189 



Report on the Skulls from the Tv/mulus at Nympajleld. 

 By John Thurnam, M.D., F.S.A. 



The osseous remains fi'om the Chambered Tumulus of Nympsfield 

 consist of one skull, one broken calvarium, and fragments of at least 

 ten other crania. 



No. 1. The large and finely developed skull of a man of middle age. 

 Its capacity is represented by eighty-eight ounces of white sand, and the 

 contained brain must have weighed about fifty-eight ounces avoirdupois. 

 The type is dolichocephalic, with a full and prominent occiput. The 

 only exception as to equable development depends on the presence of 

 slight parieto-occipital flatness. The frontal region is rather narrow, but 

 is moderately elevated and well arched where it joins the parietals. 

 The parietal tubers are not prominent. The superciliaries are large, and 

 form a central overhanging boss. The nasals are broken off at the roots. 

 The superior maxHlaries are short, especially the alveolar portions ; as 

 in other skulls from the chambei'ed tumuli of Uley and West Kennet. 

 Slight prognathism is exhibited in the prominence of the inter- 

 maxUlaries. A greater number of the teeth, viz., two or three incisors 

 and two or three molars, have been lost during life than in almost 

 any other British skull I have examined. One molar and two premolars 

 are in place ; they are very much worn down, and have the dentine 

 hollowed out. There is no lower jaw among the fragments which can 

 be confidently attributed to this skull. 



No. 2. A broken calvarium of still more decidedly dolichocephalic 

 character than the skull No. 1. In this instance likewise, the supra- 

 occipital region is full and prominent. Behind the coronal suture is a 

 marked depression, which extends down the sides of the skull, and 

 suggests the idea of having been produced by the long continued use of 

 a constricting bandage in early Ufe. This peculiarity of form is one 

 occasioDally observed in ancient British skulls, and especially in those 

 from the north of Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, the country of the 

 Dohuni, as seen in many crania in my collection. 



Nos. 3, 4, and 5. Frontal bones ; all apparently of male skulls. They 

 are characterized by their generally low, narrow, and receding form ; as 

 is likewise the frontal bone in the calvarium No. 2. This form prevails 



