162 ANTHROPOLOGICAL SURVEY IX ALASKA [eth. ANN. -16 



MEASUREMENTS ON LIVING ITJKON ESKIMO 



The exact provenience of the six men measured at Marshall is 

 uncertain, but they seemingly were all from the lower Yukon and 

 all were apparently full-blood Eskimo. But the measurements are 

 lather peculiar. They are given, for comparison, with those of the 

 western Eskimo in general (p. 165). They approach nearest to those 

 of the Togiak Eskimo, well down below the Kuskokwim. They 

 show a higher stature than all of their relations farther south, ex- 

 cept the Togiaks, and they have a rounder head. They are, in fact, 

 moderate brachycephals, a very unexpected form in this strain of 

 people. The Togiaks also are brachycephalic. The vault is rel- 

 atively somewhat higher than it is in the other groups, though the 

 height is not excessive. The nose is slightly lower as well as nar- 

 rower than it is in all the other contingents. The face is close to 

 those of St. Lawrence Island. The ear is perceptibly smaller and 

 especially narrower than elsewhere, but perhaps the age factor enters 

 into the case. The hand is much like that of Togiak and St. Law- 

 rence, the index being identical. 



The brachycephaly of the group for the present is hard to explain. 

 It can not be ascribed to a mixture with the river Indians, for these, 

 as has been seen from the skulls, were meso- rather than brachy- 

 cephalic. There is need here for further inquiry. 



SKELETAL REMAINS OF YUKON ESKIMO 



As with the Indian, such remains are still rare. Some measure- 

 ments of three " Smithsonian Mahlemute " skulls from the Yukon, 

 collected by William H. Dall, are given by Jeffries Wyman, and 

 probably the same specimens appear in the Otis Catalogue, the meas- 

 urements in which are regrettably not very reliable. These speci- 

 mens can not now be located, and the scarce data are of but little 

 value. The three skulls examined by Wyman were all mesocephalic. 



It is now possible to report on 40 adult skulls from the lower 

 Yukon and the delta. An abstract of the measurements is given in 

 the next table. The data indicate a considerable local variation. 

 All the skulls, or very nearly all, are mesocephalic; but they differ 

 considerably in height and in all the facial features. The Pilot 

 Station group, from the apex of the delta, and hence the midst of 

 the Eskimo territory on the Yukon, is especially peculiar. Both the 

 vault and the face, in the series as a whole, range from low to high, 

 and much the same is true of the height of the nose and that of the 

 orbits, while the palate is exceptionally broad, giving a low index, 

 all of which would seem to indicate instability or conditions in 



