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DESCRIPTIONS OF CRANIA.
The skuU is that of an old man, at least 70, perhaps even 80, years of age, and probably the
most aged specimen figured in oiir pages. It is reduced to the condition of a soUd box by the
obliteration of the sutures; by wliich means its posthumous distortion has been checked, though
not entirely prevented. Advanced age is particularly marked by the form of the lower jaw, and the
very oblique position of its ascending ramus. Many of the teeth have been lost during life ; and
of various others, including all the upper incisors, canines, and bicuspids, only the stumps
remain, thus giving to the upper jaw an almost edentulous aspect. The crowns of the more
perfect teeth are very much groimd down and obHquely hollowed out, as in the hunting races,
by the rough usage to which they have been subjected dm-ing a long Hfe. The general form of
the skull is decidedly brachycephalic, but also inclines to the acrocephalic form. Viewed from
above, the outline is a short oval, narrow in front and wide behind. The nasal tuberosity and
frontal sinuses are full; the brows having been prominent and overhanging. The nose has been
somewhat abruptly prominent. The forehead is elevated, particularly in the centre and at the
coronal suture, giving a conical appearance to the front view of the skuU. The parietal region
is remarkable for disproportionate width; and the occipital for width and vertical flatness, especiaUy
the latter. The peculiarity of form in this last respect is decidedly unusual in amount,
and is perhaps the effect of artificial flattening. The occipital ridges and other processes are
very strongly marked. The thickest parts of the parietals measure one-third of an inch. As
common in the brachycephalic series, the external auditory openings are very much behind the
centre of the skull. The probable weight of the brain was 54-8 ozs., or considerably more than
the average weight in the modern European.
In the foUowing Table, the first column of figures. No. 42, refers to the skiiU here described;
the second. No. 43, to that from the adjoining barrow at Roundway, figured in Plate 43.
MEASUREMENTS.
Occipital Region.—Leng-th
Breadth
Height
Intermastoid arch . . .
Internal capacity . . .
Eace.—Length . . . .
Breadth . . . .
No. 42. No. 43.
Horizontal circumference . 21-7 22-4 in.
Longitudinal diameter 7-3 7-7 „
Erontal Region.—Length 5-5 5-5 „
Breadth 5-3 5-1 „
Height 5-4 5 „
Parietal Region.—Length 5-5 5-2 „
Breadth 6-2 6-2 „
Height 5-2 5-3 „
No. 42. No. 43.
4-4 5-2 in.
5-2 5'7 „
3-8 4-9 „
16
82 84 oz.
4'5 5'5 in.
5-1 5-4 „
The skiiU possesses all the characteristics of that of a man of great physical power, who
through a long career in a barbarous state of society, had maintained a successful struggll with
the wUd animals fi-om which he obtained food and clothing. AU the circumstances of the
interment—the presence of the slate tablet, the dagger and the vase, together with the unusual
depth of the grave—lead to the conclusion that the remains were those of a person of considerable
consequence, a sort of ¿Va? amongst his rude contemporaries. (J. T.)
two bones by 2, and the result is the approximate stature, falling
short sometimes of the aetual by one or two inches, and very
rarely exceeding it. This rule is confirmed by the dimensions
of skeletons in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons,
and by the writer's observations on the recent subject.
W
is less frequently ascertained. (See " Measurements of Seven
Skeletons" in Dublm Journal of Medical Science, Aug. 1857,
" On Crania at Fort Pitt," p. 84.) If the length of both femur
and tibia be known, the probable stature may be more confidently
deduced, as follows. Multiply the united length of these
42.
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