PREHISTORIC MAN.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14980, 9 June 1914, Page 5

PREHISTORIC MAN.

SOME INTERIuSTINC; ADDITIONS TO THE MUSEUM.

One of the moit interesting addition's to"-the .Anthropological Section in Canterbury Aiuseuin i$ at present being exhibited in the "recent acquisitions" tiise This includes so>n<! vcv. , <.no cast*, of vrnt ;u-; generally known as tho Galley Hill skull, the Gibraltar skuli, tho Jiaucr jaw, and the jaw of the riltilov.n skull. SSitlu by side wit" them are placed ior purposes of comparison, a remarkably perfect hku'.l, and also a jaw of the Morion, of whoiu tho sole "survivor of an interesting race is a woman living in tho Chatham Islands, and also the skull of a monkey. THE GALLEY HTLL SKULL. This skull was found at Galley Hill in Kent, in gravels belonging to old high-level terraces of the Thames River; with it were flint implements of primitive type, and in other parts of this terrace were remains of animals of a sub-tropical facics, such as the lion, rhinorcoros, and hippopotamus. THE GILRALTAR SKULL. I This specimen was obtained from the Forbes Quarry at Gibraltar, where it was discovered in 1848. No jaw was found with it, but the bones of the face remained intact, and joined to the skull. It shows prominent brow ridges, with a low flattened cranial, curve, a very low capacity for tho brain case, very large eye cavities and nose opening, and evidently belonged to a very early human type. THE -MATTER JAW. This (Homo Heidelbergensis) is one of ■ the oldest remains ot the humau race yet discovered. It was found at Mftuer, in Germany, buried 70 feet deep in and loess —a fine earthy doposit due to wiud action—associated with long extinct animals belonging 1o the Pleistocene Period. The jaw is marked by its great massiveness. There is no chin, the teeth, aro small, and belong to a primitive human type. The mos% remarkable feature, is the enormous size of the ascending part at the back of the jaw and the shallowness of the notch at the top, while the incisor teeth are remarkably curved. . The whole jaw closely re-sembles-that of an orarig-utang, but is distinguished therefrom by the small .size of the teeth and by the absent , ." of other peculiarities common to thr apes: it evidently belonging to a mu:i of enormous strength. I JAW OF PILTDOWX SKULL. ' This find, which has aroused groat discussion \n scientific circles, was macltin Sussex in 1912, associated with a skull, regarded by some, as belonging to the same individual. Tho hnd was made in gravels, which have yielded bone.* of the el-jphant, hippopotamus, and berver, as well as flint implements of the earliest pattern. The' elephant remains,* too, were of a typo regarded as Pliocene, but some authorities regard this admixture as due to the washiiig out or these bones from a previous deposit, and the association of tho jaw with these as. purely accidental. The jaw is not complete, but shows distinctly the absence of chin, as in the Mauer jaw, suggestive of that of .a chimpanzee, but the two molar teeth are distinctly human, and well worn, suggesting that the canines did not project above the level of the other teeth. The cranium, which was found with thi jaw is also distinctly human in character. If the two parts of the skull belong to the same individual it comes nearer to tho •'mt-ssing link" than anything yet discovered.