The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-04-07
Stone AGE WOMAN
Her Skull Found in SWitzer-
land by a Man of Science.
THIRTY THOUSAND YEARS
He Says Has Elapsed Since
She FIourished.

New York, April s-The Journal says;
The fragments of the skull Of a woman
who lived thirty thousand years ago have
just been discovered in witzerland. She
was a woman OF the Stonue Age, the
period of the world Immediately preceing
historic man.
These fragments are unquestionably the
Oldest human remains that have ever come
to light. They, therefore, constitute the
most valuable memorials of the human
race that science base ever had to deal
with.
The discovery was made in the Marine
strata on the shore of the lake of Neuf-
chatel- 1t was in the bedrock, beneath
the layers of soil and pebbles, that Pro-
fessor holman, a distinguished German
archaeologist, found the fragments OF a
| human skull.
Tfey consisted of:
Upper and lower jaw bones.
The vaulted dome.
The side walls.
! The temporal bones.
| The bones and the base Of the skull
| When Professor holman put these bones
| together he was astonished and delighted
| to find the he had the complete skull of
human being belonging TO the Stone Age.
| Upon closer examination he became con-
| WINGED that he had in his hands the skull
of thirty-year-old woman.
He was led to the conclusion by marks
known to all anatomists, for it is easy for
any expert anatomist to determine the
age of the former owner of skull from
the quality and development of the bones
in it, or in fact, from the single bone.
This is the first woman's skull belonging
to the ancient period everdiscovered.
Professor holman wanted to know how
this woman looked in life. He wanted to
give the ninteenth century picture of a
woman of this prehistoric time. To the
non-science no such word as impossible ex-
lists.
He knew the covering of the skin and
bone on the human head is comparatively
thin in many parts, The forehead and the
cheek bones are barely covered, and the
lower jaw has a thin layer of flesh over
it. In fact, these outlines which give the
shape of the head are evident in the naked
of view the task was not difficult.
Professor HOLMAN, having determined to
reconstruct the head of this woman as it
must have been in life, called to his aid,
the gifted historical painter and sculptor,
Buechly, and together they set about this
highly interesting and unprecedented
work.
Measurements Of the thickness of the
skin and flesh on the head of dead and of
living women thirty years of age were
made. Even the relations OF cartilage to
bone were carefully studied and measur-
ed
After this preliminary work a perfect
reproduction of the ancient skull was made
in plaster of paris. The cartilage of nose
and ear was supplied, and the layers of
flesh were built up according to the, pre-
vious measurements, out of plaster. The
whole was finished and rounded off with
modelling clay. and the result was a per-
feet model of the head of the most ancient
woman on earth.
The process of reasoning by which it
is possible to assert that this is the Oldest
human skill ever found is in the nature
of an exact science. The same sort of
reasoning is supported by the study of
geology in determining the formation of
these strata that the history of the form
alton of the earth and the different pants
and the animals that have been on it is
ascertained.
Biologists tell us that at least one hum
dred million years have been consumed in !
the. construction of the rock layers of
which the earth's crust is formed. Traces I
of vegetable and animal life are found in
the strata, especially in the later layers.
The last layer, the Pleistocene, was 10000
years in forming, and it is in this strata
tha THE remains of the woman of the
Stone Age have been recovered.
These remains are generally only stone
implements, or scratchings on bone or
ivory Preservation of human skeletons
depends so much on accident that few
have ever been found. The deposits which
contain the history of the human period
are cavern loan, river alluvia, and lake
bottoms. like this one near the lake Of
Neufchatel. II is We'll known that the
rivers and lakes were much larger than /
d present just after the glacial or ice
age. and this explains the finding Of the /
skull Of this woman of the long ago IN !
SO perfect a state OF preservation.
1t Is probable that this woman died and /
was buried near the ancient lake. During
some violent storm the soil was washed
away from her grave and the round skull i
was rolled into the lake itsef by the
streams Of water There it sunk into the 4
soft bottom and thus was preserved en- I
tire or broken up. but not scattered.
The bottom of the axe, in process Of i
time. filing Up. the lower ayers in which +
the bones Of this skull lay were formed /
into stone. and as the lake receded II the .
course Of thousands Of years, what was .
once its bed became dry land.
How old. chen, Is this skull? In answer
ing this question 1t must be borne in mind
that the historic period Of mankind IS the
shortest one in the life Of the earth The
P!elstocene era, IN the strata Of which the /
skull OF this woman was found. lasted
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