﻿ABORIGINAL 
  SOUTH 
  AMERICAN 
  CULTURE 
  — 
  COOPER 
  431 
  

  

  Venezuela 
  to 
  about 
  400 
  miles 
  southeast 
  of 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  Amazon 
  ; 
  

   the 
  southeastern, 
  by 
  a 
  broken 
  line 
  running 
  from 
  this 
  last 
  point 
  across 
  

   country 
  to 
  central 
  Bolivia. 
  The 
  sides 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  quadrangle 
  are 
  

   about 
  1,300 
  to 
  1,500 
  miles 
  long. 
  Most 
  of 
  the 
  area 
  is 
  covered 
  with 
  

   dense 
  tropical 
  rain 
  forest, 
  except 
  for 
  the 
  extensive 
  savannas 
  of 
  the 
  

   middle 
  Orinoco 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  Guiana 
  highlands. 
  

  

  3. 
  The 
  open-country 
  belt. 
  — 
  The 
  third 
  division 
  of 
  South 
  America, 
  

   representing 
  about 
  one-half 
  of 
  the 
  continental 
  area, 
  is 
  the 
  region 
  

   bounded 
  on 
  the 
  west 
  by 
  the 
  southern 
  Andes, 
  on 
  the 
  northwest 
  by 
  

   the 
  Amazonian 
  rain 
  forest, 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  northeast 
  and 
  southeast 
  by 
  

   the 
  Atlantic. 
  It 
  is 
  mostly 
  open 
  country, 
  treeless 
  or 
  only 
  sparsely 
  

   wooded 
  — 
  grasslands, 
  savannas, 
  bushlands, 
  and 
  steppes 
  — 
  including 
  the 
  

   eastern 
  Brazilian 
  and 
  Matto 
  Grosso 
  highlands, 
  the 
  Gran 
  Chaco, 
  the 
  

   Uruguayan 
  plains, 
  the 
  Argentinian 
  Pampa, 
  the 
  Patagonian 
  plateau 
  

   and 
  part 
  of 
  Tierra 
  del 
  Fuego. 
  On 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  border 
  of 
  the 
  

   Brazilian 
  highlands, 
  the 
  tropical 
  rain 
  forest 
  extends 
  in 
  a 
  narrow 
  

   coastal 
  strip 
  down 
  to 
  about 
  25° 
  S. 
  lat. 
  The 
  chief 
  break 
  in 
  this 
  great 
  

   open-country 
  belt 
  is 
  that 
  made 
  by 
  the 
  subtropical 
  forests 
  of 
  southern 
  

   Brazil 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  Paraguay 
  and 
  Parana 
  basins. 
  The 
  inland 
  and 
  up- 
  

   land 
  savannas 
  of 
  the 
  Brazilian 
  and 
  Matto 
  Grosso 
  highlands 
  are 
  thus 
  

   practically 
  ringed 
  with 
  heavily 
  forested 
  country, 
  mostly 
  lowlands. 
  

   To 
  the 
  far 
  southwest 
  of 
  the 
  open 
  belt 
  lies 
  the 
  Chonoan 
  and 
  Magellanic 
  

   archipelago, 
  flanking 
  the 
  mainland 
  for 
  about 
  1,200 
  miles 
  from 
  Chiloe 
  

   to 
  Cape 
  Horn 
  and 
  covered 
  mostly 
  with 
  temperate 
  rain 
  forests. 
  

  

  SOMATOLOGY 
  

  

  Our 
  data 
  on 
  the 
  living 
  races 
  of 
  man 
  on 
  the 
  Southern 
  American 
  con- 
  

   tinent 
  are 
  very 
  incomplete. 
  Only 
  in 
  four 
  or 
  five 
  scattered 
  spots 
  do 
  they 
  

   approach 
  anything 
  like 
  adequacy, 
  while 
  for 
  enormous 
  areas, 
  such 
  as 
  

   most 
  of 
  the 
  Amazonian 
  forested 
  area, 
  they 
  are 
  lacking 
  almost 
  entirely. 
  

   No 
  thorough 
  analysis 
  or 
  interpretation 
  even 
  of 
  the 
  sparse 
  data 
  we 
  

   have 
  has 
  been 
  attempted. 
  Dixon 
  dealt 
  with 
  only 
  certain 
  selected 
  

   elements. 
  Biasutti's 
  review 
  is 
  wanting 
  in 
  detail. 
  Our 
  most 
  recent 
  

   study, 
  Eickstedt's, 
  is 
  at 
  best 
  provisional; 
  however, 
  such 
  as 
  it 
  is, 
  it 
  

   represents 
  at 
  least 
  a 
  start.* 
  

  

  Eickstedt 
  isolates 
  four 
  main 
  physical 
  types 
  (pi. 
  1) 
  two 
  tending 
  to- 
  

   ward 
  brachycephaly, 
  two 
  toward 
  dolichocephaly 
  — 
  although 
  one 
  of 
  

   these 
  latter 
  two, 
  his 
  Brazilid 
  type, 
  falls 
  in 
  the 
  main 
  within 
  meso- 
  

   cephaly. 
  Eickstedt 
  blocks 
  out 
  the 
  following 
  distributions 
  : 
  The 
  Andid 
  

   subrace, 
  broad-headed 
  and 
  of 
  relatively 
  low 
  stature, 
  occupying 
  most 
  

  

  * 
  Dixon, 
  1923, 
  pp. 
  443-472; 
  Biasutti, 
  1912, 
  pp. 
  140-143, 
  maps 
  1-7; 
  Eickstedt, 
  1934, 
  pp. 
  

   720-759, 
  838-876, 
  map 
  opp. 
  p. 
  752; 
  Pericot, 
  1936, 
  pp. 
  593-727, 
  passim, 
  good 
  for 
  bibliog- 
  

   raphy 
  ; 
  Krickeberg, 
  1922, 
  pp. 
  217-219. 
  For 
  references 
  to 
  other 
  classifications 
  and 
  distri- 
  

   butions, 
  see 
  : 
  Gusinde, 
  1939, 
  pp. 
  406-418 
  ; 
  Imbelloni, 
  1937. 
  

  

  