The L'Anse sentinel., 1923-11-30
Noted Washington Scientist
Trails Humanity Back for
100000 Years.
Washington.-The grave of the earli-

Washington.-Th grave of the earli-
est man has been desecrated.
Perhaps 1t is more accurate to say
that the burial place of the first crea-
ture whose bones have been estab-
lished definitely as those Of human
being is being neglected.
This is the word brought back from
Germany by DR.. Ales Hrdlicka, cura-
tor Of physical anthropology at the
New National museum. He has just
returned from summer inspection of
number of localities In central
Europe where remains of prehistoric
human beings have been found.
He followed trail, he reports,
which leads at least 100000 years
into the foggy vast beyond history,
and which winds through England,
Belgium, France, Germany and south
ern Russia.
The jawbOne of the earliest known
man was dug up nearly a half cen
tury ago by workmen in stone
quarry near Heidelberg, Germany.
German anthropologists erected a
stone tablet over the spot. With the
chaos of German currency csince the
war, the scientists have been unable
TO retain control of the site. 1t has
passed into the hands of man who,
although Il university graduate, has
shown no sympathy with the research
work. Quarrying operations have been
resumed with the result that the tablet
has been buried.
Visited Another Grave.
The Heidelberg man lived approx
nately 100000 years ago. This fact
Is established by the age of the rocks
In which the jawbone was found. AS
basis for positive scientific data the
discovery was, perhaps, the most i'm
portant ever made in anthropology,
according to DR.. Hrdlicka.
The Washington scientist who con-
Quoted u party Of students visited 5ne
other grave which Is older and which
Is believed to be that of man. al
though probably not of eh ancestor
to the mankind Of TO-DAY. This was
the spot where the jaw Of the Pitts
down man was discovered in south
eastern England This creature--if
he was man--was good many
thousands Of years older than the
Heidelberg man.
One still older grave exists, but the
humanity of its occupant is open to
doubts. This Is the Java man. whose
teeth differ strlkingly from those of
any existing or known prehistoric
ape and which, according to DIR.
Hrdlicka, Is about as near the "miss-
Ing link sought by evolutionists as
any creature yet known.
The age of the skeletal remains of
mans ancestors Is determined by two
criteria-the stone implements and
the animal bones found in the locality
and the age Of the geological strata.
In almost every case where remains
have been found, DIR. Hrtlicka says,
the deductions Of anthropologlsts from
the cultural remains have been sus-
tained by geologlsts Early man and
tht uhiinuiS ht nuHttu uleu tORetU6r.
His trail extends through the heaped
bones of early horses, bison, reindeer,
cave bears. mammoths and even ele-
plants.
Oldest Relies In England.
Later researches among these re-
mains dlsprove, according to Dr.
Hrdllcka, the long-maintained theory
that the human. race originated some.
where In central Asia and migrated
westward and northward. With the
possible exception Of the Java man
the oldest relics are found in Europe
itself. the Oldest of all being In Eng
land.
There Is one bad break in the trail.
DR.. Hrdlicka says. From the Heidel
berg man there Is practically no rec
/, ord for about 100000 years, until sci
ence reaches the grave Of the Mean