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proceeded north from Lisbon, getting off at Carregado. They pro- questions, a congress of Europe's leading archaeologists and ceeded further north to Otta, and two kilometres northeast from anthropologists deputed a committee to conduct a first-hand Otta arrived at the southern slopes of the hill called Monte investigation of one of the sites of Ribeiro's discoveries. There, a Redondo. At that point, the scientists dispersed into various scientist discovered in situ an implement in a Miocene bed, as ravines in search of flints.° witnessed by several other members of the committee. Paul Choffat (1884a:63), secretary of the commission, later reported to the Congress: "Of the many flint flakes and apparent RIBEIRO'S FINDINGS ENTER SCIENTIFIC OBLIVION cores taken from the midst of the strata under the eyes of the com- Carlos Ribeiro died in 1882. In 1889, his colleague Joaquim mission members, one was judged as leaving no doubt about the Fillipe Nery Delgado conducted some new explorations at Monte intentional character of the work." This was the specimen found Redondo. Delgado recovered some artifacts, which he displayed in situ by Bellucci. Choffat then noted that Bellucci had found on at the 10th International Congress of Prehistoric Anthropology the surface other flints with incontestable signs of work. They and Archaeology. appeared to be Miocene implements that had been removed from No artifacts bearing signs of human work were found in exca- the Miocene conglomerates by atmospheric vations he conducted. Delgado (1889:530) agencies. therefore declared he had not been able to De Mortillet (1883:102) gave an informa- duplicate Ribeiro's discoveries of worked tive account of the excursion to Otta and Altogether, flints in solid rock. But Delgado did see Bellucci's remarkable discovery: signs of human work on the flints found there seems little reason loose on the ground (1889:530). He said that "The members of the Congress ihairn' i i many of these "are incontestably Tertiary arrived at Otta, in the middle of a great why Ribeiro s discoveries and have been naturally separated from the freshwater formation. It was the bottom should not be receiving underlying beds solely by the action of of an ancient lake, with sand and clay in i i atmospheric agencies" (1889:529). the centre and sand and rocks on the some serious attention, In the discussion that followed Delgado's edges. It is on the shores that intelligent even today. talk, de Mortillet said he did not think eings would have left their tools, and it Delgado's failure to find worked flints in his is on the shores of the lake that once Here we have a four excavations was all that significant. He athed Monte Redondo that the search was made. It was crowned with success. "The able investigator of Umbria, Mr Bellucci, discovered in situ a flint bearing incontestable signs of intentional work. Before detaching it, he showed it to a number of his colleagues. The flint was strongly encased in the rock. He had to use a hammer to extract it. It is definitely of the same age as the deposit. Instead of lying flat on a surface onto which it could have been secondarily pointed out that even in places very rich in artifacts, such as Chelles and St Acheul in France, one could go through many cubic metres of sediment without finding any flints showing signs of work (Delgado, 1889:532). In 1905, in a memorial volume dedi- cated to Ribeiro, Delgado further dis- tanced himself from the conclusions of his departed colleague (1905:33-34). Influenced by the discovery of Pithecanthropus erectus in Java in the 1890s, he cast doubt on the discoveries of Ribeiro. Pithecanthropus, an ape man, had been found without any stone professional geologist, the head of Portugal's Geological Commission, making discoveries of flint implements in Miocene strata. recemented at a much later date, it was found firmly in place tools in a formation that scientists considered to be from the very on the underside of a ledge extending over a region removed latest part of the Tertiary. Delgado implied that this ruled out the by erosion. It is impossible to desire a more complete existence of humans like us in the Tertiary, anywhere in the demonstration attesting to a flint's position in its strata." world. He also implied that Pithecanthropus made it unlikely that similar precursors to modern humans would be found in the Study of the fauna and flora in the region around the Monte European Tertiary. South-East Asia, apparently, would be the Redondo site showed that the formations present there can be place to look. assigned to the Tortonian stage of the Late Miocene period (de In 1942, Henri Breuil and G. Zbyszewski of the Geological Mortillet, 1883:102). Some modern authorities consider the Otta Service of Portugal restudied the artifacts collected by Ribeiro. conglomerates to be from the Burdigalian stage of the Early They suggested that some of them did not actually display any Miocene (Antunes et al., 1980:139). After the excursion, the signs of intentional human work. And, not accepting the Tertiary commission members discussed Ribeiro's artifacts and came to a age of the rest, they reclassified them as corresponding to accept- conclusion that was generally favourable to the authenticity of the ed Pleistocene and Holocene industries, such as the Clactonian, discoveries (Choffat, 1884b:92-93). Tayencian, Levalloisian, Mousterian, Upper Palaeolithic, Altogether, there seems little reason why Ribeiro's discoveries Mesolithic and Neo-Eneolithic (Zbyszewski and Ferreira, should not be receiving some serious attention, even today. Here 1966:85-86; Breuil and Zbyszewski, 1942). we have a professional geologist, the head of Portugal's Geological Here is one example of such reclassification. Ribeiro (1871:14) Commission, making discoveries of flint implements in Miocene _ described an implement of light-brown flint. It was one of several strata. The implements resembled accepted types, and they extracted from the Lower Miocene beds forming the hill called displayed characteristics that modern experts in lithic technology Murganheira. The implement from the Miocene beds at accept as signs of human manufacture. To resolve controversial Murganheira has worked edges, two of them joining to form a questions, a congress of Europe's leading archaeologists and anthropologists deputed a committee to conduct a first-hand investigation of one of the sites of Ribeiro's discoveries. There, a scientist discovered in situ an implement in a Miocene bed, as witnessed by several other members of the committee. even today. Study of the fauna and flora in the region around the Monte Redondo site showed that the formations present there can be assigned to the Tortonian stage of the Late Miocene period (de Mortillet, 1883:102). Some modern authorities consider the Otta conglomerates to be from the Burdigalian stage of the Early Miocene (Antunes et al., 1980:139). After the excursion, the commission members discussed Ribeiro's artifacts and came to a conclusion that was generally favourable to the authenticity of the discoveries (Choffat, 1884b:92-93). Altogether, there seems little reason why Ribeiro's discoveries should not be receiving some serious attention, even today. Here we have a professional geologist, the head of Portugal's Geological Commission, making discoveries of flint implements in Miocene strata. The implements resembled accepted types, and they displayed characteristics that modern experts in lithic technology accept as signs of human manufacture. To resolve controversial NEXUS - 59 some serious attention, Here we have a Miocene strata. DECEMBER 2000 — JANUARY 2001