VII.  MUNSEE CRANIA: PROGNATHISM, FACIAL
AND ALVEOLAR[32]

• LEGEND:
• A = Basion-prosthion line
• B = Basion subnasal point[33]
• C = Basion-nasion
• D = Prosthion-nasion height
• E = Prosthion subnasal point height
• F = Facial angle (angle between a and d)
• G = Alveolar angle (angle between a and e)

An extended and meritorious report on the naso-alveolo-basilar angle such as here described was published in 1909 and 1910 by Dr. P. Rivet,[34] who commenced its determination independently by the same method as that of the present writer and almost simultaneously with him; but no comparisons are as yet available in regard to the alveolar angle. It appears from Rivet’s data that among modern white adults the average of the facial angle, as herein defined, ranges in round numbers from 70.5° to 73°;[35] among the negroes, the mean of Rivet’s series gives 68.5°; among several groups of American Indians it was 68° to 71.5°. Rivet calculated his indexes mathematically and with the help of an “abaque,” while the writer obtained his results by the direct (graphic) method, which, for small series of calculations and used with precision, seems to him preferable, although the results are probably quite comparable. By this method the writer obtained on the Arkansas and Louisiana crania, previously reported, averages ranging for the facial index from 70° to 74° for the males, and 68° to 70° for the females; while the alveolar angle gave the average of 55° to 60° in the males, and 51° to 53° in the females. The Munsee crania give the rather high average of 73° for the males and 74° for the females, with respect to the facial angle, and 59° in the males with 57° in the females for the alveolar angle. These figures indicate that both the facial and the alveolar protrusion in the Munsee was exceedingly moderate for a group of Indians, although in a measure the height of the indexes is due to the shortness of the face.

PALATE

It was possible to obtain satisfactory measurements of the palate (or, more strictly speaking, the upper alveolar arch) in 13 instances, which, in view of the usually frequent defects of the arch, is a good proportion of the cases. The measurements and indexes follow Turner’s method, which is quite satisfactory.[36] The greatest length recorded by Turner in 20 European male and 8 European female skulls was 6 cm., the smallest 4.7 cm.; the greatest breadth 6.9 cm., the smallest 5.6 cm. The same measurements among the Munsee range, if we take both sexes together, from 5.1 cm. to 6 cm. for length and 5.9 cm. to 7.2 cm. for breadth, showing both dimensions, though more especially the breadth, to be slightly superior in these Indians to what they are in whites. The palatal or “uranic” index averaged, in Turner’s whites, 116.2 in the males and 115.6 in the females; in the Munsee the averages are 120.7 for the former and 120.5 for the latter sex, showing the palate in these Indians to be more “brachy-uranic,” or relatively broader. The sexual differences in both Turner’s and the present series are so small as to be practically negligible. In the different groups of Arkansas and Louisiana crania, reported in 1909 by the writer, the average palatal index ranged from 116 to 122 in the males and from 115 to 122 in the females—conditions very similar to those shown in the present observations.

It may here be pointed out that the whole subject of the dimensions of the palate or alveolar arch in the different races, and especially in the different types of skull, needs investigation. As it is, the variety in the dimensions and shape of these structures, and especially their correlation with the rest of the face and skull, are only imperfectly understood.

VIII.  MUNSEE CRANIA: PALATE;[37]
LOWER JAW;[38] FORAMEN MAGNUM

• LEGEND:
• A = Index (B × 100)/L
• B = Height at symphysis[39]
• C = Thickness at 2d left molar[40]
• D = Diameter bigonial
• E = Minimum breadth of ramus
• F = Angle (mean)[41]
• G = Mean diameter (L + B)/2

FORAMEN MAGNUM

In respect to the foramen magnum, there is so much irregularity and so little special significance in the ratio between the two main diameters, length and breadth, that the writer prefers to use the mean measurement,

which stands in some relation to stature and probably to muscular development, and which may have more than passing interest in the study of racial and other groups. The average in the Munsee is, as usual, perceptibly higher in the males than in the females. It is almost identical in both sexes with that of the Indian skeletal remains from the Louisiana mounds (Munsee, 7 males, 3.5; 8 females, 3.2: Louisiana, 10 males, 3.45; 14 females, 3.18 cm.), which were nearly alike in stature, but it is slightly superior to that of the Indians from Arkansas, who were also of practically the same height (Arkansas, 22 males, 3.3; 16 females, 3.14 cm.).

LOWER JAW

The measurements of the lower jaw show only moderate dimensions throughout. The angle (mean of the two sides, which usually differ somewhat in this respect) averages decidedly higher in the females (130°), which is not always the case in American crania. Thus among the Arkansas and Louisiana mound crania it averaged 118.5° in the males, or practically the same as in the Munsee; while it was only 122° in the females, or eight points lower than in the Munsee of the same sex.

Detailed Observations on the Crania

In visual examination of a series of crania or other bones of more than passing importance, general impressions are not sufficiently accurate or reliable; consequently, the writer habitually makes detailed notes of the principal features of each specimen in accordance with a definite though simple scheme. Such notes can be tabulated and analyzed almost as readily as measurements.

In choosing the points for observation, the only rule that can be formulated is to include everything of consequence, and to cover the whole specimen, which is not so easily accomplished as at first might seem. Some of the points touched upon in such a procedure will, of course, be of much less weight than others, but they serve to complete the picture and will doubtless be of some interest and value in future comparisons; while purely individual characteristics that might be included by some authors may be passed entirely.

The results of the detailed examination of the Munsee crania are as follow:

THE VAULT: FOREHEAD

The conditions found in respect to the frontal region will be clearly seen from the accompanying table. As general among Indians, this region in the Munsee skulls shows high development only in exceptional cases. In the males there is frequently more or less of a slope; in the females, where slope is rare, low foreheads prevail.

IX.  MUNSEE CRANIA: FRONTAL REGION

SAGITTAL REGION

The vault of the skull among Indians is frequently more or less arched or keeled, indicating strong development of the temporal muscles. This characteristic is of course much more frequent and pronounced in the males than in the females. The Munsee, it will be seen, show no exception in this respect. The elevation of the sagittal region is present in nearly all the males, although it is seldom pronounced. Among the females nearly half are without sagittal elevation, while in the remainder this feature is only slightly developed.

X.  MUNSEE CRANIA: SAGITTAL REGION

TEMPORO-PARIETAL REGION

The temporo-parietal region differs in convexity with the type of the skull, being usually quite flat in pronounced dilochocephaly and decidedly convex in marked brachycephaly. Besides this, it is also subject to individual and groupal variations. In the series at hand, in two-thirds of both the male and the female skulls the region is of about medium convexity. Among the remainder of the specimens it is rather interesting to note that while in a third of the cases in the males the region is flat and in no case bulging, these conditions are practically reversed in the females. The temporo-parietal region of the brain tended evidently to a greater relative development in the females of this series than in the males.

XI.  MUNSEE CRANIA: TEMPORO-PARIETAL
REGION

OCCIPUT

When we eliminate all the cases that show any trace of artificial flattening of the back of the skull, there remain only a few specimens for observation. Among these, three-fourths show medium convexity of the occiput, while in one-fourth the region is protruding. There is no difference in this respect in the two sexes. The external occipital protuberance and the occipital ridges do not show especially strong development in any case, and barring a single instance of the occurrence of an Inca bone, which will be spoken of in another connection, there are no anomalies of this region to be recorded.

XII.  MUNSEE CRANIA: OCCIPUT
(IN THE UNDEFORMED)

SUTURES: SERRATION

The serration of the cranial sutures is of interest for the reason that in the skulls of whites and in superior skulls generally the knitting is often, though not invariably, quite complex, while in the majority of the skulls among the retarded races it is more or less simple and may occasionally be nearly absent. For the sake of simplicity in recording the nature of the sutures the writer refers to the serration as “medium,” or about as it averages in whites; “submedium,” which is self-explanatory; and “poor,” or such as approaches a simple wavy line. Among the Indians the sutures range mostly from submedium to more simple, and the Munsee skulls form no exception. As seen from the actual data not one case reaches the standard of medium complexity in all the sutures, while in a large proportion of the specimens the serration of most, if not all, is decidedly inferior. No special difference exists in this respect between the skulls of different sizes.

XIII.  MUNSEE CRANIA: SERRATION OF SUTURES

OCCLUSION OF SUTURES

In none of the specimens at hand can be detected any premature occlusion, though in this respect it is impossible to be certain as to the temporo-occipital articulations. Unfortunately, there is no possibility of giving the exact relation of age to the occlusion in any of the sutures; all that it is possible to determine is their relative involvement. The order among the males is S-C-TO-L;[43] that in the females, TO-S-C-L. It is plain that occlusions in the coronal and temporo-occipital sutures are almost as early and frequent as those in the sagittal, while those in the lambdoid are decidedly later. As to locality, the coronal suture occludes first below the temporal ridges; in the sagittal the commencement is most frequent, as usual, about obelion; in the lambdoid it is irregular; while in the temporo-occipitals in the Munsee it advances generally from the anterior or basal extremity of these sutures backward and upward.

XIV.  MUNSEE CRANIA: OCCLUSION OF SUTURES
(EXTERNALLY, ALL GRADES)

WORMIAN BONES

The frequency of Wormian bones in any given series of skulls, while a factor of no great importance, is always of some interest. It is certain that in this respect there is a wide difference even in different groups of the same people, such as the Indians. Among the Munsee, as already mentioned, we find a remarkable scarcity of these ossicles, especially in the males. Not only are the Wormian bones scarce in this series, but they are also invariably small. This scarcity may in all probability be regarded as a sign of the absence of all disturbances, developmental as well as pathological.

XV.  MUNSEE CRANIA: WORMIAN BONES;
BREGMA AND “INCA” BONES

• LEGEND:
• A = Temporo-occipital
• B = Temporo-parietal (squamo-mastoid angle).

BREGMA AND INCA BONES

Among the 20 crania in which conditions with respect to these facts could be ascertained, there was found one bregma or fontanel bone (3 × 3.1 cm.), and one of the so-called Inca[44] bones (diameter, 8.3 × 3.5 cm.). There is nothing especially noteworthy in these occurrences, both of which, particularly the Inca bone, are of the nature of developmental anomalies.

Pterions.—Among the 19 Munsee skulls in which the pterions could be determined there was no case of temporo-frontal contact. In all instances the pterion was of the H type, predominantly narrow in the males and predominantly medium to broad in the females.

XVI.  MUNSEE CRANIA: PTERIONS

PARIETAL FORAMINA

These are represented quite poorly. In almost half the skulls there are no parietal foramina at all, while in most of the remainder they range from very minute to medium size, of which latter there is a single instance, and in only one case are there two canals of medium size. The exact significance of this showing is not clearly understood. When present these canals transmit, as is well known, a small arteriole and an emissary vein which connects the venous systems within and without the wall of the skull.

XVII.  MUNSEE CRANIA: PARIETAL FORAMINA

RETROMASTOID FORAMINA

The retromastoid (“mastoid”) foramina are most often two in number—a larger and a smaller—one of which transmits a vein from the transverse sinus within to the cutaneous occipital vein on the outside of the skull wall, and the other a smaller branch of the occipital artery. Like the parietal foramina, they show considerable individual and groupal variation in both number and size. It is not uncommon in some Indian crania to find one of these canals to be of very appreciable diameter (up to 4 mm.). While in the Munsee skulls they appear almost generally two on each side, they are in no instance above moderate size, and in several cases are quite minute. Thus in these specimens the retromastoid foramina stand in harmonious rather than compensatory relation with the small or even absent parietal foramina.

XVIII.  MUNSEE CRANIA:
RETROMASTOID FORAMINA

MASTOIDS

The mastoid processes are mainly of importance as sexual characteristics. Their value in this respect, however, differs considerably from racial group to group, and even within a single stem of people, such as the Indians. On the whole, however, it may be said that in the Indian female the mastoid is somewhat more developed than it is in the average white woman. Occasionally it is considerably more developed, reaching the subaverage or even the average dimensions of that of the males in the same tribe. The grade of development of the process is of course related to the strength and activity of the sternocleido-mastoid muscle, to which it gives attachment. Among the Munsee the size of the mastoids on the whole is only moderate; yet even in this series they rise in one of the female skulls to male-like proportions.

XIX.  MUNSEE CRANIA: MASTOIDS

In one of the females (no. 285,309) the apex of the left mastoid is bifid. Well developed cases of this anomaly are rare; there are only three or four other Indian crania in the large collections of the United States National Museum in which it is well represented. In another female specimen (no. 285,304) the right mastoid shows a peculiar, marked indentation in the middle of its dorsal surface, with a groove extending therefrom upward and backward and downward and backward.

SUPRAORBITAL RIDGES

These ridges, as is well known, are sexual characteristics in the main; phylogenetically they are the remains of the pronounced supraorbital arches of man’s anthropoid ancestors and of early man. Like the mastoids they show also considerable individual variation in each sex among the Indians, owing to which they occasionally fail to afford aid in the determination of the sex of the specimen. As a rule they are limited in Indians to the median half to two-thirds of the supraorbital space. In the Munsee skulls at hand they are markedly developed in only one of the males; in two of the male skulls they are small, feminine like, while in two of the female skulls they are so developed as to approximate the supraorbital ridges of the average male.