STONE FORT AND OTHER ABORIGINAL REMAINS. 115 



All the crania which I examined from the stone graves and monnds of Tennessee 

 were characterized by the great comparative width of the parietal diameter, and the 

 corresponding shortness of the longitudinal diameter. This peculiarity in like 

 manner should be referred to the effects of artificial pressure, rather than to 

 original conformation. 



The foreheads, although low and retreating, are in some cases broad. The 

 superior margin of the bony orbits is but slightly curved, whilst the lower niargin 

 is curved to a marked degree, thus presenting a striking contrast to the oblong 

 orbit of the Malay skull. Tlie nasal bones are well developed and prominent, with 

 large nasal cavities, in striking contrast with the nose in the Negro race. The 

 cheek bones are large and prominent, giving an angular configuration to the face. 

 Tlie upper jaw is elongated and inclined outwards, but the teeth are vertical. The 

 lower jaw is truncated in front, massive, powerful, and broad. The teeth are 

 large, and in most cases perfect. In the crania of those somewhat advanced 

 in years, the teeth were generally much worn, and in some cases abraded almost 

 to the sockets. It was evident from the examination of more than one hundred 

 crania, that the effects of pressure manifested in the flattening of the occiput, in 

 the shortening of the longitudinal diameter, and in the increase of the parietal 

 diameter, varied within wide limits ; and that, whilst some of the crania might 

 be referred to the brachycephali of Retzius, some, in which the effects of artificial 

 compression were but slightly marked, should be referred to the dolichocephali. 

 Others evidently occupy a medium position between the two. Notwithstanding 

 that the crania differ within certain limits as to the prominence of the superior 

 maxilla, they should be classed with the prognathous, rather than with the orthog- 

 nathous races. Whilst some of the dolichocephalic forms of these crania approach 

 the Negro type in the projecting cheek bones and protruded upper jaw, the 

 brachycephalic and intermediate forms, on the other hand, approach more nearly 

 the Mongol type. 



The pyramidal form of the crania, as well as the shape of the occiput, and 

 the effects of pressure in altering the normal position of the sutures, is clearly 

 seen when a comparison of their outlines viewed from behind is instituted. 

 Such comparisons also show the cuboidal shape, the great width of the occipital 

 protuberances, the perpendicular wall up to the parietal protuberances, and the 

 comparatively flat vertex. The occiput is flattened in different degrees, and 

 presents different forms, in consequence of the different amount of pressure 

 to which it was subjected during infancy; and it is evident that the position 

 of the coronal suture is altered, and the cranium rendered asymmetrical in pro- 

 portion to the greater or less force applied during early life upon the one side 

 or the other. The vertically flattened occiput is by no means characteristic of 

 the entire series of crania of the stone-grave race ; and I have been led to regard 

 this peculiarity, not as a typical characteristic dependent on the specific differences 

 of race, but as preeminently, if not entirely, the result of artificial modification 

 during infancy. Not only do these crania manifest the different degrees to which 

 the head of the child was compressed in its small, confined cradle, but they also 

 exhibit in the greater flattening on one side or the other, and in the consequent 



