# Smithsonian Report/1906/Quaternary Human Remains in Central Europe

QUATERNARY HUMAN REMAINS IN CENTRAL EUROPE.
By Hugues Obermaier.
INTRODUCTION.
In order that the great problem of quaternary races in central Europe may be presented with accuracy and reliable conclusions be reached, it is indispensable to begin by establishing a list of well- authenticated quaternary anthropological discoveries, and separate from it all finds the age of which is not settled. A record of this nature can be accomplished only by patient and methodic discrimination based on a painstaking study of the localities, the objects recovered, and the publications relating to ancient man. With the aim of producing such a record, the writer has applied himself for several years to the study of everything that appeared in print on the subject of quaternary man in Europe, and visited, as far as possible, the collections, the localities of the finds, and the men who made the discoveries. The present publication is the result of these researches; it is purely geological and archeological in nature, nevertheless the data will also be of service to those who may desire to deal with the problem from the standpoint of physical anthropology or comparative anatomy.
GEOLOOICAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE QUATERNARY PERIOD.
For accurate chronology of the quaternary of the Alps we are indebted to A. Penck and E. Brückner. This chronology was briefly outlined by the writer himself in L'Anthropologie and extended to the rest of Europe in another publication, and geologists dealing with northern Germany and England conformed to it in all essentials. M. J. Partsch has shown that glacial phenomena presented the same characteristics over all the other mountainous masses of Europe, and that what can be termed the climatological harmony of Europe has been everywhere lowered by several octaves during ​the glacial periods. Due to this, every one of the ice invasions in Middle and Western Europe manifested, even in regions where it left no geological traces, a distinct arctic-alpine fauna.
Penck endeavored to apply his geological chronology also to the known sites of quaternary man, but he encountered difficulties on account of finding only the so-called Magdalenian stations in direct connection with the glacial deposits. This circumstance made it possible to eventually determine the late postglacial age of these particular remains. The more ancient stations of the Solutrean mammoth hunters lie in the loess, far from the Alpine ice centers and without a direct connection with these, and the determination of their exact antiquity presents more obstacles. However, on the base of the information then extant, Penck constructed the following chronological scheme:
It was the above chronology which I have utilized in my writings (including the French version of this paper). Since the publications in L'Anthropologie, however, my geological and archeological investigations in Villefranche and the Pyrenees resulted in new evidence, on the basis of which I must modify the above scheme as follows:
This new and more satisfactory chronology relating to the geo- logically ancient man of central Europe is sustained also for the Alps by the recent discovery of a paleolithic station at Santis (Canton St. Gallen). The "wildkirchli" cave in this locality, at 1,500 meters above the sea, shows intact Mousterian industry. This deposit could have taken place only after the recession of the glaciers of the fourth (last) ice invasion.
PART FIRST.—DISCOVERIES IN AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
The first part of this report will be devoted to the ancient osteological discoveries made in Austria-Hungary. The quaternary archeological deposits of this country are divided into two large groups, namely those which occur in the loess that covers a great portion of the surface of the Empire, and those which are found in caves. The latter are again divided into two classes, one, the more ancient, belonging to the lower layers of the cavern deposits and characterized by only the lower-paleolithic implements of a very primitive nature—the other distinguished by the presence of flint implements of definite and much varied forms as well as by bone implements, and belonging to the more recent Magdalenian culture. The industry represented in the loess finds is typically Solutrean and belongs chronologically between the two of the caves. This fact has been established by stratigraphic observations, particularly in western Europe, and is supported by the clear separation between the objects of the cave and the loess finds, even where such deposits existed in immediate vicinity.
The old-paleolithic stations of Austria-Hungary show especially implements of atypical forms, with which are mixed comparatively few Mousterian varieties.
According to the writer's now chronological table the sites of quaternary man in Austria-Hungary, which have yielded with other objects remains of the human skeleton, range as follows:
I.—Human remains, surely quaternary.
Archeological remains of the quaternary man are frequent, those of skeletal nature are rare. I shall give the discoveries belonging to this category of the finds in their chronological order.
THE CAVE OF ŠIPKA.
In northern Moravia, 10 kilometers east of Nový Jičín, is the Jurassic mountain Kotouč. This mountain, which is visible from afar ​and presents a flat summit and steep precipices, contains numerous caves, the most spacious of which on the north is called Šipka. Up to the time of the explorations of Karel Maška this cave consisted of a simple room meters long, 6 to 12 meters broad, and 1.50 to 2.50 meters high, the rear being completely filled with large pieces of calcareous débris. The researches of Maška show that this debris was the result of caving in of parts of the roof dating from the end of the quaternary period, and that behind the mass of fallen rock the cavern ran 55 meters more into the mountain. The following account of this station is based on the publications of Maška and personal information in the autumn of 1902:
Šipka is divided into three parts—an anterior portion already mentioned; a middle portion, 9 to 12 meters broad and 10 meters long, filled up to Maška's excavations with pieces of the fallen roof, and a posterior portion behind the great pieces of rock, about 30 meters long and ending in a narrow fissure, which prevents farther advance. In the left side of this last portion is a narrow and low lateral chamber, known as the "badger-hole," which runs 15 meters and opens on the outside of the mountain. Explorations in this compartment have shown that it also was closed before the end of the quaternary.
The deposits found in the cave and their stratigraphic relations were as follows:
Cave Šipka.
| Anterior part. | Middle part. | Posterior part. | Badger hole. |
| (a) Modern deposits. | Caved-in rock. | | |
| (b) Cave loam (yellowish brown). Archeological remains scarce. | Same as (b). | Cave loam. Archeological remains (superior paleolithic). | |
| (c1) Gray layer, with archeological remains. (inferior paleolithic). | Same as (c1). | Same as (c1). | |
| (c2) Gray layer, without traces of man. | Same as (c2). | Same as (c2): deposit more greenish. | |
| (d) Greenish layer. The principal repository of archeological specimens. | Same as (d). | Same as (d): layer more brownish. | Archeolgical deposit (inferior paleolithic). |
| (e) Gray and greenish sand. | Same as (e). | Sand and rubbish. | Sand and rubbish. |
As high up as layer (b) the quaternary fauna was intact, showing no mixture with the modern. Layer (b) showed, in the anterior portion of the cave, remnants of Rangifer tarandus, Elephas primigenius, and Rhinoceros tichorhinus, with two fireplaces and some flint chips. In the middle compartment this layer yielded bones of ​Myodes torquatus, Lagopus albus and alpinus, Lagomys pusillus, and Spermophilus rufescens. The same arctic-alpine fauna was associated in the posterior chamber with a well-marked archeological deposit showing several fireplaces and yielding flint implements of the superior paleolithic type. Layer (c1) inclosed the Elephas primigenius, Rhinoceros tichorhinus, and a predominance of Equus caballus, whereas Rangifer tarandus was missing. Archeological specimens were numerous, especially in the inferior parts of this layer, and consisted of crude, atypical implements, made mostly from quartzite. Layer (c2) consisted in its superior portion of a mass containing numerous remnants of carnivores; it was 0.5 meter in thickness and showed no traces of the presence of man. Layer (d), inclosing the principal archeological deposit, contained also arctic-alpine fauna, including Gulo borealis, Myodes torquatus, Rangifer tarandus, Capella rupicapra, Capra (Ibex?), Arctomys sp., Rhinoceros tichorhinus, Elephas primigenius, Ursus spelæus, Bos primigenius, Equus caballus. The implements, about 3,000 in number, are with few exceptions only formless, rudimentary, quartzite spalls; they were disseminated through and about the fireplaces and were mixed with calcined bones.
A piece of human lower jaw was discovered at the side of a fireplace situated at the point where the middle portion of the cave ends and the badger hole commences. The fragment was in layer (d), at the depth of 1.40 meters, near the lateral wall, and lay in ashes. The middle portion of the bone is alone preserved; it contains three incisors, the two right bicuspids, and one right molar. The incisors are worn off to the cement. The bone shows that it had been subjected to the heat of ashes, if not directly to fire. Its color is identical with that of the animal bones found near by and in undisturbed deposits.
There is no doubt that this lower jaw belongs to the layer in which it was found, and that it is the most ancient human bone from the quaternary period in Austria.
THE DEPOSITS OF KRAPINA.
The human remains found by Gorjanović-Kramberger in the quaternary, diluvial deposits near Krapina, in Croatia, consisted of the fragments of 10 or 12 skulls, a large number of teeth, and many more or less defective other parts of the skeleton. They were in undisturbed layers, and with them were bones of a hot climate fauna (Rhinoceros Mercki), as well as a quantity of typical Mousterian implements. Some of the pieces of human bones are calcined; in general they are in a bad state of preservation.
THE STATION OF WILLENDORF, LOWER AUSTRIA.
Willendorf is a village on the Danube, twelve hours' journey up the river from Vienna. Traces of paleolithic man were discovered in the loess deposits to the east of the village as the earth was being removed for making brick.
The archeologically important layer, preserved in part to this day, extends like a dark ribbon in the yellowish loess at the depth of about 4 meters below the actual surface of the soil. It is separable into three strata, of which the lowest is the richest in human remains. In this horizon were found thousands of flint implements, which showed all the types of the superior paleolithic culture, with two exceptions. It also yielded some points of horn and bone. The objects showing man's work were scattered about a very extended group of fireplaces.
The cotemporary fauna is typical of the loess, consisting of Elephas primigenius, Rhinoceros tichorhinus, Bos priscus, Rangifer tarandus, Capra ibex, Equus cahallus, etc. This deposit furnished thus far. according to J. N. Woldřich, but a single human hone, a fragment of a femur.
THE STATION OF PŘEDMOST, IN MORAVIA.
In the middle of the large alluvial plain of the stream Bečva and about 3 kilometers east of the city Přerov is a village known as Před- most, and near by is a rocky elevation called Hradisko. The base of this is surrounded with thick layers of gravel and fluvial sands, on which rest 20 meters of loess. At the depth of 2 to 3 meters below the surface of this, Wankel, Maška, and Kříž discovered twenty years ago the remains of a vast human settlement dating from the epoch of the steppes, which belonged to the extreme end of the last interglaciary period. The fauna of this station approaches already that of the last glacial period.
It is certain that man lived at Předmost contemporaneously with the mammoth. The bones of these animals are found not only below and at the same levels with the remains of man, but also above them.
The explorations at Předmost have been carried on in a thorough and scientific manner. The fauna discovered is composed of Felis spelæa, Hyæna spelæa, Canis lagopus, Gulo borealis, Myodes torquatus, Elephas primigenius, Rhinoceros tichorinus, Bos primigenius and priscus, Capra ibex, Ovibos moschatus, Rangifer tarandus, Cervus elaphus, Cervus alces, Equus caballus, and other less typical species. The mammoth is extraordinarily abundant, the bones of at least 800 or 900 individuals having been discovered. Archeological specimens were found in large numbers. The number of flint implements exceeds 25,000; they represent very diverse and often beautiful types of the superior paleolithic culture. The collection of objects from bone, ivory, and reindeer horn is also rich, and includes a series of ​real objects of art, approaching closely the chefs-d'œuvre of the glyptic period in France. It is regrettable that a thorough description of these collections is still wanting.
The great scientific value of the Předmost finds is augmented by the discoveries of human bones. Wankel found a portion of a human lower jaw, belonging apparently to an adult female. It is preserved in the museum in Olomouc, and is undoubtedly of quaternary age. It is figured by Wankel in the Časopis Musejní Společnosti, Olomouc, 1884, page 96, and by Maška in his Der diluviale Mensch in Maehren, 1886, page 103. Besides this, Kříž, in his most recent publication (Beitrage zur Kenntniss des Quartaers in Maehren, 1903, pp. 236–268, with figures) describes a series of human skeletal remains from the Předmost excavations, found by himself, and including a skull of a 12-year-old child, 2 fragments of lower jaws from young subjects, 18 pieces of skulls, 2 humeri, 2 ulnæ, a portion of a radius, and parts of 2 femurs; in all, the remains of about 6 individuals. In front of the skull of the child are still fixed some bones and teeth of the blue fox. The conscientious methods of Kříž permit of no doubt that all these bones belong to the undisturbed quaternary layers which have yielded the numerous archeological specimens.
The discoveries of human bones by Maška at Předmost have not yet been published in detail. From personal information which the writer obtained from him, Maška found a sepulchre containing 14 complete skeletons and the remains of 6 other individuals. Ten skulls, of which 6 belonged to adults and 1 to adolescents, are completely restored. They are dolichocephalic, and those of males have well-developed supraorbital arches. The length of the femurs shows that the people were of tall stature. Hradisko furnished also some geologically recent burials, but the bones discovered by Maška are separated from all of these by plain stratigraphic evidence. The quaternary archeological deposits lay above these skeletal remains, which were found in general beneath those of a more recent origin. There were also different coloration of the bones and different modes of burial. According to Maška's records, the bodies in the quarternary burials were completely surrounded with a wall of stones, a usage practiced to this day by arctic peoples. Nevertheless the bones of blue foxes and of wolves show that these animals succeeded in gaining approach to the human bodies and in destroying some parts of them. This explains also the isolated finds of Wankel and Kříž. Nothing was found buried with the skeletons. One of the individuals, a child, had about its neck a collar made of 14 small ivory pearls, looking like those which have been recovered in the middle or Solutrean layer at Spy.
The stratigraphic evidence shows incontestably that there was at Předmost an intentional sepulcher, dating very probably to an epoch ​anterior to the principal quaternary station of man, for the archeological stratum above the burials showed no sign of disturbance.
SKELETON OF BRNO (BRÜNN) MORAVIA.
In 1891 a human skeleton was found at the depth of 41/2 meters in the loess, in Brno, the capital of Moravia. The surroundings had furnished, before that, bones of quaternary animals and cut flint implements. According to the publications of A. Makovský, who was called to the locality immediately after the discovery of the human bones, a tusk with a shoulder blade of a mammoth lay over, and some ribs of a rhinoceros not far from, the skeleton. The latter, partly destroyed in the excavation, showed profuse decoration. There were gathered about it more than 600 pieces of the Dentalium badense, which served as a collar or a breast plate; great flat limestone disks with central perforation; 3 small, flat disks with incised marginal decorations; 3 other disks made from the ribs of the rhinoceros or the mammoth, also 3 disks cut from the molars of the latter animal, and 5 of ivory; finally there was a masculine figure or "idol," 25 cm. high, made of ivory. The skull was much damaged by the workingmen. It is extremely dolichocephalic. (Figured in Makovský's Der Mensch der Dihivialzeit, pls. VIII and IX.)
The report of Makovský proves clearly that the skeleton was found in situ in an undisturbed laver. Besides this, the Maška collection from Předmost contains several stone disks identical in character with those of the Brno burial, which points to the fact that both finds belonged to the same period. Other facts, notably the presence of the ivory "idol," range the Brno find with the "glyptic " epoch of the mammoth hunters and would make its incorporation into any other period very difficult.
The Brno skeleton and a few objects found near it present, besides other features, an intense red coloration. Makovský regarded this coloration as incontestably artificial, and Virchow expressed the opinion, based on these data, that such coloration could be produced only after the bones have become devoid of flesh, wherefore it is necessary in this case to suppose a secondary burial. As a similar feature was several times observed with skeletons from the neolithic period, the Brno bones also were attributed to this epoch. In 1902 I had occasion to examine the skeleton preserved in the Brno polytechnic school, and it was still possible to see samples of the loess which had surrounded the bones. After an examination of the whole, I came to the conclusion that the coloration of the bones and neighboring ​objects was not intentional. The skull is colored in part only, and what is red shows much irregularity in the quantity of the pigment; and the same is true of the other parts of the skeleton, the large disks, some of the smaller ones, and of the Dentalium. This intense red was also communicated to the bones of animals and the teeth of a horse which lay near the body, and on these the coloration presents similar irregularities as that on the human bones. The examples of loess from next to the body contain a large number of red grains and show irregular patches of coloration. This last fact is explicable only on the hypothesis that red pigment, which does not exist naturally in the loess, was thrown about the otherwise highly-decorated body. The grains of pigment remained intact in the loess, but they disintegrated over the bones and other objects and imparted to these the red coloration. This demonstrates also that in the case of the Brno skeleton we have to deal with a quaternary, intentional burial, of a nature known from several other localities in central and western Europe.
THE GUDENUSHOEHLE.
The Gudenus cavern is situated 20 kilometers northwest of the city of Krems, in the valley of the Little Krems, not far from Willendorf, in Lower Austria. The cave is 22 meters long by 2 to 3 meters in breadth and is situated 7.5 meters above the level of the stream. The deposits showed on exploration as follows:
(b) A quaternary archeological deposit, thickest in front of the entrance and in the southern part of the cave, 28 cm.
(c) Cave loam, 6 cm.
(d) Cave loam, with many unbroken bones of animals, 26 cm.
(f) Sand containing no specimens, 65 cm.
(g) Clay, with rubbish, 22 cm.
(h) Bed rock.
The archeological deposit contained about 1,300 implements made of flint and numerous utensils of bone and horn of the reindeer period or Magdalenian types. The fauna of the same layer was that of the arctic-alpine climate (Elephas primigenius, Rhinoceros tichorhinus, Bos primigenius, Capella rubicapra, Rangifer tarandus, Cervus elaphus, etc.). According to Woldřich this deposit yielded also a tooth of an infant.
THE LIECHTENSTEIN CAVE.
About 20 meters west of the cave known as Bočkova-di'ra, which will be dealt with later on (see p. 387), in establishing a stone quarry, a party of workmen in 1902 came across a rock shelter, the roof of ​which had in ancient times caved in. There was no connection between this shelter and the cave Bočkova-di'ra. The caved-in rocks lay on diluvial loam. On the 22d of March, 1904, the working-men found human bones in a nook of the shelter and its side wall. These lay in the loam and were for the most part crushed. Among the parts better preserved is a calvarium of an adult. A skull of an adult and one of a young subject, which lay a little to one side and deeper, are almost wholly shattered. Besides the preceding the excavation yielded a lower jaw, ulna, humerus, radii, parts of the pelvic bones, a femur, tibia, clavicles, vertebræ, and pieces of ribs. Of animal bones the same layer showed, according to Knies and Maška, those of Canis vulpes, Canis lagopus, Canis lupus, Ursus spelæus, Lepus variabilis, Lagomys pusillus, Rangifer tarandus, Cervus alces, and Bos priscus. A further fact of importance is the recovery with the bones (which are preserved partly in the Museum in Úsov, near Olomouc and partly in the Knies collection) of several implements of stone and reindeer antlers, which are evidently of diluvial origin. In the absence of anything of archeological nature of a more recent age we have to agree with the opinion of Maška that the find consists of a triple burial, which dates, most probably, from the time of the Magdalenian culture.
II.—Erroneous, doubtful, or insufficient indications.
The discoveries dealt with in this chapter can not be included among those surely quaternary; they have either been thus designated through error, or it is impossible to determine their exact age on account of insufficient stratigraphic data, while in a few cases it is impossible to judge of the value of the indications given about discoveries made long time ago.
(a) FINDS MADE IN BOHEMIA.
Human remains of Zuzlavice.
The limestone crevices which are found on the right side of the river Voliňka, near the village Zuzlavice, have been explored by the well-known paleontologist, J. N. Woldřich. According to the published accounts of this observer there were collected in two of these clefts and in the quaternary loam which covers the slope and the base of the rocks more than 9,000 fragments of bones and about 13,000 teeth of quaternary animals, representing some 170 species, and with these bones were recovered 150 implements of stone, 200 of bone, about 400 pieces of broken and in some instances worked bones, and finally a quantity of pieces of a human skull. These fragments were at the base of the rocks in a fossa, and near them were found broken bones of a rhinoceros, as well as the remains of a fireplace.
​The supposed implements of stone and bone, all of which I have carefully examined, are not beyond doubt the work of man. The former are without exception fragments of quartzite, limestone containing quartz, and pure quartz, and resemble the fragments which are produced naturally within caves of this nature without the intervention of man. In a similar way, there is not one of the bone objects which could not be attributed to natural breaks and rubbing. The presence of a fireplace and of human bones in proximity with those of a rhinoceros at the foot of the rocks do not justify any far-reaching conclusion. They may have fallen with the talus from the plain above.
THE DISCOVERIES AT JIČÍN.
Several decades ago L. Schneider collected a great quantity of animal bones in five small caves situated in the slopes of the elevation known as Prachové, not far from the city of Jičín. These were sent to Woldřich, who reached the belief that a part of the bones showed the work of man. They resemble some from Zuzlavice, which are believed to have been worked. Conclusive proofs of the presence of man, such as fireplaces and real stone implements, are absolutely wanting; and I am not able to utilize a publication concerning some human bones sent to Woldřich from these caves at that same time, for the note contains no stratigraphic information.
THE CAVE OF PROKOPI. NEAR JINONICE.
In 1888 R. Ebenhoech sent to Woldřich animal remains from a cave situated near Praha (Prague) and at that time demolished. Woldřich saw among these again a series of primitive implements, which I can not admit.
The same deposit was examined a little later by J. Kořenský, who discovered the remains of bones of Elephas primigenius, Rhinoceros tichorhinus, Hyæna spelæa, Rangifer tarandus, and other species, with some fragments of a human skull, all cemented in a form of breccia. Kořenský did not believe this breccia to be very ancient, but Woldřich, basing his opinion on the same data, thought that the formation should be relegated to the diluvial epoch of the quaternary. I partake of the opinion of Kořenský. The human remains, mixed with animal bones, were found in a cleft in the rock, and it is impossible to be sure of how they came there. They may have reached the cleft already dissociated, and the travertin which cemented the bones may have formed much later.
THE SKULL OF MOST (BRÜX).
The Most skull was found, according to Woldřich, with some fragments of human bones and a very handsome neolithic ax in ​quaternary sand. According to mine warden R. Pfeifer, the ax lay underneath 2 feet of surface loam and 11/2 feet of the quaternary sand, whereas the skeleton to which the Most skull belonged was 2 feet lower. The explorations of the locality by Woodřich have shown the sand to be modern. If greater antiquity were assigned to the bones, then it would have to be accepted that they were carried from the quaternary loess into the sand. Luschan, who studied the question, arrived at no conclusion. The subject of the antiquity of the skull remains undecided.
THE PODBABA SKULL.
Podbaba is a well-known locality near Praha (Prague). From time to time excavations in this place for commercial purposes revealed recent or prehistoric burials. During the winter of 1888 the brick makers of Pobdaba brought several times to Prof. A. Frič, in Praha, bones of the reindeer, mammoth, and rhinoceros, and one day a piece of human skull. Immediately steps were taken to ascertain exactly where this came from, but Professor Frič could simply establish the fact that the specimen was found in a layer of undisturbed brick earth, at the depth of 2 meters below the surface loam.
Granting that the information given by the workmen was correct, it is, in the writer's opinion, not yet proved that the skull belongs to the loess formation, for posterior dislocations and cavings-in are very frequent in this deposit.
THE LIBEŇ SKULL.
According to personal information by Dr. J. Babor, the calvarium in question came from the loess deposits in Libeň, the eighth ward of Praha, and was found in the loess immediately above the underlying Silurian formation. In the brickyards of this ward discoveries of quaternary animal bones (Rangifer tarandus, Arctomys marmotta, Hyæna spelæa, etc.) are quite frequent. In the immediate vicinity of the Libeň skull, but at a higher level, were, it is said, pieces of other skulls and fragments of pottery. No specialist examined these finds, and their stratigraphic conditions were never thoroughly inquired into. The fragment was taken by a physician who was in no way a geologist. From him it was several years afterwards secured by Doctor Babor, but by that time a thorough examination into the subject had become impossible.
THE SKULL OF STŘEBOCHOVICE.
The news of the discovery of a human skull at Podbaba recalled to a certain proprietor of Jemnik an analogous find made five years before in a separate locality. As far as could be learned, this other ​skull was dug out in a brickyard near the settlement of Střebochovice and lay 2 meters deep in the loess, with some bones of a rhinoceros. Professor Frič came to the conclusion that the appearance of the skull is not in favor of great antiquity, nevertheless, he reports it with that of Podbaba. The writer can only say that there are no reliable data by which to fix the inhumation of the skull in the loess deposit.
(b) Finds in Moravia.
DISCOVERIES IN THE VICINITY OF BRNO, ČEKVENÁ HORA, ŠLAPANICE, HUSOVICE.
The finds of apparently ancient human remains in several other places in the vicinity of Brno besides that described under authentic discoveries, has given rise to a lively scientific controversy. Makovský believed himself justified in regarding these as quaternary stations of man. He published his views for the first time in 1887. but this was subjected in 1889 to a severe criticism by Maška. In his response which appeared in the same year, Makovský maintains his opinions. His notions concerning the quaternary of Moravia are resumed in the Bruenner Festschrift of 1899, and the writer's remarks are based principally on this publication.
At Červená Hora, a little south of Brno, traces of quaternary man were furnished to Makovský by numerous shattered bones of the mammoth, rhinoceros, horse, etc., by traces of incisions or scraping on some of these pieces, and by the evidence of the action of fire on some others. He further cites a few implements of stone and bone, a bleached and perforated fragment of the frontal bone of a horse, a portion of a Dentalium, and three pieces of primitive pottery. Finally several human skeletons were exhumed from close proximity to these objects.
So far as the worked bones are concerned, I must declare that I have seen no piece in the collection of the polytechnic school in Brno which would be incontestably a manufactured instrument or whose form and condition of preservation could not be explained by natural causes, such as pressure, rubbing, gnawing by animals, etc. Layers of charcoal and bones incrusted with ashes exist, as Mr. Makovský mentions. Similar finds were made in many of the brickyards about Brno; Maška equally affirms their existence. The writer himself has seen them at Brno and in the loess at Krems (Lower Austria); E. Schumacher encountered them in the loess of Alsace. They occur, as here, at points where there is no other reason to affirm the presence of man. These phenomena are explainable by fires of the steppes, caused either by the quaternary man or by lightning. According to this hypothesis, we should have to deal in these cases with fires other than those of human beings. I adopt this explanation on account ​of the aspect of the bones that are incrusted with ashes. These bones show very superficial and uniform burns, different from those observable on bones from authentic quaternary stations of man (e.g., those from Předmost), which are irregular and often exist only on the side exposed to the fire. The flint implements from Červená Hora consist merely of two formless flakes; the piece of perforated frontal of a horse is no more than a fragment of bone damaged by the teeth of a hyena and later on perforated by insects. The fossil dentalia are not rare in Moravia, and the three jars of pottery of which Makovský speaks belong to the commencement of the neolithic period.
The human bones at Červená Hora were discovered by workmen in the absence of reliable witnesses. Makovský learned of them only after the lapse of several months. There is nothing which would definitely connect these skeletons with the finds mentioned in the preceding- section.
The discovery at Šlapanice (about 8 kilometers southeast of Brno) consisted of a skeleton, the only part preserved being a portion of the lower jaw. Precise data are wanting. It is only known that the specimen was extracted from among the bones of quaternary animals. Even this statement, however, lacks proper confirmation. What is certain is that the whole country offers numerous prehistoric burials of a more recent age, the fossæ of which were dug deep enough to penetrate into the layer which bears remains of quaternary fauna.
Much the same uncertainties exist about the skeleton found at Husovice, 4 kilometers north of Brno. The bones were found by workmen at the depth of at least 2 meters below the actual level of a sandpit. It is impossible to give this find any approximate age. Doctor Koudelka, who was concerned in the discovery, is not himself willing to concede that it is quaternary.
THE CAVE OF KOSTELÍK.
This cave contained the remains of a rich quaternary fauna and various products of the reindeer culture, but no remains of the human body. A lower jaw of an infant was found underneath an artificial platform in front of the cave, but as it came from a disturbed layer its age can not, according to Hochstetter and Szombathy, be determined.
THE LOWER JAW OF OCHOZ (MORAVIA).
This anatomically interesting specimen proceeds from a cave known as Švéduv Stul (Swede's Table), located in the Brno cave district in Moravia. This and the neighboring caves yielded numerous bones of quaternary animals, but nothing is known of the relation of these to the lower jaw. For this and other reasons the specimen must be classed with those of doubtful antiquity.
THE CAVE OF BYČISKALA.
However precious may be other discoveries in this cave, located in the environs of Kiritin, there is no value to be attached to those of human bones. Such bones have been recovered from different parts of the cave, and a radius with a tibia was found lodged in a layer which contained quaternary remains of archeological nature, while in the neighborhood of other remains were found bones of the cave bear. Notwithstanding this, the antiquity of these skeletal fragments of man is by no means established, which fact was recognized by the explorer of the cave. Doctor Wankel. himself.
THE CAVE OF JÁCHYMKA.
This cave consists of three portions or stories. In the middle portion, in a travertin breccia, were found in 1876, according to Doctor Wankel, numerous remains of quaternary industry, such as chisels, pointed teeth, etc. In the superior portion were discovered, with others, bones of reindeer, horse, and brown bear, with some flint knives and shards of pottery, as well as ashes and remains of man himself. The records of these finds can no longer be verified, and I have searched in vain for the collection.
CAVE BOČKOVA DÍRA, NEAR LOUČ.
Four and a half kilometers west of the city of Litovel, in north-western Moravia and near the village of Louč, is encountered a vast complex of caves. The largest of these is called Bočkova Dira, though the name has been changed to that of "the cave of Prince Jan." Some explorations were made in this cave as early as 1826. Methodical examinations of the contents were undertaken in 1886 by Hochstetter and Szombathy and resulted in finding bones of quaternary animals, particularly Felis spelæa, Ursus spelæus, Equus caballus, Rangifer tarandus and Elephas primigenius. With these were recovered a few archeological specimens belonging to the Reindeer epoch culture.
Besides the above, the explorers unearthed the skeletal remains of at least five human individuals, but it appears that these had no relation with the quaternary relics. One of the skulls was well preserved, dolichocephalic in type, belonging to a male of about 20 years of age. Szombathy believes the human bones to be quaternary for the reason that they were found with the bones of extinct species of animals and showed the same state of preservation. But if we take into account the fact that the human bones, a quantity of which had been discovered already in 1826, came from only 30 centimeters below the surface, that a piece of rotton cord was encountered in the same place, and that the debris of a human skull lay irregularly ​among the parts of a well-preserved skeleton of a reindeer, it is best to adhere to the opinion of Maška, who believes that the soil has been disturbed. A similar state of preservation in bones of man and quaternary animals does not prove that they are of identical age, for fossilization and discoloration do not depend exclusively on the antiquity of bones, but also on the nature of the soil. Even the breccia spoken of by the authors can not be relied upon, for it can form at all times in caves that are humid constantly or periodically.
THE CAVE OF BALCAROVA SKÁLA.
This cave is a portion of the group of caverns known as Sloup, to the southeast of the Moravian village Ostrov. It was explored originally by Wankel and Kříž, without positive result. Subsequently J. Knies determined the existence of four quaternary fireplaces and found about them 280 flint implements and 25 objects from worked bone or reindeer horn. The rich quaternary fauna of the upper layers was that of the arctic-alpine climate. Mr. Knies wrote the author in 1902 that he possessed 4 pieces of human lower jaws and 3 teeth from the quaternary deposit, and hence surely diluvial. In a later note, of 1905, he thought only one of the pieces and the three teeth to be of quaternary origin.
(c) OTHER DISCOVERIES IN AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
With the exception of the Gudenus-Hoehle discovery and that of Willendorf, no human bones were found thus far in Upper or Lower Austria which could be considered as quaternary, and the same is true of the littoral of the Empire.
HUNGARY.
Hungary itself has also thus far yielded no quaternary remains of the human skeleton.
At Barathégy were found bones of Elephas primigenius with fragments of pottery, knife blades, poignards, and several human skulls. It is also reported that in a cave named Nándor human bones were found with those of the great stag, while 2 human skulls were exhumed in the cave Nagy-Sáp. Regarding the two first-named discoveries, O. Herman pronounces himself with good reason against a quaternary age of the human bones; the reports of these explorations show plainly that there must have been a mixture of ancient with more recent objects. Besides this the observations of the explorers are insufficient and can not be utilized scientifically. As to the skulls from Nagy-Sáp, it is well established that they proceed from the loess; Luschan, and Hungarian scientists are nevertheless of the opinion that it is impossible to give a definite conclusion ​concerning these bones, for it is not established how and when they became lodged in the loess.
POLAND.
THE CAVE MASZYCKA.
The cave Maszycka is located in the ravine Ojców, on the right of the river Pradnik. It contained two archeological deposits, one neolithic and one paleolithic. The remains of 4 human skeletons taken from the cave were always attributed by its explorers to the neolithic age.
THE CAVE OF WIELKIE OBORZYSKO.
This narrow fissure is also situated near Ojców. Immediately at the entrance P. J. Czarnowski came in 1902 upon a prehistoric fireplace. It was located at the depth of 70 centimeters and was intercalated between the dark surface loam and a yellow lower deposit of quaternary age. About the fireplace were numerous implements of flint, some utensils of bone, and numerous potsherds, A portion of a human cranium lay at the margin of the fireplace, and in the cranial cavity were some decomposed shells of the Helix pomatia. A quantity of these were also mixed with the ashes in the fireplace. The inferior, yellow layers contained bones of animals, but no traces of man or his handiwork. The indications are that the archeological specimens and the human bones are of the neolithic age, and not quaternary.
SECOND PART.—DISCOVERIES MADE IN GERMANY.
In Germany quaternary stations are much rarer than in the neighboring countries of Austria-Hungary or France, and may be explained by the position of the country between the two glacial centers, that of the North and that of the Alps.
The stations of quaternary man outside of the caves are seldom found in the loess, in which the country is poor, but in other geological formations.
The human remains range themselves either with the old paleolithic, as at the station Taubach, the industry of which is surely pre-Mousterian—or with the Solutrean (finds in loess), and Magdalenian. They are chronologically as follows:
I. Human remains surely quaternary.
THE STATION AT TAUBACH.
The finds of Taubach (near Weimar) are well known. The base of the deposit at this locality was formed of gravel and sands, partly of glacial origin. Above this was a layer of tufas, having in its lower part remains of fauna contemporary with the Elephas antiquus and Rhinoceros Mercki, as well as an archeological deposit, with Mousterian, for the most part atypical implements, broken and burned bones, and fireplaces; while the upper layers showed fauna of cold climate (Elephas primigenius, Rhinoceros tichorhinus, Rangifer tarandus), but no traces of man. The uppermost stratum consisted of typical loess.
A. Weis found in the archeological deposit, in 1892, a tooth of a child. The specimen lay at the depth of 5.25 meters, and the authenticity of the find is beyond question. The discovery of an adult human molar was reported as having been made in the same layer, but the specimen was obtained by a workingman in the absence of scientific explorers. The writer would not dare to consider this tooth as of quaternary origin, particularly in view of the fact that frauds have been committed at this station since the commencement of its exploration. As scientific men manifested a great desire for human bones, it was not long before some one produced a whole skull, which was declared by Virchow to proceed in all probability from some neolithic burial of the region and by no means from the quaternary deposits. Neolithic flints have also been sold at this place to amateurs for truly paleolithic.
THE DEPOSIT OF ANDERNACH.
The station of Andernach is located about 20 kilometers north of Coblenz, on a terrace elevated 30 meters above the actual niveau of the Rhine. The archeological deposit was found in a layer of loam which covered an ancient and partly disintegrated flow of lava. The quartzite implements recovered show types such as are known from the upper paleolithic. With the stone objects were found numerous points—chisels, needles, and harpoons of bone and reindeer horn— some of which were decorated. The fauna was composed of Equus caballus, Rangifer tarandus, Bos primigenius, Canis lagopus, Cervus elaphus, Lagopus albus, Lepus variabilis, etc. With the archeological objects were discovered also two incisors of a child and seven pieces of human ribs. Their quaternary age is established beyond a doubt. The whole deposit was as if sealed up by the products of a posterior eruption of pumice stone; this layer was 5 to 6 meters in depth and covered with vegetal earth.
​The finds made at Andernach are preserved in the Provincial Museum at Bonn.
Erroneous, Doubtful, or Indefinite Observations.
(a) BAVARIA.
HUMAN REMAINS OF THE "RÄUBERHOEHLE," NEAR RATSIBONE.
This cave is situated in the valley of the Nab, at about 8 kilometers west of Ratisbon. It was explored in 1871 by O. Fraas, Ch. de Zittel, and F. de Guembel, who encountered in it a neolithic deposit with recent fauna, but on a lower level came across a quaternary stratum with remains of Hyæna spelea, Ursus spelæus, Rangifer tarandus, etc. There were signs that the earth had been disturbed, for bones of quaternary mammals were found in the recent deposit, and vice versa. The writer has not been able to find the rare quaternary implements of bone or reindeer horn mentioned by Zittel, and all that he could see of the flint objects were atypical flakes with relatively fresh color and fracture. Under these conditions he can not admit the existence of a paleolithic station in the cave in question. Whatever the facts may be, however, it is wholly impossible, in view of the disturbed condition of the deposits, to assign any definite age to fragments of a human skull exhumed with the other objects in this locality.
CAVE OF GAILENREUTH—CAVE OF OFNET.
The data concerning the specimens found in these caves are in neither case satisfactory, and it is necessary to place both finds among those of uncertain age.
(b) WURTEMBERG.
Ancient reports mention a human skull exhumed in 1833 in the "Schillerhoehle," near Wittlingen, and a second one discovered in 1831 in the "Erpfinger," or "Karls-Hoehle." There are no paleontological or stratigraphical data concerning these caves. Another cave, known as "Heppenloch," near Gutenberg, yielded remains of a human skeleton belonging, according to all indications, to the neolithic age; while a skeleton discovered in the "Bocksteinhoehle," not far from Bissingen, and believed by some to be of quaternary origin, has been shown to be that of a suicide, buried in the cave in 1730. A human femur has been discovered in a cave named "Hohlefels," near Schelklingen, in the valley of the Ach, and the same cave yielded bones of quaternary mammals, but it is not certain that the human specimen came from undisturbed quaternary deposit, and hence its age must remain uncertain.
THE SKULL OF CANNSTATT.
The derivation of the "skull of Cannstatt" (near Stuttgart) is wholly obscure. In 1700 Duke Eberhard-Louis of Wurtemberg caused explorations to be made in an oppidum near Cannstatt, which resulted in the discovery of many objects of Roman origin. At the base of the deposits were encountered bones of quaternary mammals, particularly Ursus spelæus, Elephas primigenius, and Hyæna spelæa. These bones were transported to the Cabinet of Natural History at Stuttgart, where they excited the highest interest and became the object of a series of publications. Dr. Solomon Ressel, aulic physician and a good osteologist, wrote the first report of the explorations (published in the year of the discovery), and in this he insists on the complete absence of the remains of man, which he searched for with care. The second scientific man who speaks of the Cannstatt finds. Doctor Spleissius, declares equally that no human bone has been recovered. Nor are later reports from the eighteenth century any less negative on this point. Finally, another court physician, Albert Gessner, affirms twice, in 1749 and 1753, that the Cannstatt excavations yielded no remains of man.
In the beginning of the nineteenth century, however, Cuvier already knew of a human lower jaw. But he writes in 1812:
It is known that the ground was handled without precaution and that there is no knowledge as to the level at which each object was discovered.
It is not until 1835, hence one hundred and thirty-five years after the explorations, that the paleontologist F. Jaeger declares that in one of the glass cases of the Stuttgart Museum he came across a portion of a human skull lying next to some Roman vases gathered in 1700. Without describing the skull, he speaks of it, on the mere evidence of this relation with objects of other class, as having been found in the Cannstatt excavations made under the orders of the Duke Eberhard-Louis.
To the earlier reports on the subject should be added the conclusion of de Hoelder, who is absolutely certain that the skull was not found during the explorations of 1700. No one knows where it comes from, or when it was placed in the case. It may not be without interest to state here that later there was found at Cannstatt, in the vicinity of Uffkirche and near the locality where the excavations were carried on in 1700, a Roman cemetery from the early part of the middle ages, while in 1816 there was unearthed in the same neighborhood a tomb with a collective neolithic burial. This tomb was in the tufa and was decorated with fossil tusks of the mammoth. It is easy to see that one may attribute to the skull posing as that of Cannstatt almost any origin he desires.
(c) BADEN—HESSE.
DISCOVERIES OF HUMAN BONES AT MOOSBACH, MANNHEIM, AND SELIGENSTADT.
In 1830 H. de Mayer announced the discovery of ancient human bones at Moosbach, near Wiesbaden, without giving any information as to their age.
The two skulls of Mannheim were found, according to Schaffhausen, at the depth of 6 meters in the quaternary gravels of Neckar, near the place where this stream joins the Rhine. Schaffhausen considered the specimens as quarternary, for the reason that they were separated only a few feet from teeth of a mammoth and presented the same aspect. One of the skulls could not be preserved; the other shows small size, the capacity being 1,320 cubic centimeters.
The skull of Seligenstadt, in Hesse, belonged to a skeleton which lay 2 meters deep under modern alluvium and on quaternary gravel.
The two last-named specimens were certainly deposited in the gravel by the flooded rivers. Positive conclusions as to their age are impossible.
REMAINS OF HUMAN SKELETONS FROM LAHR.
The stratigraphy of this find, made by Ami Boué in 1823 (though possibly at a later period), is uncertain, and there are other serious doubts as to antiquity of the bones.
(d) ALSACE.
THE SKULL OF EGISHEIM.
If it is almost arbitrary to qualify the Cannstatt skull as quaternary, it is quite possible to apply the same conclusion to that of Egisheim. Its history is as follows:
In 1865, according to Faudel, a fragmentary human skull was found in the "normal" loess of a vineyard at the depth of 21/2 meters below the surface. Animal bones dispersed through the same geological layer belonged to the horse, ox, deer, and mammoth. The state of preservation of the human and the animal bones was the same.
All the above indications are without absolute value. Schumacher, who occupied himself more recently with the question of the age of the skull, declares that according to Faudel it was found between recent and ancient loess. Schumacher does not combat the opinion that the specimen may be quaternary.
In 1893 Gutmann discovered in a field in the vicinity of the same hill from which came the skull of Egisheim, another cranium, which is very similar to the former. In the same locality were also found four neolithic tombs. An arm bone exhumed with the ​Gutmann skull and the bones from the neolithic burials both show a people of small stature. The resemblance of the Egisheim skull to those of these later discoveries makes it very probable that they are cotemporaneous, though it should be remarked that the same hill contains also other graves, ranging in age from the neolithic to those of the time of the Francs.
THE FINDS OF BOLLWEILER AND OF TAGOLSHEIM.
The former consist of seven human skeletons, more or less complete, discovered in 1869, with numerous fragments of pottery and signs of its manufacture in place. The pottery dates probably from different epochs, all postquaternary. The bones found at Tagolsheim consist of the remains of fourteen human bodies, buried in symmetrically made tombs in the loam and accompanied with some fragments of crude pottery. Evidently they, also, can not be regarded as quaternary.
(e) THE RHINE PROVINCE.
THE DEPOSIT OF STEETEN-AM-LAHN.
This find consists of the remains of at least eight human skeletons recovered from the upper part of the earth and debris in front of a cave. In the same layer were found numerous flint implements and bone of mammoth. The whole formed probably a part of the former contents of the cave. The age of the human bones is uncertain.
In a neighboring cave were found remains of paleolithic as well as of neolithic culture, and even of the age of metals. Fragments of human bones were dispersed nearly everywhere, but their age can not be established.
THE NEANDERTHAL MAN.
No other discovery has been so much discussed as that of the Neander valley. The latest controversy concerning this find was carried on between the geologists C. Koenen and H. Rauffe. The latter has published three studies which utilize in a masterly manner all the information that can be had from the earlier reports and from our actual geological knowledge. The writer has in a similar manner arrived at the same conclusions as Rauffe, and it will be sufficient to report the decisions of the latter.
The valley known as Neanderthal is traversed in part of its course by the stream Duessel, which in one place penetrates the Devonian limestones. This part of the valley is about 60 meters deep and the sides show numerous caves. It was in one of these, known as the small "Feldhofer Grotte," that the "Neanderthal man" was, in 1856, discovered. The cave is on the left side of the river, about 25 meters ​above the actual level of the water. It presented a very regular vault, terminating in a pointed extremity. It was 3 meters broad and 2.5 meters high just behind the mouth, but this orifice itself was so constricted that it did not allow of the passage of a human body. This constricted opening, elevated above the floor of the cave, conducted to an external, prominent, irregular plateau. The floor of the cave was covered with a layer of loam (2 meters in depth), the surface of which was on the level with the lower border of entrance constriction as well as with the surface of the deposits outside of the cave. The bones of the "Neanderthal man" lay 60 centimeters below the surface in this loam. Dr. C. Fuhlrot succeeded in saving the calvarium, the two femurs, both humeri, both ulnæ (nearly complete), the right radius, the left pelvic bone, a fragment of the right scapula, five pieces of rib, and the right clavicle. The loam also contained a few small, scattered nodules of flint.
The above is all that we know in regard to the Feldhofer cave and its contents. No competent scientist has seen the skeleton in situ. The bones were discovered by workingmen, who were demolishing the cave, and when Fuhlrot arrived the loam and bones had already been thrown out of the cave, and in part precipitated into the ravine. It is not known whether the discovery was that of a complete skeleton or not, and how the bones were disposed. The loam has never been seriously examined petrographically and no one has studied in a thorough manner the interior of the cave or the crevices by which it communicated with the surface.
More recent researches concerning the cave and its contents, and particularly its crevices, have not cleared, but in some respects have rather augmented the difficulties of a definite determination of the age of the skeleton. It is certain that its exact age is in no way defined, either geologically or stratigraphically.
NEANDERTHAL MAN NO. 2.
Messrs. Rautert, Klaatsch, and Koenen have given to science a "Neanderthal man" No. 2. The age of this speciment is said to be much more recent than that of No. 1, but even thus the discovery is problematical. It consists of parts of a skeleton, without the skull, found in the loess which covers the upper plateau of the country. The bones lay at the distance of about 200 meters to the west of the Neanderthal cave, and at the depth of 50 centimeters beneath the surface. According to Rautert the loess occupied the remnant of a destroyed cave, in which case there can be no doubt that it was washed into the cave posteriorly to its deposition on the plateau. The bones may have been washed in at the same time, or they may have been buried in the cave later. Nothing was found with the skeleton which might give an indication of its age.
OTHER CAVES IN RHINE-WESTPHALIA AND IN THURINGIA.
Remains of human skeletons reported or appearing for a time as of quaternary origin were discovered in the caves "Buchenloch," near Gerolstein; the "Rauberhoehle," near Letmathe; the "Balve," on the Hoenne; the "Bilstein-Hoehlen," near Warstein; and a cave near Poessneck, A critical study has in all these instances shown a doubtful or a comparatively modern age of the specimens.
THE SKULL OF RIXDORF, IN BRANDENBURG.
Rixdorf, which is celebrated for the paleontological remains in its vicinity, has also given a human skull, which Krause held as surely quaternary. E. Friedel demonstrated subsequently that the specimen dates from the commencement of the historic epoch.
THIRD PART.—DISCOVERIES MADE IN SWITZERLAND.
The paleolithic deposits which were thus far discovered in Switzerland are without exception those of the reindeer age—that is, either Solutrean (Kesserloch) or Magdalenian (all the other stations). The investigations of Penck and Brueckner have demonstrated that man did not appear in the country until long after the maximum stage of the last (fourth) glacial period.
Quaternary remains of the human skeleton were found only in the caves of Freudenthal and Kesserloch.
I. Human bones unquestionably quaternary.
THE CAVE OF FREUDENTHAL.
This cavern, situated in the immediate vicinity of Schaffhausen, was explored in 1874 by Dr. H. Karsten, who found under a layer of recent debris and tufa a stratum of fragments of Jurassic limestone (from 40 to 60 centimeters in depth), which lower down gave place to a brownish loam. These two levels gave the remains of Rangifer tarandus, Ursus priscus, Ursus arctos, Cervus alces, Equus caballus, Capra ibex, Cervus elaphus, Cervus capreolus, Elephas primigenius, and others, besides which they revealed a rich Magdalenian deposit. Here Karsten found also remains of man himself. Their stratigraphic position leaves, according to this author, no doubt as to their quaternary age; they belonged to the undisturbed Magdalenian deposits. The bones consist of a fragment of a parietal, which lay in the middle of a fireplace, not far from the lower jaw of an adolescent individual; and of a series of other fragments of skulls, jaws, and pelves. It is very desirable that the objects gathered in this cave be made the subject of a new monograph, more comprehensive than the ​previous publication. They are in the possession of the Joos family in Schaffhausen.
THE CAVE OF KESSERLOCH.
It is not necessary to dilate on the paleontological and archeological importance of this station, which is located in the immediate neighborhood of the village of Thayngen, 8 kilometers northwest of Schaffhausen. The cave was explored in exemplary manner in 1874 by K. Merk, and again in 1893 by M. J. Nuesch, and since 1903 by J. Heierlei. The quaternary fauna consisted of Felis leo, Fells manul (s. catus), Lyncus lynx, Canis lagopus, Gulo borealis, Ursus arctos, Elephas primigenius, Rhinoceros tichorhinus, Equus caballus, Equus hemionus, Sus scrofa, Ranngifer tarandus, Cervus elaphus, Bos priscus, Bos primigenius, etc. Flint implements were very numerous, and the same applies to those of bone and reindeer horn; some of the specimens were partly carved or engraved. They are characteristically Solutrean. As to skeletal remains of man, Merk declares expressly that he encountered in the deposit from the Reindeer epoch only a single clavicle, belonging to a young individual. A skeleton of an infant, exhumed from near the surface of the modern debris, can not be considered.
In view of the above exact old reports it is surprising that J. Nuesch found, several years ago, in the Schatffhausen Museum a skeleton of a young adult of small stature (the femur measured but 28 centimeters in length), which, according to an old label, came from Kesserloch. In the vicinity of these human bones were those of deer and pig, and fragments of pottery. They are not to be regarded as quaternary, but rather belong to the so-called Switzerland "pygmies."
II. Indications to be discarded.
THE STATION OF SCHWEIZERSBILD.
This celebrated shelter near Schaffhausen gave to J. Nuesch 22 tombs containing the remains of 27 persons, of whom 14 were adults and 13 were children below 7 years of age. Among the children's skeletons 3 were apparently of a recent date. Of the adult bodies several indicated people of small stature, and were classed by Kollmann as pygmies, but may merely represent the shorter individuals of a small race. The burials, excepting those of more recent age, must be attributed to the neolithic period of culture in the country. This opinion, which is shared by Nuesch, is confirmed by the discovery of neolithic burials—in which occurred individuals of very small stature—by Doctor Mandach, in 1874, in the cave Dachsenbuehl, Canton Schaffhausen.
* ↑ Abstract, translated by permission, from L'Anthropologie. T. XVI, Nos. 4–5, 1905, and ibid., T. XVII. Nos. 1–2, 1906, supplemented with author's additions.
* ↑ For detailed bibliographical references the reader is referred to the original papers in L'Anthropologie.
* ↑ Ch. Maška: Mittheilungen d. Anthrop. Gesellsch. in Wein, 1882, p. 67. Also: Der diluviale Mensch in Mähren. Nový Jičín (Neutitschein), 1886, p. 67 (with one figure of the jaw).
* ↑ Mittheil. Anthrop. Gesellsch. In Wein, XXII, 1892, 73; Verhandle. d. Berl. Gessellsch. f. Anthrop., etc., Zeitschr. f. Ethnol., 1898, 62; Der Mensch der Diluvialzeit Mährens, Brünn, 1899.
* ↑ See in this connection A. Hrdlicka, "The painting of human bones among the American Aborigines." Smithsonian Report for 1904, pp. 607–617, Pls. I–III.