698 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 



TUESDAY, AUGUST 7. 

 The following Papers were read : — 



1. Demonstration of the Methods of Determining Racial Characters, 

 By Dr. F. C. Shrubsall. 



2. Exhibit of British Crania in the possession of the Yorkshire Philo' 

 sophical Society, and of Crania from Lamel Hill, York, By Dr. 

 G. A. AUDEN. 



3. Notes on a recently discovered Skeleton in Scoska Cave, Littondale. 

 By Harold Brodrick, M.A., and C. A. Hill, M.B., B.A. 



Scoska Cave is situated about a mile beyond the village of Arncliffe and at 

 a height of 230 feet above the river Skirfare. The opening of the cave is about 

 7 feet high and 15 feet wide. At a distance of 250 feet from the entrance the cave 

 branches, the right branch being more than 400 yards in length. The left branch 

 (which contains a small stream) is entered by creeping under a ledge 18 inches 

 high ; the roof soon rises to a height of 4 feet, and continues at this level for 

 400 feet ; at this point the roof lowers, and a few yards beyond many bones in a 

 good state of preservation have been found. All the bones belong to one person, 

 and were for the most part almost entirely buried in stalagmite ; they were 

 scattered along the floor of the cave over a distance of about 20 feet. The skull 

 is that of a female Celt, being of the brachycephalic type. All the teeth are pre- 

 sent, with the exception of the two back molars, which evidently fell out subse- 

 quently to death. The teeth show signs of considerable attrition, being worn flat 

 with the loss of the enamel in the molars ; this has evidently been caused by eating 

 corn ground between gritstones, the grit being left in the flour. Just above the 

 right mastoid process is a small, irregularly shaped hole, which has penetrated the 

 inner table of the skull and has evidently been the cause of death. The blow 

 would not prove instantly fatal, so that the woman had probably crawled up the 

 cave to die, the position in which the bones were found precluding the idea of 

 burial. 



Measurements and Notes, 



Skull. — Length, 168 mm. ; Breadth, 138 mm. ; Height, 129 mm. ; Vertical 

 index, 76 ; Cephalic index, 82, Brachycephalic ; Cubical capacity, 1,420 cc, Meso- 

 cephalic. 



The skull is that of a female, the mastoid processes being small, the frontal 

 sinuses and the superciliary ridges diminutive. 



Observations, 



Angle of nose almost at right angles to face. Nasal septum deflected to the 

 right. Hypertrophy of the left turbinal bone. Palate high-arched and contracted. 

 Dental margin saddle-shaped. 



The junction of the basi-occipital with the sphenoid is obliterated, therefore 

 the skull is that of a person over the age of twenty-four, and as the inter-parietal or 

 sagittal suture shows no signs of commencing obliteration, it is that of one under 

 forty-five. 



Tibise. — Right and left. Length, 355 mm. Female. They have a slight 

 oblique direction downwards and outwards ; they are also platycnemic. The tibia 

 in European races is about 22'1 per cent, of the stature ; this indicates a height of 

 5 feet 3 inches. 



Humerus. — Left. Length, 316 mm. This indicates a height of 5 feet 2'8 inches. 



Badius. — Right. Length, 230 mm. This indicates a height of 5 feet 2-9 inches. 



