Forbidden Archeology_ The Full Unabridged Edition - Michael A. Cremo [184]
Considering all the various characteristics of percussion and use, Verworn suggested that none of them are in themselves conclusive. Verworn (1905, p. 29) stated: “I propose that in each separate case a critical diagnosis must be made, founded on a deep and thorough analysis of the characteristics of each specimen in connection with the circumstances of its discovery. The diagnosis of each specimen should not be concerned with just one, but with a whole series of symptoms, just as a doctor analyzes internal diseases by a complex of symptoms. . . . What must concern us is therefore not the discovery of a single, all-embracing, universally applicable criterion for recognizing manufacture in stone implements; such a criterion does not exist in reality and every attempt to find one is fruitless. What we must concern ourselves with is the development of a critical diagnostic method, similar to that employed by physicians. The more carefully we develop this diagnostic method through observation and experiment, the more we shall be able to reduce the number of questionable factors. The critical analysis of a given combination of symptoms is the only thing that will put us in a position to make decisions.”
This is the same methodology suggested by L. W. Patterson (1983). Patterson does, however, give more weight than Verworn to bulbs of percussion and unidirectional flaking along single edges of flakes, especially when numerous specimens are found at a site. Patterson’s studies showed that natural forces almost never produce these effects in significant quantities.
Verworn (1905, p. 29) then provided an example to illustrate how his method of analysis might be applied: “Suppose I find in an interglacial stone bed a flint object that bears a clear bulb of percussion, but no other symptom of intentional work. In that case, I would be doubtful as to whether or not I had before me an object of human manufacture. But suppose I find there a flint which on one side shows all the typical signs of percussion, and which on the other side shows the negative impressions of two, three, four, or more flakes removed by blows in the same direction. Furthermore, let us suppose one edge of the piece shows numerous, successive parallel small flakes removed, all running in the same direction, and all, without exception, are located on the same side of the edge. Let us suppose that all the other edges are sharp, without a trace of impact or rolling. Then I can say with complete certainty—it is an implement of human manufacture.”
Verworn, after conducting a number of excavations at sites near Aurillac, analyzed the many flint implements he found, employing the rigorously scientific methodology described above. He then came to the following conclusion: “With my own hands, I have personally extracted from the undisturbed strata at Puy de Boudieu many such unquestionable artifacts. That is unshakable proof for the existence of a flintworking being at the end of the Miocene” (Verworn 1905, pp. 29–30).
At his main excavation site at Puy de Boudieu, Verworn (1905, p. 30) found that the implements were sharp, showing no movement since they were deposited. Verworn (1905, p. 32) stated: “I find that in terms of size, shape, and adaptation to the human hand, these specimens are not different from Paleolithic implements. That, as is evident, rules out de Mortillet’s supposition that the small size of the tools meant that the bodily size of the hypothetical homosimius was inferior to that of a human being. The tools do not give grounds for such a conclusion.”
Verworn discovered in the Miocene formations at Aurillac 199 worked pieces of flint, 98 with bulbs of percussion. In reality, more should have been counted as having bulbs of percussion, for, in many cases, although the part of the flake with the bulb was broken off, the remainder