holmes] A URIFERO US GRA VEL MAN 1 1 3
A. The animal remains found in the gravels in fossil state represent a large number of species, chiefly mammals, identified by Dr Joseph Leidy. Whitney enumerates the following forms : Mastodon, elephant, rhinoceros, horse, camel, tapir, ox, llama, deer, wolf, and dog. These are all of extinct species, and although some may have existed down to post-Pliocene time, as indicated by Dr Becker, they fall as a group naturally within the Neocene age.
B. The fossil plants of the gravels secured in Whitney's time were studied by Dr Leo Lesquereux, and by this eminent authority were called Pliocene, although he found many forms that could with equal justice be assigned to the Miocene. Extensive collections obtained in more recent years have been identified by Ward and Knowlton, and it is agreed that on the whole they represent early rather than late Neocene forms, that they are clearly of middle Tertiary age. According to Professor Knowlton there is not one species which can undoubtedly be identified with living forms. 1
C. Human remains reported from the gravels are not plenti- ful, and all that appear to have been preserved are an imperfect human cranium known as the Calaveras skull and a few unim- portant fragments of another skull. Fragments of skulls and various bones of the body have been reported from the old gravels in a number of localities. These remains, and especially the Calaveras skull, indicate a man not differing materially from the California Indian of today, although said by Whitney to present some characteristics of the Eskimo.
D. The remains of human handiwork to be considered are, on the other hand, quite numerous. Many hundreds of speci- mens have been reported from the gravels and are believed, in a general way, to belong to the Neocene deposits. According to the finders, many of them were intimately associated with the
��1 Lindgren and Knowlton, Age of the Auriferous Gravels {Journal of Geology, vol. iv f No. 8, p. 905).
AM. AXTH., N. S., X — 8
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