Fig. 64. Geologic section of the Piltdown gravel bed, showing in restored outlines at the bottom of layer 3 the position in which the fragments of the skull and jaw were found. After Dawson.
1. Surface soil, with flints. Thickness = 1 foot.
2. Pale-yellow sandy loam with gravel and flints. One Palæolithic worked flint was found in the middle of this bed. Thickness = 2 feet, 6 inches.
3. Dark-brown gravel, with flints, Pliocene rolled fossils and Eoanthropus skull, beaver tooth, 'eoliths' and one worked flint. Thickness = 18 inches.
4. Pale-yellow clay and sand. Thickness = 8 inches.
5. Undisturbed strata of Wealden age.
The jaw appears to have been broken at the symphysis, and somewhat abraded, perhaps after being caught in the gravel before it was completely covered with sand. The fragments of the cranium show little or no signs of stream rolling or other abrasion save an incision caused by the workman's pick.
Analysis of the bones showed that the skull was in a condition of fossilization, no gelatine or organic matter remained, and mingled with a large proportion of the phosphates, originally present, was a considerable proportion of iron.[Y]
Fig. 65. The single worked flint of very primitive type found in the same layer (3) with the fragments of the Piltdown skull. After Dawson. One-half actual size.