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By Root 1548 0

conditions at this place are so clear as to present no difficulty in resolving any such problem. In the first place, the above-mentioned layer of freshwater limestone, which corresponds to the Mesopampean horizon and is found directly above the Eopampean deposits, has not suffered any alteration. Nor has it been possible to find in any part of the bed in question any refilling of gullies or caverns after the bed’s formation. Furthermore, the face of the cliff is quite vertical, which allows one to see clearly that the sediments found in the lower part were not deposited against an old cliff of the Mesopampean horizon. Rather the beds of the Mesopampean horizon pass in all places above the deposits in question. The undulations and irregularities presented by the horizon between the Mesopampean and Eopampean beds are filled with the calcareous tufa above mentioned, allowing one to distinguish a discordance between the two horizons. The committee of geologists is in accord that the second point in question can be defined in the following way: that the objects of human industry encountered in this place are situated in deposits of loess characteristic of the Eopampean horizon, which constitute the base of the barranca; and that the stratigraphic relationships allow us to establish with scientific certainty that there exists here no juxtaposition of newer layers and older ones” (Roth et al. 1915, pp. 422 – 423).

The Eopampean layers in which the implements were found correspond to the Chapadmalalan formation, sometimes called the Chapadmalean or Chapalmalean. Modern authorities assign the Chapadmalalan formation a Late Pliocene age of 2.5–3.0 million years (Anderson 1984, p. 41) or 2.0 –3.0 million years (Marshall et al. 1982, p. 1352). In their world survey of Pliocene mammalian fauna, Savage and Russell (1983) list Miramar as a Chapadmalalan site.

Concerning the objects they examined in situ at Miramar, the commission of geologists reported: “The round bola stone, which was discovered in the loess and which was extracted in the presence of the commission, did not display any sign of human work; but from its form and size it would appear to have served as a weapon, like the other bola previously discovered in the same stratum. The flint knife had fallen out onto the ground, but the place where it had been situated was noticeable; it presents every indication of having been fabricated by percussion and pressure” (Roth et al. 1915, p. 423).

As stated before, burned earth (tierra cocida) and slag (escoria) were both found at the Miramar site. Earlier Hrdlicka and other researchers (Sections 5.1.6,

5.1.7) had rejected the possibility that the burned earth and slag discovered at various Argentine sites, including the barranca at Miramar, could have resulted from fires of human origin. But the members of the commission of geologists reported: “Digging with a pick at the same spot where the bola and knife were found, someone discovered in the presence of the commission other flat stones, of the type that the Indians use to make fire” (Roth et al. 1915, p. 423).

Those committed to the standard view of human evolution will reflexively attempt to explain away all this evidence, but to those with more open minds, the facts clearly suggest that humans, capable of manufacturing tools and using fire, lived in Argentina about 2–3 million years ago in the Late Pliocene. The report further stated: “Carlos Ameghino, who continued the excavation, encountered another stone of small size, completely round and smooth, presenting the characteristics of a stone subjected to intentional work” (Roth et al. 1915, p. 423).

The commission made another find confirming its views: “About 50 meters [164 feet] from this site, in a layer still lower, there were found fossil remains of a species of the suborder Gravigrada [ground sloths]. During the excavation, there were discovered in this spot, in the presence of the commission, other round stones associated with the fossil remains. . . . Considering all the circumstances surrounding this discovery, as