THIRD REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR I906 75 



be assumed in sleeping. The head was placed toward no particular 

 cardinal point although in the majority of cases the face was turned 

 toward the east or west and rarely to the south. The majority of 

 skeletons were those of mature adults although there were a few 

 infants and young adults. 



Field measurements of the bones indicate that the race was one 

 of medium hight, 5 feet, 7 or 8 inches, perhaps being the average. 

 A few skeletons were found that approached 6 feet. That the race 

 was stocky is shown by the heavy development of muscular ridges, 

 especially in the case of males whose bones were large. 



The loose sand affording good drainage preserved the bones when 

 they were not buried directly upon the clay stratum, but in either 

 case by t^e shifting of the sand or through some other agency, most 

 of the skulls were broken or crushed while other bones were in a 

 much better state of preservation. Some of the complete skulls 

 obtained are of exceptional interest. In form, all are either dolicho- 

 cephalic or subdolichocephalic, none being of the brachycephalic 

 type common to the regions of the " mound builder " culture 100 

 miles west. A large percentage of skulls from Erie sites, 30 miles 

 east are characterized by aveolar prognathism, but among the 100 

 from the Ripley site, only two were found with this development. 

 The OS incae was observed in a few cases and also instances of 

 wormian bones in pairs. In one skull, the os japoniciim, that is the 

 lower portion of a malar bone when divided by a suture, was noted. 

 The skulls are mostly of a high type, the average capacity being 

 1587 cubic centimeters for males and 1440 for females. The aver- 

 age cephalic index would be perhaps 74.5, and the nasal index 47. 

 K careful study of all the morphological characteristics will be made 

 in the laboratory and reported in another place and may slightly 

 modify the averages here given. In a few cases humeri were ob- 

 served in which the olecranon cavity was perforated. In two 

 instances an examination of the femur revealed the processes termed 

 the third trochanter and hypotrochanteric fossa. 



With the exception of two cases of ankylosis, no pathological 

 conditions were noted. There are a number of bones, however, 

 that indicate the repair of a breakage. 



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

 discovered. In several skeletons triangular arrowheads were found 

 between the vertebrae and in other parts of the osseous structure. 

 A remarkable form of ankylosis was observed in the case of an 

 aged male whose entire spine had become cemented into one solid 



