Forbidden Archeology_ The Full Unabridged Edition - Michael A. Cremo [52]
We shall now consider Capellini’s extensive report in detail, making liberal use of direct quotations, translated from the original French. This procedure is being followed for the two reasons previously mentioned: (1) a report, in this case a very important one, is itself, for all practical purposes, the evidence; and (2) readers could not otherwise obtain the original report except by referring to a rare nineteenth-century volume of conference proceedings.
“In October of 1875,” continued Capellini (1877, p. 47), “I journeyed to Siena to continue my stratigraphic studies of that region’s Tertiary terrains and at the same time examined the remains of fossil cetaceans in the museum of the Académie des Fisiocritici. On the advice of Dr. Brandini, I also began excavations at Poggiarone, in the neighborhood of Monte Aperto. I was greatly fortunate to make a double discovery: first, I recovered numerous remains of a skeleton of Balaenotus, a fossil cetacean first recognized by van Beneden, and heretofore found only in the Grey Crag of Anvers; and secondly on these very same bones I noticed the first traces of the hand of man, demonstrating the coexistence of human beings with the Pliocene whales of Tuscany.”
Capellini went on to display some samples of his discoveries. “I have the honor,” he said, “of presenting remarkable specimens that bear marks which, by their form and placement on the fossil bones, demonstrate in an irrefutable manner the action of a being manipulating an instrument. This is the opinion of all the most experienced naturalists and anatomists, not only in Italy, but from all over Europe, who have examined these specimens, judging them without preconceived ideas” (Capellini 1877, p. 47). It may be noted that by considering the “form and placement” of the cuts, Capellini was adhering to modern criteria for distinguishing human workmanship from animal gnawing on bone. His reference to scientists tending to have “preconceived ideas” is particularly relevant to our discussion.
Regarding the geological age of the strata in which the Balaenotus fossils had been discovered, Capellini observed in his report: “The geological position of the strata in which the Balaenotus was found in the neighborhood of Monte Aperto and the shells that were found in the same bed do not permit us to doubt their Pliocene age and their resemblance to the Grey Crag of Anvers. The alternation of beds entirely of sand with others of clay and sand, give evidence that the animal was beached in the shallows along the shore of an island of the Pliocene archipelago that occupied what is now central Italy during the last part of the Tertiary epoch.”
Capellini (1877, p. 48) then described the placement of the cut marks on the fossil bones: “The marks on the skeleton of the Balaenotus are found on the lower extremities, the exteriors of the ribs, and on the apophyses [spines] of the vertebrae.” The presence of cuts on the vertebral spines, or apophyses, conforms with the observations of Binford (1981, p. 111), who stated that in flesh removal, cuts are made to free flesh from the dorsal spines of the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, producing “cut marks . . . commonly oriented transversely or slightly obliquely to the dorsal spines of the thoracic vertebrae.” As far as the ribs are concerned, Binford (1981, p. 113) stated that in the most common butchering operation “transverse marks, derived from the removal of the tenderloin, occur along the dorsal surface of the rib just to the side of the proximal end of the rib.” The marks observed by Capellini, all on the dorsal (exterior) surface of the rib, correspond to this description.
Applying principles of taphonomic analysis, Capellini (1877, p. 49)