Western Eskimo: the Long Bones
| Bones of both sides taken together | Males | Females | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwestern and midwestern groups[191] | Seward Peninsula[192] | Point Hope | Seward Peninsula and northwestern Eskimo in general[193] | Southwestern and midwestern groups | Seward Peninsula | Point Hope | Seward Peninsula and northwestern Eskimo in general | |
| Humeri: | (143) | (261) | (67) | (100) | (136) | (26) | (55) | (83) |
| Length maximum | 30.69 | 31.42 | 31.07 | 31.17 | 28.40 | 28.75 | 28.83 | 28.83 |
| At middle— | ||||||||
| Diameter maximum | 2.40 | 2.46 | 2.46 | 2.46 | 2.10 | 2.14 | 2.16 | 2.15 |
| Diameter minimum | 1.80 | 1.81 | 1.86 | 1.85 | 1.54 | 1.59 | 1.63 | 1.62 |
| Index at middle | 75.1 | 73.8 | 75.8 | 75.1 | 73.2 | 74.4 | 75.4 | 75.1 |
| Radii: | (98) | (20) | (15) | (37) | (109) | (16) | (8) | (24) |
| Length maximum | 22.90 | 23.63 | 23.44 | 23.50 | 20.50 | 21.26 | [194](21.58) | 21.25 |
| Radio-humeral index (approximate) | 74.5 | 75.2 | 75.4 | 75.4 | 72.2 | 74 | (74.8) | 74 |
| Femora: | (195) | (44) | (10) | (60) | (132) | (26) | (31) | |
| Length, bicond. | 42.50 | 43.20 | (44.06) | 43.46 | 39.36 | 40.12 | 40.44 | |
| Humero-femoral index (approximate) | 72.2 | 72.7 | [195](70.5) | 71.7 | 72.2 | 71.7 | 71.3 | |
| At middle— | ||||||||
| Diameter antero-posterior | 3.08 | 3.17 | (3.33) | 3.21 | 2.69 | 2.85 | 2.88 | |
| Diameter lateral | 2.70 | 2.72 | (2.68) | 2.72 | 2.46 | 2.55 | 2.56 | |
| Index at middle | 87.6 | 85.8 | (80.4) | 84.8 | 91.5 | 89.6 | 88.9 | |
| At upper flattening— | ||||||||
| Diameter maximum | 3.35 | 3.34 | (3.27) | 3.32 | 3.02 | 3.04 | 3.06 | |
| Diameter minimum | 2.51 | 2.57 | (2.58) | 2.59 | 2.26 | 2.37 | 2.40 | |
| Index at upper flattening | 75 | 77 | (79) | 78.1 | 74.5 | 78 | 78.4 | |
| Tibiae: | (141) | (35) | (41) | (79) | (147) | (18) | (17) | (36) |
| Length (in position) | 33.86 | 34.52 | 36.40 | 35.52 | 31.32 | 31.90 | 32.90 | 32.50 |
| Tibio-femoral index (approximate) | 79.7 | 79.9 | [194](82.6) | 81.7 | 79.6 | 79.5 | 80.4 | |
| At middle— | ||||||||
| Diameter antero-posterior | 3.12 | 3.13 | 3.26 | 3.19 | 2.71 | 2.71 | 2.80 | 2.75 |
| Diameter lateral | 2.12 | 2.12 | 2.20 | 2.16 | 1.89 | 1.93 | 1.92 | 1.92 |
| Index at middle | 67.9 | 67.7 | 67.4 | 67.8 | 69.9 | 71.3 | 68.8 | 70 |
The first fact shown by the preceding figures is the slightly greater length of all the long bones in the midwestern and northwestern groups as compared with those of the Bering Sea (midwestern and southwestern). This means naturally that the people of the Seward Peninsula and northward average somewhat taller in stature.
The second evident fact is that the people of the Seward Peninsula and the more northern groups (so far as represented in these collections) show a slightly greater stature of all the bones than the groups farther south, showing that they were both a somewhat taller and somewhat sturdier people.
The next fact of importance is the remarkable agreement in some respects in the relative proportions of the main skeletal parts between the people of the more southern and the more northern groups. The males are more regular in this respect than the females. The relative proportions of the humerus and again the tibia at their middle are identical in the males of the southwestern and midwestern groups and those farther northward; and the radio-humeral, humero-femoral, and tibio-femoral indices are all very closely related. Why there should be less agreement in these respects among the females it is difficult to say; in all probability the series of specimens are not sufficiently large.
The next table presents data and some racial comparisons. Here the western Eskimo are taken as a unit. They are seen to considerably resemble the Yukon Indians, but somewhat less so other Indians in the radio-humeral and tibio-femoral indices, and they resemble all the Indians in the relative proportions of the femur at its middle. In other respects there are somewhat more marked differences, especially between the western Eskimo and the Indians in general. Some irregularities in the Yukon series may be due to insufficiency of numbers.
When compared with the bones of the whites and the negroes the Eskimo and Indians separate themselves in many respects as a distinct group, while the white and the negro bones are particularly distinct through the greater relative thickness of the humerus and tibia at their middle, and of the femur at its upper flattening; in other words the Eskimo as well as the Indians are more platybrachic, platymeric and platycnemic than the whites or the negroes.
The basic relation of the Eskimo to the Indian bones is quite evident; though the Eskimo, when compared to Indians outside of Alaska, show a relatively shorter radius and tibia, indicating the already discussed relative shortness of the forearm and leg.