HUMAN BONES OF TIIK HEMENWAV COLLECTION. 



PART I -THE SERIES OF SALADO. 



i 1. C'ONUITION AND REPAIR OF BONES. 



As we have stated in the introduction, the bones when found were iu an advanced state of 

 decay and exceedingly fragile; particularly was this the case at Los Muertos. The organic 

 remains at Los Ilornos, Los Guanacos, and Las Acequias were usually in better condition than at 

 the lirst-nanied ruins, owing, probably, to the greater dryness or other more advantageous quality 

 iu the soil. At Las Acequias they were in the best condition of all. When carefully unearthed 

 the bones, in situ, iu the graves might seem in sound condition, but the slightest manipulation — 

 a touch of the finger even — would cause them to crumble into dust. The bones of the upper face, 

 the pelvis, and the epiphyses of the long bones were the most friable. Parts successfully unearthed, 

 but not immediately conserved, if they escaped the despoiling foot of the mischievous visitor, 

 would often disintegrate in a day or two from the effects of exposure to sun and wind. After a 

 period of annoying experiences it became the custom to apply paraffin, shellac, or other preserving 

 substance to the bones before their removal from the graves, or immediately after. 



The skulls were nearly alioldained in a fragmentiiry condition; thefragments, carefully packed, 

 were forwarded to the Army Medical Museum in Washington, and here a number were, with much 

 labor, put together in such a manner that they might be measured and studied as entire skulls. 

 The remaining fiagments often gave us valuable points for anatomical study. In the work of 

 restoration we had in many cases to use plaster of Paris to fill gaps or strengthen weak parts. 

 Where the plaster was used superlicially to r('i)lace thin scales from the outer table, measurements 

 were, after due deliberation, sometimes taken from points on the plastered surface; but where the 

 plaster had been thickly applied, had been used in restoring salient points, or had been emjjloyed 

 to till a gap in both tables of the bone, its presence was considered to preclude measurement. In 

 a small number of skulls where we had, after restoration, reason to suspect the existence of post- 

 mortem distortion, measurements were not made — not, at least, in the regions atfected by the dis- 

 tortion. A gieat but unavoidable disadvantage iu the use of the plaster was that it encroached 

 on the cranial cavity and thus usually rendered the cubature of the latter impossible. 



i 2. THE MEASUREMENTS OF THE SKULLS. 



In preparing this report we have kept two objects in v'iw : First, that we might obtain material 

 for our own study and comparison of this collection; and, second, that we might furni.sh to other 

 investigators material for comparative study. In providing for the latter we have taken .some 

 measurements which we have not u.sed as data for subseciuent investigations, and we have not 

 confined ourselves to the methods of any particular school or system. 



For purposes of our own r(^s(■arch we have employed chiefly the measurements of the French 

 and English .schools of anthroj)ology as formulated in Dr. Paul Topinard's recent work,* because 

 the literature of anthropology is richest in studies based on these measurements (Ajipendix A), 

 and the opportunities for comparison with them is consequently most extensive. 



Recognizing the fact that a great number of anthropologists throughout the world have 

 signified their intention of employing the measurements proposed by certain Oe!inau anthropolo- 

 gists, fornndated in what is known as the Frankfort agreemeut (Ap])eudix B), and hence, 



'Topinard; Clements d'Anthiopologie G^n^rale; Paris, 1885; chap. xxvn. 



