LECTURE XIII. 



393 



The greatest widtli of this skull lies immediately above the 

 auditory apertures, and is so considerable that it almost equals 

 the lengthy the difference being only a few millimeters. 



Fig. 127. Eomanic Head of tlie Grisons, top view. 



From the vertex, situated in the centre of the sagittal suture, 

 the occiput descends almost perpendicularly to the occipital 

 spine. The line of the cranial vertebrae is comparatively very 

 short ; the occipital foramen is, by the disproportionately short 

 neck, placed very far back, so that the skull is not balanced 

 upon the articulating surfaces. On viewing the skull from 

 above, it presents a very broad oval, the apex of which is 

 towards the forehead. Von Baer has raised the question 

 whether these remarkable short-heads, which are found in their 

 purity in the higher mountains of the Grisons, may not owe 

 their origin to the old Etruscans. Why, they differ as night 

 from day ; the few old Etruscan skulls authenticated as such, 

 and preserved in Italy, are decided narrow-heads. We have 

 but few facts enabling us to give an opinion on the commixture 

 of different types amongst the Etruscans. As in the Grrisons, 

 along with the skulls, the marsh sheep and the marsh hog 

 {Sus palustris), both of which were domestic animals in the 



