I -ü i 1
DESCRIPTIONS OE CKANIA.
The cranium figured in the Plates hefore us is, as we have said, a well-marked instance of
the typical form of the ancient British skull, and affords a satisfactory evidence, when compared
with that from BaUidon Moor, of the family likeness which prevailed amongst tribes at a distance
from each other; an evidence that will probably be extended to much more remote tribes in oiufutm
e researches. It is at once seen to be a rather round, ortho-gnathous, somewhat braehycephalie
cranium, bearing a vivid impression of the primitive Briton's features. The face, of
which our artist enables us to present a beautiful engraving exhibiting the utmost fidelity, is
small but well-proportioned, with a gracefully arched and tolerably expanded forehead, sweUing
out moderately in the temporal region. The clun has been slightly indentei^; alveolar arches
well-rounded; the hardly worn teeth of moderate size and upright. The first of the large
molars of the upper series on both sides has perished, and the sockets have been effaced,—
a minute proof that the same vital laws governed these organs at the remote age when the
British Islands were first peopled, which govern them now; this being the tooth most prone to
decay at the present day, and so constantly becoming carious on the opposite side, when one has
been affected with disease. The depressions in the maxillary bones under the cheeks are deep.
The surface of the malar bones is almost whoUy and uniformly directed obliquely outwards, so
as to give a moderate breadth to the face; yet the space embraced by the zygomatic arches is
rather large. There is a gentle obliquity of the orbital apertures, which are of moderate size,
and have rounded angles, downwards and outwards. The opening of the nostrils is rather
narrow, and the nasal bones are short. On turning to the profile view, we perceive the abrupt
prominence of this curt nose rising fi'om the deep depression below the marked frontal sinuses—
the rectangular rise of the ascending branch of the lower jaw, and the graceful curve of the
whole outline of the calvarium.
ANCIENT BRITISH—GREEN GATE HILL BARROW, N. R. YORKSHIRE.
differences will go far to render questionable the opinion which has been assumed, that by
ascending to the earliest prehistoric times we shall find the crania endowed with uniformity, or,
as it were, stereotyped. On the contrary, these two skulls differ from each other; proving the
existence of natural diversities in the same tribe under extraordinary circumstances,—for there
can scarcely be a doubt that they were both interred at once in the same grave, probably even
those to whom they appertained both met the same fate together. They also exhibit under this
diversity, such a conformity to one rule, as indelibly to mark them as belonging to the same
people, proving again another law of our subject, diversity in a comprehensive uniformity,—a
law as old as the human race, and unchanged in our own days.
They are both skulls of moderate thickness ; the larger imperfect calvarium decidedly the
thinner of the two; and are contrasted ia this respect with those massive crania of African,
Polynesian and some American tribes. (J B D )
MEASUREMENTS.
Horizontal circumference
Longitudinal diameter
Erontal Region.—Length
Breadth
Height
Parietal Region.—Length
Breadth
Height
20-0 inches,
7-0
5-0
4-8
4-5
5-2
5-5
4-7
Occipital Region.—Length . . 4'0 inches.
Breadth . . 5-0 „
Height . . 3-5 „
Intermastoid arch . . . . 14-7 „
Internal capacity 72f ounces.
Eace.-—Length 4-4 inches.
Breadth 5-2 „
t
Of the other cranium from the cist of the Green Gate Hill Barrow, it is unfortunate that
the calvarium alone was recovered. It bears a striking general resemblance to the one
lithographed, yet, from the discrepancy in its form, it acquires an interest which is worthy of
being noted. Whilst the one presented to the reader is of the braohy-cephalic form, the other
approaches more to the doUcho-cephalic character. It is slightly the larger in most of its
dimensions, its occipito-frontal diameter being half an inch longer, resulting from the prominence
of the upper part of the occipital bone. The forehead is somewhat broader and more
square, but not quite so elevated; and the supra-mastoid diameter is also a little longer. These
3, 4. (2) 3, 4.