•i! !:
I
DESCRIPTIONS OE CRANIA.
those upper stones a regularly-shaped mass of lime presented itself, which had derived its form
from a wooden coffin that had so nearly perished as to leave only smaU fragments behind. Erom
this and several other instances which have been discovered at York, it beoomos evident that
a peculiar mode of iaterment had been practised by the Romans at Ebm-acnm, examples of
which have very seldom been met with elsewhere. After the body, covered with a cloth, had
been placed in the coffin, lime mixed with water, in a flowing state, has been poured over it,
which has set over the remains, excluding them from the au-, and taking the impression of the
body on one side, and of the interior of the cofRn on the other. The fragments of the wood still
adhering to the lime have been seen by Professor Lindley, who declai-es them to be of Cedar.
Other portions are stiU attached to the ii-on nails, which have been employed in fastening
this wooden cofln. By cai-efuUy raising the mass of consoKdated lime and turning it over,
an impression of a human body was seen in it, which bad been covered with a coarse Mnen
cloth, " the folds, textm-e, and even small portions of which were discernible. Erom the lar^e
and regular cavity in the lime, in which the skuU was found, it appears that the head had
been placed upon a pillow; but no portion of it remained*."
This craniiun has belonged to a man in the middle period of vigorous age, there being no
certain indication of his years, although it seems probable they were nearer forty than thii-ty.
I t is capacious and well-formed, closely approaching in these respects the noble skull of
Theodorianus, to which it bears a considerable resemblance, although it is somewhat smaller in
some of its dimensions. The expansion and elevation of the frontal bone are good, its sinuses
slightly expressed. The parietals are well flUed out at the eminences, and especially towards
theii- posterior inferior angles, where they join the protuberant squamosals, above the ext-ernal
ear. They descend in a plane from behind the vertex to the upper portion of the occipital. This
latter bone is prominent above the transverse ridge, and has the foramen magnum for the spinal
cord of unusual form. The foramen, instead of being a nearly regular oblong opening, is composed
of segments of two very unequal ellipses. The large one, behind the condyles, has a chord of
1-3 inch in length; while that at the fore-part, formed by the irmer edges of the condyloid
sm-faces themselves, has a chord of barely 0-8 inch. This singular form of the foramen wiU
probably accoimt for its great longitudinal diameter of 1-7 inch. Such an anomalous shape of
the foramen magnum is no doubt an individual peculiarity, which we have not observed in any
other skuU, although a greater or less tendency to it is seen in some. The articulating surfaces
of the condyles, in place of the usual convexity, are remarkably flat, almost concave. The
mastoid processes are not large, yet the grooves for the origin of the digastric muscles are
distinctly marked.
The bones of the face are robust; the chin prominent; the alveoli and teeth, the latter so
weU preserved and free from erosion, upright; the narrow nose has been aquiline; the nostrUs
of small breadth; the surface of the upper maxillary bones concave; the orbits quadrangular,
with thick edges; and the malar bones heavy. A peculiar bulging-out above and behind the
ears, is strongly expressed in a front view of this skull.
The calvarium presents a full, well-developed aspect, with a forehead not much elevated.
casion to express his high esteem, in the "Descriptive Aeeouiit
of the Antiquities of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society," pp.
25 and 58, 1852.
* Proceedings of the Yorlcshire Philosophical Society, vol. i.
p. 98, 1849. Further mention is made of tliis discovery by
the excellent and venerable antiquary of Roman York, Mr.
M'ellbeloved, for whom the writer is happy in having this oc-
18. (2)
ANCIENT ROMAN—MEGALITHIC TOMB, YORK (EBURACUM).
The face that squarish, robust expression which appertained to the Romans especially; indeed
this fine Roman face might have formed a model for one of the early busts. And we consider we
may without any hesitation claim a pure Roman lineage for the possessor of such a head as the
one whose bony remains are depicted with great fidelity m our Kthograph. The mode of interment
in a coffin made of precious exotic timber, and in so ponderous and costly a stone sepulchre, as
well as other marks, clearly indicate his having belonged to the higher class of Romans; and it
is quite reasonable to suppose that he may have been an officer high in command of the Vlth
Legion, so long stationed at Eburacum. The officers of the Legions probably were in most cases
of ItaHan extraction. In the unfortimate absence of any inscription we have nothing fui-ther to
guide om- conclusions. The measurements of this truly Roman skuU, which we conceivc
deserves to be regarded as a good example of the tjTDical ancient Roman cranium, are as
follow:—
MEASUREMENTS.
Horizontal circumference . 21-4 inches.
Longitudinal diameter . . • 7-4 „
Frontal Region.—Length • 5-4 „
Breadth . 4-9 „
Height . • 4-6 „
Parietal Region.—Length • 5-0 „
Breadth . 5-7
Height . • -i--' „
Occipital Region.—Length
Breadth
Height
Intermastoid arch . .
Internal capacity . . .
Eace.—Length . . . ,
Breadth . . ,
4-3 inches.
5'4 „
4 1 „
14-9 „
76 ounces.
4-8 inches.
5-5 „
(J. B. D.)
- I " !
t ' f f i -
18.
(3) 11$