THE PRIMITIVE MAN OF NEBRASKA 



323 



technical paper, and only the more salient points need considera- 

 tion here. 



THE SKULL 



The skull is characterized by narrowness through the temples, 

 by thick protruding superciliary ridges or brows, by a low, retreat- 

 ing forehead as destitute of frontal eminences as Neanderthal 

 man, by a well expanded parietal region with parietal eminences, 

 and very faint temporal ridges, and by a flattened occipital region, 

 deeply scarred for muscular attachment. The skull wall seems 

 distinctly thicker than that of modern man. Unfortunately, in 

 each case, the base of the skull is very fragmentary or wanting, 

 which makes it the more difficult to get exact measurements and 

 angles, and impossible perhaps to get more than a fair approxi- 

 mate measure of the cranial cubic contents. It seems wiser to 

 leave these measurements for the final report after all possible 

 fragments have been put together. .Maxillae and premaxillae are 

 at hand, and can be placed in about the proper position in the 

 skull. Posteriorly one skull shows a fine interparietal bone or 

 os incae, as often called. 



THE MANDIBLE 



The mandible compares well with that of a modern European 

 in size and in form, but it is noticeably thicker and heavier. The 

 mental process is bold and well pronounced like that of civilized 

 man. The canines scarcely exceed the incisors in strength. The 

 molars are about of ordinary size but the manner in which they are 

 worn, as evidenced by the several jaws, is reversed, the first molar 

 being worn but little, the second considerably, and the third worn 

 down to the gum, indicating that they had been accustomed to 

 the mastication of coarse hard food. 



MISCELLANEOUS BONES 



The ribs, vertebrae, bones of the digits, hand bones, sesamoids, 

 etc., show no differences sufficiently marked to warrant descrip- 

 tion here. The arm bones give the impression of being a trifle 

 light, while the leg bones seem to be a trifle heavy, rough and 

 angular. The femur seems above average in strength and in 

 roughness for muscular attachment, both in the trochanters and 

 muscular ridge. The impression for the ligamentum teres is large 

 deep and elliptical in outline with a surrounding ridge. The femur 



