61 



With reference to this question, we examined a considerable number of 

 Indian skulls contained in the collection of the United States Army Med- 

 ical Museum, but we must confess that among the modern ones we did 

 not meet with any deformation that could reasonably be attributed to 

 the influence alluded to. Among a series of skulls exhumed from mounds 

 in Kentucky, Xo. 723 is deformed very slightly, while No. 730 shows a 

 pronounced depression of the lower and posterior portion of the left 

 parietal bone, and in No. 242 we meet with an almost perpendicular 

 occiput, perceptible especially when viewed from the right side. A con- 

 siderable number of crania from mounds near Vicksburgh, Miss., could 

 not be used to strengthen our argument, as they are all, with scarcely 

 any exception, deformed intentionally and in every possible direction. 



Having obtained these rather negative results, we examined the collec- 

 tion of Indian cradles contained in the National Museum, trying to 

 establish some relation between the construction of the cradle-board 

 and the mode of deformation of the skull. If we were to judge from the 

 specimens as they present themselves at the Suiithsonian Institution, we 

 might under the circumstances arrive at erroneous conclusions, as most 

 likely the majority of these cradles are incomplete, consisting in most 

 cases of scarcely anything but the frame-work. Probably', some tribes 

 prepare the head-rests for the children more carefully than others, and 

 the deformation of the skull will be found accordingly. 



Unfortunately, there are no skulls of Indian tribes that now inhabit 

 the vicinity of the region in question within our reach, and therefore we 

 are unable to draw any comparisons or to point out cranial affinities 

 that might exist between the ancient inhabitants of the luius and the 

 people that now live near those deserted dwellings. 



According to other evidence, however, there is not much room left 

 to doubt that the present Pueblo Indians are the direct descendants of 

 the ancient inhabitants of Southern Colorado and New Mexico, although 

 there are either no traditions preserved pointing toward this direction, 

 or the few that do exist are of too vague a nature to be relied upon. 

 As one of the arguments in favor of this view, we may take the mode of 

 constructing the houses. Tbe structures erected by the present Pueblos 

 do not differ materially from the majority of dwellings built by the an- 

 cient architects. The whole modifications the former offer are merely 

 due to the different topographical features of the ground on which they 

 stand, aud to the influence of the white race, as can readily be proven. 

 In the present mode of constructing the dwellings, there is, however, 

 one detail worthy of attention and further investigation. We mean 

 the arched building,* as there are but two tribes inhabiting this conti- 

 nent whose architectural skill proved efficient enough for this purpose, 

 namely, the Peruvians and tbe Eskimos. As the dome-like structure is 

 only found among this race (besides the people just mentioned), it would 

 be worth while to investigate whether this style of architecture is original 

 or adopted from the Spaniards, and whether it is of rare occurrence or 

 to be met with frequently. 



As another evidence in favor of the view that the present Pueblos 

 4ire the descendants, or rather the remnant, of the ancient cliti"-house 

 builders, we may take the pottery found near the ruins. The shape of 

 the pots now in use among the Pueblos is the same as that of the few 

 pieces brought east, so are the ladles with their characteristic hollow 

 handles, and the ancients were in the habit of burying their water-jugs 

 in the ground in order to keep them cool, just as we see it practiced 



*"Desceucling to tbe chamber by a ladder, it was fouud probably twenty-live or thirty 

 feet iu diameter, arched above, aud about tweuty feet high." — Keport of Chief of Eugiueers, 

 p. 1067. 



