254 BULLETIN 183, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Ohio series. Whether the landmark on the lower nasal border is 

 being interpreted similarly by all observers perhaps may be ques- 

 tioned. I tend to get a smaller measurement now than I did some 

 years ago, owing to a change in the definition of this landmark (cf. 

 Stewart, 1939, pp. 30-31). 



STEED-KISKER SERIES (MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI) 



Condition of specimens. — Table 17 lists the crania from this site 

 used in the present study. Only two are nearly complete ; tlie others 

 lack faces and the basal parts. In contrast to the mound series, and 

 in accord with the different mode of burial, there is no evidence here 

 of burning and few if any rodent tooth marks. No major patholog- 

 ical changes are observable. 



Sex. — ^Males predominate in the ratio of 9 to 2. In only two cases 

 does the sex determination seem questionable. Perhaps the larger 

 and heavier skulls have preserved better. 



Suture closure. — In only one case are the sutures judged to be open ; 

 two others appear to be in the stage of beginning closure; the re- 

 mainder are in various stages of advanced closure (table 17). It is 

 probable that closed sutures lend some support to the skull in resisting 

 the crushing force of the earth and hence may account partly for the 

 frequency of older individuals in this collection. 



Teeth. — Some teeth are preserved with almost every skull (table 

 17) , and in addition there is a miscellaneous lot of jaws — together with 

 temporal bones the only parts of other skulls worth saving. Included 

 among the miscellaneous jaws are those of at least two children of 

 approximately 2 and 8 years of age. 



Unlike in the Kansas City mound series, tooth wear in the Steed- 

 Kisker series is never extreme and usually only slight to medium. On 

 the other hand, caries is not uncommon in the molars of the Steed- 

 Kisker series and is the principal cause of tootli loss. In young adults 

 caries apparently begins in developmental defects (pits, fissures) in 

 the crowns of the molars; in older individuals cervical caries and 

 alveoloclasia make their appearance. 



It is perhaps significant that the crania from Madisonville, Ohio, 

 considered by Neumann (1941a, p. 488) to represent a relatively pure 

 Middle Mississippi population, are reported by Hooton (1920) to have 

 little tooth wear but considerable caries. Although many of the Madi- 

 sonville crania appear to be young individuals, Hooton states (table 

 p, 107) that out of 65 only 7 (10.8 percent) show pronounced tooth 

 wear and 43 (66.2 percent) show slight or no wear. On the other 

 hand, he points out (table p. 109) that 17 out of 49 (34.7 percent) had 

 caries. 



We have already seen that both the Kansas City and Turner series 

 of Hopewellians show marked wear and almost no caries. This strik- 

 ing contrast between the dentitions of the Hopewellian and Middle 



