FOOTNOTES:
[96] Ray, Lieut. P. H., Report of the International Polar Expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska. Washington, 1885, p. 50.
[97] Zur Anthropologie der Nordamerikanischen Indianer. Verh. Berl. Ges. Anthrop., Sitz. Mai 18, 1895 (with Z. Ethnol. for same year).
[98] A. J. Stone's Measurements of Natives of the Northwestern Territories. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 1901, XIV, pp. 53-68.
[99] Physical Characteristics of the Copper Eskimo. Rep. Canad. Arch. Exped. 1913-1918, Ottawa, 1923, Introd., also p. B37.
[100] By present writer.
[101] Rep. Canad. Arct. Exped., 1913-1918, B50.
[102] Added from author's Anthropology of Central and Smith Sound Eskimo, 1910, 228; the stature of one woman was 146.7.
[103] Physical Characteristics of the Copper Eskimo. Rep. Canad. Arct. Exped., 1913-1918, Ottawa, 1923, p. B55.
[104] The totals of the measurements give 78.1—A. H.
THE SKULL
The first western Eskimo skull collected for scientific purposes was apparently that of a female St. Lawrence Islander. It was taken from the rocks of the island by the Kotzebue party in 1817. It was reported upon phrenologically in 1822 by Gall.[105]
In 1839 Morton, in his "Crania Americana" (p. 248), gives measurements and the illustration of a western Eskimo skull from Icy Cape, collected by Dr. A. Collie, surgeon of H. M. S. Blossom. The principal measurements of this evidently female skull were: Length, 17.02 centimeters; breadth, 12.70; height, 12.70. Cephalic index, 74.6.
In 1862[106] and 1863[107] Daniel Wilson reports briefly on six Tchuktchi skulls, which were probably those of Asiatic Eskimo. He says:
My opportunities for examining Esquimaux crania have been sufficient to furnish me with very satisfactory data for forming an opinion on the true Arctic skull form. In addition to the measurements of 38 skulls, * * * I have recently compared and carefully measured six Tchuktchi [probably Asiatic coast Eskimo] skulls, in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, exhumed from the burial place of a village called Tergnyune, on the island of Arikamcheche, at Glassnappe Harbor, west of Bering Strait, and during a recent visit to Philadelphia I enjoyed the advantage of examining, in company with Dr. J. Aitken Meigs, a series of 125 [eastern] Esquimaux crania, obtained by Doctor Hayes during his Arctic journey of 1860. The comparison between the Tchuktchi and the true Esquimaux skull is interesting. Without being identical, the correspondence in form is such as their languages and other affinities would suggest. Of the former, moreover, the number is too few, and the derivation of all of them from one cemetery adds to the chances of exceptional family features; but on carefully examining the Hayes collection with a view to this comparison, I found it was quite possible to select an equal number of Esquimaux crania closely corresponding to the Tchuktchi type, which indeed presents the most prominent characteristics of the former, only less strongly marked.
In Prehistoric Man, Volume II, Plate XV, this author gives also the measurements of the Icy Cape skull recorded by Morton.
The principal mean measurements of the six Tchuktchi skulls (both sexes) were: Height, 17.60 centimeters; breadth, 13.59; height, 13.77; cranial index, 77.2.
The next measurements on western Eskimo crania are those given in 1867 by J. Barnard Davis (Thes. cran.). This author measured 6 skulls, 3 of which were from Port Clarence (Seward Peninsula), 2 from Kotzebue Sound, and 1 from Cape Lisburne. The measurements, regrettably, are in inches. They include the greatest glabello-occipital length, greatest breadth, height (plane of for. magn. to vertex), height of face (chin-nasion), and breadth of face (d. bizygom. max.). The cranial index of the 4 specimens identified as male averaged 75.5 (75-76), that of the 2 females 77.5 (77-78). On page [226] the author mentions also an artificially deformed skull of a Koniag; this was in all probability a wrong identification for no such deformations are known from the island (Kodiak).
In 1868 Jeffries Wyman[108] published measurements of 5 skulls of "Tsuktshi," the same as those of Daniel Wilson, and of 5 from the Yukon River, "three of which are Mahlemuts."
The identification of the specimens was partly erroneous. The data with corrected identification are republished by Dall (q. v.) in 1877. And the same skulls figure in all future measurements.
In 1875 Topinard[109] gives the Barnard Davis measurements in metric form without, so far as the western Eskimo are concerned, any additions.
The main measurements of Barnard Davis's western Eskimo skulls, converted to metric values, follow. The sex identification in some of the specimens is doubtful.
| Skull length | Breadth | Height (to vertex) | Cranial index | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Clarence, male | 17.8 | 13.45 | -14 | 75.7 |
| Do | 17.8 | 13.45 | 14.2 | 75.7 |
| Port Clarence, female | -18 | -14 | 13.45 | 77.5 |
| Means of the three | 17.86 | 13.64 | 13.59 | 76.4 |
| Kotzebue Sound, male | 17.55 | 13.2 | 13.45 | 75.4 |
| Kotzebue Sound, female | 17.3 | 13.45 | 13.7 | 77.9 |
| Means of the two (probably both females) | 17.4 | 13.35 | 13.6 | 76.6 |
| Cape Lisburne, male | 18.3 | 14.2 | -14 | 77.8 |
The next records are those by George A. Otis, published in 1876 in the Check List of the Specimens in the Section of Anatomy of the United States Army Medical Museum, Washington (pp. 13-15). Aside from those on Greenland crania the author gives here the measurements of 3 presumably Eskimo skulls collected by Dall; of 2 western Eskimo skulls, no locality; and of 3 Mahlemut skulls, probably from Norton Sound (St. Michael Island). In his later (1880) catalogue,[110] page 13, Otis adds to the above three skulls from Prince William Sound, which, however, were more probably Indian; the three Mahlemuts, on the other hand, are given with the Alaskan Indians (p. [35]). These data are of but little value. The Eskimo skulls are the same Smithsonian specimens that were reported upon in 1868 by Jeffries Wyman.
In 1878, Rae[111] mentions some measurements or observations on the skulls of Western Eskimo by Flower, but no records of these could be located. Rae says:
I had the privilege of attending the series of admirable lectures so ably given by Professor Flower at the Royal College of Surgeons a few weeks ago on the "Comparative Anatomy of Man," from which I derived much useful information and on one point very considerable food for thought.
I allude to the wonderful difference in form exhibited between the skulls of the Eskimos from the neighborhood of Bering Strait, and of those inhabiting Greenland, the latter being extremely dolichocephalic, whilst the former are the very opposite—brachycephalic, the natives of the intermediate coast, from the Coppermine River eastward, having mesocephalic heads.
In 1879 Lucien Carr, in his "Observations on the Crania from the Santa Barbara Islands, California"[112] (p. 281), gives erroneously Otis's measurements of Aleut skulls as those of "Alaskan Eskimo."
Meanwhile W. H. Dall has published (1877) his monograph on the "Tribes of the Extreme Northwest,"[113] in which he includes Wyman's and also some of Otis's data on the Eskimo (and Aleut) skulls from Alaska and Asia. The Tshuktshi are now classed as Asiatic Eskimo, the Mahlemuts as Eskimo from St. Michael Island. The total number of skulls described in the former series is 11, in the latter series 6 (of Aleuts the number of skulls measured is 27 adults and 7 children). The means of the principal measurements of the Eskimo series, both sexes together, are as follows:
| Crania (both sexes) | Length | Breadth | Height | Cranial index |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (11) | (11) | (7) | (11) | |
| Asiatic Eskimo | 17.8 | 14.1 | 13.2 | 79.3 |
| (6) | (6) | (6) | (6) | |
| Northwest American Eskimo | 17.5 | 13.2 | 13.1 | 75.1 |
There were also taken the weight, capacity, circumference, longitudinal arch, length of the frontal, parietal, and occipital, "zygomatic diameter," and in two specimens of each series the facial angle. To-day these data have but a historical value.
In 1882, Quatrefages and Hamy,[114] in their "Crania ethnica" (p. 440) give the measurements of two male Kaniagmiouts (Kodiak Indian, A. Pinart, collector) and one female Mahlemiout. The principal measurements of these skulls are as follows:
| Males (2) | Female (1) | |
|---|---|---|
| Skull: | ||
| Length | 18.6 | 17.9 |
| Breadth | 14.2 | 13.9 |
| Height (bas.-bg.) | 14.3 | 13.2 |
| Cranial index | 76.34 | 77.65 |
| Nose: | ||
| Length | 5.9 | 5.1 |
| Breadth | 2.3 | 2.3 |
| Nasal index | 38.98 | 45.09 |
| Facial index, total | 77.69 | 70.37 |
| Orbital index | 92.68 | 90.24 |
In 1883 Dr. Irving C. Rosse, in his "Medical and Anthropological Notes on Alaska,"[115] refers to his examination of a number of Eskimo skulls from the St. Lawrence Island brought to the Army Medical Museum.[116] There are no measurements outside of a reference to the capacity, but there are two excellent chromolithographs showing two female crania, besides a number of outline drawings.
The next data on the western Eskimo skull are in rather unsatisfactory condition. They are those of Boas. In his report on the "Anthropologie der nordamerikanischen Indianer,"[117] Doctor Boas mentions the cranial index of the Alaska Eskimo to average 77; and on page 397 he reports the same index as secured on 37 "Alaska Eskimo" skulls, apparently of both sexes. The only note relating to these figures is found on page 393, where it is stated that these results proceed from measurements that had been made for the author at the Peabody Museum, Cambridge, the American Museum, New York, the Academy of Sciences, Philadelphia, and the United States Army Medical Museum, Washington; and that he utilized also the measurements of Barnard Davis and Otis. On 22 of the above western Eskimo skulls there is also given the length-height index of 76.6. There is no information as to either sex or locality. There are no other measurements.
Deniker (1901) and later Martin (1914) repeat the data given by Boas.
In 1890 Tarenetzky[118] publishes measurements and observations on four Koniag (Kodiak) skulls and one Oglemute (Aglegmute, Alaska Peninsula). The main measurements (pp. 70-71) are:
| Koneage[119] | Koneage | Koneage | Koneage | Means[120] of the four from Kodiak Island | Aglegm-jute (Alaska Peninsula) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skull: | ||||||
| Length | 17.1 | 16.4 | 17.2 | 16.8 | 16.88 | 19.0 |
| Breadth | 13.8 | 15.7 | 15.8 | 14.4 | 14.93 | 13.7 |
| Height | 13.1 | 14.4 | 14.0 | 13.2 | 13.68 | 14.1 |
| Cranial index | 80.7 | 95.7 | 91.8 | 85.7 | 88.4 | 72.1 |
| Nose: | ||||||
| Length | 4.7 | 5.3 | 5.7 | 5.9 | 5.40 | 5.8 |
| Breadth | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.3 | 2.45 | 2.3 |
| Nasal index | 51.0 | 47.1 | 46.6 | 39.0 | 45.4 | 39.6 |
| Orbital index | 87.5 | 97.6 | 92.7 | 80.9 | 89.7 | 88.1 |
In 1900 Sergi[121] reports on four Kodiak skulls that he examined in Paris. Two of these are probably Aleut (or Indian). The cranial indices were, respectively, 75.8, 78.3, 88, and 88.2.
In 1916 E. W. Hawkes presented a thesis on the "Skeletal Measurements and Observations on the Point Barrow Eskimo, with Comparisons from other Eskimo Groups."[122] The number of skulls measured was 27, of which 14 were identified as adult males, 5 adult females, 6 adolescents, and 2 infants. In addition there are measurements by Ralph Linton of other skeletal parts than the skull of three skeletons.
The measurements, though the first taken by this author, have evidently been taken in a painstaking manner and according to modern methods, and are therefore of some value. An abstract of those on the adults follows:
| Males (14) | Females (5) | |
|---|---|---|
| Vault: | ||
| Length | 18.91 | 17.86 |
| Breadth | 13.73 | 13.58 |
| Basion-bregma height | 13.86 | 13.30 |
| Cranial index | 72.65 | 76.06 |
| Height-length index | 73.24 | 74.45 |
| Height-breadth index | 100.68 | 98.01 |
| Face: | ||
| Diam. bizygom. max | 14.10 | 13.40 |
| BF:BH proportion | 102.6 | 98.7 |
| (6) | (3) | |
| Chin-nasion height | 13.15 | 11.60 |
| (14) | (5) | |
| Alveolar point-nasion | 7.42 | 6.80 |
| Facial index, total | 92.13 | 52.48 |
| Facial index, upper | 86.20 | 54.05 |
| Nose: | ||
| Height | 5.66 | 5.24 |
| Breadth | 2.30 | 2.18 |
| Index | 40.69 | 41.62 |
| Orbits: | ||
| Height | 3.76 | 3.59 |
| Breadth | 4.13 | 4.05 |
| Index | 91.3 | 88.5 |
| Dental arch: | ||
| Length | 5.31 | 6.27 |
| Breadth | 4.96 | 6.06 |
| Index | 93.4 | 96.7 |
In 1923 Cameron[123] published the following data on six western Eskimo skulls from Port Clarence, collected by the Canadian Arctic Expedition:
| Vault | Nose | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Length | Breadth | Height | Cranial index | Length | Breadth | Nasal index | Orbital index |
| Males: | |||||||
| 18.9 | 13.9 | 14.1 | 73.5 | 5.9 | 2.5 | 42.4 | 86.4 |
| 18.7 | 14.3 | 13.7 | 76.5 | 5.3 | 2.5 | 47.2 | 85.7 |
| 18.8 | 13.25 | 14.2 | 70.2 | 6.0 | 2.2 | 36.7 | 86.4 |
| 17.8 | 13.0 | 13.3 | 73.4 | 88.9 | |||
| 19.2 | 13.7 | 71.4 | |||||
| Mean: 18.68 | 13.63 | 13.82 | 72.97 | 5.73 | 2.40 | 41.9 | 86.9 |
| Female: 17.85 | 13.1 | 12.8 | 73.1 | ||||
The last contribution to the craniology of the western Eskimo before the present report are the data embodied in my "Catalogue of Human Crania in the United States National Museum Collections," published in 1924.[124] These data are embodied in those of the present report.
For ready survey the old records on western Eskimo crania are given in the following table. A sex distinction in the earlier reports was mostly impracticable or remained doubtful.
| Vault | Nose | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Length | Breadth | Height | Cranial index | Length | Breadth | Nasal index | Orbital index | ||
| 1 | Icy Cape, ♀ (Morton, 1839) | 17.02 | 12.70 | 12.70 | 74.6 | ||||
| 6 | Asiatic Eskimo ("Tschuktchi"): mean (Daniel Wilson, 1862) | 17.60 | 13.59 | 13.77 | 77.2 | ||||
| 3 | Port Clarence (Barnard Davis, 1867) | 17.86 | 13.64 | 13.59 | 76.4 | ||||
| 2 | Kotzebue Sound, ♀ (Barnard Davis, 1867) | 17.40 | 13.35 | 13.60 | 76.6 | ||||
| 11 | Asiatic Eskimo (Wyman and Otis, 1868-1876) | 17.80 | 14.10 | 13.20 | 79.3 | ||||
| 6 | N. W. Amer. Eskimo (St. Michael Island) (Wyman and Otis, 1868-1876) | 17.50 | 13.20 | 13.10 | 75.1 | ||||
| 2 | Kodiak Island, ♂ (Quatrefages and Hamy, 1882) | 18.60 | 14.20 | 14.30 | 76.35 | 5.9 | 2.3 | 39 | |
| 1 | Kodiak, ♀ (Quatrefages and Hamy, 1882) | 17.90 | 13.90 | 13.20 | 77.65 | 5.1 | 2.3 | 45.1 | |
| (37 western Eskimo)[125] (Boas, 1895) | (77) | ||||||||
| 4 | Kodiak Island, ♀[126] (Tarenetzky, 1900) | 16.88 | 14.93 | 13.68 | 88.4 | 5.4 | 2.45 | 45.4 | 89.7 |
| 4 | Kodiak Island,[127] (Sergi, 1900) | 2:77.1 2:88.1 | |||||||
| 14 | Point Barrow, ♂ (Hawkes, 1916) | 18.91 | 13.73 | 13.86 | 72.65 | 5.66 | 2.30 | 40.7 | 91.3 |
| 5 | Point Barrow, ♀ (Hawkes, 1916) | 17.86 | 13.58 | 13.30 | 76.1 | 5.24 | 2.18 | 41.6 | 88.5 |
| 5 | Port Clarence, ♂ (Cameron, 1923) | 18.68 | 13.63 | 13.82 | 73 | 5.73 | 2.40 | 41.9 | 86.9 |
| 1 | Port Clarence, ♀ (Cameron, 1923) | 17.85 | 13.10 | 12.80 | 73.1 | ||||