less than from their Celtic destroyers ; and this long prior to the
Roman invasion of Britain. The most ancient of these extinct races,
viz., the “Kumbe-kephali” (or, men with Joaí-shaped skülls), flourished
during the earlier part of the “ Primeval or Stone period ; ” and their
successors, the “ Brachy-kephali” (or, short heads) lived towards the
latter part. Both became more or less displaced by intrusive Celts,
during the subsequent “Archaic or Bronze period ; ” while these last
gradually gave way before the precursors of Saxons, Angli, Scoti,
Norwegians, &c., who usher in the “ Teutonic or Iron period.”
Place the Roman invasion of Scotland in the year 80 a . d ., and at
what primordial era did Caledonia’s aborigines begin ? —With this
exordium, let Caledonian archaeology speak for itself:_
“ Of the AUopylian colonists of .Scandinavia, Professor Nillson assigns to the most ancient
the short or.jbrachy-kephalic form of cranium, -with prominent parietal tubers, and broad
and flattened occiput. To this aboriginal race, he conceives, succeeds another with a cranium
of a more lengthened oval form, and prominent and narrow occiput. The third race,
which Scandinavian antiquaries incline to regard as that of the bronze or first metallic
period, is characterized by a cranium longer than the first, and broader than the second,
and marked by greater prominence at the sides. The last, Professor Nillson considers to
have been of Celtic origin. To this succeeded the true Scandinavian race, and the first
“ Fortunately a few skulls from Scottish tumuli
and cists are preserved in the Museums
of the Scottish Antiquaries and of the Edinburgh
Phrenological Society. A comparison
of these with the specimens of crania drawn
by Dr. Thurnam from examples found in an
ancient tumular cemetery at Lamel Hill, near
York, believed to be of the Anglo-Saxon
period, abundantly proves an essential difference
of races.]* The latter, though belonging
to thè superior or dolicho-kephalic type, are
small, very poorly developed, low and narrow
in the forehead, and pyramidal in form. A
striking feature of one type of crania from the
Scottish barrows is a square compact form. . .
“ No. 7 [Figs. 231 and 232] was obtained
from a cist discoveredhtnder a large cairn at
Nether Urquhart, Fifeshire, in 1835. An account
of the opening of several'cairns and
tumuli in the same district is given by Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Miller, in his ‘ Inquiry respecting
the Site of the Battle of Mons Grampius.’J
Some of them contained urns and burnt bones,
ornaments of jet and shale, and the like early
relics, while in others were found implements
or weapons of iron. It is selected here as
native iron ore.* . . .
Fig. 231.
F ig. 232.
* Primitive inhabitants Of Scandinavia, by Professor Nillson of Lund,
f Natural History of Man, p. 193. ] Archseol. vol. iv. pp. 48, 44.
another example of the same class of crania. . . . The whole of these, more or less, nearly
agree with the lengthened oval form described by Professor Nillson as the second race of
the Scandinavian tumuli. They have mostly a singularly narrow and elongated occiput;
and with their comparatively low and narrow forehead, might not inaptly be described by
the familiar term boat-shaped. It is probable that further investigation will establish this
as the type of a primitive, if not of the primeval native race. Though they approach in
form to a superior type, falling under the first or Dolicho-kephalic class ©f Professor Ret-
zius’s arrangement, their capacity is generally small, and their development, for the most
part, poor; so that there is nothing in their cranial characteristics inconsistent with such
evidence as seems to assign to them the rude arts and extremely limited knowledge of the
British Stone Period. . . .
Eia. 233.
“ The skull, of which the measurements are
given iñ No. 10 [Figs. 233 and 234], is the
same here referred to, presented to the Phrenological
Museum by the Rev. Mr. Liddell. It
is a very striking example of the British
Brachy-kephalic type; square! and compact in
form, broad and short, but well balanced, and
with a good frontal development. It no doubt
pertained to. some primitive chief, or archpriest,
sage, it may be, in council, and brave
in war. The site of his place of sepulture has
obviously been chosen for the same reasons
which led to its selection at a later period for
the erection of the belfry and beacon-tower
of the old burgh. It is the most elevated spot
in the neighborhood, and here his cist had
been laid, and the memorial mound piled over
it, which doubtless remained untouched so
long as his memory was cherished in the traditions
of his people. . . .
“ Few as these examples are, they will probably
be found, on further investigation, to
belong to a race entirely distinct from those
previously described. They correspond very
nearly to the Brachy-kephalic crania of the
supposed primeval race of Scandinavia, described
by Professor Nillson as short, with
prominent parietal tubers, and broad and flattened
occiput. In frontal development, however,
they are decidedly superior to the previous class of crania, and such evidence as we
possess seems to point to a very different succession of races to that which Scandinavian
ethnologists now recognize in the primitive history of the north of Europe. . . .
“ So far as appears from the table of measurements, the following laws would seem to
be indicated: — In the primitive or elongated dolicho-kephalic type, for which the distinctive
title of kumbe-kephalic is here suggested — the parietal diameter is remarkably small,
being frequently exceeded by the vertical diameter; in the second or brachy-kephalic class,
the parietal diameter is the greater of the two; in the Celtic crania they are nearly equal;
and in the medieval or true dolicho-kephalic heads, the parietal diameter is again found
decidedly in excess; while the preponderance or deficiency of the longitudinal in its relative
proportion to the other diameters, furnishes the^most characteristic features referred
to in the classification of the kumbe-kephalic, brachy-kephalic, Celtic, and dolicho-kephalic
types. Not the least interesting indications which these results afford, both to the ethno-^