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Even so, care would have to be taken to examine each and every cut on the fossil whale bones. Deméré and Cerutti (1982, p. 1480) reported that carcasses of sea otters, with the bones marked by shark teeth, have been found washed up on the California coast. One can imagine that in the past a whale carcass, partially devoured by sharks, might similarly have washed ashore, and then been butchered by humans. Therefore fossil whale bones might bear both the marks of shark teeth and human implements.

The following statement by Deméré and Cerutti (1982, p. 1480) calls attention to one of the drawbacks of the way anomalous evidence is treated by the scientific community: “It appears then that our fossil specimen preserves a late Pliocene scavenging and/or predator event by Carcharodon on cetaceans. To our knowledge this represents the first well-documented report of such activity.” It is significant that two working paleontologists, with a special interest in shark teeth and whale bones, were unaware of the extensive debate that occurred in the nineteenth century on the topic of possible Carcharadon (versus human) markings on Pliocene cetaceans. Therefore, rather than casting controversial evidence into oblivion, it would be wiser, perhaps, to somehow keep it readily available for further study. That is one purpose of this book.

2.12 Halitherium of Pouance, France (Middle Miocene)

In 1867, L. Bourgeois caused a great sensation when he presented to the members of the International Congress of Prehistoric Anthropology and Archeology, meeting in Paris, a Halitherium bone bearing marks that appeared to be human incisions (de Mortillet 1883, p. 53). Halitherium is a kind of extinct sea cow, an aquatic marine mammal of the order Sirenia.

The fossilized bones of Halitherium had been discovered by the Abbé Delaunay in the shell beds at Barriére, near Pouancé in northwestern France (Maine-et-Loire). Delaunay was surprised to see on a fragment of the humerus, a bone from the upper forelimb, a number of cut marks ( Figure 2.5). The surfaces of the cuts were of the same appearance as the rest of the bone and were easily distinguished from recent breaks, indicating that the cuts were quite ancient. The bone itself, which was fossilized, was firmly situated in an undisturbed stratum, making it clear that the marks on the bone were of the same geological age. Furthermore, the depth and sharpness of the incisions showed that they had been made before the bones had fossilized.

Figure 2.5. Cut marks on Halitherium bone from the Miocene at Pouancé, France (de Mortillet 1883, p. 54).

Some of the incisions appeared to have been made by two separate intersecting strokes. Evende Mortillet (1883, pp. 53–55) admitted that they did not appear to be the products of subterranean scraping or compression. But he would not admit they could be the product of human work, mainly because of the age of the stratum in which the bones were found. The shell beds of this region were said to date to the period represented by the Mayencian formation of the Middle Miocene. But they could be somewhat older. The marine layers in which the Halitherium bone was discovered, known as the Faluns of Anjou, are assigned by modern authorities to the Early Miocene (Klein 1973, table 6). Halitherium is generally thought to have existed in Europe from the Early Miocene to the Early Oligocene (Romer 1966, p. 386).

De Mortillet (1883, p. 55) wrote in his book Le Préhistorique, “This is much too old for man.” It is easy enough to see how a scientist who was committed to the evolutionary hypothesis would think so—the Middle Miocene dates as far back as 15 million years, and the Early Miocene to somewhere around 25 million years.

Here again, we have a clear case of theoretical preconceptions dictating how one will interpret a set of facts. De Mortillet (1883, p. 55) attributed the marks on the bones to large sharks of the requin family: “It is a fact that the shell beds of Anjou contain an abundance of sharp pointed teeth of fish of this family. These fish, encountering