Evening star., 1949-07-11
Skull Found in Germany
May Be MISSING Link
25O,OOO- Year.Old Relic Studied
By Heidelberg Anthropologists
By Thomas Y. Henry

The broken skull of 25O, ,000-year- old
| monster who may represent the true an
cestral line between ape man and the trua
man has been found near the village OF
Steinheim I MUIR near Stuttgart.
Found just before the war and hidden In
| Bavarlan salt mine during hostilities, this
skull apparently has remained unknown to
the scientific world outside Germany al
though it is quite likely one of the most
significant pre-human relics yet discovered
From it a new ancestral tree for mankind
has been constructed by anthropologists at
the University of Heidelberg.
About so years ago there was found in
sandpit near Heidelberg on the Neckar
River massive jawbone-about so per cent
heavier than an average male human Jaw
today-which could be clearly distinguished
from the jaWbone of an ancient ape by the
fact that the teeth were almost human.
This must have been relic of 500, ,OOO-
year-old ape man who lived in Western
Europe during a warm interval between ice
ages He lived in a thickly forested land
among gigantic elephants, lions, rhinoceroses
and horses.
Cherished by Anthropologists.
This jaw Immediately became one OF the
most cherished objects known to anthro-
biologists. 1t was the oldest and most primi-
tive human relic yet found in the West. 1t
now is locked in safe at Heidelberg Uni
versity
Then came long gap. About 100 900
years ago, in the early years of the last
great ice sheet. another race of pre-men
were living all over Europe and in the Near
East These were the so-caled Neander-
thalers-grotesque, ape-like creatures with
low foreheads and beetling brows. who must
have led precarious existence in caves
They were far from true men, but they
had very large brains, and had learned to
chip stone into crude artifacts and probably
to build fires. They represented an enor-
nous advance over the Heidelberg man.
But, most anthropologists are assured, they
could not have been the ancestors of the
human race today. They presumably had
come from common ancestor and followed
somewhat parallel line of evolution But
they leave true human ancestry as much
OF mystery as ever.
Between Heidelberg man and Neander-
thaler there has been a complete gap of
about 100000 years. This is filled in with
the new Steinheim skull It fits into about
the middle OF the blank period. But it is
more advanced towards the true human
form than a Neanderthaler skull The
forehead is higher. There is the beginning
OF true jaw. The teeth also are closer
to human.
Two Lines of Descent Seen.
The human family tree now reconstructed
by Heidelberg anthropologists on the basis
OF this skull assumes that two lines of
descent arose from the very ancient Heidel-
berg monster. From one line came the ape
like Neanderthalers. They reached their
heyday about 1000 centuries ago and be-
came extinct. 1t is highly doubtful if any
of their blood remains in the present human
race.
The other line apparently is represented
by Steinheim man. From this line, the
Heidelberg anthropologists assume came
the late ice-age men of Europe who were
almost identical with true men of today.
Steinheim man also lived in a warm inter-
glacial interval when much Of Europe was
semitropical He also was part of an animal
assemblage of lions and tigers. gigantic ele-
phants and the like. While generally SIM
liar. however. all Of these were considerably
advanced over the animals known to Heidel-
berg man.
Thus. the Heidelberg anthropologists be-
heve this skull comes about as near being
the missing link" as the term generally is
understood as has been discovered to date.
1t would be only by the most extraordinary
combination of circumstances, they explain.
that such skull would survive relatively
intact into the present and 1t is highly un-
likely that any other will be found