WHOLE VOL. SKELETAL REMAINS OF EARLY MAN — HRDLICKA 1 53 



obliterated up to the temporal ridges, while the lambdoid is still 

 patent. Similar conditions to these are not seldom met with in the 

 skulls of persons beyond the fiftieth year of life, and if not attended 

 by scaphocephaly or other consequent deformation, cannot be re- 

 garded as abnormal. The serration of the lambdoid suture is decidedly 

 simpler than in modern human skulls. 



The facial and basal parts are lacking. The vault shows very good 

 dimensions in length and breadth, but is strikingly low, and the bones 

 are considerably thicker than in the white man of to-day, so that the 

 brain cavity was only moderate. 



Besides its lowness the vault is characterized by a very decided 

 protrusion of the whole supraorbital region. The supraorbital 

 torus or arch formed through this protrusion is heavier than in any 

 other known example of the Homo neanderthalensis. The line from 

 glabella to the naso-frontal articulation is relatively extensive and 

 passes considerably backward besides downward, indicating a very 

 marked depression at the root of the nose, not unlike that which is 

 present in the adult gorilla. Due also to the forward extension of 

 the supraorbital arch, the upper parts of the planes of the orbits face 

 very perceptibly downward, while in present man they face some- 

 what upward or approach the vertical. The remarkable extent of the 

 protrusion of the supra-orbital region may be judged by the fact 

 that the horizontal distance from the most prominent point of the 

 glabella to the nearest point on the ventral surface of the lower frontal 

 region measures 3 cm. The frontal process descends deep between 

 the orbits and is very stout. 



The forehead is low and also slopes markedly backward, neverthe- 

 less it presents a moderately-well defined convexity. The sagittal 

 region is oval from side to side, much like that in man of to-day ; 

 the occiput, however, is marked by a relatively high location of the 

 crest and other peculiarities. The outline of the vault, as looked at 

 from above, is a long ovoid. The thickness of the frontal bone at the 

 eminences is 8.5 mm. ; of the left parietal, along a line i cm. above 

 the squamous suture, 6 to 8 mm. ; these measurements are about one- 

 third greater than those of the skull of an average modern European. 



The principal external dimensions of the cranium, taken carefully 

 with two separate instruments, were found to differ slightly from 

 some of those recorded, but agree closely with those of Schvvalbe. 

 They are shown in the table on the following page. 



The lowness of the vault, in the absence of the basion, was 

 measured, as seen on the antero-posterior outline of the skull, from 

 a line connecting the most prominent point of the glabella and the 



