SOME ANTHROPOLOGICAL DATA ON THE 



INHABITANTS OF SWEDISH AND FINNISH 



EXTRACTION IN FINLAND 



BY 



Doctor KAARLO HILD^N 



HELSINGFORS 



IT IS ONLY FIRST DURING THE LATEST DECENNARIES THAT 

 the anthropology of Finland has been investigated scientifically. Of older 

 explorers in this department we may specially mention the celebrated Swedish 

 scientist Anders Retzius, of Stockholm, the Finnish scientist C. v. Haartman of 

 Helsingfors and the wellknown German anatomist Virchow. The material these 

 investigators had at their command was in the meantime singularly scanty, and 

 in consequence gave to a certain extent, a wrong picture of the anthropological 

 circumstances in Finland. A valuable contribution to our knowledge concerning 

 Finlands anthropology was afterwards given by the Swedish scientist Gustaf 

 Retzius, who during his journey in Finland in 1873 measured 91 individuals, 

 took a large number of anthropological photographs and collected a large number 

 of skulls. He published the result of these investigations in the year 1878 in 

 his classical work »Finnish craniums». The anatomist K. Hallsten in Helsingfors 

 has later, together with his pupils carried on craniological researches, which in 

 the years 1881—1893 were published under the common title of »Materiaux pour 

 servir a la connaissance des cranes des peuples Finnois». (Materials of service 

 in giving a knowledge of the craniums of the Finnish people.) In the meantime 

 we have the lately deceased medical doctor F. W. Westerlund of Helsingfors, 

 to thank for his investigations respecting the anthropology of Finland, he insti* 

 tuted careful measurements and observations when the conscripts were called up 

 in 1885—92. These researches cover in respect to the height, 131,697 men about 

 21 years of age from all parts of the land, excepting the Lappmark; in respect 

 to the shape of the head and the colour characteristics Westerlund has had at 

 his disposition a material consisting of about 6,000. Westerlund has published 

 the result of these researches collocated in 6 volumes under the title of »Studies 

 in Finland's anthropology*, and they contain the most complete description of 

 the anthropological circumstances in Finland which we possess up till the pre* 

 sent. The following information therefore is derived principally from Wester* 

 lunds investigations. 



X Finland, as is well known, is inhabited by two different races of people in 

 regard to their language and origin, Finns (about 8S %) and ^Swedes (about 12 %T~ 

 of whom the latter inhabit Aland and the larger part of the southswest archipe« 

 lago, as well as parts of coasts of the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia, 

 in the provinces of Nyland and Osterbotton, (East Bothnia). In the course of 



