Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 1.djvu/53

CHAPTER II URING the period of melting glaciers the surface of the earth was again occupied by plants and animals. Soon after these appeared we find the first evidences of man's advent upon this portion of the earth. Professor Aughey's discovery of arrow points in undisturbed beds of loess at various places in Iowa and Nebraska, indicates with certainty the presence of man soon after the melting of the glaciers. Horses appeared about this time and were used for food, as is clearly shown by the finding of skulls crushed in a manner that could only come from the blows of an implement similar to the stone ax. These axes are found in the same deposit with the skulls, both in this country and Europe, showing that man appeared on both continents during the same geological period.

What sort of people were the first inhabitants of Iowa is a question that must ever be of interest. It is generally believed by archaeologists that remains of two distinct prehistoric races have been found in the Valley of the Mississippi.

The first human skulls discovered resemble those of the gorilla, having the thick ridges over the eyes and an almost total absence of forehead, indicating a low degree of intelligence. Similar skulls have been found throughout the different countries of Europe, indicating that the first inhabitants of the earth known to ethnologists were lowbrowed, brute-like, small-bodied beings, who were but a grade above the lower animals. Skulls of this type have been found in Illinios, Wisconsin, as well as in Johnson, Floyd, Chickasaw and Dubuque counties of Iowa.