ANCIENT MAN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21647, 18 May 1932, Page 9

ANCIENT MAN

SKELETONS IN PALESTINE IMPORTANCE OF DISCOVERY. LONDON, May 5. The discovery of three adult Neanderthal skeletons by the Anglo-America expedition in Palestine is hailed as the greatest anthropological find in history. The skeletons were found in a small rock shelter, known as Mugharet-es-Sukkul (the cave of the kids), at the western foot of Mount Carmel. The cave, which was thickly strewn with mousterian implements and animal bones, bore only slight traces of later occupation. Two of the skeletons are in good condition. The discovery, says The Times, is considered of the greatest importance, in view of the scarcity of Neanderthal remains found outside. Europe, Sir Arthur Keith, in an interview, expressed the opinion that the discovery might throw entirely fresh light on the relations of modern man to the Neanderthal type. He recalled that a year ago the skeleton of a two-year-old child was found in the same cave, but an examination has shown that, while the front of the skull was Neanderthal, the back of the , head was entirely of a new t’jpe, more resembling that of modern man. The new finds might prove, said Sir Arthur. Keith, that an entirely new type of human being altogether had existed in Palestine, and possibly not in a direct line between the European Neanderthal and modern man. Neanderthal man in Europe became extinct at least 20,000 years ago, and it was probable that the Palestinian remains were much older.