AN ERIE INDIAN VILLAGE AND BURIAL SITE 525 



or subdolichocephalic, none being- of the brachycephalic type com- 

 mon to the mound-builder region 100 miles to the west. A con- 

 siderable proportion of the skulls in Erie sites 40 miles east is 

 characterized by alveolar prognathism, but among those found at 

 Ripley only two showed this development. The os incae was ob- 

 served in a few instances and there were some skulls having wormian 

 bones [.y^^ pi. 17]. In one skull the os japonicum, that is, the lower 

 portion of the malar bone when divided by a suture, was observed. 



The average capacity of the skulls is 1587 cubic centimeters for 

 males and 1440 for females. The average cephalic index would be 

 perhaps 74.4 and the nasal index 47. A careful study of all the 

 morphological characteristics will be made in the laboratory and re- 

 ported in another place and may slightly modify the averages here 

 given. 



In a few cases humeri were observed in which the olecranon 

 cavity was perforated. In two case's an examination of the femora 

 revealed the process termed the third trochanter and the hypotro- 

 chanteric fossa. Some femora are platycnemic. 



Pathological conditions 



With the exception of two cases of ankylosis, no pathological con- 

 ditions were noted. There are a number of bones, however, that 

 show the repair of breaks. 



Only in a few cases were possible clues to the cause of death dis- 

 covered. In several skeletons triangular arrow points were found 

 between the vertebrae or in some other part of the osseous struc- 

 ture. A remarkable form of ankylosis was observed in the case of 

 an aged male whose entire spine had become cemented into one solid 

 bone. Such conditions are probably rare in Indian skeletons. One 

 low type female skull marked by prognathism and wormian bones 

 had the frontal bone crushed and the perforation filled and repaired 

 by osseous matter. If it is permitted to judge character from the 

 form of the skull one would be strongly tempted to say that the de- 

 ceased must have been no congenial companion, to say the least 

 [see pi. 17]. 



Identity of the inhabitants 



Eries 



The general type of the artifacts discovered in the course of the 

 excavations, especially the types of the pottery, closely resemble Iro- 

 quoian forms. In particular they resemble the Erian. The fact 

 that pieces of iron and copper were found in graves and ash pits 



