The sun., 1880-08-08
PREHISTORIC MAN,
Discovery of Human Remnins In Missouri
Older than the Cave Dweiiers.

Oidcr thnh the thVe bweilere.
From he s.. Lou, RtprL1irrn
About the latter part Of April or the fore
part Of May n discovery. was made in Frank In
County this State. which consider OF great in
tcrest r and Importance to the scientific world;
human skeleton that perhaps antedates the
age OF the Neanderthal mnn. will give the
s6 rs Gsd by D5 M soSh 81 ,hs 9ns
county. The Doctor IL engaged IN mining iron
ore about three miles from Dry Branch. 2 sta
sixty miles from this city. and superintends
operations himself. About the date named the
uncovered and exposed to view q skull and a
few other bones. consisting OF portions OF ribs.
. piece OF the vertebra. and portion Of q col
two flint arrow hcads OF the most primitive
type, being imperfect In shape and barbed. - A
same time and place Dr., Booth was fully
aware OF the importance OF the discovery. and
tried to preserye everything found but upon
touching the skull II crumbled to dust. and
some OF the other bones broke into small pieces
and partly crumbled away. but enough was pre-
served to fully establish the fact that they are
Some niteen or twenty days subsequent to
the first finding. at depth OF twsnty-four feet
below the surface. other bones were found-a
thiHh-bone and u portion OF the vertebro and
several pieces Of charred wood-al lying upon
what appeared to be a piece OF coarse mating.
all OF which. except the charred wood. crnm-
bled to dust upon exposure to- the atr. The
ore wRc yet p rstans Dor prnt st s
Oyerlying these last bones was q stratum OF
what, ,appeared to be loan or sod from two and
deposit OF soft red hematite iron ore lying upon
two large boulders OF hard ore stnnding on
erees. the upper ends leaning against each
other thus forming a considerable cavity,
which d was sd With blue spsssuor and hard ard
hematite. IT was In his cavity that the bones.
mating. and charred wood were found inter.
The importance ofthis discovery to the scien-
tile world rests upon the fact that the ore bed
In wnIeh M tine rsma1s were i.nnd les n % the
silurian measures-the oldest formation In
which human remains have ever been found.
and the Oldest stratlfied rocks except the Cam
Ii is to be regretted that the skull could not
the Neanderthal and Engis cave skulls. That
II antedntcs them all by many geological ages /
think will scarcely admit o. doubt when oil
the facts are considered. The, renal here
spoken OF must have entered or been deposited
IN cave in the sandstone previous to the depo-
sition Of the iron ore. Since its deposition the
second magnetism limes and the first sand.
stone hich overlie the second sandstone. and
the remains Of which yet cap all the hills in that
r"gi n.werc formed and have been denuded and
washed away. leaving tho iron nenr the surface
upon IN" declivity of the hills. That the place
whore the romans were found was n cave Is
evidenced by the formation. and by the fact that
loam or soil several feet thick is still found.
Sanna r y sndShce ns Of nphsnva
In That whole region 1t Is apparent from this
view that tho bones found at the dopth OF eigh-
teen feet aud thos" OF twenty four feet belonged
ththe same skeleton. The Internal convusion
which caused the uphGaval disturbed and seat
tered tho rp'nains among tho ore leaving part
abov. the floor Of loam or soil and part below
II. That the cave was inhabited by men pre-
viOus to the DEPOSITION OF iron orc is proven by
the llndlng OF the stratum OF loan or soil and
the charr"d wood. Another fact Is also in
ptoot j am satisfied from the examination OF
tho piece Of iron ore before spoken Of ~ retain
ing the imprint ut piece Of mating that DR..
Booth was mistaken In surprising II to he mat
tlng. On the contrary. tho impress ions cross
each other in every conceivable direction, show
ing cnmclusivry to my mind that they must
hRv" bnen caused by rushes or weeds. or per-
haps small twies used by the inhabitants OF the
cave as q bed.