Primitive Man In New Zealand

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 25, 29 July 1933, Page 16

Primitive Man In New Zealand

Is it about to bo proved that in the dim and distant past, centuries beforo New Zealand's shores were known to be inhabited, primitive man roamed the land? That is at present a subject of absorbing interest among a coterie of Taranaki students of'anthropology, says the "Taranaki Daily News." In January last, during a visit to the Waikawau beach, a party comprising Messrs. A. W. Burrell, F. Gawith, L. Davis, G. D. Hunter, and A. R. Bates found on the sand at the mouth of the Maunganui Biver a fragment of human skull of abnormal thickness. The skull thickness of modern man is from four to six mm., and of Neanderthal man from seven to eight mm., but to their amazement the party found that the fragment discovered measured twelve mm. The importance of the find and the need for expert examination tfas realised. Acting on the recommendation of Mr. W. W. Smith of New Plymouth, Mr. Burre.U forwarded to Professor G. Eliot Smith, the eminent English anthropologist, the fragment of skull, and recently an acknowledgment was received.

Writing from Broadstairs, Kent, to Mr. Burrcll, Professor Eliot Smith says: — "The skull fragments that you have kindly sent mo are insufficient and too anomalous to provide an answer to the questions you sent me, especially as I am convalescing at the seaside, and have no access to comparative material or literature. They are part of the skull of a young adult which is exceptionally thick and comparable in thickness to the Piltdown and Peking skulls, which are quite phenomenal. The bones are subdivided in an unusual way by a number of supernumerary sutures.

"The specimen does not conform to the Maori type, but is much more primitive. There is no evidence of burning. The bones are of great interest, but nothing short of the whole skeleton would suffice to justify an opinion.

"When I return to London I shall look into the matter further, and write to you if anything interesting emerges. In any case I am grateful to you for letting me see these fragments."

The studied conclusions of Professor Eliot Smith are being awaited with much interest. It may be mentioned here that a tooth from the skull is in

possession of a visitor to the party's camp, and jis teeth arc looked upon as a most important aid in anthropology, stops are being taken to secure it and perhaps submit it> for expert opinion.

Professor G. Eliot Smith is an Australian, having been born in New South Wales in 1871. Ho was educated1 at Sydney University and at Cambridge, where he was1 a Fellow of St. John's. After holding professorships of anatomy at Manchester, and in the Egyptian Government School of Medicine at Cairo, he was appointed to the position of Professor of Anatomy at University College. London. lie hag held numerous lectureships and presidencies of scientific societies, and is an Honorary Associate of the Rational Press Association. In 1&30 ho proceeded to China as tho guest of the Chinese Government to investigate the discovery of the skull of Peking man —a discovery that is fully, described and discussed in his "The Search for Man's Ancestors." : ■ ■■: , Some fragments of a sk\ill and mandible were found jn a gravel-pit at Piltdown, Fletching, England, in 1912. The Piltdown skull is remarkable for its thickness, but owing to the fragmentary character of the remains, attempted reconstructions disagree. Sir Arthur Keith's restoration gave the Piltdown man a skull and brain of approximately the form and size of modern races. Dr. Smith Woodward gave him only about two-thirds of the modern man's brain capacity. ' The jaw, on the other hand, was much more ape : like. .

Tho Peking skull, found in China about four years ago, is slightly lower down the scale of evolution than the Piltdown skull.

Before Abel Tasman, on December 13, 1G42, sighted "a great high bold land," the history of New Zealand is enveloped in mythology, and at what time the country was discovered by the Maoris, and from what place they came is lost in the obscurity surrounding the history of a people without letters.- From the legendary Hawaiki tradition has it the Maoris came in their historic canoes, several migrations taking place about 500 years ago. ■ There is reason to believe the \ Toyagers found the country already inhabited, and it is considered/ possible that the early inhabitants were mo"re Mclanesian than Polynesian.