Publications
Preliminary Report on the Cranial Cast [of the Piltdown Skull], by Grafton Elliot Smith, published January 1913 in Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society (vol. 69, issue 1-4, article, pp.145-151) View Online
Abstract:The observations recorded in these notes were made upon the cranial cast which was submitted to me for examination by Dr. Smith Woodward, under whose direction the remains of the cranium were fitted together and the cast obtained from it.
The accompanying sketch (fig. 11) represents the left norma lateralis, and will explain better than a description the extent of missing cranial wall. The greater part of the right parietal bone and a considerable part of the occipital were found, and it was possible to fit them into position. Thus the form and proportions of the whole brain can be estimated.
The sharply-cut meningeal grooves upon the bones have produced upon the cast the whole pattern of the middle meningeal veins and arteries with great distinctness. The diagram shows the arrangement upon the left side: upon the right it conforms to Giuffrida-Ruggeri's Typus 1.
Unfortunately, there are only very slight indications of the arrangement of the furrows upon the surface of the cerebral hemisphere. Nevertheless many of them can be detected, if not by sight, by passing the finger over the surface and locating the depressions by touch. These features are represented (with considerable exaggerations so far as depth of shading is concerned) in the diagram (fig. 11) on the preceding page.
At first sight, the brain presents a considerable resemblance to the well-known Palæolithic brain-casts, and especially to those obtained from the Gibraltar and La Quina remains, which are supposed to be women's.
The accompanying sketch (fig. 11) represents the left norma lateralis, and will explain better than a description the extent of missing cranial wall. The greater part of the right parietal bone and a considerable part of the occipital were found, and it was possible to fit them into position. Thus the form and proportions of the whole brain can be estimated.
The sharply-cut meningeal grooves upon the bones have produced upon the cast the whole pattern of the middle meningeal veins and arteries with great distinctness. The diagram shows the arrangement upon the left side: upon the right it conforms to Giuffrida-Ruggeri's Typus 1.
Unfortunately, there are only very slight indications of the arrangement of the furrows upon the surface of the cerebral hemisphere. Nevertheless many of them can be detected, if not by sight, by passing the finger over the surface and locating the depressions by touch. These features are represented (with considerable exaggerations so far as depth of shading is concerned) in the diagram (fig. 11) on the preceding page.
At first sight, the brain presents a considerable resemblance to the well-known Palæolithic brain-casts, and especially to those obtained from the Gibraltar and La Quina remains, which are supposed to be women's.
Appendix. On the Exact Determination of the Median Plane of the Piltdown Skull, by G. Elliot Smith, published January 1914 in Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society (vol. 70, issue 1-4, article, pp.93-99) View Online
Abstract:At the meeting of the Geological Society which was held on December 18th, 1912, I gave my first impressions of the cranial cast which Dr. Smith Woodward had sent me three days before the meeting.
On the present occasion it is not my intention to say anything further in reference to the brain of Eoanthropus (because I am preparing a full report upon it for presentation to the Royal Society); but, as there has been considerable criticism of the restoration of the brain-case, I should like to take this opportunity of expressing my opinion that none of the criticism has affected the accuracy of the preliminary note upon the cranial cast which I communicated to this Society in December 1912.
As the correct restoration of the cranium was the necessary preliminary to any detailed study of the form of the brain, Dr. Smith Woodward kindly permitted me to examine the fragments of the skull, and make an independent investigation with the view of determining what positions they originally occupied in the skull. This examination revealed a multitude of structural features which indicate precisely the true position and orientation of each of the fragments; and there is now no doubt that the reconstruction of the skull which Dr. Smith Woodward exhibited to the Geological Society in December 1912 was a much closer approximation to the truth than any of the various models so far exhibited in public by his critics.
On the present occasion it is not my intention to say anything further in reference to the brain of Eoanthropus (because I am preparing a full report upon it for presentation to the Royal Society); but, as there has been considerable criticism of the restoration of the brain-case, I should like to take this opportunity of expressing my opinion that none of the criticism has affected the accuracy of the preliminary note upon the cranial cast which I communicated to this Society in December 1912.
As the correct restoration of the cranium was the necessary preliminary to any detailed study of the form of the brain, Dr. Smith Woodward kindly permitted me to examine the fragments of the skull, and make an independent investigation with the view of determining what positions they originally occupied in the skull. This examination revealed a multitude of structural features which indicate precisely the true position and orientation of each of the fragments; and there is now no doubt that the reconstruction of the skull which Dr. Smith Woodward exhibited to the Geological Society in December 1912 was a much closer approximation to the truth than any of the various models so far exhibited in public by his critics.
Appendix. On the Form of the Frontal Pole of an Endocranial Cast of Eoanthropus dawsoni, by G. Elliot Smith, published January 1917 in Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society (vol. 73, issue 1-4, article, pp.7-10) View Online
Abstract:Although the fragment of the right side of the frontal bone reveals the form of only a small area (little more than 5 cm. long x 3 cm. broad) of the endocranial surface, which is devoid of obtrusive features, it is of interest and importance because it sheds some light upon a part of the endocranial cast of which nothing was known before. Moreover, it is a part of the cast, the frontal pole, the form of which is of peculiar significance in the study of the features of early Man.