248 



PHYSICAL ETHNOLOGY. 

 Table I.— MOUND AND CAVE CEANLi.. 



Of the series embraced in this table, though all are ancient, only the first four 

 can be relied upon as undoubted examples of the crania of the mounds. In 

 comparing them with others, there are indications of a peculiar cranial type par- 

 tially approximating to the brachycephalic Peruvian cranium ; but this assumed 

 correspondence has been exaggerated, and some imi)ortant differences have been 

 slighted or ignored in the zeal to establish the affinities which such an agree- 

 ment would seem to imply. In vertical elevation the Peruvian cranium is 

 decidedly inferior; and another point of distinction, borne out, by the few well- 

 authenticated mound crania, is the well-formed and arched frontal bone, unaf- 

 fected by the pressure to which the flattened occiput must be in part ascribed, 

 and accompanied by great prominence of the superciliary ridges. These differ- 

 ences were overlooked by Dr. J. 0. Warren, who pronounced the Mound and 

 Peruvian crania to be identical. A greater correspondence seems to me to be 

 traceable between the most ancient crania of the Mexican valley and those of 

 the mounds. But, tempting as are the conclusions which such analogies sug- 

 gest, any final decision on the subject must be reserved until further discoveries 

 place within our reach a sufficient number of skulls of the ancient Mound- 

 huilders as well authenticated as those of the Scioto valley an'd Grave creek 

 mounds. This there is little hope of achieving, until a systematic exploration 

 is instituted under the direction of a carefully constituted scientific commission, 

 the organization of which would reflect credit on the government of the United 

 .States. The Cave crania, Nos. 9-21, are a remarkable series of ' undoubted 

 antiquity, and present a nearer approximation to those of the Mounds than any 

 other class. Their most notable divergence from the mound type, in the parietal 

 diameter, disappears if the doubtful examples of the latter, Nos. 5-S, are ex- 

 cluded, as in Table X. 



