HOFFMAN.] CHACO CRANIUM. 455" 



the posterior superior portions of the parietal bones ; the larger portion 

 of the flattening being over the left portion of this region. The pressure 

 appears to have been to some extent from the left side, and has directed 

 considerable influence upon the anterior portions of the parietal bones, and 

 the superior lateral portions of the os frontis. Taking into consideration 

 the curvatures and convexities, such as would be produced by any at- 

 tempts at flattening, as practiced by aboriginal races, I do not believe 

 it to have been post mortem deformation, but, on the contrary, an exam- 

 ple of a former custom. In the absence of a complete facial structure, 

 some idea can be obtained by taking an angle of measurement of two 

 lines, one crossing the flattened surface of the skull, the other drawn 

 from the nasal eminence upward, over the forehead, which is pretty 

 straight to that point between the frontal eminences. These lines in- 

 tersect at an angle of 27°. The frontal bone, behind the external angu- 

 lar processes, forms a moderately'deep groove, which intensifies materi- 

 ally as it continues downward over the sphenoid. This is more promi- 

 nent upon the left side than upon the right. The tubercles of the 

 zygomatic processes are prominent. The glenoid fossae are unusually 

 deep and well defined. The anteroposterior diameter of the foramen 

 magnum is the greatest, this being due to the existence of a posterior 

 notch, from the middle of which the crest takes a rather irregular course 

 upward to the inferior curved lines, which are rather obscure. The crest 

 is prominent, rather sharp, and well defined, upon either side of which 

 the depressions for the insertion of the rectus posticus major and rectus 

 posticus minor muscles, are deep and remarkably developed. The supe- 

 rior curved lines are deficient, and the surfaces for the insertion of the 

 complexus muscles are irregular, and decidedly rough and corrugated. 



The serration of the sagittal suture is rather coarse. The coronal 

 suture as it recedes toward the occiput becomes more acutely developed, 

 and contains several small Wormian bones. The lambdoidal suture is 

 remarkable in serration and for the width which it occupies. Several 

 Wormian bones of large size exist in the left portion ; in the right they 

 are not so large but more intricate in serration. The extreme length 

 of the largest one, extending from the anterior angle of the occipital 

 bone toward the left, measures 1.12 inches. 



As there is some tendency to expansion of the mass of sand contained 

 within the cranial cavity, the sutures have separated slightly. In mak- 

 ing the following measurements, due allowance has been given for this, 

 and the measurements, although only relative in several instances, are 

 sufiicieutly accurate for all purposes. 



Inches. 



Length 6.20 



Biparietal diameter 5.58 



Frontal diameter, greatest 4.75 



Frontal diameter, least 3.50 



Vertical* 5.13 



Horizontal periphery 18.90 



The measurements can only be given in part, as many of the protuber- 

 ances have been removed in transportation. In fact, some of the cellu- 

 lar portions of the base of the skull are impacted with sand, a proof that 

 decay occurred even while in the drift. The sand is dry, as it is in all 

 caiions, in the regions where cliff-remains and pueblos are found, during 

 the greater part of the year. Spring floods are of comparatively short 

 duration, and what little water remains in the arroyos and pools soon 

 evaporates or disappears in the porous alluvial sand. That the country 



* Taken from the anterior margin of foramen magnum to the posterior termination 

 of the first third of the coronal suture. 



