The Calaveras Skull

Record summary

The Calaveras Skull was reportedly found in a California mine in 1866 and was presented as evidence that humans had lived alongside ancient geological formations. Geological and anatomical objections quickly emerged, and the specimen became widely regarded as a planted or otherwise deceptive object. Although outside Europe, it is relevant to nineteenth-century comparative research because it illustrates how debates over human antiquity could be entangled with public controversy, local collecting and challenges to evolutionary chronology. Documentary reconstruction should distinguish the skull, its discoverers and later confessions or allegations.