412 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF 



to the strong development of the occipital protuberance, quite prominent, and 

 somewhat shelving from above downwards and backwards. Two skulls 

 (714, 715), from an ancient Mexican cemetery, at Otumba, have full, and 

 more or less rounded occiputs. In another skull from Otumba (716), the 

 hind-head is much more protuberant. (See Crania Americana, plates 59, 60. 

 and 61.) In three crania (717, 718, and 720) from an ancient tomb at 

 Tacuba, the hind-head is high, broad at the base, and the whole occipital 

 bone prominent. The general form of the occipital region is shown in the 

 outline wood-cut at the bottom of p. 233 of Crania Americana. Two Otomie 

 crania (1323 and 1000), possess the same form of occiput. Three other 

 Otomie skulls (1001, 1002, and 1003), have the hind-head elongated and 

 shelving, and the occipital protuberance projecting very much. A short 

 Tlascalan skull (1004), has a full and globular occiput. In the cranium of the 

 Chechemecan female (1005), from a mound at Tezcuco, the occiput is more 

 like that of Nos. 1001, 1002, and 1003 of the Otomie group. No. 1226, in the 

 collection of the Academy, is the skull of a Mexican, from the cemetery of 

 Santiago de Tlatilolco, near the City of Mexico. In this cemetery, many 

 thousands of the natives were interred after the brave defence of their 

 city against Cortes. It is probable, therefore that the individual to whom the 

 skull belonged, stood up manfully in resistance to Spanish aggression. The 

 hind-head is broad and very much flattened in the posterior parietal and 

 upper occipital portions. The well-marked transverse ridge forms a promi- 

 nent dividing angle between the superior and inferior portions of the os 

 occipitis. The occiput of the two Pames skulls (681, 1313), from San 

 Lorenzo, near the City of Mexico, is much like that of 1323 and 1000 of the 

 Otomie group. In the skull of an ancient Mexican chief (1314) exhumed 

 together with various aboriginal arms and utensils, from the Cerro de Que- 

 silas, near the City of Mexico, the occiput is of a peculiar form. It is broad, 

 but has very little vertical diameter, owing to the flatness of the crown. The I 

 whole head looks as if it had been compressed between two opposing forces, 

 one applied at the top and the other at the base of the cranium. In No. 682 

 the occipital region is flat, very high, and comparatively narrow. Owing 

 to the parallelism of the two sides, it is oblong from above downwards. 

 No. 234, said to be taken from the great Altar of Sacrifices, at Mexico, is 

 remarkably flattened behind, and chiefly to the right of tbe median line. The 

 occiput of 1353 is singularly distorted. A broad and deep sulcus or fissure 

 extends in the median line, from a little before the coronal suture, entirely 

 back to the foramen magnum, dividing the whole calvaria into two lobes. The 

 occiput in 1566 is full and rounded. Of the two Lipan skulls, No. 1345 has a 

 full and regularly rounded occiput ; No. 1346 a longer and more protuberant 

 one. The remainder of the Mexican crania enumerated in the catalogue, from 

 1515 to 689, have full, and more or less protuberant occiputs. 



No. 722, from the battle field of San Jacinto, in Texas, exhibits a very 

 peculiar form. 



Some time ago, Dr. E. H. Abaddie, of the United States Army, presented to 

 the Academy a series of six crania procured in New Mexico. These skulls 

 are of considerable interest. Two of them, Nos. 1032 and 1033, were obtained 

 from the ruins of Gran Quivira, New Mexico, by Major Carleton, who ex- 

 plored the ruins thoroughly. No. 1034 was disinterred by Dr. Abaddie, from 

 the centre of the ruins of the church at Gtuarra, New Mexico. No. 931, a 

 fragmentary skull, was found, with many other human remains, in a very 

 bad state of preservation, in making excavations in an old field in Santa Fe, 

 New Mexico. "This head," writes Dr. Abaddie, "and the accompanying 

 remains, evidently belonged to the same race of Indians which formed the 

 numerous population of the large towns, long since in ruins, and of which so 

 little is known, as Gran Quivira, Abo, Guarra, Pecos, Old Church, &c." 



All these heads are brachy cephalic, and in all of them the occiput is more 



fSept. 



