Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1899-01-19
A SKELETON in THE infant.

lu ONllL. IlOiv NV StVkI UgutUuI "a
Bones OF o Creature Antedating Adam.
a Wonderful Find.
| MJAsrsBURG, ONO, January 14.-
A discovery of che greatest scientific
interest waa made when the pick
axe,: :.$of Edward w. Gebhart and
Edwatda Kaufman, of this place, dis
turbed the long repose of skeleton
that had been buried for no one can
tell how many thou. ands of years.
The body that once proudly strobe
on earth possessed of the living
strength of giant, Nth the bones
lust found for its Framework, was
surely not of race of which history
has given us any record.
The skelton is that of human
being, who in life must have been of
immense size. The face is almost
gorilla-like in its angularity; the
jawbones are tremendous, and the
teeth have been pronounced by q
local dentist, DR.. Harlan, to be as
strong and perfect as any he has
over seen.
A number Of local prac ..itioners,
among them DIR. A. II. Blossom, DR..
Weaver, DR.. BookwaIter and DIR.
Shuler, have examined tho bones
and they unanimously agree that
the "find" is no less important a one
than the skeleton of a prehistoric
man, who undoubtedly was one os
the Mound Builders, the relics of
whose sojourn in the Miami Valley
have been so eagerly sought after by
arch@ologists all over the country.
The splendid condition of the
teeth has caused the doctors to con-
clude that the prehistoric man was q
root eater, for no mastioator of meats
could have retained to the estimated
age of the man the perfect molars
with which the jaws are fitted. The
skull itself is like no skull that any
living man carries around on his
shoulders, in that it is of extraordi-
nary size and contour With the
massive jawboncs, strongly marked
orbital places, and odd facial angles,
the face would present a striking
appearance could it be restored by
an artist in wax.
The discoverers of the skeleton
were digging gravel in pit about q
half mile from the town, when the
pick of Edward Gebhart struck the
skull. A careful investigation by
the two men, who, from previous
discoveries of Mound Builder relics,
knew enough of the Importance of
the find to at once set about unearth-
ing the skeleton, revealed the rest
of the bones, forming an almost
complete skeleton.
The body had evidently been
buried in a sitting posture, for the
knees were drawn up and the head
had fallen between them. Beside
the skeleton was a small flat stone,
about throo inches long and two
inches wide, with hole drilled
through one end apparently for the
fitting of handle. The use of this
stone is not apparent to tho, local
scientists. Some think it was o
charm buried with the body, while
others believe it to be the weapon of
the dead man, although why such o
giant as this prehistoric individual
evidently was should carry so unim-
posing club is question. 1t is
important hat this stone, 80 clearly
fashioned by hand, was found in
close proximity to the skeleton, for
it settles at once all doubts as to
whether the great skull originally
adorned the body of man or a
mammoth monkey.
At present the bones are on exhi.
bition here. They are serving as q
star attraction, for the people are
very proud of the fact that once in
this neighborhood there lived race
of prehistoric giants who erected the
largest earth mound in the country
and then disappeared, leaving behind
them fragments of stone, pieces of
pottery and woven cloth made of
bark to show that they once wero
the owners of the valley. How long
this was ago, whore tho Mound
Builders originally came from, what
they looked like, whether or not
they will be proven somo day to
have been the long-looked-for link
between man and the lower animals,
arc questions that the residents of
this locality would like above all
things to have scientists decide. The
discovery Of the skeleton, with It's