Prehistoric manDuckworth, W. L. H. (Wynfrid Laurence Henry)
History
Prehistoric man
Duckworth, W. L. H. (Wynfrid Laurence Henry)
Prehistoric peoples
The Forbes Quarry skull is clearly of Neanderthaloid type as regards the
formation of the brain-case; in respect of the face it resembles in
general the skull from La Chapelle. But in respect of the estimated
capacity of the brain-case (estimated at 1100 c.c.), the Forbes Quarry
skull falls far short of both those other examples. Moreover the cranial
base assigns to it an extremely lowly position. The individual is
supposed by some to have been of the female sex, but there is no great
certainty about this surmise. The enormous size of the eye-cavities and
of the opening of the nose confer a very peculiar appearance upon the
face, and are best seen in the full-face view. Some other features of the
skull will be considered in the concluding chapter, when its relation to
skulls of the Neanderthal type will be discussed in detail.
_Andalusia, Spain._
In 1910, Colonel Willoughby Verner discovered several fragments of a
human skeleton in a cave in the Serranía de Ronda. These fragments have
been presented to the Hunterian Museum. They seem to be absolutely
mineralised. Though imperfect, they indicate that their possessor was
adult and of pygmy stature. The thigh-bone in particular is of interest,
for an upper fragment presents a curious conformation of the rounded
prominence called the greater trochanter. In this feature, and in regard
to the small size of the head of the bone, the femur is found to differ
from most other ancient fossil thigh-bones, and from those of modern
human beings, with the exception of some pygmy types, viz. the dwarf-like
cave-dwellers of Aurignac (compared by Pruner-Bey in 1868 to the
Bushmen), the aborigines of the Andaman islands, and the aboriginal
Bushmen of South Africa. A full description of the bones has not been
published, but will probably appear very shortly.
_Grimaldi_ (_Mentone Caves_).
Among the numerous human skeletons yielded by the caves of Mentone, two
were discovered at a great depth in a cave known as the 'Grotte des
Enfants.' The excavations were set on foot by the Prince of Monaco, and
these particular skeletons have been designated the 'Grimaldi' remains.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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