Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 June 1894 — A REMARKABLE SKULL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A REMARKABLE SKULL

Which Belonged to Some Unknown Prehistoric Beings A most remarkable specimen was recently added to the collection of a noted archeologist of California,

which was unearthed near the h e a d w a t ers of the Amazon. It is nothing less than the skull of some prehistoric being, and that ,it is a rare find will be seen from the accompanying illustration. The wonderful thing about the ■skull, next to the

remarkable state of its preservation, is the fact that it has been reduced to about one-third of a skull’s natural size by the exercise of some art or process now unknown. Apparently all the bones were removed from the head, and all that now remains is the skin which has ossified and become as hard as stone Whatever may have been the nature of this process the features of the being still remain. A long growtu of luxuriant black hair is still attached to the scalp, and hair of the same color form very distinct eyebrows. The appearance of the skull seems to indicate that it was made the subject of some strange religious ceremony after death. To the back of the head and amid the growth of hair which hangs below the neck is attached a long .pendant string, apparently made of some sort of hide, and showing by marks of discoloration and disintegration great age and much exposure. The lips are tied firmly together with long coids, the ends of which hang below the jaw a foot or so, forming, as it were, a sort of flaxen or hempen beard.

A PREHISTORIC SKULL.