The San Francisco call., 1904-07-02
TRY To TRACE
MANS PRESENCE
Scientists at the University
Search Potter Creek. Cave
for Remains of Humans
BONES PUZZLE EXPERTS
William j. Sinclair Tells
About Relics: That May
Reveal Ancestry of Race
Berkeley Ohice San Francisco Call.
.-... 2rIS Center Street, July l..

-. Berkeley Office San Francisco Call.
-: 2Tfs Center Street, July l.
-. Did human beings roam the wastes
Of California. in a prehistoric period
say between 1000, 600 and 1000. 600 years
AGO. when the. whole Typographical
character Of the country was different
from its present state? This question
: the scientists Of the University of Cali
forrfa are trying TO solve through a
J.. study of the fossil remains found in the
F: limestone caves of the State: They are
-istiil undetermined whether the remains
-. are those Of human. beings or OF glgan-
tic extinct animals.
= -. In pursuing their researches the sci
. .ehtists have preferred to study the
bones and. fragments. exhurned from
the famous Potter Creek cave, in Shas-
: ia. county: which has yielded some
specimens. of prehistoric life that are.o
inestisnable- value to the scientific
:. world. The. results of these ipvestga-
lions are given to the public for the
.. first: time in. bulletin issued by the.
university to-day under the title OF
?: THE Exploration of the Potter Creek
Cave" The author is DR.. William J.
Sinclair of the .. paleontology depart
. ynent Of the university. He received
valuable. assistance in his work from
Professor John, c. Merriam Dr. c.
Hart. Merriam, DR.. David Starr Jordan
and others.
- DR.. Sinclair says that much time was
devoted during the search of the cave
To the quest for human remains and
implements. Some of these rude imple-
.ments are pointed at the ends and
show indications of beveling and pol
rishing. Others show distinct notches
on their surfaces, and still others are
.rounded. =. The. considerable depth at
which the specimens were found in un-
disturbed earth indicate that they are
not of recent origin.
LIKE. ROUGH IMPLEMENTS.
The polished bones closely resemble
many of the rough implements from
The shell MOUNDS Of California. Dr..
~ Max UhIe. the archaeologist, believes
that these Implements were originally
-splinters accidentally formed in break
ing up long bones. Favorable pieces
3. were selected because they had sharp
points and these ere,pOlished for use
The point has often been beVe-ed by
rubbing on one side.
To settle, as far as possible, all ques-
ton regarding the nature and origin Of
these polished bones, every fragment
--' discovered during the excavation Of
the cave was preserved These frag-
ments- were afterward submitted TO
examination for traces of polishing and
'notches. Many specimens show diff
ferent degrees Of polish and consider
able variety of form. Some Of the
fragments, however, bear no relation
to any known form Of implement, and
this. suggests the idea that they have
all been made in some other way than
=. through the agency Of man, the rough
.implement-lik form being purely a
p. chance occurrence. The polish is
thought to be due to the association
of the bones with dripping gravel, the
action OF which gave them gloss and
smoothness.
White the explanation of the presence
of the polish may readily apply to the
irregularly shaped objects, DR.. Sinclair
thinks the beveled edges or notched
bases Of others convey a strong impress
sion Of definite purpose in their fash
ionfng Concluding his opinions on this
subject he says:
The writer does not feel justified in
asserting positively the human origin
Of the relics, believing that we require
stronger evidence than il has yet been
possible to obtain before such a state
ment can be made"
Much Of the material collected in the
cave consists of sharp-edged bone
-splinters- which were found at all
depths in the bone bearing deposits.
OF these DR.. Sinclair says that, since
= other suggestions fail to explain them
satisfactorily. il is not beyond the lin
its of possibility that they were made
through the agency of man. The sug-
gestion that they are the work of man
seems open to the fewest objections.
NO HUMAN REMAINS.
No trace of human remains was
found in the cave by the scientists. 1t
is possible that early man may have
been in existence in the region and his
remains yet have escaped preservation.
On this subject DR.. Sinclair saws:
The cave may have been easily accessible 70
man. or may have been far from his hab!ta-
ton that he would prefer not TO visit II fire.
work was found the surface near the top.
indicating that the entrance chambers may
~ a place Of storage. There was nothing to
indicate they had been used in prehistoric
times. IL seems probable that the main cham
Der OF the cave once had free communicate ton
with the surface. thus serving as a pitfaH to
catch unwsry animals The accumulation OF
human remains in such a pitfall would be OF
rare occurrence. depending upon accidents
against which the superior Intelligence Of mar
would protect him.
The cave fauna is not too old to negative the
idea of contempcraneity with man. There car
be little doubt that II man reached the North
American contiaent during the Qusternary II
by way OF the land bridge which ther
united Alaska with Siberia Bering Strait
This land connection permitted the migration
cf many OF the ma ufnals now common 10 the
most northern parts OF beth continents II
seems reasonable TO expect that come OF the
earliest traces Of man in North America would
be found the Pacific Coast. where the eli.
mate was coneenial and food supply abunda nj
while the eastern portion OF the continent wal
submerged beneath the ice sheet. Glaciation IL
California has never been general occurflns
ouly at the higher attitudes. At its maximum
tho coast was almost well adapted to human
hsbtstion as IL is to-day.
In order to fix the age of the cave as