's discovery of fossil remains of man in
the Weald of Sussex was not altogether a matter of chance.
Business had taken him into the Weald. His way lay
along quiet, sheltered country roads, following upwards
the sluggish waters of the Ouse, until he reached that
upland, open, and bracing country some eight miles to the
north of Lewes. Here Piltdown Common is situated, a
moorland tract, on which golfers may enjoy the " ancient "
game under ideal conditions. The common is part of a
wide sweep of fertile, well-wooded land, with old-world
farm-houses, comfortable and sheltered, spread across it.
Sussex churches, Sussex villages, and Sussex gardens
make it a country worth seeing even by those who are
not in pursuit of fossil man and his works. The land at
Piltdown lies 120 feet above the sea ; but when we look
southwards to catch a glimpse of the English Channel,
the green South Downs rise up, with Lewes at their foot,
and cut off the view. Westwards, the South Downs
continue their course along the sea-board, sheltering
Brighton from the north. In the wooded and undulating
country to the north-west lies the source of the Ouse,
some twelve miles distant. Standing on the common,
we see that the Ouse is about a mile distant to the
DISCOVERY OF THE PILTDOWN SKULL 297
west. In the course of time it has cut a valley through
the Piltdown plateau, until now its bed lies 80 feet below
the level of the common. It has a journey of fifteen
miles to make before it reaches the sea at Newhaven.
In the middle of the Weald, to the north, the land rises
to form a wooded ridge the " forest " ridge forming
the watershed between the Ouse and the Medway, a
FIG. 96. Sketch of the district drained by the Sussex Ouse, showing the area
over which Mr Dawson found peculiar tabular flints and traces of ancient
gravel deposits (after Mr Dawson's illustration).
tributary of the Thames. The " forest " ridge hides
from view the North Downs, which rise sharply up and
separate the Weald from the Thames valley.
Having thus accompanied Mr Dawson into the Weald,
he himself will take up the narrative, as told in a com-
munication to the Geological Society of London. 1
1 From the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, March 1913,
vol. Ixix. p. 117.
298 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
cc Several years ago I was walking along a farm-road
close to Piltdown Common, Fletching (Sussex), when I
noticed that the road had been mended with some peculiar
brown flints, not usual in the district. On inquiry, I was
astonished to learn that they were dug from a gravel bed
on the farm, and shortly afterwards I visited the place,
where two labourers were at work digging the gravel for
small repairs to the roads. As this excavation was situated
four miles north of the limit where the occurrence of
flints overlying the Wealden strata is recorded, I was
much interested and made a close examination of the bed.
I asked the workmen if they had found bones or other
fossils there. As they did not appear to have noticed
anything of the sort, I urged them to preserve anything
that they might find. Upon one of my subsequent visits
to the pit, one of the men handed to me a small portion
of an unusually thick human parietal 1 bone. I im-
mediately made a search, but could find nothing more ;
nor had the men noticed anything else. The bed is full
of tabular pieces of iron-stone closely resembling this
piece of skull in colour and thickness ; and although I
made many subsequent searches, I could not hear of any
further find nor discover anything in fact, the bed
seemed to be quite unfossiliferous.
" It was not until some years later, in the autumn of
1911, on a visit to the spot, that I picked up, among the
rain-washed spoil-heaps of the gravel pit, another and
larger piece belonging to the frontal region of the same
skull, including a portion of the left superciliary ridge.
As 1 had examined a cast of the Heidelberg jaw, it
occurred to me that the proportions of this skull were
similar to those of that specimen. I accordingly took it
to Dr A. Smith Woodward at the British Museum
(Natural History) for comparison and determination.
He was immediately impressed with the importance of
the discovery, and we decided to employ labour and to
make a systematic search among the spoil-heaps and
1 The right and left " parietal " bones form the greater part of the roof
and sides of the brain cavity of the skull.
DISCOVERY OF THE PILTDOWN SKULL 299
gravel, as soon as the floods had abated. . . ." Their
labours were rewarded in the spring of 1912 by the
discovery of the greater part of a fossil human skull.
We propose to follow Mr Dawson to the site of the
gravel pit. Leaving Piltdown Common, we throw open
the white gate which guards the private approach to
Barkham Manor an English farm-house rendered
homely and picturesque by the passage of centuries.
The avenue leads us straight to the farm-house ; the
approach is flanked on either hand by a line of trees,
which spring at regular distances from wide green
margins, carpeted by Sussex turf. Here the farm carts
come and go. Just before the house is reached the
avenue of trees ends ; the road is then bounded by a
hedge on the right and an open meadow on the left,
which sweeps up to the hospitable doorway. If the
visitor is not sharp-eyed he will miss the pit. It lies on
the right hand between the roadway and the hedge
merely a narrow trench some 4 feet deep. Even to the
professional eye it is a most unlikely spot to yield the
remains of fossil man, and the bones of the animals
which flourished in his time.
The stratum of gravel is seen to be surprisingly shallow
rather less than 4 feet at this particular point. As the
section of the side of the trench shows (fig. 97), the gravel
rests on a bed-rock formed by one of the ancient Wealden
rocks the Hastings beds. The gravel is stratified laid
down by running water. The lowest or bottom layer,
scarcely 6 inches in thickness, is the most important.
The sand and gravel of this layer is cemented together by
iron oxide ; everything embedded in the bottom layer is
stained a deep brown from iron impregnation, washed out
from ancient Wealden deposits. 1
It was from this bottom or " dark " layer that Mr
Dawson removed the right half of a peculiar human
lower jaw. In the same stratum Dr Smith Woodward
1 In a recent publication Mr Dawson distinguishes a fourth unfossil-
iferous stratum placed below the] bottom or dark layer, and above the
Hastings beds. Quart. Journ. GeoL Soc., 1914, vol. Ixx. p. 82.
300
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
found a small but very important part of the skull the
part which gives us a reliable index to the width and form
of the posterior or occipital part of the head. There can
be no doubt that it was from this bottom layer that the
piece of skull handed to Mr Dawson by the workmen
came and the other fragments recovered from the spoil-
heaps. In the bottom layer eoliths were also found
':jr%5-';0s&/;*i5' : : %*>'&:
'?M-'j~ '^V^^'w^/i'-
-'; \"--- T .;:-'.->'.. v'-..^-,i-'-i*',~;-.- .':*:
W '^^L^-^^V >^ '^; v^-^t^A-^.
*>jt&*& G~y*es^ ~~ *-- I> 1
IMHIW
FIG. 97. Diagrammatic sketch of the gravel deposit in which the Piltdown
skull was found. The section represents the face of the pit, with the hedge
and trees beyond.
the rudely worked implements which Mr Benjamin
Harrison had discovered on the Kentish plateau in 1865.
In some of these the edges were siiarp, showing that they
had come to rest soon after falling in the bed of the ancient
Ouse ; others were blunted and abraded, showing that
they had been rolled for a long distance before coming
finally to rest in the bottom bed at Piltdown. In this
same bed was found the much-rolled cusp of a Mastodon
a primitive genus of elephant which was in existence
DISCOVERY OF THE PILTDOWN SKULL 301
before even the Miocene period began ; it is supposed
to have been dislodged from some ancient stratum and
redeposited here during the denudation of the Weald.
More remarkable still, Dr Smith Woodward was able
to identify two unrolled fragments of a molar tooth
belonging to Stegodon a form of elephant whose
remains are known to occur in Indian deposits of the
Pliocene period, but never before found in Western
Europe. The shallow pocket of gravel at Piltdown,
Sussex, yielded not only a new form of man, but an
elephant which was new to the fauna of ancient England.
The same stratum also yielded portions of two teeth
of a hippopotamus, and two molar teeth of a beaver
which has not yet been found in deposits older than the
Pleistocene. The beaver may have been in existence
during the Pliocene period, but we have no evidence
of that. The contents of the pocket of gravel at
Piltdown was a surprise to geologists. The animal
remains indicate that the bottom layer of gravel was
laid down in the Pliocene period a very remote age
if we try to count by years.
In the gravel, just above the bottom or dark layer,
were found worked flints of a more highly evolved type
than eoliths. They are not stained brown as are the
eoliths, but are " brilliantly coloured iron-red." Mr
Dawson regards them as belonging to that stage of
Palaeolithic culture known as the " Chellean," or to an
indefinite and older period, which saw the early evolution
of the Chellean culture the " pre-Chellean." Now, as
we have already seen, the Chellean period of culture is
assigned to the middle third to an early part of the
middle third of the Pleistocene period. It has to be
noted, however, that these flints did not occur in the
bottom layer in which the human and animal remains
were found ; they are not stained dark brown as are the
eoliths and bones. Mr Lewis Abbot, whose opinion in
all that pertains to the geology of the Weald deserves
serious consideration, has no hesitation in regarding the
bottom stratum as Pliocene in the date of its formation,
302 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
while the upper and looser strata he regards as having
been disturbed and redeposited at a later date.
As regards these more highly worked implements from
the Piltdown gravel, there is room for a difference of
opinion. No one has a better right to give an expert
judgment on such implements than Mr J. Reid Moir.
The result of a minute examination of the better
worked flints from Piltdown led him to the following
conclusions :
" These later and more Palaeolithic-looking specimens
do not, however, appear to me to be of such definite
forms as to be classifiable. They most certainly do not
agree with the usual definition of a Chelles implement ;
and by the large surface of fracture and irregularity of
the secondary flaking I would place them in a period
preceding the Chelles phase. In fact, I have myself
found implements very similar to these in deposits
which, without doubt, considerably predate those con-
taining the Chelles type. I therefore consider that,
as these pre-Chellean implements are the latest con-
stituents contained -in the Piltdown gravel, the deposit
must be very ancient. There is also no doubt that
a very long period intervened between the time when
the Eolithic implements and the later or pre-Chellean
type were made. This intermediate period is apparently
not represented by implements of the Piltdown gravel."
We have thus evidence from two independent sources
that the Piltdown gravel pockets contain animal remains
and human artifacts of two different ages. The bottom
layer, with its animal remains and eoliths, is apparently
of Pliocene date ; the overlying beds belong to about
the commencement of the middle third of the succeeding
period the Pleistocene. 1
1 In the summer of 1914 Mr Dawson made another remarkable dis-
covery at Piltdown. He found a fossilised slab-like piece of an elephant's
femur, showing the most indubitable evidence of having been worked into
shape by human hands. It was found in the spoil-heaps and probably
came from the upper layer of gravel, and may therefore be regarded as pre-
Chellean in date. Until Mr Dawson's discovery we had supposed that
man did not begin to fashion implements in bone until the Mousterian
period.
DISCOVERY OF THE PILTDOWN SKULL 303
Meantime, however, we are supposed to be standing
by the pit, almost at the front door of a picturesque
farm-house in Sussex. The present stream of the
district the Ouse is nearly a mile distant, and 80 feet
below the plateau on which the farm-house is placed.
When the gravel of the pit was deposited, however, the
Ouse flowed over the ground on which we stand-
shifting its bed from time to time, now laying down
a new stratum of gravel, and many a year later coming
back to plough it up again and mix deposits together
of very different ages. It is clear that the face of
the country must have greatly changed since the Piltdown
gravels were laid down.
As we leave the pit there are several thoughts
which must occur to everyone. How many of those
ancient ancestors of ours have already been dug up
and used as metal to mend our roads ? Had it not
been for Mr Dawson, Piltdown man, his flints, and the
remains of ancient elephants, hippopotamus, and beaver
would have long ere now been ground to dust under
the wheels of lumbering farm waggons. Another
surprise is that so shallow a deposit, lying almost on
the surface of the open land, can yield evidence of so
ancient a phase of the earth's history and of the men
of England. Had it chanced, however, that the human
remains thus recovered had been of a type similar to the
men still living in the world, what would have been
the result ? Judging from what has happened in other
cases, the universal verdict would have been that some
mistake had been made, so strong is the belief that
modern man is of modern origin. The condition of
fossilisation of the human bones would then have had little
influence on the verdict, for the rate at which bones
become fossilised, when they become impregnated with
iron, is extremely rapid. By good fortune, the human
remains, as we shall see later, carry most certain
indications of great antiquity in their peculiar features.
The ancient human remains at Galley Hill, at Ipswich,
at Castenedolo, and probably also at Olmo, were appar-
304
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
ently interred in the places where they were found. At
Piltdown we are concerned, as at Heidelberg and at
Trinil, with fragmentary remains which had been naturally
entombed in the bed of an ancient stream. Only parts
of the skull were found at Piltdown, and, as at Trinil
in Java, the fragments were scattered some yards apart.
The individual may have been drowned and dismembered
in the stream, or the skull may have been exposed on
dry ground and subsequently swept, with other animal
remains, into the stream in a time of flood.
FIG. 98. Outline of a modern skull to show the number and position of the
cranial fragments recovered at Piltdown. The black areas represent missing
parts.
A reference to fig. 98 will show how much of the human
skull was recovered. The greater part of the left half
of the brain case was found only the middle part of the
forehead and a part of the posterior or occipital bone
were missing. The part of the occipital bone which was
missing on the left side is present on the right, and it
is thus possible, for the right and left sides of the skull
are approximately symmetrical, to reconstruct the width
and form of the hinder part of the head. Only one
DISCOVERY OF THE PILTDOWN SKULL 305
fragment of the right half of the brain case was recovered
about two-thirds of the right parietal bone but that
is sufficient to give an exact basis for reconstruction of
the whole skull. The right half of the mandible, we
may be certain, is a replica of the missing left half.
With these cranial fragments and the associated animal
remains and human implements, Dr Smith Woodward
returned to his work-rooms in the British Museum
(Natural History) early in the summer of 1912, and
set himself down to study their characters and their
significance. About the end of the summer rumours
of this remarkable discovery were circulating in the
scientific circles of London. The discovery, however,
was not made public until December i8th, 1912, when,
at a crowded meeting of the Geological Society, Mr
Charles Dawson and Dr A. Smith Woodward gave
a clear and full account of one of the most remarkable
discoveries of the twentieth century.
20
CHAPTER XIX
. THE ANTIQUITY OF THE PILTDOWN RACE
A GREAT company assembled in the rooms of the Geological
Society of London on the evening of December i8th,
1912, to receive the first authentic account of the discovery
at Piltdown. An unknown phase in the early history of
humanity was to be revealed ; a revelation of that kind
stirs the interest of many men, and draws them from their
studies and laboratories to brave the heated atmosphere
of overcrowded meeting-rooms. The various fragments
of the skull had been pieced together ; the missing parts
had been filled in ; a complete skull was thus brought
before the meeting. It was quite plain to all assembled
that the skull thus reconstructed by Dr Smith Woodward
was a strange blend of man and ape. At last, it seemed,
the missing "form the link which early followers of
Darwin had searched for had really been discovered. No
one had ever suspected that a secret of this kind lay hid
away in the Weald of Sussex. We shall attend the meet-
ing of geologists, however, not so much to learn what
kind of beings those ancient inhabitants of England were,
as to ascertain their position in the scale of time to see
their place in the scheme of man's evolution. We want
to hear from the lips of those who have studied the recent
history of the earth, and who have discovered the sequence
and the dates of more recent land changes and deposits,
how long ago it is since these ancient people lived in the
Weald of Sussex. We shall take, in the first place, the
opinion of Dr Smith Woodward himself. In his opinion
the Piltdown remains " are almost (if not absolutely) of
306
ANTIQUITY OF THE PILTDOWN RACE 307
the same geological age " as the Heidelberg mandible
the oldest human remains yet found on the continent of
Europe. The geological age of the Heidelberg mandible,
as we have seen in a former chapter, has been accurately
fixed. It was discovered in a deposit laid down in the
ancient bed of a tributary of the Neckar not long after
the Pleistocene stage of the earth's history was well begun.
The Cromer beds were in process of formation in East
Anglia. Dr Smith Woodward's opinion, then, is that the
Piltdown form of man was living in Southern England
at an early part of the Pleistocene period, and that, at
the same date, a very different kind of man was inhabiting
Central Europe.
The reader may naturally break in with the question :
How long ago is that ? The facts which will yield an
estimate of geological time certainly exist, and in the
opinion of men like Rutot, Sollas, and Penck are sufficient
to afford an approximate estimate the first step towards
accurate figures. We shall take the estimate of Professor
Sollas 1 first. He regards the deposits which were laid
down during the Pleistocene period as forming, when
superimposed, a thickness or depth of 4000 feet (see
frontispiece). He estimates that the formation has pro-
ceeded at the rate of a foot per century, and that there-
fore the collective deposits of the Pleistocene period
probably have taken about four hundred thousand years
to form. The estimate given by Professor Rutot is much
less one hundred and forty thousand years. Short as
it is, that estimate deserves our serious consideration, for
it is founded on a prolonged study of the Pleistocene
formations found along the river valleys of Belgium.
There is a third estimate which must also weigh with us
in coming to a conclusion as regards the duration of
the Pleistocene period that of Professor Penck. 2 He
has studied the changes produced by Alpine glaciers dur-
ing the Pleistocene cycles of extreme cold. He is of
opinion that such changes indicate for the Pleistocene
1 Nature, 1900, voL Ixii. p. 481.
2 See A. Penck, Zeitschriftfiir Ethnologic, 1 908, vol. xl. p. 390.
3 o8 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
period a duration of at least half a million of years
perhaps they may have occupied as much as a million
and a half. These figures are mere provisional estimates,
subject to modification as our knowledge increases.
The numerous changes in climate, of elevation and
depression of the land, the transformation of our animals,
the elaboration of human culture, the evolution and
distribution of human races, all bespeak an enormously
long period of time.
To arrive at an estimate of the antiquity of the
Piltdown remains, we must also allow for the time which
has elapsed since the Pleistocene period ended and our
present era began. There is a general agreement that
about fifteen thousand years would cover this recent
period ; but it must also be added that Dr Allen Sturge, 1
from a study of the Neolithic age, which commenced
soon after the Pleistocene period came to a close, regards
such an estimate as totally inadequate. When, therefore,
Dr Smith Woodward assigns the Piltdown remains to an
early phase of the Pleistocene epoch, we may, in the
present state of our knowledge, suppose him to refer
the Piltdown race to a time which is removed about half
a million years from the present. Beyond any question,
the Piltdown skull represents the most ancient human
remains yet found in England.
Having thus attempted to give Dr Smith Woodward's
opinion of the antiquity of the Piltdown remains in terms
of years, we must again return to the meeting of geologists
and take up the narrative there. The discoverer of the
remains, Mr Charles Dawson, 2 said " he was quite pre-
pared, from an anthropological point of view, to accept
an earlier date for the origin of the human remains, and
Dr Woodward and he had perhaps erred on the side of
caution in placing the date as early Pleistocene." In
Mr Dawson's opinion, then, it is possible that the
Piltdown race may belong to the period preceding the
Pleistocene the Pliocene. Professor Boyd Dawkins said
1 Proc. Prehistoric Society of East Anglia, 1911, vol. i. p. 43.
2 Quart. Jour n. Geol.^ 1913, vol. Ixix. p. 151.
ANTIQUITY OF THE PILTDOWN RACE 309
" he agreed with the authors of the paper that the deposit
containing the human remains belonged to the Pleistocene
age, and that the Pliocene mammalia in it Mastodon
arvernensis and the rest had been derived from a Pliocene
stratum formerly existing in that area." That opinion,
coming from one who has the right to speak with
authority, must evoke surprise. When he found the
remains of the same species of Mastodon in the Dove-
holes cave in Derbyshire in 1903, unaccompanied by
human remains, Professor Boyd Dawkins unhesitatingly
assigned the contents of that cave to the Pliocene period ;
but when the same remains are found in Sussex, accom-
panied by human remains, the deposit, in his opinion,
should be referred to a much later date. In Professor
Boyd Dawkins' opinion man is an evolutionary product
of the Pleistocene period, and first reached Britain about
the middle of that epoch. Much more guarded opinions
were given by Mr Clement Reid and by Mr A. S.
Kennard, who have made a special study of the later
deposits in the south of England. " It was impossible,"
said Mr Reid, " to speak with confidence, but the whole
evidence suggested that the Piltdown deposit and the
plateau on which it rests are not preglacial or even early
Pleistocene ; they belong to a period long after the first
cold period had passed away, but they occur at the
very base of the great implement-bearing succession of
Palaeolithic deposits in the south-east of England."
Mr Kennard regarded the Piltdown gravel as being of
the same age as the loo-foot terrace of the Thames
valley, which, as we have already seen, is made up of
strata belonging to various stages of the Pleistocene
epoch. Mr Kennard's opinion is of the greatest interest,
because it was from the zoo-foot terrace of the valley of
the lower Thames, at a depth of 8 feet, in 1888, that a
human skeleton was found at Galley Hill. If Mr
Kennard is right, the Galley Hill man, who was of the
same type as modern man, must have been almost
contemporaneous with the very primitive human being
reconstructed by Dr Smith Woodward. Mr E. T.
3 io THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
Newton, who, in 1896, brought the Galley Hill discovery
before the same Society as now discussed the Piltdown
find, was also present. It must have puzzled him to
explain why the audience, which in 1896 refused to
accept the Galley Hill discovery, because the remains
were those of a being framed much as we moderns are,
should extend so ready an acceptance to the very simian
form of man Dr Smith Woodward had raised from the
Piltdown fragments. Here we are concerned only with
the opinion Mr Newton formed of the antiquity of the
Piltdown remains. To him, "the highly mineralised
condition of the specimens seemed to point to their
being of Pliocene age rather than Pleistocene."
The writer is a student of the human body, and is
therefore not in a position to offer any conclusive
evidence which will help to settle whether the Piltdown
man was Pleistocene or Pliocene. Yet there is one point
which must weigh with those who seek to place this
newly discovered human form in its proper place in the
scale of time. The lower jaw, especially in the region
of the chin, is marked by certain characters which separate
it sharply from the corresponding part of all human
mandibles and link it closely with the jaw of apes. Even
in the Heidelberg mandible, which belongs to the early
Pleistocene age, the human features have already begun
to appear. In the Piltdown mandible the conformation
is that of the ape ; a simian stage is still preserved. The
Heidelberg mandible shows that the human contour of
the chin had already appeared at the beginning of the
Pleistocene, but a change of this kind has not become
manifest in the Piltdown mandible. This feature suggests
that Piltdown man represents, as the animal remains
accompanying him suggest, a Pliocene form. I am of
opinion that future discoveries will prove that the remains
found at Piltdown represent the first trace yet found of
a Pliocene form of man.
The reader may feel by the time he has reached this
point that enough has been said about the time at which
the Piltdown man lived. Probably he is already wearied
ANTIQUITY OF THE PILTDOWN RACE 311
with the clash of expert opinion. Yet that difference is
perhaps not so great as it appears. It will be remembered
that Mr Lewis Abbot, who has given as much time as
anyone to master the later geological history of the
Weald, expressed the decisive opinion that in the Piltdown
gravel two ages are represented. The lower or bottom
stratum, which contained the Pliocene remains and human
bones, is, in Mr Abbot's opinion, Pliocene in date ; the
upper levels, in which the rude Palaeolithic implements
lay, have been disturbed at a later time, and are to be
regarded as Pleistocene in age. If Mr Abbot is right,
and a survey of the full evidence favours his inference,
then the divergence of opinion is explicable : those who
maintain that the Piltdown gravel is Pleistocene are
right, and so are those who regard it as Pliocene. Indeed,
in a subsequent communication Mr Dawson wrote of the
" dark ". or Eoanthropus stratum as follows : * " We
cannot resist the conclusion that the third or " dark "
bed is, in the main, composed of Pliocene drift, probably
reconstructed in the Pleistocene epoch. . . . Putting
aside the human remains and those of the beaver, the
mammalian remains all point to a characteristic fauna of
Pliocene age ; and, though all are portions of hard teeth,
they are rolled and broken. The human remains, on
the other hand, although of much softer material, are
not rolled, and the remains of the beaver are in a similar
condition."
So far we seem to have gone a long way merely to
reach the conclusion that the Piltdown man is probably
of Pliocene age. To assign even the remains of man to
the Pliocene period carries but a shadowy significance
to most of us. If, however, we again visit Piltdown and
survey the changes which have occurred in the Weald
since fossil man was living there, we obtain some insight
into his great antiquity. Mr Dawson discovered and
delimited the remains of a great sheet of gravel which,
in former times, covered the Piltdown plateau. The
sheet apparently extended (see fig. 96) for about twelve
1 Quart. Journ. Geol., 1914, vol. Ixx. p. 85.
3 12 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
miles in one direction and eight in another, and must
have formed a great deposit for such a small stream as
the predecessor of the Sussex Ouse to lay down. Only
some patches and pockets of the original deposit have
come down to us. The plateau is now 120 feet above
the level of the sea, but it is probable that it lay almost
at sea-level when the great sheet was being deposited.
The formation of so extensive a gravel bed must have
occupied a long space of time, for the oldest or bottom
layer is apparently Pliocene in date the upper or dis-
turbed layer is much later, probably middle Pleistocene
in age. Over that wide Pliocene plain the ancient Ouse
had meandered, shifting its bed from time to time and
laying down gravel, sand, and fossil remains, gathered on
the higher lands of the Weald. The present Ouse has
cut a valley, 80 feet deep, in the plateau. That valley
has been excavated since the time the more recent gravel
beds were laid down on the plateau. How often the
valley has been re-excavated, as the land rose ; how often
it has been filled up, as the land sank, we cannot as yet tell
because the matter has not been investigated. But it is
clear that there have been many variations in the level
of the land since the gravel was first laid down on the
Piltdown plateau. The human remains lay in the most
ancient gravel deposit. Since the Piltdown man lived,
then, the great expanse of gravel, measuring nearly 100
square miles, has been laid down and a valley, at least
80 feet deep, has been slowly eroded by a comparatively
small stream. As the first gravel was being laid down
the culture of man was represented by rudely chipped
stones eoliths. As things are to-day, man's culture is
represented by the wireless messages and aeroplanes
which cross the Weald, and the great steamers passing
down the channel, and the rural homes and country
houses which everywhere meet the eye.
No one suspected, until Mr Dawson made the dis-
covery, that deposits of a Pliocene or early Pleistocene
date occurred in the Weald of Sussex. It is not likely
that Piltdown is the only site at which such deposits
ANTIQUITY OF THE PILTDOWN RACE 313
one
occur in the region of the English Channel. If
looks at a map representing the bounds of England in
late Pliocene times the date at which we suppose the
Piltdown man to have lived it will be seen (fig. 99) that
in place of the English Channel there is a great river
which was joined by all the streams issuing from the
southern area of the Weald. It will be seen, too, that
the Somme and the Seine also lie within the watershed
of the great channel river. Now on a tributary of the
Seine is situated St Prest, near which there is, as
FlG. 99. Map of South England and North France, to show the course
and tributaries of the ancient channel river (after Boyd Dawkins).
M. Rutot has indicated, a deposit very similar in nature
and in age to that at Piltdown. We have already seen
that the deeper strata of gravel at St Prest contain
remains of Pliocene animals and have always been
regarded as of a Pliocene age (see fig. 80, p. 231). Over
the Pliocene beds are others of a later or Pleistocene age,
just as at Piltdown. So long ago as 1863, M. Desnoyers 1
recognised that many of the fossil bones of animals
existing in the Pliocene period, and found in the deepest
and oldest deposits of St Prest, showed definite evi-
1 M. J. Desnoyers, Compt. rendu, 1863, vol. Ivi. p. 1073. See also
references given on p. 232.
3 1 4 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
dence of having been worked by man. More striking
still, the land on which these deposits occur is 80 feet
above the adjoining tributary of the Seine, the Eure-
et-Loir, the same height as the Piltdown deposits lie
above the Ouse. The Pliocene age of the St Prest
deposits have never been called in question.
There is a further striking similarity between the
deeper deposits at St Prest and the dark bed at Piltdown.
Mention has been made of the eoliths which occurred
with the human remains in the dark bed. Shaped flints
of a corresponding type also occur in the Pliocene beds
at St Prest. They were discovered and described by
a geologist, M. Bourgeois, 1 in 1867, four years after
M. Desnoyers recognised the human markings on the
fossil bones. In M. Rutot's opinion the St Prest
implements are of a later and more highly evolved type
than the Kentish eoliths. The discoveries made at St
Prest fifty years ago have a very direct bearing on the.
problem of the age of the Piltdown remains.
The evidence of another Pliocene deposit may be
cited here. In the south of England, about one hundred
miles to the west of Piltdown, but still within the water-
shed of the old channel river, there occurs another
trace of the Pliocene period which is of the greatest
importance to the student of man's evolution. This
trace occurs at Dewlish, a small village in the chalky
uplands of Dorset (fig. 99). Near the village of Dewlish
the chalk plateau, about 300 feet above sea-level, ends
in a sharp bank or escarpment, about 100 feet in height,
similar to the chalk brim of the Weald. On this plateau,
near Dewlish, there was discovered by accident a deep
trench cut in the chalk and filled with layers of sand and
gravel. The trench was investigated by the Rev. O.
Fisher, and has been described by him in two com-
munications to the Geological Society of London. 2 It
1 See Paleontologie humaine, by E. T. Hamy, Paris, 1870, p. 98.
2 Quart. Journ. Geol.^ 1888, vol. xliv. p. 819 ; 1905, vol. Ixi. p. 35.
Since the above was written, the Dorset Field Club has reopened the
trench. The evidence is in favour of a natural not human formation.
ANTIQUITY OF THE PILTDOWN RACE 315
was found to be over TOO feet in length, one end ex-
tending so as to open on the free face of the escarpment.
Its depth was found to be over 12 feet. It was narrow
and filled in with sand and gravel, which do not now
occur on the surface of the plateau at Dewlish ; and in the
gravel were found remains of elephants of the ancient
kind found at St Prest and at Cromer Elephas
meridionalis which is accepted as a true representative
of the Pliocene period. In the gravel also occurred
certain flints which were regarded by Mr Grist 1 as similar
to the eoliths of the Kentish plateau. Mr Clement
Reid inspected the trench the only one of the kind
known and found it did not represent any cleft or fault
produced by natural agencies. No stream could have
produced such a trench ; there is no stream now on the
plateau. Mr Fisher could only account for it on the
supposition that it was dug by the hands of man, and was
designed, like similar trenches at the present day, as an
elephant trap. If Mr Fisher's inference is right, and no
other satisfactory explanation has been offered, we have the
startling revelation that in the Pliocene period mankind
had already reached an advanced stage in his evolution.
We have already mentioned the sub-Crag implements
discovered by Mr Reid Moir (p. 225). They indicate
the existence of human beings towards the middle of the
Pliocene period. The Kentish eoliths are as ancient
perhaps more ancient than the sub-Crag implements.
When, therefore, we take into consideration these facts,
and the similarity between the Piltdown and St Prest
deposits, we are persuaded that Mr Dawson and Dr Smith
Woodward were ultra-cautious in assigning a Pleistocene
date to the human remains found at Piltdown. All the
evidence seems to point to a Pliocene age. Hence the
importance of their discovery, for although the handiwork
of Pliocene man has been recognised for a considerable
number of years, the man himself was unknown until
Mr Dawson brought him into the light of day.
1 C. J. Grist, " Some Eoliths from Dewlish, and the Question of Origin,"
Journ. Roy. Anthrop. Inst., 1910, vol. xl. p. 192.
CHAPTER XX
EOANTHROPUS DAWSONI
HAVING thus settled, so far as the evidence will permit,
the approximate position of the Piltdown man in the
scale of time and beyond question he represents the
earliest specimen of true humanity yet discovered we
now proceed to see what sort of being he was. The
truth is that we have to discover his characters from
fragments of the skull, for no other part was found.
The characters of his limbs and body are matters of
inference. The reader will quickly realise the number and
size of the actual parts of the skull which were found by
examining fig. 100 ; the missing parts are indicated by
stippled lines. The bone which forms the forehead the
frontal bone is only partly present. Fortunately, the
region which forms the upper margin of the left orbit
has been preserved in its outer part, so that we can form
a definite opinion as regards the supra-orbital ridges.
These are not formed as they are in the chimpanzee,
gorilla, and Neanderthal man, but are more like the
conformation seen in modern human races. A great part
of the left side of the frontal bone has been recovered ;
the right side is wholly missing, but we know that the
right and left sides of the frontal bone are nearly
symmetrical, so we can reconstruct the greater part of
the forehead with some degree of assurance all except
the middle part lying over the root of the nose.
Taking the bones which form the roof of the skull just
behind the frontal bone, we see that practically the whole
of the parietal bone is present on the left side. It forms
EOANTHROPUS DAWSONI 317
the roof and side of a great part of the brain chamber,
and is therefore of the utmost importance. We want
especially to know about the brain, for that is the master
organ of the human body. It will be noted that even on
the left side certain fragments of the parietal bone are
missing along its upper margin, hinder border, and at its
lower angle behind. The dimensions of these missing
parts can be estimated with accuracy. The parietal bone
of the opposite or right side is also represented. Only
50
200
FIG. 100. Fragments of the Piltdown skull placed in position and
represented in profile.
about two-thirds of that bone is present, and, unfortunately,
the part which is missing is the upper area which reaches
up to the middle line on the roof of the skull, where it
should come into contact with the opposite or left parietal
bone. The actual part of the right parietal bone re-
covered is indicated in fig. 101, where it has been super-
imposed over the corresponding area of the left side.
Coming now to the hinder or occipital end of the skull,
we find the bone of that region represented by a
considerable fragment. The actual part of the occipital
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
found is best seen in a hinder view of the skull such as
is shown in fig. 102. To the lower part of the occipital
bone the neck is fixed ; part of the region for the fixation
of the neck is represented in the fragment found (fig.
100). At the lower end of the fragment is seen the
hinder margin of the foramen magnum, by which the
spinal cord makes its exit from the brain cavity to enter
UPPER
BREGMA~~-
PARIETAL
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
FIG. 101. The fragment of the right parietal bone of the Piltdown skull super-
imposed on the corresponding points of the bone of the left side, to show the
extent missing.
the spinal column. The tabular part of the occipital,
which rises up from the neck to form the projecting
hinder part of the head, is also fragmentarily represented.
By great good fortune, Dr Smith Woodward recovered a
most essential fragment of the right half the fragment
which gives us an indication of the width of the occipital
bone, up almost to its articulation or point of contact
with the right parietal bone (see figs. 100 and 102, O').
On the occipital bone the ridge which marks the middle
EOANTHROPUS DAWSONI
too
line of the head and of the neck is preserved (fig. 102).
We therefore know the width of the right half of the
occipital bone, and we may be certain the left half was
almost exactly of the same size. Hence in the drawing
of the recovered fragments the right half of the occipital
bone is represented as if it were on the left side, in place
of the right (fig. 100).
The frontal, parietal, and occipital bones form the front,
roof, and hinder part of the brain chamber. The
temporal bone,
which helps to
complete the
lateral wall of the
chamber, also
forms part of the
floor or base of
the cranial cavity.
Almost the whole
of this bone was
found of the
left side (fig. 100).
A fragment is
missing, but suffi-
cient of its upper
border is pre-
served to give us
its true relation-
ship to the parietal
bone. As may be seen in fig. 100, a mutual point of
contact is present on the opposing margins of the tem-
poral and parietal bones. It will thus be seen that all the
essential components of the brain chamber are present ;
there are sufficient parts to form almost a complete half
of the brain chamber. In the case of the skull a half
is almost as good as a whole, for the left and right halves
of every head are approximately similar.
All of these fragments of the Piltdown skull are, at
first sight, very similar to the same parts of a modern
human skull except as regards their thickness. The
too
50
PILTDOWN RECONSTRUCTION
FIG.
1 02. The fragments of the Piltdown skull viewed
from behind.
320 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
Piltdown bones are surprisingly thick. The farm labourer
who first saw the skull described it as a cocoanut. In
most modern heads the thickness of the bones forming
the brain chamber varies from 4 to 6 mm. (^ to^ of an
inch) ; in native races, and occasionally in Europeans,
the thickness may amount to 8 or even 10 mm., but in
no normal modern skull are all the bones so uniformly
thick as in this recently discovered specimen. As already
pointed out, the ancient skulls found at Galley Hill,
Clichy, and Olmo are thick, but not to the extent seen
in the Piltdown fragments. Thickness is also a character
of most Neanderthal skulls. In the Piltdown cranium the
frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal bones vary in thick-
ness from 8 to 12 mm., the average all over being about
|^ of an inch. The bone is naturally formed ; there can
be no question of disease. My colleague, Mr Shattock,
has definitely settled that point. 1 There can be no
doubt that sufficient of the skull has been recovered to
provide us with the means of reaching a just and certain
conclusion as regards the size and shape of that part of
the head which contains the brain. Very few ancient
skulls are so well represented as that of Piltdown.
The discovery of almost a complete half the right of
the lower jaw or mandible by Mr Dawson is a most
fortunate circumstance (fig. 103). It lay in the iron-
stained cemented stratum with unworn eoliths and the
fragment of the tooth of an early Pliocene form of
elephant. The importance of the mandible is at once
apparent ; it provides us with the skeletal outline of
the face of this ancient form of man. Each half of a
human mandible consists of two distinct parts : (i) a
horizontal part or body (fig. 103), which carries the
teeth and forms the lower part of the outline of the
face from the angle of the jaw below the ear to the
chin ; (2) a vertical part, which ascends from the angle
to terminate in an articular knob or condyle. The
socket the glenoid cavity for the articular knob is
1 See Proc. Internat. Med. Congress, London, 1913 (Pathological
Section).
EOANTHROPUS DAWSONI
321
situated on that part of the base of the skull which is
formed by the temporal bone immediately in front of
the ear. We have already seen that the temporal bone
of the left side was recovered, revealing the characters
of the articular cavity, which is shaped exactly as in
modern races, and in this respect quite unlike the same
joint in an ape's skull. In the Piltdown skull we have
PILTDOWN.
AUSTRALIAN.
F IG . I0 3 The Piltdown mandible, as seen in true profile, compared with a
corresponding view of the mandible of an Australian native. The missing
teeth and parts of the Piltdown mandible are indicated by stippled lines.
thus the greater part of one half of the mandible of the
right side ; on the left side the articular socket for the
jaw is present ; by transposing or reversing the right
half of the mandible to take the place of the fe^i half,
it will be seen that we obtain a representation . o^ the
skeletal outline of one half of the Piltdown ' Aead
(see fig. 176, p. 480).
Unfortunately, a fragment is missing from each part
of the right half of the mandible (fig. 103). All of the
ascending part is present ; the areas for the attachment
of the chewing muscles are intact, save the articular
knob itself. That is no great loss, because the shape
of the socket in which it plied is known to us, and as
that socket, although large, is shaped as in present-day
21
322 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
man, we may presume the articular knob or condyle
of the jaw also had a modern human form. The part
missing in the body or horizontal part of the jaw leaves
some room for speculation. That region of its upper
border which lies hidden behind the lower lip in life,
and carries the sockets of five teeth the two right
incisors, the right canine, and two right premolar teeth-
has been broken away. The part which bears the three
molar teeth is present ; the first and second molar teeth
fill their sockets, but the third or wisdom tooth has
dropped out after death. The deficiency thus affects
the upper or alveolar border of the jaw in front ; the
whole of the lower border of the body of the mandible
is present. As the body approaches the region of
the chin (see fig. 164) it becomes modelled in a form
which is peculiar to apes.
Early in the summer of 1912, when Dr Smith
Woodward commenced his examination of the Piltdown
fragments, he realised that the peculiar and characteristic
features of this ancient form of man were centred in the
region of the chin. Such features had never been found
or seen in any mandible or skull to which the term
human could be applied. The peculiar characters of
the chin, which arrested his attention, can best be
realised by a reference to such illustrations as are shown
in figs. 104 and 105. In fig. 105 is represented the
arrangement of parts seen in the chin region of a young
chimpanzee about four years of age, just before the
milk teeth are shed. When a section is made so as
to separate the lower jaw and the tongue into right
and left halves, it is seen that the jaw in the region of
the symphysis the line of fusion of the right and left
halves of the jaw is composed of two parts, an upper
part to bear the incisor teeth, and a lower part which
is for the attachment of muscles. It is the lower or
muscular part which principally concerns us. There is
no projection of the anterior surface at the lower border
of the symphysis to represent a chin in the chimpan-
zee ; the anterior or labial surface of the jaw slopes
EOANTHROPUS DAWSONI
323
downwards and backwards to a chinless lower border.
On the hinder surface of the symphyseal region the
surface directed towards the tongue there is seen a deep
pit, almost large enough to take the tip of the little
finger. From the interior of the genial pit arise the
two chief muscles of the tongue the genio-glossus
muscles. The lower margin of the pit is formed by a
plate of bone the simian plate which unites the lower
borders of the right and left halves of the jaw (fig. 105).
It is a strengthening plate. From the posterior margin
of the plate two pairs of muscles take their origin the
GENIO-GLOSSUS
GENIO-HYOID
/
DIGASTRIC
MAN.
FIG. 104. Section of the human
tongue, chin, lower jaw, and lip
made along the middle line, to
show the origin of muscles from
the region of the chin or symphysis.
DIGASTRIC
o- HVOID
Gt
OENIO-GLOSSUS
CHIMPANZEE .
YiG. 105. A corresponding section of
the same region of a young chim-
panzee.
genio-hyoid muscle, which draws the larynx forward dur-
ing the act of swallowing, and the digastric muscle, which
depresses the front part of the jaw, and thus assists in
opening the mouth. Such is the conformation of the
symphyseal or chin region of the lower jaw in apes
(see fig. 105).
When a corresponding section is made of the symphyseal
region of a human lower jaw, a very different conformation
is seen (fig. 104). There are the same two parts exposed in
the section the upper dental part, which carries the incisor
teeth, and a lower part for the attachment of muscles. The
dental part, compared with that of an ape, is small and
324 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
vertical in direction. The human teeth being relatively
small, the dental part of the jaw has retreated backwards
in the mouth. The muscular part, on the other hand,
has been advanced ; there is now a prominent, or, at
least, a well-marked chin. The genial pit and simian
shelf seen in the ape's jaw are absent. In place of rising
from a pit, the main muscles of the tongue the right
and left genio-glossus arise from an elevation of bone
bearing two tubercles. The genio-hyoid, in place of rising
from the upper margin of the shelf of bone, springs from the
lower part of the elevation which has filled up and replaced
the pit, while the digastric muscles are attached to the
lower border of the jaw just behind and below the chin.
It will thus be seen that the simian and human
mandible differ markedly in the region of the sym-
physis or chin. The meaning of that difference will be
discussed in a later chapter (p. 451). The type to which
the Piltdown jaw belongs there can be no doubt ; both
the genial pit and the simian plate are present. These
are ape-like features. Dr Smith Woodward recognised
them as such, and in his work of reconstructing the
original form of the skull the presence of these simian
features exercised a dominating influence. Hence, when
he came to replace the missing parts of the jaws, the
incisor and canine teeth, he followed simian rather than
human lines. The teeth of man form a uniform series ;
there is no break or diastema in front of, or behind, the
canine teeth ; the canine tooth does not project prominently
beyond its fellows. From the ape-like features of the
chin it was inferred that projecting simian canine teeth
must have been a characteristic of the Piltdown form of
man. A massive canine tooth was therefore modelled ;
not very projecting (see figs. 106, 108), thick and rather
stumpy, its longest or front-to-back diameter being 14-5
mm., its side-to-side, 10 mm. The diameters of such a
tooth are equal to those of the canine of a male chimpan-
zee, and far beyond the limits of the largest human
canines known. As in the chimpanzee, a break or
interval in the dental series was left both in front of and
EOANTHROPUS DAWSON1
325
behind the canine. The width and conformation given
to the front or incisor teeth were those of the chimpanzee ;
when the Piltdown lips parted one would have seen the
same ferocious dental array as in that ape (figs. 107, 109).
As regards the rest of the teeth the two premolar and
three molar man's dentition rather than the chimpanzee's
was copied. The first and second molar teeth were
found actually in the jaw ; they were not larger than the
corresponding teeth of certain modern races, and are
distinctly human in pattern at least more human than
FIG. 1 06. The muzzle and front FIG. 107. Similar view of the same
teeth of the Piltdown skull as part of a male chimpanzee,
originally reconstructed by Dr
Smith Woodward.
anthropoid. The premolars had to be made much larger
than in human jaws, but they were given a human not a
simian form. Thus in the first reconstruction of the
Piltdown skull there appeared to be a mixture of den-
titions. In front the teeth were simian ; behind they
were human.
We are dealing at present with the parts which were
actually found when the discovery was first announced.
In the autumn of 1913 a canine tooth was discovered
which must be assigned to the Piltdown mandible. It
was, as Dr Smith Woodward had anticipated, essentially
simian in form it was more like that of a female
326 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
chimpanzee or gorilla than that of a human being. By
the time this tooth was discovered I had come to the
conclusion, for reasons which will be given in another
chapter, that a massive human and not a projecting and
simian canine had really been present. In that I was
mistaken, but as regards the actual dimensions of the
tooth my estimate was approximately right. I allowed
10 mm. for the longest (front-to-back) diameter ; it proved
to be ii mm. Dr Smith Woodward had represented it
as 14*5 mm. In the chief point, however, Dr Smith
Woodward was right ; the simian chin was correlated
with a simian canine tooth.
As will be seen from figs. 106 and 107, Dr Smith
Woodward made the muzzle and front teeth of Eoan-
thropus wider and more massive than in the chimpanzee.
He made the region of the chin and symphysis the
anterior line of fusion of the two halves of the mandible
particularly strong (fig. 108). The symphyseal areas of
union or fusion between the two sides of the mandible
are stippled in figs. 108 and 109. In the Piltdown
mandible this area, as restored by Dr Smith Woodward,
is even greater than in the chimpanzee. While the
teeth implanted in the front part of the mandible and
the symphyseal region are truly simian, the hinder part
of the mandible, the molar teeth, and also the ascending
branch or ramus, are, to my eye, entirely human. We
have thus in this newly discovered form of man a
remarkable mixture of simian and human characters.
One other feature may be pointed out here. It will
be observed in fig. 103 that the greater part of the last
molar or wisdom tooth lies behind the anterior margin of
the ascending ramus of the jaw, being thus hid from view.
In the Australian jaw (shown in the same figure), as is
usually the case in man and apes, this tooth lies wholly
in front of the ramus and is freely exposed. The Pilt-
down ascending ramus is remarkably wide (44 mm.), and
its width is evidently due to a forward extension of its
anterior border. On the anterior border is inserted the
temporal muscle, the chief agent in biting or in suddenly
EOANTHROPUS DAWSONI
32?
shutting the lower jaw. Such a forward extension of the
ramus must give the temporal muscles greater power and
purchase over the front part of the jaws and canine teeth.
It is necessary to examine in more detail the original
reconstruction of the apparatus of mastication in the
Piltdown man. Our estimate of the position of any
newly discovered form of human being turns largely
on the relationship between his alimentary and cerebral
systems. It seems fairly certain that the tendency in
human evolution is to increase the work of the brain and
FIG. 108. Drawing of the jaws, in
profile, from Dr Smith Wood-
ward's original model of the Pilt-
down skull.
FIG. 109. A drawing of the same
parts of a male chimpanzee.
diminish the work of the stomach. An increase of brain
power has made the task of our digestive system easier
at least those parts of our body which are concerned in
mastication. We therefore need some means of indicating
even if the method adopted be but a rough approxima-
tion to the truth the relative development of cerebral
and alimentary powers in any newly discovered form of
human being. We may take a concrete example. In
fig. 1 10 is represented the palate of a female chimpanzee ;
the teeth are set round the circumference of the palate.
Within the semicircle of teeth lies the tongue, but the
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
whole area of the palate, all that lies inside the outer
margins of the teeth, is directly concerned in mastication,
and the total area of the palate may therefore be accepted
as the degree to which the apparatus of mastication has
been developed. We suppose that a large palate means
a crude and not a richly nutritious diet. Now, in this
female chimpanzee the area of the palate is 36-5 cm. 2 ;
the brain measured 320 c.c. ; there was i cm. 2 of
palate to 8*7 c.c. of brain ; that represents a common
palato-cerebral ratio amongst man's nearest allies the
anthropoid apes. In modern Englishmen my estimate
is founded on an accurate investigation of twenty-two
medical students the average palatal area is 26*6 cm. 2 ;
LTDOWN PAUATE.
C. MODERN ENGLISH PALATE
FIG. no. A comparison of the palatal areas in a female chimpanzee (A), in the
Piltdown specimen as reconstructed in the original model (B), and in a
modern Englishman (C).
the cerebral development, 1500 c.c. ; the palato-cerebral
ratio was therefore i : 56*3, in place of i : 8-7 as in
anthropoids. We therefore turn with some interest to
see what ratio may hold in this newly discovered form of
man. Dr Smith Woodward has reconstructed the palate.
Accurate indications as to its shape were available as soon
as he had obtained the form of the lower jaw and teeth,
for the upper and lower jaws must fit and the teeth
correspond in all higher animals, according to certain
definite laws. Now the area of the palate thus recon-
structed (see fig. no, B) is 44-2 cm. 2 larger than in
the female chimpanzee ; it is the size of palate seen
in the adult male chimpanzee. In the male adult
orang and gorilla the palatal area may reach 70 cm. 2 Dr
EOANTHROPUS DAWSONI 329
Smith Woodward estimated that the brain capacity of
Eoanthropus was about 1070 c.c. In this new form of
man the palato-cerebral ratio is therefore about i : 24.
This ratio holds an intermediate position between that of
the chimpanzee (i : 8) and that of modern Englishmen
(i : 56). We appear, therefore, to be dealing with a very
primitive form of man one which, so far as concerns its
development of palate and of brain, supplies us with a stage
half-way between ape and man. In modern native races
the palato-cerebral ratio may be as low as i : ^6'j. In
the Gibraltar skull, as we have seen, 1 the ratio is i 138.
We have already noted that the front teeth of this new
form of man and the region of the chin are essentially
ape-like quite different to any known form of human
being. The humanity of this being, however, becomes
more and more apparent as the mandible is followed
backwarks and upwards to its socket at the base of the
skull. The socket is robust and massive, but its con-
formation is absolutely that seen in the more primitive of
modern human races. When Dr Smith Woodward came
to fit the fragments of the skull together, he found that
the parts were human in form and must be fitted together
as in modern human skulls. The shape which the re-
constructed head of Eoanthropus took in his hands is
shown in a series of figures (figs, ill, 113, and 115).
Students of anatomy will at once recognise the peculiar
features of this newly discovered form of man ; but in
order that those who have not made a special study of
man's body may also have a standard for comparison,
corresponding drawings of the skull of a modern
Englishman are reproduced here so as to be available
for comparison. The Englishman chosen has a brain
capacity of 1425 c.c. 60 less than the average amount.
The walls of his brain case have an average thickness of
6 mm., whereas in Eoanthropus the thickness is quite
10 mm. along the vault. Both skulls have been poised
on the same horizontal plane one which approximately
indicates the lower limits of the cerebrum. The higher
1 See p. 151.
330
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
or cerebral part of the brain lies above the line on which
the skulls are orientated. 1 In the modern head (fig. 112)
the roof of the skull almost reaches the loo-mm. line ;
in Eoanthropus it passes slightly above the 9O-mm. line.
When we allow for the great thickness of the skull, it is
plain that the brain of Eoanthropus will fall as regards
FIG. in. Profile drawing of Dr Smith Woodward's reconstruction of the skull
of Eoanthropus (half natural size). The parts present are shaded ; the missing
parts are left blank.
height about 15 mm. (| inch) short of the modern
English brain. As regards the total length of the skull,
the ancient and modern man are much alike the
maximum length in each case being about 190 mm.
It is clear from these diagrams that the face of
1 For details concerning this line or plane the subcerebral plane see
Keith, Journ. of Anat. and Physio 1 , 1910, vol. xliv. p. 251.
EOANTHROPUS DAWSONI 331
Eoanthropus is much more massive than that of the
modern man. As regards details of head conformation
they have much in common. In both a prominent
mastoid process lies behind the ear-hole ; it is shaped
in the Piltdown man as in modern human races. As the
mastoid is one of the structures by means of which the
FlG. 112. Profile drawing of the skull of a modern Englishman
with a cranial capacity of 1425 c.c. (half natural size).
muscles of the neck move and balance the head, we must
infer, from the fact that this process is present in its
modern shape in Eoanthropus, that the head in that
ancient type of man was carried and balanced just as it
now is in us. The eye-socket of Eoanthropus will be
seen to be set obliquely ; when the skull is viewed in
true profile, more of the orbit is then to be seen than in
modern human races, and much more than in anthropoid
332
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
apes. Above the outer angle of the orbit it will be seen
that the temporal line or crest from which a muscle of
mastication arises ascends steeply on the frontal bone,
whereas in all modern human skulls the curvature is less
acute and its backward trend more marked (see figs. 1 1 1,
112). The muscles of mastication evidently did not
work exactly as in
-*- > * 2 > - 1 v v * modern man, or
why this differ-
80 ence in the con-
formation of the
temporal crests ?
When a full-
face drawing of
the skull of Eoan-
thropus is com-
pared with that of
a modern skull
(figs. 113, 114) a
number of differ-
ences become ap-
parent. In actual
width, both at the
base of the skull
and across the
cheek bones,
Eoanthropus is
considerably the
greater. The
FIG. 113. Face view of the skull of Eoanthropus as recon- actual width of
structed by Dr Smith Woodward (half natural size). The . i j i 11
parts shaded are those actually found.
at its base is 132
mm. ; in Eoanthropus the width here measures 150 mm.
The chief difference, however, lies in the filling of the brain
case. In the modern skull the sides are nearly vertical,
with a slight outward bulge half-way to the vertex ; in
Eoanthropus the cranial cavity is so imperfectly filled
that the sides lean inwards and gradually fade into a
contracted crown or roof. In the modern skull, as seen
EOANTHROPUS DAWSONI
333
from the front, the roof is usually dome-shaped. The
forehead of Eoanthropus gives the impression of being
contracted and ape-like ; its lateral borders, formed by
the lines for attachment of the temporal muscle, ap-
proximate as they ascend. In anthropoids these lines
may actually meet on the vertex of the skull and form a
median crest. In
the modern human " ' r * L .. . . y
forehead the tem-
poral lines become
wider apart, and
the brow broadens
towards the crown
or dome of the
head (fig. 114).
In Eoanthropus,
then, we see an
ill-filled head with
sides which slope
inwards. In a
general sense we
may construe such
charactersassimian
in nature.
To complete
this cursory review
of the skull of
Eoanthropus as it
originally left the
i i r FIG. 114. Face view of a modern human skull for com-
parison with fig. 113 (half natural size).
constructor, I add
two further figures. In fig. 1 1 5 the modern skull is
viewed from above ; in fig. 1 1 6 the same view is repro-
duced of the skull of Eoanthropus. In the modern
skull the arrangement of bones is simple. The frontal
bone, forming the forehead, is joined behind to the
right and left parietal bones at the coronal suture. At
the posterior end of the vertical view only the upper
part of the occipital bone is seen ; it becomes joined to
334
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the parietal bones at the lambdoid suture (fig. 115).
Along the middle line, between the right and left parietals,
passes the sagittal suture. At some distance to either
side of the sagittal suture is seen the upper limit of
attachment of the temporal muscles the temporal lines
(fig. 1 1 5). Part of the bony scaffolding for the support of
the face and jaws is seen on the forehead the supra-
orbital ridges.
"200 The c heek bars or
zygomatic arches
are just apparent ;
they pass on each
side of the head
in front of the
ear, to end in the
cheeks and thus
strengthen and
support the face.
When we turn to
the same view of
the skull of Eoan-
thropus (fig. 1 1 6)
we see representa-
tives of the same
parts, but their
clear interpreta-
tion is not an easy
task because of the
FIG. 115. View of a modern skull from above, showing crrmt Hpfiripnrv
the bones and sutures of the vault (f natural size). & , ucuuciicy
in the forehead
and along the whole length of the roof. The zygomatic
arches, it will be observed, project far beyond the sides
of the skull, as in anthropoid apes. There is no definitely
moulded supra-orbital ridge shown ; the forehead is
given a wedge shape. The coronal suture is very
apparent on the left side ; but of the sagittal suture, or of
the lambdoid, there is no certain trace on this aspect of the
skull. The temporal lines are clearly visible, both upper
and lower. Only the upper of these lines are represented
EOANTHROPUS DAWSONI
335
in the drawing of the normal skull (fig. 1 15). As regards
general mass it is clear that the skull of Eoanthropus is
the greater. It will also be noted that there is a marked
irregularity in its contour, and that there is a noticeable
degree of asymmetry in its conformation, the right side
200
50
60 50 tO 30 20 10 O 10 20 30 K> 3O 60 70 SO
FIG. 1 16. View of the skull of Eoanthropus from above. The parts shaded
are those which were actually found (half natural size)
being smaller and not quite of the same form as on the
left side.
When he had fitted the fragments of the skull into
their approximate position, Dr Smith Woodward was
able to obtain a cast of the cavity which held the brain.
So closely does that organ fill its space that such a cast
336 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
reveals not only the size and form of the brain, but also
many of the finer markings which give the anatomist
a clue to the actual anatomy of the brain. The brain
cast was entrusted to Professor Elliot Smith for examina-
tion. No one is so well qualified as he to interpret the
significance of its features. His verdict, pronounced
after his first preliminary examination, was that, " taking
all its features into consideration, we must regard this as
being the most primitive and most simian human brain
so far recorded."
When we sum up all the characters which Dr Smith
Woodward has portrayed in this new form of being the
anthropoid characters of the mouth, teeth, and face, the
massive and ill-filled skull, the simian characters of
the brain and its primitive and pre-human general
appearance one feels convinced that he was absolutely
justified in creating a new genus of the family Hominidae
for its reception. This new genus he named Eoanthropus.
Ever since Darwin impressed the truth of his theory of
man's origin on his fellow-scientists we have expected to
encounter man's progenitors, but no one, so far as I
know, ever anticipated the discovery of one showing the
remarkable mixture of simian and human characters
such a one as Mr Dawson brought to light at Piltdown.
CHAPTER XXI
THE DIFFICULTIES OF RECONSTRUCTION
IN this chapter I propose to lead the reader into the
rather intricate problem of skull reconstruction. So far
as concerns the Piltdown fragments, I became involved
in the puzzle of fitting them rightly together in the
most casual manner. Indeed, from a reference to
the published proceedings of the famous meeting on
December i8th, at which the discovery was announced,
it is clear that I was then of opinion that any problem
of reconstruction had been fully solved by Dr Smith
Woodward when the privilege of taking part in the
discussion was extended to me. I gave it as my opinion
that " the reconstruction of the skull had been executed
with great skill " only making the reservation that in
" the reconstruction of the chin region of the mandible
and the form of the incisor, canine, and premolar teeth,
the characters of the chimpanzee had been too closely
followed."
That opinion was based on a cursory examination of
Dr Smith Woodward's reconstruction of the skull at the
commencement of the meeting. In May of the following
year (1913), anatomists were supplied with exact replicas
in plaster of the various fragments, and also a copy of
the original reconstruction all of them the work of that
excellent modeller, Mr F. O. Barlow. One day, soon
after the arrival of the models at the museum of the
Royal College of Surgeons, I sat down and depicted on
the skull of an Australian native one with a brain
capacity of 1450 c.c. the exact areas of the Piltdown
337 22
338 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
fragments, in order that visitors to the museum might
have a ready means of ascertaining the actual parts of the
skull which had been recovered. It will be remembered
(see fig. 100, p. 317) that the greater part of the left
parietal bone which forms so large and important a part
of the brain chamber was recovered ; I was surprised to
find that the superficial area of the Piltdown parietal bone
was only slightly smaller than that of the Australian
native, the exact figures being 121*7 cm - 2 f r Piltdown,
132*9 for the Australian. This surprise was increased
when 1 came to compare the areas of that part of the
temporal bone the squama or plate which reaches up
on the side of the skull and actually overlaps the lower
bevelled ridge of the parietal (see fig. 1 12). It is true that
part of the squamous plate was broken, but its original
size can be estimated with some degree of exactitude.
The Piltdown squama was larger than that of the
Australian native ; the area of the first named was 24*7
cm. 2 , of the second, 21*4 cm. 2 Now, students of the
human body have been in the habit of regarding a large
temporal squama as indicating a large brain. It is true
that a mere increase in thickness of the skull leads to
an increase in the area of the squama, but even allowing
for the thickness of the Piltdown skull, the plate was
remarkably extensive for a brain of 1070 c.c. The size
of the parietal bone and temporal squama indicated a
capacity nearly equal to that of the Australian native. To
find an explanation of these discrepancies or peculiar
characteristics, they may prove to be of the Piltdown
race, I turned to Dr Smith Woodward's reconstruction
to see if there was any apparent error in the manner in
which the fragments had been fitted together. It was
then I noticed a very marked degree of asymmetry in its
formation ; the right side was not only smaller than the
left, but there was also a marked degree of flattening on
its hinder part.
We have always supposed that the skulls of primitive
races were remarkably symmetrical ; in the lower forms
of man, as in anthropoid apes, the right and left halves
DIFFICULTIES OF RECONSTRUCTION 339
of the brain and of the skull are fairly exact copies of
each other. Symmetry is a primitive mark ; it is the
most highly evolved the most specialised forms of
human brains and heads which manifest asymmetrical
conditions. A deformity of one or both sides of the
head may be due to disease in life, or to earth-pressure
after death, but no suggestion has ever been made that
the asymmetry of the Piltdown skull was due to either
of these causes. It was due, then, to either a high
specialisation of the brain or to an error in reconstruc-
tion. In either case it was important to discover an
explanation of those peculiar features which I have just
mentioned, for when we come to finally assign any being
to its scale in humanity, it is not the mandible, the face,
the teeth, or limbs which guide us, but the master organ
of the human body the brain. We cannot tell the
shape and size of the brain until the various skull bones
which form the brain case are rightly fitted in position.
In fitting the parts of the skull together, we must
begin at the hinder or occipital end of the head in this
particular case, because the only fragment which reveals
the middle line of the skull, and at the same time gives
us a true indication of the width of the Piltdown head,
belongs to the hinder aspect of the skull and forms part
of the occipital bone. The aspect of the Piltdown head
which we are to try and build up is exactly that seen in
the person who sits in front of us in church or theatre.
If the hair and soft covering parts were to become
transparent we should see that the central part of the
hinder wall of the skull is formed by the occipital bone
(fig. 117). The lower or nuchal part of the bone is
implanted in the neck, and gives attachment to those
muscles which move the head. The nuchal part is
shaded in fig. 117, so that it may be the more easily
recognised. On either side of the occipital bone are
placed the right and left temporal bones. In fact, the
mastoid parts of the temporal form lateral extensions of
the area for the attachment of the neck. The mastoid
processes are in reality levers by which the muscles of the
340
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
neck may balance and turn the head. A large part of
the occipital the supra-nuchal part extends above the
neck, under the scalp, until it reaches the two great
bones which form the roof and sides of the skull, the
right and left parietal bones. The suture or joint-line at
which the parietal and occipital bones meet is known as
the lambdoidal suture (fig. 117). On each side of the
50
50
CONDYL.ES
FIG. 117. Showing the bones which form the hinder or occipital part
of a modern skull (capacity 1425 c.c.).
hinder aspect of the skull this suture is clearly seen to be
made up of two parts an upper oblique and a lower,
almost vertical.
Those are the parts which enter into the formation
of the hinder part of the skull ; before the Piltdown
fragments can be rightly replaced one must bear such
a picture in mind. It is also necessary to point out
that the occipital bone is made up of right and left
halves. In the nuchal region the ridge or elevation
DIFFICULTIES OF RECONSTRUCTION 341
which indicates the middle line the junction of the
right and left halves is very apparent ; it lies between
the attachment of the muscles of the right and left sides
of the neck, the sides of the neck being always of
nearly equal size. The right and left halves of the
occipital, which lie above the neck, always show, in
modern skulls, a certain degree of dissimilarity or
asymmetry. As a rule, the larger the brain and skull
the greater the degree of asymmetry.
To bring out this feature of the occipital bone, I
have been in the habit of representing the hinder view
of the skull within such a framework of lines as is shown
in fig. 117. It is within such a framework that we must
build up and form our knowledge of this newly dis-
covered extinct form of man. There are three vertical
lines the mid-line, and the right and left lateral lines
drawn parallel to the mid-line at a distance of 2 inches
(50 mm.) from it. The two lateral lines which form
the sides of the frame are 80 mm. from the mid-line.
A skull wide enough to fill the space between these
extreme lines would have a width of 180 mm. (7 inches),
that being a very wide skull. Another line is important
the horizontal or zero line, which crosses the hinder
and lower angles of the right and left parietal bones.
Above that line lies the chamber for the cerebrum the
active organ of mind ; below it the chamber for the
cerebellum. Along or just below this line, on the inner
aspect of the occipital bone and in the marginal space
between the cerebrum above and cerebellum below, lie
the great lateral blood-sinuses (fig. 117). The right
sinus is usually a continuation of another great blood-
sinus which passes along the roof of the skull, under the
mid-line. Of the other two horizontal lines which
bound the framework for the skull, one is placed 50 mm.
(2 inches) below the chief or zero line, the other
100 mm. above it. A skull which reaches both the
upper and the lower horizontal lines would have a
height of 150 mm. (6 inches) that is, a skull of rather
more than average height for Englishmen (fig. 1 1 7).
342 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
When the outline of the occipital aspect of a modern
skull is set in such a frame, it will be found that the
left half of the occipital bone extends further outwards
than the right half. In fig. 117 this normal asymmetry
is exemplified. The vertical part of the left lambdoidal
suture passes out beyond the left lateral line ; on the
right side it falls short of that line. The left half of
the occipital bone is the larger, because the corresponding
part of the brain is the larger. The left hemisphere
of the brain controls the right half of the body ; hence
it is believed that the preponderance of the left occipital
pole of the brain is connected with right-handedness. 1
The occipital asymmetry is due to a specialisation of the
two halves or hemispheres of the brain. There is the most
indubitable evidence that the left occipital region of the
Piltdown brain was larger than the right ; the impress
of the cerebral lobes on the inner aspect of the occipital
fragment leaves no doubt on this matter.
The reader may naturally resent the introduction
of so many technical details. I can only plead that
the method employed is of the utmost importance ;
it must be exact and logical if we are to obtain abiding
results. It is into such a framework as has just been
sketched that the Piltdown fragments must be fitted ;
at every turn we shall be checked by our guiding lines.
One other matter, however, must be mentioned. It is
clear that the hinder aspect of the skull will alter as
we raise or lower the front end of the skull. It is
therefore necessary to fix a chief or zero horizontal
line at the front part of the skull to correspond with that
which crosses the hinder lower angles of the right and
left parietal bones. 2 The hinder horizontal line, it will
be remembered, represents the lower limit of the
cerebrum ; in the frontal region a similar line must
be chosen one to indicate the lower limits of the frontal
lobe of the cerebrum. If the anterior part of the base
of the skull is preserved, this is an easy matter, but in
1 See Professor Elliot Smith, Ana/. Anz., 1907, vol. xxx. p. 574.
2 See A. Keith, Journ. of Anat. and PhysioL, 1910, vol. xliv. p. 251.
DIFFICULTIES OF RECONSTRUCTION 343
the majority of fossil skulls the anterior part of the base is
rarely preserved. As a rule, however, the lowest point
of the eyebrow ridge to be more exact, the junction of
this ridge with the malar or cheek bone is sufficiently
near the plane we want to serve to mark the level of the
lowest part of the frontal lobe, so far as human skulls are
concerned. Having thus sketched the method to be em-
ployed, we are in a position to undertake the reconstruction
of the Piltdown skull.
When we place Dr Smith Woodward's reconstruction
of the Piltdown skull within the framework just de-
scribed, we are at once in a position to see how far this
very ancient type of man agrees or differs in head form
from modern man. In fig. 1 1 8 the parts of the skull
actually recovered are shaded ; the missing parts are left
as blanks. The whole occipital bone was not found ;
only the middle part of the lower or nuchal part, with
the ridge which marks the middle line of the neck and
skull, and a considerable part of the upper or supra-nuchal
part. A fragment (marked O' in fig. 118, A) carries the
supra-nuchal part of the occipital on the right as far as
the lambdoidal suture, where it comes almost in contact
with the right parietal. We have, in this fragment, a sure
indication, not only of the width of the upper part of
the occipital bone, but also of the position and direction
of the lambdoidal suture. The right lambdoidal suture,
it will be observed (fig. 1 1 8, A), crosses the right lateral
(50-mm.) line very obliquely ; it is not vertical, as we
should expect from a comparison with a modern skull
(fig. 117). A remnant of the left half of the lambdoidal
suture is preserved on the hinder margin of the left
parietal bone (fig. 1 1 8). It ought to be, as far as direc-
tion is concerned, symmetrical with the corresponding
part of the right, and also, in accordance with the law
already stated, should be situated further from the
mid-line. Exactly the reverse is the condition shown in
Dr Smith Woodward's reconstruction ; the parts #, b and
a '-> & (% IJ 8) certainly correspond, but the one is lying
obliquely and crossing the 5O-mm. line, the other (the
344
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
left) is nearly vertical, and inside in place of being outside
that line. Further, the right half of the skull is con-
siderably larger than the left. There is no possibility of
making the right and left halves of the occipital bone
even approximately symmetrical on these reconstructional
lines. It may be thought that a marked degree of
asymmetry was an inherent character of this ancient man,
but before we accept such a conclusion it is necessary
to remember that the more primitive the type of man,
the greater the degree of symmetry in the right and left
parts. We have also to keep in mind that the extreme
degree of asymmetry may be due to malposition of parts.
FIG. 118. A. Drawing of the occipital aspect of the Piltdown skull as recon-
structed by Dr Smith Woodward. B. From a reconstruction by the Author.
The point of perforation by the pickaxe is indicated.
On looking round for an explanation of the peculiar
arrangement given by Dr Smith Woodward to the
Piltdown fragments, I observed that he had placed the
middle line of the roof along the fragment marked " left
parietal" in fig. 118, A. If such were the true middle
line, then there ought to be some evidence of the suture
between the right and left parietal bones, which meet
along the mid-line. But of this suture there is not a
trace. On fig. 118, A, I have placed three arrows, the
middle one crossing the hinder angle of the left parietal
bone. An examination of the original fragment leaves
me in no doubt that the middle line lies at the point
marked by the middle arrow, but, as will be seen sub-
DIFFICULTIES OF RECONSTRUCTION 345
sequently, Professor Elliot Smith has formed a different
opinion. Leaving the full proof that my identification
of the middle line is correct to another chapter, let us
try, as in fig. 118, B, the effect of placing the fragments
so that the middle arrow falls into a median position.
The extreme asymmetry of the lambdoidal suture dis-
appears. That is a presumptive proof that the parts have
been placed in their right position. It is only when the
point chosen in fig. 1 1 8, B, is placed in the middle line
that an approximate symmetry is obtained.
When the upper angle of the parietal is replaced in its
proper position the change in the skull is revolutionary.
The height of the brain chamber is increased by nearly
half an inch. The width and fullness of the top parts are
enlarged. The brain capacity is augmented ; the shape
of the brain itself is changed. The anomalous conforma-
tion of the occipital bone, the extreme asymmetry of
the lambdoidal suture, almost disappear, and all the points
we are familiar with in human skulls no one has ever
denied the humanity of the fragments leap to the eye.
The right and left halves of the lambdoidal suture become
not only symmetrical, but the left half, as should be the
case because of the preponderance of the left hemisphere
of the Piltdown brain, oversteps the 5o-mm. line to a
greater degree than it does on the right side. We have
here the most ample confirmation that the lines on which
we are proceeding must be right, for by taking them
as our guides most of the anomalies of the original
reconstruction disappear.
There were two points in this preliminary part of my
investigation which gave me a great deal of trouble.
One relates to the two parietal bones. Both bones are
rather mutilated particularly the right. We have to
determine what parts are missing from each bone. It
will be seen that this question must be answered before
we can proceed to the final adjustment of the two parietal
bones on the sides of the head ; the corresponding points
must occupy the same positions on the right and left
sides. The answer to this problem is given in fig. 119,
34^
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
where the right and left bones are superimposed. On
each side the lower border is preserved the margin of
which is bevelled for articulation with the plate or squama
of the temporal bone. The most remarkable fact is that
almost the same amount is missing from the hinder and
lower border of each side. Fortunately, we can tell
exactly how much is missing on the left side, because we
possess the temporal bone of that side. When the
UPPER
LEFT
PARIETAL
10
V\S 7~7?/ ON
FIG. 119. The right and left parietal bones superimposed to show
how much of each is missing.
temporal is articulated with the lower border of the left
parietal we see at once how much is missing at the
hinder angle. When the left parietal was intact (see fig.
100, p. 317) its hinder angle came into contact with the
adjacent parts of the temporal. Along the hinder margins
of the two parietals remnants of the sutural lines are
preserved. On both sides a trace of the middle part of
the lambdoid suture can be detected the preserved
part on the right side rising upwards and projecting
DIFFICULTIES OF RECONSTRUCTION 347
rather further back than on the left side. On both sides
the lower part of the lambdoid margin is missing for
an extent of 12 mm. (about half an inch). On the left
side, although the parietal reaches up to the middle line,
a long marginal fragment, at least 10 mm. wide, has been
broken away from the hinder border. On the right side
the upper or roofing part of the parietal is altogether
absent, the missing part at the hinder end being about
55 mm. in width. Having ascertained those facts, we
are now in a position to adjust the hinder margins of the
parietal bones on the right and left sides of the head.
It is apparent that they must be adjusted so that the
lower border of each bone is on the same level, and
occupy the same relative position on each side. The
distance of the hinder border of each parietal bone from
the mid-line is indicated by the width of the occipital
bone, which has been already determined.
Having thus settled the corresponding points in the
right and left parietal bones, I now turn to the second
point small and seemingly unimportant, but one which
gave me much trouble at first. It relates to the little
fragment of the occipital which Dr Smith Woodward
found (fig. 1 1 8, O'). Our conception of the head and
brain-form of this ancient human type turns on being
certain that this fragment is rightly placed. A close
inspection of the original occipital bone in Dr Smith
Woodward's keeping raises the suspicion that the
fragment has not been rightly adjusted. When one
scrutinises the fine vascular grooves and markings on the
inner aspect of the fragment, and traces them to the crack
where the union has been made to the main piece, the
fine vascular grooves and markings cease and are not
caught up and continued beyond the join, which they
should be if the fit were a true and accurate one. My
suspicion that the union was not quite right arose,
however, from two other observations. On the hinder
margin of the right parietal is still to be seen a triangular
notch (fig. 102), marking the point where evidently the
workman's pick pierced the skull. On the adjacent
348 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
marking of the occipital fragment there is also a graze of
the pick. That this graze is the opposite side of the
same unfortunate blow there can be no doubt, for when
the occipital fragment is brought opposite to the margin
of the parietal, so as to complete the perforation made by
the pick, it is clear from the agreement in thickness and
in texture of the parts brought into contact that we have
found a true relationship. Indeed we can surmise the
disaster wrought by the workman's unfortunate blow.
The skull was evidently embedded in the gravel so as to
expose its right hinder aspect to the blow.
By the same blow the hinder part of the right parietal
was broken into two fragments the splintering line
starting from the point at which the pick perforated
(fig. 1 1 8, B). I found, further, that when the occipital
and parietal bones were articulated as in the original
model that the lower border of the right parietal always
became half an inch too high. Detaching the occipital
fragment, and giving it what was apparently its true
articulation with the adjacent margin of the parietal, I
found that all the parts, previously out of place, slid into
position. As I had suspected, there is a fragment miss-
ing at Dr Smith Woodward's line of junction, the true
relationship of the fragment being that given in fig. 102.
The failure to recognise the true position of the occipital
fragment has given rise to some of the difficulties of
those who have tried to discover the true nature of the
Piltdown skull.
I have probably wearied my readers with the details
concerning the reconstruction of the hinder aspect of the
Piltdown head. It is not the skull itself which is the
aim of our search ; it is rather the brain which lay within
it the organ with which this early representative of
mankind measured and registered the world in which he
lived. To know the brain we must rightly reconstruct
the brain case. We are already in a position to form a
rough estimate of its size. When the reconstruction in
fig. 1 02 is compared with that of a modern man (fig. 117)
it is seen that the head of the ancient man is the more
DIFFICULTIES OF RECONSTRUCTION 349
massive. In the modern sample, represented in fig. 117,
the greatest width of the skull is 134 mm. ; in the Piltdown
skull this measurement is a little under 150 mm. ; in Dr
Smith Woodward's reconstruction the greatest width is
also 150 mm. If we deduct 10 mm. from this amount
on account of the great thickness of the bony walls, the
width measurement of the Piltdown skull is still 140 mm.
6 mm. more than in the modern skull represented in
fig. 117. As regards height of the cerebral chamber
the height of the roof of the skull above the horizontal
or subcerebral plane there is not much difference
between the ancient and modern example, if we allow for
the greater thickness of the Piltdown skull. The roof of
the skull in our example of modern man falls short of
the loo-mm. line ; the roof of the Piltdown should just
reach that line. If the length of the skulls were approxi-
mately equal, it is clear that the ancient brain should be
the larger. The Piltdown brain was, as regards bulk,
about the average for modern races.
The reader may very properly offer the criticism that
the conclusion as regards the width and size of the
Piltdown skull turns on that small fragment of the
occipital bone. He may well ask for confirmatory
evidence. Substantiation of the conclusions reached can
be obtained by a totally different method one which
carries us right into the principles of skull reconstruction.
If a cut is made across a skull so as to expose its walls
in a vertical cross-section as in fig. 120, the composition
of the bony wall enclosing the brain is seen to be simple.
The base of the skull at this point is made up of three
bony elements a bar of bone in the middle, a pyramid
of bone, the petrous part of the temporal, on each side
of it. The lateral walls and roof are formed by two
enclosing bones the squama of the temporal and the
parietal bone on either side. Now, as may be seen from
fig. 1 20, the brain cavity of anthropoid apes and of men
is enclosed by corresponding bones, but in the ape the
parietal bones and the plate of the temporal are small
in size. As regards the size of the bones in the base of
350
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the skull, man and ape are very much alike. In the ape
the basilar process, and especially the petrous bones, are
large. The petrous bones, which contain the organ
of hearing, are of great size in the anthropoid ape,
because they have also to afford a joint for massive
jaws and attachment for the huge muscles of the neck.
Two important points should be noted in the human
skull. The brain has so increased in mass that the
petrous pyramids of the temporal bones have been
forced into a horizontal position. The opening of the
EAR PASSAGE
BAS/LAR PHOC:
'ZMPOflAL
ARTICULAR
EAR PASSAGE
BASILAR PROC;
ARTICULAR
FIG. 120. A. Transverse vertical section of the skull of an Australian aboriginal,
to show the bones forming the base, side, and roof of the brain cavity. B. Of
an orang, to show the bones forming the base, sides, and roof of the brain
cavity.
ear-passage lies below the level of the brain in the human
skull. In the anthropoid the petrous bone is set
obliquely ; the ear-hole is situated at a higher level as
regards the brain cavity. The other point which is
important for our present purpose is that the petrous
bone reaches within a definite distance of the middle
line of the base of the skull ; it affords us a means of
estimating the width of a skull. Now we have the left
temporal bone of the Piltdown skull almost the whole
of the petrous portion and a great part of the side plate
or squama.
In fig. 121 the composition of the Piltdown skull in
DIFFICULTIES OF RECONSTRUCTION 351
transverse section is shown. I have supposed that the
basilar process is of rather more than average width
26 mm. In such a skull, with great massive bones, this
bar was probably considerably above the dimensions seen
in modern skulls. From the dimensions of the petrous
part of the temporal bone we infer that the width of the
Piltdown skull was at least equal to that of either of the
two skulls shown for comparison in fig. 121 about
150 mm. We have thus an assurance that the indications
given us by the occipital bone concerning the width
and size of the Piltdown skull are well founded. The
FlG. 121. Reconstruction of the left half of the Piltdown skull compared with a
similar section of the Gibraltar and of the Dartford skull.
massiveness of the petrous bone, and its degree of obliquity
as regards the transverse axis of the base of the skull, are
primitive or simian marks (fig. 120) ; yet in this respect
the Piltdown skull is less simian than the Gibraltar skull
(fig. 121).
A study of the occipital aspect of the Piltdown skull
brings before us another feature in which it resembles
those of the modern type. When viewed from behind,
the heads of men of the modern type give the impression
of being compressed from side to side (fig. 117). In
that extinct species of man Homo neanderthalemis the
head was compressed in an exactly opposite direction,
352
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
from above downwards. All known members of the
race have their heads shaped thus. In fig. 122 is given
an occipital view of the Gibraltar skull the smallest
of all the Neanderthal skulls yet discovered, the size
of the brain cast being approximately 1 1 50 c.c. Whereas
the Piltdown skull almost fills the square in which it is
placed (fig. 102), the Gibraltar skull falls far short as
regards height. In its width the Gibraltar skull is only
50
FIG. 122. Occipital aspect of the Gibraltar skull, to show the manner in which
Neanderthal skulls appear to be compressed from above downwards.
5 or 6 mm. less than the Piltdown, but as regards height
it is 1 8 mm. less. In this feature of the skull
platycephaly it is called the Neanderthal species re-
sembled anthropoid apes. Two drawings of the occipital
aspect of a young gorilla and of a juvenile chimpanzee will
serve to illustrate this point (fig. 123). The skull of the
chimpanzee is more platycephalic than that of the gorilla.
In shape of head the Piltdown race resembled modern
races of mankind.
DIFFICULTIES OF RECONSTRUCTION 353
The drawings of the occipital aspect of anthropoid
skulls bring out certain other instructive characters. In
the gorilla and chimpanzee the lambdoid suture the
line of junction between the occipital and parietal bones
is almost symmetrical as regards the two sides. In the
Gibraltar skull we see the same kind of asymmetry in
this suture as in modern races, and as in the Piltdown
skull an asymmetry due to the greater extent of the left
half of the occipital bone. At the present time we
attribute that preponderance to the larger size of the left
occipital lobe of the brain, and indirectly to right-
handedness. At the beginning of the Pleistocene period
probably much earlier specialisation already had
appeared as a distinguishing feature of the human
brain.
Piltdown man had not only the flat-sided head-form of
modern man, but he also held and balanced his head
much as we carry ours. This we believe was not the
primitive method. Adult anthropoids are bull-necked
the head is deeply implanted in their strong, thick necks.
In modern man, as in Piltdown man, the head is balanced
on the neck ; there is a sharp demarcation at the junction
of the neck with the head. In newly born anthropoids
the neck is slender and the head relatively large. As the
ape passes into childhood the neck grows in thickness,
while the head as regards size of brain remains almost
stationary. As the neck grows, it encloses and spreads
over the occipital region. In fig. 123, A, B, the area
of neck-attachment is demarcated by shading. In the
young gorilla the attachment has extended upwards
until it has reached a little above the level of the lateral
blood-sinuses. In the chimpanzee, an older animal, the
neck has extended upwards nearly an inch above the
sinuses. In the Gibraltar skull, as in all Neanderthal
skulls, the condition is that seen in the young gorilla (see
figs. 122 and 123), but in the Piltdown skull, and in
nearly all modern skulls, the attachment of the neck
never reaches even the level of the lateral sinuses (see
figs. 102 and 117). In this respect the Piltdown race
23
354
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
corresponds with modern races and differs from the
Neanderthal species and anthropoids.
One other remarkable feature is seen in the Piltdown
skull, in connection with the fixation of the head to the
neck. In the young chimpanzee the mastoid area of the
temporal bone on each side is growing outwards into a
thick, wing-like process to give an increased area for
attachment of certain of the neck muscles (fig. 123, B). In
the Gibraltar skull the same area forms merely a flattened
knob a condition which may be described as partially
simian (fig. 122). In the Piltdown skull we see, as in
modern races, a pyramidal mastoid process projecting
YOUNG GORILLA
CHIMPAN2EE
FIG. 123. A. Hinder aspect of the skull of a young gorilla about three years
old. B. The same aspect of the skull of a female chimpanzee about twelve
years old.
downwards behind the ear. It is a special adaptation to
the balancing of the head on the neck. I have always
regarded the wide attachment of the neck to the skull
as a provision for enabling an animal to exert its bodily
strength through its head and jaws. A full consideration
of the lightly balanced head of the Piltdown man, with
great jaws and apparently projecting canines, on the one
hand, and Neanderthal man, with his closely set head,
strong jaws not furnished with fighting canines, renders
this view no longer tenable. There seems to be no
necessary correlation between projecting canines and firm
fixation of the head.
In this chapter I may seem to have entered into too
DIFFICULTIES OF RECONSTRUCTION 355
many technical and uninteresting details. My justifica-
tion is that we are dealing with the only document in our
possession which throws light on human conditions at a
long past period of the earth's history to a period which
we have been in the habit of supposing as antecedent to
the appearance of real man. We have therefore to scan
that document with all the precision and critical acumen
at our disposal if we are to lay our knowledge of early
man on a sound basis. So far as we have gone, we see
that, beyond any cavil, we are dealing with a human
being with a head above average dimensions, and a brain
very little, if any, below the amount allotted to the average
European of to-day. Except for the thickness of his
skull bones, the head was shaped and balanced as in us.
Not only so, we see that asymmetry, which we believe to
indicate a specialisation of the right hand, was already
present. Further, we realise that, as regards shape of
head, this early Pleistocene or Pliocene form of man was
more like ourselves than was the Neanderthal type of man
who survived to mid-Pleistocene times.
CHAPTER XXII
AN EXPERIMENT IN RECONSTRUCTION
IF I were free to choose I would not inflict the reader with
further dry and technical details concerning the Piltdown
skull. The sharp controversy, however, which has sprung
up amongst British anatomists makes a plain and simple
narrative impossible ; we must take nothing for granted ;
every point has to be proved. Under ordinary circum-
stances it ought to be a simple task for an anatomist to
restore such a skull as that which has been hidden away
these hundreds of thousand years in the Piltdown gravel ;
why, then, is there so much difficulty ? There are two
reasons. In the first place, the simian characters of the
mandible indicate that the skull should be a small one
for the simian skull and brain cavity are small when con-
trasted with the human cranium. The law of correlation
of the various parts of the animal body does not always
hold true ; the discoveries of recent years have shown
that Nature in her time has built up animal forms in
which characters culled from diverse animal types have
been combined.
But there is another reason why we naturally suppose
the brain of the Piltdown race to be a small one. We
still live in the shadow of the times when man's first
appearance was regarded as one of the most recent events
in the earth's history. I am not speaking of pre-Darwinian
days, but of some thirty years ago, when the theory of
evolution was making headway, and when thinking people
had accepted as a truth the origin of man from a more
humble form. The contemporaries and successors of
356
AN EXPERIMENT IN RECONSTRUCTION 357
Darwin believed, and rightly believed, that they had
made a great advance when they proved that men such
as you and 1 are lived with animals now extinct, animals
like the mammoth, the woolly rhinoceros, and the cave-bear.
The anatomists and geologists of thirty years ago were
very careful, almost penurious, when they drew a draft
on the bank of Time ; they believed that their credit was
strictly limited when they dealt at that bank. They
were convinced that men of the modern type may have
appeared towards the end of the Pleistocene period some
fifteen thousand years ago or more when those extinct
forms of mammals were living. They expected to dis-
cover, as they searched further into the past and reached
the beginning of the Pleistocene and end of the Pliocene,
a series of intermediate forms which would carry us
rapidly towards a simian stage. Until a year or two ago,
many of our leading authorities believed that Pithecanthro-
pus a humanoid form, with a brain capacity of 850 c.c.,
little more than half that of modern man represented our
stage of evolution at the beginning of the Pleistocene
period. The same men looked on Neanderthal species
as representative of Pleistocene man, while modern races
appeared just before the dawn of the recent period.
These two circumstances a lower jaw with simian
features and a belief in the recent evolution of the modern
human brain would naturally lead the discoverers of
Eoanthropus to the conclusion that they had to deal with
a primitive, small-brained form of man. During these
last twenty years, however, another line of evidence has
been slowly accumulating, which seems to point to a much
earlier date as marking the period of man's evolution.
Our estimate of the antiquity of the modern type of man
must be sufficiently long to give time for the differentia-
tion of that type into the most diverse forms African,
European, Mongolian. It is more than twenty years
ago since Sir Joseph Prestwich became convinced that
the Kentish " eoliths " were of human workmanship, and
were of Pliocene not even late Pliocene date. Four
years ago Mr Reid Moir discovered under the " Red
358 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
Crag " of Suffolk a Pliocene deposit flints which are
admitted by most experts to be shaped by man's hand.
In England and in Italy, as we have already seen, remains
of men of the modern type have been found in natural
deposits and strata which are of a mid-Pleistocene age.
All those discoveries of the modern type of man are
disputed. It is therefore important to determine the
size and form of brain in an early Pleistocene, or late
Pliocene, type of man one whose authenticity is beyond
question. It will be seen, therefore, as I labour to make
clear the nature of the Piltdown skull, that it is not the
correct rendering of the details of the head-form which
is the real object I have in view ; it is a much wider
issue. We want to know what stage of brain develop-
ment this particular type of man had reached so long ago.
If the Piltdown man is a fair sample of his time, and if
the opinions of Dr Smith Woodward and Professor
Elliot Smith are well founded, then indeed we human
beings have progressed rapidly to our present estate, and
the great mask of civilisation which man has made a part
of himself is in a geological sense merely a mushroom
growth. If, on the other hand, we believe that in this
early form of man we find a comparatively large, if some-
what simple, human brain, then our story is very different.
Behind us must lie vast periods of human endeavour,
reaching a much longer way into the geological past than
most of us have hitherto suspected.
At this point I propose to give an account of a recent
experiment, of which I was the willing subject, because
it serves to bring out the difficulties of rightly interpreting
and of reconstructing ancient skulls. The question is
often asked : Are four fragments of a skull, such as
those found at Piltdown, sufficient to give us a definite
clue to the original form of skull ? Apparently not ;
at least it was clear that reconstructions by Dr Smith
Woodward and by myself indicated men of a totally
different type. To test the matter, Professor F. G.
Parsons of St Thomas's Hospital Medical School,
London, made a proposal to me, namely, that he and
AN EXPERIMENT IN RECONSTRUCTION 359
some of his fellow-anatomists should select a skull, cut
fragments from it corresponding to those found at
Piltdown, and that I should attempt to reconstruct the
entire skull from these fragments. I gladly accepted
the proposal, and resolved, however the result should
turn out, to make the experiment the subject of an
address I had promised to the fellows of the Royal
Anthropological Institute. 1
On January i6th, 1914, a fortnight before my lecture
was due, the four pieces of a skull shown in fig. 124
OCCIPITAL
FRAGMENT
c.
O 10 10 30 50
130
FIG. 124. Fragments of test skull. A, Left parietal fragment ; B, right
parietal fragment; C, left temporal ; D, occipital fragment.
came to me from Dr Douglas Derry of University
College, London. They were representatives of the
Piltdown fragments, and the task of reconstruction offered
the same difficulties. Only on one piece the occipital
fragment could any certain sign of the middle line of
the skull be detected.
In fig. 125 is given the first step in the work of re-
construction. A drawing of the fragment of the right
parietal bone is laid on a drawing of the left bone, so that
corresponding points are superimposed. It is clear that
1 Szejourn. Roy. Anthrop. Inst^ vol. xlix., July 1914.
360
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
when we attempt to build up the right and left sides
of the skull, the parietal fragments must be so placed
that the corresponding points of the right and left parietal
bones match each other on the two sides of the skull.
Our procedure is based on the fact that the skulls of all
animals are built on a symmetrical plan the right and
left halves being alike, except in minor details. By a
reference to fig. 1 1 9 it will be seen that the designers of
this experiment had succeeded in reproducing a close
parallel of the Piltdown problem.
The next step in the solution of the problem is shown
in fig. 126. The
left parietal frag-
ment being the
more complete is
LEFT
RIGHT
first built
up,
the
FIG. 125. The right parietal fragment (stippled) of t
test skull, superimposed on the left parietal, to bring measured
out the corresponding points of the two sides.
missing parts be-
ing replaced by
i . . '
plasticine or
modeller's wax.
The left half of
the skull is built
up on a board,
with
lines,
represented by
those shown in fig. 126. The lines are really those
which form the standard or conventional framework,
employed in the illustrations of this book when skulls
are viewed in profile. When the left half is completed,
the right half is then undertaken, as shown in fig. 126.
The right half of the skull is built up on a similar
framework of lines, the parietal fragment being placed
so that it corresponds in all points with the parietal in
the side already built up. If our reconstruction is right,
then, when the right and left halves are brought together,
to form the complete roof of a skull, all the corresponding
points of the two sides should fall into corresponding
positions. If the two sides are found to agree, we may
AN EXPERIMENT IN RECONSTRUCTION 361
presume that the points which were identified as marking
the middle line of the skull along the roof, from forehead
to occiput, were approximately right. If the two sides
are still discrepant, it is clear that we are wrong in our
identification of the middle line of the skull, and we have
to make other identifications and begin again.
Having thus built up that part of the roof of the skull
which is formed by the two parietal bones, the halves are
again separated and the next step taken is that shown in
. 150
50 O 50 100
RIGHTHALF LEFTHALF
FIG. 126. Showing the framework of lines on which the right and left
halves of a skull are reconstructed from fragments.
fig. 127. The left temporal bone is placed in position.
There is not much difficulty in this part of our task. On
the upper margin of the temporal there was preserved,
exactly as in the fossil skull, a point at which the temporal
and parietal bones made a true contact. Besides, even
supposing such a point of contact were absent, we could
not go far wrong, because there are so many markings
on both the outer and inner aspects of the temporal and
parietal bones to guide us to their correct apposition.
When the temporal bone is applied we obtain the first
real indication of what the original width of the skull
362
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
must have been. The temporal bone sends its petrous
portion (fig. 127) inwards on the base of the skull. The
apex of this petrous process reaches within 10 or 15 mm.
of the middle line of the skull. In the majority of
human and anthropoid skulls the distance of the apex
from the mid-line is about 1 2 mm. ; the allowance made
in the reconstructions shown in fig. 127 is 13 mm. The
application of the temporal fragment at once shows if the
former steps have been rightly made. If the parietal
75
LEFT
PARIETAL
100
50
100
Af/DDLE
UNE of
SKULL
LEFT
TEMPORAL
50 O 75 50
TEST SKULL PILTDOWN
FIG. 127. Showing the manner in which the left temporal bone is placed in
position, and the left half of the skull built up (i) in the test skull, (2) in the
Piltdown skull.
halves have been made too wide or too narrow, the apex
of the petrous bone will be too far from, or too near to,
the middle line along the base of the skull.
The identity of the problems presented by the test
and Piltdown skulls is apparent in fig. 127. We note
that in size and shape the fragments are not unlike.
Certain minor points of difference are also to be
recognised : (i) the parietal bones of the fossil skull
are nearly twice as thick as those of the test skull
the first being 8 to 1 1 mm. thick, the latter from 4 to 6
AN EXPERIMENT IN RECONSTRUCTION 363
mm.
(2) the Piltdown skull is actually the wider and
the higher, but the extra width and height are due to the
greater thickness of the bones. In the dimensions of
the brain chamber they are nearly alike. A third point
of difference must be noted. As in anthropoid skulls,
the petrous part of the temporal bone descends as it
approaches the middle line (see figs. 120 and 127),
whereas in modern skulls this process is nearly hori-
zontally placed so far as concerns its upper border.
It is clear, however, that in shape of the bones and
PILTDOWN RECONSTRUCTION
TEST RECONSTRUCTION
FIG. 128. Reconstructions of the Piltdown and test skulls viewed from
behind, to show the application and fit of the occipital fragments.
formation of the skull, Piltdown and modern man are
framed on identical lines.
We now pass on to another stage of the reconstruction,
illustrated by fig. 128. The first step consisted in
shaping the right and left parietal regions ; the second
of completing the left half of the cranium by applying
the temporal bone, and, as I ought to have added in the
previous paragraph, to the right half also the missing
right temporal bone being replaced by modelling a
duplicate of the left temporal bone. In the third stage,
the right and left halves of the skull are brought into
apposition, leaving a wide, gaping space in the hinder
wall to be filled by the occipital fragment. In fig. 128
3^4
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the occipital fragment has been placed in position. If
we have proceeded rightly in the two previous stages, then
the occipital fragment ought to slip into place, without
force or pressure, and take up a natural relationship with
neighbouring parts of the skull. In the case of the test
skull, an approximately correct result was obtained on
the third attempt ; in the case of the Piltdown skull,
where the problem is more complex, an approach to
symmetry and a correct adjustment of parts came only
after many experimental reconstructions.
How near a true reconstruction of the original form
RECONSTRUCTION. CAST OF ORIGINAL.
FIG. 129. View of the reconstruction and of the original test skull.
can be obtained by the use of such a method is apparent
in fig. 129. As regards the width and height, the
reconstruction was in close agreement with the original
skull from which the fragments given to me had been cut.
The general form was rightly reproduced. There were
certain minor errors which could have been eliminated
had there been sufficient time at my disposal. It is
obvious in fig. 129 that the right parietal fragment is
placed too low, and that the occipital bone is too high.
But as regards general outline and chief diameters the
result of this experiment was reassuring.
The criticism may be made here that in Dr Smith
Woodward's original reconstruction the right and left
AN EXPERIMENT IN RECONSTRUCTION 365
halves of the skull have the appearance of being
symmetrical (fig. 130, A). The right half, however,
is really the larger, and when we examine the details
it is at once seen, as already pointed out, that the right
and left halves of the lambdoidal suture are altogether
unlike. No animal skull has ever been seen with such
a degree of asymmetry of the two sides of the occipital
bone. Professor Elliot Smith is of opinion 1 that a slight
adjustment of the parietal fragments will remove those
defects and leave the brain capacity much of the same size
as represented in Dr Smith Woodward's reconstruction.
70 50
PILTDOWN (A) PI LT DOWN (B)
FlG. 130. Occipital view of Dr Smith Woodward's original reconstruction of the
Piltdown skull (A) contrasted with a reconstruction carried out according to
the identifications of the middle line by Professor Elliot Smith.
In fig. 130, B, another reconstruction of the Piltdown
skull is reproduced. In this reconstruction the middle
vertical line of the diagram cuts the hinder angle of
the left parietal fragment at the point where Professor
Elliot Smith believes he can detect definite signs of the
suture between the right and left parietal bones. If
that is the position of the suture for I can see no trace
nor sign of it then that point must be placed in the
middle line of our reconstruction. The left parietal, in
fig. 130, B, has been orientated on the middle line as
1 See Nature, 1913, vol. xcii. p. 318. Also Quarterly Journ. Geol. Soc^
1914, vol. Ixx. p. 95.
366 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
determined by Professor Elliot Smith, and if the adjust-
ment may be truthfully described as a slight one, its effect,
as regards the size and shape of the skull, is revolutionary.
Instead of being, as in Dr Smith Woodward's original
model, a wide skull with a depressed crown somewhat
resembling the Neanderthal form of crania it becomes
a narrow, high skull, exactly similar in outline and
tructural details to modern skulls. The " slight "
adjustment has certainly removed many of the defects
of the original model, as well as transformed the chief
character of the skull, but an inspection of fig. 130, B,
will show that there still remains a high degree of
asymmetry which can be largely removed by placing the
parts in the position shown in fig. 128. Whether the
reconstruction shown in fig. 130, B, or in fig. 128, A, is
accepted as the right one, there is one conclusion which
cannot be avoided the Piltdown skull in its occipital
aspect is a counterpart of that of modern man.
In the preceding paragraphs the narrative has strayed
in advance of the natural sequence of events. The actual
reconstruction of the experimental skull occupied me the
better part of two days. Having made exact drawings
of it, according to the method used in this book, I handed
the skull and drawings to Dr Derry at University College.
He then showed me the cast of the original the skull
of an ancient Egyptian a woman, with a peculiar form
of head and a brain capacity of 1395 c - c - The estimate
I returned of the brain capacity, namely, 1415 c.c., was
not very wide of the truth, and as regards general form
and actual dimensions I was relieved to find the method
I had followed had given except in one respect a fairly
accurate reproduction of the original.
How closely the problem of the experimental or test
skull simulates the one presented by the Piltdown
fragments becomes very apparent when we view the re-
constructed skulls from above (fig. 132). In neither skull
is there any certain mark of the middle line along the vault.
In the test skull, the sagittal suture of the vault was pre-
maturely obliterated, and, as may be seen from fig. 131,
AN EXPERIMENT IN RECONSTRUCTION 367
only at one point immediately in front of the bregma
was the middle line really represented. There were two
guiding marks to help me : (i) on the under surface of
the projecting frontal fragment in front of the bregma
(fig. 131) an indication of the great blood-sinus which
passes backwards under the middle line of the vault
could be detected ; (2) I surmised, as proved to be the
case, that the sagittal suture, between the right and left
parietal bones, turned a little to the left as it reached the
so
SO O 50
CAST OF TEST SKULL.
75
50
RECONSTRUCTION.
Vertex.
FIG. 131. Drawing of the vault of the test skull, with a corresponding
drawing of the reconstruction.
bregma. It was only on such a supposition that I could
account for a trace of an oblique suture on the hinder
part of the frontal projection apparently the commence-
ment of the coronal suture of the right side. The
position of the lambda (fig. 131) was also rightly placed.
The vascular markings under the hinder angle of the
parietal fragment, and the fact that the lambda is rarely
placed more than 10 mm. in front of the occipital end of
the skull when orientated on the plane described in this
book showed me that at least 15 mm. had been cut
368
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
away from the hinder end of the left parietal bone
(% 130-
As may be seen in fig. 132, the markings presented by
the Piltdown skull, in the region of the bregma, are very
similar to those of the test skull. The left coronal suture
can be definitely traced to the broken edge behind the
frontal projection. On the hinder margin of the frontal
projection itself can be traced a short part of an oblique
suture (fig. 132). It is not unusual in modern skulls,
especially in large specimens showing a considerable
50 70
190
190
PILTDOWN TEST RECONSTRUCTION
FIG. 132. Reconstructions of the Piltdown and test skulls viewed from above.
degree of asymmetry in the conformation of the right
and left halves, to find a forward inclination at the com-
mencement of the right coronal suture (see fig. 135, B).
In such cases, as in the test skull, but often to a greater
degree, the anterior end of the sagittal suture diverges to
the left of the middle line. On the under surface of the
frontal projection of the Piltdown fragment we also find
an indication of the middle line in the form of a ridge-
like elevation. The corresponding aspect of the test
skull is marked by a groove, as is usually the case in
modern skulls. But a median elevation of the skull,
fitting into a groove or depression between the right and
AN EXPERIMENT IN RECONSTRUCTION 369
left frontal lobes of the brain, is not a rare occurrence in
even modern skulls. In the reconstruction of the Pilt-
down skull, shown in fig. 132, the frontal projection is
so placed as to pass 1 5 mm. to the right of the middle
line of the vault. At the hinder end of the reconstruc-
tion it will be seen that I have placed the lambda 15 mm.
in front of the occiput. A fragment, at least 15 mm. in
extent, is missing from the hinder end of the left parietal
bone just in front of the lambda. In so thick a skull it
is probable that the lambda was situated as far forwards
as is shown in fig. 132.
The similarity of the Piltdown and Egyptian skulls,
seen in the reconstructions represented in fig. 132, leaves
us in no doubt that in both cases the head was built on
similar lines at least as regards the part of the cranium
containing the brain. In actual width the Piltdown is
the greater, because of the thickness of the bones ; the
brain chamber in both is approximately of the same
width. As we have already seen, Professor Elliot Smith's
determination of the middle line of the vault is slightly
different from that shown in the preceding illustrations.
In fig. 133 are reproduced corresponding drawings made
from Dr Smith Woodward's original reconstruction and
a reconstruction made with the parts placed on the middle
line of the vault as identified by Professor Elliot Smith.
In the latter reconstruction (fig. 133, B) the middle line is
only a few millimetres to the left of that represented in
the Piltdown reconstruction shown in fig. 132. In each
case the size and form of the skull as viewed from above
are those we are familiar with in modern skulls. On the
other hand, the upper aspect of the skull of Eoanthropus,
as originally modelled by Dr Smith Woodward, is
altogether peculiar in its form. It is wide and short,
the malar processes on each side of the forehead appear
projecting, almost as in apes, while the temporal lines
converge towards the middle line, somewhat after the
manner seen in the skulls of young anthropoids (fig. 134).
With the correct apposition of parts all those peculiar
features disappear, and the characters seen in modern
24
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
skulls take their place. Both Professor Elliot Smith and
Dr Smith Woodward locate the lambda at the posterior
extremity of the parietal fragment (fig. 133).
From an examination of the vault we can learn a great
deal concerning the peculiar cranial characters of the
Piltdown race. The condition of certain parts may be
described as ultra-modern a condition which we scarcely
expected to meet with in a very ancient form of man.
We can best realise the significance of such features by
70
PILTDOWN (A) PILTDOWN(B)
FIG. 133. Drawing of the upper aspect of the Piltdown skull as reconstructed
by Dr Smith Woodward (A), and a reconstruction based on the identification
of the middle line by Professor Elliot Smith (B).
examining their degree of development in the cranial
vault of an anthropoid ape such as a female chimpanzee,
the least brutal of the anthropoids in appearance (fig. 134).
The forehead of the chimpanzee, just above the orbits, is
crossed by a strong bar of bone the supra-orbital ridge
or torus. The projecting outer ends of the bar form the
bony projections known in human anatomy as the external
angular or malar processes, the ends of which can be felt
distinctly at the outer margin of our own foreheads.
Two great bars of bone the zygomatic arches pass from
the cheeks to the base of the skull in front of the ears.
100
AN EXPERIMENT IN RECONSTRUCTION 371
All these outlying parts of the skull form a bony
scaffolding from which the muscles acting on the jaws
gain an extensive origin. The brain case of the ape is
small and does not provide space enough for the origin
of the great muscles of mastication. Hence the outlying
bony framework.
Before leaving the chimpanzee's skull, two other points
should be noted :
(i) that the face
is so projecting, so 150
thrown forwards or
prognathous, that
it is very appar-
ent in front of
the supra- orbital
ridge ; (2) but-
tresses or bony
flanges are thrown
out around the
hinder part of the
skull to increase
the area for attach-
ment of the
muscles of the
neck. In the chim-
panzee, then, we
see a primitive
condition, one in
Which the brain is p IG< i^ 4 ._ Skull of a young female chimpanzee viewed
Small it Varies in from above. The skull was set on the plane described
f on p. 378.
size rrom 300 to
400 c.c., a fourth of the human size and in which
bony scaffolding and processes are thrown out to meet
the needs of a brutal musculature. The various features
just enumerated in the chimpanzee's skull are also
represented in that strange, mid-Pleistocene species of
humanity Neanderthal man (fig. 135, A). The great
supra-orbital bar is apparent no development of this
kind has ever been seen in a modern human skull ending
372
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
in strong and prominent external angular processes. The
zygomatic arches projected outwards, coming clearly into
view when the skull is looked at from above. The great
increase in the length and width of the cranial cavity in
Neanderthal skulls renders those brutal features much
less apparent than in the chimpanzee. There is another
simian feature in the shape of the Neanderthal cranial
cavity. In Neanderthal man we have seen that the brain
cavity was compressed from above downwards, as in
anthropoid apes. It will also be noted, if one surveys
FiG. 135. A. The vault of a Neanderthal skull, showing the simian form of
eyebrow ridges. B. The vault of a modern skull, showing well-developed
eyebrow ridges of the type usual in present-day races, and also an asym-
metrical condition in the region of the bregma, as in the Piltdown skull.
the vault of the chimpanzee's skull from front to back,
that the cranial cavity increases in width until almost the
occipital region is reached ; then it contracts abruptly.
The same configuration may be noted in Neanderthal
skulls. The significance of this feature is not known,
but it is a simian character which is absent in the skulls
of modern man and also in the Piltdown specimen. In
these skulls the greatest width is reached above the
region of the ear, some distance in front of the occiput
(compare A and B in fig. 135).
In modern skulls the dimensions of the supra-orbital
AN EXPERIMENT IN RECONSTRUCTION 373
ridges, external angular processes, and zygomatic arches
have the form and dimensions shown in fig. 135, B.
These processes are of a similar shape and size in ancient
skulls of the modern type. The outer part, which ends
in the external angular process, is demarcated more or less
sharply from the elevations of the brow ridges situated
over the root of the nose. The external angular process
projects only 5 or 6 mm. beyond the contour of the
forehead and brain case.
We now turn to the Piltdown skull (fig. 132). Only
one part is preserved of the supra-orbital region, that is
the external angular process of the left side. Although
this process is thicker and stouter than in any modern
skull I have ever seen, it is not projecting or prominent.
Indeed, as will be seen when the skull is viewed from
the front, it does not project more than 3 or 4 mm.
beyond the lateral contour of the forehead (fig. 178,
p. 482). That is exactly the opposite condition to what
we expected to find in a very ancient representative of
humanity. As regards this feature, the Piltdown skull
is ultra-modern. It is just such a condition as we should
expect to find correlated with a large brain.
A view of the skull from above gives us an opportunity
of forming an opinion on two of its chief dimensions
its length and width. In Dr Smith Woodward's recon-
struction the maximum length is 190 mm. approximately
the same as in an average modern Englishman. In the
same reconstruction the width is represented as 1 50 mm.
a wide skull, 8 or 10 mm. more than is usual amongst
English people. The thickness of the skull must be
taken into account in estimating these dimensions ; we
must reduce each of these measurements by 10 mm. to
make them comparablewith the more slender modern skull.
Taking Dr Smith Woodward's measurements, 190 for
length and 150 for width, we see that the width is 79
per cent, of the length. The Piltdown skull is thus on
the verge of being classed amongst the round -heads the
brachycephalic group of humanity, with a width proportion
of 80 per cent, or more.
374 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
We have always expected to find long-headedness as a
character of ancient man ; it is so among most of the
skulls of Pleistocene age, but not invariably so. In the
reconstruction of the Piltdown skull shown in fig. 132
the length is represented as 194 mm., slightly more than
in Dr Smith Woodward's reconstruction. There is this
difference, however : I have reduced the allowance for
the forehead and increased the length of the occipital
region (figs. 132 and 133). The maximum width is also
the same 150 mm. The width is thus 78 per cent, of
the length. In relative and absolute measurements of
length and width my reconstruction differs very little
from that of Dr Smith Woodward. Thus, as exemplified
in the specimen discovered, the Piltdown race tended
towards round-headedness. In anthropoid apes the actual
cranial cavity is of the round or short form. The real
significance of round and long heads we do not know ;
brachycephaly is found in anthropoid apes and in the
most highly evolved of modern human races.
Before leaving the upper aspect of the Piltdown skull,
there is one other feature which deserves mention. In
figs. 134 and 135 the temporal lines are indicated ; they
are arranged approximately symmetrically on each side
of the skull. Now, the temporal ridges have an important
bearing on the problem we have in hand. They will be
observed to commence at the external angular processes
of the frontal bone, and to sweep backwards on each side
of the skull, crossing the coronal suture and ultimately
terminating behind, above the ear. The lines limit, on
each side of the skull, that area from which the temporal
muscles take their origin the chief muscles which act
on the lower jaw. With a large jaw we expect to find a
large and extended temporal muscle. If the muscles are
large, then we should expect these lines to reach well up-
wards on the side of the skull, towards the middle line.
Nature is economical in her use of material ; the bones
of the skull have to enclose and form a brain chamber ;
they have atao to serve as a surface from which the
muscles of mastication take their origin. If the brain
AN EXPERIMENT IN RECONSTRUCTION 375
cavity is small, as in the chimpanzee, then the muscles
may occupy the whole lateral aspect of the skull, and the
temporal lines may actually meet along the middle line
of the roof of the skull. As the brain cavity enlarges, a
larger space becomes available than the temporal muscles
need, and therefore the temporal lines are placed at a
distance from the middle line. If the brain cavity
becomes very large, these lines are widely separated from
the middle line. What, then, was the condition in the
Piltdown skull ? In Dr Smith Woodward's reconstruction
the temporal lines reach within 40 mm. of the middle
line ; in the modern English skull with a capacity of 1425
c.c., shown in fig. 115, p. 334, the lines reach within 50
mm. of the middle line. With a capacity of only 1070,
as estimated by Dr Smith Woodward, and with such a
long and projecting jaw as he found with the skull, we
expect the temporal muscles to be large and the temporal
lines to ascend further on the sides of the skull than they
actually do if the skull were a small one. We have seen
that the middle line cannot be as in Dr Smith Woodward's
reconstruction ; when the parts are placed so that the
sutures are symmetrical we find that the temporal lines
are not 40 mm. but 52 mm. from the middle line. In
the Dartford skull, with a capacity of 1750 c.c. and with
a lower jaw which we may presume was not much larger
than in us, the distance is only 70 mm. All those facts
are in harmony with the other evidence I have brought
forward, namely, that we are dealing with a skull with a
fairly large brain capacity.
In this chapter we have surveyed the Piltdown skull
from two aspects from behind and above. The result
of that survey, and the comparison of the fragments of
the skull with corresponding parts of modern skulls,
convince students of anatomy that in general conforma-
tion, in actual dimensions, and in brain capacity the head
of the Piltdown race was remarkably similar to that of
modern races.
CHAPTER XXIII
HEADS ANCIENT AND MODERN IN PROFILE
IT is more than six years now since Colonel Willoughby
Verner brought me, from a cave in Spain, some
fragments of a human skeleton. They were still thickly
encrusted by the stalagmite which covered the floor of the
cave, and when struck they resounded exactly as if they
had been made of porcelain. They were petrified true
fossils. Colonel Verner discovered the cave ; it had
never been explored before at least in modern times.
On the walls were crude hieroglyphs. Nothing was
found to give a clue to the date at which the cave had
been inhabited or when the human remains came to be
deposited there. Among the few fragments were the
upper ends of both right and left thigh bones of a small
person, probably under 5 feet (1500 mm.) in height,
truly human in shape, but with peculiar features which
were new to me. It was therefore important to find out
more about this individual to discover the characters of
the head but all that was available for this purpose were
the left temporal bone, the hinder half of the left parietal
bone, and a fragment of the right. My attempt to
reconstruct the skull from these fragments taught me a
great deal. I saw that it would be possible to reconstruct
the whole skull from these fragments with some approach
to accuracy, but before such a task could be carried out a
new method of studying skulls must be first elaborated,
and then applied. The same problem confronted me
when I obtained the cranial fragment found near Bury
St Edmunds. ' It came to be a matter of great import-
376
HEADS IN PROFILE 377
ance to know what kind of person this Bury St Edmunds
fragment belonged to, for it is the only human fragment
so far found in England belonging to the very remote
mid-Pleistocene Acheulean age.
When I began my investigations one point became
very evident ; the method we employ in measuring and
recording modern skulls and heads was useless. For
that purpose we give the head or skull a definite pose ;
we place it so that the ear-hole and the lower margin
of the orbit are on a level, on the same plane the
Frankfurt plane. In ancient skulls the lower part of the
orbit is nearly always broken away ; often the temporal
bone, with the necessary ear-passage, is missing. As a
rule little more than the vault of fossil skulls is found ;
therefore in the vault we must find the base line from
which we are to reconstruct the whole skull. Now on
the vault there are two very definite points which, at
first sight, would seem to serve our purpose. At the
front end, on the lower brink of the forehead, just over
the root of the nose, is the projection or point known as
the glabella (fig. 136). At the hinder end, just where
the vault slopes down to join the neck, is a well-marked
projection the inion or external occipital protuberance
(fig. 136, O). A line drawn from the glabella in front to
the inion behind would seem to provide us with the kind
of base line we need for the reconstruction of the missing
parts of the skull. I could not accept these points
because I knew them to be at least in certain skulls-
movable and variable in position as regards the brain,
and the points needed for a base line must be fixed, at
least as regards their relationship to the brain. In the
young anthropoid ape both glabella and inion are low
down near the base of the skull. The vault of the skull
rises high above a base line joining those two points.
As the young ape grows the muscles of mastication
increase in size, the neck increases in thickness, with the
result that the glabella and inion ascend towards the
vault of the skull (fig. 136). Hence in the adult the
vault of the skull appears to be lower than in the young.
378
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
If we used the inio-glabellar base line we should infer that
the brain of the adult was much smaller than that of the
young. The same change occurs, but in a less degree, in
human skulls. Hence we must look for a more fixed
base than that supplied by the inion and glabella.
Ultimately the base line which I selected was one
which roughly corresponds with the lower margin of the
cerebrum or brain proper. It is plain that the secret we
wish to wring from such fragments of skulls as may
FIG. 136. Profile of the skull of a chimpanzee to show the plane of
orientation. The outline of the brain chamber is stippled.
come to light is the kind of brain they enclosed. Our
methods should therefore be framed with that object in
view. Now the hinder lower angle of the parietal bone
is a wonderfully persistent part of the skull. To that
angle is attached the horizontal partition which separates
the cerebrum above from the cerebellum below, not
only in man, but in all animals allied to man. The
posterior inferior angle of the parietal the " asterion "
as the point is named is one which will serve well the
purposes of a standard or base line for the hinder end of
HEADS IN PROFILE
379
the skull. At the front end of the skull it is more
difficult to get such a point as we want. The point
needed should correspond with the lower limit of the
frontal lobe of the cerebrum. If the base of the front
part of the skull is preserved in the region of the
presphenoid, then we have the level or plane which will
serve our purpose. A line drawn along the skull from
the level of the presphenoid to the asterion would give
us just such a base line as we need, for between that base
line and the vault of the skull lies almost the whole .of
the cerebrum. The anterior part of the base, however, is
usually broken away or decayed, and we have to fall back
on some other point. The one which seems to me most
suitable is the external angular process of the frontal, or,
to be more precise, the junction of this process with the
malar bone (fig. 137). The base line, then, on which we
propose to orientate a cranium for examination is one
which begins anteriorly at or near the fronto-malar
junction and passes across the hinder lower angle of
the parietal behind (fig. 141).
Seeing we are to place so much reliance on the external
angular process and its junction with the malar bone, we
must look closely at its relationship to the brain. In
fig. 137, B, the relationship of this process to the brain is
shown in a modern English skull. The angular process,
marked by two **, is 5 mm. (i inch) above the level of
that part of the base of the skull on which the frontal
lobes of the brain rest. Numerous observations on
modern human skulls have shown that the outer end
of the process the frontal-malar junction fluctuates a
little above or a little below the level of the brain ; but
for the purpose we have in view it is a reliable enough
guide and gives us approximately the anterior brain level.
This rule holds good, not only for skulls of the modern
type, but also for those ancient ones of the Neander-
thal type. Strong and massive as the angular process
is in the Gibraltar skull, its outer end is a fairly accurate
index to the level of the basal parts of the frontal lobes
(fig. 137, A). When, however, we examine the condition
3 8
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
in anthropoid apes we find a different relationship (figs.
136 and 138, A). The outer end of the process lies
20 mm. (|- inch) above the base of the frontal lobes.
If we draw our base line at the fronto-malar level, we
should greatly underestimate the brain capacity of an
anthropoid skull. An anthropoid condition is one we
must be prepared to meet in a primitive human skull,
such as the Piltdown, especially when we keep in mind
the simian characters of the lower jaw. So far as concerns
FRONTAL BONE
GLABELLA
GIBRALTAR.
MOD. ENGLISH.
FIG. 137. A. The relationship of the external angular or malar process to
the level of the base of the frontal lobes of the brain in the Gibraltar
(Neanderthal) skull. B. The same relationship in a modern English skull.
the skull itself, we have met only with the true characters
of a human skull, inclining decidedly towards the modern
type. We expect, then, that the angular process of the
frontal will be about on a level with the base of the
frontal lobe. But we must make certain of this relation-
ship. Now, there is a reliable method of telling whether
the external angular process is situated as in anthropoids
or as in man. If the reader will examine the figure of
the modern English skull (fig. 137, B), he will see the
various bones which form the side of the skull behind
the angular process the area which is covered by the
HEADS IN PROFILE 381
temporal muscle and is known as the temporal fossa.
In this area the coronal suture descends between the
frontal and parietal bones until it ends in a transverse
line or suture which separates the sphenoid the part of
that bone known as the " great wing " from the frontal
and parietal bones. It will be further noted that the
suture between the angular process and malar is con-
tinued backwards between frontal bone and malar. In
the English skull the trend of the fronto-malar suture
is backwards and upwards. In the anthropoid skull,
however, the fronto-malar suture descends almost verti-
cally (see fig. 138, A). The vertical position of this
suture tells us at once that the angular process is in the
anthropoid position, and therefore lies some distance above
brain level. A very slight degree of the anthropoid con-
dition is present in the Gibraltar skull (fig. 137, A) and to
a considerable degree in Pithecanthropus (fig. 90). What
is the condition in the Piltdown skull ? There can be
no doubt about this point ; the sutures necessary for a
solution of the question are present (fig. 138). The
fronto-malar suture, shorter than ever seen in a human
skull hitherto, is truly horizontal in direction. As viewed
in the actual specimen, its trend is backwards with a
tendency to ascend. We may be certain, then, that
when we select the external angular process of the
frontal as marking the lowest level of the frontal lobes
we are using a base line which will give us reliable
results.
We have evidence from another source which tells us
we are proceeding on a safe basis. The external angular
process holds a definite relationship to an important part
of the frontal lobe, that part known as the third or
inferior frontal convolution, which is generally regarded as
directly connected with the acquisition and use of speech.
The chief speech-centre is supposed to be represented
in that convolution. The third frontal convolution lies
directly behind the angular process ; in many heads a
distinct elevation or " bump " marks the position of this
important area of the brain. The inferior frontal con-
3 82
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
volution is situated at a higher level than the more
deeply placed parts of the frontal lobe. In a modern
skull it lies \ an inch above the base line (see fig. 137, B,
where the lower margin of the third frontal convolution
is indicated by a stippled line). In the Piltdown skull
that part of the roof of the eye-socket on which the third
frontal convolution rests is preserved ; we therefore know
the level of that convolution in the Piltdown skull
(fig. 138, B). If we allow for the greater thickness of
the skull bones, the relationship of the inferior con-
volution of the frontal lobe to the external angular
FRONTAL LOBE-
TEMPORAL L//VE
GLABELLA
OR BIT
PARIETAL
ORANG.
PILTDOWN.
FIG. 138. The frontomalar region in the skull of an orang
and in the Piltdown specimen.
process is almost the same in the Piltdown skull as in
modern man (figs. 137, 138). In the fronto-malar
region the characters of the Piltdown skull are not
simian ; indeed, as will be shown in the next paragraph,
they are rather ultra-modern.
The temporal line a line or ridge marking the
anterior limit or space from which the temporal muscle
takes its origin descends on the angular process (fig.
138). As we have already shown, that process itself
must be regarded as part of the bony scaffolding thrown
out as a basis for the apparatus of mastication. Now
the relationship of the temporal lines to the frontal lobe
HEADS IN PROFILE 383
of the brain is a matter worth our attention. When the
anthropoid skull is examined in true profile it will be
seen (figs. 136 and 137, A) that the temporal line is situated
in front of the anterior limit or frontal pole of the brain.
In the Gibraltar skull this line descends behind the frontal
pole, but only 8 mm. Q inch) behind it. In modern
English skulls this is also the case, but the temporal line
is still further back, from to f of an inch (fig. 137).
Now in the Piltdown skull even supposing the forehead
is curtailed and made vertical the temporal lines are at
least 15 mm. (-| inch) behind the frontal poles. The
relationship of the temporal lines to the frontal poles of
the brain is thus the opposite of simian ; the line is
further back than in the average modern skull. Indeed,
a glance at the various figures just given (figs. 137 and
138) will show that the frontal part of the temporal lines
in the Piltdown skull are more vertical have a different
contour to any hitherto seen in a human or anthropoid
skull. In all human skulls, ancient and modern, the
external angular process bends backwards and downwards
as it joins the malar or cheek bone. In the Piltdown
skull the terminal backward bend is almost absent ; it
ends abruptly, pointing outwards.
I know that I am trying the patience of my readers
when I labour these points. My excuse is that this
fragmentary skull is the only document from which at
the present time we can learn anything of a race of
mankind which is removed from us by twenty thousand
or thirty thousand generations of human lives. We have
to interpret that document, to see how far our modern
methods of interpretation will give us a glimpse of the
mental status of man at such a remote period. We are
making some headway, and it is clear that a region of the
head which lies so close to the brain centres of speech is
one which we must explore to its full value. I propose,
therefore, we should view this region, not only as seen
with the head in profile, but also from above. In fig.
139 a horizontal section has exposed the anterior part of
the floor of the skull of a chimpanzee, that part on which
384
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the left frontal lobe rests. The impress of the third or
inferior frontal convolution is seen. Far in front of the
fossa or impress for this convolution is seen the external
angular process of the frontal. On the right-hand side
of the figure is shown a corresponding section of the
Gibraltar skull. The external angular process is in front
of the third frontal convolution. If one could conceive
a great increase in the bulk of the frontal lobes of the
TORUS SUPRA: OR &:
CHIMPANZEE. GIBRALTAR.
FIG. 139. Section across the anterior end of the left side of a chimpanzee's skull
and the right side of the Gibraltar skull, to show the relationship of the
external angular process to the third frontal convolution.
chimpanzee's brain it is easy to see how the condition in
the Gibraltar skull might be evolved from a simian
arrangement. In fig. 140 the condition of parts in the
Piltdown skull is contrasted with that of a modern
specimen. The external angular process is less prominent
in the Piltdown skull ; it is also situated rather further
back, more directly over the third frontal convolution
than in the modern skull. It is clear that as regards this
relationship the Piltdown skull is the opposite of simian.
As regards the development and relationships of the
HEADS IN PROFILE
385
external angular process, modern man is rather more
simian than Piltdown man.
Having thus established a base line from which we can
work, we are now in a position to reconstruct and inter-
pret the lateral aspect of the Piltdown skull. We shall
see what this ancient man looked like when his head was
viewed in profile the most instructive of all views to a
student of anthropology. The points needed for a base
line the external angular process and posterior interior
angle of the parietal bone are preserved and can be
S 1 :** FRONTAL
y 4 FRONT,
60 50 40 30 20 10 O 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
PILTDOWN. MODERN.
FIG. 140. Horizontal section of the left frontal bone of the Piltdown skull, and
of the right frontal region of a modern skull, to show the relationship of the
external angular process to the third frontal convolution.
defined with precision. It was also on this base line that
the experimental reconstruction, described in the previous
chapter, was carried out. That experiment throws a clear
light on the nature and dimensions of the Piltdown skull,
and hence it is necessary for us to return to it once more.
In fig. 141 are shown drawings of the original Egyptian
skull and of the reconstruction as seen from the side. The
reconstruction reproduces the height of the original with
exactitude ; in both, the vault rises just above the upper
limit of the frame, and is thus a little more than 100 mm.
(102 mm.) above the base line. The upper margin of
25
3 86
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the ear-hole is 1 5 mm. below the base line, and therefore
the height of the vault above the ear-hole is 117 mm.,
a very common measurement in the skulls of modern
Englishmen. Turning now to fig. 142, where the test
FIG. 141. Profile of the test skull and of the reconstructed skull, orientated
on the lines described in the text.
reconstruction is compared with the Piltdown skull, the
reader will be impressed with the degree of resemblance
which they show. In the ancient skull the vault rises to
the same height ; the ear-hole is at the same level. The
auricular height of the Piltdown skull is approximately
200 \50 -, 100 50 O 200 , 50 7 100 SO
FIG. 142. Profile of the reconstruction of the test skull compared to
the reconstruction of the Piltdown skull.
the mean for modern Englishmen 117 mm. But a
deduction has to be made ; the vault of the fossil skull
is so thick that we must reduce the height by about
5 mm. to obtain a comparable measurement. In the
Gibraltar skull the auricular height of the vault is 98 mm.,
with no allowance made for the thickness of the vault.
HEADS IN PROFILE 387
In the latter skull the vault rises 88 mm. above the base
line ; in Pithecanthropus the vault was very low, only
74 mm. above the base line (fig. 144). The importance
of the auricular height as an index of brain development
is very apparent ; the more the brain expands, the larger
it becomes, the more is the vault of the skull lifted above
the base line. As regards height of vault, the Piltdown
skull is in agreement with skulls of the modern type.
Every well-planned experiment is instructive, and in
this respect the one which my colleagues designed for me
formed no exception. It will be seen from fig. 141 that
my attempt to restore the forehead was a complete
failure. In the original skull the upper part of the
forehead is prominent, while the lower part, above the
root of the nose, recedes, thus falling short of the
conventional anterior limit the i9O-mm. line. The
reconstruction shows exactly the opposite conditions, the
total length of the skull being nearly 5 mm. more than it
should have been. I made an unpardonable blunder in
two respects. In the first place, I had concluded from
the rather large size of the mastoid process placed just
behind the ear that the fragments I had to put together
were parts of a man's skull, and therefore gave the
reconstructed skull the prominent eyebrow ridges of the
male. If I had looked carefully, I should have seen that
the area for the attachment of the neck in the skull I
had to reconstruct (fig. 141) was small a characteristic
female mark, for the neck of a woman is more slender
than that of a man. The contour of the boss on the
frontal bone, too, should have wakened a suspicion of a
forehead which was drawn inwards, not prominent, in
the region of the eyebrows.
This error again drew my attention to the reconstruc-
tion of the Piltdown forehead. I was all along alive to
the fact that we have as yet no means of drawing any
accurate conclusion as to the shape of forehead from so
small a fragment of it as was found by Mr Dawson at
Piltdown, but I supposed, with a set of teeth and a
mandible so well developed as those which belong to
388
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
Eoanthropus, that the eyebrow ridges must have been
prominent. It will be seen from fig. 142 that I
originally carried the forehead almost to the 2oo-mm.
line, giving the skull a total length of 200 mm. I am
now convinced of that being too much. In every form
of reconstruction of the skull of Eoanthropus one feature
is always in evidence the height and prominence of the
upper part of the frontal bone. The curve given by the
contour of the profile in front of the bregma (figs.
142, 143) suggests not a low and receding forehead as
in Neanderthal man, but a high forehead, prominent in
its upper part, and rather retracted than projecting as it
PILTDOWN (A) PILTDOWN (B)
FIG. 143. Two reconstructions of the Piltdown skull. A, By the Author ;
B, from the model by Dr Smith Woodward.
merges in the eyebrow region. Hence, in revising my
attempts to obtain the true form of the head of
Eoanthropus in the light of my experiment in skull
reconstruction, I remodelled the eyebrow region, making
the maximum length of the skull 194 mm. (fig. 143).
One other point may be mentioned here, raised by the
mistake I made regarding the sex of the test skull that
of an ancient Egyptian woman. In every race of mankind
there occur men with a rather feminine conformation, and
women who, in form of face and thickness of neck, are
rather masculine in character. In every collection of a
hundred human skulls there are eight or ten of doubtful
sex. Does the Piltdown specimen belong to this un-
determinate group ? We cannot tell until we have
HEADS IN PROFILE 389
more than one specimen at our disposal. The size of
the mastoid process suggests a male, but the small area
for the attachment of the neck is strongly in favour of
the skull being that of a woman. The small part of the
supra-orbital ridge, preserved over the outer angle of
the left orbit, is stout, but neither long nor prominent.
In the male we expect a greater supra-orbital develop-
ment than in the female. The supra-orbital ridge of
Eoanthropus suggests a woman's rather than a man's
skull. The mandible is big ; so are the teeth ; there is
a prominently pointed canine tooth. These characters
rather suggest a male. But if they are female characters,
then in the male we shall find even a greater simian
development of the teeth, for amongst the great
anthropoids males are provided with larger and more
prominent teeth than females. On the whole, the
evidence favours the opinion that the Piltdown skull is
that of a woman.
The importance of the small occipital fragment becomes
again apparent in the reconstruction of the hinder part of
the head (fig. 141). In the test skull part of the suture
line for the occipital bone was preserved on the left
parietal bone. The same suture line was also preserved
on the occipital fragment of the right side. By reversing
the fragment and transposing it from the right to the left
side indications are obtained for the reconstruction of the
hinder part of the test head (see fig. 141). In the case
of the Piltdown specimen the occipital fragment gives
us a clue to the width and backward projection of the
occipital region (fig. 142).
The result of our examination of the Piltdown skull in
profile has been to emphasise its close resemblance in size
and conformation to average skulls of the modern type.
But there are also differences. Some of these have been
mentioned the thickness of the bones, the form of the
angular or malar process of the frontal bone, the lofty
character of the frontal bone in the upper part of the
forehead. Two other peculiar features require mention.
One of these is shown in fig. 142. The temporal line,
390 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
which commences on the angular process of the frontal
bone (fig. 138), ascends vertically for some distance on
the side of the Piltdown skull before turning backwards.
In all other kinds of human skulls this line bends back-
wards almost as soon as it begins to ascend. This
peculiar feature may be due to a vertical character of the
forehead, or to a peculiarity in the form and manner of
action of the temporal muscle. The other strange feature
of the Piltdown skull, as seen in profile, is the vertical
disposition of the suture between the occipital and
parietal bones (fig. I43). 1
We have now reached one of the points towards which
we have been working. We have examined and verified
the contours and measurements of the Piltdown skull
from behind, above, and now from the side, with the view
of obtaining those measurements which give us a clue to
the brain capacity. We have seen that the width of the
skull is 150 mm., its length, 194 mm., its auricular height,
117 mm. Before we can apply to these measurements
the formulae which are used for estimating the brain
capacity of the modern skull we must make a reduction
on account of the thickness of the bones reducing the
length to 190 mm., the width to 140 mm., the auricular
height to 112 mm. The formula 2 I am to employ to
obtain the brain capacity is that worked out by Dr Alice
Lee and Professor Karl Pearson. When that formula is
applied the result is 190 x 140 x 1 12 x -4 + 206 = 1397 c.c.
a brain capacity which is almost the same as that of the
Egyptian woman's skull which formed the subject of our
experimental reconstruction. The female skulls found
in the plague pits of Whitechapel, in the east of London,
had, on an average, a brain capacity of 1300 c.c. ; the male,
1477 c.c. 3 The brain capacity of the Piltdown skull is
thus above that of the average modern Englishwoman,
and below that of the modern Englishman. The actual
1 See also p. 495.
2 Phil. Trans., 1899, vol. 196 A, pp. 225-264.
3 See Dr W. R. Macdonell's researches, Biometrika, 1904, vol. iii.
p. 191.
HEADS IN PROFILE 391
brain cast, taken from the interior of my earlier re-
construction of the Piltdown skull, measured a little over
1500 c.c., but in my earlier reconstructions I reproduced
the wide forehead seen in Dr Smith Woodward's model.
When a reduction is made on this account, and also
because of an overestimate in length, the capacity of the
skull of Eoanthropus may be safely calculated as reaching
1400 c.c., an amount equal to the average capacity of
modern Europeans. If Dr Smith Woodward and I are
right as regards sex, then in the male of the Piltdown
race we may expect to find a brain capacity of at least
1550 c.c. That result is perhaps surprising when we
take the simian characters of the lower jaw attributed
to this skull into account, and still more unexpected
to those who suppose man's evolution has been a
consecutive and continuous series of steps upwards to
his present estate. We must not infer that the facts are
wrong it is more likely our preconceptions which are at
fault.
So far, we have confined our attention to a general
survey of the Piltdown head in profile and satisfied our-
selves that we are dealing with one which falls easily,
so far as dimensions are concerned, within the modern
standard. To appreciate its peculiar features we must go
further afield and see how it compares with other ancient
types, such as those found at Galley Hill, at La Chapelle-
aux-Saints, and at Trinil in Java. In fig. 144 are set side
by side, within squares of exactly the same size, the
three skulls just named, with the skull of Eoanthropus
for comparison. The skull from Galley Hill we may
dismiss with a brief note. It represents the modern type
of man, and from the analysis just given it will be seen
to have many points in common with the skull of
Eoanthropus. As may be observed in fig. 144, there are
also many structural points in which they differ. The
La Chapelle skull is the largest of the Neanderthal type
yet discovered. The big brain which once filled it was
living, thinking, and dreaming dreams before the last bout
of the glacial period held Central Europe in its grip.
392
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
When orientated in the same manner as the Piltdown skull,
and placed within the same framework of lines, we see
(fig. 144) that we are dealing with a man with a massive
head. The vault, however, is relatively low, it barely
reaches the loo-mm. line ; the great supra-orbital buttress
FIG. 144. Four types of human skulls compared Galley Hill, Piltdown,
La Chapelle-aux- Saints, and Pithecanthropus.
projects 8 mm. in front of the anterior 2oo-mm. line.
We are not surprised when we learn from Professor
Boule that the brain of this fossil man measured 1625 c.c.
fully 200 c.c. more than the Piltdown brain, and
therefore well beyond the average for modern man. We
are not concerned at present with the peculiar attachment
HEADS IN PROFILE 393
of the Neanderthal head to the neck, the absence of the
pyramidal projecting mastoid processes, nor the manner
in which the inion rises high above our base line
(fig. 144). In the Piltdown skull as in the modern, the
inion lies below the level of the base line (fig. 143).
The features we shall fix our attention on are those
relating to the formation of the brain case, so far as the
side wall of the skull is concerned.
Five bones enter into the formation of this wall the
frontal, parietal, and occipital along the vault, and two
others below, near the base, the temporal and great wing
of the sphenoid. The two bones named last merit our
attention first. They cover the greater part of the
temporal lobe of the brain, and hence give us some clue
to its size and development. In the ape's skull (see fig.
136, p. 378) the upper margins of these bones seldom rise
more than 10 mm. above the base or standard line. The
upper margin of the temporal bone where it overlaps the
lower margin of the parietal at the squamous suture is
nearly straight. The great wing of the sphenoid is com-
paratively small. All those features are indications of a
small temporal lobe to the brain. In the large Neanderthal
skull of La Chapelle the upper margin of the temporal bone
is more curved than in the ape, and rises 20 mm. above the
base line. The great wing of the sphenoid attains a wide
development. In modern skulls, and particularly in the
ancient one from Piltdown, the upper margin of the
temporal is highly arched ; it rises about 30 mm. above
the base line. In the Piltdown skull we know that the
great wing of the sphenoid must have been of wide
extent, for the impress it has left on the lower margin of
the parietal and of the frontal bones is 35 mm. long, and
clearly demarcated (fig. 143). The great wing of the
sphenoid is larger than in modern skulls of a moderate
capacity. A survey of those features alone is sufficient
to make us realise that the Piltdown race was in some
respects highly evolved at least had departed widely
from simian lines of evolution.
In order that the reader may have an opportunity of
394 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
comparing the profiles of a complete set of ancient
types, I have included the most primitive form of
fossil skull to which the term human can be applied
that of Pithecanthropus. The geological evidence leads
us to believe that Pithecanthropus the erect, ape-like
man of Java was a contemporary of the English Eoan-
thropus. When the Java skull is posed and placed within
our standard frame (fig. 144), we see at once that we are
dealing with a type which carries the human form of skull
a long way towards a simian stage. The vault falls 25
mm. short of the loo-mm. line. The highest point of
the vault, in place of being a couple of inches behind the
bregma as in the other three types of skulls shown in
fig. 144, is at or near the bregma as in apes (fig. 136).
The glabella is 15 mm. short of the anterior 2oo-mm.
vertical line ; the sphenoid is wide as in men, but the
upper margin of the temporal bone is low and straight as
in apes. Dr Eugene Dubois calculated that the brain
capacity of Pithecanthropus was 855 c.c., but in the
opinion of the writer, when due allowance is made for the
missing basal parts of the skull, the capacity may prove
to be somewhat greater probably a little over 900 c.c.
From a comparison with Pithecanthropus we see that
Eoanthropus is a totally different kind of human being-
one in which the brain development, at least so far as
regards size, has reached a modern standard.
In this chapter I have kept the discrepancies between
the profile of the Piltdown skull as reconstructed by Dr
Smith Woodward and myself in the background. The
differences become very apparent when Dr Smith Wood-
ward's reconstruction is placed within the standard frame
employed here (fig. 143). The vault, in place of rising
to the loo-mm. line, falls n mm. short of that level.
The lowness of the vault in his reconstruction has been
already explained. It is due, as we have seen, to the
left parietal bone being tilted inwards beyond the middle
line, thus depressing the vault of the skull. In his
reconstruction the length of the skull is 190 mm. ; in
mine, 194 mm. We shall see, when we come to deal
HEADS IN PROFILE 395
with the basal parts of the skull, that Dr Smith Woodward
has given the occipital bone an impossible position, thus
contracting the posterior end of the skull. At the lower
end of the occipital fragment of the Piltdown skull the
posterior margin of the opening or passage for the exit
of the spinal cord from the skull the foramen magnum
is distinctly preserved in the Piltdown fragment. Now,
even in modern and highly evolved human skulls the
posterior margin of this opening lies between 30 and 40
mm. behind a line passing vertically through the ear-hole.
In Dr Smith Woodward's reconstruction this margin is
only 2 1 mm. behind the ear line (see fig. 1 86, p. 494). One
result of the misplacement of the occipital bone is to shorten
the base of the Piltdown skull so much that the space for a
pharynx the passage-way for air and food is almost
obliterated. The position of the occipital bone is in reality
clearly indicated. When we transpose the occipital frag-
ment, described in a former chapter, from the right to
the left side (fig. 142), and articulate it with the hinder
margin of the left parietal bone, we obtain a definite
indication of the amount to which the occipital bone
enters into the formation of the length of the skull. The
lower part of the lambdoid suture is 30 mm. in front of
the posterior vertical line in my reconstruction ; only 20
mm. in that of Dr Smith Woodward. It is in the
occipital region that the discrepancy lies as regards the
total length of our reconstructions.
Another remarkable feature of the Piltdown skull as
reconstructed in fig. 143 is the height to which the
temporal bone rises on the side of the skull. It reaches
40 mm. above the base line more than can be seen
in the very largest of modern skulls. We have always,
until now, regarded a high temporal bone as an index
of a large brain. The height of the squama of the
temporal is not so apparent in Dr Smith Woodward's
reconstruction, because of the tilting inwards of the
temporal bone. As to the place at which the upper
margin of the temporal bone comes into contact with
the lower margin of the left parietal bone of the Piltdown
396 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
skull, there is no room for doubt ; as regards that point,
Dr Smith Woodward and 1 are in absolute agreement.
The line and area of contact are shown in fig. 143. The
difference of opinion relates to the amount broken off or
missing from the temporal bone. A glance at fig. 143
will show that two fragments are broken from the
squama of the temporal, one from its upper border
and another from its anterior border. So little is missing
in Dr Smith Woodward's opinion, that he brings the
broken margin of the temporal almost in contact with
the anterior inferior angle of the parietal bone ; whereas
in my opinion an interval or gap must be left here, at
least 8 or 10 mm. wide. By articulating the temporal
in the manner mentioned, Dr Smith Woodward, as may
be seen from fig. 143, leaves no room for the great wing
of the sphenoid. We have already seen that the impress
of the great wing on the lower border of the frontal and
parietal bones gives us the most certain information that
the great wing had an exceptionally wide development.
In the next chapter we shall see, from certain markings
on the brain cast, that by approximating the temporal
too closely to the parietal one of the main convolutions
of the temporal lobe has almost been obliterated, and the
temporal lobe itself given a distorted form.
The evidence which we obtain from a minute exami-
nation of the Piltdown skull in profile confirms the
conclusions we reached during a survey of its other
aspects. It is a skull with dimensions above the average
and with certain peculiar characters, but in its general
conformation it does not differ materially from human
skulls of the modern type. The characters which mark
Neanderthal skulls are all absent.
CHAPTER XXIV
THE BRAIN OF FOSSIL MAN
IN the previous chapters I have thrust the tedious and
technical details relating to the reconstruction of the
Piltdown skull before the reader, but our real objective
is to see what sort of brain was enclosed within it. The
cranial wall is moulded to fit the brain. Hence when
the skull is rightly reconstructed but not until then
it provides us with a means of telling the size and shape
of the brain. So exactly does the brain fill its cavity that
the impress of its various parts of its lobes and convolu-
tions are preserved. When a cast is taken of the
interior of the cranial cavity, we see before us a rough
image of the organ which guides mankind through the
intricacies of life and reveals the world in which men live.
In the case of the Piltdown skull, considerable parts of
the cranial walls are missing, but enough are preserved
to show us not only the general form and size, but also
to give us definite information relating to the mental
capacity of its original owner.
We all agree that a man with a big head or a large
brain is not necessarily an exceptionally clever man.
Those, however, who have studied the brain as experts
are firmly convinced that unless a man has a certain size
of brain he cannot think and act as ordinary men do.
Professor Elliot Smith is of opinion that a brain must
reach a weight of 950 grammes (or about 1000 c.c. in
volume) before it can serve the ordinary needs of a human
existence before it can become the seat of even a low
form of human intelligence. If we accept this definition,
397
398 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
and most of us are content to accept the Professor of
Anatomy in the University of Manchester as our leading
authority on this matter, then it is certain that Pithecan-
thropus that peculiar fossil form of man from Java
falls rather below the human limit. His discoverer, Dr
Eugene Dubois, has estimated that the brain was about
855 c.c. ; for certain reasons I regard this as rather an
underestimate 900 c.c. will probably prove to be nearer
the truth. The anthropoid apes fall far below the human
level. A gorilla has been found to have a brain capacity
of 6 10 c.c. ; in an exceptional chimpanzee it was as low
as 290 c.c. In the majority of great anthropoids orangs,
chimpanzees, and gorillas the capacity fluctuates between
400 and 500 c.c. Amongst modern human races the
brain is found to vary in size ; it may be as low as 950
c.c. or as high as 1900 c.c. The late Sir William Flower
divided human skulls into three sizes small or micro-
cephalic, medium or mesocephalic, and large or macro-
cephalic. In this manner of classifying skulls an individual
with a brain space of less than 1350 c.c. falls into the micro-
cephalic group ; if above 1450, into the macrocephalic
group. Thus, including all the races of mankind in our
survey, we are prepared to regard those with a brain
measuring between 1350 c.c. and 1450 c.c. as having
reached the standard brain size of modern human races.
Suppose, then, the Piltdown man, who lies thirty or fifty
thousand generations behind us, were to reappear among
us in the flesh, to what group would he be attached ? If
we take Dr Smith Woodward's estimate of 1070 c.c.,
then he is microcephalic and falls almost to the limit
which lies between the lowest human and the highest
prehuman brain capacity. Dr Smith Woodward had a
brain cast made from the Piltdown skull. When that
cast is measured, it is found to displace 1195 c.c. of
water ; in round numbers, then, the size of the brain, even
when the cranial fragments overlap their normal positions,
measures 1200 c.c. thus reaching a middle place in the
small-headed group. As I write, another official recon-
struction of the skull has been exhibited at a meeting of
THE BRAIN OF FOSSIL MAN 399
the Geological Society, held on the iyth of December
1913, exactly a year after the famous one mentioned in a
former chapter. In the new official reconstruction the
hinder end of the skull has been opened out to a very
considerable extent. As amended, the cranial capacity
cannot fall much short of 1300 c.c. Thus we see the
brain capacity of this very ancient man, even in official
hands, steadily climbing from the bottom to the top of
the microcephalic group of humanity.
The reader will now begin to see why I have taken so
much care to verify and prove every step taken in the
reconstruction of the Piltdown skull. If my methods are
right, if the laws which hold good for skulls in general
are applicable at Piltdown, then we must promote this
early Pleistocene or late Pliocene man to a still higher
group. In the previous chapter we found from the
measurements of the skull that the brain capacity should
be about 1400 c.c. The original reconstruction assigns
the Piltdown individual, as regards mere size of brain, to
the small-headed group ; my one gives him or her a good
place in the medium-headed group. In either case, the
important fact remains that so long ago as the beginning
of a former geological period a form of mankind had
come well within the human standard of brain size. We
could have no better assurance that the antiquity of man
is very great.
Size of brain, as we have already admitted, is a very
imperfect index of mental ability. We know that certain
elements enter into the formation of the brain which take
no direct part in our mental activity. A person who has
been blessed with a great, robust body and strong, massive
limbs requires a greater outfit of nerve tracts and nerve
cells for the purposes of mere animal administration than
the smaller person with trunk and limbs of a moderate
size. Dr Eugene Dubois l and the writer 2 have made
1 Report of the Fourth International Congress of Zoologists, Cambridge,
1898, p. 78. Koninklijke Akad. van Wetensch. te Amsterdam, 1914,
vol. xvi. p. 647.
2 Journ. Anat. and PhysioL, 1895, vol. ix. p. 282.
400 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
endeavours to ascertain how much of the human brain is
made up of this purely animal constituent. An appeal to
the conditions found amongst anthropoid apes gives us
some assistance in solving the problem. In size of body
man differs very little from the great anthropoid apes ;
indeed the male gorilla and orang often attain a weight
of 70 or 80 kg. (154 to 176 Ibs.), or even more. With
a brain volume of 450 c.c. an anthropoid has a sufficient
nerve organisation to undertake the more animal form of
its activities. When the brain reaches a volume of 1300
or 1400 c.c., as in man, we need not trouble greatly
about the amount which is due to mere size of body ; it
cannot be more than 6 per cent, or 8 per cent, of the
whole. Besides, we have reason to infer that the Pilt-
down individual was not a Hercules. We have the
impress of the neck preserved on the skull. The
muscles of the neck were not particularly strong, nor was
the neck massive as in the gorilla or as in Neanderthal
man. The bones of the skull are thick and massive ; it
is possible that the bones of the skeleton were also thick
and strong, but the indications preserved on the skull
point to rather a moderate development of the muscular
system. We have no reason, then, to regard the brain
volume of Eoanthropus as dependent on a massive
development of the body.
We now turn from a consideration of the gross volume
of the Piltdown brain to survey its particular features
the size and arrangement of the lobes and convolutions.
A survey of the original brain cast prepared under the
direction of Dr Smith Woodward led Professor Elliot
Smith to express the following opinion : " Taking all its
features into consideration, we must regard this as being
the most primitive and the most simian human brain so
far recorded." Such an opinion cannot be lightly brushed
aside ; it must command our respect and also our most
careful consideration. Unfortunately, our knowledge of
the brain, greatly as it has increased of late years, has not
yet reached the point at which we can say, after close
examination of all the features of a brain, that its owner
THE BRAIN OF FOSSIL MAN 401
had reached this or that mental status. The statement
which Huxley made about the ancient human skull from
the cave of Engis still holds good of the brain : " It might
have belonged to a philosopher or might have contained
the thoughtless mind of a savage."
That is only one side of our problem ; there is another
side. Huxley's statement refers to the average brain,
which is equal to the needs of both the philosopher and
the savage. It does not in any way invalidate the truth
that a small brain with a simple pattern of convolutions
is a less capable organ than the large brain with a complex
pattern. If, then, we find a fairly large brain in the Pilt-
down man, with an arrangement and development of
convolutions not very unlike those of modern man, we
shall be justified in drawing the conclusion that, so far as
potential mental ability is concerned, he had reached the
modern standard. We must always keep in mind that
accomplishments and inventions which seem so simple to
us were new and unsolved problems to the pioneers who
worked their way from a simian to a human estate.
For the interpretation of the brain casts of ancient
man we must carry with us a comparable image of a
modern brain. The brain cast represented in fig. 145 is
taken from the skull of an Australian native ; the capacity
of the skull was 1450 c.c. The type specimen we are to
use lies on the border-line between the medium and large-
headed groups of humanity. The fissure of Sylvius is
clearly visible on the cast ; it separates the temporal lobe
below from the two great upper lobes the frontal and
the parietal. 1 On the brain cast the central fissure which
separates the frontal from the parietal lobe is indistinctly
marked, but its situation can be fixed with a fair degree
of certainty. A fourth lobe, the occipital, lies behind ;
a depression represents the parieto-occipital fissure (see
fig. 145), which marks the small occipital lobe off from
the parietal. Below, the occipital lobe becomes united
with the temporal lobe.
Of those four main lobes of the brain just enumerated
1 See Appendix B.
26
402
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the frontal deserves our first consideration. It constitutes
a large and important part of the brain. On its lower
surface is seen the hollow impression formed by the roof
of the orbit ; on the rounded lateral and upper surfaces
which lie under the forehead can be detected at least three
longitudinal elevations separated by irregular shallow
depressions. The elevations indicate the upper, middle,
180 O'
FIG. 145. Diagram made from a brain cast of an Australian native, with a
capacity of 1450 c.c. The divisions between the various lobes and convolu-
tions of the brain have been emphasised. The functional values of various
parts are indicated.
and lower frontal convolutions. The lowest or third
frontal convolution is very well marked ; it overlies the
hollow caused by the roof of the orbit, and is separated
from the temporal lobe by the stem or beginning of the
fissure of Sylvius. Now the inferior frontal convolution
is of particular importance for our present purpose ; it
attains a large and special development in the human
brain. In the anthropoid brain, on the other hand, it is
not large, nor does it possess the human conformation.
THE BRAIN OF FOSSIL MAN 403
At the present time we regard the main mass of this
convolution as one of the parts of the brain directly
concerned in speech. The exact r61e it plays in think-
ing and speaking we are really not quite certain about.
But we may say that if this part of the brain is found
developed in any race of ancient man, that such a race
possessed at least the potentiality, if not the actuality, of
speech. As to the functional value of the upper and
middle frontal convolution, we are at present not in a
position to offer any certain opinion. These convolutions
attain a much greater development in man than in the
anthropoids, and we are justified in believing that they
do take an active part in carrying on the functions of
the brain.
Behind the three frontal convolutions just named lies
an important area of the brain (fig. 145). In the centre
of this area descends the central fissure the boundary
between the frontal and parietal lobes. Just in front of
the central fissure is the pre-central area, concerned in the
movements of the body. In the lower part of the pre-
central convolution, just above the fissure of Sylvius, lie
the centres for the tongue, lips, and face, close to the
third frontal lobe, which is connected with speech. In
the pre-central convolution we meet with centres for
the hand, arm, body, and leg, arranged in a definite
sequence from below upwards. In front of the areas
more directly concerned in exciting and controlling the
muscles lie other areas association areas probably
concerned in treasuring up memories of how certain acts
are performed. These association areas extend to the
hinder ends of the upper, middle, and lower frontal
convolutions.
Below the fissure of Sylvius lies the temporal lobe,
on which three convolutions the first, second, and third
can usually be recognised with great distinctness on
brain casts. The functional value of the two lower, the
second and third, is scarcely known to us. But in the
upper convolution is situated the centre of hearing that
part of the brain which receives messages from the ear,
4 o 4 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
and apparently treasures the memory of sounds and
associates particular sounds with particular meanings.
This part of the brain must also be regarded as con-
cerned in speech.
The occipital lobe is connected with sight. On the
occipital pole itself, and on the surface which lies buried
in the fissure between the two hemispheres of the brain,
is the area where impressions streaming in from the eyes
reach the horizon of our consciousness. Spread out on
the surface of the brain, in front of the visual area of the
occipital pole, are others which are known as association
areas evidently connected with the elaboration and
interpretation of the visual impressions which reach the
brain. The parietal lobe constitutes the central part of
each hemisphere of the brain ; it lies behind the frontal
lobe, above the temporal, in front of the occipital. The
part of the parietal lobe lying just behind the central
fissure the post-central convolution receives sensory
impressions coming from the skin and body generally
(fig. 145), but the greater part of this lobe seems to
serve the higher purposes of the human brain the
purposes of memory and interpretation. For instance,
the part which lies above the hinder end of the fissure of
Sylvius seems to be concerned in the interpretation of
written or printed words. At least, in many cases of
" word-blindness " cases where words can be read but
not understood this area of the parietal lobe is found to
have been destroyed by disease. The " word-interpret-
ing " centre is placed in this association area, which
often rises above the surrounding parts of the brain into
a distinct elevation or eminence. Enough has been said
to show that, imperfect as our present knowledge of the
brain is, we may hope to obtain some light on the mental
status of fossil man by a careful study of brain casts.
Indeed, I firmly believe that the day will come when we
can estimate the functional value of every convolution of
the brain.
Having thus formed a broad picture of the chief
features to be seen on the brain cast of a modern skull,
THE BRAIN OF FOSSIL MAN 405
we are in a position to apply our knowledge to casts
taken from fossil skulls. It will be well, however, to
have a clear idea of a simple and primitive brain, such as
is seen in the highest of anthropoids the gorilla. In
fig. 146, I have set a profile drawing of the brain cast
taken from the skull of a young gorilla on the same
aspect of the cast of the Gibraltar skull the smallest of
the ancient human skulls. Both were drawn on the
same scale and poised on corresponding planes. The
superimposition of the two drawings is an easy matter,
for they have both the same general form they are
flattened as if the vault had been compressed towards the
base. The fissure of Sylvius of the ape is laid over
the same fissure of the human brain. The triangular
hollow between the temporal lobe and the cerebellum,
filled in life by the part of the temporal bone which
contains the ear, is also superimposed. The super-
imposition of these two drawings (fig. 146) shows us
that in the evolution of the brain from a simian to a
human stage all the lobes and convolutions were
involved. There has been a general and extraordinary
elaboration of all parts. The parietal lobe has been
affected most ; the temporal lobe least. We know some-
thing of the nature of the changes which have occurred.
While enumerating the lobes of the brain, we noted that
certain areas or centres were primary the areas for sight,
hearing, common sensation and that round the primary
areas, association areas had arisen. It is the expansion
and elaboration of these association areas complex
mechanisms built up of nerve cells and nerve fibres
adjusted to serve definite purposes which raises the
human above the simian brain. In this expansion the
simple arrangement of convolutions has been replaced by
a more elaborate and complex one. In the last two
months of fcetal life the human brain passes from a stage
in which the convolutions of the brain have a simple,
somewhat anthropoid arrangement to the more complex
human form. Even amongst modern people the degree
to which the simple arrangement is replaced by the more
406
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
complex varies very widely. It is highly possible that
these later changes of the foetal brain may represent the
later stages in the evolution of the human brain.
While the passage from the simian to the human stage
of development has affected every lobe of the cerebrum
and of the cerebellum, there is one part which has
undergone a peculiar change, one which is often fore-
FIG. 146. Profile drawing of the brain cast from the skull of a young gorilla
superimposed on a corresponding drawing of the cast from the Gibraltar
skull. The Gibraltar cast exceeds that of the gorilla in all dimensions.
shadowed to a slight degree in the anthropoid brain.
The change concerns the lowest part of the frontal lobe
the inferior or third frontal convolution. The actual
part concerned is marked on the gorilla brain in fig. 146
by the letter A. In the human brain this part has grown
and expanded to such an extent that it reaches right back
to the stem of the fissure of Sylvius, forming the anterior
boundary of the stem (fig. 145, A). The old lower
boundary of the third frontal convolution (marked o
THE BRAIN OF FOSSIL MAN 407
in fig. 146) becomes included above the new develop-
ment of the third frontal convolution, and in the human
brain forms an intrinsic part the anterior ramus or
branch of the Sylvian fissure. It is in this manner that
Professor Elliot Smith explains the changes which have
occurred in the evolution of the third frontal convolution
of the human brain. 1 The change is especially remark-
able when we remember that this new orbital part of the
frontal lobe is related to the faculty of speech.
When we turn to an examination of the Piltdown brain
cast we naturally centre our attention on the third
frontal convolution. We at once see (fig. 147) that as
regards size and general conformation it reached the
human standard. In Dr Smith Woodward's reconstruc-
tion (fig. 148) this convolution appears even larger than
in mine, because the upper part of the frontal lobe has
been tilted beyond the middle line, thus exposing more
of the lower or orbital surface of the convolutions. A
comparison of either of these drawings with fig. 149,
which represents a brain cast from the skull of an
Australian native, with a capacity of 1450 c.c., shows
that the ancient man of Sussex is little, if any, the inferior
of the modern Australian. In all three brains one can
see a depression indicating the anterior ramus (A.R.
in figs. 147, 148, 149). In the ape's brain, it will
be remembered, this branch of the Sylvian fissure is
not included within the third frontal convolution, but
forms its lower boundary. In the Gibraltar brain cast
(fig. 150) the third frontal convolution is smaller, and the
anterior ramus, although it was probably present in the
actual brain, is not apparent on the cast. So far as
concerns the third frontal convolution of the Piltdown
brain, there is nothing to suggest that it represents a
1 In this matter and in others, the reader, if he wishes fuller information
on the brain of fossil man, should consult the following papers by
Professor Anthony : " Le systeme operculaire superieur du Complex
Sylvien," Bull, et Mem. Soc. d'Anthropologie de Paris, Oct. 1912, p. 294
(with Dr de Santa Maria) ; " L'Encephale de 1'homme fossile de la Quina,"
ibid., March 1913, p. 117. Professor Elliot Smith's account of the brain
of anthropoids will be found in the Catalogue of the Museum of the Royal
College of Surgeons of England, Physiological Series, vol. ii., 1902.
408
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
very primitive human state. It is true that it is more
depressed, more excavated, as it approaches the fissure of
Sylvius than it is in modern brains, but this compression
is due, as I suppose, to the massive buttress of bone
which apparently pressed within the commencement of
the fissure of Sylvius. If our present conception of the
function of the orbital part of the third frontal convolu-
180
FIG. 147. Profile drawing of the brain cast taken from the reconstruction of the
Piltdown skull by the Author. It is represented half size and set within a
standard frame of lines which permits direct comparison between the various
drawings given here. The positions of the sutures between the containing
bones are indicated. The missing parts are stippled.
tion is well founded, namely, that it takes a part in the
mechanism of speech, then we have grounds for believing
that the Piltdown man had reached that point of brain
development where speech had become a possibility.
When one looks at the jaw, however, and the projecting
canine teeth, one hesitates to allow him more than a mere
potential ability.
It is convenient now to direct our attention to the
THE BRAIN OF FOSSIL MAN
409
temporal lobe, which is separated by the stem of the
fissure of Sylvius from the inferior frontal convolution.
We have two reasons for taking our survey of the
brain in this order : (i) because part of the first temporal
convolution is directly concerned with the sense of
hearing, and in the interpretation of sounds and words ;
(2) because we here meet with one of the chief dis-
FlG. 148. Profile drawing of the original cast of the Piltdown brain. The
missing parts are stippled and the positions of the suture lines are indicated.
To facilitate comparison with other brains, the drawing is set within a
standard frame of lines.
crepancies between Dr Smith Woodward's and the
writer's reconstruction of the Piltdown skull and brain
cast. In the Gibraltar brain cast, perhaps the most
primitive representation of the human brain as yet found
in fossil man, one clearly recognises the three temporal
convolutions the first, second, and third (fig. 150).
In the gorilla brain cast they are also apparent : the
third or lowest is small and but slightly represented on the
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
lateral aspect of the skull (fig. 146). In the cast of the
Australian brain the three temporal convolutions are
apparent (fig. 149). In these brain casts, the first
convolution passes along the whole length of the lobe,
on the lower side of the fissure of Sylvius. When the
temporal region of the original reconstruction of the
Piltdown brain cast is examined (fig. 148), an anomalous
!80
FIG. 149. Profile drawing of the brain cast from the skull of an Australian
native, with a capacity of 1450 c.c. It will be observed that the vessels
seen on the surface of the brain cast the meningeal vessels are arranged
exactly as on the Piltdown brain cast. The positions of the furrows between
the brain convolutions and of the sutures between the overlying bones are
indicated.
arrangement is .seen in the first temporal convolution.
The impress of the posterior or upper part of this
convolution is well preserved beneath the left parietal
bone. On the part preserved there is a well-defined
eminence marking the area connected with hearing the
auditory eminence. Towards the lower part of the
temporal lobe in the region of the stem of the fissure
of Sylvius the first temporal convolution is represented
THE BRAIN OF FOSSIL MAN 411
by a narrow area, less than 8 mm. wide, lying between
the second temporal convolution and the orbital part
of the third frontal. It would be a very remarkable
condition if the second and third temporal convolutions
were so well developed as they are in the Piltdown brain,
and the first reduced to such a narrow limit at its anterior
end. The explanation I offer of this anomaly is that in
articulating the temporal bone, which contains the greater
part of the temporal lobe of the brain, Dr Smith
Woodward tilted it too far forwards. The great wing
of the sphenoid was prevented from taking its due
share in the formation of the wall of the brain cavity.
When the sphenoid is given its fair share, as in fig. 147,
the abnormal contraction of the first temporal convolution
disappears. Indeed, if the restoration just suggested is
the right one, then the temporal lobe of the Piltdown
brain differs very slightly from the corresponding lobe
in the brain cast of a modern native Australian or of an
average European.
When the temporal bone is articulated as in fig. 147
another feature disappears from the temporal lobe of the
Piltdown brain. Professor Elliot Smith has drawn
attention to the manner in which this lobe is bent
inwards on the base of the brain. The same feature
is present, but to a less extent, in the Gibraltar brain
cast and in brain casts of anthropoids. We have a
reasonable explanation for the sharp inward bend of the
temporal lobe in Neanderthal brain casts. In Neanderthal
skulls, as in those of anthropoid apes, the brain chamber is
flattened, as if the vault had been compressed towards the
base. The shape of the brain explains why the temporal
lobe in these cases is bent inwards. In the Piltdown man
the sharp inward bend of the temporal lobe results from
the manner in which the reconstruction was originally
carried out. When the side of the skull is moved
outwards so as to bring the parts on the vault into their
just relationship with the middle line, and at the same
time the temporal bone adjusted so as to give room for
the great wing of the sphenoid, the inward bend of the
4 I2
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
temporal lobe becomes reduced almost to an ordinary
degree. Thus a survey of the temporal lobe reveals no
really primitive feature. The temporal convolutions
were apparently simple in form ; the auditory centre was
plainly indicated, and in general mass the convolutions
are such as are met with in human brains of medium or
even larger size.
In skull reconstruction nothing is truer than that one
FIG. 150. Profile drawing of the brain cast of the Gibraltar skull. It represents
the smallest known brain of the extinct Neanderthal race.
mistake leads to another, and the effect is cumulative.
The malposition of the temporal bone, which led to the
partial obliteration of a convolution, also had another
consequence, seen in the hinder region of the base of the
brain. In a complete brain cast, the stem which prolongs
the central nerve system to the spinal cord is represented
(fig. 145). The stem, or medulla oblongata, is seen to lie
below and also in front of the cerebellum. A triangular
interval filled by the petrous part of the temporal bone is
THE BRAIN OF FOSSIL MAN 413
seen between the cerebellum and temporal lobe (fig. 149).
The direction of the stem is downwards and backwards.
In anthropoids, and also to some degree in Neanderthal
skulls, the trend of the brain stem is more backwards than
downwards (see fig. 146). In the original Piltdown brain
cast the trend of the brain stem is the opposite of
primitive ; it is directed downwards with a slight forward
tendency (fig. 148), This anomalous position of the
brain stem is the result of two circumstances : (i) the
forward twist given to the temporal bone, and, (2),
to the anomalous position given to the occipital bone.
If the brain cast of a modern skull be examined (fig. 149)
it will be seen that the hinder part of the stem occupy-
ing the posterior margin of the foramen magnum lies well
behind the mastoid part of the temporal bone. In the
original reconstruction (fig. 148) the hinder end of the
brain stem is situated directly below the mastoid part of
the temporal bone, and at an abnormally low level. This
arrangement at the hinder part of the base of the brain
gives very exceptional and peculiar features to the original
Piltdown reconstruction. The forward position of the
occipital bone and brain stem necessarily diminished that
part of the base of the skull on which the brain stem
rests. Indeed, to such a degree was this part of the base
of the skull curtailed, that when the face and palate were
restored in the original reconstruction it was found that
an altogether insufficient space was left for the pharynx.
When, however, the temporal bone is adjusted and the
occipital bone placed as it is in modern skulls (see fig. 147),
all these anomalies disappear, the brain stem assumes its
normal trend, the occipital bone its normal relationships,
and an ample space is provided for the passage of food
and air along the pharynx. So far, then, we have seen
no feature of the Piltdown brain to which we can apply
with any certainty the term of primitive or simian. All
the characters we have encountered are not very unlike
those seen in modern skulls and brains.
We have confined our attention to the parts of the
brain near the base. When we pass to the region covered
4H THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
by the vault and examine such indications as are apparent
on the frontal and parietal lobes, our statements become
less certain. The two upper frontal convolutions, so far
as they are preserved, were apparently simple, but not
small. The convolution of the central region where
the centres for movement and common sensation have
their seat are not sharply indicated on the cast ; they
certainly were not highly developed. On the hinder
region of the vault the parietal eminence is well marked.
In position and extent, the raised convolutions which
form this eminence do not differ from those seen in brain
casts taken from modern skulls. I cannot detect any
feature in the frontal, parietal, or occipital areas which
clearly separates this brain cast from modern ones ; nor
can I recognise any feature which has a distinct claim to
be regarded as simian or primitive. A survey of the
convolutionary regions of the brain leads to the conclusion
that we are dealing here with a simple and primitive
arrangement of parts ; but not so simple or so primitive
as to make us wish to place the Piltdown brain in a
class apart from modern human brains. To my mind
it appears, even in its convolutionary arrangement, to fall
well within the limits of variation seen in modern human
brains.
We have been studying the brain as it presents itself
to us in a side view. A cursory survey of the brain casts
from behind will prove instructive at this stage of our
inquiry. We are thus provided with an opportunity of
surveying both hemispheres of the brain the right and
left and of dealing with the problems relating to their
symmetry. The right and left halves of the body are
built so as to match each other, but if we use one side
more than the other or differently to the other, then we
expect a certain degree of asymmetry to appear. The
right and left halves will no longer remain exact counter-
parts, either in function or in form. A difference in
form indicates a difference in function. If we are right-
handed, then the right side of the body preponderates.
There is a crossing of the nerve tracts of the body, and
THE BRAIN OF FOSSIL MAN 415
it thus comes about that the right half of the body is
more directly connected with the left hemisphere of the
brain, and vice versa. I have never seen a human brain
in which the convolutionary pattern of both sides was
alike. In the human brain there is evidently some
degree of specialisation in its two hemispheres. At the
FlG. 151. The occipital aspect of the brain cast from the skull of a young gorilla,
to show the slight degree of asymmetry of the left and right sides. The
drawing has been set within the standard lines used for the human brain,
so as to give a true comparison as regards size of the anthropoid and human
brain.
present time we regard perfect symmetry of the two
hemispheres of the brain as indicative of a similarity in
function ; a high degree of asymmetry, if not due to a
disturbance of normal growth, betokens a specialisation
of function. An asymmetrical brain, then, is a specialised
brain, the opposite to the primitive symmetrical brain.
In fig. 1 5 1 is represented the occipital or hinder aspect
of a gorilla's brain cast. The right and left sides are
4i 6 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
almost alike. The impress of the longitudinal blood-
sinus can be detected along the whole length of the vault
of the brain between the two hemispheres. As it courses
down to the occipital region, it is continued between the
right occipital lobe above and the right half of the
cerebellum below as the right lateral sinus. The left
occipital pole is rather larger than the right pole. The
right half of the cerebellum is rather larger than the left
half. There is thus some indication of a specialisation
of function in the occipital region of even a gorilla's brain
a region connected with the function of sight. The
medulla emerges between the lateral lobes of the cere-
bellum to become continuous with the spinal cord. The
outline of the occipital bone is shown ; its right and left
halves are approximately symmetrical. Further, it will be
noticed that in width the gorilla brain just reaches the
5O-mm. lateral vertical lines. In height, the right and
left halves of the cerebrum fail to reach the 6o-mm. level.
In fig. 152 the brain cast from an Australian skull
the same specimen as was represented from the side is
drawn from exactly the same point of view as was
adopted in the case of the gorilla ; there is a marked
contrast in shape and size between the two. The vault of
the modern human brain cast is not flattened from above
downwards, as in the gorilla and as in Neanderthal man,
but is lofty and peaked, rising almost to the loo-mm.
level. In the gorilla the sides of the brain cast bulged
outwards, but here, in the Australian brain cast, they are
compressed and reach well beyond the 5o-mm. verticals,
almost to the yo-mm. lines. In both, however, there is
about the same degree of asymmetry ; the left occipital
lobe and the right cerebellar are the larger. The longi-
tudinal sinus behaves in the same way in both. Before
reaching the hinder ends of the parietal bones, the sinus
leaves on the brain cast a long, oval elevation, with a
sharply depressed lateral border. Then it passes between
the occipital lobes and turns to the right as the right
lateral blood-sinus. It will be noted that the lateral
sinus and occipital poles descend well below the horizontal
THE BRAIN OF FOSSIL MAN
zero line in the Australian brain cast ; in the gorilla's
brain cast the poles and sinuses are nearly on a level
with the zero line. A low position of the occipital poles
is a more highly evolved condition. The brain stem
has a downward direction in the Australian, whereas its
direction is backwards in the gorilla. The right and left
margins of the occipital bone are nearly symmetrical.
too
80
FIG. 152. Brain cast from the skull of an Australian native (capacity 1450 c.c.),
to show the parts of the brain presented in a view from behind.
When we view the original reconstruction of the
Piltdown brain cast from behind we are at once impressed
by the number of its peculiarities. On the vault of the
cast we can note no trace of those signs which indicate
the position and course of the longitudinal blood-sinus,
such as are to be seen on the brain casts of anthropoids
and men. The natural inference is that the parts of the
bone which carried the marks of the sinus have been
broken away and are missing. The right and left
27
4 i 8 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
occipital poles of the brain are nearly symmetrical ; each
almost reaches the middle line. As in the casts from the
gorilla and Australian native, the longitudinal sinus, seen
between the occipital poles, turns to the right. Lower
down, however, we note one peculiar feature : the right
lobe of the cerebellum passes far to the left of the
middle line. Further, we know that the ridge on the
occipital bone which marks the middle line of the necl
lies nearly 10 mm. (J inch) to the left of the middle
line given to the brain. While the occipital lobes are
thus given a primitive symmetrical arrangement, we note
that there is a large degree of discrepancy between the
right and left halves of the lambdoidal suture. On the
left side this suture crosses the 5o-mm. line almost as
in the Australian cast. On the right side it falls far
short of the 5O-mm. line ; indeed, to obtain approximate
symmetry of the two sides the position of the right
lambdoidal suture must be moved outwards as is shown
in fig. 153. To make the right hemisphere of the brain
match the left, it must be moved outwards to the position
of the stippled line shown in fig. 153. A survey of
those anomalous features leads us to the conclusion we
reached when examining the skull, namely, that they
result from faulty reconstruction.
When the fragments of the cranial cast are adjusted as
in fig. 1 54, the size and form of the Piltdown brain
undergoes a considerable change. The brain cast is now
comparable in all its parts with those taken from modern
skulls. Only one trace of the longitudinal sinus on the
vault is visible the sharp, inward depression at the
upper angle of the left parietal fragment. There is no
escape from the fact that a high degree of occipital
asymmetry is present, such a degree as is only seen in
modern skulls with a considerable brain capacity. While
working in Egypt, amongst the crania of the ancient
inhabitants of that country, Professor Elliot Smith and
Dr Wood Jones found that individuals which showed in
their skulls this high degree of preponderance of the left
occipital pole also showed marked evidence of a specialisa-
THE BRAIN OF FOSSIL MAN
419
tion of the right hand and right side of the body. The
man who chipped the eoliths which lay beside the skull in
the Piltdown gravel evidently had reached a high degree
of right-handedness. While investigating the peculiar
preponderance of the left occipital pole in modern skulls,
I was struck by the fact that it is accompanied by a
corresponding asymmetry in the lambdoid suture. On
50
80
50
FIG. 153. An occipital view of the original brain cast of the Piltdown skull. On
the right side the stippled line indicates the degree of expansion required to
make the right hemisphere of the brain symmetrical with the left.
the left side the lambdoid suture in such skulls crosses
the 5o-mm. line higher up and passes further beyond it
than on the right side. I mention this fact because in
the reconstructions of the Piltdown fragments shown in
figs. 153 and 154 the condition of the lambdoid suture
is reversed. In fig. 154 the left occipital lobe of the
brain is given its just preponderance, and the left half of
the occipital bone has been made more extensive than the
right. In the development of the occipital poles, then,
420
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
this early Pleistocene man shows, not a primitive feature,
but one which must be regarded as evidence of a fairly
high degree of specialisation.
Before leaving the occipital aspect of the skull there
are several features to which attention should be drawn.
It will be observed (fig. 1 54) that the lateral sinuses fall
almost on the horizontal zero line a primitive character.
A second point worthy of notice is that while the original
50
80 SO 6 SBfc 50 ao
FIG. 154. Occipital view of the Piltdown brain cast as restored by the Author.
brain cast (fig. 153) is given the flattened form with which
we are familiar in the brain casts of anthropoids and of
Neanderthal men, the other reconstruction has assumed a
form very similar to that found in brain casts taken from
modern skulls (compare figs. 152 and 154). The most
important feature to be noted, however, is the general
enlargement of the brain which results from the opening
out of the vault of the skull in order that the various
parts may be brought into their proper relationships to
THE BRAIN OF FOSSIL MAN 421
the middle line. The opening out of the vault completely
alters our estimate of the Piltdown brain. In the original
cast (fig. 153) the parietal eminences are situated almost
on the upper aspect of the vault ; the interparietal
depression approaches within 20 mm. of the middle line
of the vault (fig. 153). When the vault is opened out,
the parietal eminences and interparietal depressions
assume almost the same relationship as in modern man
(compare figs. 152 and 154). We have seen that the
parietal lobe of the brain of which the eminence forms
a central part is the seat of higher or association centres.
The anomalous closing of the vault in the original brain
cast deprived Piltdown man of a very large area of the
parietal lobes deprived him of one of the areas which
are characteristic of the human brain.
There is still another aspect of the brain we must
examine before we are in a position to give a definite
opinion on the cerebral endowment of fossil man. In
fig. 155 a view of the upper or vault aspect of the brain
cast from the skull of a native Australian is represented.
It is especially important to note the various features seen
along the middle line of the vault from front to back, for
much of the difference of opinion regarding the Piltdown
brain centres round a correct identification of the middle
line. In the Australian cast (fig. 155) the middle line at
the very front of the vault is marked by a groove between
the right and left frontal lobes. Very soon, however,
this groove, in which the longitudinal sinus lies, dis-
appears, and is replaced, before the bregma is reached, by
a wide elevation or ridge on which no distinct impress of
the median blood-sinus is visible (fig. 155). This median
frontal elevation, with a slight groove running along its
summit, is continued backwards under the anterior two-
thirds of the parietal bones. There, the wider elevation
disappears, and is replaced by a narrow, oval ridge the
first clear trace of the great longitudinal blood-sinus to
be seen on the vault of the brain cast. A little distance
in front of the lambda this narrow, well-defined ridge
disappears (fig. 155). The wider elevation, running along
422
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the middle line of the vault in front of, and behind, the
bregma, is caused, not by median convolutions of the
brain, but by a remarkable vascular arrangement of which
the longitudinal sinus forms the main part. The median
elevation is a vascular not a convolutionary impression.
The next brain cast we propose to examine on th
:
180
150-
FIG. 155. View of the upper aspect of a brain cast taken from the skull
of a native Australian.
upper aspect is taken from the Neanderthal calvaria (fig.
156). It has a particular interest for us in solving the
problem of man's antiquity. It represents the brain of a
remarkable and very ancient type of humanity which we
suppose to have died out soon after the middle of the
Pleistocene period. A comparison of figs. 155 and 156,
representing the modern and ancient forms of brain, at
THE BRAIN OF FOSSIL MAN 423
once brings home to us the fact that a large brain is not
the monopoly of modern man. Now, when we examine
the track of the longitudinal sinus along the vault of the
Neanderthal brain cast (fig. 156), we see many points in
which it differs from a modern brain cast. In front, we
see at first the same depression or groove between the
FIG. 156. Brain cast of the Neanderthal skull viewed from above.
frontal lobe a depression in which the longitudinal
blood-sinus lies. There appears, in front of the bregma,
the median vascular elevation seen in brain casts of
modern skulls. But behind the bregma the elevation
ceases, and the narrow median ridge for the sinus appears,
set in a depression or hollow between the raised marginal
parts of the cerebral hemispheres. Just in front of the
lambda the ridge caused by the longitudinal sinus shows
424
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
sharp, lateral, depressed margins of the same kind as we
saw in brain casts of modern man.
To make our study of the median line of the brain
cast complete it is necessary to examine the primitive
arrangement seen in a brain cast taken from the skull of
a young gorilla (fig. 157). In this instance we can trace
-50
FIG. 157. Brain cast from the skull of a young gorilla viewed from above, to
show the markings for the longitudinal blood-sinus.
the impression for the longitudinal sinus, lying in a groove
or depression between the adjacent margins of the cerebral
hemispheres. The vascular median elevation, which was
so apparent in the brain cast of modern man, and to a
less degree in that of Neanderthal man, is absent in the
bregmatic region. We must suppose, then, that the
primitive condition for the sinus is that represented in
the gorilla.
THE BRAIN OF FOSSIL MAN
425
We now turn to the restoration of the Piltdown brain
cast (fig. 158) to see if we can recognise any of the
indications of the middle line enumerated above. The
first point to claim our attention is the position of the
middle line in front, in the frontal region, for until we
90
80
ISO-
Logo
FlG. 158. Drawings of the Piltdown brain cast as originally restored by Dr
Smith Woodward. The stippled line on the right shows the extent to which
the right fragments must be moved outwards to make the two sides sym-
metrical. The arrows indicate the true middle line.
have identified this point to our satisfaction we cannot
restore the parts to their natural positions. In the original
restoration the middle line in the frontal region runs
along a median elevation (fig. 158). Is this elevation
the vascular one which we have seen in other human
brain casts, or is it the margin of the left hemisphere
426 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the upper or first frontal convolution ? Undoubtedly
it is the latter, for three reasons, (i) If it is not the first
frontal convolution, then this convolution was missing
in the Piltdown brain an improbable supposition. (2) It
will be noted that the coronal suture (C.S., fig. 158) crosses
this convolution unchanged in direction, indicating that
it has not reached the middle line. (3) If we regard this
elevation as lying in the middle line, it is impossible to fit
the parts of the skull so as to give the right and left halves
an approximate degree of symmetry. To my mind there
is no doubt that the shallow groove, marked by an arrow
in fig. 158, represents the position of the middle line.
A trace of the marginal elevation of the right frontal lobe
is apparent at the point of the frontal fragment. Further,
it will be found that at the margins of the lateral sinus
of modern skulls, the vessels which supply the skull and
outer covering of the brain terminate in a peculiar fringe
of fine tributaries. The impress of this vascular fringe
is apparent on the left side of the median groove on the
original brain cast. We have evidently to deal with a
condition similar to that seen in anthropoid brain casts,
where the longitudinal sinus is represented by a groove
or depression between the adjacent marginal elevations
of the frontal lobes. The median elevation is absent
not yet developed.
At the hinder end of the left parietal fragment of
the brain cast we meet another clear indication of the
longitudinal sinus. The incurved margin at the hinder
angle of the parietal fragment represents the lateral
boundary of the sinus to which attention has already been
drawn. On the incurved margin can be seen a trace
of the vascular fringework already described (fig. 158).
If we suppose that the arrow in fig. 158 represents the
true position of the middle line in front of the lambda,
then all the parts fall into conformity with those seen in
brain casts of men and anthropoids.
Thus an examination of the brain cast confirms the
conclusion reached from an examination of the skull,
namely, that a mistake was made in the identification of
THE BRAIN OF FOSSIL MAN
427
the parts lying in the middle line which greatly diminished
the real size of the brain. When the parts are readjusted,
the brain cast takes the form and size shown in fig. 159,
The asymmetry of the two sides has largely disappeared.
The arrangement of the meningeal vessels and of the
FlG. 159. Drawing of the upper aspect of the Piltdown brain cast as restored
by the Author. The stippled area represents the missing parts the parts
filled in from inference.
convolutions of the left side are seen to harmonise with
those of the right. At the same time the large areas of
the brain, representing the higher association centres,
are restored, and we obtain a brain primitive in some
respects, it is true, but in all its characters directly com-
parable to that of modern man (compare figs. 155 and 1 59).
Indeed the only features in this ancient brain which seem
428 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
to me to really differ from modern brains lie in the
frontal region. The absence of the median vascular
elevation a simian condition in front of the bregma has
been described. There is another feature which I have
not mentioned so far. If the figures of the gorilla brain
casts are examined (figs. 146, 157), it will be seen that the
two central convolutions in which centres for movement
and ordinary sensation are situated are distinctly raised
above the surrounding areas of the brain. In Neanderthal
and modern human brains these central areas appear to be
slightly submerged, owing to the areas immediately in
front of the motor arid immediately behind the sensory
areas true association and therefore higher and later
O
areas having undergone a special development accom-
panied by elevation. In the Piltdown brain cast I cannot
detect any distinct elevation of the frontal cortex, which
lies anterior to the motor cortex. That also must be
counted a primitive feature.
To some it may seem that I have entered into the
reconstruction of the Piltdown skull and brain too
elaborately. When it is remembered, however, that
this is the first time we have had an opportunity of
learning the degree to which the evolution of the brain
had progressed in early man at the beginning of the
Pleistocene period, it will be apparent that the task
deserves our most painstaking endeavour. We have
here in the discovery at Piltdown the certain assur-
ance that one race of mankind had reached, so far as
the mass of brain is concerned, a modern human standard
at the beginning of the Pleistocene period. All the
essential features of the brain of modern man are to be
seen in the Piltdown brain cast. There are some which
must be regarded as primitive. There can be no doubt
that it is built on exactly the same lines as our modern
brains. A few minor alterations would make it in all
respects a modern brain.
Although our knowledge of the human brain is limited
there are large areas to which we can assign no definite
function we may rest assured that a brain which was
THE BRAIN OF FOSSIL MAN 429
shaped in a mould so similar to our own was one which
responded to the outside world as ours does. Piltdown
man saw, heard, felt, thought, and dreamt much as we
still do. If the eoliths found in the same bed of gravel
were his handiwork, then we can also say he had made
a great stride towards that state which has culminated in
the inventive civilisation of the modern western world.
CHAPTER XXV
THE PILTDOWN MANDIBLE
ALL through the previous chapters we laboured to
establish on a sure foundation of fact the size and form
of skull and brain of the earliest example of fossil
man yet discovered. We have not seen the slightest
reason to doubt that all the fragments were parts of the
same skull. Further, we did not meet with a single
feature in the skull or brain cast which excluded the
Piltdown man from our immediate ancestry. In the course
of fifty thousand or sixty thousand generations we can
well conceive that his brain and skull might have been
converted into the forms seen in modern races of mankind.
When we come to build up the face our steps are not
attended by the same degree of certainty. We have to
base our reconstruction on the right half of the mandible.
That, the nasal bones, and part of the forehead are all that
was found of the face. Are we certain that the mandible
does form part of the same individual as the skull frag-
ments ? There are many who think it highly improbable
that the two do go together. From the very first,
Professor Waterston 1 expressed grave doubts regarding
the mandible ; he regarded the skull as human, the
mandible as simian or anthropoid. There are others
besides Professor Waterston who regard the mandible as
part of an extinct anthropoid. If only the mandible and
the teeth had been found two molar or cheek teeth and
the canine or eye tooth the great majority of anatomists
would have regarded the extinct being of which they
1 Nature, 1913, vol. xcii. p. 319.
430
THE PILTDOWN MANDIBLE 431
formed part as more anthropoid than human in nature.
But when we take into account (i) that this mandible lay
in the same ancient stratum, and at the same spot as
an ancient type of man ; (2) that as regards pro-
portionate size, texture of bone, degree of fossilisation,
it agrees perfectly with the skull ; (3) that the molar
teeth are essentially human, I think we must regard
it as part of the same individual. If we do not, then we
have to accept the much greater improbability that long
ago there lived in Sussex (i) a true but early form of man,
represented by a skull ; (2) an anthropoid with very
human molar teeth, represented by a lower jaw ; (3) that
after death the skull of the one and the mandible of the
other came to rest cheek by jowl in the Piltdown gravel.
That, of course, is possible, but highly improbable.
On the other hand, that we should find a human form
which, in some of its parts, retained or exhibited a marked
preponderance of simian characters in such a structure
as the lower jaw is not improbable. A close study of the
anatomy of man, and of the animals most nearly allied
to him, shows many examples of this kind. I can
make my meaning more easily understood if I cite
a few concrete examples selected from the anthropoid
apes which show a very close structural relationship to
man. The chimpanzee's teeth are less specialised, more
primitive or monkey-like than those of the gorilla. As
regards characters of teeth, man and the chimpanzee have
rather more in common than either has with the gorilla.
In the anatomy of the lower limbs the case is reversed.
The lower limbs of man are by far the most specialised,
but the gorilla's also show several human peculiarities
which are absent in the chimpanzee. As regards the
characters of the lower limb, we would link man with
the gorilla. As regards teeth, we would link him with
the chimpanzee. I will cite two other examples which
occur to me. In all lower forms of apes the liver is
divided by deep clefts or fissures into three main lobes-
right, middle, and left. In all the higher primates man
and anthropoids the triple division of the liver has dis-
432 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
appeared and the organ has been unified, in all save the
gorilla, in which the tripartite state is present. As regards
the characters of the liver the gorilla may be described as
archaic. The last example I am to cite has a more direct
bearing on the problem of the Piltdown mandible. In
the Neanderthal race we find the eyebrow ridges shaped
as in anthropoid apes ; we suppose that in this ancient
human race the primitive or anthropoid type of eyebrow
ridge has been retained. These examples are sufficient
to show that as new forms of men and apes were evolved
the incidence of change or of progress on the evolving
body was local or patchy, some systems of the body being
affected, others being left untouched. It is therefore
quite possible that we may encounter such forms as that
found at Piltdown, in which the characters of one part
seem to be at variance with those of another as the
mandible with the skull.
We propose, in the first place, to make a cursory
examination of the simian characters of the Piltdown jaw,
and to see what significance we must attach to them.
Before we set out on such a survey, we must obtain a
clear mental picture of the essential characters of a human
mandible. In fig. 160 a diagram is reproduced to show
the chief features which mark the inner or mouth aspect of
the human mandible. Passing obliquely downwards and
forwards on this aspect of the jaw, from just behind the
last molar or wisdom tooth above to below the symphysis
or union of the two halves of the jaw in front, is a
narrow linear ridge of bone marking the line along which
the right mylo-hyoid muscle was attached. The left
muscle has a similar origin from the opposite half of the
mandible. From such origins the two mylo-hyoid
muscles unite along the middle line of the floor of the
mouth, forming a muscular floor or diaphragm. The
tongue rests on this muscular floor. In all acts, such as
swallowing and speaking, the mylo-hyoids come into
active use in raising the floor and the tongue. The more
these muscles are used, the stronger they become and the
more do the mylo-hyoid ridges become emphasised and
THE PILTDOWN MANDIBLE
433
raised on the inner aspect of the mandible. In the more
highly evolved races of modern man these ridges reach
a very emphatic development. In anthropoids, on the
other hand, they are but slightly marked only the part
lying under the molar teeth being easily recognised (fig.
161). We therefore conclude that a high development of
the mylo-hyoid muscle is a human character, and we have
also reason for supposing that this high development is
more closely connected with speech than with swallowing.
COAOWO/D
PffOC
CONOYLOIO
fROC
AUSTRALIAN.
P ^SCL^ \0)GA3T^C
SVBLINGUAL. FOSSA
YOUNG GORILLA
FIG. 1 60. Right half of the mandible of an Australian native, viewed from the
inner or mouth aspect to show certain human characters. Below it there is
represented the corresponding half of the mandible of an infant gorilla,
about two years old.
Now, as may be seen from fig. 161, the mylo-hyoid
ridge in the Piltdown mandible has the slight develop-
ment seen in anthropoids. It is possible that the surface
of this fossil bone has been rubbed and smoothed some-
what as it lay in the gravel bed of the ancient Sussex
stream, but there is no evidence of any marked erosion
on the inner aspect of the mandible. We must therefore
conclude that the individual of which this mandible
formed a part had the mouth and tongue movements of
an anthropoid ape. And yet we have seen that the brain
which lay within the skull was human in size and form.
28
434
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
In his address as President of the Anthropological Section
of the British Association at Dundee in 1912 Professor
Elliot Smith anticipated that such a combination of parts
might occur. He rightly foresaw that before the
anthropoid characters would disappear from the body of
primal man, the brain, the master organ of the human
body, must first have come into its human estate.
Under its dominion the parts of the body such as the
PILTDOWN
CoRONOlO
CONDYLOID
PffOC:
for DENTAL NERVE.
SUB LINGUAL
fOSSA
MYLO-HYO/0 GHOOVE,
INT. PTERY: MUSCLE
SHELF
MYLO-HYOtD ff/OGE
MOLAKS
CHIMPANZEE.
(FEMALE)
ANGLE
INT: PTERY:
MUSCLE
fflOGE.
SVBL/NGUAL FOSSA
GEN/Ai. FOSSA
FIG. 161. Inner aspect of the right half of the Piltdown mandible contrasted
with the corresponding view of the right half of the mandible of a young
adult female chimpanzee.
mouth and hands, the particular servants of the brain,
became adapted for higher uses. Looking at the problem
from this point of view, we cannot reject the Piltdown
mandible because as regards the mylo-hyoid ridge it is
simian and not human in character.
We pass on to the consideration of another character
one to which Dr Smith Woodward was at first inclined
to attach a considerable degree of importance. On the
inner aspect of the ascending branch or ramus of the
THE PILTDOWN MANDIBLE 435
mandible the part to which the muscles of mastication
are yoked the opening for the nerve and vessels, which
enter the jaw to nourish the teeth, is seen (fig. 160). Its
anterior sharp margin carries a projecting spine. At its
hinder lower margin runs off a narrow groove in which
lie the vessels and nerve for the supply of the mylo-
hyoid muscle. The groove is known, therefore, as the
mylo-hyoid groove. Both vessels and nerve come from
the main structures which enter the jaw at the dental
foramen. The vascular groove is often separated from
the one for the nerve. If the inner aspect of the
chimpanzee's jaw is examined (fig. 161) the dental
opening is readily seen ; it is large, but there is no short
spine on its anterior border and the mylo-hyoid groove
takes its departure some distance behind the opening
for the dental nerve. Exactly the same characters are
seen in the Piltdown jaw ; in this respect, also, that
mandible is simian. When we seek to appreciate the
significance of this character, we note at once that it is not
the mylo-hyoid groove which has shifted away from the
dental opening. In the human jaw the dental opening
lies 20 mm. behind the last molar tooth or more ; in the
Piltdown jaw and in the chimpanzee's the distance is
considerably less only 15 mm. It is easy to see how
the difference has arisen. During all the years of youth,
when the milk teeth are being replaced and space is being
provided for the accommodation of the three permanent
molars, the ascending ramus of the jaw is undergoing a
process of continuous reconstruction. The nature of the
change can be realised from the mandible of the infant
gorilla shown in fig. 160. The two milk molars are in
place. In the course of time, space for three large
permanent molars a space of 45 mm. (1*8 inches) has to
be established behind the last milk molar for the three
permanent molars. To secure such space, new bone is
laid down along the posterior border of the ascending
ramus ; the anterior border is at the same time removed.
Every year the ascending ramus is moved backwards
a space ; those masons of the animal skeleton the osteo-
436 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
blasts carry out the transformation. It will be seen
that the opening for the dental nerve has also to be
carried backwards. For some reason which we under-
stand only imperfectly at present the migration of the
dental opening is retarded in anthropoid jaws, but the
mylo-hyoid groove is not. Hence in adult anthropoids
the dental opening and the mylo-hyoid groove usually
become separated as in the Piltdown mandible.
Here there is a simian feature, but one on which we
must not lay too much stress. It is a remarkable circum-
stance that in very young anthropoids, especially in the
gorilla (see fig. 160), the human form of mylo-hyoid
groove is present. In the most primitive forms of
anthropoid apes the gibbons both the human and
anthropoid arrangements of this groove are found. In
monkeys the human form is the rule. In this character
modern man seems to have relapsed to a more primitive
condition. It will also be noted (fig. 160) that the
ridge for the mylo-hyoid muscle is more clearly indicated
in young than in adult anthropoids.
In a former chapter (p. 322) attention has been drawn
to the most outstanding of all the characters of the Pilt-
down mandible the shelf or ledge of bone which unites
the right and left halves in the region of the symphysis
or chin (fig. 161). That feature has never before been
seen in a human lower jaw : it is a characteristic of the
anthropoid mandible. The mylo-hyoid ridge ends near
the lateral borders of this simian shelf.
We now come to a feature which is rather peculiar to the
Piltdown mandible. On the inner side of the jaw, above
the "simian" shelf and above the anterior indication of
the myloid ridge, is a wide, shallow fossa (see fig. 161).
I do not think there can be any doubt as to the nature of
this fossa ; it is the impress of the salivary gland the
sublingual which lies in the front part of the floor of
the mouth above the mylo-hyoid muscle. In modern
human jaws the impression of the sublingual gland is
usually well marked, but variable in size (fig. 160). I
have not seen any modern mandible in which the im-
THE PILTDOWN MANDIBLE 437
pression is so extensive as in the Piltdown mandible. The
sublingual impression is not so clearly indicated in the
mandibles of anthropoids as in the Piltdown specimen,
although in them the gland is particularly well developed.
When the architecture of the Piltdown mandible is
revealed by the use of X-rays, the arrangement of the
trabeculae and lines of bone then seen within the mandible
is reminiscent of the anthropoid rather than of the human
form. We know that the structural arrangement of the
bony trabeculae has a very definite significance. These
minute bars or crossing lines are laid down in such a
manner as to best withstand the strains and stresses to
which the mandible is subjected in the course of ordinary
use. If, then, the inner structure is more anthropoid than
human, we must infer that the uses to which it was
subjected in life were of the kind exhibited by living
anthropoid rather than by living races of men. Professor
Arthur Underwood has conferred a benefit on all students
of early man by the publication of X-ray photographs of
the Piltdown mandible. 1 Although the details of archi-
tecture revealed in human mandibles by means of X-rays
vary from individual to individual, yet one must admit
that in its finer structure the Piltdown mandible has more
in common with the anthropoid than with the human
mandible. I will draw attention to one feature only the
course of the canal which carries the dental nerves and
vessels. In the mandible of modern races this canal as
revealed in an X-ray photograph is distinctly bent during
its passage from the ascending ramus to the body of the
jaw (fig. 175, p. 475). The concavity of the bend lies well
below the roots of the last molar tooth. In the anthropoid
jaw the canal takes an almost straight course from the
ascending ramus to the body of the jaw. The roots of
the last molar tooth not only reach the bend of the nerve,
but may pass beyond it. In these characters the Piltdown
jaw resembles an anthropoid jaw.
Thus it will be seen that in many of its features the
Piltdown jaw suggests that it should be linked with a
1 Arthur S. Underwood, Brit.Journ. Dent. Sc., 1913, p. 650.
438
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
skull which is distinctly more anthropoid than the one
actually found. When we proceed to the next step that
of actually fitting this jaw to the skull our difficulties
become even greater. The very part of the jaw
the condyle which we most need to give us the
form of contact with the skull is broken away (fig. 162).
Fortunately, that part of the base of the skull which bears
the joint for the missing condyle is preserved on the
temporal bone. From the size and contour of the surface
of this joint we can reckon what the size and shape of
the missing condyle must have been. I cannot detect
20 30 -!0 50 10 20 30 to 50 10 ZO 30 40 50 10 20
N.CALEDONIAN. CHIMPANZEE. PILTDOWN. HEIDELBERG.
FIG. 162. The ascending branch of a series of lower jaws, viewed from behind.
any feature in the joint on the Piltdown temporal bone
which is not also represented on the temporal bones
of primitive modern races of mankind such as the
Patagonians, native Australians, and Melanesians. It is
true that the Piltdown articular surface differs from that
to be seen in present-day Europeans, but the difference is
the result of a change which has set in since the Neolithic
period. We infer, then, that the condyle of the jaw
which played within the joint of the Piltdown skull was
similar in shape and size to that of modern man. A
series of mandibles all placed so that the chewing
surface of the molar teeth fall in a horizontal plane is
shown in fig. 162. They are viewed from behind, so
THE PILTDOWN MANDIBLE
439
that the posterior edge or margin of the ascending ramus
and of the articular condyle may be seen and compared.
Side by side are placed the ascending ramus of a native
of New Caledonia and of a female chimpanzee. The
posterior border of the human ramus widens gradually as
it passes into the condyle ; the condyle itself presents a
wide, convex surface, very little of the articular surface
actually showing on the posterior aspect. In the chim-
panzee the posterior margin of the ramus remains narrow
until it expands suddenly in the condyle. The condyle
shows posteriorly a considerable area of the articular
surface. In the same series of drawings the Piltdown
and Heidelberg lower jaws are also represented (fig. 162).
The latter shows certain leanings towards the anthropoid
form in its straightness, but on the whole its characters
are human. In the Piltdown specimen the features are
rather anthropoid. Professor Underwood has drawn
attention to the manner in which the ramus of the Pilt-
down jaw is compressed from side to side at the root or
neck of the condyle exactly the form one is familiar
with in the mandible of chimpanzees. It is therefore an
articular condyle, copied from the jaw of the chimpanzee,
which one would fit on the Piltdown specimen if attention
is confined to the mandible only. The shape and position
of such a condyle is indicated by a stippled outline in
fig. 162. A condyle so shaped will not fit the joint on
the Piltdown skull the two are incongruous. Only a
condyle shaped as in human races of the modern type can
be applied. Such a condyle is represented in fig. 162,
with an exact tracing of the articular surface on the base
of the Piltdown skull with which such a condyle moved
in life. The exact transverse width of the condyle and
joint are such as are found in modern primitive races
of men 21 mm. In the drawing (fig. 162) it seems
perfectly simple to add such a human condyle to the
Piltdown jaw ; the difficulties which are encountered
when such a condyle is actually modelled in clay are
much greater. Such difficulties, however, are not of so
serious a nature as to make us actually reject the possi-
44 o THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
bility of the mandible belonging to the skull ; but a
certain degree of doubt is engendered.
We now come to deal with a very important feature
of the Piltdown man. He has developed to the very
highest degree a character which most of us who have
tried to unravel the geological history of man never
expected to find in an early or primitive human type.
That feature is the articular eminence a pulley-like
elevation on the anterior part of the joint for the jaw on
the base of the skull (fig. 163). The articular eminence
is one of the most ingenious of all mechanisms to be
found in the human body. It is simple and effective.
The manner in which the eminence brings about the
opening of the mouth in a modern man is shown in
fig. 163. The stippled lines show the position of the
condyle, of the coronoid process, to which the temporal
muscle is attached, and of the angle of the jaw, when the
mouth is closed and the food is being ground between
the teeth towards the end of a chewing movement. In
that phase, the condyle of the jaw has ascended within a
socket the glenoid cavity situated on the under-surface
of the temporal bone, just in front of the ear. If the
reader will place a finger in front of the opening of the
ear he will feel the condyle enter its cavity as the lower
teeth close against the upper. The position of the
various parts of the jaw, when the mouth is opened, is
also shown in fig. 163. A rotatory movement of the
ascending ramus occurs as the mouth is opened. The
condyle then mounts the articular eminence (fig. 163).
A strong muscle, the external pterygoid, drags the
condyle forwards on the eminence, thus depressing the
body of the jaw and opening the mouth. It is a general
law of the animal body one established a hundred and
fifty years ago by John Hunter that no muscle can act
by itself ; its opponents the muscles which produce an
opposite movement must act at the same time to a
moderate and yielding degree. The external pterygoid
has three strong opponents muscles which close the
lower jaw and teeth against the upper jaw and teeth,
THE PILTDOWN MANDIBLE
441
thus masticating the food. One of these is the temporal
muscle, which rises from the side of the skull and is
attached to the coronoid process. The two others are
also important for our present purposes and must be
mentioned. One is the masseter, which rises from the
zygoma (fig. 163) and is attached to the outer surface of
the ramus of the jaw, especially in the neighbourhood
of the angle. On the deep surface of the ramus there
is a counterpart to the masseter muscle the internal
MODERN
ENGLISH.
PILTDOWN
FIG. 163. Side view of the lower jaw and mandibular joint in a modern skull.
The stippled line represents the position of parts when the mouth is shut ;
the firm line, the open position. The corresponding parts of the Piltdown
skull are also shown in the drawing.
pterygoid. Now, it will be seen from fig. 163 that as
the mouth opens under the action of the external ptery-
goid and the forward movement of the condyle is
initiated, the coronoid process is moved forwards and
downwards, elongating the temporal, while the angle
moves backwards and downwards, stretching the
masseter and internal pterygoids, bringing them into an
advantageous position for executing a grinding move-
ment. The part played by the articular eminence in the
mechanism of opening the mouth will be evident. The
resistance it offers to the forward movement of the
442 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
condyle ensures a rapid opening of the mouth. It does
more. When the condyle has mounted the eminence,
the lower series of teeth is nearly parallel to the upper,
not divergent as would be the case if the joint movement
were of the hinge type. When the three great muscles
press the lower teeth against the upper, crushing the food,
the condyle slips home to its socket the glenoid cavity
in front of the ear. It will be seen that, as the teeth
meet and the movement comes to an end, there must be
a certain degree of rubbing between the teeth, for the
condyle passes backwards as it sinks home and the
condyles do not come to rest exactly at the same point of
time, giving the teeth a lateral movement. We expect,
therefore, that the chewing surfaces of the Piltdown teeth
should be worn flat, for the highly developed articular
eminence and deep glenoid cavity proclaim in unmistak-
able terms that the chewing movements just described as
true of modern man are also true of him. The chewing
surface of the Piltdown molars are worn smooth and flat.
That is a strong point in favour of the authenticity of
the jaw.
An articular eminence of the kind just described has
until now only been seen in human races built on the
modern type. We naturally regard the form of joint
found in anthropoids as the more primitive the form
from which we believe the human one has been evolved.
The temporo-maxillary joint of a chimpanzee is shown in
fig. 164, the mandible being represented in both the
opened and closed positions. A passing glance may lead
the reader to the conclusion that an articular eminence
is absent, but a closer examination will reveal the fact
that it is not the eminence but the glenoid cavity which
is missing. If figs. 163 and 164 be compared, it will be
seen that in the first the floor of the glenoid cavity reaches
upwards to the level of the roof of the ear-passage, while
the projection of the articular eminence is nearly on the
level of the floor of the ear-passage. In the latter (fig.
1 64) the articular plateau on which the condyle moves is
level with the floor of the ear-passage. In the chimpan-
THE PILTDOWN MANDIBLE
443
zee, then, the articular eminence extends backwards to
the ear-passage ; it fills up the position which should be
occupied by the glenoid cavity. The peculiarity of
modern man, then, is not the presence of an articular
eminence, but the presence of a hollow or socket behind
that eminence, into which the condyle ascends as the
teeth meet. 1 Neither the articular plateau of the anthro-
poid nor the articular eminence of man are present in
CHIMPANZEE
LA CHAPELLE
FIG. 164. Drawing of the left half of a female chimpanzee's mandible repre-
sented in both the opened and closed positions to show the mechanism of
the temporo-mandibular joint of a man of the Neanderthal type (La Chapelle
after Professor Boule).
the infantile stage ; they become developed as the per-
manent teeth erupt (see fig. 170).
The condition of the anthropoid temporo-mandibular
joint has a direct bearing on some of the problems we
have now on hand. In fig. 164 is reproduced an outline
drawing of the La Chapelle man, described recently by
Professor Boule. This mid-Pleistocene representative
of Neanderthal man was somewhat aged, but as far as
1 For further details see W. Wallisch, " Das Kiefergelenk des diluvialen
Menschen," Archiv fur Anat. und Physiol., 1913, p. 179. Lubosch,
Anat. Anz. t 1914, vol. xlvi. p. 449.
444 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
the joint of his jaw is concerned he shows the typical
features of his race. There is a raised articular plateau,
on which the condyle moves, somewhat similar to the
form found in the chimpanzee. The posterior part of
the plateau is slightly depressed ; there is just a suspicion
of a glenoid cavity. The bony floor of the ear-passage
is shaped as in the ape ; in the Piltdown skull it is
fashioned exactly as in modern man.
What are the advantages of the articular plateau in the
mechanism of the ape's mandible ? Both the advantages
and disadvantages are shown in fig. 164. As the condyle
is dragged forwards on the articular plateau, the mouth
opens and the muscles of mastication are stretched. The
gape thus produced differs from that seen when the human
mouth is opened. The front teeth the canines and
incisors are moved further apart than the hinder teeth or
the molar teeth which are especially used in grinding.
With long projecting canine teeth a wide gape in front
is a necessity. Our first impulse is to regard an articular
plateau as an adaptation for the long and prominent canine
teeth, but the impulse is checked when we see a very
similar form of articular plateau in Neanderthal man, in
whom the canine teeth are ground flush with their neigh-
bours in the dental series. An articular plateau, then,
does not necessarily indicate the presence of simian canine
teeth. The particular question we have to answer, how-
ever, is this : Is a true articular eminence compatible
with projecting simian canine teeth ? We know that the
movements of the Piltdown mandible were determined
by the contour of the joint surfaces on the temporal bone ;
these are exactly similar to those of modern man. The
mandibular movements must have been the same in
Piltdown man as in us. Are such movements compatible
with the presence of projecting canine teeth ? The
solution of that problem must wait until the canine tooth
found at Piltdown has been fixed in the mandible a
task which awaits us in another chapter.
Up to this point I have passed under review the various
characters of the mandible found at Piltdown to see if
THE PILTDOWN MANDIBLE 445
we could obtain any evidence which would definitely
debar us from associating it with the skull. We must
admit that the majority of the features enumerated are
not such as we should have expected to find present in the
authentic mandible ; on the other hand, there is not one
which places the jaw out of court. We now proceed to
review the evidence of another kind proof presumptive
in favour of the mandible and skull being parts of one
individual.
We have seen that in many features the Piltdown
mandible resembles that of the chimpanzee. Let us,
therefore, as in fig. 165, reconstruct it as if it were such,
and see the result. In comparing lower jaws, we must
select a definite plane on which all are arranged, so that
our comparisons may be just. The plane selected here
is the upper or chewing surfaces of the three molar
teeth. In fig. 165 two mandibles have been set on that
plane and viewed from above. When a chimpanzee's
jaw is so examined it is seen that the teeth on each side,
from the third molar behind to the canine in front, form
a right and left series which are almost parallel ; the outer
borders of the canine teeth are nearly as widely separated
as the outer margins of the last molars. The two halves
of the mandible of Eoanthropus have been given this
parallel form in fig. 165, and at first we seem to have
obtained a mandible of a reasonable shape with a close
resemblance to that of an anthropoid. There is one
point, however, in which this reconstruction appears
to break the ordinary rules of jaw conformation the
right and left coronoid processes, to which the temporal
muscles are attached, are almost as wide apart as the
outer ends of the two condyles. In anthropoids, and
particularly in human mandibles, the bicondylar width is
greater than the bicoronoid the measurements being
made between the outer extremities of these processes.
The mandible as reconstructed in fig. 165 could not be
articulated to the Piltdown skull, for the mandible
attached to that skull must have had a bicondylar width
of at least 120 mm., and the bicoronoid width must have
44 6
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
been at least 100 mm. In the reconstruction shown in
fig. 165 the dimensions are incompatible with the
skull.
It is clear that we cannot reconstruct the Piltdown
mandible on such lines and apply it to the skull. That
difficulty was appreciated by Dr Smith Woodward in
making his original reconstruction. The condyles, to fit
so
CHIMPANZEE.
(B) EOANTHROPUS.
FIG. 165. A. Lower jaw of a female chimpanzee, which has been set so that the
upper surfaces of the three molar teeth are in a horizontal plane. The jaw is
viewed at right angles to this plane. B. Reconstruction of the mandible of
Eoanthropus on chimpanzee lines, and supplied with condyles of the chim-
panzee type.
the skull, must be placed at least 120 mm. apart. If,
then, the teeth were to form parallel rows as in
anthropoids, a great width must be given to the front
part of the jaw. The right half of the mandible is so
fractured in the region of the chin as to leave some degree
of uncertainty as to whether or not the broken extremity
actually reaches the middle line of the chin. Dr Smith
Woodward has taken advantage of the doubt in his
reconstruction and widened the region of the symphysis
THE P1LTDOWN MANDIBLE
447
as in fig. 1 66. A mandible with distinct anthropoid
characters and of very massive proportions is thus
obtained. A minute examination leads me to believe
that at one point the fragment actually does reach the
middle line.
If, on the other hand, we suppose, and I think we are
obliged to accept this supposition, that there is present
in the right half of the Piltdown mandible a point which
actually reaches and slightly crosses the middle line of
the chin, then we cannot arrange the teeth in such a way
as to make the two rows of teeth parallel as in anthropoids
(see fig. 1 66). As regards the widths between the
FIG. 1 66. A. The original reconstruction of the mandible of Eoanthropus,
viewed at right angles to the plane of the molar teeth. B. Similar view of a
reconstruction by the Author.
condyles and the coronoid processes, the reconstructions
shown in figs. 166, A and B, agree. It may be said that
both have been arranged and spaced so as to correspond
to the width of the skull. To a certain extent this is
true, but if an unwarrantable presumption had been made
in giving such a width to the mandible, then we should
probably have obtained an abnormal relationship between
condylar and coronoid processes. On the other hand,
the relations between these processes are such as are met
with in primitive types of man. The coronoid process
must hold a definite relationship to the zygomatic arch.
The bicoronoid width is less by 30 or 36 mm. than the
width between the zygomatic arches in all forms of
44 8 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
human skulls. In Eoanthropus the bizygomatic width
is between 130 and 140 mm. ; the bicoronoid should be
between 104 and iiomm. In both reconstructions the
latter is 104 mm. Thus, so far as regards coronoid and
condylar widths, the mandible and skull are compatible.
The aspect of the lower jaw presented in the re-
construction (fig. 1 66, A, B) gives us an opportunity
of looking more closely into another of the peculiar
features of Eoanthropus. Within the semi-circle of the
lower teeth lies the tongue ; the space enclosed by the
inner margins of the teeth may be named the lingual
area. The larger the intradental area, the larger and more
brutal the size of the tongue. If to the lingual space
which lies within the teeth we add the area represented
by their chewing surfaces, we obtain a means of
estimating the degree to which the function of mastica-
tion was developed. The area we have to estimate
the counterpart of the palatal area lies within the outer
margins of the teeth, and is bounded behind by a line
drawn from the hinder end of the last molar tooth on one
side to the extremity of the corresponding molar on the
other side. In the original reconstruction (fig. 166, A)
of the Piltdown mandible this area measured 78 mm. in
length, 66 mm. at its greater width ; its total extent
4880 mm. 2 In the second reconstruction (fig. 166, B) the
dimensions are : length 70 mm., width 64 mm. ; area
3980 mm. 2 Let us see how those dimensions compare
with those of anthropoid apes. The masticatory area finds
its highest expression in the gorilla. In the male the
dimensions are : length 97 mm., greatest width 64 mm. ;
area 5600 mm. 2 In the female chimpanzee we meet with
the opposite extreme as regards the size of masticatory
area. To take an average example (fig. 165, A) : length
67 mm., width 54 mm. ; area 3180 mm. 2 Thus in
the development of the masticatory system, Eoanthro-
pus rises well above the lower anthropoid limit. The
original reconstruction shows an area 720 mm. less than
the male gorilla, and 1700 mm. more than the female
chimpanzee. With a brain developed to the amount
THE PILTDOWN MANDIBLE
449
already demonstrated for Eoanthropus, such a develop-
ment of the more animal side of the body was scarcely
to be expected.
It will be profitable, at this point, to see how
Eoanthropus stands, in this respect, to races of men,
both ancient and modern. The specimen we naturally
take for our first comparison is the Heidelberg mandible ;
it is the sole representative of early Pleistocene man on the
continent of Europe. The jaw is depicted in fig. 167, A.
It has been placed and measured in the manner already
described. We see that the molar teeth do not form a
HEIDELBERG
FlG. 167. A. View from above of the Heidelberg mandible. B. Similar view of
a mandible of a modern Englishman. As in other drawings, the specimens
have been placed so that the chewing surfaces of the molar teeth occupy a
horizontal plane.
parallel, but a converging series. The width of the skull
was evidently greater than in the one from Piltdown ;
the articular cavities for the jaw on the base of the skull
must have been at least 10 mm. wider apart. The
coronoid processes have the same degree of separation.
Indeed, as regards the hinder parts of the jaw, there is
a considerable degree of resemblance in the Heidelberg
and Piltdown specimens. The masticatory area of the
Heidelberg mandible is large : length 60 mm., width
70 mm. ; total area 3540 mm. 2 440 mm. 2 less than in
the writer's reconstruction of the Piltdown mandible,
and 1340 mm. 2 less than in that of Dr Smith Woodward.
29
450 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
If we examine the mandible of a modern Englishman
from the same point of view the difference is very
striking (fig. 167, B). The bony framework of the
modern jaw has undergone a remarkable reduction. The
bicondylar and bicoronoid widths have diminished, but
not to a very marked extent. The masticatory area is
greatly reduced. In the specimen represented in fig. 167,
B, the dimensions are the following : length 51 mm., width
(between outer margins of second molars) 60 mm. ; total
area 2760 mm. 2 If we presume that the mandible of
Eoanthropus as restored by Dr Smith Woodward re-
presents our ancestral condition at the beginning of the
Pleistocene period, then during that period the length of
the chewing area of the jaw has decreased 37 mm.
(ij inches), the width only 4 mm., and the total area
2 1 20 mm. 2 It will be observed that it is in length, not
in width, that the chewing area of the mandible has
decreased. In the Neanderthal race, at least, the width
has actually increased.
The modern English mandible represents an advanced
stage in the process of reduction. For the purposes of
comparison, it is better to select the mandible of a
primitive race of the modern type, such as may be found
amongst the extinct Tasmanians. The palate of a Tas-
manian native is represented in fig. 52 (p. 150), one in
which the dimensions do not fall far short of those founc
in the palate of Eoanthropus. The length of the masti-
catory area in the corresponding Tasmanian mandible is
63 mm., the width 60 mm. ; the total area 3210 mm. 2
against 3980 mm. 2 in the writer's reconstruction of the
Piltdown mandible, and 3540 mm. 2 in the Heidelberg
mandible. In the mandibles of very ancient man the
chewing surface exceeds the highest modern develop-
ment by a considerable amount. In the course of human
evolution, the chewing area has become greatly reduced
a reduction which probably followed the growing mastery
of the brain. The condition in Eoanthropus suggests that
the brain had reached a volume equal to that of modern
man before the reduction of the jaws and teeth set in.
THE PILTDOWN MANDIBLE 451
In the preceding paragraphs, the evidence relating to
the masticatory function of the Piltdown mandible has
been reviewed with the definite object of seeing whether
we can reconcile its simian characters with a brain and
skull which are distinctly of a human type. In the mid-
Pleistocene man of La Chapelle the brain had a volume
of 1620 C.C., the mandible a masticatory area which, from
the reconstruction by Professor Boule, I calculate to have
been 3450 mm. 2 A brain volume of 1400 c.c. and a
mandibular chewing area of 3980 mm. 2 , as in the writer's
reconstruction of the Piltdown mandible, seem, when
we keep the La Chapelle example in mind, quite a
reasonable combination. We cannot reject this mandible
because of its anthropoid dimensions and characters.
Before passing on to the next chapter, in which the
evidence relating to teeth is to be considered, it will be
well to draw attention to some very instructive facts
brought out in the drawings shown in figs. 165, 166, and
167. So far we have centred our attention on the upper
margin of the mandibular arch the tooth-bearing margin.
We must now examine the changes which have taken
place at the lower margin which bounds the floor of the
mouth. In the chimpanzee (fig. 165) the lower margin
invades and diminishes the floor of the mouth, especi-
ally in the anterior or symphyseal region. The lower
border of the symphysis lies 35 mm. behind the cutting
edge of the incisor teeth, which form the anterior border
of the mouth area. In the gorilla the symphysis may
extend backwards 55 mm. into the floor ; in Dr Smith
Woodward's reconstruction it reaches backwards 37 mm.
(fig. 1 66, A) ; in the reconstruction by the writer 30 mm.
(fig. 1 66, B) ; in the Heidelberg jaw 29 mm. (fig. 167, A) ;
while in the modern English mandible (fig. 167, B) the
distance is only 13 mm. The widening of the aperture
of the buccal floor has occurred at the sides as well as
in front at the symphysis. Thus we see that in the
evolution of the mandible of modern man a double
change has been at work : while the teeth and the
upper margin of the mandibular arch have undergone a
452 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
great degree of reduction, limiting greatly the tongue
space, the lower margin has really increased, giving a
greater width to the floor space of the mouth. Such a
change will give greater freedom to the tongue in the
articulation of words. In both the Piltdown and Heidel-
berg jaws, especially in "the former, the condition of the
floor of the mouth, in shape and size, is simian or ape-
like ; the characteristic modern changes have not yet
appeared in the mandibles of those ancient types.
Thus in our scrutiny and reconstruction of the Piltdown
mandible, although we have come across many details of
structure which seem to suggest that it formed part of
an anthropoid rather than of a human being, we have met
with no feature which clearly debars it from being placed
with the skull. It was found in the same stratum and near
the skull, and has certain characters which appear to me
to prevent us from reconstructing it purely on anthropoid
lines. We can with some confidence assume we are
dealing with parts of one individual ; our difficulties are
infinitely greater if we try to allocate the skull to a
human being and the mandible to an unknown kind of
anthropoid.
CHAPTER XXVI
EVIDENCE OF THE TEETH OF FOSSIL MAN
IT will be remembered that Dr Smith Woodward came
to the conclusion, on perfectly legitimate grounds, that
Eoanthropus had been provided with front teeth, not
of the human, but of the anthropoid pattern. When
the mandible was reconstructed the space for the front
teeth was found to be so great that only teeth of the
anthropoid type were sufficient to fill it. The conforma-
tion of the mandible, especially in its front part, was
essentially the same as in anthropoid apes ; it was there-
fore a natural inference that the teeth, especially the
canines, were pointed and prominent and used as in apes.
I came to an opposite conclusion on the grounds
enumerated in the last chapter. The joint for the
mandible on the skull is similar in all respects to the
joint of men of the modern type ; I could not see that
such a joint was compatible with prominent canines.
The molar teeth were worn flat and smooth exactly as
in primitive modern races. The temporal muscles of
mastication were not larger than in modern man. The
front space of the reconstructed mandible could be filled
by teeth which were modern in form but of large
dimensions. There can also be no doubt that the size
of brain influenced me ; I did not expect to find a brain
which was so eminently human combined with a tooth
which was so distinctively simian.
It is instructive to reproduce the reconstructions of the
Piltdown teeth and mandible which were made before the
canine tooth was actually found (fig. 168). On these early
453
454
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
reconstructions are superimposed drawings of the teeth
and mandible of a modern Englishman. It will be seen
that in both reconstructions the Piltdown teeth project in
FIG. 168. A. True profile drawing of the model of the Piltdown mandible and
teeth reconstructed under the direction of Dr Smith Woodward. Placed on
it is the mandible of a modern Englishman. The first molar tooth of the one
is placed over the first molar tooth of the other. B. A reconstruction by the
writer, The same modern mandible is used for comparison.
front of and also behind the teeth of the modern man.
The total dental length, as seen when the face is turned
in true profile, is 50 mm. in the modern Englishman,
THE TEETH OF FOSSIL MAN 455
78 mm. in Dr Smith Woodward's reconstruction, and
70 mm. in the drawing shown in fig. 168, B. The
difference in the canine tooth is also apparent. It is
conical and pointed, with a back-to-front diameter of
14-5 mm., in fig. 168, A ; it is blunt as in modern man,
with a front-to-back diameter of 10 mm., in fig. 168, B.
The drawings also bring out another feature to which
reference will have to be made. It will be observed, in
the scale placed above the teeth (fig. 168), that the zero
of the dental scale is placed between the second pre-
molar and the first molar tooth. Behind the zero point
lie the three molar teeth, concerned in grinding and
pulverising the food ; in front of that point are the
cutting teeth, five in number two premolars, one
canine, two incisors concerned in biting off and in the
initial breaking up of the food. The zero point is thus
situated at the junction of two functional areas the
front and back and lies in the most stationary or
conservative part of the dental series of the group
of animals to which man and the higher apes belong.
If the molar teeth in the higher primates undergo
a change, it is the last or third of the series which
is first affected. In the actual reduction or increase of
the front teeth, the canine is the centre of the change,
but the movement of the series as a whole is towards or
away from the zero point. As will be seen from fig. 168,
A and B, there is no difference of opinion as regards the
Piltdown mandible and teeth behind trie zero point ; the
difference concerns the parts which lie in front of the
zero point. Whether we regard Eoanthropus as a
direct ancestor of modern man, or a collateral stem
which became extinct, we must suppose that the
mandible represents a primitive human form, and that it is
from such a form that our modern mandibles have been
evolved. The changes required to convert a Piltdown
mandible into one of the modern European type are
represented diagram matically in fig. 168, A and B. In
front of the zero line there has been a reduction of over
half an inch. Behind the zero point the degree of
456 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
reduction has been much less only 7 or 8 mm. in the
length of the molar teeth, and 10 mm. in the width of the
ascending ramus of the jaw. If the reduction depicted
in fig. 1 68 represents changes which have occurred in
the human mandible and teeth since the beginning of
the Pleistocene period, then we must infer that the
structural evolution of man has taken place at a sur-
prisingly rapid pace.
As already said, the reconstructions of the mandible
shown in fig. 168 were made before the actual discovery
of the canine tooth. A situation with a certain degree
of piquancy thus arose, for we were all well aware that
Mr Charles Dawson was busily extending his researches
at Piltdown, and that any day a discovery might be made
which would settle finally which reconstruction was right
and which was wrong. Early in August 1913, Father P.
Teilhard de Chardin, who shared in all the toils at
Piltdown, discovered first the two nasal bones the bones
which form the bridge of the nose and secondly a canine
tooth, all in the same black Eoanthropic stratum and near
the original site of discovery. Like all the fragments of
the skull the nasal bones were human in character ; like
the majority of the features of the mandible the canine
tooth was of the anthropoid type. Dr Smith Wood-
ward's reasoning led him in the right direction ; mine
led me in the wrong. 1
Accurate drawings of the tooth thus discovered are
o
represented in fig. 169. The middle of the upper series
(fig. 169) shows the side of the tooth which is directed
towards the tongue, for it is the lower canine of the right
side. 2 It was also the right half of the mandible which
was found. For comparison the right lower canine teeth
of a young female chimpanzee (i), of a female gorilla (2),
of a child in the " milk " stage of dentition (represented
1 See "Supplementary Note on the Discovery of a Palaeolithic Human
Skull and Mandible at Piltdown, Sussex," by Charles Dawson, Arthur
Smith Woodward, and Grafton Elliot Smith, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.,
1914, vol. Ixx. p. 82.
2 After a minute study of the Piltdown canine, Mr Leon Williams carne
to the conclusion that it is an upper, not a lower tooth.
THE TEETH OF FOSSIL MAN
457
twice natural size), and of an Australian native, are placed
in series with the Piltdown specimen. All are poised so
as to show the inner or lingual aspect. In shape and
size the tooth is clearly more closely related to the anthro-
poid than the human form. The crown is conical pointed
CHIMPANZEE. GORILLA. PILTDOWN. INFANT. AUSTRALIAN,
ZOt t 1 i i * ' iu| i "|20
NEANDERTHAL. GORILLA. PI LT0OWN. IHFANT. AUSTRALIAN.
FIG. 169. The right lower canine tooth .found at Piltdown compared wilh
the correspondingjtooth of man and of anthropoids.
1. Right lower canine of a young female chimpanzee (lingual aspect).
2. , , , a female gorilla
3. ,, , Eoanthropus
4. ,, , a child (twice nat. size)
5. ,, , an Australian native
6. Left , Neanderthal man
7. Right , female gorilla (anterior aspect).
8. ,, , Eoanthropus
9. ,, , infant
10. Australian native
458 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
and rises 14 mm. above the neck the constriction sur-
rounded by the gum. In female anthropoids, the canines
being much smaller than in the males, the crowns
rise from 16 to 20 mm. above the neck. In modern
human races the canine crowns are never shaped as in
the -Piltdown specimen, and rarely rise more than 12
or 13 mm. above the level of the neck. The greatest
diameter of the crown from the outer or labial margin
to the inner or lingual is somewhat less than Dr Smith
Woodward had postulated (14*5 mm.). It measures just
under 1 1 mm., a dimension never reached in the canines
of modern man ; in them the greatest diameter rarely
exceeds 9 mm. In Neanderthal man this measurement is
frequently exceeded (fig. 169), but in shape the Neander-
thal canines are merely swollen forms of the modern
type. The root of the Piltdown tooth is anthropoid in
shape and dimensions. The exact length of the root is
doubtful, the tip being broken away, but it was probably
not less than 20 mm. in extent. In female anthropoids
the roots are about 25 mm. long ; in modern human
races they seldom exceed 1 8 mm.
The original features of the crown or chewing surface
cannot be discerned now. It is deeply hollowed by wear.
On the excavated area can be seen a black circle marking
the site of the exposed pulp cavity. Although the
original characters of the crown have been rubbed away
by use, we cannot doubt they were those seen on the
unworn crowns of the canine teeth of apes and men (see
fig. 169). On the lingual aspect of the chimpanzee's
canine (fig. 169) a ridge is seen to descend from the tip
to the heel of the crown, the heel being raised. The
ridge lies between two functional surfaces. The anterior
surface plies against the upper lateral incisor, and may
therefore be named the "incisor" area. The hinder
surface is opposed to the inner or lingual surface of the
corresponding upper canine tooth ; the two surfaces
represent the opposite blades of the canine shears. In
the canine of the human infant (fig. 169) the same two
surfaces are seen incisor and canine. They are also
THE TEETH OF FOSSIL MAN 459
apparent in the canine teeth of human adults and gorilla
(fig. 169). The dividing ridge on the Piltdown crown
has been worn away and only a deeply bevelled chewing
surface is left. Which surface does it represent incisor
or canine ? I think it is incisor ; the bevelling or excava-
tion of the crown has been caused by the upper lateral
incisor. There is no mark or impress on it of the corre-
sponding upper canine tooth. The canine of the female
gorilla, represented in fig. 169, shows the kind of wear
which results from the lateral incisor rubbing or biting
against the lower canine, but on the lateral aspect of the
crown the upper canine has worn a distinct impression.
Thus in the manner in which it has become worn by use,
the Piltdown canine differs from all known human and
anthropoid teeth.
In the discovery at Piltdown, then, there was revealed,
for the first time, a human race in which the canine teeth
were pointed, projecting, and shaped as in anthropoid
apes. That we should discover such a race, sooner or
later, has been an article of faith in the anthropologist's
creed ever since Darwin's time. In The Descent of Man
a picture is drawn of man's immediate ancestor, one of
the stipulated characters being that " the males had great
canine teeth, which served them as formidable weapons."
Everyone who has made a special study of human teeth
their form, growth, and eruption has been obliged to
have recourse to the theory of descent to explain the
numerous facts which come under the notice of the
anatomist. In fig. 170 is represented a dissection of the
face of a child, aged three years, to show certain of these
dental characters. In each half of the upper and lower
jaw is a set of five milk teeth two incisors, a canine, and
two molars. The crown of the first permanent molar,
which erupts in the sixth year, is seen buried behind the
second milk molar. The canines have constricted necks
and sharp, conical crowns ; indeed all the milk teeth are
constricted at the neck a character which can also be
noted in the Piltdown teeth. When the child bites, the
conical crown of the upper milk canine passes into the
460 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
V-shaped gap between the crown of the lower canine and
the first milk molar, rubbing against the outer surface of
these two. lower teeth in exactly the same manner as in
an ape. There is this difference, however : while the
canine of the ape wears in such a way as to maintain
a sharp chisel edge, the points of the human canines
become rubbed away. To explain the pointed conical
form and the manner in which the human milk canine
teeth come into opposition, we must suppose that they
were used at one time as in anthropoids. The develop-
mental history of the human permanent canines also
M/LH CAH/HfS
/*T PERM: MOLAR
FIG. 170. Skull of a child, dissected to show the roots of the milk teeth and the
crowns of the permanent canines in process of development.
requires explanation. The budding crowns of the
permanent teeth are situated at the roots of the milk
teeth which they are destined to replace all except the
canine teeth. The crown of the upper canine, as in the
anthropoid, begins to form far above the other members
of the series under the roof of the orbit (fig. 170).
The lower canine appears near the lower border of the
mandible. A deep origin for the canine is a necessity in
an anthropoid. The longer the root of a tooth, the
deeper in the jaw must the crown of the tooth be
developed ; the tip of the root is the last part of a tooth
to form, and it is formed at the spot where the crown
THE TEETH OF FOSSIL MAN 461
commenced to develop. The canine teeth of modern
man have been modified to take their place in the biting
series. Their deep seat of development can be explained
only by assuming that at one time they had strong and
extremely long roots, as in anthropoids. Their time of
eruption, too, is peculiar. In anthropoids these great and
highly specialised teeth appear late with the last molar
in female anthropoids and after the last molar in the
males. In Eoanthropus, the canine, having retained a
development which may be called anthropoid in degree,
should appear late about the time at which the third
molar cuts. It is strange that the canine tooth of
Eoanthropus should be so much worn, and yet the
second molar, which comes into use before the canine
teeth of anthropoids, should be worn to a relatively less
degree. In modern man the date of eruption of the
canines has been accelerated. In him it appears about
the twelfth year, with or before the second molar. The
canine has lost its high degree of specialisation and taken
a functional place between the incisor and premolar teeth.
The position of the human canine in the dental series
justifies us in assuming that it should appear before and
not after the premolar teeth. We explain its late appear-
ance by its evolutionary history. The discovery, then, of
a race of human beings with pointed simian canine teeth
was not unexpected. We did not know at what stage
of man's evolution the canine teeth became transformed,
nor could we guess the exact manner in which their
humanisation had been brought about, until Mr Charles
Dawson's discovery at Piltdown.
We now wish to see what light this discovery throws
on the evolution of our modern bite the contact which
the lower teeth make with the upper. In the course of
quite recent centuries the manner in which the front
teeth become opposed in the act of chewing has changed
amongst European races and nations of European origin.
In over 95 per cent, of modern English people the cutting
edges of the lower incisor teeth no longer meet the edges
of the upper teeth, but pass behind them. There is an
462 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
"overlapping" bite. In England, during the Anglo-
Saxon period, the incisor teeth met edge to edge in the
majority of the inhabitants ; the overlapping bite was
exceptional. The edge-to-edge incisor bite occurs in all
primitive human races ; it is also the simian form. In a
thousand years or less, then, a very remarkable change has
appeared in the bite of English people ; the overlapping
incisor bite has become the prevalent form. With the
change has come a marked tendency to contraction of the
palate and to irregularities in the arrangement of the teeth.
At first sight it seems as if a marked evolutionary change
had been wrought on our teeth and jaws in the course of
twenty or thirty generations. The changes in our teeth
and jaws are of a functional nature ; they are comparable
to certain alterations produced in our feet by the use of
modern boots and shoes. Were we to abandon boots
and walk barefooted, as has been the habit in all primitive
human races, our feet, we believe, would resume their
natural form. We have every reason to suppose that
the changes in our mouths are of a similar nature. If
we had to return to the " hard " fare of our early ancestors
we should have to use our front teeth in a different manner
and restore the edge-to-edge bite.
The manner in which the edge-to-edge incisor bite
is produced has a very direct bearing on the problems
relating to changes in man's front teeth. It will be found
that there is a double mechanism at work during mastica-
tion. One of these has to do chiefly with the front teeth
the biting mechanism ; the other with the back or molar
teeth the grinding mechanism. How different these
mechanisms are the reader may prove by personal
observation. The great temporal muscle can be felt at
work on the side of the head, anywhere between the
ear and lateral margin of the forehead. If ordinary
chewing movements are made, those which grind the
lower molar teeth against the upper and force the condyle
of the lower jaw into the depth of its socket in front of
the ear-passage, the temporal muscle will be felt to be
strongly at work ; it swells and subsides at each phase of
THE TEETH OF FOSSIL MAN 463
the movement. When, however, a biting movement is
carried out, one in which the edges of the lower incisors
are made to meet the opposing edges of the upper
incisors, the temporal muscle is felt to remain passive ;
the muscles which carry out this movement are the two
which lie in the cheek the masseter on the outer side of
the ascending ramus of the mandible, and the internal
pterygoid on its deep or buried aspect. In the inhabitants
of our western cities the biting mechanism has fallen
into disuse. The overlapping incisor bite has appeared.
The cheeks, which are high and prominent when the
biting muscles the masseter and internal pterygoid-r-
are well developed, become reduced and sunken, giving
us our narrow, hatchet-shaped faces our oval cast of
countenance.
I have cited those modern tooth changes to introduce
another aspect of the Piltdown problem. It is clear, if
we are right in differentiating the biting from the
chewing mechanism, that this observation will influence
us when we come to interpret the Piltdown mandible. We
have already seen that the front teeth and the corresponding
part of the jaw were developed to a superhuman degree ;
they were almost anthropoid in size and form. We may
further assume that the biting muscles were large in
Eoanthropus. We have to determine whether the bite
of Eoanthropus was similar in all respects to that of
anthropoids, or represented a transitional stage between
the primitive human and anthropoid methods of using
the front teeth. In fig. 171 the problem has been given
a concrete representation. On one side is shown the
manner in which the lower front teeth come into contact
with the upper ones in the skull of that primitive extinct
race the Tasmanians. On the other the front bite of
a female chimpanzee is shown. Our present knowledge
leads us to regard the arrangement in the chimpanzee
as the more primitive the one which more nearly re-
sembles the common type from which both forms have
been evolved. The upper teeth represent the stationary
blade of the dental shears, and the lower incisors two
464
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
central, two lateral represent the moving blade. In
both human and anthropoid dentitions (fig. 171) the
lower teeth come into contact with the same parts of the
upper teeth. The tooth which most demands our
attention is the upper lateral incisor. When an anthropoid
bites, the crown of the upper lateral incisor passes into
the interval between the lower lateral incisor and lower
canine (fig. 171). It wears each of these teeth. In fig.
171, A, the crown of the upper lateral incisor comes
in contact with the flattened crown of the lower canine ;
in fig. 171, B, it has descended in front of the pointed
(A) AUSTRALIAN.
(B) CHIMPANZEE.
FIG. 171. A. The form of contact between the lower and upper teeth of a
native Tasmanian. B. The form of contact in a female chimpanzee.
crown of the lower canine. The articulation of the lower
lateral incisor is also worthy of note. In both man and
anthropoid the crown of this tooth forms a double contact
with both upper incisors. So far as concerns the apposi-
tion of the incisor teeth, man and ape are alike. The
difference relates to the canine teeth. The lower canine
of the anthropoid ascends in front of and to the inner side
of the upper canine, until the point of the crown reaches
the interval between its two upper opponents the lateral
incisor and canine (fig. 171, B). The articulation of the
upper canine is even more important. In a front view
this tooth is partly hid by the lower canine. Hence its
points of contact are best seen from the side (fig.
THE TEETH OF FOSSIL MAN 465
173, B). In that illustration it will be seen that when
the lower jaw is closed the sharp-sided pyramidal crown
of the upper canine sinks into the V-shaped interval
formed by the adjacent crowns of the lower canine and
first premolar teeth. A pointed upper canine necessitates
a cutting margin on the first lower premolar tooth. The
canines of the anthropoid are shaped so as to serve
as particularly stout shears. In man their shape and
purpose are different. In him the canines serve almost
the same purpose as incisor teeth. From its shape we
infer that in the Piltdown race the canines were anthropoid
in their action as well as in their form.
A comparison of the human and anthropoid dentitions
shown in fig. 171 helps us to understand how the
anthropoid canines might be converted to a human form.
In the human dentition the canines, both upper and lower,
form part of the front series ; in anthropoids, although
the canines are partially seen from the front, they are
situated really in the lateral series. The transformation
of canine teeth from the anthropoid to the human form
apparently resulted from the change in their position
during their transference from the side to the front series.
We have already seen that the evolution of modern
human races must have been attended by a great reduction
in the size of the incisor teeth and of that part of the
jaws in which these teeth are implanted. I think it is
probable, from the manner in which the Piltdown canine
is worn, that the dental and maxillary reduction had set
in, and that the canine was set, not as in apes, completely
in the lateral series, but more in the front or incisor
series. Hence in reconstructing the lower dentition in
the Piltdown mandible I have given the canines an
intermediate place between the side and front series
(fig. 1 66, B).
The discovery at Piltdown again draws attention
to the size and growth of canine teeth in the anthro-
poid apes the animals which most closely resemble
man in structure. Four stages in the development of
canine teeth, four degrees in what may be named
30
4 66
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
"caninism," are shown in fig. 172 the stages seen
in man, the female chimpanzee, the male chimpanzee,
and the male gorilla. There are two definite facts we
may rely on. (i) That caninism varies in degree
according to the kind of anthropoid. It reaches its
greatest development amongst gorillas. (2) That the
degree of development is influenced by sex. Amongst
the great anthropoids males have the canine teeth
more developed than females. Amongst the small
anthropoids the gibbons both sexes have long canines.
Now there can be no doubt that secondary sexual
characters to a certain degree caninism is such a
30 20 10 50 40 ^0 2 060~ 50
CHIMPANZEE j> CHIMPANZEE * ~a*
.JW C.W IV
AUSTRALIAN*
GORILLA <?
FIG. 172. The development of the canine teeth in an Australian native,
a female chimpanzee, a male chimpanzee, and in a male gorilla.
character are regulated in development and growth
by substances formed in the genital glands. We have
evidence that the growth of canine teeth can be regulated
by internal secretions or hormones. In that peculiar
disease or disturbance of growth, acromegaly, which
sometimes attacks men or women, the jaws and the
parts of the skull concerned in mastication are particularly
liable to become overgrown. The growth of the jaws
is also influenced, during normal development, by
secretions or substances thrown into the circulating blood
by such glands as the pituitary and thyroid. A survey
of the dental and maxillary development of the higher
primates reveals such various degrees of caninism as are
THE TEETH OF FOSSIL MAN 467
shown in fig. 172, reaching its greatest manifestation in
the gorilla and the least in man. We have reason to
suppose that these various forms have all been evolved
from a common type, and at the present time we have
the strong hope that a better knowledge of the laws
which regulate the growth and development of the body
will reveal to us the exact manner in which these various
degrees of caninism have been produced. In the stages
shown in fig. 172 there is only one real break in the
series that between those represented by man and by
the female chimpanzee. Does Eoanthropus serve to
bridge that gap ?
We have only the lower canine to help us in answering
this question, and it forms only part of the canine shears.
We have seen that the first lower premolar and the
lateral incisor are also intrinsic parts of the canine
mechanism. To give a complete answer we need not
only the canine teeth but their neighbours on each side.
The condition of the lower canine can only be explained
by supposing that the canines had passed some little
way from the anthropoid towards the human condition.
We have seen that the crown of the Piltdown canine was
worn in a peculiar manner, and that its dimensions were
rather small when compared with those of anthropoid teeth.
Occasionally we do find anthropoid dentitions in which the
lower canines are worn in a manner not altogether unlike
the wear seen in the Piltdown specimen. When such
cases are examined it is found that the wear is due to the
upper lateral incisor, and that the lower canines are less
widely separated than is usual. I infer, therefore, that
in Eoanthropus the lower canines had undergone an
approximation, and that the partial twist which brought
them more in line with the incisors than with the molar
teeth had taken place. Their chief opponents were not
the upper canines but the upper lateral incisors. In
brief, there is an indication that the humanisation of the
canines had begun in the Piltdown race. In the
Heidelberg mandible, which Dr Smith Woodward
supposes to have belonged to a form of mankind
4 68
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
contemporary with the Piltdown race, the humanisation
of the canine teeth is complete. That fact has an
important bearing on the place we are to assign to the
Piltdown race in our ancestral tree (fig. 187).
In supplying the missing parts of the Piltdown mandible.
(B) CHIMPANZEE.
FIG. 173. A. Profile of the mandible and lower teeth of Eoanthropus, as
reconstructed by the writer. B. Similar view of the mandible and lower
teeth of a female chimpanzee.
and the missing teeth, we must be guided, to a con-
siderable extent, by the corresponding parts of anthropoid
apes. In fig. 173 is reproduced a reconstruction of the
Piltdown mandible which differs only in detail from the
later reconstruction by Dr Smith Woodward. A drawing
of the mandible and teeth of a female chimpanzee is also
shown in fig. 173. The reconstruction of the missing
THE TEETH OF FOSSIL MAN 469
premolar teeth of Eoanthropus is attended by certain
difficulties. We have seen that the first lower premolar
tooth is specially modified to serve as an opponent for the
upper canine in all anthropoids (fig. 172). Was the first
premolar so modified in Eoanthropus ? If the upper canine
interlocked as in anthropoids, it must have been shaped
as represented in fig. 176, p. 480. If it did, no mark of
contact is apparent on the lower canine, which is worn, as
we have seen, in a peculiar manner. We have to remem-
ber, too, that the articular eminence and glenoid cavity
for the articular condyle of the mandible bear witness to
the fact that the chewing movements of Eoanthropus
were those of modern man. What, then, was the form of
the upper canine, and what was its mode of articulation
with the lower teeth ? The solution of these difficulties
must be resolved by future discoveries. In the Piltdown
mandible (fig. 173, A) I have carried the cutting edges
of the incisor teeth 36 mm. in front of the zero point
between the last premolar and first molar. In his original
reconstruction Dr Smith Woodward carried the incisor
point 42 mm. forward. In the female chimpanzee shown
in fig. 173, B, the incisors are only 30 mm. in front of the
zero point. In any reconstruction Eoanthropus must be
given a large development of front teeth.
When we come to deal with the molar teeth we feel
we are again back on safer ground. The characters of
the mandible itself, so far as they have guided us to the
place which we must assign to Eoanthropus amongst the
higher primates, have taken us in an anthropoid rather
than in a human direction. The molar teeth leave us in
no doubt ; they are human. If the question is asked :
What are the characters of these teeth which are so
essentially human ? it must be confessed that a direct
and explicit answer is not easily returned. We recognise
at once the face of a friend, but we may be unable to
name the number of points which enter into the act of
recognition. We become familiar with teeth we know
the appearance of the various anthropoid forms, the various
human forms and yet we find it well-nigh impossible,
470 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
except at excessive length, to state the marks of identifica-
tion in scientific terms. Regarding the essential humanity
of the two molar teeth fixed in the Piltdown mandible there
has never been any diversity of opinion. There was the
same instant recognition of the human characters in the
teeth of the Heidelberg mandible. The mandibular bony
frame of that specimen is massive and bestial, but the
appearance of the teeth sealed its humanity. However
we may waver over the Piltdown mandible, the clear, direct
evidence of the molar teeth comes ever to our aid.
Their dimensions alone are not particularly remarkable
when compared with the largest dentitions of primitive
human races. The front-to-back diameter the "proximo-
distal " as it is technically called of the crown of the first
molar is 12 mm.; 1 of the second 12*5 mm. (J inch).
The third molar is missing, but from the indications given
us by the pits for the roots we may safely infer that it
was as large as the second. The total length of the
molar series was thus about 37 mm. In primitive
modern races the total molar length does occasionally
reach 40 mm., but the average falls short of the Piltdown
measurements. The molar teeth with which we may
most profitably compare those of Eoanthropus are those
in the Heidelberg mandible. In that specimen the first
molar is 11*6 mm. in length of crown, almost the same
as in Eoanthropus ; the second 12-7 mm., also the same ;
the third, 12-2 mm., corresponds to the estimate made for
the third Piltdown molar.
When, however, we place the teeth of modern
Englishmen in comparison we see a marked difference.
Some time ago I made a series of measurements on
twenty-two English students of medicine. In them the
first lower molar had a mean length of 10*2 mm., the
second IOT mm., the third 9*1 mm., the total molar
length being 29-4 mm. 7-6 mm. less than in Eoanthropus.
Every one who has made extensive examinations on the
1 These measurements are taken from the casts. Dr Smith Woodward
gives the length of the first molar as 11*5 mm., the second as 12 mm.,
his measurements being made on the original teeth.
THE TEETH OF FOSSIL MAN 471
tooth development of ancient races of people who
lived in the Neolithic, Bronze, or early Iron ages-
are convinced that there has been a reduction in the
molar development of the more highly civilised races.
We do not know the exact means which has wrought
this change in the human body, but we do see the
order in which the teeth undergo reduction. It will
be noted that in the English students the molar teeth
diminish from first to third. In Eoanthropus and
in the Heidelberg jaw, the reduction does not come
in that order almost the opposite. The second is
larger than the first ; the third is also larger than the
first, if equal to or perhaps smaller than in the second.
If we examine the molar teeth of such primates as the
gorilla and baboon, in which the teeth reach the zenith
of dental development, the order is exactly the reverse
of that found in modern highly civilised races. The
lower molars increase in size from first to third. It
will be remembered that we fixed the zero point in
the dental series between the last premolar tooth and
first molar. Increase or reduction commences in the
teeth furthest removed from the zero point. In the
molar series the third or last is the one to show the
initial change, whether it be retrogressive or progressive
in nature.
The anatomists of a former generation were inclined
to rely on the relative development of the molar teeth as
a guide to the affinity of animal forms. There can be no
doubt as to the close structural relationships between the
gorilla and chimpanzee, yet as regards the degree of
molar development they represent opposite conditions.
In the average gorilla the third molar is the largest of the
series ; in the average chimpanzee it is the smallest. In
one there is a progressive molar development ; in the other
there is a retrograde one. If we recognise a state in
which the two last molars of the lower jaw are of about
the same size, as the normal or " plenal " condition, then
we may distinguish those dentitions in which the third
molar is the largest of the series, as in the gorilla, as
472 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
" supra-plenal " ; l the condition in the chimpanzee and
modern man as " sub-plenal." As regards molar develop-
ment Eoanthropus must be placed in the plenal group-
perhaps in the supra-plenal.
When the chewing surfaces of the molar teeth of
Eoanthropus are examined, it is seen that five cusps are
clearly marked on each two outer, two inner, and a fifth
which is situated on the hinder border, near the junction
of that border with the outer. The molar teeth of
Eoanthropus were thus provided with the normal com-
plement of cusps. It is the fifth cusp which is of chief
interest. In the dentitions I have described as supra-
plenal the fifth cusp reaches a higher development in
the third molar than in the first ; in plenal dentitions
the fifth cusp is larger on the crown of the first than of
the third molar ; in the sub-plenal form the fifth cusp
disappears from the last molar and becomes reduced or
disappears from the second also. Indeed, it is not un-
common to see modern dentitions in which the fifth cusp
has disappeared from all the lower molar teeth. In the
Heidelberg teeth the fifth cusp is present on the crowns of
all the molars. In Eoanthropus we do not know what the
condition was on the third molar, but we can see that the
fifth cusp of the second molar, although not quite so
large as in the first, is still well developed, and we may
infer that it was present in the third of the series. We
have thus evidence that the molar teeth reached a plenal
development at least a degree which I have not observed
in any modern human dentition.
A plenal development of the molar teeth must be
regarded as a primitive feature. So, too, is the relative
narrowness of the Piltdown molars. The length or
proximo-distal diameter of the crowns is greater than their
width the measurement made between the cheek and
tongue margins. The width of the first molar is 10 mm. ;
in the second 10-5 mm. In the gorilla and chimpanzee
the length of the molar crowns is greater than the width ;
1 See Keith, " Problems relating to the Teeth of the Earlier Forms of
Prehistoric Man," Proc. Roy. Soc. of Med., 1913, vol. vi. p. 103.
THE TEETH OF FOSSIL MAN 473
in modern human races the width is equal to or greater
than the length, although individual exceptions are not
rare. In the Heidelberg molars the length slightly
exceeds the width. Still, the narrowness of the Piltdown
molars reminds us we are dealing with human teeth of a
primitive form.
Of late years a study of the pulp cavities of the teeth,
of their roots, and of the manner in which the teeth are
implanted in the jaws, have thrown quite a new light on
some of the problems which relate to the origin of man.
The introduction of X-rays as a means of transillumina-
tion has made it possible for us to examine the buried
parts of the teeth without destroying the mandibles in
which they are implanted. It was the study of the pulp
cavities and roots of the teeth of Neanderthal man which
permitted Dr Adloff 1 to produce convincing evidence
that this mid-Pleistocene race could not stand in an
ancestral position to modern man, but represented a
terminal offshoot from our ancestral stem.
When the mandible and lower molars are examined by
means of X-rays, the central cavities of the molar teeth,
containing the sensitive living pulp tissue, are seen as
comparatively clear spaces in the opaque bodies of the
teeth (see fig. 65, p. 191). In anthropoids, such as the
gorilla and chimpanzee (fig. 174), the pulp cavities are
comparatively shallow spaces between the crown above
and upper ends of the roots below. The cavity is situated
on a level with the neck of the tooth the junction of
the crown with the body of the tooth the part formed
by the fusion of the upper ends of the roots. In each
of the three anthropoid molars the two roots diverge
widely, especially in the chimpanzee (fig. 174). The
roots of the second and third molar reach, or even pass
beyond, the canal containing the dental nerve in the
substance of the mandible. Two other points may be
noted to complete an imperfect picture of the anthropoid
lower molars : (i) on passing from the first to the third
1 For references to Dr Adloft's recent publications, see Anat. Anz.,
1913, vol. xlv. p. 191.
474
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
molar the pulp cavity tends to become situated more
deeply as regards the upper or alveolar border of the
mandible ; (2) extensions of the pulp cavity are continued
to the tips of the roots ; through the canals in the roots
vessels and nerves reach the pulp cavity.
When we compare those X-ray pictures of the lower
molar teeth of anthropoids with skiagrams obtained
from human mandibles certain differences become apparent
GORILLA
CHIMPANZEE
FIG. 174. Tracings from skiagrams of the lower molars of a female gorilla
and of a female chimpanzee.
(fig. 175). If, for instance, a tracing of the molar teeth
of Eoanthropus, as revealed by the skiagram published
by Professor Underwood, is compared first with the
tracings shown in fig. 174, and then with the various
tracings of human molars shown in fig. 175, we cannot
have any doubt as to the group to which the Piltdown
molars must be assigned. They belong to the human
group ; they are remarkably like the modern teeth
shown in fig. 175. The roots of the Piltdown molars
are not long, only about 12 mm. ; in modern molars
a root length of 15 mm. is not unfrequently seen. The
THE TEETH OF FOSSIL MAN
475
roots are curved and well separated, assuming a form
which may be seen in the mandibles of the more primitive
races of modern man. The spread and curvature of the
roots is rather less than in the chimpanzee. The third
molar is unfortunately missing, but its socket is evident.
The appearance of the socket of this tooth, as revealed
in the skiagram, at first led me to infer that the mandible
MODERN.
KRAPINA.
HEIDELBERG.
FlG. 175. Skiagrams of the three lower molars of a modern European, of
Eoanthropus, of a Krapina (Neanderthal) individual, and of the Heidelberg
must be that of a young adult in which the third molar
tooth was not fully erupted the crown had not quite
reached the chewing level. A closer examination of the
actual specimen has shown that there are no good grounds
for supposing that the third molar had not come into use.
As in anthropoids, the roots of the last Piltdown molar
reached the dental canal (fig. 174). That is also the case
in the Heidelberg mandible, and occasionally this con-
dition also occurs in the mandibles of modern races.
476 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
Another very remarkable feature of the molar teeth of
early human races is also shown in fig. 175. In anthropoid
molars we have seen that the pulp cavities, even in young
adults, are comparatively small. That is also true of the
pulp cavities of the molar teeth of modern human races.
In the Neanderthal race there was, as we have already
seen, a remarkable development of the pulp cavities,
particularly well shown in the specimen found by
Professor G. Kramberger at Krapina, in Croatia (fig.
175, C). The pulp cavities in many of the Krapina
molars almost extend to the tips of the roots. This
condition is present to a greater or less degree in the
teeth of all members of the Neanderthal race. It is a
character of that race. It is equally apparent that it is
not a primitive feature, for it is the opposite to what
obtain in anthropoids and primates generally. Here,
then, is a very remarkable fact which throws a sidelight
on the antiquity of man : by the middle of the Pleisto-
cene period there was a race of men which showed a
very aberrant and highly specialised mode of tooth
development.
The enlargement of the pulp cavities is seen to have
a remarkable effect on the manner in which the teeth
are implanted in the jaws. It is very clear from fig
175, C, that the pulp cavity enlarges at the expense o
the roots ; the roots of the teeth become very short
the body long and deeply implanted in the mandible
In the molar teeth of modern man the pulp cavities
lie above the level of the upper or alveolar margin o
the jaw ; this is also the case in anthropoids. We may
regard it as the primitive condition. It is true that
there is a tendency in the third molar for a downwarc
extension of the pulp cavity to take place. We have
then, two extremes in molar formation : the condition
in which the pulp cavity lies above the alveolar border
as in the molar teeth of carnivorous animals, which we
may call the " cynodont " form. There is the other
extreme seen in Neanderthal man, where the pulp cavity
extends deeply within the substance of the jaw, recalling
THE TEETH OF FOSSIL MAN 477
the molar teeth of cud-chewing animals a form which
we may call " taurodont." Now when we examine the
molar teeth of Heidelberg man there can be no doubt
that a considerable degree of " taurodontism " is present.
The pulp cavity of the third molar is large and sinks
deeply in the substance of the mandible. The other
characters of that mandible show us that in the Heidelberg
jaw we are dealing with a rather early and massive form
of Neanderthal man. The pulp cavities of the Piltdown
molars are also large, but there is no indication of a
downward extension of the pulp cavity below the alveolar
margin. We do not know what the condition may have
been in the missing third molar tooth. We do know,
however, that with the appearance of taurodontism the
body of the tooth enlarges so that the constriction or
neck at the junction of body with the crown of the tooth
tends to disappear. That constriction is well marked in
the Piltdown molar teeth. Although the pulp cavities
are large in the molar teeth of both those species of
early men Heidelberg and Piltdown yet only in the
former do we see distinct evidence of taurodontism.
If we sum up the evidence relating to the mandible
and teeth of Piltdown man we must, in the first place,
emphasise the remarkable mixture of human and ape-like
characters which they exhibit. The mandible, as we have
seen in a previous chapter, was marked by many simian
traits, particularly in the region of the chin or symphysis.
The articulation for the mandible, on the temporal bone
of the skull, does not differ from that seen in skulls of
living races of a primitive type. The molar teeth are
essentially human. On the other hand, the canine tooth,
in its form and size, is more ape-like than any canine ever
before attributed to a human being. In shape and size it
is in keeping with the mandible, but even when these
admissions are made, certain difficult problems remain to
be solved. One of these relates to the upper canine
teeth, which must have been equally simian and pointed.
The method of articulation between the upper and lower
canine teeth cannot have been as in apes, because the
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
joint for the mandible on the base of the skull shows that
the tooth movements were those which take place in
modern man. Whatever the exact form of articulation
between the upper and lower canines may prove to be,
it is certain that the discovery at Piltdown has revealed
a human being in which certain anthropoid features were
well marked in the teeth and jaws. It is also equally
certain that the brain had passed far beyond an anthropoid
stage of development.
CHAPTER XXVII
THE FACE OF FOSSIL MAN
THE picture we form of a human being is chiefly based
on the appearance of the face. It is therefore natural
that we should try to restore the facial outlines of our
fossil ancestors. At the most it is only the bare skeletal
outline we can rebuild ; we cannot hope to restore the
living countenance. Imperfect as the picture must be, it
is well worth our pains to see how far it is possible to
reconstruct the face of so ancient and interesting a human
form as that found at Piltdown. Fig. 176 shows the
materials on which our picture has to be framed. There
is, in the first place, half of the lower jaw ; that forms a
large part of the outline of the face. In the second place,
there is the left corner of the forehead and left temple.
In the third place, the nasal bones, which form the bridge
of the nose. In the fourth, there is the root of the
zygomatic process, which guides us to the width of the
face and prominence of the cheeks. From such materials
we ought to be able to build up an outline of the face,
at least in its more general aspects.
In a former chapter an account was given of an
experiment in the reconstruction of skulls. As regards
the contour of the forehead, when seen in profile, that
experiment was a failure. On the other hand, as is
shown in fig. 177, the width and height of the frontal
region were correctly reproduced. The skull thus re-
constructed, that of an Egyptian woman, had a forehead
of average human dimensions. The temporal lines, as
they ascend on each side of it, cross within the 5o-mm.
479
480
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
vertical line, a little above the supra-orbital ridges. The
minimum width of the forehead was 98 mm. In fig.,
178 the reconstructions of the Piltdown and test skulls
are compared. In the fossil skull the temporal lines are
wider apart than in the test skull, the minimum frontal
width of the former being between 100 and 105 mm.
The forehead represents the anterior wall of the brain
chamber, and the reader may naturally infer that with
190
100
FIG. 176. Reconstruction of the face of Eoanthropus as seen in profile.
a wide forehead the frontal lobes of the brain of
Eoanthropus must also have been above the average
width. We must take into account the thickness of the
frontal bone ; with a thick frontal bone, such as that of the
Piltdown skull, the temporal lines are necessarily more
widely separated than in a modern thin-walled skull.
If the frontal views of the skull reproduced in fig. 177
be examined, it will be seen that the temporal lines, as
they ascend the forehead, soon pass outside the 5o-mm.
lines, and at the point where they cross the coronal
THE FACE OF FOSSIL MAN
481
suture that point being known as the " stephanion "
they lie 10 mm. outside the 5O-mm. limit. The " inter-
stephanic " width of the frontal bone of the test skull is
thus 1 20 mm. a very common measurement in modern
skulls. It must also be noted that if the temporal
muscles are large, their origins will be placed higher on
the vault of the skull, and the temporal lines, which
circumscribe their origins, will approach nearer to the
middle line of the vault than when the temporal muscles
are small. An English skull showing a high position of
the temporal lines is represented in fig. 179. In skulls
Fie;. 177. Frontal view of a reconstructed skull, compared with a cast of the
original that of an Egyptian woman.
of fossil men we expect to find large temporal muscles,
and the temporal lines high up on the vault of the skull
so that the interstephanic diameter becomes reduced. In
the reconstruction of the Piltdown skull, shown in fig.
178, the frontal bone is poised so as to represent the
smallest possible frontal width ; it has been pushed
inwards to a degree which somewhat interferes with the
symmetry of other parts of the reconstruction. It will
be seen, however, that even when the frontal region
is unduly contracted, the temporal lines cross the
coronal suture 10 mm. outside the 5O-mm. line. The
interstephanic diameter in the Piltdown skull is not less
than 1 20 mm., and the temporal lines do not ascend
482
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
further on the vault than in the majority of modern
skulls. That is rather an unexpected fact when we
remember the size of the lower jaw and the prominence
of the canine teeth. In the characters of the forehead
Piltdown man does not fulfil our expectation ; the
forehead, instead of being narrow, low, and receding, is
wide, full, and prominent.
In fig. 179 the right half of the forehead of the
Gibraltar skull is set by the side of the opposite half
of an English skull to again recall the points of difference
between the Neanderthal and modern types. In the
Bregma
Bregma
O / 50
50
PILTDOWN.
TEST RECONSTRUCTION.
FIG. 178. Frontal view of a reconstruction of the Piltdown skull by the
Author, compared with the reconstruction of the test skull.
Gibraltar skull the forehead is low but wide ; the
temporal line ascends on the outer side of the fo-mm.
line. In the English skull, one with uncommonly large
temporal muscles, these lines are situated inside the
5O-mm. standard ; the frontal width is unusually low.
In the English skull the frontal boss or eminence is well
marked ; it can scarcely be detected in the Gibraltar
skull. The main point of difference between these
two types lies in the conformation of the supra-orbital
ridge. In the Neanderthal type this ridge forms a
prominent continuous bar of bone, commencing above
the root of the nose and ending externally in the angular
THE FACE OF FOSSIL MAN
483
or malar process. In the modern type (fig. 179) the
supra-orbital ridge is divided into two parts, inner and
outer. As already pointed out, the supra-orbital ridges
and angular processes must be included in the bony
scaffolding which is thrown out from the skull for the
purposes of mastication. Hence in primitive races, with
large jaws and strong chewing muscles, these bony ridges,
particularly the angular processes, are well developed.
FIG. 179. Frontal view of the right half of the Gibraltar skull and left half of a
modern English skull set side by side to show the difference between the
Neanderthal and modern types of forehead.
It is unfortunate that so little of the forehead of
Eoanthropus has been preserved. We have the whole
of the left angular process and the commencement of the
supra-orbital ridge. A study of these parts shows us,
in the first place, that the supra-orbital ridges were not
modelled as in the gorilla, chimpanzee, Pithecanthropus,
and Neanderthal man, and, in the second place, that they
were different to those of the modern type of man. The
angular processes in the Piltdown forehead were remark-
484 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
ably short and stout ; they did not form projecting
lateral knobs, such as are seen in Neanderthal skulls
and in primitive specimens of modern man. In the
young orang and in the skulls of children we find angular
processes somewhat resembling the Piltdown type. Pilt-
down man was evidently marked by peculiar features quite
different from any known form of fossil man or ape.
Neanderthal man is characterised by the great width
of the supra-orbital bar ; from one angular process to the
other it measures from 120 to 128 mm. We expect to
find a great supra-orbital width in ancient and primitive
types of man, and hence it , was natural that we should
expect such a feature in Eoanthropus. In modelling his
first reconstruction, Dr Smith Woodward was influenced
by this belief. In fig. 1 80 is represented the left half of
the original model of Eoanthropus. The angular process
projects 10 mm. beyond the 5O-mm. vertical, giving a
total supra-orbital width of 120 mm. The temporal
lines, as represented in the model, have quite a different
direction from that seen on any other human skull. In
fig. 1 80 is also shown the right half of the forehead of
those round-headed men who first landed in England
during the Bronze age. They had remarkably prominent
supra-orbital ridges and angular processes offering a
striking contrast in this respect to Eoanthropus. The
temporal line, after leaving the angular process, draws
inwards on the forehead until it touches the 5O-mm.
limit, and then begins to pass outwards as it ascends, in
the manner seen in all known types of men. If, however,
we were to tilt the vault of the Bronze skull downwards
and inwards for a little way, we should produce exactly
the same disposition of the temporal lines and of the
angular process as are seen in the original model of
Eoanthropus. It is highly probable, then, that the peculiar
frontal features seen in the original model of Eoanthropus
are reconstructional, for when we poise the frontal frag-
ment in Eoanthropus as in all known human skulls, then,
as is shown in figs. 178 and 181, the features normal to
all types of men are reproduced. In my first attempts to
THE FACE OF FOSSIL MAN
485
reconstruct the Piltdown skull I also believed that the
supra-orbital region of the forehead must be made wide,
but this belief had to be abandoned in order that the
parts belonging to the middle line of the vault might
fall into their proper places.
We have been discussing the characters of the forehead,
50 70
100
f20
BRONZE AGE
EOANTHROPUS
FIG. 180. Frontal view of the left half of the original model of Eoanthropus
contrasted with the opposite half of a Bronze-age English skull.
which, in a strict anatomical sense, does not form part of
the face but of the cranium. For the anatomist the
face commences at the root of the nose and ends at
the chin, thus including those parts which form the eye-
sockets, the nasal cavity, and the mouth. When the
anatomist measures the length of the face his upper limit
is the nasion the point of junction between nasal bones
and the frontal ; his lower, the under margin of the chin.
4 86
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
In the reconstructions of Eoanthropus, shown in figs. 180
and 1 8 1, the length of the face is represented as similar
to that of modern man. The width of the face is
measured between the zygomatic or cheek arches. Now,
on the left temporal bone of Eoanthropus the root of the
zygomatic arch is preserved (fig. 178), and we have thus a
MODERN ENGLISH EOANTHROPUS
FIG. 181. Frontal view of the right half of the forehead and face of a modern
Englishman contrasted with the left half of the Piltdown skull, as recon-
structed by the Author.
means of judging the total width of the face. As may be
seen in figs. 180 and 181, we are agreed that in width of
face Eoanthropus and modern man are not unlike. In one
reconstruction the bizygomatic diameter is represented as
140 mm. ; in the other the original model as 146 mm.
In width of face Eoanthropus was very like the modern
Chinaman. Another difference between the reconstruc-
THE FACE OF FOSSIL MAN 487
tions shown in figs. 1 80 and 1 8 1 relates to the width of the
jowls, measured between the angles of the lower jaw. In
both reconstructions the width is represented as 100 mm.,
quite a common dimension in modern human faces ; but
in the original model (fig. 180) the side contour of the
face is that seen in apes, while in the other (fig. 181) the
human form is reproduced. The ape-like contour is due
to the fact that in the original model the lower jaw is set
at a very oblique angle.
In the nasal bones of Eoanthropus we again come
across features which are eminently human. In shape
and size they are short and thick. They resemble the
nasal bones seen in negroid and in Mongolian races. 1
If merely the nasal bones had been found at Piltdown,
anatomists would have agreed that an ancient representative
of a negroid race had been discovered. If merely the
canine tooth or mandible had come to light, they would
have been equally convinced that they had to deal with
parts of an anthropoid. If merely the skull bones had
been recovered, Eoanthropus would have been regarded
as purely human and given a position in the immediate
ancestry of modern man.
From the nasal bones and from the size and shape
of the upper canine teeth (see figs. 180, 181), we are
assured that the nose must have been wide and flat as in
negroid races. We must infer, too, from the retreating,
ape-like chin, from the size of the canine and incisor
teeth, that the mouth and jaws formed a projecting muzzle,
more so than is the case in any known type of fossil man.
From the cursory survey just given, the reader may
have concluded that, so far as the reconstruction of
the face of Eoanthropus is concerned, there is no sure
foundation of fact on which the anatomist may build.
That is not the case. In fig. 182 a problem in face
reconstruction is presented. The skull is from a native
Tasmanian with a palate only 10 mm. shorter than that
of Eoanthropus. In this problem of face reconstruction
we are given, in the first place, that part of the mandible
1 For details of measurements of nasal bones, see reference on p. 456.
4 88
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
which is shaded and three teeth. From these we could
reconstruct the complete lower jaw with a fair degree of
accuracy. In the second place, we are given all those
parts of the skull which are shaded replicas of the
Piltdown fragments. The problem is to reproduce
the parts of the face and forehead shown by stippled
Corono/ol Proc'<
TASMANIAN
FIG. 182. Profile of the skull of a native Tasmanian. The parts stippled are
those which have to be filled in from inference in reconstructing the Piltdown
skull.
lines. Our first step is to complete the mandible and
place its condyles in their sockets, in front of the ear-
passages (fig. 182). The second step is to complete the
zygomatic arch : not a difficult procedure, for its commence-
ment and direction are given us, and so is the angular
process of the frontal bone, to which the arch is indirectly
joined. Two other points help us : the lower border
of the orbit is nearly on a line with the upper border of
THE FACE OF FOSSIL MAN 489
the zygoma, and the root of the nasal bones occupies
nearly the level of the plane A-B, on which the skull
is poised.
In the skull shown in fig. 182 it will be seen that the
tip of the coronoid process of the mandible just reaches
the zygomatic arch. That is the usual relationship in
anthropoid skulls and in human skulls of a primitive
type. We therefore, in estimating the length of the face
of Eoanthropus, flex the mandible until the coronoid
process reaches the zygomatic arch. At that angle the
chin reaches its normal position and marks approximately
the lower limit of the face. Having thus estimated the
length of the face, it is an easy matter to reproduce the
palate and upper teeth, for they hold definite relations to
the lower. The lower border of the zygomatic process
ends above the first molar tooth in both men and
anthropoids.
As the Piltdown mandible shows many simian traits,
it will be well to see how far the method just employed
for the reconstruction of the profile of a human skull can
be applied to that of an anthropoid. For this purpose
the skull of an orang has been selected, because, as already
mentioned, there are some features in the Piltdown
forehead reminiscent of the conformation seen in the
orang. The problem and its solution are presented in
fig. 183. The plane of orientation, A-B, has been used
for orientation as in fig. 182. In the human skull the
forehead extends forward on that plane to a point which
is 100 mm. in front of the ear (fig. 182) ; in the orang
the forehead is rather less than 80 mm. in front of the
same point. When, however, we look at the lower line
(C D, figs. 182, 183), which is drawn 50 mm. below and
parallel to A B, we see the conditions are reversed. The
snout or jaws in the anthropoid face project 135 mm. in
front of the ear-passage, while in the primitive Tasmanian
the projection is less than 1 10 mm. In man the forehead
projects, the jaws recede ; in the anthropoid the opposite
is the case. There is another striking difference ; the
zygomatic arch is lower on the base of the skull lies
49
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
nearer to the C-D line in the anthropoid than in the
human skull. That is an anthropoid character. It is
plain that if we were given those parts of the orang's
skull which correspond to the Piltdown fragments and
asked to reproduce the original, we could not do otherwise
than construct an outline similar to that shown in fig. 183.
Let us apply the same method to the reconstruction
of the face of a Neanderthal skull, such as that found at
La Chapelle. The forehead in this case reaches forwards
FIG. 183. Profile of the skull of an orang. The parts which are shown by
stippled lines are those missing in the Piltdown skull.
to a point which is 120 mm. in front of the ear, compared
with 100 mm. in the Tasmanian and 80 mm. in the orang.
When, however, the position of parts on the line C-D
is examined, it is seen that the jaws project less than in
the Tasmanian. The ancient extinct Neanderthal type is
less prognathous is less simian than the Tasmanian. And
yet the jaws and teeth are more massive. It will be seen,
too, that the zygoma is situated low down on the base
of the Neanderthal skull, as in anthropoids.
By the application of this method to the Piltdown
THE FACE OF FOSSIL MAN
49
fragments we obtain results which give a reliable indica-
tion of the size and form of the face of Eoanthropus
(fig. 185). The reconstructed cranium is orientated on
the plane or line A-B. We have only part of the fore-
head preserved, the part represented by the angular
process. There cannot be any difference of opinion as to
FIG. 184. Profile of the La Chapelle-aux-Saints skull. The parts represented
by stippled lines are those which have to be filled by inference in the
reconstruction of the Piltdown skull.
the distance of this process in front of the ear. A point
80 mm. in front of the ear marks the centre of the
process. The position of the corresponding point in the
orang is 65 mm., in the Tasmanian skull 75 mm., in
the Neanderthal specimen 85 mm. The angular process
of the Piltdown skull thus occupies a normal human
position on the plane of orientation. The total projection
492
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
of the Tasmanian forehead was 100 mm. (fig. 182), that
of the La Chapelle forehead 120 mm.; we may safely
assign an intermediate amount to the Piltdown forehead
110 mm. (see fig. 185).
We now turn to the lower line (fig. 185, C-D) to
ascertain how the maxillary or facial development of the
Piltdown skull compares with that of the other skulls
FIG. 185. Reconstruction of the facial profile of the Piltdown skull
carried out by the method described in the text.
with which we are now dealing. In the Tasmanian and
La Chapelle crania the " muzzle " projects almost
110 mm. in front of the ear-holes. In the orang the
projection is greater 135 mm. In the Piltdown specimen,
in spite of the simian characters of the mandible, the
facial projection is only a few millimetres more than in
the Tasmanian skull. We can estimate the degree of
prognathism by comparing the frontal and maxillary lines
THE FACE OF FOSSIL MAN 493
(A-B and C-D in the above figures). In the orang
(fig. 183) the muzzle projects 135 mm. in front of the
ear-passage ; the forehead 78 mm. ; the amount of
prognathism the extent to which the muzzle projects in
front of the forehead is 57 mm. In the Tasmanian the
prognathism is 10 mm. ; in the Piltdown skull it is not
more than 5 mm. at the utmost. In the La Chapelle skull,
notwithstanding the great jaws, there is really a degree
of " retrognathism " the muzzle projects about 12 mm.
less than the forehead. Prognathism is a simian character,
but it is one which was developed to only a slight extent
in Eoanthropus. In spite of the pointed canine teeth
and massive jaws the face of Eoanthropus was essentially
human.
In fig. 185 several other features of the skull and face
of Eoanthropus are indicated. The zygomatic arch is
situated at a lower position as regards the plane of
orientation the line A B than in human skulls of the
modern type (fig. 182). In this respect Eoanthropus
resembled Neanderthal man and anthropoid apes. In the
reconstruction shown in fig. 185, the tip of the coronoid
process is placed on a level with the lower border of the
zygomatic arch a position occupied by this process
in figs. 182, 183, and 184. Further, the length and
direction of the fibres of the temporal muscle, which are
inserted to the coronoid process, are indicated by long
stippled lines. The fibres of that muscle were no longer
in the ancient types than in modern types of man. But
as regards other muscles of mastication the masseter and
internal pterygoid the case was different. In ancient
man these muscles were very large.
There is another and final test which may apply to the
Piltdown skull one which brings out some of its peculiar
characters. In fig. 186 a series of skulls is shown, each
cut open from front to back so as to expose the parts
which form the base. The series is so arranged as to
bring the external meatus of the ear on the same vertical
zero line. Each specimen has been set on a corresponding
horizontal plane, represented by the line A-B.
494
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
The first point which impresses the anatomist, when he
examines such a series, is that the basal axis in the orang
in the skull of any large anthropoid ape is as long
60 50 * 20 10 '0 20 30 40 50
Frgnti
ORANG
nagnu
GIBRALTAR
AJ
AUSTRALIAN
PILTDOWIN
(I)
A
PILTDOWN
(II)
FIG. 186. A series of skulls laid open longitudinally to show the parts forming
the base or floor of the cranial cavity. Both external and internal auditory
meatuses are shown: Piltdown I., from the reconstruction by the writer;
Piltdown II., from Dr Smith Woodward's reconstruction further explanation
in the text.
as in the human skull, notwithstanding the fact that the
human brain capacity is more than three times that of the
ape. In the evolution of the higher primates the length
of the basi-cranial axis or floor of the brain chamber
remained nearly constant as regards length. In the orang
THE FACE OF FOSSIL MAN
495
(see fig. 1 86) the basal axis reaches forwards to the 4O-mm.
vertical line ; this is also the case in the Gibraltar and
both reconstructions of the Piltdown skull. In the
native Australian a representative of the modern type
the basal axis falls 5 mm. short of the 4O-mm. line. In
all the types of skulls represented in fig. 186, the basal
axis commences immediately behind the zero line the
line of the external auditory meatus in all save the
lowest drawing, which represents the condition of parts in
Dr Smith Woodward's reconstruction of the Piltdown
skull. There the basi-cranial axis is contracted to a
degree which would seriously incommode Eoanthropus
in the acts of breathing and swallowing.
The sections shown in fig. 186 bring out another
change which has occurred during the evolution of the
human skull, and also one of the features of Eoanthropus.
This relates to the expansion of the human cranial cavity
in a backward direction as the brain assumed a greatly
increased volume. The occipital wall in the orang's
skull (fig. 1 8 6) lies between 20 and 30 mm. behind the
auricular vertical line ; in the Gibraltar and Australian
skulls the occipital bone reaches the 4O-mm. vertical line,
but in the Piltdown reconstructions it falls short of that
line. In the modern type of man, as represented by the
native Australian, the brain, as it expands, tends to
elongate or enlarge the skull in a post-auricular direction.
In Eoanthropus the tendency was in an opposite direc-
tion, to expand the skull in a pre-auricular or forward
direction. Hence the high prominent bulging forehead
of Eoanthropus. Attention is drawn to the curtailment
or non-expansion of the post-auricular part of the head of
Eoanthropus in fig. 185. A vertical line (E-F) is raised
from the hinder and lower angle of the parietal bone.
The posterior border of that bone forms an acute angle
with the vertical line, somewhat similar to the condition
in the orang's skull (fig. 183).. In the Tasmanian and
Neanderthal skulls (figs. 182, 184) the posterior border
of the parietal bone slopes upwards and backwards,
forming a more open angle with the vertical line.
496 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
In this chapter we finish our survey of the structural
features of Eoanthropus. Our inquiry has been pro-
longed and tedious, for we have had to give an account,
not only of the features of this strange and ancient type
of man, but to invent and to describe the methods which
have to be applied if we are to place the reconstruction of
skulls on a sound and scientific basis. So far as the face
is concerned we can say with certainty that the forehead
of Eoanthropus was well formed. It was high, prominent,
and of a width equal to that of a modern human skull of
average dimensions. The nasal bones were shaped exactly
as in negroid races, and we infer that the nose itself must
have been not unlike the broad, flat organ seen in certain
primitive living races. The dimensions of the face its
length and width did not differ from the corresponding
facial measurements of other primitive forms of men.
Although the front teeth the incisors and canines
exceeded in size those of any known form of man, and
although the palate must have been of very great length,
yet the degree of prognathism was not beyond the limits
known to occur in living races. The forward extension
of the frontal region masked the great size of the jaws.
But if this was the effect of the frontal projection, the
receding simian formation of the chin must have given
the lower part of the face a conformation not unlike that
seen in anthropoid apes.
CHAPTER XXVIII
A CHAPTER OF CONCLUSIONS
THOSE of us who set out some thirty years ago to search
for evidence which would throw light on the antiquity
of man believed we had to deal with a simple problem.
We started under the conviction that there was only
one kind of man man of the modern type. We were
certain that he was, like all other living things, subject to
the laws of evolution, and that as we traced him, by means
of fossil remains, into the remote past, we should find
him assuming a more and more primitive shape and
structure. The discovery of the remains of Neanderthal
man in deposits of a mid-Pleistocene date confirmed us
in our beliefs. With his great eyebrow ridges and his
numerous simian traits, Neanderthal man was just such
a being as we had pictured as our ancestor in the
Pleistocene period. Then came the discovery of
Pithecanthropus an older and infinitely more primitive
type of human being. He also answered to our
expectations, and we adopted him as our late Pliocene
or early Pleistocene ancestor. It will be thus seen that
we set out prepared to find that man as we know him
now was of recent origin, that in the course of a short
geological period one which is estimated at less than
half a million of years a semi-human form of being
became endowed with all the attributes of man.
Then came the discoveries of the last ten years.
Explorations at Combe Capelle and at Mentone revealed
men of the modern type who, if not actually the
contemporaries of Neanderthal man, were so closely
497 3 2
498 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
his successors in point of time that it became impossible
to believe that Neanderthal man represented a stage
in the evolution of modern man. Further, when we
came to review critically the facts relating to the earlier
discoveries made in England, France, and Italy, we were
compelled to admit that men of the modern type had
been in existence long before the extinction of the
Neanderthal type.
With the recognition of Neanderthal man as a distinct
kind or species of human being, our estimate of man's
antiquity underwent a profound change. We based
our conception of the ancient world of man on the
picture which meets our eye when we look abroad at
the present time and see a world populated by races
which are but variants of one prevailing human type.
With such a picture in our minds we peered into the
past, expecting to find that the population of every
remote geological period was made up of only one
type of man. The recognition of the true nature of
Neanderthal man compelled us to replace that picture
with a different one one of an ancient population made
up of, not mere varieties of one species of mankind as
at present, but of totally different species and genera.
Amongst this complex of ancient humanity we have to
seek for the ancestors of modern man. The problems
of man's origin and antiquity are thus less simple than
we had anticipated.
We could have avoided our initial mistake if we had
kept in mind the condition of things in the anthropoid
world. There, amongst the great anthropoids, we find
three distinct types, two of them existing side by side
in Africa (the gorilla and chimpanzee), while the third
(the orang) survives in Sumatra and Borneo. They are
so like to man in structure of body that we must, to
account for the degree of similarity, regard all of them as
collateral descendants of a common stock. We do not
hesitate to think that the anthropoids retain, to a much
greater degree than man, the structure and manner of
living of the ancient stock from which all four have
A CHAPTER OF CONCLUSIONS 499
been evolved. If, therefore, we try to form a picture
of the world of ancient and primitive humanity, we must
base it on the conditions now existing among anthropoids,
not on those which hold for the modern world of
mankind. We should expect, then, when we go far
enough back, to find humanity broken up into distinct
structural groups or genera, each confined to a limited
part of the earth. Inside each group we expect to find,
as amongst the great anthropoids, a tendency to produce
varieties or species. We have seen that many facts
relating to ancient man which were formerly obscure
or conflicting become easy of comprehension when this
interpretation is applied.
Another line of evidence ought to have raised a
suspicion that we were underestimating the antiquity
of man in our earlier speculations. The anthropologist,
when he seeks for an explanation of the evolution and
distribution of modern races of mankind, finds it necessary
to make a large demand on the bank of time. We all
agree that modern human races, however different they
may appear, are so alike in the essentials of structure
that we must regard them as well-marked varieties of
a common species. Let us look at the problem of their
evolution in a concrete form, taking as opposite and
contrasted types of modern humanity the fair-headed,
white-skinned, round-headed European and the woolly-
haired, black-skinned, long-headed negro of West Africa.
We shall set those two contrasted types side by side and
study them from a purely zoological point of view.
We must admit that both are highly specialised types ;
neither represents the ancestral form. Now, in seeking
for the ancestral form of our breeds of dogs, of horses,
or of cattle, we select one of a generalised and ancient
type, such as we conceive might have become modified
into various modern breeds. We must apply the same
method to the elucidation of human races. If we search
the present world for the type of man who is most likely
to serve as a common ancestor for both African and
European we find the nearest approach to the object
500 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
of our search in the aboriginal Australian. He is an
ancient and generalised type of humanity ; he is not the
direct ancestor of either African or European, but he
has apparently retained the characters of their common
ancestor to a greater degree than any other living race.
If, then, we accept the Australian native as the nearest
approach to the common ancestor of modern mankind,
can we form any conception of the length of time which
would be required to produce the African on the one
hand, and the European on the other, from the Australian
type ? From what we have seen in Egypt, in Europe,
and in North America it is certain that a human type
can persist for many thousands of years. A human
type changes very slowly. Therefore, we must make
a liberal allowance of time for the mere differentiation of
the modern type of man into distinct racial forms. Even
if we admit that the ancestral type from which all modern
races of men have descended was as highly evolved as
the Australian native, I do not think that any period
less than the whole length of the Pleistocene period,
even if we estimate its duration at half a million of
years, is more than sufficient to cover the time required
for the differentiation and distribution of the modern
races of mankind.
The proof that man of a modern build of body was
in existence by the close of the Pliocene period is
presumptive, not positive. So far, we have no certain
trace of the type beyond the middle of the Pleistocene.
We presume a greater antiquity in order to obtain a
working hypothesis which will explain the facts now at
our disposal. The human genealogical tree, given in
fig. 187, represents, in a concrete form, the anthropologist's
working hypothesis. An inspection of that figure will
show the reader how little we know of the ancestry of
modern races. Of the fossil predecessors of the Australian
native race we know nothing. With the possible exception
of the discovery made by Dr Hans Reck, we have not
found as yet a single trace of the Pleistocene ancestry
of the negro. The discovery reported by Dr Hans
A CHAPTER OF CONCLUSIONS 501
Reck, if substantiated, points to the differentiation and
existence of a pure negro type in the Pleistocene period.
We know nothing of the fossil remains of the Mongolian
RECENT
PLEISTOCENE
^OOO Ft
K>O,OOO years
NEANDERTHAL
-GALLEY HILL
HEIDELBERG
EOANTHROPUS
Pi THECAN THftOPUS
PLIOCENE
spoo Ft
soopoo years
MIOCENE:
9,000 Ft
900,000 years
HUMAN
STEM
HUMANOIO
STEM
FIG. 187. Genealogical tree of man's ancestry. The depth of the deposits and
the duration of the geological periods are based on estimates published by
Professor Sollas.
502 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
type in Asia because they have never been sought for.
The North American Indian, whom we regard as a
derivative of the Mongolian type, was certainly evolved
before the close of the Pleistocene period. Indeed, our
knowledge of ancestral forms is confined to almost a
single type the European. That type, as we have
already seen, was in existence by the middle of the
Pleistocene period. In some of the ancient Europeans,
such as those found at Cromagnon and at Grimaldi,
negroid traits can be recognised. At present the
Mediterranean forms the boundary line between the
European and African types. One can readily believe
that in former times the African type may have spread
som edistance into Europe.
As already said, the genealogical tree depicted in fig.
187 represents a working hypothesis, nothing more.
When we try to represent in such a form the structural
relationship between existing and extinct human races
we again feel the necessity of postulating a great antiquity
for man. That becomes evident when we come to fit
the phylum of Neanderthal man into the genealogical
tree of the human family (fig. 187). He was so different
from modern man in every point of structure that, in order
to account for his structural peculiarities, we have to
represent his phylum as separating from that of the
modern human type at an early date. In fig. 187 it
will be seen that I have shown the separation as having
occurred before the middle of the Pliocene period. My
reasons for selecting so early a date are : (i) that we must
presume that man of the modern type was evolved by
the end of the Pliocene period in order to account for
the differentiation and distribution of the present races
of mankind ; (2) that the discovery of the Heidelberg
mandible- indicates the existence of a Neanderthaloid type
of man at the commencement of the Pleistocene period.
I am thus presuming that before the middle of the
Pliocene period there was in existence a type of man
sufficiently high to serve as a common ancestor for the
Neanderthal and modern species of man.
A CHAPTER OF CONCLUSIONS 503
We have seen that, in mid-Pleistocene times, the
brain of Neanderthal man, in point of size, was equal
to that of contemporary forms of modern man. His
culture, that of the Mousterian age, was not a low one.
We might suppose that the common Pliocene ancestor
of these two species of man was of a low type, and that
after their separation from the common stem each became
gradually endowed with a large brain and acquired a
separate form of culture. The more feasible explanation,
however, is to suppose, not that a large brain was an
independent acquisition on the part of Neanderthal and
the modern species of man, but that it was a common
inheritance from their Pliocene ancestor. That is the
most reasonable explanation which is available at the
present time the one which presumes that Pliocene
man had already reached a brain standard far beyond
that of any simian type of animal.
When we come to fix the place which must be assigned
to Eoanthropus in the human phylum, we find further
evidence in support of man's great antiquity. We have
seen that in the opinion of Mr Charles Dawson the
" minimum geological age of the fossil cannot be of
later date than the early part of the Pleistocene period."
He is also open to the conviction that it may be much
older, and on the evidence given in a former chapter we
may reasonably presume that Eoanthropus represents
a Pliocene type of man.
The problem we have now to solve is this : Does
Eoanthropus represent the stage of evolution reached
by modern man about the commencement of the
Pleistocene period, or does the Piltdown type, like the
Neanderthal, represent a separate human species or genus
which became extinct and left no progeny ? Dr Smith
Woodward's answer to this question is given in his
original communication to the Geological Society. 1 " It
seems reasonable," he writes, " to interpret the Piltdown
skull as exhibiting a closer resemblance to the skulls
of the truly ancestral mid-Tertiary apes than any human
1 Quart. Journ. Geol, Soc., 1913, vol. Ixix. p. 139.
5 o 4 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
fossil skull hitherto found. If this view be accepted,
the Piltdown type has become modified into the later
Mousterian (Neanderthal) type by a series of changes
similar to those passed through by the early apes,
as they evolved into the typical modern apes, and
corresponding with the stages in the development of
the skull in the existing ape individual. It tends to
support the theory that Mousterian man was a degenerate
offshoot of early man, and probably became extinct ;
while surviving man may have arisen directly from the
primitive source of which the Piltdown skull provides
the first discovered evidence." Dr Smith Woodward's
answer to our question, then, is that Eoanthropus does
not necessarily stand in the direct line which leads on
to modern man, but represents more closely than any
human form yet discovered the common ancestor from
which both the Neanderthal and modern types have
been derived.
We have seen that Eoanthropus in the size and shape
of brain, and in the conformation of the skull, has a
very high degree of resemblance to modern man. The
characters of the teeth and mandible, on the other hand,
were more simian than in any other form of man. The
eyebrow ridges, so far as we can judge from the parts
preserved, were also peculiar. On the other hand, we find
in the skull of Neanderthal man numerous features which
are also found in the skulls of anthropoid apes, particu-
larly in the gorilla and chimpanzee. In many ways the
Neanderthal skulls and brain casts are more simian, more
primitive, than the corresponding Piltdown specimens.
In the Neanderthal type of man we find the canine teeth
reduced and the chin region of the mandible assuming a
non- simian conformation as in the modern type of man.
To explain the curious distribution of characters in those
three types of man we have to postulate such a generic
tree as is shown in fig. 187. There the Pliocene human
stem, from which we have derived the Neanderthal and
modern types, is also seen to give origin to the Piltdown
type.
A CHAPTER OF CONCLUSIONS 505
The common Pliocene ancestor which gave origin to
three such types could not be of a very low form. At
least in Eoanthropus, as in Neanderthal man, the brain
was equal in size to that of modern man. If we suppose
that in an early part of the Pliocene period there was a
form of man in which the brain had attained a human
size, but in which the mandible, the teeth, and the skull
still remained anthropoid in conformation, we have such
a type as would serve as a common ancestor for Eoan-
thropus, modern man, and Neanderthal man. In the
course of evolution the first named retained the ancestral
form of mandible and teeth ; the last preserved the
ancestral simian features of the skull. It will thus be
seen that 1 look on Eoanthropus, as on Neanderthal man,
as a representative of an extinct form of man.
We come, finally, to an important problem : What
status are we to assign to Eoanthropus in the zoological
scale of classification ? Dr Smith Woodward, in giving
Eoanthropus a generic rank, seems to me to have altered
the scale we have hitherto applied to the classification of
human forms. All admit that Eoanthropus must be
regarded as a form of man. A complete analysis of
the structural characters of the Piltdown type (so far
as they are known to us), of the Neanderthal, and of the
modern types of man will show that all are of equal rank,
and if we elevate one of them to a generic status we
must do the same for the other two. Hitherto all
modern races of men have been grouped under one
species Homo sapiens. The varieties of men which
belong to the Neanderthal type are placed under the
specific name of Homo neanderthalensis (primigenius).
If we apply the same standard of classification to the
Piltdown type, then the name ought to be Homo dawsoni,
not Eoanthropus dawsoni. For my part, I would welcome
the innovation introduced by Dr Smith Woodward if it
could be applied all round. Without doubt distinct
varieties of Eoanthropus and of Neanderthal man will
be revealed by future discoveries varieties which are
sufficiently characterised to deserve specific names.
506 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
We now come to the position which must be assigned
to the humanoid form found in Java by Professor Dubois.
The thigh bone was shaped as in man, and we presume
Pithecanthropus had a body fashioned much like that of
modern man. In size of brain and shape of skull, how-
ever, this strange form occupies an intermediate position.
The stratum in which the remains were found is assigned
to a late Pliocene or early Pleistocene date. Clearly,
Pithecanthropus represents an early stage in the evolu-
tion of the human phylum. The evidence already
adduced indicates that certain forms of early man had
already attained a high development in the Pliocene
period. Therefore in fig. 187 the stem represented by
Pithecanthropus is shown as separating from the ancestral
phylum of man at a late part of the Miocene period.
We can only explain the existence of so primitive a form of
human being at the end of the Pliocene period by adopting
a hypothesis of this kind.
It is only when we come to draft a genealogical tree,
such as that shown in fig. 187, that we realise the true
significance of those extinct human types. When we
look at the world of men as it exists now, we see
that certain races are becoming dominant ; others are
disappearing. The competition is world-wide and lies
between varieties of the same species of man. In the
world of fossil man the competition was different ; it
was local, not universal ; it lay between human beings
belonging to different species or genera, not varieties of
the same species. Out of that welter of fossil forms
only one type has survived that which gives us the
modern races of man. Further, we realise that the three
or four human types so far discovered represent but a
few fossil twigs of the great evolutionary human tree.
We may hope to find many more branches.
There is another route by which we may approach the
problem of man's antiquity. All who have made a study
of the human body are agreed that we must seek for
man's origin in an ape-like ancestor. If, therefore, we
review the facts which bear on the evolution of the
A CHAPTER OF CONCLUSIONS 507
anthropoid apes, we may obtain collateral evidence bearing
on the date at which the differentiation of the human
body became possible. To save description, 1 have
represented the present state of our knowledge of anthro-
poid evolution in the form of a genealogical tree (fig.
1 8 8). The stems of the three great anthropoids the
gorilla, chimpanzee, and orang are seen to join together
in the older part of the Pliocene period. We have not
many facts to guide us. We know of a late Pliocene
anthropoid Palaeopithecus which shows relationships
to both chimpanzee and orang, but was probably not
a direct ancestor of either. We know that the great
anthropoids were already evolved in the Miocene period.
Dryopithecus was alive in that period, and was about
the size of the chimpanzee, but more primitive in features
of tooth and jaw. We know, too, that the small anthro-
poids the gibbons were already in existence in the
Miocene period. So far as our knowledge goes, the
Miocene anthropoid apes offer us no form which can
serve as a probable human ancestor. The small and
large anthropoids were already differentiated, and we
may presume that the same was the case with the
human form. Hence in fig. 188 the stems of the
small anthropoids, of the great anthropoids, and of man
are represented as already separated in the Miocene
period. The evidence, so far as it goes, justifies us in
presuming that the human and anthropoid lines of
descent separated in pre-Miocene times. 1
In fig. 189 the anthropoid and human genealogical
trees have been combined. The tree represents a working
hypothesis which may require alteration as new facts
come to light. It is framed so as to account for the
evolution and structural characters of the various forms
of ape and man. The discovery of fossil remains of
extinct forms gives us some guidance as to the probable
date at which various types became evolved. In framing
such a genealogical tree it is necessary at least it seems
1 For a fuller statement of the case, see Reports of British Association,
I2 > P- 753 (" Modern Problems relating to the Antiquity of Man").
1912
508
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
so to me to suppose that the separation of the human
from the great anthropoid stem dates back to at least the
latter part of the Oligocene period (fig. 189). If we mean
RECENT
PLEISTOCENE
4,000 f^
^00,000 years
PLIOCENE
5,000 ft
Soopoo years
MIOCENE
9,000 f*fc
eoopoo years
PALK-OPITHECUS
GREAT
ANTHROPOID
STEM
SMALL
ANTHROPOID
STEM
PAIDOPITHE.K
PI THE CAN THPOPUS
DRYOPITHECU3
PLIOPITHCUS
HUMAN
STEM
FIG. 188. Genealogical tree, showing the lines of descent
of the anthropoid apes.
by the antiquity of man the period which has elapsed
since the human stem became differentiated from that
A CHAPTER OF CONCLUSIONS
509
RECENT &
PLEISTOCENE./
400,000 years
PLIOCENE
spoof t
500,000 years
MIOCENE
9,000 ft
900,ooo years
OLIGOCENE
12,000 ft
lOQpoo years
EOCENE
12.000 ft
I,200.0OO year
MODERN MAN
E.OANTHROPUS
NEANOERTHAL.
P/THECANTHROPUS
PALSEOPI THECUS
PAIOOPITHE.X
PLIOPITHECU3
DRYOPITHECUS
HUMAN
STEM
/ GREAT
'ORTHOQRADE
\ PRIMATES
SMALL
(ORTHOQRADE
PRIMATES
PffOPUOPI THECUS
STEM OF
\OI_D WORLD
MONKEYS
/'STEM OF
.'NEW WORLD
MONKEYS
'COMMON
.STEM
FIG. 189. Genealogicalftree, showing the ancestral stems and probable
lines of descent of the higher primates.
5 io THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
which led on to the great anthropoid apes, then it is
apparent from fig. 189 that the antiquity of man covers
an immense period of time. On the scale of time re-
presented in fig. 189, which is based on estimates published
by Professor Sollas, 1 a period of about two million years
has elapsed since the separation of the human stem,
provided, of course, that the hypothesis represented by
fig. 189 is approximately right. That tree probably
errs in underestimating rather than overestimating the
antiquity of the human stem.
When we speak of the antiquity of man, however,
most of us have in mind not the date at which the
human lineage separated from that of the great anthro-
poids, but the period at which the brain of man had reached
a human level or standard. We may take the lower limits
of the brain capacity in modern living races, say 1000 c.c.,
as a working standard. If it is arbitrary it is also con-
venient. If, then, we propose to estimate the antiquity
of man from the appearance of human types with average
brain capacities of 1000 c.c. or more, we must still regard
man as an ancient form, with a past immeasurably longer
than is usually believed. From what we know, and
from what we must infer, of the ancestry of Eoanthropus,
of Neanderthal man, and of modern man, we have
reasonable grounds for presuming that man had reached
the human standard in size of brain by the commencement
of the Pliocene period. From fig. 189 it will be seen that
the Pleistocene and Pliocene periods are estimated to cover
a period of about one million years. That period, on the
grounds defined above, represents the antiquity of man.
Perhaps the most important and the most convincing
source of evidence relating to man's antiquity is one
which has been kept unduly in the background throughout
this book. We cannot have more certain evidence of man's
existence than the implements which he has shaped and
used. We have seen how long it took to convince the
modern world that the palaeoliths in the gravel deposits
of Western Europe were shaped by man's hand. Now
1 See reference on p. 307.
A CHAPTER OF CONCLUSIONS 511
we marvel that any one should have denied their human
origin. Then came the discovery of Eolithic implements
in deposits of Pliocene date at St Prest, on the
Kentish plateau, on the uplands of Belgium, under the
Crag deposits of East Anglia. The human origin of
eoliths is still being called in question, but the more these
shaped flints of Pliocene date are investigated and dis-
cussed, the greater becomes the number of those who
regard them as the work of the hands and brain of
Pliocene man. It is also maintained that flints, similar in
shape and chipping, have been discovered in deposits of
Miocene and even of Oligocene age. If it be proved that
such are of human origin, then we must extend still
further the period covered by the antiquity of man.
There is not a single fact known to me which makes the
existence of a human form in the Miocene period an
impossibility.
APPENDIX A
IN the text I have accepted the culture of the Oban caves as
being Azilian in character and corresponding in time to the end
of the Pleistocene period. In Professor James Geikie's opinion
this view of the antiquity of the culture of the Oban caves is
untenable. In this matter Professor Geilcie's opinion must be
accepted as final. He has recognised four phases in Scotland
during the Neolithic age, the phases having occurred after the
Ice age had ended. During the Neolithic age the climate of
Scotland changed four times. In the first phase the "lower
forrestian " the land occupied a high level as regards the sea ; the
climate suited the growth of trees. In the second phase the
" lower turbarian" the land occupied a lower level and the
climate favoured the formation of peat-deposits. In the third
phase the " upper forrestian" forrests again flourished in
Scotland. In the fourth and final Neolithic phase the "upper
turbarian " conditions favourable to the formation of peat again
returned. In Professor Geikie's opinion the culture of the Oban
caves must be referred to the final phase of the Neolithic age.
If we accept that opinion we must adopt the not improbable
supposition that cultures of a long past time may have survived in
sequestered parts of Europe.
APPENDIX B
AFTER the preliminary proofs of this work had been revised,
Professor Symington of Belfast showed to the members of the
Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland a series of very
instructive casts of the human brain. Anatomists have always
presumed that a cast of ^the interior of a human skull gives a true
picture of the brain which occupied the cranial cavity during life,
and that a study of the "cranial" cast gave definite information
512
APPENDICES 513
regarding the detailed features of the brain. To test the truth
of this supposition Professor Symington compared the cast of
the actual brain with the cranial cast in a number of cases. He
found that although the cranial cast gave accurate information
regarding the major features of the brain, that as regards certain
minor features no definite inference could be drawn. He
questions the possibility of recognising in a cranial cast the
anterior branches of the fissure of Sylvius, the parieto-occipital
fissure, and certain other sulci on the surface of the brain.
33
INDEX
Abbeville, 194, 195.
Abbott, DrC. C., 274.
Abbott, Mr Lewis, 82, 100, 224, 296, 301,
3"-
Aberavon skull, 38, 39.
Acheulean culture, 160, 161, 163, 164, 195.
period, duration of, .165.
Acromegaly, 466.
Adloff, Prof., 147, 148, 149, 473.
Africa, sequence of cultures in, 256.
Ameghino, Dr Florentine, 288.
Ancient types of skulls compared, 392.
Anthony, Prof., 118, 121, 407.
Anthropoid ape, neck of, 354.
characters of mandible, 434.
Anthropoids, fossil forms of, 507.
molar teeth of, 474.
Antiquity of man, summary of, 510.
of modern type of man, 357.
Arcelin, M., 60.
Argentina, 288.
Articular eminence, significance of, 444.
Asymmetry of occipital lobes, 415.
Aurignac, cave at, 51, 52, 53, 56, 57.
Aurignacian culture, 109, 195.
flints, 53, 61, 64, 74, 87, 92, 99.
man, 53, 54, 65, 68, 69, 75.
period, 53, 61, 62, 64, 82, 85, 127.
Australian aborigines, 270.
position of, 500.
Azilian period, 57, 58, 59, 61.
Baker's Hole, 106, 164.
Barbour, Prof. E. H., 282.
Bardon, Abbe, 115.
Base of skull, reconstruction of, 494.
section across, 349.
Belgium, valley deposits of, 228, 229, 230.
Bertrand, M. Eugene, 202.
Bone implement found at Piltdown, 302.
Boucher de Perthes, 166, 172, 196, 197,
201.
Boule, Prof., 63, 117, 124, 131, 150, 151,
I 57> 2 39. 45 1.
Bouyssonie, the Abbes A. and J. , 115.
Brain, association areas of, 266.
centres of, 404.
development of, 244.
fissures of, 402.
frontal impressions of, 384.
in profile, 402.
oi Australian aborigine, 270.
Brain of Eoanthropus, 336, 408.
of fossil man, 397.
of man, minimum size of, 397.
of Pithecanthropus, 267, 268.
ratio of, to palate, 151, 152, 328, 450.
size of, 55.
topography of, 402.
Brain-capacity, estimation of, 390.
of apes and men, 398.
of Piltdown skull, 375.
ratio to size of body, 400.
significance of, 401,
Brain-casts, occipital views of, 415.
viewed from above, 422, 425.
Bregma, 265.
Breuil, Abbe, 56, 74.
Brixham cave, 95.
Bronze-age skulls, facial parts, 485.
Briinn skull, 68.
Buckland, Dean, 47, 48, 54.
Bullbrook, Mr J. A. , 75.
Bury St Edmunds fragment, 171.
Bushmen of S. Africa, 256.
Busk, G., 37, 200.
Calaveras skull, 283.
Canine teeth, 456.
eruption of, 460.
wear of, 467.
tooth of Eoanthropus, 325, 455.
Caninism, 466.
Capitan, Prof., 112.
Carnon skull, 35, 36.
Cartailhac, M., 63.
Castenedolo remains, 246, 247, 251.
Cave cultures, classification of, 56.
records, 46.
Chamberlin, Prof., 277, 281.
Chandler, Mr R. H., 103, 105.
Cheddar caves, 93.
skeleton, 93, 94, 100.
Chellean culture, 163.
period, 178.
man of, 185.
Chimpanzee, cranium viewed from above,
371-
mandible of, 323, 446.
skull in profile, 379.
Chin, 145, 188, 241, 243, 310.
Cissbury camp, 98.
human remains, 99, 101.
Clarke, Mr W. G. , 225.
INDEX
S 1 S
Clichy skeleton, 202.
Cocchi, Signer, 206.
Coldrum bones, 7, 8.
monument, i, 4, 18, 19.
Colly er, Dr, 200.
Combe Capelle, 108.
skeleton, 109.
skull, 69, 137, 138, 144.
palate of, 97.
Comment, Prof., 162, 194, 196.
Condyle of mandible, 439.
Convolutions of brain, 402.
Cook, MrW. H.,72, 74.
Coombe rock, 106.
Corner, Dr Frank, 30, 179.
Couper, Mr J. D. C. , 40.
Cranial base, reconstruction of, 494.
Crayford brick earths, 104, 105, 106,
107, 164.
Cresswell Crags, caves in, 84.
Cromagnon cave, 54, 56.
man, 54, 55, 56, 65, 66.
Cromer beds, 212, 224, 259, 260.
Cynodont form of teeth, 148, 476.
Dartford skull, 165.
capacity of, 375.
Davies, Mr H. N. , 93, 94.
Dawkins, Prof. Boyd, 51, 84, 92, 308.
Dawson, Mr Charles, 293, 308, 456.
Denise fragment, 205, 206.
Dental canal, 437.
Derry, Dr Douglas, 255, 359, 366.
Desnoyers, M., 232, 313.
Dewey, Mr Henry, 162, 184, 194.
Dewlish trench, 314.
Diprothomo, 290.
Drayson, Major-General, 227.
Dubois, Dr Eugene, 257.
Duckworth, Dr W. L. H., 96, 98, 123,
224.
Dupont, M. Edouard, 126.
Ear-passage, 153.
Edge-to-edge bite, 462.
Edwards, Dr Spencer, 72.
Egyptian tombs, evolution of, 17, 18.
Egyptians, Ancient, 253.
Elliott, Mr Robert, 179, 182.
Engis, cave at, 49, 53, 56.
skull, 49, 50, 54.
Eoanthropus, brain of, 336.
brain-capacity of, 390, 399.
brain-cast from above, 425.
from behind, 419.
cranial characters of, 333.
face of, 326.
mandible of, 431.
viewed from above, 446.
molar teeth of, 475.
nasal bones of, 487.
position of, in human phylum, 503.
profile of brain-cast, 409.
reconstruction of base of skull, 495.
of face, 489.
of skull, 330.
Eoanthropus, sex of, 388.
skull in profile, 481.
teeth of, 455.
vertex view of skull, 335.
Eoliths, 2, 225, 230, 257, 295, 300, 314,
315. s-
Erect posture, 261.
Evans, Sir John, 185.
Evidence relating to evolution of man, 499.
Evolution of man, previous conception of,
35 6 . 497-
Ewart, Dr Edward, 44.
External angular process, relation of, to
brain, 385.
Face of fossil man, 478.
Facial features of Eoanthropus, 496.
Falconer, Dr Hugh, 196, 200.
Favraud, M., 121.
Fisher, Rev. O. , 314.
Flint mines, 99.
Flints, Neolithic, 30, 44.
found at Piltdown, 301, 302.
Foramen magnum in Eoanthropus, 395.
Forbes Quarry, 123.
Forehead, 481.
Fossil apes, 506.
man, mandibles viewed from above, 446.
teeth of, 453.
Foxhalljaw, 200, 224.
Fraipont, Julien, 51, 126.
Frankfurt plane, 377.
Frere, Mr John, 171.
Frontal convolutions, 403.
impression of brain, 385.
Fron to-malar region, 380.
Fuhlrott, Dr, 128.
Galley Hill, 178, 204.
deposits at, 184.
skeleton, 178, 309.
description of, 186.
skull, 199-201, 204.
compared, 392.
Geikie, Prof. James, 226.
Genealogical trees, 501, 508, 509.
Genial pit of mandible, 242, 243, 324, 434.
Gibraltar brain in profile, 406, 412.
skull, 122, 123, 124, 135, 144, 150, 151,
156.
brain, weight of, 124.
frontal region of, 482.
occipital view of, 352.
Glabella-inial line, 377.
Glacial epochs, 226.
Glenoid cavity of skull, 444.
Gorilla brain, from behind, 415.
in profile, 406.
mandible of, 434.
occipital view of skull, 354.
Gourdan, cave of, 121.
Gray, Major Thomas, 38, 39.
Crenelle, human remains found at, 205.
Grimaldi caves, 62, 64.
race, 65, 66, 67.
position of, 502.
5 i6
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
Grimes Graves, 99.
Grist, Mr C. J., 315.
Grotte des Enfants, remains found in, 64.
Hailing flints, 74.
skeleton, 71, 72, 82.
skull, 77, 78.
Hal-Saflieni, Hypogeum at, 14.
Hamy, Prof., 203.
Harlyn Bay, tombs at, 35.
Harrison, Mr Benjamin, i, 294, 295.
Hauser, Herr O., 69, 108, 114.
Heidelberg mandible, 232, 233, 307, 448.
molar teeth of, 475.
teeth of, 237.
Heys, Mr Matthew H., 181.
Higgins, Mr Brice, 105.
Hinton, Mr A. C. , 87, 103, 108, 213.
Holmes, Prof. W. H. f 285.
Homo pampcBus , 290.
Hoxne, implements found at, 171.
HrdliSka, Dr Ale's, 272, 275, 280, 283,
284, 286, 292.
Hunter, John, 198.
Huxley, 14, 130, 155, 200.
Hythe skulls, n.
Inion, ascent of, 377.
Ipswich skeleton, 214, 221, 229.
Irving, Dr A. , 74, 218.
Isturitz, cave of, 121.
Jackson, Mr George, 98.
Janensch, Dr, 260.
Java, remains found in, 257.
Jaw. See Mandible.
Jersey, Neolithic period in, 30, 31, 32.
Jones, Dr Arnalt, 38.
Keith's line of orientation, 379.
Kennard, Mr A. S., 87, 103, 105, 213,
309-
Kent's Cavern, 48, 56, 94, 95, 96.
human remains, 96, 97.
Kenyon, Colonel, 122.
King, Dr William, 130, 131.
Kits Coty house, 6.
Klaatsch, Prof., 114, 115, 131, 134, 143,
149, 157, 183.
Kramberger, Prof. Gorjanovic, 132, 135,
147, 476.
Krapina, human remains found at, 133.
molar teeth, 475.
La Chapelle skeleton, 115, 117, 118, 239.
skull, 137, 138, 144, 491.
capacity of, 391.
La Cotte de St Brelade, 125.
La Ferrassie, 112.
La Motte, island of, 32, 33.
La Quina, 134.
skeleton, 119, 124, 127.
Lagoa Santa caves, remains discovered
in, 286, 287.
Lambda, 267.
Lambdoid suture, direction of, 495.
Land, elevation and depression of, 44,
45-
Langwith cave, 85, 86, 87.
skull, 87, 91, 94, in.
Lankester, Sir E. Ray, 225.
Lansing remains, 280, 281.
terrace, age of, 281.
Lartet, Edouard, 51.
M. Louis, 53.
Le Moustier, 114.
skeleton, 114, 127.
Leach, Mr, 105.
Lehmann-Nitsche, Dr, 292.
Leidy, Prof. Joseph, 279.
Les Eyzies, 112.
Lewis, Mr A. L. , 4.
Lohest, Max, 126.
Long's Hill remains, 282, 283.
Lund, Dr, 286.
Lyell, Sir Charles, 48, 49, 53, 129, 130,
204, 212, 213, 224, 278.
Macdonnell, Dr, 9.
MacEnery, Rev. J. , 47, 48.
Magdalenian carvings, 84.
flints, 83, 87, 93, 96.
period, 56, 58, 61, 82.
Makowsky, Prof., 69.
Malarnaud, cave of, 121.
Malta, Neolithic skulls from, 15, 16, 17.
Man, modern type of, 250, 278.
origin of, 143.
Mandible, 152.
Australian and Piltdown, 321.
movements of, 440.
of Eoanthropus, 430.
relationship to floor of mouth, 451.
X-ray characters of, 437.
Mandibular areas, 448.
Marett, Dr R. R. , 33.
Marr, Prof., 218.
Marriott, Major R. A. , 227.
Martin, Dr Henri, 119, 157.
Mas d'Azil, cavern of, 57, 58, 61.
Mastoid process, 153.
Mauer pit, 232, 234.
sands, 259.
Mediterranean, Neolithic people of, 15,
16.
Medway terraces, 75, 76, 77.
valley, subsidence of, 29.
Megalithic monuments, birthplace of, 17.
Mello, Rev. J. Magens, 84.
Mesvinien culture, 221.
Mickleton skull, 41, 42.
Mid-line of skull, identification of, 365.
Modern man, simian features in, 143,
144, 148.
type of man, antiquity of, 209, 357.
significance of, 497.
Moir, Mr Reid, 74, 82, 83, 211, 214, 225,
302.
Molar teeth, characters of, 474.
modifications of, 469.
Monaco, Prince of, 63, 64.
Mongolian type, 502.
INDEX
5 1 ?
Mortillet, M. Gabriel de, 56, 202.
Moulin Quignon jaw, 197, 198, 199, 200.
pit, 197.
Mousterian culture, 61, 105, 106, 107,
in, 112, 114, 116, 119, 125, 126,
134. 195-
man, 103, 105, 112, 114, 116.
period, 102, 106, 107, 108, 112, 121.
Mullins, Rev. E. H., 85.
Mylo-hyoid ridge and groove, 433.
Nasal bones of Eoanthropus, 487.
grooves, 144, 148.
Natchez, remains found at, 279.
Naulette cave, 126.
mandible, 126, 144.
Neanderthal and modern skull compared,
137, 157.
cave, 128.
head poise, 154, 155.
man, 98, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118, 119,
121, 122, 123, 127, 128, 148, 209,
236, 250.
anatomical peculiarities of, 137.
ancestral position of, 502.
brain-cast from above, 423.
canine teeth of, 457.
characters of, 158, 159.
different races of, 135.
disappearance of, 135, 136.
face of, 491.
molar teeth of, 475.
neck of, 353.
palate of, 150, 151, 152.
platycephaly of, 351.
significance of, 497.
simian features in, 143, 144, 146.
teeth of, 125, 147, 151, 237.
temporo - mandibular articulation,
443-
thigh bone of, 158.
varieties of, 124, 125.
skeleton, 128.
women, 119, 120.
Neck, attachment of, to skull, 267, 353.
Negro, evolution of, 499.
Nehring, Dr, 132.
Neolithic man in Jersey, 33.
period, 2, 15, 16, 56, 59.
duration of, 29, 30, 43, 44.
pit-dwellings, 3.
race, 43, 56.
skulls with negroid features, 17.
Newport skull, 39, 40.
Newstead, Mr Robert, 41.
Newton, Mr E. T., 87, 179, 190, 310.
MrW. M., 166.
Noetling, Dr Fritz, 257.
North America, antiquity of man in, 273.
Oban caves, 59, 512.
Occipital aspect of skulls, 341.
asymmetry, 344.
lobes of the brain, 404.
region, errors in the reconstruction of,
395-
Occipital view of brain-casts, 414.
of Piltdown skull, 363.
Ochos, human remains found at, 132.
Oldbury rock-shelters, 2.
Oldoway, 501.
skeleton, 255.
Olmo skull, 206, 207, 249.
Orang, fronto-malar region of, 382.
reconstruction of face, 490.
section across skull of, 350.
Orientation of skull, 377.
Overlapping bite, 462.
Palaeolithic cultures, 230.
man, 47, 59, 60, 82.
period, 59.
Palaeoliths, 2.
Palate, 150, 151, 192.
Kent's Cavern, 96, 97.
of ape and Eoanthropus, 328.
ratio of to brain, 328.
size of, 450.
Palato-cerebral ratio, 328, 450.
Pampean formation, 289.
Parietal association areas of brain, 266.
bones of Piltdown skull, 346.
lobes of brain, 404.
Parsons, Prof. F. G., n, 94, 358.
Paviland cave, 47, 53, 54, 56.
Pearson-Lee formula, 390.
Penck, Prof., 226, 307.
Pengelly, Mr William, 95.
Peringuey, Dr L. , 255.
Petrous bone, 349.
Peyrony, M., 112.
Piette, M. Edouard, 57, 59, 121.
Piltdown, 296.
deposits at, 299, 300, 311.
mandible, 321.
remains, antiquity of, 307, 308, 309,
3i4-
discovery of, 298.
skull, capacity of, 375.
cephalic index of, 374.
compared to others, 392.
diameters of, 390.
facial parts of, 480.
fronto-malar region of, 383.
in profile, 386.
length of, 373, 388.
occipital view, 340.
parts found of, 316, 317.
section across, 351.
thickness of, 319, 320.
vertex view of, 370.
Pithecanthropus, 257.
fronto-malar region of, 381.
phylum of, 506.
skull of, compared, 392.
teeth of, 261, 262.
Pituitary angle, 156, 265.
Platycephaly, 352.
Pleistocene cultures, 230, 232.
epoch, 62.
period, duration of, 307.
Plenal condition of molar teeth, 471.
5 i8
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN
Pliocene man, 310, 311, 503.
period, deposits of, 225.
Prestwich, Sir Joseph, 295.
Prigg, Mr Henry, 171, 175.
Puydt, Marcel de, 126.
Ragazzoni, Prof., 245.
Reck, Dr Hans, 255, 500.
Reconstruction efface, 479.
of Piltdown skull, 337.
of skulls, experiment in, 356.
. methods of, 361.
Red ochre, 65.
Reid, Mr Clement, 23, 28, 44, 172, 309,
3*5-
River-bed type of skull, 14, 15, 16, 28, 34,
41, 44, 51, 55- 59- 77, 82, 89, 99, in.
Rivers, General Pitt, 98.
Riviere, M. Emile, 62.
Rolleston, Prof., 99.
Ruggeri, Prof., 183.
Rutot, Prof., 51, 127, 163, 183, 184, 202,
209, 214, 221, 226, 228, 230, 234,
307, 313.
St Acheul, 161.
St Prest, 231, 313, 314, 511.
Sardinia, Neolithic tombs of, 18.
Sauvage, Dr, 205.
Schaaffhausen, Prof., 128.
Schipka, human remains found at, 132.
Schmerling, Dr, 48, 49, 82, 89, 129.
Schoetensack, Dr Otto, 233.
Schwalbe, Prof. Gustav, 122, 131, 149,
157, 291.
Seme, deposits of, 201, 203, 204.
Selenka, Frau Lenore, 259.
Seligman, Dr, 254.
Sennen skull, 37, 50.
Sera, Prof. G. L., 156, 207.
Sergi, Prof., 15, 209, 247.
Sex of Eoanthropus, 388.
Simian characters, distribution of, 431.
shelf, 242, 434, 436.
Sinel, Mr J., 24, 31.
Skull, fixation of, 267.
identification of middle line, 365.
of Galley Hill man, 187.
section across base of, 349.
zero-line of, 342.
Skulls, comparison of ancient types, 392.
in profile, 376.
methods of reconstruction, 360.
orientation of, 379.
Smith, Mr Edward, 36.
Mr Reginald, 74, 82, 99, 105, 162, 171,
184, 194.
Prof. Elliot, 17, 244, 253, 336, 365, 396,
407, 434.
Socie'te' Jersiaise, 31, 33.
Sollas, Prof., 47, 54, 122, 124, 307, 510.
Solutre", 60.
equine layer at, 61.
Solutrean culture, 109.
flints, 84, 101, 109.
period, 56, 61.
Somme, deposits in valley of the, 194,
195.
South America, early man in, 286.
Spain, fossil bones from, 376.
Speech, 244.
centres of, 404.
modification of mandible in connection
with, 145, 146, 452.
Sphenoid region, reconstruction of, 396.
Spurrell, Mr F. C. J. , 164.
Spy mandible, 238, 243.
skeletons, 127, 131.
Strahan, Dr Aubrey, 41.
Stremme, Dr, 260.
Strepyan deposits, 163.
culture, 163, 184.
Sturge, Dr Allen, 30, 82, 107, 211.
Sub-crag flints, 225, 226.
Sublingual fossa, 434.
Submerged forests, 23, 24, 25, 26, 32, 35.
flints, 25, 28.
Supra-orbital ridges, 140, 141, 142, 143,
371-
Swanscombe, 161, 162.
Sylvius, fissure of, 402.
in fossil brains, 407.
Symington, Prof. J., 512.
Symphyseal region of mandible, 323.
Taubach, deposits at, 131, 132.
teeth found at, 132, 147.
Taurodont form of teeth, 148, 477.
Teeth, 191, 237, 261.
modifications of, 464.
of fossil men, 453.
of Heidelberg mandible, 237, 238.
of Neanderthal man, 147, 148.
of Neolithic people, 12, 13.
of Piltdown man, 322, 475.
reduction in size of, 453.
types of, 476.
Temporal bone, articulation of, 411.
convolutions, 410.
lines, 375, 481.
of Eoanthropus, 333.
lobe, 402.
Temporo-mandibular articulation, 441.
' ' Tertiary " man, 503.
Test skull, 362.
Tetraprothomo, 290.
Thames deposits, sequence of, 162.
terraces, 164, 165.
valley, subsidence of, 25, 28.
Thigh bone, 158, 261.
Third frontal convolution, 381.
Thomson, Prof. Arthur, 264.
Tibia of Ipswich man, 221, 222.
Tilbury skeleton, 26, 75.
Tombs, Neolithic, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 33,
35, 4-
Tongue, muscles of, 323.
Torus supra-orbitalis, 266.
Trent skull, 14, 88, 90.
Trenton gravels, 274, 276.
remains found in, 275.
Trepanned skulls, 20, 21.
INDEX
Trinil strata, 259.
Turner, Sir William, 59, 270.
Underwood, Prof. A., 437, 439.
Upham, Dr Warren, 281.
Vault of skull in profile, 394.
Vendrest, Neolithic tomb at, 20.
Verneau, Dr, 63, 65.
Verner, Colonel W. , 376.
Vertex view of human skulls, 367.
V6zere, caves of the, 53.
Villenneuve, Canon de, 63.
Volk, Mr Ernest, 274.
Warren, Mr Hazzeldine, 101, 105.
Waterston, Prof. D. , 430.
Whitaker, Mr William, 218.
Whitney, Prof. J. D., 284.
Winchell, Prof. N. H., 281, 283.
Woodward, Dr Smith, 301, 306.
Wookey Hole, 92.
Wormian bone, 81.
Wright, Dr G. Frederick, 273, 276.
281.
Zammit, Dr, 15.
Zero-line of skull, 342, 376.
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY NEILL AND CO., LTD., EDINBURGH.
A STANDARD WORK OF SPECIAL INTEREST
TO ALL READERS OF PROF. KEITH'S
"ANTIQUITY OF MAN"
PRE-HISTORIC
TIMES
AS ILLUSTRATED BY
ANCIENT REMAINS AND THE MANNERS
AND CUSTOMS OF MODERN SAVAGES
BY
THE LATE RT. HON. LORD AVEBURY
The thorough revision of this volume and the preparation of
new material was the last literary work completed by the author
just prior to his decease. A large number of new illustrations
are included of recent discoveries, bringing the volume entirely
up to date.
"A new book of great value even to the initiated in that branch of
ethnology and anthropology which concerns itself with the ancient and
primitive types of man formerly in existence in countries which are now
exhibiting the most advanced type of civilisation."
Sir HARRY JOHNSTON, K.C.B. , in the Westminster Gazette.
With three illustrations in colour, and nearly 300 other illustrations.
In One Volume. Large Demy %vo. Above 600 pages. 10s. 6d. net;
postage inland, 6d. extra.
London : WILLIAMS & NORGATE, 14 Henrietta St., Covent Garden.
TWO BEAUTIFUL BOOKS FOR ALL GARDEN
LOVERS
ROCK GARDENS
HOW TO MAKE AND MAINTAIN THEM
BY LEWIS B. MEREDITH
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
F. W. MOORE, M.A., A.L.S.
And an Alphabetical List of Plants suitable for the Rock
Garden, with notes on the aspect and soil they require.
" It is safe to say it is one of the best of the really practical works which
have been written, and we can cordially recommend it to everyone who is
embarking, or has already embarked, on this fascinating branch of horti-
culture." The Gardener's Chronicle.
Second Edition. With new Illustrations. Demy %vo. Cloth.
7s. 6d. net ; postage inland, 6d. extra.
ILLUSTRATIONS UNCOMMONLY BEAUTIFUL
THE
HERBACEOUS GARDEN
BY MRS PHILIP MARTINEAU
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
W. ROBINSON
Part I. of this interesting volume describes and gives full particulars how to
make and arrange Hardy Borders ; while Part II. consists of an alphabetical
list of the most suitable plants.
"The only bad thing about Mrs Martineau's book is its title. 'The
Herbaceous Garden' is too ugly a name for a volume which can only be
described by that, ill-used word, charming. Yet it is not easy to suggest a
better title. Weight and wisdom are added in an introduction by Mr William
Robinson, and the illustrations are uncommonly beautiful." The Times.
" Even enthusiasts of long standing are continually confronted with doubts
and difficulties, and here these pages, written with knowledge and apprecia-
tion by an amateur for amateurs, will appeal as much for their invaluable
counsel as for the clear manner in which it is imparted." Pall Mall Gazette.
SECOND IMPRESSION.
Demy Svo. Cloth. ?S. 6d. net ; postage inland, 6d.
Illustrated by 32 plates beautifully reproduced by a
new process, and with two illustrations in colour.
WTTTTAMS M NOROATF ** HENRIETTA STREET,
VV 1-L..L.1/1.1V1O S3 lMWiVVj/\l IL, COVENT GARDEN, W.C.
WILLIAMS AND NORGATE'S
PUBLICATIONS
ECHOES FROM THE
FLEET
BY
L. COPE CORNFORD
NAVAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE " MORNING POST"
WITH A PREFACE BY
ADMIRAL LORD CHARLES BERESFORD, M.P.
who says : " It is because Mr Cornford's work is a valuable contri-
bution towards a better understanding of the Royal Navy that I
hope it will find many readers, and for the accuracy of its present-
ment I can vouch."
" Mr, Cope Cornford's sketches of life in the Navy are full of dash, humour,
and go. The volume before us contains the strongest work he has done.
Mr Rudyard Kipling would not need to be ashamed of having written
' Lent for the Voyage.'" Evening Standard.
2s. net, Hoards. Special Coloured Jacket. 2s. 6d. net, Cloth;
postage inland, $d. extra.
WAR & THE EMPIRE
THE PRINCIPLES OF IMPERIAL DEFENCE
BY
COLONEL HUBERT FOSTER, R.E.
DIRECTOR OF MILITARY STUDIES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY
LATE QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL IN CANADA, MILITARY ATTACHE IN THE UNITED STATES
AND MEMBER OF THE INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT OF THE WAR OFFICE
AUTHOR OF "ORGANISATION: HOW ARMIES ARE FORMED FOR WAR" AND OF
"STAFF WORK: A GUIDE TO COMMAND AND GENERAL STAFF DUTIES, ETC."
The author traces with wonderful accuracy and knowledge
the principles governing the defence of the King's dominions,
thus enabling the layman to understand the policy that has
been guiding the developments of the present war.
Crown Svo. Cloth. With Map. 2s. 6d. net; postage inland,
$d. extra.
LONDON : 14 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN
WILLIAMS AND NORGATE'S
PUBLICATIONS
THE SPIRITUAL MESSAGE
OF DANTE
BY THE RIGHT REV. W. BOYD CARPENTER,
K.C.V.O., D.D., D.C.L., D.LiTT., LL.D.
CANON OF WESTMINSTER, CLERK OF THE CLOSET TO THE KING, LATE BISHOP OF RIPON
This book contains the lectures delivered at Harvard Uni-
versity under the William Belden Noble Trust. They are
an illustration drawn from history of the principles which the
author strove to enforce in the Noble Lecture of 1904, the
struggle of the soul towards the eternal light.
Crown 8vo. Cloth. Illustrated. 5s. net; postage inland ', <\d. extra.
GENERAL SIR ALEX TAYLOR,
G.C.B., R.E. : HIS TIMES, HIS
FRIENDS, AND HIS WORK
WRITTEN BY HIS DAUGHTER
A. CAMERON TAYLOR
Sent by John Lawrence to Delhi, the belief is that by his
skill and daring " Alex Taylor took Delhi," as John Nicholson
said. His statue is now on the Ridge. The biography of
this gallant and high-spirited hero makes fascinating reading.
"The biography is of fascinating interest. Written with much literary
charm, it depicts a character most lovable and admirable ; and the setting
of the picture necessarily places before us some of the most stirring scenes
of our national history." Major-General G. K. ScoTT-MoNCRiEFF in
BlackwoocTs Magazine.
" The life of a chivalrous soldier, whose forward fiery valour was blended
with a calm judgment and a catholic love, can be read with enthusiastic
interest." The Times.
With Portraits in Photogravure and in Black and White,
along with Maps, some of which are printed in colours.
In Two Volumes. Medium 8vo. Cloth. 25s. net ;
postage inland, lod. extra.
LONDON : 14 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN
GS
KEITH, SIR ARTHUR
The antiquity of man.
