In order that the great problem of quaternary races in central Europe may be presented with accuracy and reliable conclusions be reached, it is indispensable to begin by establishing a list of well- authenticated quaternary anthropological discoveries, and separate from it all finds the age of which is not settled. A record of this nature can be accomplished only by patient and methodic discrimination based on a painstaking study of the localities, the objects recovered, and the publications relating to ancient man. With the aim of producing such a record, the writer has applied himself for several years to the study of everything that appeared in print on the subject of quaternary man in Europe, and visited, as far as possible, the collections, the localities of the finds, and the men who made the discoveries. The present publication is the result of these researches; it is purely geological and archeological in nature, nevertheless the data will also be of service to those who may desire to deal with the problem from the standpoint of physical anthropology or comparative anatomy.[2]
GEOLOOICAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE QUATERNARY PERIOD.
For accurate chronology of the quaternary of the Alps we are indebted to A. Penck and E. Brückner. This chronology was briefly outlined by the writer himself in L'Anthropologie and extended to the rest of Europe in another publication, and geologists dealing with northern Germany and England conformed to it in all essentials. M. J. Partsch has shown that glacial phenomena presented the same characteristics over all the other mountainous masses of Europe, and that what can be termed the climatological harmony of Europe has been everywhere lowered by several octaves during
