426 TWO REMARKABLE SKULLS 



Piltdown man, the front teeth have plenty of accommodation 

 in the alveolar arch, a condition which, it may be noted, 

 is associated in all three examples with the absence of a chin. 

 In modern man, on the other hand, the chin has developed 

 and the teeth have become closely packed together, thus 

 threatening to crowd out the 3rd molars 'altogether, a con- 

 dition which is certainly going on in the upper jaw as well 

 as the lower, especially in the higher races of modern mankind. 

 It may further be asked, ''Are the reduction of the dental 

 arch and the evolution of the chin to be regarded as two 

 closely associated phenomena?" A study of man's ancestry 

 would certainly appear to suggest this fact. 



In confirmation, as it were, of the superior type of den- 

 tition in these two New Hebrides skulls, the upper alveolar 

 arches in both do not show the U shape which is the usual 

 condition in a low race like the Melanesians, but the parabola- 

 like curve of the arch that is found in the higher races of 

 mankind. I am bound to say that the dentition and the 

 modelling of the jaws of these two New Hebrides skulls show 

 some very anomalous features which appear worthy of being 

 placed on record. 



The Facial Masks. 



The facial masks were of a peculiar iron-rust tint with 

 coloured decorations superadded. Their outline in both 

 cases followed the lower borders of the mandibles and extended 

 upwards from this along the posterior edges of the rami and 

 crossed the roots of the zygomatic arches just in front of 

 the external auditory meatuses. They covered the lower 

 parts of the temples. The upper edges swept across to the 

 opposite side along the line of what would have been the 

 junction of the forehead with the roots of the hair. They 

 were thus strictly limited to the facial portions of the skulls. 

 In one case the posterior edge had attached to it a model 

 of the front margin of the external ear. This fact suggests 

 that the clay masks may have covered the whole skull at 



