Santa Barbara County – Massive Jaws
PREHISTORIC MAN UNEARTHED IN WEST
Smithsonian Excavators Find Remains Resembling Ape in California City.
By the Associated Press.
SANTA BARBARA, Calif., October 25. – Excavators representing the Smithsonian Institution have uncovered two skeletons at Burton Mound in this city, which carry the human records far back beyond the dawn of history on this continent, in the opinion of J.P. Harrington, who has charge of the excavation.
The skeletons were found about four feet below the ancient ground surface. The bones of the body were all but disintegrated, but the skulls were well preserved. These show a type of man almost of the gorilla order. The faces were long and the jaws massive, while the skull bones were most massive. The ridges over the brow are projecting, and the forehead slants backward.
Beside the first skeleton taken out was a beautiful black obsidian spear four and one-half inches long. The experts say the bones are those of a race long antedating the native tribes in this vicinity when the Spaniards came. They were lying on a hardpan formation, and no sign of disturbance showed above the soil layers.
- California, Santa Barbara County, 1923.
- Evening Star, 1923.