Skull and Tusks of Mammoth Found with Human Remains near Coulterville


Reprinted from the San Francisco Call
January 8, 1898

September 18, 2016 - Two human skulls and part of the remains of a mammoth have been dug up out of the earth in the Sierra foothills near Coulterville. The best known local scientists are busy investigating them, for all the signs and surroundings indicate that they are of incalculable value to the scientific world.

In character the skulls closely resemble the famous Java skull, the most remarkable skull ever found, a skull which the best authorities claim to be over 10,000 years old and to be the nearest approach to remains of the "missing link."

It was only a lucky accident that preserved the remains of these Coulterville bones. Chinese miners uncovered them near bedrock, and to allay their superstitious fears began to throw them into the river. Before they had cleaned them all out their white over-seer happened along. He did not realize the true value of the bones, but he thought they'd make good-looking curiosities, so he carried home a number of skulls and what was left of the tusks of a mammoth. Later on a scientist happened to pass that way. He instantly saw the value of the remains from a scientific point of view, and obtained them for the Academy of Sciences. Those Chinese never knew it, but the bones they so zealously pitched into the river were of more value than any ordinary pocket of gold they could have found. They were worth nearer $10,000 than the bit of gold in the gravel near them.

To the ordinary observer there would be little about these fractured bones to attract attention, for there are lots of other bones in the world that look like them. But the fact that the human skulls were found together with the mammoth bones, in the same bed of auriferous gravel, makes them at once of the greatest importance as tending to throw light on the existence of man in this vicinity during the Pliocene age.

A number of scientific men who have seen these remains declare them to be of the greatest importance to paleontology; in fact, it is a close question whether they are not of greater importance than any remains that have ever been found in California, not even barring the famous Calaveras skull. While scientists do not generally place a money value on their specimens it is safe to say that thousands of dollars could not buy those specimens.

"The skull just received by the Academy of Sciences will be called the “Coulterville skull."

Although the Coulterville skull was discovered last summer it was unearthed many years ago. It's true value was not discovered till a quick-witted scientist caught sight of it recently.

The place where the skull was found is now a ranch owned by C. L. Mast, but at one time it was a gravel mine owned by William Curtis, who recollects perfectly the day the skulls were unearthed. The exact location of the spot is about three miles from Coulterville, and in the banks formed by a bend of the Merced River.

According to Mr. Curtis' story, he had a number of Chinese working for him at hydraulic mining. One morning his foreman came to him and told him that there was great excitement among the Chinese, as they had struck a stratum of human remains. Their superstitious natures were naturally excited, and some of them wanted to quit the spot at once. Others were for getting rid of the bones as fast as possible.

Mr. Curtis hurried to the scene, and there found the Chinese engaged in throwing human bones and skulls into the river. Fortunately, all had not been washed out of the gravel deposit, so he was able to secure a few which he kept as curiosities. At that time, he had no idea of their real value.

The mammoth bones were badly broken. All the pieces were secured and placed in position, and it was found that the tusks were about eight feet long, indicating that the mammoth was a young one.

This one fact is of the greatest importance.

By questioning the Chinese Mr. Curtis learned that there were over a hundred skulls and any number of other bones in the stratum. Most of these had been thrown into the river, where they could not be recovered.

Geologically, the bones were found embedded in a stratum of gray clay and gravel. They were not more than a foot above bedrock and about twenty feet below the surface line when the mining commenced. This surface line, however, at this point is no indication of where it once was. The river had been cutting through there for ages, and the surface must have been constantly washing down, so it may be that the bones were once a hundred feet or more beneath the surface.

The stratum where the bones were found was the stratum of the Pliocene age — the age of mammoths. But granting that the bones were never more than twenty feet beneath the surface, it is impossible that they could have been buried at that depth by any comparatively modern nomadic tribe. To have moved the gravel bed for the surface over which the bones were spread would have been a herculean task that California Indians would not attempt. At the point where the bones were found the gravel bed was being removed by the action of the elements, and the indications are that the removing process had been going on for ages.

Judging by the topography of the locality, it is most apparent that the bones were buried only a few inches beneath what was the surface at a time when mammoths roamed over this country and that the stratum of gravel was ages in being deposited.

Granted that the geological signs about the bones are correct, there can hardly be a question but that the skulls are of the oldest human remains in existence.

Mr. Curtis secured about forty skulls. He says they were all exactly the shape of those he has just given to the Academy. For a time, he kept his collection of remains in his own home, but gradually parted with them to friends, who wished them for curiosities. As time passed his collection was reduced to two skulls and a mammoth's skull and tusks.

Seeing that they were likely to be injured, and as curio-hunters were constantly asking for them, he took them to Coulterville and placed them in the Odd Fellows' Hall. As they showed signs of going to pieces, they were varnished with a common varnish. This one act has been of incalculable injury to the skulls, as it has filled the structure of the bone, making it almost impossible to determine the exact amount of organic matter still remaining in it, if, indeed, there is any.

The skulls and mammoth bones remained unrecognized in the hall in Coulterville until last June. At this time Dr. Eisen of the Academy of Sciences happened into the locality while on an expedition in search of specimens. As soon as he saw the bones he at once recognized their value and made efforts to secure them for the Academy. With the assistance of T. J. Goodman and Phil Hope, he has at last been successful. The mammoth bones and skull are safe in the Academy of Sciences, where they are likely to remain as long as humanity has any interest in the peoples of the past.


Scene in California During the Mammoth Age
The above picture is drawn from diagrams and studies of some of the most eminent scientists. It shows how man, although of inferior physical strength, was able to cope with the mighty beasts of the time. That man overpowered those beasts is conclusively proven by the fact that the mammoths became extinct, while man has lived and perpetuated his species.

The finding of the Coulterville skull and the mammoth's remains is only another link in the long chain of evidences of man's existence on what is now the Pacific Slope ages and ages ago — so long ago that no chronology can compute it.

Although it is not generally known, California has produced more undisputable proofs of man's early existence than any other part of the world of the same area.

The proof of this would require volumes. In the auriferous, gravels along the western slope of the Sierra foothills skulls and utensils have been found in strata of the oldest formation together with the bones of extinct animals. Had this only occurred in one or two instances there might be a possibility that the human remains had  been washed in among the mammoth bones by some convulsion of nature of which there is no record. But it so happens that the instances can be counted by the dozens. It is not possible that this could be due entirely to chance.

That man lived in California at the same time as mammoths is a fact scientists no longer dispute. At that period he was a man living as an animal but having a superior intellect. Here was demonstrated Darwin’s theory of the survival of the fittest. While man was much smaller in size and infinitesimal in strength to the mammoth,yet he was able by his superior brain to overpower the monstrous beasts.

The oldest California skull that has ever passed the scientific ordeal is known as the Calaveras skull. It was found in the foothills of Table Mountain some years ago. It's exact location was over a hundred feet beneath the surface and with it were also found some mammal bones that have never been identified. There were also a number of utensils. The age of this skull is, of course, mostly conjecture, but granting that it lived at the time of the mammoth’s scientists claim that it must be at least 10,000 years old.

In comparison with the Calaveras skull the Coulterville skull is of a much lower order. So, granting that both belonged to the mammoth age, it is much older. But how much older no man can say.

The oldest human skull ever found on the globe is the so-called "missing link" that was unearthed in the island of Java a few years ago by Dr. Eugene Dubois. Thousands of scientists have studied it and have given it a place higher than the apes and much lower than man. As only the upper portion of the skull was found, however, there has always been a possibility that it might belong to some distinct species of gorilla. At any rate the greatest scientists in the world have given it a distinct position and have named it the Philocanthropist.


      Coulterville Skull                      Java  Skull
It is when the Coulterville skull is compared with the Java skull in this position that its greatest resemblance is apparent. Note the protuberances above the eyes — a mark that distinguishes the very oldest skulls from those of a comparatively modern date.

It is in comparison with this skull that the Coulterville skull reveals its most wonderful resemblance. Looked at from the side the Coulterville skull shows considerable lowness of forehead but not more than many other skulls that have been found. But it is when looked at from the top that the strongest resemblance comes out. This will be seen by a careful comparison of the two accompanying pictures. The principal difference between the two skulls is the greater length of skull of "the missing link." The enormous ridges of the eyebrows and the narrowness of the skulls at this point are wonderfully alike. The heaviness of the eyebrow ridges in the Coulterville skull give it a distinct characteristic that cannot be duplicated in any known skull in California.



Side View of the Remarkable Skull Unearthed Near Coulterville
While this view of the skull does not show the strong resemblance to the Java skull that the crown view does, it is, nevertheless most interesting. The large arc of the skull line from the eyebrows back to the apex of the skull shows a lack of brain space and consequently a low order of intellect. The other marks of peculiarity will most likely open up new fields in the study of craniology.


Side View of Java Skull
Only the upper portion was found. The lower portion is an imaginary restoration, based on facts, by a number of well-known scientific men. A congress of eminent paleontologists voted on the identity of this skull, and the majority declared it to be that of a man.

Professor Marion of the State University is greatly interested in the Coulterville skull and contemplates giving much time to studying it and the locality where it was found during the coming year. "It is the most interesting skull I ever saw, from a craniological point of view," he said, after a careful examination of it.

Dr. Gustav Eisen rates the skull as one of the most important ever found in California. "That varnish on the skull is a little confusing," he said, when speaking of the matter, "but I am firmly convinced that the skull is older than anything that has ever been found in California."
Source: CDNC