91. The Palaeanthropi in Italy: The Fossil Men of Saccopastore and Circeo. Part II: Discussionand InterpretationAuthor(s): Sergio SergiSource: Man, Vol. 48 (Jul., 1948), pp. 76-79Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and IrelandStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2792271 .

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Nos. 90, 9I Man JULY, I948

College, have some resemblance to the Nsutatype in theway the rims have been made, and in the kind of clay used. The thickness of the largest fragment is about I inch, and that of the smallest about 1i6 inch, considerably worn down and showing no decorations at all. Plate G, c, illustrates some of the potsherds; their rough surfaces may be noted.

Other Specimens In addition to the objects actually excavated by me some

other specimens from Hills A, B and C (South Crest) were given to me for the Museum by Messrs. W. B. Wilcox, J. J. Dunnill and Hugh Thomas. These comprise potsherds, three celts and two objects presumed to be beads.

The potsherds are much larger and show clearly more varied decorations; this may mean that they were found during the dry season. They were recovered from a depth of between i foot 9 inches and 2 feet, from 3 8o feet and 420 feet levels. Two are almost complete pots and were probably for keeping small objects or for storing water, and another is a complete pot (or possibly lid for a pot) lacking the main aperture but having five small V-shaped holes in the bottom part (see fig. 7). A shallow ladle with its handle broken is included; this is elongated, its length being 3 T7 inches and its greatest width 2-90 inches.

Two of the celts are small and very much like those from my dig, but the other is exceptionally long, about I32 inches, showing nineteen facets, and has both ends sharpened. It was dug from Hill B at a depth of 2 feet.

With this long celt were found the two supposed beads, of hour-glass shape, and resembling a kind of Hausa drum (Twi name, dono) played mostly by Nigerians (see Plate G, b). The larger iS 2'- inches long, constricted at the middle and widening towards the two ends: the diameter of the ends is i inch, that of the middle about -3 inch, and the diameter of the hole is 3 inch. The colouring is mottled light brown and dark grey, closely resembling that of some beads in the Museum from ancient burials on Yakau hill near Sankro in Agona-Dixcove. These are very highly venerated, and it is suggested that they are made from

some 'holy' or fetish rock. The smaller one is in crystal- clear quartz and of the same shape. Its length is i' inches, the diameter of the two ends !:- inches, that of the middle about W inch, and that of the hole about 4 inch. They may have served as ornamental beads.

Mr. S. A. Acquaye dug from Hill D, North Crest, at a depth of between 4 feet and 6 feet a broken object difficult to identify (see fig. 6). It is oval in shape, pink in colour and of a very soft material. It has a depression in the centre, the diameter of which is I4 inches; its thickness is -1 inch and its height about 3-2 inches.

General Remarks The finds are all preserved in the Achimota College

Museum and will be exhibited as soon as the necessary work has been done on them.

Considering the number of objects found on Hills A, B and D and their highly interesting character, it is quite likely that if careful digging had been carried out on these hills (now removed for their manganese content) some useful information might have been obtained to correlate with the results of the present dig. It is interesting to note that there were practically no finds at all below 31 feet. This suggests that it is not very long ago since they were deposited. I therefore decided not to dig below 4 feet in the most promising parts, and elsewhere to vary the depth according to the number of finds. In consequence I found that in the end I had almost got the floor of the trench into steps. I must point out in passing that there were small manganiferous nodules amongst the things recovered, especially from layer 4, and this may account for the dirty black colour assumed by some of the implements.

At present I feel that the finds do not provide sufficient data to establish their age, apart from the fact that all the implements recovered are neolithic and therefore all their 'associates' must also be neolithic. I hope that geological experts may be able to determine the age of the site from the formation of the strata (as shown in the zoning plan, fig. 2) and other evidence.

THE PALAEANTHROPI IN ITALY: THE FOSSIL MEN OF SACCOPASTORE AND CIRCEO PART II: DISCUSSION AND INTERPRETATION*

by PROFESSOR SERGIO SERGI

University of Rome

9 I The men of Saccopastore are Paleanthropi who inhabited Latium during the Riss-Wiirm inter-

glacial. Other Paleanthropi living at the same period in Europe are represented by the Krapina and Ehringsdorf

finds, and in an antecedent period by Steinheim. All differ from one another and from Saccopastore, so that Europe was inhabited at this time by various types (races or species) belonging to a complex that, in the common use of the word, and in the widest sense, is called Neanderthalian. In the next period, that of the last (Wiirm) glacial, there were living over a large part of Europe the Neanderthalian

* Communicated to the Royal Anthropological Institute, 17 Ap,il, 1946. With three text figures. Part I (Introduction and Description) was published in MAN, I948, 75.

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JULY, I948 Man No. 9i

Palxanthropi, who bear an extraordinary resemblance to one another in their morphology and great cranial capacity, e.g. the fossil skulls of Neanderthal, La Chapelle and Circeo, among others. Their morphological and metrical resemblances include many that are seldom found even in large series of modern skulls of the same race. In my opinion, they constitute, in the more restricted sense of the word, the typical Neanderthalians, and therefore it is right to restrict to them the denomination 'Neanderthalian,' because the Neanderthal calotte belongs to their group. They establish the presence of a terminal branch of the great palaeanthropic complex that disappeared in the last glacial. In that branch, by progressive reduction of variability, a strict uniformity was reached, and con-

sequently a stage of extreme fixity that signalled the extinction of the species.

The men of Saccopastore, Krapina and Ehringsdorf, all of the Riss-Wiirm interglacial, possess a combination of characters of varying evolutionary value, and are separated in a special manner from the Neanderthalians of the Wiirm glacial; while, on the other hand, they exhibit a wide polymorphism. Some of those characteristics are primitive, e.g. in Saccopastore I the extreme platycephaly, the small cranial capacity and, in the facial skeleton, the particular morphology of the alveolar region. Thus the Saccopastore skulls appear more primitive than the Neanderthal specimen, but, on the other hand, they are distinguished from other Neanderthalians by the more advanced architec- ture of the cranium and the accentuated flexion of the base

in both. The evolution of the vault in Saccopastore I is shown by its higher frontal angle. The vaulted form of the occipital bone in the median plane lacks the characteristic bulge of the Neanderthalian of the glacial period; it has also a higher cranial index. In these last particulars Saccopastore approaches the Krapina series of similar antiquity. On the other hand, in Saccopastore I and II the evolution of the face is traced by the wholly phaneranthropic dentition, whereas the Krapina teeth are characteristically macrodont. There is a wide variability in the Krapina forms which suggested to the discoverer that they represent various races. The same variability is detected also in the two Saccopastore skulls, particularly when we take into con- sideration the different form of the cranium; in Saccopas-

tore II the posterior occipital region was apparently prominent, and the cephalic index is, in my opinion, some- what lower than that of Saccopastore I. Many other com- binations of characters are found in the Ehringsdorf skull, which, although its primitive general aspect recalls that of the Neanderthalians, should be considered as a transitional form to recent man. The rapid rising of the forehead and the strong curve of the whole anterior section of the calotte put it far from the Neanderthalian. On the other hand, it approaches the latter in the strong orbital torus, the wide face, the occipital torus and the shallow mandibular fossa. The more ancient Steinheim skull can also be used for a comparison of Neanderthalian characters with those of modern humanity.

A fundamentally distinctive character of the Hominidae

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FIG. I. FRONTAL CRANIOGRAMS OF SACCOPASTORE II AND CIRCEO

Superposed through the zygomaxillaria inferiora (zm.i) parallel to the standard horizontal plane (orb. aur. pl.). The zygomatic (malar) segment below this plane is notably higher in Saccopastore II than in Circeo. The maxillary segment is curved in Saccopastore II and not in Circeo

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No. 9I Man JULY, I948

is the specific cerebral evolution which is revealed morpho- logically by the size and structure of the encephalon. We must admit that, during the various phases of their forma- tion, the Hominidae have presented various stages of pro- gression towards this cerebral evolution, which has been accompanied by other specific characters. On account of these characters the development of erect posture was possible. In the different human branches the evolution of the brain has reached different limits, that is to say, the process of encephalization has manifested itself diversely in the various types of men, in some more quickly, in others slowly, while all the other human attributes were organized correlatively, each with its own rhythm, in one type delayed and in others accelerated relatively to the rhythm of cerebral evolution. During the transformation of an organ so complicated as the brain the numerous necessary modifications have not continued in a single order, in constant harmony with the order of the other variations. The simultaneous modifications as reciprocal adaptations have developed in fields of different variations, so that the evolution of the various European Palhanthropi was polytypic, following any order more or less reconcilable with the functional utility to be fixed by the new modifica- tions. Thus we can explain the parallel variations of related groups by the principle of selection of coincident variations, and also the more precocious rise in one group rather than in another of a variation of different value in the struggle for existence. A certain number of potentially existing characters or tendencies have become fixed sooner and more completely in one group than in another. The typical

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FIG. 2. FRONTAL CRANIOGRAMS OF SACCOPASTORE I,

SACCOPASTORE II AND CIRCEO

Superposed through the poria (po), i.e. in the standard transverse plane. Circeo is wider than Saccopastore I and Saccopastore II

Neanderthalians of the last glacial possess characters which appear in the group of the Middle Pleistocene Neander- thalians at the end of their evolution, viz. in the stage of the paracme (Haeckel's term) or decline, represented by the terminal increase, which brings into a definite architectural and specific system the cranium of the group in question. The size of the brain is enormously increased, and it reaches a volume ,which is superior to the average of the best endowed human races. The Neanderthalians of the last glacial constitute a series in which a particular evolution of the brain has been reached precociously, while the

evolution of the cranium appears delayed and insufficient, so that a perfect equilibrium of the organs is wanting. Such harmony of correlative development is a necessary condition for potential further evolution.

Italy has furnished, with the finds of Saccopastore and Circeo, proof of the existence of different forms of

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FIG. 3. HORIZONTAL CRANIOGRAMS OF SACCOPASTORE I,

SACCOPASTORE II AND CIRCEO

Superposed through the orbitalia inferiora (or.i) parallel to the standard transverse plane. The positions of the nasion (n) and of the naso-

maxillary suture are also indicated

European Palxanthropi belonging to different ages. Saccopastore is an interglacial man; Circeo is the glacial man. In the interglacial period an extensive polymorphism exists, represented by several branches. Among these, it is possible to trace the ancestors of some of the phaner- anthropic races. In the glacial there survives a terminal branch of that large race represented by the Neander- thalians of great cranial capacity. Both the types found in Italy have disappeared, but one of them, the typical Neanderthalian of Circeo, ended without any direct continuity with the Phaneranthropi, while the Saccopastore men, though they appear more primitive owing to their characters and their age, are nearer to the evolutionary line of the Phaneranthropi. If some genetical relation between the Palxanthropi and Phaneranthropi is admitted, one may think of a connexion with the Saccopastore types. The genetics of population can furnish a guide to the condition in which the fossil finds of the European- Palxanthropi appear to us, marking wlhat results from the analysis of the possible mechanism of micro-evolution, and keeping present the dynamic thought that race and species are biologically processes of continual transformation (Dobzhansky). The best proof of the dynamic principle, on which we have to conceive the distinctions of species and varieties (races), and which does not permit a rigid division into absolute categories of these entities, is given by the variability of the types which are met in the series of the European Palxanthropi in their chronological and geographical distribution, which is polymorphic in time and space; so that we observe a true fluctuation of the characteristics of the types of the

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JULY, I948 Man Nos. 9i, 92

population. As regards phylogenetic problems, the palaean- thropic finds are phenotypes of populations geographically and ecologically different. Their comparison constitutes a comparative analysis from which it is possible, in a theoretical and hypothetical way, to reach a sense of direc- tion in regard to their systematic position. The difficulties of perfectly delineating the confines of the races and sub- species of the paleanthropic population are multiplied by the extreme scarcity of the finds, so that we are obliged to consider as examples of the group an inadequate number of individuals. The genetical criteria of the basis of sys- tematics should constitute a foundation for the determina- tion of the fossils, and this could not be effected only by the application of modern genetical methods. But this basis of direction gives formal or artificial results, in consequence of the insufficiency of the concrete and necessary data for a positive setting of the problem. As a matter of fact, not only the data of experience and of a physiological order that the living offer, but the objective data also are partial; they are furnished by the very remains which, in part only, represent the body of the individual, and they often give incomplete knowledge of its complex morphological organization. It is fundamental for classification to fix the distinctive characters by which we identify the types. When one speaks about characters there is the greatest uncertainty as to their value and significance, since the term 'character' is used with 'elastic meaning' (Osborn). But if we intend to refer more rigorously to genetics, we do not know with which unities of genetical order those that we name 'characters' chosen empirically should be identified. We do not know what is their genetic con- sistency, more or less complex for the factors on which they must depend and to which they are bound. From this comes the equivocal use of the term 'character,' sometimes as an equivalent of a genetical term, sometimes as an index of a morphological and physiological entity, more or less complex in relation to its genetical connexion.

If the scarcity of the fossil finds naturally constitutes the greatest difficulty for a wide demonstration, their particular diversities are themselves strongly presumptive of a likely interpretation of the evolutionary phenomenon. The types considered are the examples of a 'rising fluctuation,' with which we can explain the dynamics of the develop- ment of species and varieties; their diversities should correspond to local mutations of circumscribed genetical centres. The manifoldness of these different forms has favoured the conservation and diffusion of the species in the period of acme, of maximum flourishing or apogee. Their exuberant vitality manifests itself in divergent

directions, and not in a single series. The process does not continue regularly, since it is subject to the 'different and variable,' forces in opposition, so that the characters in their hereditary succession either combine in various manners, or reduce themselves and disappear, or remain submerged and latent, to reappear in other situations. It is thus the original multiplicity of the living forms of a type endowed with particular attributes of vitality which conveys the evolution of the same aim from their appearing in a frame of variability, the more diffused and the more powerful the initial capacity for adaptation. So I conceive a great polymorphism, a great variability of forms of the Paleanthropi of the interglacial period in the enormous spatial expanse of the Old World, and the extreme fixity that is later determined in the residual forms on the eve of their extinction in the last glacial. Saccopastore man is one of the types of the first phase; Circeo man is the type of the last phase of the great palcanthropic complex.

References (after I938) Saccopastore I Sergi, S., 'Craniometria e craniografia del primo paleantropo di

Saccopastore,' Ricerche di Morfologia, XX-XXI, Roma, I944.

Saccopastore II Blanc, A. C., 'II giacimento musteriano di Saccopastore nel

quadro del pleistocene laziale,' Rivista di Antropologia, XXXII, I939.

Tongiorgi, E., 'La flora fossile di Saccopastore: suo significato nella storia della vegetazione laziale,' Riv. Antr., XXXII, I939.

Sergi, S., 'Sulla morfologia cerebrale del secondo paleantropo di Saccopastore,' Rc. R. Accad. d'Italia, III, I942; Riv. Antr., XXXIV, I943-

, 'Craniografia del secondo paleantropo di Saccopastore,' Rc. R. Accad. d'Italia, V, I943.

, 'Craniometria ed iconografia del secondo paleantropo di Saccopastore,' Rc. R. Accad. d'Italia, V, I943.

, 'Il cranio del secondo paleantropo di Saccopastore,' Pala?onto- graphia Italica, Pisa, I948 (the most complete analysis of the skull).

Monte Circeo Blanc, A. C., 'L'uomo fossile del Monte Circeo,' Rc. Accad. Naz.

Lincei, XXIX, I939; Riv. Antr., XXXII, I939. Sergi, S., 'II cranio neandertaliano del Monte Circeo,' Rc. Accad.

Naz. Lincei, XXIX, I939; Riv. Antr., XXXII, I939; Anthrop. Anzeiger, XVI, I940.

All Three Blanc, A. C., 'La curva di Milankovitch e la sua applicazione alla

datazione assoluta dei Neandertaliani d'Italia, Atti Soc. tosc. scien. nat. Mem. 48, I939.

, 'I paleantropi di Saccopastore e del Circeo,' Quartdr, IV, I940.

Sergi, S., 'I piu antichi uomini d'Italia secondo le recenti scoperte,' Rc. R. Accad. d'Italia, I, I940.

9 'Gli ominidi fossili di forme estinte ed attuali,' in Biasutti, R., Razze e Popoli della Terra, Torino, I94I.

'I paleantropi italiani,' Medicina e Biologia, II, I943.

SHORTER NOTES

The Religion of the Witches. By Miss Margaret A. Murray, D.Lit. Summary of the im Thurn Memorial Lecture delivered

92 before the Scottish Anthropological and Folklore Society, at Edinburgh, 2 April, 1948

In her lecture following the annual dinner of the Society, at which the President, Professor H.J. Rose, St. Andrews University,

presided, Miss Murray said that the so-called witches of the six- teenth and seventeenth centuries, so far from being miserable old women falsely accused of evil practices, were actually members of that ancient pagan religion whose organization and beliefs under- lay a veneer of Christianity. The struggle between the Old and New Religions is seen in the successive legal enactments increasing

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