400 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OP 



the occiput, in the region of the superior linea semicircularis, is strongly 

 arched, both posteriorly and towards the sides.* 



The well-characterized Norwegian and Swedish skulls in the Museum of 

 the Academy have the basal portion of the occipital region quite flat, and 

 parallel with the horizon, when the head rests squarely upon the lower jaw. 

 The lower part of the occiput in the German heads is more prominent than 

 in the Finns, less than in the Swedes, and still less than in the Cimbri ; 

 while the upper part is less flat than in the Swedes. The occipital region of 

 the German skull, in point of conformation, occupies a place intermediate 

 between that of the Swedes and Finns. 



In the skull of a Dutchman (434), born in Utrecht, the posterior or occi- 

 pital region is flat and broad, and presents to the eye a somewhat pentagonal 

 outline. 



The Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-American crania, though, like the Swedes, 

 longer than the Germanic and Finnic skulls, have nearly the same rounded 

 occiput as these latter. The parietalia of an Anglo-Saxon skull, figured in 

 the first Decade of Crania Britannica, incline downwards and backwards 

 towards the occiput, as in the Norwegian cast referred to above. The occi- 

 pital bone is full and rounded, and has a considerable projection posteriorly. 



Most of the skulls in the collection, marked "Celtic Irish," exhibit the 

 same downward and backward inclination of the upper or parietal portion of 

 the occipital region as described above. The occiput of No. 18 has the same 

 boat-like shape as that of the Ostrogoth (1255) and the Cimbri (1532, &c). 

 The occipital region of No. 42 differs from that of the preceding in being a 

 little fuller. The same shelving of the upper occipital region is also present 

 in Nos. 52 and 1186. It is also exhibited, though less markedly, in No. 

 1356, and still less in No. 985 ; while in No. 986, the occipital type approxi- 

 mates the Swedish form, being rounder, fuller, less inclined, and having the 

 protuberance not so prominent. In several respects these skulls correspond 

 with those found in the cromlechs or sepulchral mounds of Ireland, and 

 described by Mr. Wilde as possessing the projecting occiput, which charac- 

 terizes the dolicho-kephalic crania, found in ancient Danish tumuli. It would 

 thus seem that the earliest inhabitants of Ireland, like those of Scandinavia, 

 had short heads and flattened occiputs, while the people who succeeded 

 them were remarkable for long, oval heads and prominent occiputs. Wilson 

 and Bateman, on the contrary, have concluded, from their investigations, that 

 the primitive people of Scotland and England possessed long, kumbe-kephalic 

 or boat-shaped heads, peculiarly characterized by a narrow prolongation of 

 the occiput in the region of the cerebellum. Prof. D. Wilson is inclined to 

 regard this peculiar form of the hind-head as diagnostic of the primitive 

 Caledonians. I find it equally well pronounced, however, in two Egyptian 

 skulls (Nos. 837, 838), from the Pyramid of Five Steps, at Saccara. 



In an ancient Briton, of the brachy-kephalic type, figured in Crania 

 Britannica, the "occipital bone is somewhat full above the protuberance, 

 which, itself, is strongly marked. " In another ancient Briton, belonging to the 

 dolicho-kephalic class, and represented and described in the same work, the 

 occiput is full, prominent and rounded, and presents a strongly-marked 

 transverse ridge. 



Three oblong skulls from the catacombs of Paris (661, 662 and 663), have 

 the occiput flattened almost vertically. In No. 663, the upper part of the os 

 occipitis presents a lozenge-shaped prominence, which, though flattened itself, 

 somewhat destroys or interrupts the general perpendicularity of the back part 

 of the head. No. 664, also from the catacombs, is a brachy-kephalic head, with 

 a markedly perpendicular and wall-like flatness of the occiput. This head, I 

 am inclined to think, is that of a Basque or Iberian of the Pyrenees. 



There are no Spanish skulls in the Academy's collection. The private 



*De Craniis Estonum Commentatio Anthropologica, etc., p. 7. 



[Sept, 



