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In the Engis caves, near Liége, portions of six or seven human skeletons were found, imbedded in the same matrix with the remains of the elephant, rhinoceros, bear, hyena, and other extinct quadrupeds. In an ancient tumulus near Borrely, in Denmark, a human skull was discovered which was adjudged by its surroundings to belong to the 'stone period' of Denmark, or the era of the Scotch fir.
On the one hand, it is closely approached by the flattened Australian skulls, of which I have spoken, from which other Australian forms lead us gradually up to skulls having very much the type of the Engis cranium.
In the absence of the jaws, then, any judgment on the relations of the fossil skulls to recent Races must be accepted with a certain reservation. But taking the evidence as it stands, and turning first to the Engis skull, I confess I can find no character in the remains of that cranium which, if it were a recent skull, would give any trustworthy clue as to the Race to which it might appertain.
Bones of extinct animals mingled with those of Man were observed to abound in both caverns; but with this difference, that whereas in the Engis cave there were several human crania and very few other bones, in Engihoul there occurred numerous bones of the extremities belonging to at least three human individuals, and only two small fragments of a cranium.
Human Skeleton found in Cave near Dusseldorf. Its geological Position and probable Age. Its abnormal and ape-like Characters. Fossil Human Skull of the Engis Cave near Liege. Professor Huxley's Description of these Skulls. Comparison of each, with extreme Varieties of the native Australian Race. Range of Capacity in the Human and Simian Brains. Skull from Borreby in Denmark.
Its contours and measurements agree very well with those of some Australian skulls which I have examined and especially has it a tendency towards that occipital flattening, to the great extent of which, in some Australian skulls, I have alluded. But all Australian skulls do not present this flattening, and the supraciliary ridge of the Engis skull is quite unlike that of the typical Australians.
He also discovered in the cave of Chokier, 2 1/2 miles south-west from Liege, a polished and jointed needle-shaped bone, with a hole pierced obliquely through it at the base; such a cavity, he observed, as had never given passage to an artery. Another cut bone and several artificially-shaped flints were found in the Engis cave, near the human skulls before alluded to. Dr.
English : 21 : 13 3/4 : 12 1/2 : 4 4/10 : 7 7/8 : 5 1/3. "In making the preceding statement, it must be clearly understood that I neither desire to affirm that the Engis and Neanderthal skulls belong to the Australian race, nor to assert even that the ancient skulls belong to one and the same race, so far as race is measured by language, colour of skin, or character of hair.
The statement which Huxley made about the ancient human skull from the cave of Engis still holds good of the brain: 'It might have belonged to a philosopher or might have contained the thoughtless mind of a savage. That is only one side of our problem, there is another. Huxley's statement refers to the average brain, which is equal to the needs of both the philosopher and the savage.
At Engis, near Liège, Belgium, a deeply buried skull, associated with many remains of extinct animals, has been dug up, which is by no means ape-like in character. The cave contained bones of extinct animals, but no trace of the reindeer. There is no occasion to speak here of the many remains of neolithic man that have been exhumed.
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