The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-12-27
FOUND a GIANTS GRAVE
= human SSe.eton Nine Feet Lol
Uneerthed in C-Iilornia.

| human Sks.eton Nine Feet Long
inscribed in c. Iifornia.
! P1so Robes Letter in san Francisco Frapafusy
A few days ago press dispatch announced
the finding of some remarkable human relics
near Nassa, about fifteen miles south Of
here, by man named VOCAL VOCAL vas
building fences and W bile digginga post hole
on small elevation near the bank Of
the Salinas river his spade came in
'contscu with hard substance, which
after being dug out proved to be
mortar, such as was used by the Indians
IN ancient days
This aroused his curiosity so he pressed on
ward With his work until he came upon the
skeleton OF q human being, his spade strik-
| ing u square on the TOP of the head. He fol-
| lowed Gown around the body and as the
| ground was not very hard had soon dug a
hoie mat AFFORDED MIN q good view Of the
cody, which was in q sitting position.
! NJ. Vogals attention was particularly at
tracted TO the immense size of the skeleton,
1t being nine feet in length. He went TO
town aud summoned Prof. Wood. teacher
or the TenIpleton school, who, with others,
accompanied him to the spot
An attempt was made to remove the sksl-
eton from its sitting position in the grave,
out It was not a success, as with the first at
tempt the bones fell apart and melted Ike
so much clay.. The head however
remained intact, and was of peculiar shape
being perfectly fiat from the tops Of the eye
brows to the top of the skull. The side of
the head looks as If it had been crushed In
or slice bad been sawed of, which, in all
probability, produced death.
Prof. " ood announced 1t giant Of q race
thst has been extinct for many years. The
Jaws and teeth were in perfect condition.
The upper teeth were double and very large
in size.
Two other skeletons-one Of a female
adult and Of girl apparently about IL
years OF age-were found near by. These
were also III sitting position, but seemed
TO be different race from the giant,
nothing unusual being perceptlb.e in their
shape, size, etc.
1t is supposed by many that valuable
treasure is hidden somewhere along the Sail
mas river between Templeton and Paso
Robles, and there is hardly a week passes
that some one is not making search for it.
In the Indian graves near the beach of San
Luis Obispo bay are found finely worked
spears aud arrow heads OF obsidian and
other hard stone, many mortars and pestles
OF basalt. sandstone and granite, pots or
stone kettles of steatite or soapstone: beads
made from the claws OF crabs and bears and,
among other substances, ornaments from
abalone shells, sharks and whales teeth :;
stone hammers and weights, needles of bone
and other utensils OF stone in great variety
and for purposes that cannot be determined
Many of these relics are of exceeding
great interest to the archaeologist, showing
the industry, the Ingenuity and skill of the
man OF the stone age, who Yves evidently
superior in his art and more aesthetic IN his
tastes than the savage found on this coas {
by the earliest pioneers of civilization. No
metal whatever has thus far been found in
the ancient graves Of San Luis Obispo
county.
The Indians we're divided into tribes and
rancherlas and used apparently no shelter
except stone corrals, simply as a protection
against bears. The men were naked, but
the women and children were partially
clothed with deer skins. When game was
scarce they had novel way OF eating dried
mest. A piece being attached TO q cord
was partially mastlcated aud then swal-
lowed. After q short time it was drawn
up into the mouth ard again masticated,
the operation thus repeated several times
until the morsel was consumed. At times
they would squat on tie ground in a circle
and pass piece of meat tied in the above
manner from one to the other, chewing
and swallowing it by turns
Many TONS OF the relics found In the In
dian graves of this county have been sent
to the east, enrichIng the museums of Bos-
ton, New York, Washington and other
large cities, and to-day our residents deeply
regret that they were not kept at horne, in
stead of being sent east to enrich museums
at Californias expense.