A HISTORY OF DERBYSHIRE 



upon it dolichocephalic, mesaticephalic and brachycephalic is also 

 given. In several instances the two lists clash, a skull which is de- 

 scribed as 'oval' on the one appearing as brachycephalic on the other, 

 and "vice versa, but these contradictions may be more apparent than real. 

 The cephalic index alone is of little value, unless checked by observa- 

 tion, for these barrow skulls have frequently suffered posthumous dis- 

 tortion. A comparison of the two lists, however, amply proves that 

 though Mr. Bateman's notes fall short of the demands of present-day 

 anthropology, they were carefully drawn up and may be accepted as 

 substantially correct. 



It is not a difficult matter to arrange his seventy skulls in a 

 roughly graduated series beginning with his boat-shaped, and ending 

 with his extremely short form. Where the dividing lines should be 

 placed in the series, between the dolichocephalic, mesaticephalic, and 

 brachycephalic, is necessarily conjectural, but the Sheffield list helps us 

 considerably, and we shall not be far wrong if we attribute to the first 

 type, fourteen skulls ; to the second, sixteen ; and to the last, forty. To 

 Mr. Bateman's list may be added thirteen other skulls of known form, 

 subsequently obtained from Bronze-age burials, making up the following 

 totals for Derbyshire 1 : 



Dolichocephalic skulls, approximately 1 6 



Mesaticephalic 25 



Brachycephalic 44 



85 



This intermixture of skull-forms has long been observed in the 

 barrows of this age elsewhere in the country, and is generally recognized 

 as indicating the intrusion of a round-head people upon the Neolithic 

 long-heads, the intermediate form being the result of intermarriages 

 between the two stocks. The proportion of the different types of skulls 

 in Derbyshire is of peculiar interest. The Rev. Dr. Greenwell observes 

 that in the round barrows of the wolds, the skulls of the two types are 

 about equal in number, whereas in those of the south-west of the island 

 the brachycephalic greatly preponderate. In Derbyshire the ratio, like 

 the geographical position, is roughly intermediate, thus materially con- 

 firming the Doctor's conclusion, ' that the earlier long-headed people were 

 more completely eradicated by the intrusive roundheads in Wiltshire, 

 than they were in East Yorkshire.' 



The general experience has been that the long-headed people were 

 of shorter and feebler build than the other. Unfortunately Derbyshire 



1 Messrs. Bateman and Carrington's investigations in the Staffordshire Bronze-age tumuli gave 

 similar results, as the following table compiled from Mr. Bateman's list will show : 



Dolichocephalic skulls, approximately 5 



Mesaticephalic 10 



Brachycephalic 1 8 



33 

 1 80 



