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XII. — The Evolution of the Eyebrow Region of the Forehead, with Special 

 Reference to the Excessive Supraorbital Development in the Neanderthal 

 Race. By Professor D. J. Cunningham, F.R.S. (With Three Plates.) 



(MS. received 23rd March 1908. Read 24th June 1907. Issued separately June 16, 1908.) 



One of the most striking features of the famous Neanderthal cranium consists in the 

 strong projection which is exhibited in the glabellar and the supraorbital or eyebrow 

 regions of the frontal bone. This character is rendered all the more important from 

 the fact that all the specimens which have been collected since the Neanderthal cranium 

 was discovered (1857), and which have been shown to belong to the same remote 

 geological period, possess the same, or at least very much the same, remarkable 

 prominence in the eyebrow region. These specimens are not very numerous, but, 

 inasmuch as they represent the earliest remains of man with which we are acquainted, 

 they possess a very special interest. In addition to the Neanderthal cranium, the group 

 includes the two Spy crania, the Gibraltar skull, and the recently discovered Krapina 

 remains. The Krapina remains are in a very fragmentary condition, but they 

 apparently consist of portions of the skeletons of ten individuals, and the frontal bones 

 all present the character in question. 



It is curious that, although all of the many observers who have written upon the 

 Neanderthal race have dwelt upon the supraorbital projection and have recognised 

 in it one of the leading peculiarities of the group, no one, with the exception of 

 Schwalbe, has subjected the eyebrow region to a searching and critical examina- 

 tion. In his recent important papers upon the so-called Pithecanthropus erectus 

 and on prehistoric man, Schwalbe has thrown much light upon the value to be 

 attached to the eyebrow projection, and has stimulated further research in the same 

 field (5 to 11). * 



In the present investigation I have had the great advantage of having been 

 afforded the privilege of studying the splendid collection of anthropoid and 

 lower ape skulls in the British Museum. This privilege I owe to the kindness 

 of Mr Oldfield Thomas, to whom I cordially offer my most grateful acknowledg- 

 ments. To the British Museum specimens must be added the numerous anthropoid 

 and lower ape crania in the Museum of the University of Edinburgh, which were 

 also at my disposal. The full range of the investigation, in so far as the ape is 



* Professor Schwalbe has had the inestimable advantage of having recently been permitted to study at his leisure 

 and in his own laboratory the Neanderthal remains. These he has described with great care (8), and has placed 

 in tbe hands of other observers particulars in regard to these specimens of very great value. 



TRANS. ROY. SOC. EDIN., VOL. XLVI. PART II. (NO. 12). 43 



