Fierceness of expression—European-like features—The eyes—Colossal brow-ridges—The iris—An unusual colour—The eye-sockets—The nose and its aperture—Natural and artificial flatness—“Primitive snout”—Prognathism—“Negative chins”—The ear.
When we look an aboriginal in the face, the first impression it gives us is that of wildness and fierceness amounting often to repulsiveness. There are, of course, appreciable differences between different individuals, and often during a day’s journey one encounters features which might be classed as decidedly pleasing and almost European. We might even go so far as to say that in some faces, especially those of the old women, we might feel inclined to establish an analogy with classical or historical types of our own colour. Such descriptions, however, convey no more to the person who has never seen an aboriginal than a statement like one, often heard, to the effect that the features are of the “usual Australian type.”
In order to arrive at a little more exact description of the facial appearance, let us assume that the individual we are considering possesses all of the “Australian” features, and let us analyze each of them separately. At the same time, we must remember that probably no single individual exists in whom all of these characteristics are present.
To help us better understand the various points we are about to introduce, it will be advisable, whenever possible, to draw into the discussion the morphological peculiarities of the bony skeleton and skull, which immediately underlie the fleshy parts of the face and head.
There is no doubt the eyes of an aboriginal largely account for the wild appearance of his countenance, already alluded to. These organs are deeply sunken in their sockets, which lie beneath a projecting bony roof and bushy eyebrows. Nature in this way protects the eyes against the scorching rays of the southern sun by an effective screen, which lies above and before them like the peak of a cap. For that matter, we ourselves often instinctively endeavour to obtain a similar protection, when we stare into a glaring light, by holding a hand against the brows. Within the scope of this protection comes also, so far as the aboriginal is concerned, prevention, to a certain degree, of such accidental harm as might be caused by stakes or brushwood, during an exciting hunt through bush or forest land. The strong colour-contrast of the sclera against the swarthy skin, and the active, searching movements of the eyes, considerably help to intensify the sullen look.
In the fossil men of Gibraltar and Neanderthal, too, the eyes were overlain by very massive, bony ridges, but in those people the eyes stood further forward.
The supraorbital region is unquestionably one of the most prominent, and at the same time most striking, features of the Australian aboriginal’s face. The high degree of development of the bony prominence, combined with a sloping forehead, are primitive characteristics which he shares with no other living race. Yet it is possible for a cultured people, like for instance the Europeans, with high forehead, at times to show a strong superciliary development. As opposed to this, one not infrequently discovers an Australian with strong brow-ridges combined with a comparatively full and steep forehead. But usually the area occupied by these bony prominences can be differentiated, from the forehead above it, by a dividing line or zone of crowded foramina—the outlets of small blood-vessels. In the aboriginal, the effect is intensified, not alone on account of the usually receding forehead, but also because the root of his nose is appreciably depressed between the eyes; and consequently the glabella appears to project extraordinarily far outwards ([Plate III]).
It was Thomas Huxley who first drew attention to the analogy existing between the skull of the fossil Neanderthal man and that of the Australian aboriginal. To quote the words of that famous anthropologist, “a small additional amount of flattening and lengthening, with a corresponding increase in the superciliary ridge, would convert the Australian brain case into a form identical with that of the aberrant fossil.” Since those words were written, a number of other fossil skeletons of men have been found, the examination of which has confirmed Huxley’s observation upon the first Neanderthal skull.
The substance of the supraorbital prominence consists of massive bone. As in the fossil skulls, the sinuses lie behind this mass, not far from the inner surface. It appears that this colossal growth of bone takes place in early adult life; so far, no superciliary ridges have been observed in children’s skulls.