386 



strong cheek-bones and the broad, muscular lower jaw. The 

 length of the face is here measured from the root of the nose 

 to the chin; but if we consider the whole length of the face 

 from the beginning of the hair to the chin , its form becomes 

 on the whole a broad oval. The painter Moltke^ states, that 

 they have "smooth faces. The features are like those of a 

 child. The lines quiet and round. It is as if a smoothing 

 hand "has passed over them" and thus produced a beneficial 

 peacefulness and greatness in the lines — but also sometimes 

 taken away something of the character". 



The form of the nose is fairly constant. The root is not 

 specially depressed and the nose itself projects distinctly forward 

 and has a straight and comparatively long ridge. There is not 

 seldom an inconsiderable prominence, which gives the nose a 

 tendency to be aquiline. The tip of the nose may be a little 

 hanging. The breadth is not great, but in the case of a few 

 women with the broadest faces, e. g. Inadtliak, the nostrils were 

 somewhat distended , so that they appeared slightly broader 

 than high. 



The teeth are fine and strong and form regular rows almost 

 always. It is well-known how they are greatly worn down, and 

 it is a common view among anthropologists, that the woman's 

 skull can be distinguished from the man's among the Polar 

 Eskimos by the fact, that the teeth in the former are most 

 worn, due to the work of chewing skins done by the women. 

 It is quite possible that the women's teeth become on the whole 

 somewhat more worn than the men's in the course of time; but 

 that the difference in the amount should be so great and obvious, 

 that we could use it with any certainty to distinguish the sexes, 

 I think I can safely deny. 



The men certainly do not chew skins; but they use the 

 teeth for so many different kinds of work and almost always 



1 Mylius Erichsen og Moltke, 1. с, p. 592. 



