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of Europe’s leading archeologists and anthropologists deputed a committee to conduct a firsthand investigation of one of the sites of Ribeiro’s discoveries of Miocene implements. There a scientist discovered in situ an implement in a Miocene bed, a fact witnessed by several other members of the committee. Of course, objections were raised, but upon reviewing them, it does not appear to us that they were conclusive enough to cause an unbiased observer to categorically reject Bellucci’s find in particular or Ribeiro’s finds in general.

4.2 The Finds of The Abbé Bourgeois at Thenay, France (Miocene)

We now turn our attention to the discoveries of the Abbé L. Bourgeois, rector of the seminary at Pontlevoy, Loire-et-Cher, France. On August 19, 1867, in Paris, Bourgeois presented to the International Congress for Prehistoric Anthropology and Archeology a report on flint implements he had found in Early Miocene beds at Thenay, in north central France, near Orleans (de Mortillet 1883, p. 85). Bourgeois, who had conducted research near Thenay for over twenty years, said that although the instruments were crudely made, they resembled the types of Quaternary implements (scrapers, borers, blades, etc.) he had found on the surface in the same region. He found on almost all of the Miocene specimens the standard indications of human work: fine retouching, symmetrical chipping, and traces of use. He also noted multiple examples of particular forms. Some of the flints, naturally translucent, were opaque, a sign that they had been burned. By performing experiments with fire and flint, Bourgeois had been able to reproduce the exact effect. The signs of fire on the flints were another strong indication that humans had made and used them.

The flint implements of Thenay were recovered from below the Calcaire de Beauce, a well-known Early Miocene limestone formation. Bourgeois recognized that the presence of stone tools in this geological position was indeed remarkable, having serious implications with regard to human antiquity. Yet, for him, the facts, uncomfortable though they might be to contemplate, spoke for themselves. De Mortillet (1883, p. 86) said that the layers of clay in which the flints were found were of Early Miocene or even Oligocene age. This would push back the presence of human beings in France to around 20–25 million years before the present. If this sounds impossible, one should ask oneself why. If the answer is that modern science’s ideas about human evolution prevent one from seriously considering such a thing, one should honestly admit that one is allowing preconceived notions to unduly influence one’s perception of facts and that this is unscientific. One with faith in the scientific method should maintain a willingness to change one’s notions, even the most dearly held, in the face of facts that contradict them.

Modern geologists still agree with the determination that the deposits at Thenay are Miocene. As stated above, the implement-bearing layers lie below the Calcaire de Beauce. This limestone formation is now referred to the Aquitanian stage (Pomerol and Feugeur 1974, p. 142), which lies within the Early Miocene (Romer 1966, p. 334). Some French authorities (Klein 1973, p. 566) put the deposits of Thenay at the base of the Helvetian stage. The Helvetian stage is placed in the Middle Miocene (Romer 1966, p. 334). The base of the Helvetian would thus mark the boundary between the Middle and Early Miocene.

4.2.1 Debates About the Discoveries at Thenay

Bourgeois displayed his specimens at the house of the Marquis de Vibraye, and the members of the Paris congress of 1867 were allowed to examine them at their leisure. Although the form and appearance of the flints had been sufficient to convince Bourgeois they were of human manufacture, most of the visitors were hesitant to acknowledge this. De Mortillet (1883, p. 86) stated that “the ancient age of the strata in which they were found involuntarily indisposed the geologists and paleontologists.” Here again we find a clear case of preconceptions (of what could