aRDLi<^KA] DISCOVEBIES ATTRIBUTED TO EAELY MAN 



Astragalus 



59 



Length, 

 maxi- 

 mum 



Vero Skeleton II, right 



Florida (at large), right, male 



Sioux, right, male 



Munsee, right, male 



United States, whites 



cm. 

 6.4 



5.91 



6.14 



5.7 



6.3 



Breadth, 

 maxi- 

 mum 



cm. 

 4.4 



4.14 



4.54 



4.27 



4.5 



Height, 

 maxi- 

 mum 



cm. 

 3.4 



3.2 



3.43 



3.27 



3.4 



Module 

 (mean 

 diam.) 



cm . 



4.73 



4.42 



4.71 



4.41 



4.73 



Breadth- 

 length 

 index 



68.7 

 70.1 

 74.0 

 74.9 

 71.6 



Height- 

 length 

 index 



53.1 

 54.2 

 56.1 

 57.4 

 53.8 



As in the case of Skeleton I from Vero, the astragalus is marked 

 b}' somewhat excessive length ; but there are not a few individual 

 Indian astragali from Florida and elsewhere which duplicate its 

 proportions. Its ver^' close approximation in both absolute and 

 relative proportions to the astragalus of the whites is probably 

 accidental. 



The remaining few bones of the foot are without special interest. 



Considering the skeleton as a whole, the conclusion is inevitable 

 that it is that of an Indian ; yet there remains some persistent doubt 

 whether it is not the skeleton of a white-Indian individual. If not, 

 there remain onh" two other possibilities : one that it is an excep- 

 tional, superior skeleton of a Florida Indian of Algonquian origin, 

 the other that it belonged to an individual from some non-Floridian 

 tribe. It should be once more emphasized, however, that all the 

 features in which the various parts of the skeleton differ from those 

 of an ordinary Florida Indian are features pointing toward higher 

 or more modern development. There is no feature of the skeleton 

 that would suggest even remotely an individual more ancient or 

 anthropologically more primitive than the Indian. 



Additional Human Bones from Vero 



Near Skeleton II was found a tooth which is characteristically and 

 most typically Indian (fig. 8). It is an upper median incisor, proba- 

 bly of the left side, and belonged to an advanced adolescent or a 

 young adult, possibly a female. Its dimensions are : Total length, 2.0 

 cm. ; maximum breadth of crown, 0.85 cm. The cutting edge is but 

 slightly worn, as frequently found in Indian adolescents; the outer 

 surface is decidedly convex from above doAvn; and the inner or 

 buccal surface is deeply hollowed out, or shovel-shaped, as is typical 

 Avith Indians. With rare exceptions such hollowing out is met with 

 only among Indians and the more closely related branches of the 

 yellow-brown race. 



