THE ST"A FORD STKULL, A PROBBT )LE EALY MAN FROM SANTA CLARATIA COUNTY, CA LIFOR'EIA. 10 HISTORY AND CIRCUM.IST- ,-.1L OF THE DISCOJVEKY OF This SJULL. By Robert F. 1Ieizer Earlyr in 1922, probably in April or Mtay, a Stanford University student, Bruce Seymour, discovered a human s'ull obtruding from- the channel wall of San Francisouito Creek opposite the site of the Stanford residence. ie removed the skull and tool: it to the late Professor Bailey Willis wtiho showed great interest in it, visited the find spot, and made a study of the geology of the location. Willis advised Dr. Ihle'* Hrdlibka, with whom he had collaborated in the study leading to the publication of Bulletin 52 of the Bureau of A-merican Lthnology, Some correspondence between Ilrdlic1.a and 'Willis ensued, but interest in the whole matter seems shortly to have been abandoned by Hrdli6ka who never mentioned the find in print, and by ilrlis who became again involved in ratters more geological than anthroa pological. Willis did print, in a college .nagazine, an account of the find which seems to have been overlooked or ignored.1 In February, 1949, Professor V. L. Vandergoof of thie Deprart- ment of Geology, Stanford University, sent me a file of letters and photographs which had recently been deposited in his Department by Drs. 'Willis. A perusal of these has led me to believe that the f acts in the case are sufficiGently interesting, as probably indicatirw really ancient skeletal remains, that they are worth presenting in mnore accessible form.2 There follows copies of: 1), Dr. -Jillist letter to IIrdlih-a; 2), an extract from the little article published by VvWillls; 3), Hrdlitkats reply to Willis; 4), a letter from L, L. Loud to Willis; and 5), an interesting letter to 17illis froiii J. M. F. Dubois, son 1 Bailey 'LWIillis, "Out of the Long Past,." The Stanford Cardinal, October, 1922, pp. 8-ll. 2 The present authors express their appreciation to Dr. Vander.Hoof, Dept. of Geology, and Dr. F. Ve. K.eesirng, Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology of Stanford University for locating the sk.:.ull, making available the file of data regarding the skull, and foor nermission to publish on the find. -2- of the discoverer of Pithecanthropus erectus. Reproductions of several photographs are also presieted hereiin Plate 1, since these clearly illustrate some of the essential points detailed in Dr. Willist letter of May 15, 1922. From the evidence presented in these documents, the following facts seen established: 1. The skull was found at a depth of 20 feet from the sur- face, cemented in the lower part of a gravel stratum exposed in the bank of San Francisquito Creek. 2. The skull, solidly embedded in gravels, was filled with small gravel as attested by Willist published statement, by two photographs made at the tiae of discovery (and now on file in the UCAS office), and b-,y, the skull in its present condition (cf. Plate 2.) 5. There is thus ruled out the possibilityv that the so:ull was recently derived from a higher point, and it must be con- sidered as laid down at the same time as the gravels in which it became cemented, 4 Some geologic antiquity, early Recent according to Dr. IVillis, is to be accorded the skcull on the basis of the time involved in the formation of the alluvial cone over the gravels in wh'ch the skull lay, and the cuttingz of the present creek trench into the cone rand underlying deposits. 5. That the skull is not a recent intrusion into the gravels in which it lay is further demonstrated by the facts that it was solidly cemented in the gravels, was exposed in a vertical banlr by the stream cuttingle, and it s interior 1wa s PIlled with gravel of the same type in which it was firmnly embedded,. The reconstruction offered by Loud in his letter (last 3 paragraphs) is not supported by the evidence of the deposition of the skull cited above, and because the present stream channel cuts across, at nearly a right angle, the gravel bed marking the courseoThe former stream which antedates the formation of the superincumbent alluvial cone, The stratigraphic situation mav be reconstructed about as follows: Present land surface (worn, level surface of alluvial cone) Alluvial silts 20' sufaeof SantaClara forrnat?0 Slgh Gravel fillstefabed Santa Clara (Lower Pleistocene) /' SNsediments (clay, gravel) 71' STANFORD SKULL L Present streambed of San Francisquito Creek>- flw . **t ** * * * * * biary 15, 192I2 Dr. Ales Hrdli~ka, National flus e i', Washington, D. C. My dear Doctor Hrdli1ka; Although it is some 12 years since you and I rejuvenated Ameghinots ancient roan in South America, you are, I notice, still interested in our older inhabitants and I would, therefore, call your attention to a skull, which we have recently fovnod in thle alluvial gravpls of this iimediate vicinity, Stanford is built on the alluvial cone of San Francisquito creek and the old Stanford residence stands on the bank of the creek about midway between the head of the cone and salt marshes9. At this point the creek has cut a canyon in its own earlier deposits of silt over gravel and has gone down into the underlying -4- Santa Clara (Pliocene). The canyon is about 25 feet- deep, some 20 feet in the alluvial deposits and some 5 feet in the Santa Clara. The unconforMity between the Pliocene and the more recent gravels is very sharply definled. The older formation, consisting of consolidated yellow clay and gravel, was eroded and presented a hard surface, The younger gravel was swept down upon it by the stream and was deposited in potholes and irregularities of its surface, The same process is going on today in the much more modern channel of the present course. The gravels which rest upon the Santa Clara may, I think, be correctly classed as early Recent, to distinguish them from the deposits which have been laid down byr the creek since it assmined its actual [i.e., present] course. I would not be understood, however, as attributing any considerable geologic antiquity to them. They seem to be old hunanly speaking, but they are recent geologically. The early Recent gravels are strongly cemented. They stAnd in a vertical wall and even large pebbles are so firmly held that they cannot be dislodged, except with a pick. They fi1l an old channel, which can be traced in a curve, that is now cut across by the actual channel in a curve in the opposite direction. Hence I conclude that the old channel was filled, l(ay buried long enough to permit the cementing of the gravel by the solutions contained in the groLudwater, and has been re-exposed bjy t-he erosion of the present canyon. How long that mn ight take it seems impossible to conjecture, several thousand years, I wouldl guess. At the bottom of the early Recenlt gravels a skull was found by a Stanford student, Bruce Seymour, who dug it out and broughlt it to me. He said he had difficulty in freeing it from the gravel, which he had to pick away, anid that even after he had cleared away all the gfravel around it it still remained firmly attached by the mass of gravel which fills the base of the skull. I went down to thne locality next day and found the cast of the sl:ull clearly defined in the gravel, which iimnediately around the s kull was somewhat finer than elsewhli ere. I replaced the skaull in its original position, where it fitted perfectly, and took the photographs which I am sending you. A weekL, later the skull was again replaced in its old bed and the locality was examined by a number of geologists, members of the Le Conte club. Lawson, Buwalda, and Stock of thle University of California were of the party. It was agreed, without question that the skull was an indigenous boulder in the format ion. The idea of artificial burial was negatived by the continuity of the overlying strata, which were found to be undisturbed. The skaull itself is complete, except for the lower and upper jaw and nasal portion. It measures 181 mm. from front to baclk and 137 mm. above the ears, measured between verticals. If these dimensions are rightly measured, the cephalic index would be 76 .4.v The super-orbital ridge is strongly developed and is continuous across the nose. The back of the head is prominent and the muscle scars of the neck are large, Examined by Professor Heath of the Zoology department and by Dr. M4'eyer, Head of the Department of Anatomny, the skull is regarded as very similar to Indian skulls, which lhave been collected from burying grounds in the Santa Clara valley. Dr, Meyer, however, commented on the somewhat primitive characteristics that I hiave mentioned and upon other anatomical details of a somewhat unusual character. The evidence would seem to indicate that wve have found a rather ancient Indian skull, perhaps older than any other k;;nowan from this locality. I feel sure that you will be interested to k,,nowi the facts and to have the photographs. With best regards to both yourself and to Dr. Holmes, to whose attention I would be glad to have you bring this letter, I am cordially yours /s/ Bailey Willis * * - i 'C - * * * i [(Abstract of Willist article in the Stanford Cardinal ",I must admit that I think the skull is more than 3000 years old, and for that I have this reason. I am by no miearis sure that 20 feet is all the silt there ever was above the skull, If any part of the plain were raised, say by earthquake or by warping under the pressures which cause earthquakes, the surface would 'be washed away or worn away by wind until it held even with the rest. The plain by the Stanford residence has thus been warped up a nd worn off. If you will go down into the deep channel of the creek, you will see that the present bottom lies seven feet below where its bottom was when the skull and the gravel were washe(l downi.. The newer, deeper part of the channel has been cut in a hard bed of clay and gravel, which slopes away both up and down stream. It is very slightly arched and the arching has tak~en place since the skull washed into place. Seven feet is the apparent -height of the arch, and since the plain above is level, seven feet of silt must have been washed off. Considering how gradual are the changes, even where the growing mountains throw down our cities, I am inclined to thlink.r that the larger estimate is more likely to be the right than the smaller and that ... [the skull was deposited] more than 4000 years ago.'"3 Willis, op. cit., p. 11. -6- * * * * * i* ** * * * * SI.ITlrHISO-N l TAN INSTITUTION UN ITED STATES ITAT TONAL MTJSLUM Washington, D. C. IMTay 23, 192 Dr. Bailey Willis Department of Geology Stanford University- Dear Professor kyillis: I am delighted to have your letter of M1ay 15, together with the clear photographs of thle locality of the highly interesting specimen the finding of which is described. Of course you know may position on this subject. 17hile I hiave all reason to distrust the existence of mi9n of any really great or geological antiquity on this continent, I would have no hesi- tation in accepting a man up to say, 6,000, 8,000 or even 10,000 years ago; though if man had been here as early as that lhe must have been very scarce. I would like to have a few more details about the position of the sl ull: 1) How deep was it from the surface of the gravel at that particular spot? 2) How far was it from the outside wall or surface of the gravel (if there was such)? 3) Does the skull bear any mnarks due to contact with the gravel which would probably have been quite necessary had it been rolled with the same? In addition I would be very thankful 'or a top view of the skull in such a position that the glabella-inion line ;.would be about horizontal. Of course I should be very glad to exaniine and report on the skull, perhaps in our new Journal, if it could be sent to rue for inf ormation, I thin'r- it wiould be quite safe to send it by express. The enclosed letter in one of the i-rgentine Journals will I am sure interest you; please send it back. With best w-ishes, and hoping you will come to see me when in V'lashingt on, I ara, -7- Sincerely yours, /S/ A. Hrdlicka PeS. I have of course called the attention of Professor Holmnes to the skull.1 * * * * * * * *c * *t * * UN IVUMS ITY OF CALIFORNIA Museum of Anthropology Second and Parnassus Avenues San Francisco, California May 24, 1922 Dr. Bailey Willis Stanford Univers ity Palo Alto, California My dear Dr. WNillis: In regard to the skull which has had so much publicity in the newspapers recently you will recall that I said at the first glance that it was a typical Central California Indian slull of a male about 50 years of ace at the time of death. Measurements confirm this decision as most of them do not vary hardly a hai^;rs breadth from the average. Measurements:-- Among the skulls from the San Francisco Bay shellLmoundT's i I recently measured are 40 which are undoubtedla from males. The average length of these is 184.4 no., and the average width 13941 mr. The corresponding measurements for your skull is 185 and 139 rrm. The basion wleas brolken in many of our skulls but the average height of 24 complete specimens is 135.8 mm. Your skull again is almost exactly the same, 136 arzi. The average basionmnasion length is 98.5 ran. while your skull is 103 rm., but three of our skulls run higher than yours in this regard. The average minimum frontal width is 92 mm., while yours is 95 mm. Indian Village Site: -- This is good evidence th-Lat the skull belong g - a typicai sellmound Indian but I have also located an Indian village site a quarter of a mile or more upstream from the place where the skull was found. The village s.i te is on the northwest side of San Francisquito Creekc at the first bend below the old suspension bridge. Thnis is on the ground that is being irrigated and planted to tomatoes and young fruit trees. m=8- The ground is not a shellmound, neither is there blackened soil such as is usual at village sites in the interior of Califor- nia far from salt water, There is much evidence of occunation by white men such as nails and brokLen glass and pottery yetl the Indian signs are also unmistakable over a very wide area, Shells: -- Broken bits of shell can be easily found of a charaFto strongly suggest Indian occupation. This statement would be true even though it m ight be shown that some of the shell was left on the ground by white men engaged in chick.en. business, The species found include, principally bentnosed clam (Macor.ma nasuta), but also California oyster (Ostrea lurida), anTNeTthidea aI TTrnica. The last species is rare-i ll San Francisco Da'r7 mounds except at Castro where it is more abundant than any other species. Two fragments of shell were found which came fror.i the ocean coast. One was abalone (Haliotis sp.). The other was the 1,-lashington clam (Schizothaerus nuttallii). Both of these are very rare in the San FranBciscio y 7iiTs. Implements: -- Other evidence of Indian occupation is f rag- mentsfihET bones, but more especially the abnormal quantities of stones of the size ofP an apple and smaller. Almost without exception these stones are burnt. They are what we kmow as cooking stones. There is one f lak.>e of chocolate colored chert. A kind of rock canmon on the Peninsula and used in making k:nives and arrow points. It is a typical piece of refuse such as is common in the Castro mound. Two flakes of obsidian were found. A very large Indian quarry six miles east of Santa Rosa has been worked for thousands of years to obtain this material. It is the nearesu source of supply known to the writer, Age of the skull: -- Although may belief is that the skull was wahed oF from the Indian village site a quarter of a mle or more up stream I am unable to determine the age of thee skull, That is a problem for the geologist. I find that the depth of San Francisquito Creesk opposite the Indian village site is 30 feet. The skull vwas washed down in reay opinion at a time when the channel was only 23 feet deep. Then 5 feet of gravel was deposited on top of the sk. ull. This gravel appears to be of twio different kinds with two different degrees of cementation, After the deposit of gravel the channel r.2oved to one side and eroded a new chatnnel 7 feet deeper than it had ever been before. I am no Judge of the time that this would require, If a geologist should judge the time to be four or five thouscand years ago or even somewhat more it would, in my opinion, in no wise conflict with the findings of an archaeologist. Yours sincerely, /s/ Llewellyn L, Loud -9- P.S. You are at perf ect liberty to quote f rom the above in any statements to the press that you desire to make. floss, Cal. Mcay 24, t'22 Prof. Bailey Willis Stanfo rd, Ccal Dear Sir: Wfith very much interest I have followed the newspaper reports regarding the "Stanf ord Skull." I take pleasure in informing you that I received today a cable from Holland from my father, Prof. D. Eugene Dubois (dis- coverer of the Pithecanthropus Erectus), requesting me to ascer- tain all possible data in regard to this new discovery. Hould it be possible to obtain photographs, description of the location and soil in which it was found, measurements, color and general contour of this skull? MAy father is still developing his theories and studies of the "Mlissing Link" and this information would help him greatly and would be very much appreciated. Thanking you for anything you may be able to do in this matter, I am, dear Sir Yours very truly, /s/ J. M. F. Dubois Addres s: ~J.7TT.. Dubois Ross, Marnn Co. Cal.;