EUROPE'S OLDEST MAN.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 118, 11 July 1911, Page 7

EUROPE'S OLDEST MAN.

“Exploration of a cave in the cliffs at St. Hrclade's Bay, on the south coast of Jersey, has resulted in the discovery of remains of the very earliest race yet known in Europe—the Neanderthal,” says the Loudon Times. “Tim ease, situated GO feet above the present beach, was filled and obscured by a surface fall in a long past period, but in more recent times has become exposed by the action of the sea. The exploration, which has been carried out, by the Socioto Jcrsiaiso, was suggested by the discovery of a very primitive type of Hint implement found in the rubble below the site of the case.

“Operations under the direction of Messrs E. T. Nicolie and J. Sine! were begun in 1910, and when the floor of the cave was reached, after tiie removal of 25 feet of overlying material, extensive traces of primitive man were found. Old hearths were indicated by the fragments of charcoal and burnt earth, numerous flint implements of a very primitive type were found, and bones and teeth of certain extinct animals. “The teeth, nine in number, have been examined by Professor Keith, conservator of the museum, Royal College of Surgeons, who finds that they belonged without doubt to an individual of the Neanderthal race, but are in certain features more primitive than even the teeth of the Heidelberg mandible, usually regarded as the earliest remains of man yet discovered in Europe, and assigned to the Glacial period. “This is the first discovery of Neanderthal man outside the limits of the Continent of Europe. He has been found at Gibraltar, and in France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Cretin, but so far has not been found in England. It is probable, as Mr Marett suggests, that Jersey was united with the mainland when it was inhabited by the Neanderthal typo of man.”