DESCRIPTIONS OE CRANIA.
was taken, is of the common bowl-shape, three or four feet in height. At a depth of one foot
was a large deposit of calcined bones, and a bone pin nine inches in length, perforated at the
head, and used probably for securing the wrapper in which the bones had been interred. This
Bone Pin from Barrow at Acklam ; 9 inches long.
pin had been made out of the splint bone of the metatarsus of a horse, the very bone which has
the nearest natural resemblance to the implement required. At a depth of fom- feet was the
primary interment, a skeleton resting on the right side, with the head to the north. The arms
were brought forward and bent at the elbows, one of them touching the di-awn-up knees. Near
the right thigh was a half-baked coarse earthen vase, rudely ornamented in the upper half with
cuneiform hatchings, ai-ranged alternately in vertical and horizontal series. It was empty,
measm-ed about five and a half inches high, and would contain about a quart.
Earthen Vase from Barroio at AMam ; inches high.
The skeleton was that of a man of fiiU size, the humerus being fourteen, and the ulna eleven
and a half inches in length. The thigh-bones were broken and unfortunately not measured; they
were unusuaUy dense and heavy, a character belonging probably to the entire skeleton.
The skuU—a most remarkable specimen—is that of a man of middle age, perhaps fifty
years. Its great size is principally due to unusual development of the bony structm-e. The
capacity gauged by 70 ozs. of sand represents a brain of about 46 ozs. Av., being 4 ounces less
than the estimated average weight of the male brain. There is considerable decay of the bones
on the right side, on which the skuU had rested, whence its decided posthumous distortion. Notwithstanding
the absence of the malar, and parts of the temporal and occipital bones on the right
side, the entire weight of the cranium and jaw amounts to 42 ozs., nearly or quite equal to that
of the recent heavy skull of the Negro*. The parietal bones are half an inch, the frontal bones
thi-ee-quarters of an inch thick. The density, hardness, and peculiarly eburneated condition of
the SkuU probably existed fi-om birth, and are clearly abnormal. The general form is more
remarkable for elevation than length. The forehead is narrow, but high and prominent in the
31.
* See Plates 6 and 7. Descii|)tioa of Ancient Britisli Skull from Arras, p. (7).
ANCIENT BRITISH—ACKLAM, E. R. YORKSHIRE.
centre ; the parietal region broad, fuU, elevated, and flattened behind ; the occipital moderately
fuU and broad. The mastoid processes are large ; the external auditory foramen decidedly
behind the centre of the skuU. The prominence of the superciliary ridges is altogether
unexampled, and forms a continuous projecting boss above the nose and both orbits. The nasal
bones have an exaggeratedly abrupt projection ; the large opening of the nostrils measures
one inch and a tenth across. The face is full in aU its measurements, particularly length ; the
depth of both the upper and lower jaw being very remarkable. The upper alveolar processes are
very angular, from the prominent implantation of the canine teeth. The teeth are of large size ;
all in place except the right second bicuspid, which has been lost during life ; the crowns of aU ares
considerably worn, the erosion being uniform and not more marked on the outer than the inner
edges. This skuU has many features in common with that from Kennet, WOtshire (Plate 11),
with which it should be compared.
MEASUREMENTS.
Horizontal circumference .
Longitudinal diameter
Frontal Region.—Length
Breadth
Height
Parietal Region.—Length
Breadth
Height
21-6 inches.
7-7 „
5-6 „
4-5 „
5 1 „
4-6 „
5-6 „
5 1 „
Occipital Region.—Length
Breadth
Height
Intermastoid arch
Internal capacity . .
Eace—Length . .
Breadth . . .
Length of the Humerus
4'3 inches.
5-5 „
4-4 „
16-2 „
70 oimoes.
4 9 inches.
5-2 „
14 „
(J. T.)
(2)
31.