Forbidden Archeology: The Hidden History of the Human Race

2.8 Pikermi, Greece (late Miocene)

At a place called Pikermi, near the plain of Marathon in Greece, there is a fossilrich stratum of Late Miocene (Tortonian) age, explored and described by the prominent French scientist Albert Gaudry. During the meeting in 1872 at Brussels of the International Congress of Prehistoric Anthropology and Archeology, Baron von Dücker reported that broken bones from Pikermi proved the existence of humans in the Miocene (von Dücker 1873, pp. 104 –107). Modern authorities still place the Pikermi site in the Late Miocene (Nilsson 1983, p. 476; Jacobshagen 1986, pp. 213, 221).

Von Dücker first examined numerous bones from the Pikermi site in the Museum of Athens. He found 34 jaw parts of Hipparion (an extinct three-toed horse) and antelope as well as 19 fragments of tibia and 22 other fragments of bones from large mammals such as rhinoceros. All showed traces of methodical fracturing for the purpose of extracting marrow. According to von Dücker (1873, p. 104), they all bore “more or less distinct traces of blows from hard objects.” He also noted many hundreds of bone flakes broken in the same manner. It would thus appear that these fractured bones would satisfy the requirements of nineteenth-century authorities such as Steenstrup as well as modern authorities such as Binford with regard to impact notches as a sign of intentional breakage.

In addition, von Dücker observed many dozens of crania of Hipparion and antelope showing methodical removal of the upper jaw in order to extract the brain. The edges of the fractures were very sharp, which may generally be taken as a sign of human breakage, rather than breakage by gnawing carnivores or geological pressures. One might question whether the bones in the museum collection actually belonged to the Miocene stratum of Pikermi, but many of them had a matrix of red clay clearly confirming the layer from which they were recovered. The museum personnel said, however, that no stone tools or traces of fire had been found with the bones.

Von Dücker then journeyed to the Pikermi site itself to continue his investigation. During the course of his first excavation, he found dozens of bone fragments of Hipparion and antelope and reported that about one quarter of them bore signs of intentional breakage. In this regard, one may keep in mind Binford’s finding that in assemblages of bones broken in the course of human marrow extraction about 14 –17 percent have signs of impact notches. “I also found,” stated von Dücker (1873, p. 105), “among the bones a stone of a size that could readily be held in the hand. It is pointed on one side and is perfectly adapted to making the kinds of marks observed on the bones.”

Von Dücker’s second excavation was made in the presence of one of the founders of the International Congress of Prehistoric Anthropology and Archeology, Professor G. Capellini of Bologna, Italy. Capellini, who believed that broken bones were by themselves insufficient to demonstrate the presence of human beings at a site, did not attach as much significance to the Pikermi finds as did von Dücker. Nevertheless, he thought the bones had been fractured before the time of deposit.

Capellini reported that he had visited the museum and found the majority of bones were not broken by humans, as believed by von Dücker. Capellini pointed out that in fact there were many bones and skulls on display that remained whole and in good condition. Von Dücker replied that the fact that some bones were not broken did not change the fact that others were broken, and these in a way that suggested intentional work. He noted that Gaudry had naturally selected the best bones for his museum displays (von Dücker 1873, p. 106). Von Dücker stated that Capellini’s very brief examination could hardly compare with his own lengthy and careful study, lasting for a period of several months, both in the museum and at the site.

De Mortillet stated that von Dücker’s report was submitted to Gaudry, who found no evidence of human work. De Mortillet also examined the bones, and agreed with Gaudry and Capellini that the breakage was “accidental.” It is, however, interesting to note that von Dücker, after communicating his observations to Gaudry, received the following statement from Gaudry: “I find every now and then breaks in bones that resemble those made by the hand of man. But it is difficult for me to admit this” (von Dücker 1873, p. 107). In Gaudry’s remark surfaces one of the central questions confronting us in our examination of the treatment of paleoanthropological evidence. The evidence appears in general to be quite ambiguous. So on what basis can one draw conclusions? Gaudry hinted that his preconceptions were in subtle conflict with his perceptions. Humans in the Miocene? It was too difficult for him to admit. Preconception triumphed, however quietly, over perception.

In the final analysis, what are we to make of the fractured bones of Pikermi? Any clear answer to that question shall have to wait until such time as the final analysis is made. And it remains doubtful whether any totally “final” analysis ever can be made. Ambiguity is inherent in the enterprise. Surely, we cannot yet conclude, on the basis of the available reports, that humans were not responsible for the breakage observed on Hipparion bones from the Miocene formations at Pikermi, Greece.

Another thing to keep in mind is that some modern researchers believe that in general evidence for human breaking of bone has been neglected or gone unrecognized. Robert J. Blumenschine and Marie M. Selvaggio, anthropologists at Rutgers University, conducted experiments in which they used pieces of sandstone to break African mammal (gazelle, impalla, wildebeest) longbones in order to extract marrow. According to Science News of July 2, 1988: “The resulting pits and grooves or ‘percussion marks’ on the bones, usually found near the notches created by the impact of stone, look much like carnivore tooth marks at first glance, the researchers report in the June 24 Nature.” But the scanning electron microscope revealed “patches of distinctive parallel lines” different from those made by hyaena teeth. Blumenschine and Selvaggio maintained, stated Science News, that “researchers probably have underestimated or overlooked the breaking of bones by early humans to obtain marrow.”

2.9 Pierced Shark Teeth from the Red Crag, England (Late Pliocene)

At a meeting of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, held on April 8, 1872, Edward Charlesworth, a Fellow of the Geological Society, showed many specimens of shark (Carcharodon) teeth, each with a hole bored through the center, as is done by South Seas islanders for the purpose of making weapons and necklaces. The teeth were recovered from the Red Crag formation, indicating an age of approximately 2.0–2.5 million years (Nilsson 1983, p. 106).

The record of the meeting, published in the journal of the Anthropological Institute, informs us: “Mr. Charlesworth pointed out the conditions under which boring molluscs, as Pholas and Saxicava, perforate the texture of stones or other solid substances, and glanced at the perforating action of burrowing sponges (Cliona) and destructive annelides (Teredo). Reasons were given at length why these could not have produced such perforations as those now exhibited. The most searching and cautious examination was also bestowed to demonstrate that the perforating body, whatever it was, was coeval with the crag period; i.e., that specimens existed in which the true crag matrix filled up the hole from end to end, thus showing that it had been immersed in the crag sea after the period of its perforation” (Charlesworth 1873, p. 91).

Charlesworth (1873, pp. 91–92) did not personally suggest human agency, but did show a letter from Professor Owen, who had carefully examined the specimens and stated: “the ascription of the perforations to human mechanical agency seemed the most probable explanation of the facts.”

During the ensuing discussion, Mr. Whitaker suggested tooth decay as the cause, noting one specimen with holes in various stages, from slight indentation to perforation (Charlesworth 1873, p. 92). Then Dr. Spencer Cobbold, an expert on parasites, suggested parasites as the agent of perforation but admitted, according to the summary report: “it might be said with truth, perhaps, that no entozoon [internal animal parasite] had hitherto been known to take up its abode in the bones or teeth of fishes” (Charlesworth 1873, p. 92).

At that point Dr. Collyer gave his opinion in favor of human action. The record of the meeting summarized his remarks as follows: “He had carefully examined by aid of a powerful magnifying glass the perforated shark’s teeth. . . . The perforations, to his mind, were the work of man. His reasons were—First, the bevelled conditions of the edges of the perforations. Secondly, the irregularity of the borings. Thirdly, the central position of the holes in the teeth. Fourthly, the choice of the thin portions of the tooth where it would be most easily perforated. Fifthly, the marks of artificial means employed in making the borings. Sixthly, they are at the very place in the tooth that would be chosen in making an instrument of defence or offence, or for ornament in the form of a necklace. Seventhly, the fact that rude races—as the Sandwich Islanders or New Zealanders—have from time immemorial used sharks’ teeth and bored them identically with those exhibited. His reasons for supposing the perforations not to have been produced by molluscs, or boring-worms, or any parasitic animal, were—First, those creatures invariably had a purpose in making a hole for lodgement; it was therefore evident they would not choose the thin portion of the tooth, which would be totally unadapted for the object sought. Secondly, there was not a case on record of any parasite or mollusc or worm boring a fish’s tooth. Thirdly, those animals had no idea that the exact centre of the tooth would be preferable to the lateral portion. Fourthly, had the holes been the result of animal borings, they would have presented a uniform appearance. As to the tooth being perforated by decay, that seemed to him the most extraordinary proposition. The appearance of a decayed tooth had no analogy whatever to the borings presented. Moreover, sharks were not subject to decayed teeth” (Charlesworth 1873, p. 93).

Mr. T. McKenny Hughes then argued against human boring, pointing out that in some cases the holes on the front and back sides of the tooth are not perfectly lined up with each other. It is not, however, obvious how this would preclude human action. Just to consider one possibility, one could easily imagine a worker partially boring the tooth on one side, turning it over, and completing the perforation by boring in from a slightly different angle starting on the other side.

Hughes then offered another curious objection. He observed that the same types of perforation are found on fossils not only in the Crag, a formation on the Plio-Pleistocene boundary, but also on shells in other deposits more ancient, such as the green sandstone strata of Secondary age. He asserted that it was clearly impossible for humans to have existed at this remote time; therefore the perforations in fossils in the green sandstone were clearly natural in origin. And, by analogy, so were the perforations in the shark teeth from the Red Crag. Here is yet another very typical example of preconceptions determining what kind of evidence for human antiquity can be accepted. Another possible way to look at the perforated shells found in the older green sandstone strata is that they also could be the result of the action of human beings. As previously mentioned, the most recent Secondary period is the Cretaceous, which ended about 65 million years ago.

In any case, Hughes suggested that the perforations in the Red Crag shark teeth were caused by a combination of wear, decay, and parasites (Charlesworth 1873, p. 93). Mr. G. Busk presented the same conclusion at the 1872 meeting of the International Congress of Prehistoric Anthropology and Archeology in Brussels. In Le Préhistorique, de Mortillet (1883, p. 68) sarcastically remarked that it was really curious how some people searched so obstinately for proof of the existence of Tertiary humans in marine deposits.

But in looking at the arguments presented in this case, both those in favor of human work and those opposed, it would seem that obstinacy is more clearly evident in those who refused to accept the possibility of human action. What are the alternatives that were presented? Some suggested tooth decay, although sharks are not known to have cavities; others suggested parasites, although one of Britain’s leading experts admitted there was no known instance of a parasite inhabiting the teeth of fish or sharks. Others suggested wear had a role to play, though one would be hard pressed to find examples in nature of wear causing clean round holes through the centers of teeth.

2.10 Carved Bone from the Dardanelles, Turkey (Miocene)

In the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Frank Calvert (1874, p. 127) reported: “I have had the good fortune to discover, in the vicinity of the Dardanelles, conclusive proofs of the existence of man during the Miocene period of the tertiary age. From the face of a cliff composed of strata of that period, at a geological depth of eight hundred feet, I have extracted a fragment of the joint of a bone of either a dinotherium [Deinotherium] or a mastodon, on the convex side of which is deeply incised the unmistakable figure of a horned quadruped, with arched neck, lozenge-shaped chest, long body, straight fore-legs, and broad feet. There are also traces of seven or eight other figures which, together with the hind quarters of the first, are nearly obliterated. The whole design encircles the exterior portion of the fragment, which measures nine inches in diameter and five in thickness. I have found in different parts of the same cliff, not far from the site of the engraved bone, a flint flake and some bones of animals, fractured longitudinally, obviously by the hand of man for the purpose of extracting the marrow, according to the practice of all primitive races.”

Calvert (1874, p. 127) added: “There can be no doubt as to the geological character of the formation from which I disinterred these interesting relics. The well known writer on the geology of Asia Minor, M. de Tchihatcheff, who visited this region, determined it to be of the miocene period; and the fact is further confirmed by the fossil bones, teeth, and shells of the epoch found there. I sent drawings of some of these fossils to Sir John Lubbock, who obligingly informs me that having submitted them to Messrs. G. Busk and Jeffreys, those eminent authorities have identified amongst them the remains of dinotherium, and the shell of a species of melania, both of which strictly appertain to the miocene epoch.” The Deinotherium is said by modern authorities to have existed from the Late Pliocene to the Early Miocene in Europe (Romer 1966, p. 386). It is thus quite possible that Calvert’s dating of the Dardanelles site as Miocene was correct. The Miocene is now said to extend from 5 to 25 million years before the present. According to the current dominant view, only exceedingly apelike hominids are supposed to have existed during that period. Even a Late Pliocene date of

2.5–3.0 million years for the Dardanelles site would predate the first toolmaking hominid (Homo habilis).

Calvert appears to have been sufficiently qualified to estimate the date of the Dardanelles site. David A. Traill (1986a, pp. 53–54), a professor of classics at the University of California at Davis, gives this information about him: “Calvert was the most distinguished of a family of British expatriates that was prominent in the Dardanelles . . . . he had a good knowledge of geology and paleontology.” Calvert conducted several important excavations in the Dardanelles region.

Calvert also played a very important role in finding the site of the famous city of Troy. Scholars usually give the credit for this to Heinrich Schliemann. But Traill (1986a, pp. 52–53) said of Calvert: “After excavating the ‘Tumulus of Priam’ on the Balli Dag (1863) and reading Charles Maclaren’s A Dissertation on the Topography of the Plain of Troy (Edinburgh 1822), he decided that Hissarlick must be the site of Troy. He purchased part of the mound and started to excavate in 1865, but lack of funds and the pressure of other commitments caused him to abandon the task. . . . After Schliemann’s unsuccessful diggings at Bunarbashi in 1868, Calvert persuaded him . . . that Hissarlick, not Bunarbashi, was the true site of Troy. Schliemann later downplayed both the significance of Calvert’s excavations and his role in awakening his interest in Hissarlick and successfully appropriated all the glory for himself. Calvert, however, was much the better scholar.”

During his excavations, Schliemann came upon a group of weapons, utensils, and ornaments that he called “Priam’s Treasure.” Calvert reviewed this find and Schliemann’s excavations in general. Traill (1986b, p. 120) stated: “He pointed out, with remarkable acuity, that the excavated material should be dated before 1800 b.c. and after 700 b.c. but that nothing was attributable to the period between these dates. Since the missing period included the time of the Trojan War, these findings enraged Schliemann. His response was to ridicule Calvert’s views and misrepresent his role in the excavation of Hissarlick. . . . Calvert was, as far as I have been able to determine from extensive reading of his correspondence, scrupulously truthful.” The so-called treasure of Priam, thought Calvert, was genuine, but not of the classical Trojan era, and this view conforms with the opinion of modern scholars.

Altogether, Calvert seems to have been a quite competent field investigator, with a reputation for truthful and careful reporting. It thus seems that in the case of his Miocene discoveries, he would not have missed any obvious sign that the carved bone, broken bones, and stone implements he discovered had been recently cemented into the deposits. It should be noted that the carved bone from the Dardanelles was no less securely positioned stratigraphically than a great many thoroughly accepted discoveries. Most of the Java Homo erectus finds and most of the East African Australopithecus, Homo habilis, and Homo erectus finds occurred on the surface and are presumed to have washed out from underlying formations varying from Middle Pleistocene to Late Pliocene in age.

In Le Préhistorique, de Mortillet did not dispute the age of the Dardanelles formation. Instead he commented that the simultaneous presence of a carved bone, intentionally broken bones, and a flint flake tool was almost too perfect, so perfect as to raise doubts about the finds (de Mortillet 1883, p. 69). This is quite remarkable. In the case of the incised bones of St. Prest, de Mortillet complained that no stone tools or other signs of a human presence were to be found at the site. But here, with the requisite items discovered along with the carved bone, de Mortillet said the ensemble was “too perfect,” hinting at cheating.

De Mortillet then alluded to the well-publicized disputes between Calvert and Schliemann, which he claimed had discredited both men. In addition to Calvert’s disagreements with Schliemann about the dates of his archeological discoveries at Hissarlick and their relation to the classical Troy of Homer, there were also some financial bickerings. Calvert and Schliemann had an agreement that they would share the proceeds from the sale of any discoveries at Hissarlick. A particularly fine statue was the source of some controversy, with Calvert charging that Schliemann paid him far less than it was actually worth (Traill 1986a, pp. 53 –54). But it seems that Calvert emerges from all this as an honorable and truthful person, who had a better grasp of the archeology of the Hissarlick site than Schliemann. This tends to increase, rather than decrease, the credibility of Calvert’s reporting about his Miocene discoveries.

Finally, de Mortillet (1883, p. 69) stated that because no further reports of a serious nature or new discoveries of human artifacts had emerged from the Dardanelles site, the original Miocene finds reported by Calvert should be considered unconfirmed. But perhaps if new finds had been made, de Mortillet would have reacted as he had to the first ones—by calling them “too perfect,” questioning the character of the discoverer, and demanding more discoveries.

2.11 Balaenotus of Monte Aperto, Italy (Pliocene)

During the latter part of the nineteenth century, fossil whale bones bearing curious marks turned up in Italy. On November 25, 1875, G. Capellini, professor of geology at the University of Bologna, reported to the Institute of Bologna: “Recently as I was cleaning a bone that I myself extracted from the blue Pliocene clay, synchronous with that of the Grey Crag of Anvers, of Astian age, I saw to my great surprise on the dorsal surface a notch and an incision. The former, especially, was so clean cut and deep as to indicate it was made by a very sharp instrument. I am able to say that the bone found is so completely petrified as to preserve all the most delicate details of its microscopic structure; furthermore, it has acquired such hardness that it is not possible to scratch it with a steel point. This circumstance enables us to completely reject suggestions that tend to attribute the marks to modern action” (de Mortillet 1883, p. 56). During further cleaning Capellini discovered three other lighter marks on the bone. He announced this discovery and others that followed at the Academy of Lynxes at Rome and the International Congress of Prehistoric Anthropology and Archeology meetings at Budapest in 1876 and Paris in 1878. Capellini, a founding member of the Congress, was a prominent member of the European scientific community.

The whale bones studied by Capellini were from the extinct small baleen whale Balaenotus, which is characteristic of the Late Pliocene of Europe (Romer 1966, p. 393). This confirms Capellini’s assignment of his discoveries to the Pliocene.

In 1876, Capellini showed his principal specimens at the Congress at Budapest, where he told the members (1877, pp. 46–47): “For fifteen years I have been researching and studying cetacean fossils. After my work on the Balaenopteridae in the province of Bologna, I decided to undertake researches into the baleen whales of Tuscany. . . . By the kindness of Professor D’Ancona, I was able to examine at my leisure the remains of fossil baleen whales at the Museum of Natural History of Florence. I then became convinced of the great importance of extending my researches beyond the specimens in the glass cases and dusty vaults of the museums. I was certain that direct investigations in the strata that had already yielded much precious material would be extremely fruitful for further progress in the study of fossil whales.”

We shall now consider Capellini’s extensive report in detail, making liberal use of direct quotations, translated from the original French. This procedure is being followed for the two reasons previously mentioned: (1) a report, in this case a very important one, is itself, for all practical purposes, the evidence; and (2) readers could not otherwise obtain the original report except by referring to a rare nineteenth-century volume of conference proceedings.

“In October of 1875,” continued Capellini (1877, p. 47), “I journeyed to Siena to continue my stratigraphic studies of that region’s Tertiary terrains and at the same time examined the remains of fossil cetaceans in the museum of the Académie des Fisiocritici. On the advice of Dr. Brandini, I also began excavations at Poggiarone, in the neighborhood of Monte Aperto. I was greatly fortunate to make a double discovery: first, I recovered numerous remains of a skeleton of Balaenotus, a fossil cetacean first recognized by van Beneden, and heretofore found only in the Grey Crag of Anvers; and secondly on these very same bones I noticed the first traces of the hand of man, demonstrating the coexistence of human beings with the Pliocene whales of Tuscany.”

Capellini went on to display some samples of his discoveries. “I have the honor,” he said, “of presenting remarkable specimens that bear marks which, by their form and placement on the fossil bones, demonstrate in an irrefutable manner the action of a being manipulating an instrument. This is the opinion of all the most experienced naturalists and anatomists, not only in Italy, but from all over Europe, who have examined these specimens, judging them without preconceived ideas” (Capellini 1877, p. 47). It may be noted that by considering the “form and placement” of the cuts, Capellini was adhering to modern criteria for distinguishing human workmanship from animal gnawing on bone. His reference to scientists tending to have “preconceived ideas” is particularly relevant to our discussion.

Regarding the geological age of the strata in which the Balaenotus fossils had been discovered, Capellini observed in his report: “The geological position of the strata in which the Balaenotus was found in the neighborhood of Monte Aperto and the shells that were found in the same bed do not permit us to doubt their Pliocene age and their resemblance to the Grey Crag of Anvers. The alternation of beds entirely of sand with others of clay and sand, give evidence that the animal was beached in the shallows along the shore of an island of the Pliocene archipelago that occupied what is now central Italy during the last part of the Tertiary epoch.”

Capellini (1877, p. 48) then described the placement of the cut marks on the fossil bones: “The marks on the skeleton of the Balaenotus are found on the lower extremities, the exteriors of the ribs, and on the apophyses [spines] of the vertebrae.” The presence of cuts on the vertebral spines, or apophyses, conforms with the observations of Binford (1981, p. 111), who stated that in flesh removal, cuts are made to free flesh from the dorsal spines of the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, producing “cut marks . . . commonly oriented transversely or slightly obliquely to the dorsal spines of the thoracic vertebrae.” As far as the ribs are concerned, Binford (1981, p. 113) stated that in the most common butchering operation “transverse marks, derived from the removal of the tenderloin, occur along the dorsal surface of the rib just to the side of the proximal end of the rib.” The marks observed by Capellini, all on the dorsal (exterior) surface of the rib, correspond to this description.

Applying principles of taphonomic analysis, Capellini (1877, p. 49) then stated: “On the dorsal apophysis of an almost complete lumbar vertebra, I have moreover marked the presence of intersecting cutmarks and next to them one sees tiny oysters, evidence that indicates the deposition took place in very shallow water not far from the shore. One should not forget that the entire region formerly occupied by the sea in the environs of Siena has been raised and lowered many times, which accounts for the alternation of marine, brackish, and freshwater deposits one is able to observe and study at Siena.” These alternations are indications of a littoral, or shoreline, area, which is important. Some critics believed the marks had been made by the teeth of sharks, and according to their analysis this would necessitate deep water.

For example, in his book Le Préhistorique, de Mortillet (1883, p. 59) stated that some Italian naturalists (Strobel and de Stefani) were of the opinion that the beds yielding bones of Balaenotus were not littoral but deep ocean. This seems to be at variance with the firsthand observations of Capellini, who was himself an experienced geologist. In his review, de Mortillet does not mention the evidence that Capellini cited in support of his conclusion that the location where the Balaenotus bones were found represented the shallows along the beach of the Pliocene sea.

“Having surveyed the excavations of the remains of the skeletons of Balaenotus in the environs of Siena,” Capellini (1877, pp. 49–50) went on to say, “I was able to easily account for the existence of the marks on only one side, and always the same side. In effect, it is evident that for the specimen in question the marks were made by a human being that came upon the animal beached in shallow waters, and by means of a flint knife or with the aid of other instruments attempted to detach pieces of flesh.” Capellini (1877, p. 50) added: “From the position of the remains of the Balaenotus of Poggiarone, I am convinced that the animal ran aground in the sand and rested on its left side and that the right side was thus exposed to the direct attack of humans, as is demonstrated by the places in which marks are found on the bones.” The fact that only the bones on one side of the whale were marked would tend to rule out any purely geological explanation as well as the action of sharks in deep water.

Capellini (1877, p. 50) noted: “That which happens at present to the Balaenopteridae and cachalots [sperm whales] that from time to time become beached on our shores also happened to the Balaenotus of Poggiarone and to other small whales on the shores of the islands of the Pliocene sea.” Capellini (1877, p. 50) then made an important observation: “After an attentive examination of skeletons found in the majority of Europe’s museums of natural history, it is very easy to convince oneself that all of these, which were prepared by humans, present the same kinds of markings as those on the bones you have seen and others which I will show you.” Comparison with examples of undoubted human work is still one of the main methods scientists use in determining whether incisions on bones are of human origin.

Capellini (1877, p. 51) then reported that he had found examples of the kind of tool that might have made the cuts on the bones: “In the vicinity of the remains of the Balaenotus of Poggiarone, I collected some flint blades, lost in the actual beach deposits.” He added: “with those same flint implements I was able to reproduce on fresh cetacean bones the exact same marks found on the fossil whale bones” (Capellini 1877, p. 51).

“Before leaving the environs of Siena,” Capellini (1877, p. 51) went on to explain, “I should point out that the remains of a human being found in 1856 by the Abbé Deo Gratias in the marine Pliocene clays of Savona in Liguria can be referred to approximately the same geological horizon as Poggiarone and other locales in Tuscany where I have found numerous cetacean remains.” The details of the discovery of human skeletal remains in the Pliocene at Savona will be discussed at length in Chapter 6, which also contains many other such reports. For now, it will be sufficient to note that the discoveries of incised bones in the middle and late nineteenth century were accompanied by a great many simultaneous discoveries of flint implements and actual human skeletal remains in Pliocene and Miocene strata. These discoveries are practically never mentioned in modern textbooks. It bears repeating that the existence of human beings of the modern type in the Pliocene period would completely demolish the presently accepted evolutionary picture of human origins.

Capellini then discussed another find of human skeletal remains that he believed to be contemporary with the incised whale bones he had discovered in Pliocene strata. “In my first notice on Pliocene man in Tuscany (Nov. 1875) I mentioned the human cranium discovered by Professor Cocchi in the upper valley of the Arno, in Tuscany, and for the moment I accepted the conclusions given by my associate concerning the age of the strata in which the cranium was found.” Cocchi had given them a Pleistocene date.

“Dr. F. Major, however,” said Capellini (1877, pp. 51–52) to his colleagues at the Congress of Budapest, “has for many years been particularly interested in studying the fossil vertebrates of the upper valley of the Arno, and after new researches into the geological position of the human skull found at Olmo has reached an opinion contrary to that of Professor Cocchi. According to Dr. Major, the fossils of the strata in which the cranium of Olmo was found and those collected with the cranium itself by Professor Cocchi prove the Pliocene age of the stratum and that it is contemporary with the marine deposits containing incised bones of small whales.” Modern authorities, however, assign a Pleistocene date to the Olmo skull (Appendix 1.2.1).

“Some months after the discovery of the Balaenotus of Poggiarone,” continued Capellini (1877, p. 52), “I was, by means of similar discoveries, able to conclude that Pliocene man was present on other islands in the Tuscan archipelago. In examining the numerous remains of fossil cetaceans which Sir R. Lawley recently contributed to the museum of Florence, I discovered a fragment of a humerus and three fragments of cubitus with marks just as well-defined and instructive as those in question. Among the remains of Balaenotus from La Collinella, near Castelnuovo della Misericordia in the valley of the Fine, there have been recovered a good number with incrustations of gypsum. It was in the course of removing these incrustations, aided by the preparator E. Bercigli, that I noticed the markings. Shortly thereafter, the specimens were examined and the marks confirmed by M. d’Ancona, professor of paleontology, M. Giglioli, professor of zoology and comparative anatomy, Dr. Cavanna, Dr. Ch. Major, and others.”

Many of Italy’s leading scientists concurred with Capellini’s judgement that the markings were caused by sharp instruments manipulated by human beings. Capellini (1877, p. 53) said: “The unanimous opinion of the naturalists of Florence, confirmed by that of the anatomists and naturalists of Bologna, all of whom examined the specimens with great care, was also supported by the academicians of the Rome Society of Lynxes, the names of whom may be found at the end of my published memoir.”

Returning to consideration of the actual specimens, Capellini (1877, p. 53) said: “The Museum of Florence has allowed me to present these precious specimens for the inspection of the members of the Congress. I am very pleased to present them to the assembly because all of you interested in this question can verify that drawings alone do not allow one to appreciate all the fine details that permit us to exclude explanations other than that of a human being or other animal, who operated with the aid of instruments, and who by means of cuts in several directions, mostly deep and confined to a very limited area, was often able to facilitate the breaking of the bone.”

“On one of the fragments of cubitus,” said Capellini (1877, p. 53), “I left intact a portion of the gypsum incrustation that covered a deep incision, a section of which is visible. If one removed the gypsum one would see that the entire mark had been made on the bone while it was fresh, and then conserved by fossilization and incrustation.” This was good proof that the cut marks were not made in recent times.

Capellini (1877, pp. 53–54) also found similar cut marks on the apophyses of vertebrae he saw in the whale bone collection of Lawley. “The fragment of the dorsal apophysis of a lumbar vertebra, in the space of a few centimeters,” stated Capellini (1877, p. 54), “presents on the right side nine different incisions oriented in different directions. In examining the original with the aid of a lens, one can assure oneself that these marks, and the other marks that you will see, were made when the bone was fresh. One may also note that one side of the cut is smooth while the other is rippled, as occurs when one, with a knife or other instrument, marks a bone, either by a direct blow or by manipulation of the instrument in the manner of ordinary cutting [Figure 2.1]. It is to be remarked that the side of the bone opposite that bearing the marks is intact, and whatever incisions have been inflicted on the bone are so profound as to have been able to break it off. Two fragments of the apophyses of vertebrae broken at the place where they were cut or grooved are represented . . . in my memoir.” The marks on the spine of the lumbar vertebra are in a location that according to Binford typically displays cut marks from butchering operations.

Figure 2.1. Magnified cross section of a cut on a fossil whale bone from a Pliocene for mation at Monte Aperto, Italy (de Quatrefages 1887, p. 97).

Capellini then returned to geological considerations, describing the location at which several of his specimens were found. “The pieces . . . come from San Murino, near Pieve Santa Luce on the coast of the ancient Pliocene island of Monte Vaso, on La Collinella, in the valley of the Fine. Some meters from where M. Paco, a fossil hunter, found bone fragments of small whales, the ancient limestone rocks, which formed the shore of the Pliocene sea, are regularly pierced by lithophages. Because the depth at which these creatures establish their residences and leave their traces is well known, it is, in the valley of the Fine near Santa Luce, quite easy to establish the ancient level of the sea frequented by the small whales that human beings came upon in the Pliocene period, just as in our own day we come upon small whales beached on the shores of the Mediterranean.” Here is more evidence that the whale bones were most probably deposited in shallows by the shore. It is surprising that de Mortillet neglected to mention this in his review, where he gave the impression that scientific opinion is decidely in favor of a deep water interpretation.

Returning to the question of the age of the strata in which the fossil whale bones were found, Capellini, himself a professor of geology, then stated (1877, pp. 55–56): “Among those who recognize without difficulty the work of humans in the markings on the whale bones, are some who are not persuaded that they are ancient, and who have demanded to know if there is perhaps not some doubt about the judgement that the beds bearing the bones of Balaenotus are really Pliocene in age. This question has been discussed by me in my memoir presented to the Rome Society of Lynxes in the presence of eminent geologists and paleontogists from Central Italy, such as Messrs. Sella, Meneghini, Ponzi, and others, who confirmed all that I had said. Their exact knowledge of the locality sufficed to allow them to appreciate the geological drawings by which I sought to decipher and record the stratigraphic series of the ancient fjord (presently the valley of the Fine) where the cetaceans perished in the Pliocene. After the publication of my memoir, complete with geological notices, I believe it useless to here repeat all the facts about the age of the strata of the small whales and the circumstances favoring the opinion that the whales were captured by human beings.”

After Capellini’s presentation, the members of the Congress engaged in discussion. Sir John Evans accepted the geological age of the fossils, but said he thought the bones had some marks that appeared to have been made by the teeth of fish. This suggested to him that the bones had lain on the bottom of the sea, where the other more prominent marks were perhaps made by the teeth of sharks. He believed that proof for the strata being on the shoreline was lacking. Thus, questioned Evans, if humans did exist in the Pliocene, how could it be that they were getting food from the deep sea? Furthermore the marks were so sharp that if it were an instrument that made them, it would seem to have been one of metal rather than stone. He also maintained that marks made accidentally by humans in detaching flesh would be of a different nature (Capellini 1877, pp. 56 –57).

These appear to be fairly weak objections. Capellini gave adequate geological reasons to suggest at least the strong probability that the strata in which the fossils were found were littoral. Capellini had also examined, in museums, many skeletons of whales from which the flesh had been detached by humans, and had found the markings practically identical to those on the fossil bones of the Tuscan Balaenotus. Capellini (1877, p. 51) had in at least one case found flint implements near fossil whale bones and demonstrated that the flint blades could make marks identical to those found on the bones. Evans simply seems to have had some strong bias against the presence of humans in the Pliocene.

Next to speak was Paul Broca, a surgeon and secretary general of the Anthropological Society, headquartered in Paris. Broca was famous as an expert on the physiology of bones, particularly the skull. He lined up on the side of Capellini. Interestingly enough, Broca was a Darwinist, but the evidence he supported at the Congress of Budapest in 1876 would, if accepted now, completely destroy the modern Darwinian picture of human evolution.

“The discovery of Quaternary [Pleistocene] man was the greatest event in modern anthropology,” said Broca. “It opened a great field of investigation, and none here can fail to recognize its importance, because, it was this event, one could say, that was most responsible for the grand movement of ideas that resulted in the founding of our Congress. The discovery of Tertiary man could be an even greater event, because the period it could add to the life of humanity is incomparably greater than that we know at present” (Capellini 1877, p. 57). The Tertiary includes the Pliocene, Miocene, Oligocene, Eocene, and Paleocene periods.

“This is not the first time this question has arisen in our discussions,” continued Broca. “Already in 1874, at the Congress at Brussels, Abbé Bourgeois showed a series of flints from Tertiary strata and in which he believed he could see proof of human work, but few shared his opinion. For my part, I examined many times the flints of Abbé Bourgeois, and remained among those not accepting his demonstrations. The other facts relative to Tertiary man that have been put forward, from Europe and America, have not been conclusive enough for me. To this day I remain doubtful about the stratigraphic location and about the work attributed to human hands” (Capellini 1877, p. 57). In the next few chapters of this book, one will have the chance to draw one’s own conclusions about the many discoveries of flint implements and human skeletal remains referred to here by Broca.

“But today,” confessed Broca, “for the first time, I sense my doubts disappearing. I would declare myself entirely convinced, if I were relying totally on my own judgement. But I should also take into account the judgement of my colleagues. I should fear that I might be mistaken when I find myself opposed by such competent men as Franks and Evans. With these reservations, I shall explain the evidence that leads me to admit the interpretation of Capellini” (Capellini 1877, pp. 57–58).

Broca then proceeded to present arguments against the hypothesis that the marks on the fossil bones of Balaenotus had been produced by the teeth of sharks. “In the first place,” he said, “it is evident that the marks shown to us have been produced by cutting. All the world agrees on this point. We are only discussing the question of whether these cuts were made by the sharp pointed teeth of sharks or by the human hand armed with sharp flint. There is another point which seems to me incontestable. That is that all the incisions, in their diverse forms, those perpendicular as well as oblique, can be easily reproduced, with all their characteristics, with a flint implement on fresh whale bones. The hypothesis of Capellini explains very well the observed facts, while the other hypothesis encounters very strong objections. Capellini has remarked with reason that every bite should produce two imprints corresponding to the two jaws that seize the bone at two opposite points. But without exception all the incisions are on the convex surface of the ribs, with the concave surface totally exempt from all markings. I do not believe that one can respond to this argument” (Capellini 1877, p. 58).

Here Broca seems to be thinking that the shark would completely devour the whale carcass, thus breaking apart the rib cage. Given the feeding frenzies of sharks, especially the great white shark, present in the Pliocene as Cacharodon megalodon, one might expect this to happen. Otherwise, it is difficult to see how the shark could place bite marks on both sides of the rib.

Some years later, de Mortillet (1883, p. 62) suggested, in Le Préhistorique, that the particular nature of a shark’s jaw and method of biting would result in tooth marks being placed on only one side of a bone subjected to its attack. As usual, however, de Mortillet only painted speculative scenarios and did not present any hard experimental evidence.

Broca continued: “Among the incisions, the majority penetrate obliquely into the bone. One of the sides of the V-shaped incision slices into the bone at a small angle, departing only slightly from the horizontal plane of the surface of the bone; while the opposite side, shorter than the first, is abrupt, almost vertical. The incision shows breakage. That is to say, the cutting action results in the separation of a small shaving of bone, broken at its base [Figure 2.1]. The cutting action of a sharp edge produces marks of this type. I don’t believe that the teeth of any animal could produce the same effect” (Capellini 1877, p. 58). The same thing was admitted by de Mortillet himself, who raised the point in his discussion of the bones of St. Prest (Section 2.1).

“Finally,” said Broca, “—and I insist on this point, which Capellini touched upon only lightly—the direction of certain of the marks is incompatible with the idea of a bite. The jaws do not execute such a movement. They open and they close.

The sort of curve described by a tooth rests always on the same plane. The incision produced by a pointed tooth on a hard surface, convex and immobile, is of determinate form. It is that of a plain curve, from one point to another by the shortest path, like a meridian on the surface of a sphere. The majority of incisions before our eyes do not present such a character. Here is one among others in which the direction changes many times [ Figure 2.2]. . . . the whole incision is made up, first, of a path perpendicular to the axis of the rib, then another longitudinal path, and finally an oblique one. It is a turning movement that a jaw could not make. The human hand, on the contrary, is capable, because of its multiple articulations, of perfect mobility, of guiding and inclining in every direction over the surface the instruments with which it is armed” (Capellini 1877, pp. 58–59).

Figure 2.2. A Pliocene whale scapula from Monte Aperto, Italy, with cut marks similar to those described by Broca (de Quatrefages 1887, p. 97).

Even though there may be some justification for pursuing the shark hypothesis with regard to the markings on the Pliocene whale bones of Italy, there is no reason to immediately abandon the hypothesis of human action, for which there is a great deal of evidence.

It is interesting that Broca, one of the foremost authorities on bone physiology of his time, favored Capellini’s view that the marks on the fossil whale bones were the product of intentional human work. Perhaps not all of Broca’s observations about the action of teeth on bone are correct. But this does not detract from Capellini’s conclusions, which were founded on years of painstaking research, and not on Broca’s extemporaneous statements.

After Broca’s remarks, Capellini (1877, p. 60) himself offered some concluding words: “I have of course taken into consideration bones gnawed by different animals. At the same time, I have not neglected to examine all the kinds of fish teeth found in the same strata as the small whales, of which Mr. Lawley possesses a truly extraordinary collection. If one comes to tell me that with such teeth (using them as tools) he has been able to make such marks as you see on the fossil bones, I am ready to admit this, but if he pretends that the fish itself made the marks, that is another thing. In that case I would invite my illustrious contradictor to bring to my consideration the species of fish to which he would attribute marks identical to those we know as the work of man.” Capellini (1877, p. 61) pointed out that such objections had not been raised by the naturalists who were knowledgeable about fish, but rather by archeologists.

One naturalist suggested the marks had been made by a swordfish, and to demonstrate this had taken a swordfish beak in hand, delivering thrusts that left some impressive marks on pieces of fresh whalebone. But even de Mortillet (1883, p. 61), on seeing them and comparing them with the incisions on the Tuscany fossils, rejected this view.

De Quatrefages was among the scientists accepting the Monte Aperto Balaenotus bones as being cut by sharp flint instruments held by a human hand. He wrote: “However one may try, using various methods and implements of other materials, one will fail to duplicate the marks. Only a sharp flint instrument, moved at an angle and with a lot of pressure, could do it” (de Quatrefages 1884, pp. 93–94). De Quatrefages believed a band of Pliocene hunters found the whale beached and set upon it with stone knives of the type used by the present-day Australian aboriginals.

The whole issue was nicely summarized in English by S. Laing, who wrote in 1893 (pp. 115–116): “An Italian geologist, M. Capellini, has found in the Pliocene strata of Monte Aperto, near Siena, bones of the Balaeonotus, a well-known species of a sort of Pliocene whale, which are scored by incisions obviously made by a sharp-cutting instrument, such as a flint knife guided by design, and by a human hand. At first it was contended that these incisions might have been made by the teeth of fishes, but as specimens multiplied, and were carefully examined, it became evident that no such explanation was possible. The cuts are in regular curves, and sometimes almost semi-circular, such as a sweep of the hand could alone have caused, and they invariably show a clean cut surface on the outer or convex side, to which the pressure of a sharp edge was applied, with a rough or abraided surface on the inner side of the cut. Microscopic examination of the cuts confirms this conclusion, and leaves no doubt that they must have been made by such an instrument as a flint knife, held obliquely and pressed against the bone while in a fresh state, with considerable force, just as a savage would do in hacking the flesh off a stranded whale. Cuts exactly similar can now be made on fresh bone by such flint knives, and in no other known or conceivable way. It seems, therefore, more like obstinate prepossession, than scientific skepticism, to deny the existence of Tertiary man, if it rested only on this single instance.”

Continuing his commentary, Laing (1893, p. 116) stated: “As regards the evidence from cut bones it is very conclusive, for experienced observers, with the aid of the microscope, have no difficulty in distinguishing between cuts which may have been made accidentally or by the teeth of fishes, and those which can only have been made in fresh bone by a sharp cutting instrument, such as a flint knife.”

A modern authority, Binford, stated (1981, p. 169): “There is little chance that an observer of modified bone would confuse cut marks inflicted during dismembering or filleting by man using tools with the action of animals.” Binford (1981, p. 169) further noted: “The marks of animals’ teeth are somewhat different. They follow the contours of the bone’s surface. . . . Tooth marks may frequently take the form of depressed or mashed lines. . . . On many of the wolf specimens, the tooth mark under magnification appears as a ‘cracked’ surface scar rather than as a cut or incision in the bone.”

But the teeth of sharks are sharper than those of terrestrial mammalian carnivores such as wolves and might produce marks on bone that more closely resemble those that might be made by cutting implements. After inspecting fossil whale bones in the paleontology collection of the San Diego Natural History Museum, we concluded that shark’s teeth can in fact make marks closely resembling those that might be made by implements. However, we also concluded that it is nevertheless possible, in some cases, to distinguish marks made by implements from those made by shark teeth.

Figure 2.3. Tooth of Carcharodon megalodon, a Pliocene great white shark (G. de Mortillet and A. de Mortillet 1881, plate 4, figure 19).

The bones we saw were from a small Pliocene species of baleen whale. The marks on one bone, a jaw fragment, were the subject of a report by Thomas A. Deméré and Richard A. Cerutti (1982 ) of the San Diego Natural History Museum. The ventral margin of the jaw fragment showed a pair of V-shaped grooves that ran transversely to that surface (Deméré and Cerutti 1982, p. 1480). One of the marks measured 16 mm (0.63 inch) long, and slightly curved. The other one ran 11 mm (0.43 inch) in a straight line. Our inspection of the incisions through a magnifying lens showed evenly spaced parallel longitudinal striations such as one would expect from the serrated edge of a shark’s tooth ( Figure 2.3). Even so, Deméré, who showed us the marked fossil at the San Diego Natural History Museum paleontology collection on May 31, 1990, stated that as far as he was concerned these V-shaped incisions alone were inconclusive. That is to say, they might have been caused by something other than shark teeth.

More useful for diagnostic purposes was another mark on the bone. Deméré and Cerutti (1982, p. 1480) described this as a beveled surface “characterized by 12 sinuous but parallel small-scale ridges and grooves.” Deméré and Cerutti (1982, p. 1480) went on to state: “This very distinctive pattern has been duplicated by us using a piece of paraffin and a tooth from the Pliocene great white shark, Carcharodon sulcidens Agassiz, 1843. . . . The teeth of Carcharodon are characterized by serrated

Figure 2.4. Pattern of grooves and ridges produced by a serrated shark tooth moving across the surface of a whale bone (Deméré and Cerutti 1982, p. 1481).

margins.” The pattern of grooves and ridges observed on the fossil whale bone (Figure 2.4) could have been produced by a glancing blow, with the edge of the tooth scraping along the surface of the bone rather than cutting into it. With this knowledge, it should be possible to reexamine the Pliocene whale bones of Italy and arrive at some fairly definite conclusions as to whether or not the marks on them were made by shark teeth. Patterns of parallel ridges and grooves on the surfaces of the fossils, such as those described by Deméré and Cerutti, would be an almost certain sign of shark predation or scavenging. And if close examination of deep Vshaped cuts also revealed evenly spaced, parallel longitudinal striations, that, too, would have to be taken as evidence that shark teeth made the cuts. One would not expect the surfaces of marks made by flint blades to display evenly spaced striations.

Even so, care would have to be taken to examine each and every cut on the fossil whale bones. Deméré and Cerutti (1982, p. 1480) reported that carcasses of sea otters, with the bones marked by shark teeth, have been found washed up on the California coast. One can imagine that in the past a whale carcass, partially devoured by sharks, might similarly have washed ashore, and then been butchered by humans. Therefore fossil whale bones might bear both the marks of shark teeth and human implements.

The following statement by Deméré and Cerutti (1982, p. 1480) calls attention to one of the drawbacks of the way anomalous evidence is treated by the scientific community: “It appears then that our fossil specimen preserves a late Pliocene scavenging and/or predator event by Carcharodon on cetaceans. To our knowledge this represents the first well-documented report of such activity.” It is significant that two working paleontologists, with a special interest in shark teeth and whale bones, were unaware of the extensive debate that occurred in the nineteenth century on the topic of possible Carcharadon (versus human) markings on Pliocene cetaceans. Therefore, rather than casting controversial evidence into oblivion, it would be wiser, perhaps, to somehow keep it readily available for further study. That is one purpose of this book.

2.12 Halitherium of Pouance, France (Middle Miocene)

In 1867, L. Bourgeois caused a great sensation when he presented to the members of the International Congress of Prehistoric Anthropology and Archeology, meeting in Paris, a Halitherium bone bearing marks that appeared to be human incisions (de Mortillet 1883, p. 53). Halitherium is a kind of extinct sea cow, an aquatic marine mammal of the order Sirenia.

The fossilized bones of Halitherium had been discovered by the Abbé Delaunay in the shell beds at Barriére, near Pouancé in northwestern France (Maine-et-Loire). Delaunay was surprised to see on a fragment of the humerus, a bone from the upper forelimb, a number of cut marks ( Figure 2.5). The surfaces of the cuts were of the same appearance as the rest of the bone and were easily distinguished from recent breaks, indicating that the cuts were quite ancient. The bone itself, which was fossilized, was firmly situated in an undisturbed stratum, making it clear that the marks on the bone were of the same geological age. Furthermore, the depth and sharpness of the incisions showed that they had been made before the bones had fossilized.

Figure 2.5. Cut marks on Halitherium bone from the Miocene at Pouancé, France (de Mortillet 1883, p. 54).

Some of the incisions appeared to have been made by two separate intersecting strokes. Evende Mortillet (1883, pp. 53–55) admitted that they did not appear to be the products of subterranean scraping or compression. But he would not admit they could be the product of human work, mainly because of the age of the stratum in which the bones were found. The shell beds of this region were said to date to the period represented by the Mayencian formation of the Middle Miocene. But they could be somewhat older. The marine layers in which the Halitherium bone was discovered, known as the Faluns of Anjou, are assigned by modern authorities to the Early Miocene (Klein 1973, table 6). Halitherium is generally thought to have existed in Europe from the Early Miocene to the Early Oligocene (Romer 1966, p. 386).

De Mortillet (1883, p. 55) wrote in his book Le Préhistorique, “This is much too old for man.” It is easy enough to see how a scientist who was committed to the evolutionary hypothesis would think so—the Middle Miocene dates as far back as 15 million years, and the Early Miocene to somewhere around 25 million years.

Here again, we have a clear case of theoretical preconceptions dictating how one will interpret a set of facts. De Mortillet (1883, p. 55) attributed the marks on the bones to large sharks of the requin family: “It is a fact that the shell beds of Anjou contain an abundance of sharp pointed teeth of fish of this family. These fish, encountering Halitherium beached on the coast, then ate them and left on their bones the numerous marks of their voracity and the strength of their teeth.” De Mortillet (1883, p. 55) also stated that on May 5, 1879 Mr. Tournouër presented to the Geological Society of France an incised Halitherium bone, attributing the marks to shark teeth. However, in light of the foregoing discussion, it seems the case of the Halitherium bone of Pouancé should remain open for further investigation.

On the general subject of cut bones as a category of viable evidence, Laing (1894, pp. 353–354) wrote in his book Human Origins, which went through five reprintings: “cut bones afford one of the most certain tests of the presence of man. The bones tell their own tale, and their geological age can be certainly identified. Sharp cuts could only be made on them while the bones were fresh, and the state of fossilization, and presence of dendrites or minute crystals alike on the side of the cuts and on the bone, negate any idea of forgery. The cuts can be compared with thousands of undoubted human cuts on bones from the reindeer and other later periods, and with cuts now made with old flint knives on fresh bones. All these tests have been applied by some of the best anthropologists of the day, who have made a special study of the subject, and who have shown their caution and good faith by rejecting numerous specimens which did not fully meet the most rigorous requirements. . . . The only possible alternative suggested is, that they might have been made by gnawing animals or fishes. But as Quatrefages observes, even an ordinary carpenter would have no difficulty in distinguishing between a clean cut made by a sharp knife, and a groove cut by repeated strokes of a narrow chisel; and how much more would it be impossible for a Professor trained to scientific investigation, and armed with a microscope, to mistake a groove gnawed out by a shark or rodent for a cut made by a flint knife.”

Laing’s observations are significant in that they counter certain modern prejudices about the caliber of scientific work at that time. On first encountering reports like those concerning the cut bones of St. Prest, Monte Aperto, or Pouancé, one might think something like this: “How quaint these nineteenth-century scientists were, in those old days of the infancy of paleoanthropological investigation. How quick they were to accept questionable evidence upon cursory inspection.” But from Laing’s statements we can see that scientists like de Quatrefages, Desnoyers, and Capellini were carefully applying standards of investigation and evaluation comparable to those of the present day. In particular, they displayed a considerable grasp of the principles of the modern discipline of taphonomy. One might also postulate something like the following: “Well, perhaps in the nineteenth century, before there were many actual human fossils uncovered, these naturalists focused undue attention on these cut bones, reading too much into them, because they had nothing else to concern themselves with.” But even today, many researchers are investigating the presence of humans at certain sites solely on the basis of animal bones bearing signs of intentional workmanship. And, as we shall see in coming chapters, it is not true that nineteenth-century naturalists interested in human antiquity had nothing but cut bones to study. They also extensively investigated many finds of stone tools and human skeletal remains that have since slipped into near total obscurity.

2.13 San Valentino, Italy (Late Pliocene)

In 1876, at a meeting of the Geological Committee of Italy, M. A. Ferretti showed a fossil animal bone bearing “traces of work of the hand of man, so evident as to exclude all doubt to the contrary” (de Mortillet 1883, p. 73). This bone, of elephant or rhinoceros, was found firmly in place in Astian ( Late Pliocene) strata in San Valentino ( Reggio d’Emilie), Italy. The bone’s dimensions are 70 mm (2.8 inches) by 40 mm (1.6 inches). Of special interest is the fact that the fossil bone has an almost perfectly round hole at the place of its greatest width. According to Ferretti, the hole in the bone was not the work of molluscs or crustaceans. The next year Ferretti showed to the Committee another bone bearing traces of human work. It was found in blue Pliocene clay, of Astian age, at San Ruffino. This bone appeared to have been partially sawn through at one end, and then broken. De Mortillet, who included the above-mentioned information in his book, stated (1883, p. 77) that he had not seen the bones nor heard any further discussion about them. This indicated to him that they had not been (and thus should not be) taken seriously. It would perhaps have been more appropriate, and scientific, for de Mortillet to have inspected the bones before concluding they were of little scientific value. Many modern scientists react in a similar fashion when confronted with unfamiliar, little-discussed anomalous evidence. They assume it is not of any importance; otherwise they would have seen it discussed in the published works of scientists committed to the established views.

At a scientific conference held in 1880, G. Bellucci, of the Italian Society for Anthropology and Geography, called attention to recent discoveries in San Valentino and Castello delle Forme, near Perugia. Found there were bones of different animals bearing incisions, both straight and intersecting, and with imprints probably made with rocks employed for the purpose of breaking the bones. Bellucci said there were also two specimens of carbonized bones, and finally flint flakes. All were recovered from lacustrine Pliocene clays, characterized by a fauna like that of the classic Val d’Arno. According to Bellucci, these objects proved the existence of man in the Tertiary period in Umbria (Bellucci and Capellini 1884).

2.14 Clermont-Ferrand, France (Middle Miocene)

Turning once more to France, we note that in the late nineteenth century the museum of natural history at Clermont-Ferrand had in its collection a femur of Rhinoceros paradoxus with grooves on its surface. The specimen was found in a freshwater limestone at Gannat, in a quarry said to be dated by fossils to the Mayencian age of the Middle Miocene (de Mortillet 1883, p. 52). M. Pomel presented this piece to the anthropological section of the French Association for the Advancement of Science meeting of 1876 in Clermont. Pomel said the marks were from carnivores, which were numerous in the French Middle Miocene. But de Mortillet disagreed that an animal could have been responsible. He pointed out that the grooves on the Miocene rhinoceros femur could not have been made by a rodent, because rodent incisors usually leave pairs of parallel marks. The grooves on the rhinoceros femur were not arranged in pairs. De Mortillet also believed that the marks were not caused by larger carnivores, because, as noted by Binford (1981, p. 169) in modern times, carnivore teeth leave many irregular impressions and cause distinctive patterns of bone destruction. Binford stated that “association of scoring with patterns of destruction is not expected when man dismembers an animal with tools.” According to this standard, the Miocene rhinoceros femur, which displayed scoring but no pattern of destruction, might very well have been cut by ancient humans using stone tools.

For de Mortillet, however, the marks were a purely geological phenomenon. He concluded that the grooves on the rhinoceros femur of ClermontFerrand were probably produced by the same subterranean pressures responsible for the marks on the Billy specimen (de Mortillet 1883, p. 52). But de Mortillet’s own description (1883, p. 52) of the markings on the bone leaves this interpretation open to question: “The impressions occupy a portion of the inner surface near the condyles. They are parallel grooves, somewhat irregular, transverse to the axis of the bone.” The condyles are the rounded prominences on the articulator, or joint, surfaces at the end of the femur, or thighbone. The orientation and position of the marks on the fossil were identical to those of incisions made in the course of butchering operations on a long bone such as the femur. Binford’s studies (1981, p. 169) revealed: “cut marks are concentrated on articulator surfaces and are relatively rare as transverse marks on long bone surfaces. . . . cut marks from stone tools are most commonly made with a sawing motion resulting in short and frequently multiple but roughly parallel marks. Such marks are generally characterized by an open cross section. Another characteristic of cut marks derived from the use of stone tools is that they rarely follow the contours of the bone on which they appear. That is, the cut does not show equal pressure in depressions and along prominent ridges or across the arc of a cylinder.” As described by de Mortillet, the short parallel grooves found on the Miocene rhinoceros femur conform to these criteria, leaving one to wonder how it is possible that chance geological pressures could so closely duplicate, in terms of position and character, the distinctive marks of human butchering.

The Miocene dating of the Clermont-Ferrand site is confirmed by the presence of Anthracotherium magnum, an extinct mammal of the hippopotamus family. In fact, the site could be older than Middle Miocene. According to one modern authority, Anthracotherium existed in Europe from the Late Miocene to the Early Eocene (Romer 1966, p. 389). Savage and Russell (1983, p. 245) last report Anthracotherium in the Orleanian land mammal stage of the Early Miocene.

2.15 Carved Shell from the Red Crag, England (Late Pliocene)

In a report delivered to the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1881, H. Stopes, F.G.S. (Fellow of the Geological Society), described a shell, the surface of which bore a carving of a crude but unmistakably human face. The carved shell was found in the stratified deposits of the Red Crag (Stopes 1881, p. 700). The Red Crag, part of which is called the Walton Crag, is thought to be of Late Pliocene age. According to Nilsson (1983, p. 308), the Red (Walton) Crag is between 2.0 and 2.5 million years old.

Figure 2.6. Carved shell from the Late Pliocene Red Crag formation, England (M. Stopes 1912, p. 285).

Just how the discovery ( Figure 2.6) was received was detailed by Marie C. Stopes, the discoverer’s daughter, in an article in The Geological Magazine (1912, p. 285): “in 1881, when it was brought forward by Mr. Henry Stopes at a British Association meeting, it was considered wrong to suggest that man could have been alive at so early a date.” Arguing against forgery, Marie Stopes (1912, p. 285) stated: “It should be noted that the excavated features are as deeply coloured red-brown as the rest of the surface. This is an important point, because when the surface of Red Crag shells are scratched they show white below the colour. It should also be noticed that the shell is so delicate that any attempt to carve it would merely shatter it.” It is therefore quite possible that this shell was carved and deposited in the Red Crag strata during the Late Pliocene. If true, this would place intelligent human beings in England as far back as 2.0 million and maybe as much as 2.5 million years ago. One should keep in mind that in terms of conventional paleoanthropological opinion, one does not encounter such works of art until the time of fully modern Cro-Magnon man in the Late Pleistocene, about 30,000 years ago.

Discoveries of incised bones dating back to the Pliocene or earlier persisted into the early part of the twentieth century. Opposition to them also persisted, and eventually prevailed. For example, Hugo Obermaier, professor of prehistoric archeology at the University of Madrid, wrote (1924, pp. 2–3): “traces (chiefly fluted, engraved, or grooved) have been observed on the bones of animals and shells of molluscs in Tertiary deposits at Saint-Prest, Sansan, Pouancé, and Billy, France; in the Tertiary basin of Antwerp, Holland; at Monte Aperto near Siena, Italy; in North and South America; and in several other places. . . . it is easy to explain supposed traces of human activity as the result of natural causes—such, for example, as the gnawing or biting of animals, earth pressure, or the friction of coarse sand.” But can we say for certain that this “easy” explanation is the correct one?

2.16 Bone implements From Below the Red Crag, England (Pliocene to Eocene)

In the early twentieth century, J. Reid Moir, the discoverer of many anomalously old flint implements (Section 3.3), described “a series of mineralised bone implements of a primitive type from below the base of the Red and Coralline Crags of Suffolk” (1917a, pp. 116–131). The top of the Red Crag in East Anglia is now considered to mark the boundary of the Pliocene and Pleistocene, and would thus date back about 2.0–2.5 million years (Romer 1966, p. 334; Nilsson 1983, p. 106). The older Coralline Crag is Late Pliocene and would thus be at least 2.5–3.0 million years old. The beds below the Red and Coralline Crags, the detritus beds (Table 2.1, p. 78), contain materials ranging from Pliocene to Eocene in age (Section 3.3.2). Objects found there could thus be anywhere from 2 million to 55 million years old. One group of Moir’s specimens is of triangular shape (Figure 2.7). In his report, Moir (1917a, p. 122) stated: “These have all been formed from wide, flat, thin pieces of bone, probably portions of large ribs, which have been so fractured as to now present a definite form. This triangular form has, in every case, been produced by fractures across the natural ‘grain’ of the bone.” Moir (1917a, p. 116) then began to describe some of his attempts to reproduce the specimens: “having conducted a number of experiments in which mineralised and unmineralised bones were subjected to the effects of fortuitous blows and pressure, and after having fractured numerous modern shank bones of the bullock by striking and cutting them with flints and other stones held in the hand with a view of thus shaping them to the forms of the sub-Crag examples, he [the author] is compelled to regard these latter specimens as undoubted works of man.” According to Moir, the triangular pieces of fossilized whale bone discovered in the strata below the Coralline Crag might have once been used as spear points.

Figure 2.7. Three bone tools from the detritus bed beneath the Coralline Crag, which contains materials ranging from Pliocene to Eocene in age. These implements could thus be anywhere from 2 to 55 million years old (Moir 1917a, plate 26).

Moir had himself collected most of the specimens, but he also described one discovered by another naturalist, a Mr. Whincopp, of Woodbridge in Suffolk, who had in his private collection a “piece of fossil rib partially sawn across at both ends” (Moir 1917a, p. 117). This object came from the detritus bed below the Red Crag and was “regarded by both the discoverer and the late Rev. Osmond Fisher as affording evidence of human handiwork” (Moir 1917a, p. 117). Indications of sawing would be quite unexpected on a fossil bone of this age. A piece of sawn wood was recovered from the more recent Cromer Forest Bed in the same region (Section 2.20).

Osmond Fisher, who was a Fellow of the Geological Society, made some interesting discoveries of his own. In a review published in The Geological Magazine, Fisher (1912, p. 218) wrote: “When digging for fossils in the Eocene of Barton Cliff I found a piece of jet-like substance about 9½ inches square and 2¼ inches thick. . . . It bore on at least one side what seemed to me marks of the chopping which had formed it into its accurately square shape. The specimen is now in the Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge.” Jet is a compact velvety-black coal that takes a good polish and is often used as jewelry. The Eocene period dates back about 38–55 million years from the present.

2.17 Dewlish Elephant Trench, England (Early Pleistocene to Late Pliocene)

Osmond Fisher also discovered an interesting feature in the landscape of Dorsetshire—the elephant trench at Dewlish. Fisher (1912, pp. 918 – 919) stated in his 1912 review: “This trench was excavated in chalk and was 12 feet deep, and of such a width that a man could just pass along it. It is not on the line of any natural fracture, and the beds of flint on each side correspond. The bottom was of undisturbed chalk, and one end, like the sides, was vertical. At the other end it opened diagonally on to the steep side of a valley. It has yielded substantial remains of Elephas meridionalis, but no other fossils. . . . This trench, in my opinion, was excavated by man in the later Pliocene age as a pitfall to catch elephants; and if so, it proves that he was already an intelligent and social being.” Elephas meridionalis, or “southern elephant,” was in existence in Europe from 1.2 to 3.5 million years ago (Maglio 1973, p. 79). Thus, while the bones found in the trench at Dewlish could conceivably be Early Pleistocene in age, they might also date to the Late Pliocene.

In Fisher’s original reports in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, we find the following more detailed description: “The trench was . . . followed for about 103 feet, until it suddenly terminated in a smooth ‘apse-like’ end. . . . It was a deep, narrow trench, with nearly vertical sides of undisturbed chalk. Mr. [Clement] Reid says: ‘The fissure (or rather trough) ended abruptly, without any trace of a continuing join; it was not a fault, for the lines of flint-nodules corresponded on each side’” (O. Fisher 1905, p. 35). The base of the trench was reported to be a smooth surface of chalk, twelve feet down (O. Fisher 1905, p. 36). Photographs accompanying the report show the vertical walls of the trench, carefully chipped as if with a large chisel.

In response to suggestions that flowing water might have excavated the trench, Fisher (1905, p. 36) stated: “A stream in such a locality would be unlikely to excavate a deep and narrow channel, much less, if it did so, would it come to an abrupt ending. And, even if we could account for the natural formation of such a trench, how came it that the remains of so many elephants were found in it, and (so far as appears) no other animals?”

Fisher (1905, p. 36) referred to reports showing that primitive hunters of modern times made use of similar trenches: “Sir Samuel Baker describes this method of taking elephants by natives of Africa. He says that an elephant cannot cross a ditch with hard perpendicular sides, which will not crumble nor yield to pressure. Pitfalls 12 to 14 feet deep are dug in the animals’ routes towards drinking-places, and covered with boughs and grass. The pits are made of different shapes, according to the individual opinions of the trappers. When caught, the animals are attacked with spears while in their helpless position, until they at last succumb through loss of blood. . . . If the stream which now runs at the bottom of the hill, despite subsequent changes in the contour of the country already existed, then this trench would have been made in a position suitable to intercept the route to the drinking place.”

Some critics pointed out that the trench appeared too narrow to accommodate a fully grown elephant, but evidently the deep trench was simply meant to incapacitate an adult animal by injuring its legs or to capture a young animal. Also, further excavation of the trench by the Dorset Field Club, as reported in a brief note in Nature (October 16, 1914; p. 511), revealed that “instead of ending below in a definite floor it divides downward into a chain of deep narrow pipes in the chalk.” But it is not unlikely that ancient humans might have made use of small fissures to open a larger trench in the chalk. It would be worthwhile to examine the elephant bones found in the trench for signs of cut marks or selective preservation.

2.18 More on implements From Below the Red Crag (Pliocene to Eocene)

Ten years after his first report (Section 2.16), J. Reid Moir (1927, pp. 31–32) again described fossilized bone implements taken from below the Red Crag formation (Figure 2.7): “In the sub-Red Crag Bone Bed where these flint implements are found, there are a number of bones comprising, chiefly, pieces of whale rib, very highly mineralised. Among these I have found certain specimens that have every appearance of having been shaped by man. Such pieces are of great rarity and assume, usually, a definite pointed form which cannot well have been produced by any natural, non-human means. The ‘worked’ portions of these bones show the same deep and ancient coloration of the other parts of the specimens, and experiments which I have carried out demonstrate that, in the present mineralised state of the bones, it is not possible to shape them to the forms they have assumed. In order to produce such forms from bone I found it necessary to operate on fresh specimens, and that these, by ‘flaking’ and rubbing with a hard quartzite pebble, could be made into shapes quite comparable with those found below the Red Crag. I have little doubt, therefore, that these latter specimens have been shaped by man and represent the most ancient bone implements yet discovered.”

Bone implements, like incised bones, remain a major category of paleoanthropological evidence. For example, Mary Leakey (1971, p. 235) has reported from Olduvai Gorge in Africa: “It is probable that the majority of the broken mammalian bones found on living sites in Bed I and II at Olduvai merely represent food debris. Some may also have been further broken by carnivores after the sites were abandoned. There is, however, a relatively small number which appear to have been artificially flaked and abraded.”

Leakey (1971, p. 235) then gave the following example: “Part of an equid [horse family] first rib showing evidence of polishing and smoothing at the fractured end. . . . There is an oblique fracture of the shaft of the rib, towards the proximal end, which runs transversely from the lower to the upper margin. One edge of the fracture is abraded and smooth, showing that the bone was used after it had been broken.”

She also described a series of humeri (the bones of the upper forelimb): “A proportion of these specimens appears to represent the ends of bones in which the shafts were shattered to extract the marrow and which have been subsequently utilised, but others, including the pointed series and those split longitudinally, seem to have been expressly shaped” (M. Leakey 1971, p. 236).

Leakey qualified her apparent acceptance of these implements with only this statement: “At the time of this writing there is, as yet, no general agreement regarding the extent to which bone was worked and used in Lower and Middle Pleistocene times. It is evident that more basic research on the effect of artificial fracture and use of bone, as distinct from damage caused by natural means, is required before bone debris from early living sites can be satisfactorily interpreted” (M. Leakey 1971, p. 235).

Despite this cautionary remark, Mary Leakey’s statements about the bone implements of Olduvai Gorge seemed positive. The question is this: will scientists show the same openmindedness in the case of the sub-Crag bone tools reported by J. Reid Moir? If the answer is yes, then paleoanthropologists will have to rework their ideas about human origins to include toolmaking humans over 2 million years ago, and maybe as much as 55 million years ago, in England.

2.19 Implements from Cromer Forest Bed, England (Middle to Early Pleistocene)

J. Reid Moir (1927, pp. 49–50) also wrote of bone tool finds from the Cromer Forest Bed: “During this year (1926) Mr. J. E. Sainty found upon the beach at Overstrand a piece of heavily mineralized bone which is evidently referable to the Cromer Forest Bed. . . . the bone is of a markedly implemental form; in fact, on the surface figured and at the butt-end, it exhibits flaking and hacking, which, judging from the experiments I carried out in shaping this material, I think has been intentionally produced. . . . Sir Arthur Keith, F.R.S. [Fellow of the Royal Society], who examined the specimen, has kindly given me the following opinion upon it: ‘There can be no doubt, I think, that your implement has been fashioned out of the lower jaw of the larger whalebone whales. None of the original surface of the bone is left; it has been removed by flaking.’ From the extreme fossilization of this specimen, I judge it to belong to the earliest Cromer Forest Bed deposit, and to be contemporary with the great flint implements found at that horizon. Remains of whales have been discovered in the Forest Bed and it was doubtless the skeleton of one of these that supplied the material from which this implement was made by one of the earliest Cromerian men.”

The most comprehensive recent study of the Cromer Forest Bed formation is by R. G. West. According to West (1980, p. 201), the oldest part of the Cromer Forest Bed is the Sheringham member. West identified the lower part of the Sheringham member, representing the base of the Cromer Forest Bed, with the Pre-Pastonian cold stage of East Anglia ( Table 2.1, p. 78).

Even after much study, West was not able to give a conclusive date for the Pre-Pastonian. He suggested that the lowest level of the Pre-Pastonian, might be equivalent to the basal part of the northwestern European cold stage called the Erburonian. This would give the Pre-Pastonian cold stage a maximum age of about 1.75 million years (West 1980, fig. 54). But Nilsson (1983, p. 308) puts the base of the Erburonian at 1.5 million years.

According to West (1980, fig. 54), the Pre-Pastonian cold stage of East Anglia might also be identified, on paleomagnetic grounds, with the Menapian glaciation of northwestern Europe at .8–.9 million years. The Pre-Pastonian might also be identified with the early part of the northwestern European Cromer complex, a series of alternating glacials and interglacials extending from about .4 million to .8 million years ago ( West 1980, p. 120; Nilsson 1983, p. 308). The early part of the Cromer complex of glacials and interglacials can be estimated at about .6–.8 million years according to the correlation table of Nilsson (1983, p. 308).

Therefore, according to West, the Cromer Forest Bed series might be as old as 1.75 million years or as young as .6–.8 million years. Nilsson (1983, p. 308) shows the Cromer Forest Bed series beginning at about .8 million years ago.

So if the heavily mineralized bone implement reported by Moir actually did come from the lowest levels of the Cromer Forest Bed, as he surmised, it might be as much as 1.75 million years old. The oldest Homo erectus fossils from Africa only date back about 1.6 million years.

If, however, we take the younger of the possible dates for the oldest levels of the Cromer Forest Bed (about .6 million years) that would still be quite anomalous for England. According to Nilsson (1983, p. 111), the oldest stone tools from England come from Westbury-sub-Mendip deposits equivalent to the terminal phase of the Cromer Forest Bed, at about .4 million years ago.

Of course, Moir could have been wrong about the source of the mineralized bone implement. The beds at Overstrand cover almost the entire span of Cromer Forest Bed time (West 1980, p. 159). Thus the implement from Overstrand might have come not from the earliest but from the latest part of the Cromer Forest Bed sequence, making it the same age as the stone tools from Westbury-sub-Mendip, about .4 million years old—quite within the range of conventional acceptability. This possibility makes it all the more remarkable that the bone tool reported by Moir is not given serious attention by modern paleoanthropologists.

In some additional remarks on the Cromer Forest Bed discoveries, Moir (1927, p. 50) went on to describe incised bones rather than bones modified as tools: “The discovery of flint implements in the Forest Bed induced me to make a close examination of the mammalian bones from this deposit, in the possession of Mr. A. C. Savin of Cromer. This examination revealed three specimens, all found in the peat, representing the upper part of the Forest Bed at West Runton, by Mr. Savin, which show on their surface clearly defined cuts which, I think, can only have been produced by flint knives in removing flesh . . . the Cromer examples are quite comparable with others exhibiting cuts which I have discovered in various later prehistoric epochs. The lines are fine, and straight, and were evidently produced by a sharp-edged flint. Some of the smaller mammals might cut a bone with their teeth in a similar way, but they could not produce such long cuts as are present on the bones from West Runton. Nor is it possible to regard these markings as due to glacial action.”

The part of the Cromer Forest Bed sequence represented especially well at West Runton is the Upper Freshwater Bed. According to West, the Upper Freshwater Bed, as defined during Moir’s time, contained elements as old as the Pastonian temperate stage. The Pastonian stage of East Anglia was thought by West (1980, fig. 54) to be equivalent to the latter part of the Waalian temperate stage of northwestern Europe, dated at 1 million years (Nilsson 1983, p. 308).

Alternatively, the Pastonian temperate stage might correlate with an interglacial within the Cromer glacial complex, at about .5 million years. In any case, West (1980, p. 116) believed most of the Upper Freshwater Bed was within the time range of the Cromer complex of northwestern Europe, giving it an age of .4–.8 million years (Nilsson 1983, p. 308).

Taken together, the different estimates of the age of the Upper Freshwater Bed would give the cut bones from West Runton a possible date range of between 0.4 and 1.0 million years. At the older end of the date range, the cut bones would be extremely anomalous; at the younger end, less so.

Moir observed that the marks on the West Runton bones were not of the kind produced by glaciers and further noted that the bed in which the specimens were found contained many fragile, unbroken shells and thus appeared undisturbed. “The bones comprise part of the humerus of a large bison, and portions of the lower jaws, with teeth in place, of deer,” stated Moir (1927, p. 50). The cuts, he also observed, ran under thick ferruginous deposits, indicating their great age. “I have recently carried out some experiments in scraping modern bones with a sharp flake of flint,” continued Moir (1927, p. 51), “and find that the cuts so produced are in every way comparable with those upon the Cromer examples. It was noticed that these latter specimens, in addition to the easily recognised cuts, exhibited a large number of minute incisions which could only be examined adequately by means of a lens. Upon the experimental bones I found that a precisely similar assemblage of small cuts was present, and I have no doubt that these are due to the microscopic projections present on the cutting-edge of the flint which I used.” The specific identifying characteristics of incisions made with flint flakes

on bone have been confirmed by modern investigators such as Rick Potts and Pat Shipman. John Gowlett (1984, p. 53) stated: “Their work involved use of the electron microscope, at a very high magnification. They found that many bones from Olduvai preserved carnivore gnawing marks, as well as stone tool cut-marks. Very close parallel striations were indisputable evidence of the stone tools, for no edge of a flake is perfectly straight, and each protruding sharp piece leaves its mark.” It is apparent that Moir’s methods of identification compare favorably with those employed by modern professional paleoanthropologists.

2.20 Sawn Wood from Cromer Forest Bed, England (Middle to Early Pleistocene)

J. Reid Moir (1927, p. 47) also described a piece of cut wood from the Cromer Forest Bed ( Figure 2.8) that suggested human action: “the late Mr. S. A. Notcutt of Ipswich dug out of this deposit, at the foot of the cliff near Mundesley, a piece of wood which, in my opinion, was shaped by man. The bed in which the wood was found consisted of undisturbed sand and gravel, and was overlain by Lower Glacial Clay in situ.”

Figure 2.8. Piece of wood from the Cromer Forest Bed, England. The piece of wood, apparently sawn at the right end, is between 0.5 and 1.75 million years old (Moir 1917b).

The beds at Mundesley extend from the lattermost Cromer Forest Bed times, at about .4 million years, to the lower part of the Pre-Pastonian cold stage, estimated variously at 0.8 or 1.75 million years (West 1980, p. 182; Nilsson 1983, p. 308). But most of the Mundesley strata are identified with the Cromerian temperate stage of East Anglia (West 1980, p. 201). One should note that the Cromerian temperate stage of East Anglia, dated roughly at .4–.5 million years, is not the same as the Cromer complex of northwestern European glacials and interglacials, dated at .4–.8 million years (Nilsson 1983, p. 308).

Figure 2.9. Cross section of a piece of cut wood from the Cromer Forest Bed. The arrow indicates a groove, possibly from an initial cut by a sawing implement (Moir 1917b).