The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1902-04-23

{ Man During the Great Ice Period
Will BE Furnished, 1t Is Believed,
by This Find.
The public museum of Kansas City
is to be enriched by the addition of the
skull and other fragmentary bones of
a prehistoric man that were found a
few days ago deep in a hillside of a
Kansas farm at point about two
miles in northeasterly direction from
Lansing, says the Kansas City Star
The skull and other bones and their
geological environment indicate the
skeleton to have been that of prim-
tive man of the glacial or great ice
period, centuries ago.
That mankind existed during the gla-
cial period has been well established
by discoveries in Europe, and, while 1t
has been presumed that man also lived
in America at the same time, no in
dubitable evidence of the fact has here
tofore been obtained.
When the skull was found, it was
not thought to have any scientific val
ne. Several days ago NJ. G. Long,
curator of the Kansas City public mu-
scum, and Edwin Butts civil engineer
for the Metropolitan Street Railway
company both enthusiastic archRoo-
gists, went to the place of the diScov-
cry and secured the fragments of the
skeleton and brought them to Kansas
City. Both Mr.. Long and Mr.. Butts
are enthusiastic over the discovery.
From disappearance of the skull and
its position in the earth they are con-
WINGED it is that of glacial man. If
this fact be established, it will be the
first proof of the kind found on the
North American continent. In a short
time the skull will be placed on view
in g public museum. The facts of
the discovery have been communicated
to the Smithsonian institute in Wash
ington.
The find was made on the farm of
Thomas and NJ. Concannon. They were
digging a tunnel into q great hill on
their farm, with the purpose of using
the excavation as storage place for
apples and other fruits. They dug di-
rectly into the side of the hill. The
skull was found about siXty-fve feet
in. Other bones Of the skeleton were
beside it. One Of the farmers drove
pickax through the skull in loosenlng
it from it's stony bed, and later boxes
fell on it, so that it was broken into
half a dozen pieces, but Mr.. Long has
cemented it together. The skull is
that of a man with hardly any fore
head. Directly back from the eyes re-
cedes the frontal bone. The fragments
found show he had a big jaw. The
skull is very thick and strong, and its
back part is broad and well devel-
oped The phrenologists aver that this
development at the back shows an alb
normal animal nature. But there is
no noble dome, no high and rounding
forehead, that shows the development
of intelligence.
The skull practically intact, a por-
ton of the lower jaw. part OF thigh
bone and several other fragments were
found. The bones indicate the man to
have been large. The head is small.
The orbits for the eyes are close to-
gether and appear exceptionally large.
Over the orbits are we'll developed
ridges that probably denote perceptive
faculties The bones were found hud-
died together. They lay partially i'm
bedded in hardpan. A close and eN-
haustive investigation showed that the
various strata of rocks and soils and
the water marks" had never been dis
turbed vertically, and neither had there
been any lateral disturbance of the
hill. The skeleton evidently had been
deposited there before the great mass
of rock and soil above and about it.
Had mound builders or Indians ever
dug deep into the hill they could not
have avoided leaving traces of their
excavation.
when we first heard of the find,
we deemed it the usual story of a
mound BURIAL" said Mr. Long the
other day. Our investigation shows
beyond all doubt that it is a skeleton
of man of the glacial period. After
most exhaustive investigation Mr..
Butts and | reached the conclusion the
skeleton was deposited there during
the glacial period or drift. How long
ago the ice period was is not definitely
known; $4,000 years, perhaps; perhaps
much longer
1.-The evidence is very conclusive that
this was not a burial or intrusive de-
post. as there was no evidence of any
disturbance of the earth. The great
depth at which the skeleton was found
precludes any idea of a usual burial
and the qualification of the earth
both over and under the skeleton
shows that the bones lay there while
the mass of soil was deposited over
them. Attached to the skull is kind
of stony formation or cemsent. such al
is usually found attached to bones Of