The midland journal., 1914-01-09

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Aurignacian age. bears most striking resem-
blance to him of the Magdalenian age. supposedly
much more developed individual
Compare this man of La Colombiere with the
middle one of the three human faces from the
cave Of Marsouas, shown on this page He has
the same respectable skull development, much
more like that of the possessor of the Piltdown
skull than that Of the ape-like "Neanderthal man"
and his congerers. The nose, it will also be
noted is very similar to that OF the Marsoulas
man, likewise the heavy chin
So much for the contentious of the Frenchmen
who have made this remarkable find. Backed up
though they by good arguments. it is not like
ly that they will be swallowed without struggle
On the contrary, they will probably be the cause
of still another controversy to add to the already
stormy annals of anthropology. For there Is un-
doubtedly another side to the question.
First as to the pictures just found of La Colon
biere In spite of the fact that those similar to
them-including the human faces of the cave of
Marsoulas-are generally ascribed by Frenchmen
not to the Aurignacian but to the later Magdalen-
Ian age others think them productions OF Aurig-
nician artists If this latter theory is accepted,
the man" of La Colombiere is simply one more
to add to the scanty gallery OF Aurignacian depic
tions of human beings Even If he proves to be
that and nothing more he will be accounted
precious find but naturally his value will not be
SO enormous those who have found him and
those who share their views would have be-
lieve. #
Second as to whether the man" Of La Colon
biere proves that descended from the
NeanderthalSpyLa Chapelle-auxSaints race or
the represented by him of the Piltdown skull
There, too, matters by means easy
as they look to the sanguine Frenchmen. Plenty
of learned men who have studied the subject Of
the descent of man are OF the opinion that man
may be descended from neither of these interest
ing groups they contend that both of these races
may have become extinct and that mankind
from vuh
later
The latest news from abroad shows that the
of La Colombere has already set learned
tongues to wagging against each other. Already
Messrs. Mayet and Pissot, the savants who found
him, have q hornets nest about their ears. In
London Mr. ]. Leon Williams writing in the Illus
trated London News, has placed himself on record
foe to the belief that he OF La Colombiere is
the earliest picture of man. Mr., Williams idea
is that we have to do here not with faithful de-
lineation of the human form but with carica-
ture He writes:
AS Messrs. Mayet and Pissot say. the drawing
is very clear especially the face and upper part
of the head. The back OF the head and the neck
do not seem to me very well defined In the pho
togTaph.
The discoverers speak Of this drawing as hav-
ing none of the characteristics represented by the
Neanderthal. Spy. La Chapelle-aux-Saints
skulls. In their opinion. the head resembles the
fossil skull of Chancelade. They say:
The head is large. the forehead round and
prominent (bombre). rising slightly obliquely
The face is long as though pulled out from be-
low upward and is distinctly projected forward;
the chin is prominent. and has short beard In
dicated by small lines; the nose is long and very
thick; the eye is Indicated by two curved lines.
and has an indefinable expression
In this detailed description it Is quite evident
that DR. Mayet and NJ Pissot believe that have
here something in the nature of realistic draw
ing of Aurignacian man. This is confirmed by
their further statement that we have not previous
ly found any engraved figures that teach us any
thing definite about the exact form Of contour Of
the human face of the Aurignacian Solutrian
periods, and that this want has now been filed
by their discoveries.
With these statements and conclusions ] find
1t impossible to agree. At least two other
cravings OF the human face have been previously
discovered. one in the Grotte des Fees in the
Gironde and the other In the Font-de-Gaume at
Les Eyzies (Dordogne D.
Il think it win be clearly seen that the great
interest in this new discovery lies not in the be-