1938: Anthropology

Old World Discoveries.

Several significant new discoveries bearing on the antiquity of man were made late in 1937 and in 1938. Doctor Robert Broom, well known for his palaeontological studies in South Africa, reported the discovery, in a limestone deposit near the top of a hill near Kromdraai, South Africa, of the remains of a new anthropoid, part of the skull of a large ape, in size between that of a male chimpanzee and of a female gorilla. These fossil remains, the palate, most of the teeth, the left side of the lower part of the skull, and most of the right side of the lower jaw, appear to be more closely related to the human form than any previously discovered. Though scientists admit their markedly human character, the small size of the skull actually indicates a form preceding the human. The limestone deposit in which this find was made, belongs, according to Broom, to the Middle Pleistocene period, or is from two to three hundred thousand years old. Thus, with this new find, we have now an interesting series of South African finds: the Taungs skull (Australopithecus africanus), discovered by Professor Raymond Dart in 1925, has been assigned to an earlier geological period, the Lower Pleistocene, while the Sterkfontein skull, previously unearthed in a cave two miles from the latest find by Doctor Broom, belongs to the Upper Pleistocene. Doctor Broom proposes the name Paranthropas robustus for these fossil remains.

From war-torn China, Franz Weidenreich of Peiping Union Medical College announced the discovery by W. C. Pei, who excavated at the now famous site at Choukoutien in 1936-1937, two fragment of female thigh bones belonging to the species designated as Peking Man. These have been determined to be definitely human, indicating by their form that they belonged to individuals of erect posture. These bones were fossilized and, in addition, bore signs of having been burned, leading some students to the assumption that this is incontrovertible evidence that Peking Man practised cannibalism.

Late in 1937, G. H. R. von Koenigswald of the Geological Survey of Holland, but working under the auspices of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, reported the discovery, in a gravel bed, of the fragments of a new fossil skull from Java which, upon detailed examination and study, was classified as another example of Pithecanthropus erectus. Doctor von Koenigswald has dated this definitely human fossil as Middle Pleistocene, or the middle of the Ice Age, or some half million years old. This latest discovery led to a reconsideration of the entire problem. Scientists are now definitely of the opinion that the so-called ape man actually belongs to the human family and that these fossil remains may represent the most primitive remains now known. The known examples of Pithecanthropus erectus consist of three skulls, the famous original find by Dr. Eugene Dubois, excavated near Trinil in 1891, the new skull found by Dr. von Koenigswald, and a child's skull discovered in 1936.

Additional excavations in Java have uncovered the remains of several skulls resembling the Neanderthal skulls of Europe and the Near East. These are considered by Doctor von Koenigswald as approximately contemporaneous with the more primitive Pithecanthropus.

New World Finds.

In America, the evidence for and against the antiquity of man in the western world continues to hold the attention of many anthropologists. During 1938 there were no outstandingly important new finds, but the persistent spade work of the archaeologist has added a few new items which it is hoped will help in the constructive interpretation of available new evidence.

Continuing the work of previous years at known sites of Folsom culture in Colorado, Dr. Frank H. H. Roberts, Jr., found a mammoth tusk, adding to the previously identified extinct fauna (bison, muskox, and camel), known to have been contemporaneous with Folsom man, whose bones, however, remain as elusive, as ever. To date, only the weapons and tools he used and the animals he presumedly killed with them are known.

In Texas, at a site near Abilene, Cyrus N. Ray of Abilene and Professor Kirk Bryan of Harvard University have found an unusual stone point, distinctly differing from the typical Folsom, in association with the bones of a mammoth. They have called this Folsom variant, 'Folsomoid.' This association with the mammoth parallels that of similar finds in New Mexico and other places like the famous Lindemeier site. The geological conditions at this locality where an alluvial cap on bed rock was eroded by a stream leads the finders to conclude that the Folsomoid point is as old as the mammoth bone bearing alluvium which also contains the remains of additional unidentified animals.

Dr. George F. Kay of the University of Iowa, in cooperation with Dr. Morris K. Leighton of the Geological Survey of Illinois, has reviewed the geological setting in which the much disputed skeleton of Minnesota Man (actually the skeleton of a female) was found about seven years ago. On the basis of their examination of the sands and gravels in which the skeleton was found, they conclude that the bones are relatively old — some 18,000 to 20,000 years.

In Lake County, California, M. R. Harrington, leading a joint expedition of the Carnegie Institution of Washington and the Southwest Museum, found strong evidence of the existence of two prehistoric populations preceding the Folsom culture. On the surface of the site examined were implements of the Folsom type, with which the mammoth and the giant bison were killed. Folsom culture has been estimated as having flourished 7,000 to 12,000 years ago. Definitely below these were found spear heads and other implements of a different type, similar to those found at Lake Mohave. Thus, these Mohave type implements are assumed here to be older than Folsom. That there may have been two cultures preceding Folsom is suggested by Harrington who reports finding an additional type of spearhead which he calls the Lake Borax type, at about the same level as the Lake Mohave tools; but below these relics lay still older weapons, crude and coarse stone implements (scrapers and handaxes, used without hafting). These latter he estimated to be datable at approximately 13,000 bc.

Junius Bird of the American Museum of Natural History, working for two years in the region around the Straits of Magellan, discovered five periods of habitation, basing his conclusions on the excavation of caves in that area; the first, a group of horse-hunting, sloth-eating people; the most recent, a group of hunters who used arrowheads like those used by the still existing Ona tribe. Exact dating is, of course, impossible, but on the basis of the rate of dust accumulation in the caves, Mr. Bird estimates that the end of the first period, the sloth-eating culture, occurred between 5,400 and 3,000 years ago.

Archaeological Activity.

Archaeological exploration and research both in the United States and Canada, in Middle America and South America is carried on by innumerable individuals and institutions so that only a few of the major activities can be reported here. In the United States, the chief centers of activity are in the Southwestern States. Here, as in other parts of the country, archaeological activity has been stimulated by Government support through the Works Progress Administration. The University of Arizona, for example, has sponsored a statewide WPA archaeological project, jointly financed by the Government and the state which includes excavation near Globe, a stratigraphical survey at Phoenix, and various museum projects at Globe, Phoenix, and Flag-staff.

Under the direction of J. O. Brew of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, a third excavation season was spent at Awatovi on the Hopi Reservation, Northern Arizona. Excavations were concentrated on those portions of the site which would yield evidence of the last prehistoric and early historic periods. E. B. Renand made a survey of petroglyphs in north-central New Mexico, studying more than twenty prehistoric sites.

Directed by Paul S. Martin of the Field Museum in Chicago, excavations were continued at a Basket Maker site on the south rim of Cahone Canyon, Colorado, a large site containing slab-lined, aboveground granaries, pit houses, and dwellings with walls built of posts.

In North Dakota. Professor Duncan Strong of Columbia University, in cooperation with the North Dakota Historical Society, excavated ruins of ancient villages of the Mandan and Hidatsa on the Upper Missouri.

In Oklahoma where there appears to have been a flourishing center of the Mound culture, excavations at the now famous Spiro Mound, in collaboration of the WPA and the University of Oklahoma under the direction of Dr. Forrest E. Clements, reveal a culture much like that of the Hopewell mounds in Ohio. The most significant finds, however, are those of engraved shells with designs strikingly like those well known in the Mexican Mayan area, opening up suggestive speculations as to the connections of Mound culture with the cultures of the more southern areas.

The establishment of a lithic laboratory at the Ohio State Museum at Columbus, Ohio, was announced early in the year by its director, H. C. Shetrone. This will be yet another addition to the technological aids, like the microscopic analysis of potsherds, to which the archaeologist may turn for assistance in the solution of his problems. The laboratory in question will have as its objective the study of stone working as exemplified by worked flints from all parts of Eastern United States in an attempt to recover not only the prehistoric technique, but the variety and types of raw materials, so that ultimately it may be possible to determine regional variations in forms, materials, and techniques.

In the Middle American field, the several institutions heretofore working there have continued as in years past (the Mexican Government, the Carnegie Institution of Washington, the University of Pennsylvania, the American Museum of Natural History). The American Museum extended its studies from the Valley of Mexico and has made preliminary explorations and reconnaissance in Northern Mexico with a view to concentrating upon the problems in that area.

In Peru, Dr. W. C. Bennett, excavating for the American Museum of Natural History near Huaras, reports several hitherto unknown types of architecture, the new features being underground rooms.

Donald Collier, working in Peru under the auspices of the Institute for Andean Research, reports the discovery of a stone temple, with a facade of monoliths at Casma, on the coast between Lima and Trujillo. Previously, adobe temples only had been known from this coastal area. The temple, the adjacent cemetery, and the various accompanying cultural objects are dated approximately between 600 and 900 ad, on the basis of the pottery found with the burials.