General Observations: Differences in Type

Although the remains comprise seventeen adult males and the same number of females, some of the skulls are so defective that measurements and notes of value could be made only on those of ten males and thirteen females.

In examining and arranging these specimens, the first realization of importance is that, while the majority clearly belong to one type, there are a few that must be classed apart. The main type, as will be noted later and more plainly from the measurements, is that characterized by dolichocephaly to mesocephaly, and agrees with that prevalent among other Lenape as well as other Eastern tribes. The additional type is brachycephalic. Among the twenty-five skulls of adults there are four of the brachycephalic type, all females. A few additional examples existed evidently among the children; and several of the remaining skulls may be transitional as a result of admixture. The brachycephaly is so marked that it can not be due to normal individual variation within the series, and if we exclude this possibility the only remaining conclusion is that the broad-heads could not have been Lenape, except by adoption. The individuals represented by these skulls might have come from western Pennsylvania, where brachycephaly seems to have prevailed at least in some districts; or from farther southwestward, from a region to which points the intentional deformation among the “Munsee” crania. These possibly represent the Shawnee, who came from that section and who, according to growing indications, while speaking Algonquian were of a different type physically.

The admixture of this type existed evidently also among other branches of the Lenape, and to a more limited extent among various other tribes of the Atlantic states. The writer called attention to this mixture in 1902,[15] and will return to the subject in the second part of this memoir, which deals with Eastern skulls in general.

Chief Descriptive Features

The skulls are of good size, but otherwise are characterized by moderate development. There is no massiveness, no heavy supraorbital arches or crests, no heavy jaws. It is plain that they did not belong to a tribe of great huntsmen or warriors.

The frontal region, though prevalently somewhat low in the females, in a large majority of the cases is well arched; the zygomæ are not excessively broad, the malar bones not heavy. The nose is rather short, the face only mildly prognathic. The dental arches, as in the majority of Indians, are very regular, and the same applies to the medium sized teeth. The vault of the skull from above is either ovoid (58 per cent) or elliptical (42 per cent), while the outline of the norma posterior approaches more or less the pentagonal.

In addition there may be mentioned an unusual scarcity of Wormian bones and an equal sparsity of marked anomalies. These and other features are treated in detail in another part of this paper. (See pp. 35, 47.)

Measurements

The measurements[16] offer many points of interest, although, so far as the vault is concerned, they are considerably interfered with by artificial deformation in some of the specimens. As in certain former reports by the writer, they will be dealt with in order according to their significance.

FORM OF THE VAULT

The measurements relating to the form of the vault comprise the maximum length and breadth, and the basion-bregma height, with the resultant percentage-relations or indexes. The details are given in the accompanying table. Although the number of undeformed specimens in good condition is small, it will be seen (a) that there is an absence of extremes in the several dimensions, (b) that the crania range in type from dolichocephalic to mesocephalic, and (c) that they show good height. As a result of the latter, both the height-length and the height-breadth indices are high, though corresponding well with those of many other Indian tribes and those of numerous other branches of the yellow-brown race. Comparisons will be found in the second part of this report, which deals with the Eastern Indians in general.

I. MUNSEE CRANIA:  MEASUREMENTS RELATING
TO THE FORM OF THE VAULT[17]

• LEGEND:
• A = Length, maximum
• B = Breadth, maximum
• C = Height(basion-bregma)
• D = Cephalic index (b × 100)/x
• E = Height-length index (z × 100)/x
• F = Height-breadth index (z × 100)/y

Attention may be called to the lower value of the average cephalic index and the higher value of the average height-breadth index in the males than in the females. These conditions, due to the relatively greater length and also to the relatively greater height of the male skull, are not exceptional and will later be found to be quite general among Eastern Indians.

The identical value of the average height-length index in the two sexes is of no special significance and is probably incidental.

In the deformed skulls we see the usual effect of the flattening by the lessening of the length and a compensatory increase in both breadth and height.

SIZE OF THE SKULL

The principal determinations relating to the size of the vault are the cranial module or mean diameter, the capacity, the circumference, and the antero-posterior arc, all of which are given in the next table, where also is shown the thickness of the skull, which is of importance as a corrective to the external dimensions.

II. MUNSEE CRANIA: MEASUREMENTS RELATING
TO THE SIZE OF THE VAULT[19]

It will be noted that the measurements of the Munsee skulls, particularly those of the males, show fair capacity as well as external size of the vault, and also that only a few of the crania are thick-walled. An interesting feature is the unusual superiority of the measurements of the males over those of the females. This in a measure is due to the occurrence among the males of one skull of extraordinary size (1,720 c. c.); but even if we exclude this, the difference between the two sexes is somewhat greater than among other Indians. In the following table are given a few comparative data on this point.

III. RELATION OF AVERAGES OF MEASUREMENTS
RELATING TO SIZE OF VAULT IN
MALES AND FEMALES

(Males = 100)

These data are of interest in a number of additional particulars. In the first place, it is seen that, barring capacity, a striking similarity exists in the relation of female to male measurements in the different groups of Indians. There are reasons to believe that such resemblances are not confined to these tribes alone or even to Indians generally, but extend, with a limited range of variation, to all races.

Another remarkable fact is that the external measurements of the skull, especially the mean diameter or module, and the circumference show practically identical percental relations in the two sexes, averaging each about 96 for the female to 100 for the male; while in capacity the difference is decidedly greater (less than 90 to 100) in favor of the male, notwithstanding the fact that the thickness of the female skulls averages smaller. In other words, a female skull only nine-tenths as thick as that of a male and which gives external measurements that compare with those of the male cranium in a ratio of 96 to 100, will stand in respect to its internal capacity toward the male skull as only 88 or 89 to 100. The cause of this must be attributed to the unequal build, in the two sexes, of those parts of the skull which are not reached by the ordinary external measurements, and the narrower and especially the lower frontal region in the female plays probably a large part in this connection.

RELATION OF SIZE OF SKULL TO STATURE

The size of the head, as is well known, increases with stature. This increase is not uniform, but progresses in a diminishing ratio. The fact holds true in all races, though the exact values of the ratio with the different racial elements have not as yet been determined definitely. In the case of skeletal remains, in which it is not possible to learn the exact stature, the most suitable manner of obtaining light on the subject is to compare the length of the femur with the cranial capacity, by which means we ascertain the number of cubic centimeters of the capacity that correspond to each centimeter of the length of the femur. The following data give the results of such a comparison among the Munsee and on Indian skeletal remains from Arkansas and Louisiana.[23]

IV.  MUNSEE CRANIA: RELATION OF SKULL
CAPACITY TO STATURE[24]

The results presented in the table show considerable individual variation in the femoro-cranial index, by reason of which there is some irregularity of alignment of the cases. This is especially true in regard to the capacity, which in this small series shows little regularity or evidence of conformity with the aforementioned general rule of increase of the size of the head with stature. The tallest of the eight females had one of the smallest heads, and the man with the largest brain was not even of average height. However, there is no doubt that if the series of skulls was considerably larger, the usual progression, showing gradual increase in the size of the brain with the height of the body, would be apparent.

The femoro-cranial index progresses much more regularly than the capacity, and shows another well-known fact, also common to all human races, namely, that while the absolute size of the brain enlarges in proportion to the stature, its relative dimensions with reference to stature diminish as the latter increases; so that while the tall man or woman may be expected to have an absolutely larger brain than the average of his group, relatively to his stature he will have less brain matter than the short individuals of the same group.

The averages in the preceding table are interesting in another particular—i. e., the difference in the value of the femoro-cranial index in the two sexes. Both the former records of the Louisiana crania and those of the Munsee now presented show these indexes to be perceptibly lower in the females than in the males. The superiority in this respect among the male crania is seen not only in the averages, but practically throughout the records, seven of the eight indexes in the females being below the minimum of the indexes in the males. It seems evident that among the Indians the brain substance in the females is not only absolutely smaller than in the males, but is also somewhat smaller for each centimeter of stature, so that men of the same height as the women would still show an advantage in this particular. This advantage is not necessarily connected with mentality, but may be due to the greater muscularity of the males.

As to the value of the femoro-cranial index in different tribes, we can as yet say nothing positive. The indications are that if differences exist, they are not of a very pronounced character.

SIZE AND SHAPE OF THE FACE

The measurements chosen, as in the writer’s work previously cited, are only the most essential. They include the total and upper length of face, and the three breadth measurements—the smallest breadth of the forehead, the greatest facial breadth in the plane of the zygomatic arches, and the breadth at the angles of the lower jaw. As to the total facial length (chin-nasion), wherever the teeth were worn due allowance for the wear was made on the basis of measurements on well-preserved teeth of the same sex and in the same group.

The results, presented in the next table, show that among the Munsee the face was of only fair height and that its other dimensions were rather subdued for Indians.

V.  MUNSEE CRANIA: MEASUREMENTS RELATING TO
SIZE AND SHAPE OF THE FACE[25]

• LEGEND:
• A = Total length of face (chin-nasion)[26]
• B = Upper length (prosthion-nasion)
• C = Breadth of face (diam. bizyg. max.)
• D = Facial index total (x × 100)/z
• E = Facial index upper (y × 100)/z
• F = Cephalic index of the skull (for comparison)
• G = Diameter frontal minimum
• H = Diameter bigonial
•  
• S.D.   = Slightly Defeormed
• DEF. = Deformed

The bizygomatic breadth, though not really small, is below the average in many other tribes of Indians, while the frontal breadth and that of the lower jaw are also somewhat below the medium. These results bear out the statement made under “General Observations” (p. 20) relative to the moderate proportions of the face of the Munsee. Comparative data given in the second part of this report indicate that in some of these respects, especially in the height of the face, the Munsee were somewhat exceptional among the Eastern tribes.

The facial indexes indicate mild chamœprosopy to mild leptoprosopy. Both the total and the upper indexes are perceptibly higher in the females, which on analysis of the measurements is seen to be due to the relatively greater narrowness of the face in the female, which, in turn, is doubtless connected with a relatively smaller development of the temporal muscles, the main muscles of mastication. The same condition was noticeable in the crania from Arkansas and Louisiana previously reported by the writer, and is probably quite general among Indians. Some of the foreheads and some of the lower jaws among the Munsee, as will be seen from the details, were relatively quite narrow.

ORBITS. NOSE

With respect to the orbits, the writer follows his invariable custom of making measurements on both sides and recording the mean, which, in turn, gives rise to a mean index. This procedure is necessary in view of the fact that in only a minority of cases are the two orbits of equal dimensions and that sometimes they differ considerably.[27]

Among the series of Lenape crania which the writer reported on in 1902,[28] there were several specimens in which the orbits were unusually low. At that time it seemed as if this feature might be almost characteristic of these Indians; but evidently such is not the case, for low orbits are quite rare among the Munsee. As will be seen from the following figures, in only one instance (male, no. 285,313) are the orbits decidedly low and broad, giving the microseme[29] index of 78.1. Of the remaining cases four males and two females (43 per cent) are mesoseme, while two of the males and five of the females (50 per cent) are megaseme. The extensive fluctuation of the orbital index in both sexes of the Munsee tribe is very striking, but much the same variation was observed in the Arkansas and Louisiana crania previously mentioned, and is present among the Eastern tribes in general.

VI.  MUNSEE CRANIA: ORBITS,[30] NOSE[31]

The average orbital index in the female Munsee is higher than that in the males, as is generally the case, a fact directly due to the heavier development of the supraorbital region in the males.

The nose in many of the individual Munsee, in conformity with the rest of the upper face, was rather short, but occasionally it was quite broad. The indexes, according to Broca’s classification, give four instances (25 per cent; 3 m., 1 f.) of leptorhinic, four cases (25 per cent; 2 m., 2 f.) of mesorhinic, and eight cases (50 per cent; 3 m., 5 f.) of moderately platyrhinic nasal aperture, the averages falling both in mesorhiny. The usual accompaniments of platyrhiny in the negro nose, however, are invariably absent, the inferior borders of the aperture being moderately sharp and the bridge showing generally a fair development.

PROGNATHISM

Measurements relating to prognathism include three basal diameters, namely, from basion to prosthion, the subnasal point and nasion; and the subnasal (alveolar) height, with the heights from prosthion and the subnasal point to nasion. These lines connected give us, in skulls in which the facial parts are well preserved, the angle of the face as a whole and also the alveolar angle, which it is important to measure separately.