One of the most important conclusions reached in connection with the studies dealt with in these pages is that of the physical identity of the Iroquois with the eastern Algonquian tribes. To test this conclusion the writer subsequently examined the valuable collection of Iroquois skeletal material in possession of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences,[125] consisting of 34 male and 22 female adult skulls, well identified and in good condition. The results of this additional study are given in the following tables and need little comment except that the conclusions presented in the body of this report as to the physical identity of the Iroquois and eastern Algonquian peoples are fully verified. In every respect the measurements and indexes of the new series fit closely among those of the other Eastern tribes, and in not a single feature do they drop out of line or even equal the extremes of variation in the skeletal remains of the tribes previously studied. In view of these facts the essential identity of the physical characters of the Iroquois and Algonquians, as determined by their skeletal remains, may, it seems, be regarded as definitely established.
IROQUOIS AND MOST NEARLY RELATED
EASTERN INDIAN CRANIA
| HEIGHT INDEX |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Hrdlička) | |||||
| (H + B) 2L |
|||||
| Male | Female | ||||
| Maine | (6) | 72.3 | Maine | (5) | 74.1 |
| Long Island | (5) | 72.8 | Long Island | (5) | 74.1 |
| Connecticut | (2) | 73.0 | Connecticut | (3) | 74.7 |
| Massachusetts | (12) | 73.2 | Massachusetts | (22) | 75.1 |
| Southeastern Canada | (14) | 73.3 | Southeastern Canada | (5) | 76.3 |
| Manhattan Island | (2) | 73.4 | Manhattan Island | (1) | 73.7 |
| Staten Island | (4) | 73.5 | Staten Island | (3) | 74.6 |
| New York State | (17) | 73.6 | New York State | (14) | 73.7 |
| Iroquois | (32) | 73.6 | Iroquois | (21) | 74.2 |
| Delaware | (1) | 73.7 | Delaware | — | — |
| Rhode Island | (6) | 73.9 | Rhode Island | (4) | 76.1 |
| New Jersey (all) | (17) | 74.3 | New Jersey (all) | (20) | 74.8 |
The preceding statements must not, of course, be regarded as implying any lessening of our interest in the Iroquois group. This large and important body of Indians was a complex of tribes, some of which, as yet, are represented but poorly in our collections, so far as their skeletal remains are concerned. It is possible that more abundant material will exhibit some differences between these tribes, owing to their varied earlier associations and perhaps to other agencies. In any event, the Iroquois are well worthy of further study, even though there may not be strong probability that the chief conclusion reached in this work, namely, their close physical relation with the Algonquians, can be seriously modified.
Much also remains to be done with respect to the Algonquians. The Canadian tribes have scarcely been touched as yet; there are numerous gaps in the skeletal collections from our Eastern states; and data on skeletal parts other than the skull in the principal tribes are very deficient.
Footnotes:
[1] Hrdlička, The Crania of Trenton, New Jersey, and their Bearing upon the Antiquity of Man in that Region, Bull. Amer. Museum of Natural History, XVI, art. 311, New York, 1902, pp. 23-62, 22 pl., 4 fig.
[2] For details and archeological results, see George G. Heye and George H. Pepper, Exploration of a Munsee Cemetery near Montague, New Jersey, Contributions from the Museum of the American Indian (Heye Foundation), II, pt. 1, New York, 1915. The Heye Expedition reports some additional burials, but the skeletal remains therefrom were in a very defective condition.
[3] Captain John Smith’s Works, 1608-1631, Arber ed., Birmingham, 1884; William Penn’s Letters, 1683; G. Thomas, History of New Jersey, London, 1698; Thomas Campanius Holm, Short Description of New Sweden, Stockholm, 1702, transl. by Duponceau in Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, III, Phila., 1834; T. Acrelius, History of New Sweden, Stockholm, 1759, transl. in Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, XI, 1874; Samuel Smith, History of the Colony of Nova Cesarea or New Jersey, Burlington, 1765; Peter Kalm, Travels into North America, London, 1770-71; G. H. Loskiel, History of the Mission of the United Brethren among the Indians in North America, London, 1794; Geo. Chalmers, Political Annals of the Present United Colonies, etc., 1780, New York Historical Society Collections, 1868; John G. E. Heckewelder, History, Manners and Customs of the Indian Nations who once Inhabited Pennsylvania and the Neighboring States, Phila., 1819, Mem. Hist. Soc. Penn., XII, 1876; also MSS.; James Grahame, History of the Rise and Progress of the United States of North America, London, 1827 (new ed., 1836, 1845); Thos. F. Gordon, History of New Jersey, Trenton, 1834; J. Curtis Clay, Annals of the Swedes on the Delaware, Phila., 1835; Yates and Moulton, New York, N. Y., 1824; Isaac Mickle, Reminiscences of Old Gloucester, Phila., 1845, Camden, 1877; A. Gifford, Aborigines of New Jersey, Proc. N. J. Hist. Soc., IV, Newark, 1859, pp. 163-198; D. G. Brinton, The Lenape and their Legends, Phila., 1885; Handbook of American Indians, Bull. 30, Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington, 1907-1910.
[4] These designations are not translations of the terms given in parentheses, but “refer to the location of these sub-tribes on the Delaware River,” Minsi (from minthin, to be scattered, and achsin, stone), meaning “people of the stony country” or “mountaineers”; Unami (from nahen, down-stream) means “people down the river”; and Unalachtigo (from wunalawat, to go towards, and t’kow or t’kou, wave) means “people who live near the ocean.” Wolf, Turtle, and Turkey are the totemic designations of the three sub-tribes. (Brinton, op. cit., p. 34.)
[5] From the above tribes, in course of time, sprang many others “who, having for their own conveniency, chosen distant spots to settle on, and increasing in numbers, gave themselves names or received them from others.” (Heckewelder, Hist. Indian Nations, p. 53; see also ibid., p. 51.)
[6] Heckewelder, Hist. Ind. Nations, p. 52. Brinton (op. cit., p. 37) is of the opinion, but on what grounds is not stated, that the extent of the territory of the Munsee as given here is too great. In his words, “that at any time, as Heckewelder asserts, their the Munsee territory extended up to the Hudson as far as tide-water, and westward ‘far beyond the Susquehannah’ is surely incorrect. Only after the beginning of the eighteenth century, when they had been long subject to the Iroquois, have we any historic evidence that they had a settlement on the last named river.” It seems, however, that even if the presence of the Munsee on or beyond the Susquehannah may be open to contention, their presence along the Hudson is well established. Gifford (Aborigines of New Jersey, p. 180) states that “the Minsi tribe extended as far on the west banks of the Hudson as Tappan.” Yates and Moulton (History of New York, I, p. 225) place the Minsi even farther east, “from Long Island to and beyond Minisink.” According to Ruttenber (History of the Indian Tribes of Hudson’s River, p. 50) the Munsee territory “extended from the Katskill mountains to the headwaters of the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers, and was bounded on the east by the Hudson; their council-fire was lighted at Minisink [about 10 miles south of Maghackemek, New Jersey.” The Unami joined the Munsee on the south, somewhere about Stony Point. Going farther than this, Ruttenber gives (p. 93 et seq.) the various subdivisions of the Munsee along the Hudson and their location: the Waoroneck, about Dans-kammer; the Warranawonkong, from Dans-kammer to Saugerties; the Mamekoting west of Shawangunk mountains; the Wawarsink, in the district which still bears their name; the Katskills, north of Saugerties.
[7] Quoted from Hrdlička, The Crania of Trenton, op. cit., pp. 32-33.
[8] Ruttenber, History of the Indian Tribes of Hudson’s River, p. 178.
[9] “River Indians returned from a residence with the Shawanoes, brought with them some Shawanoes who intended to settle with the Minisinks, asking permission to that end. Council directed that the Shawanoes must first make peace with the Five Nations.—Council Minutes, Sept. 14, 1692.”
[10] Had the cemetery, prior to its disturbance, contained the remains of as many as 200 bodies of all ages, including infants, with a yearly mortality in the tribe of 35 per thousand, it could have been in use only about 60 years by a population of 100, and proportionately less, of course, for a larger group.
[11] As happened frequently on the coast of Peru, for instance, where the same type of deformation was practiced. No board was used in these instances, the frontal compression being effected by means of pads.
[12] Report on a Collection of Crania from Arkansas, Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila., XIII, 558-563, Phila., 1908; Report on an Additional Collection of Skeletal Remains from Arkansas and Louisiana, ibid., XIV, 1909, pp. 173-240, 9 figs.; Report on Skeletal Remains from a Mound on Haley Place, near Red River, Miller County, Ark., ibid., XIV, 1912, pp. 639-640; Report on a Collection of Crania and Bones from Sorrel Bayou, Iberville Parish, La., ibid., XVI, 1913, pp. 95-100.
[13] The Crania of Trenton, op. cit., 1902.
[14] The bones of the children show nothing pathological.
[15] Crania of Trenton, op. cit.
[16] All measurements presented in this report were taken personally by the writer, with proved instruments and due care. Unless otherwise noted, the methods follow strictly the international agreements of Monaco and Geneva.
[17] Arranged on the basis of the cephalic index.
[18] Not sufficient to vitiate the measurements.
[19] Arranged on the basis of capacity.
[20] Measured with dry mustard-seed and by the writer’s method described in Science, XVII, 1903, pp. 1011-1014.
[21] From A. Hrdlička, Report on an Additional Collection of Skeletal Remains from Arkansas and Louisiana, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., XIV, 1909, pp. 171-249.
[22] From A. Hrdlička, Report on an Additional Collection of Skeletal Remains from Arkansas and Louisiana, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., XIV, 1909, pp. 171-249.
[23] Published by the writer in his Report on an Additional Collection, etc., op. cit., 1909, pp. 179, 188.
[24] Arranged on the basis of stature (i. e., length of femur).
[25] Arranged on the basis of the Upper Facial Index.
[26] Where teeth were worn off, due allowance was made for the defect, the normal enameled portion of median incisors in apposition being taken as 19 mm. high, in the men.
[27] It seems advisable to mention at this point the exact method used by the writer in the measurement of the orbits, for there appears to be not a little discrepancy in this respect among different workers. The measurements are those of Broca: The breadth is from dacryon (the point of intersection of the lachrymo-frontal suture and the sharp free orbital border of the lachrymal canal) to the most distal part of the lateral boundary of the orbit, below the malo-frontal suture; while the height is the maximum height, from about the center of the lower border of the orbit. Both dimensions can be taken with fair accuracy by either a graduated rod or by the two sharp points of the compas glissière. The main point is that the measurements should not comprise any part of the borders of the orbits, particularly the outer one, which differs considerably in thickness and breadth, and part of which seems not infrequently to be included by those who take these measurements.
[28] Crania of Trenton, etc., op. cit.
[29] Broca’s classification.
[30] Arranged on the basis of the Orbital Index.
[31] Arranged on the basis of the Nasal Index.
[32] Arrangement of cases based on Facial Angle.
[33] The “subnasal point” of the writer is the lowest point on the inferior border of the nasal aperture on the left side: it is the point from which the height of the nose is measured.
[34] L’Anthropologie, xx, 1909, pp. 35 et seq., 175 et seq.; 1910, pp. 505, 637.
[35] An exceptional group of Wends reached 76.5°.
[36] Length: “From the alveolar point to a line drawn across the hinder borders of the maxillary bones. Breadth: Maximum external just above the molar teeth.”
[37] Arranged on the basis of the Palatal Index.
[38] Arranged on the basis of the height at symphysis.
[39] The vertical height in median line.
[40] Measured with the compas glissière in such manner that the center of the second molar or of its aveolus corresponds to the middle of the rod of the compass between the two branches which are applied to the ramus.
[41] Measured with Broca’s goniometer.
[42] Moderate.
[43] S = sagittal; C = coronal; TO = temporo-occipital; L = lambdoid.
[44] The term is used merely for convenience.
[45] See Hrdlička, Certain Racial Characteristics of the Base of the Skull, Science, 1901, p. 309; Proc. Assoc. Amer. Anatomists, 15th Sess., in Amer. Jour. of Anatomy, I, 1901-2, pp. 508-9.
[46] 1/2 = one small cusp; 2/2 = two small (or half) cusps, etc.
[47] Appearing like the mouth of a tightly drawn tobacco-pouch or purse.
[48] Diameter major = parallel to the flat, anterior surface; diameter minor = at a right angle to the preceding.
[49] Diameter major = parallel to the flat, anterior surface; diameter minor = at a right angle to the preceding.
[50] Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., XIV, 1909, pp. 211-212.
[51] Hrdlička, Typical Forms of Shaft of Long-Bones, Proceedings of the Association of American Anatomists, 14th Sess., Dec. 1900, pp. 55-60, figs. 1-2, Washington, 1901.
[52] Linea aspera midway between the two branches of the compass.
[53] Maximum.
[54] Linea aspera midway between the two branches of the compass.
[55] Maximum
[56] Males: Munsee, 2.74; United States whites, 2.9; United States negroes, 2.91 cm. Females: Munsee, 2.54; United States whites, 2.69; United States negroes, 2.6 cm.
[57] See Hrdlička, Report on Additional Skeletal Remains from Arkansas and Louisiana, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., XIV, 1909, pp. 215-216.
[58] Compare Arkansas and Louisiana Femora, op. cit., p. 217.
[59] On Broca’s planche ostéometrique, with the spine in the opening of the vertical portion of the instrument and the condyles applied to the board on both sides of the opening, the rest of the bone lying immobile on the horizontal board.
[60] Maximum.
[61] With anterior border of the bone midway between the two branches of the compass that are applied to the sides of the bone.
[62] Compare S. Bello y Rodriguez, Le fémur et le tibia, chez l’homme et les anthropoìdes, Thèse, Paris, 1909, p. 109.
[63] (Right + left)/2
[64] (Right + left)/2
[65] (Diameter antero-posterior + diameter lateral, right and left.)/4
[66] 1 = ordinary prismatic; 2 = lateral prismatic; 3 = external surface concave; 4 = posterior surface divided into two by vertical ridge; 5 = interior border indistinct, posterior half of bone oval; 6 = plano-convex; I= indefinite.
[67] For the significance of the denominations see the note to the preceding table.
[68] Taking only cases where all four bones of one body are available for measurement, we obtain 92 for the relation of female to male tibiæ and 94.6 for that of the fibulæ, numbers which stand to each other very much as do those above given.
[69] 1 = Ordinary quadrilateral, approaching prismatic; anterior surface nearly absent to moderate; posterior surface facing directly backward or nearly so. 2 = Lateral prismatic; posterior surface facing backward and inward; medial surface much less in area than lateral; anterior surface narrow to broad. 2a = Relation between medial and lateral surface reversed, the latter being the narrower. 3 = Medial surface fluted. 4 = Lateral surface differentiated into two surfaces. 5 = Lateral surface fluted. 6 = Both medial and lateral surfaces fluted.
[70] Where present and attached to upper sternal tubercle (three instances).
[71] One subject.
[72] The averages of the measurements are exceptionally small in this series.
[73] For literature, see R. Martin, Lehrbuch der Anthropologie, 1914; also A. C. Schück, Das Schulterblatt des Menschen und der Anthropoiden, Mitteil. Anthr. Ges. Wien, XL, 1910.
The few published reports on Indian scapulæ give scapular and infraspinous indexes as follows: Matiegka (Santa Rosa, Cal., Indians), 64.9; 90.8; Dorsey (Northwest Coast), 65.1; 83.2 (?); Martin (Fuegians), 65.4; 90.8; Martin (Peruvians), 66.6; 89; Matthews (Ancient Pueblos of Arizona), 71.1.
In the anthropoid apes the scapular index averages between 69 and 76 (Livon); but the infraspinous index is enormous, ranging from slightly over 100 in the orang to 156 in the chimpanzee.
[74] This form and various approaches to it have been referred to as “scaphoid” by Graves (Jour. Amer. Med. Asso., 1910, p. 12), and wrongly attributed to faulty development of the body.
[75] The fourth, or teres major, border is present also, of course, in all instances of type 5, and in most specimens of type 4. It is particularly common in the Peruvian scapulæ.
[76] Type 1=horizontal or but slightly inclined; 2=moderate to medium obliquity; 3=pronounced obliquity; 4=deep saddle-shaped; 5=semilunar; 6=convex; 7=markedly concavo-convex.
[77] In two specimens (2 per cent) the form of the border was unclassifiable.
[78] Or 8 in 1,000. Among the whites, dissecting-room material, in a total of 16,300 ribs examined, the author found fractures in the first rib in the proportion of 4 in 1,000; in the second rib, 20 in 1,000; and in the ribs below the second, 49.3 in 1,000.
[79] The sacra from the Arkansas and Louisiana mounds, of which a small series was reported previously by the writer (Remains from Arkansas and Louisiana, op. cit.), appeared unusually high; in the much larger series here presented, however, they are seen to form no exception in this respect to those of other Indians.
[80] Sacra of five segments only included; height measured with sliding compass, points of instrument applied to middle of promontory and to middle of anterior inferior border of V sacral vertebra.
[81] A. B. Emmons, A Study of the Variations in the Female Pelvis, Based on Observations made on 271 Specimens of the American Indian Squaw, Biometrika, IX, 1913, pp. 34-57.
[82] Five-segment sacra only.
[83] There were two separate series which gave remarkably similar results:
(a) Males: (26) H. 10.6, B. 11.7, Ind. 115; females: (12) H. 10.2, B. 11.73, Ind. 115.
(b) Males: (30) H. 10.63, B. 11.64, Ind. 115.8; females: (13) H. 10.16, B. 11.77, Ind. 115.8.
[84] Forty-six additional five-segment adult sacra, both sexes together, gave the writer—height 10.4, breadth 11.76, index 113.
[85] Mean height of innominate bones×100/maximum breadth of pelvis
[86] Promontory of sacrum to nearest point on the inner lip of pubic bones.
[87] The pelvis being held in articulation.
[88] Emmons’s series
[89] Males: 100 right, 100 left; females: 50 right, 50 left patellæ.
[90] Males: 100 right, 100 left; females: 50 right, 50 left patellæ.
[91] Maximum length of first metacarpal × 100/Maximum length of humerus.
[92] Maximum length of first metacarpal × 100/Maximum length of humerus.
[93] S. P. Lazarus, Zur Morphologie des Fufsskelettes, Morphol. Jahrb., XXIV, H. 1, repr., 8⁰, Leipzig, 1896; W. Pfitzner, Beiträge zur Kenntniss des menschlichen Extremitätenskelets, Morphol. Arbeiten, I, H. 1, Jena, 1891; Th. Volkov, Variations squelettiques du pied chez les primates et dans les races humaines; Thèse doctorale de la Faculté des Sciences, Paris, 1905; Chas. Fraipont, L’Astragale de l’homme Moustérien, etc., 8⁰, Bruxelles, 1912; M. Reicher, Beitrag zur Anthropologie des Calcaneus, Archiv für Anthropologie, N. F., XII, H. 2, 1913; S. Poniatowski, Badania Antropologiczne nad Kóscia Skokowa (Anthropological Studies of the Talus), Prace Towarzystwa Naukowego Warszawskiego, 1913.
[94] Maximum length of first metacarpal × 100 / Maximum length of first metatarsal.
[95] Maximum length of first metatarsal × 100 / Bicondylar length of femur.
[96] The indexes in whites are close approximations.
[97] Branches of compas glissière applied to the sides of the bone in the region of minimum thickness of the body.
[98] Maximum height at greatest constriction of body, obtained by moving the bone from side to side between the points of the branches of the compas glissière.
[99] Stem of calipers applied to lowest (most prominent) parts on medial surface of the bone.
[100] Distal branch of calipers applied to lowest (most prominent) parts on medial surface of the bone.
[101] On osteometric plane (Broca), all three lowest points of inferior surface of the bone touching the vertical board while the square is applied to the most prominent part of the bone from the opposite direction.
[102] Stem of calipers applied to lowest (most prominent) parts on medial surface of the bone.
[103] Distal branch of calipers applied to lowest (most prominent) parts on medial surface of the bone.
[104] On osteometric plane (Broca), all three lowest points of inferior surface of the bone touching the vertical board while the square is applied to the most prominent part of the bone from the opposite direction.
[105] From the extremity of the tuberosity ad maximum.
[106] Use calipers with broad branches; hold instrument vertical; lay bone on movable branch on talus facet and raise the branch until the bone touches the under surface of the immovable branch.
[107] Same instrument as for last; lay bone on movable branch on its dorsal or superior surface; let it assume a natural position and raise the branch until the most prominent part of the plantar surface of the bone touches the under surface of the movable branch.
[108] Quoted by Cunningham, Anatomy, 3d ed., p. 245.
[109] Between the most prominent points on the superior and inferior borders of the distal or metatarsal facet of the bones and the point of the bone at the inferior medial angle (“calcanean process”).
[110] Maximum breadth, with the cuboid resting on its medial surface in such position as it naturally assumes. This and the measurement given in the next note are obtained readily by the compas glissière with broad branches.
[111] Maximum thickness, with the cuboid resting on its anterior surface in such position as it naturally assumes.
[112] Lower (proximal) branch of the calipers applied to the most prominent parts of the inferior surface of the bone.
[113] Breadth minimum, in middle of bone, upper branch of calipers resting on both lips of the scaphoid facet: the only practicable breadth in all specimens.
[115] Crania Americana, Catalogue, and other contributions. See the bibliographies in the writer’s Physical Anthropology in America, Amer. Anthropologist, 1914, XVI, pp. 508-554.
[116] American Naturalist, 1899, p. 33.
[117] Bulletin Amer. Museum of Natural History, XVI, pp. 23-62.
[118] Just as this memoir is about to go to the printer, there appears a study, by Marian Vera Knight, on The Craniometry of Southern New England Indians (Yale Univ. Press, 1915, IV, pp. 1-36, 9 pl.), constituting a report on approximately 90 skulls, many of them imperfect, from Massachusetts and Rhode Island. A majority of the specimens are those that have already been studied by Carr and Russell, and more especially by the present writer. The results agree closely with those shown in this report, although Miss Knight includes some specimens that may safely be regarded as extraneous, and has not been entirely fortunate in the matter of some of her measurements and comparisons.
[119] 10.9 per cent.
[120] 10.3 per cent.
[121] See A. Skinner in The Indians of Greater New York and the Lower Hudson, edited by Clark Wissler, Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, III, 1909.
[122] For details concerning this collection, see Report of the Exploration of the Hayes Creek Mound, Rockbridge County, Virginia, Publ. Valentine Museum, Richmond (ca. 1892).
[123] H × 100 + (L + B)/(2)
[124] Measurements in parentheses are derived from a single specimen.
[125] Grateful acknowledgment for courtesies in this connection are extended to Mr. Henry R. Howland, superintendent of the museum of this Society.