URDU'' K A I 



A STRANGE GROUP OF ESKIMO 



321 



ing the contact with whites. The surface series, though smaller, 

 shows three syphilitic skulls. An additional fact of interest is the 

 absence in both the igloo and the surface series of all marks of 

 scurvy. Such marks are fairly common farther southward. Finally, 

 none of the skulls are deformed, either in life or posthumously. 



Anthropological Observations and Measurements on the 



Collections 



Age. — The first observations made on the igloo material were those 

 as to the individual ages of the bodies. Such observations are no <■- 

 sarily rough, yet within sufficiently broad limits fairly reliable. The 

 criteria are principally the condition of the teeth and that of the 

 sutures. The possible error in such estimates is, experience has 

 shown, as a rule well within 10 yeA's in the older and within 5 years 

 in the young adults or subadults. 



One of the objects of these observations on the "igloo" material 

 was to get some further light on whether the remains were those 

 of a group that perished of an epidemic, famine, or some other sud- 

 den agency, or whether they represented just burials. The age dis- 

 tribution of the dead would differ considerably in the two cases. 



Estimated Ages at Death 

 IGLOO MATERIAL 



Above 55 



Males (27) 



Females (25) 



Mean, both sexes 



Per cent 

 33 

 16 

 25 



SURFACE series 



Males (21) 



Females (14) 



Mean, both sexes. 



29 



11. 5 



5 

 36 



17 



48 

 36 

 43 



48 



29.5 



The above table shows the data obtained, with those on the surface 

 material from the same collection and known to be that of ordinary 

 burials. 



The results do not agree with the composition of the living popu- 

 lation but are apparently near to what might be expected in burials. 

 Taking the sexes apart, the series from the surface shows a somewhat 

 more favorable condition for the men, but worse for the women. 

 Taking the materials, however, regardless of sex, the proportions of 



