94 
The Inhabitants of the Eastern Mediterranean 
imagine that it did not differ from that of the rest of the Greeks ; we should have 
expected a mention of it both when before Thermopylae the Spartans are combing 
their long hair and in the Lysistrata. 
Deniker'-" in general deals with the modern population. He states''^', however, 
"en somme si les cranes grecs d'aujourd'hui sont tous sous-brachycephales, tandis 
que les anciens cranes mesures jusqu'a present sont pour la plupart sous-dolicho- 
cephales, il ne faut pas oublier que 1 etude des cranes connus de la Grece classique 
tres peu nombreux et appartenant presque tous a I'Attique, n'autoriserait aucune 
conclusion generale, et que d'apres les temoignages memes des auteurs anciens et 
des monuments de I'art grec une tres grande partie de I'ancienne population de la 
Grece etait brachycephale et surtout sous-brachycephale." In regard to the 
modern population he considers those west of 20' E. of Paris to belong to his 
Adriatico- Albanian type of tall stature and brachycephalic heads while those east, 
the Greeks of Thessaly and perhaps those of Attica, are lower in stature and 
cephalic index. 
Pittard in his paper on the Greeks strongly disagrees with this conclusion. 
Myres'^' sums up his views on the subject: "In the Eastern basin of the 
Mediterranean, the liold of the Mediterranean race on the whole north shore is of 
the slightest. . .and there is growing reason to believe that the strong 'Alpine' 
strain in the Morea, which is certainly ancient, may even be primitive there. Even 
in the Aegean islands, and in Ciete, which were admittedly occupied early and 
decisively by Mediterranean man, traces of continental intruders, of Alpine affinities, 
begin already at the close of the >Stone Age, shewing that Alpine man was already 
present in force on the neighbouring mainlands. Mediterranean man, therefore, 
must be regarded as in all probability an intruder from the south ; just as ' Alpine ' 
man reveals himself more and more clearly now as a longitudinal immigrant from 
the east along the Mountain Zone. Both movements alike are very ancient." 
Material Used. 
Neolithic Period. 
The only authenticated Neolithic skull from the north coast of the Eastern 
Mediterranean is reported by Velde from the island of Leukas. This skull, which 
was very fragmentary and has not been thoroughly described, differed from other 
skulls dating from the second millenium B.C. found in the same island in the 
following particulars. It was brachycephalic with an index of 81, and the cranial 
bones were markedly thick. As tar as can be judged from the photographs and the 
brief description of the author this skull did not differ essentially from the Bronze 
Age skulls found at Lapithos in Cyprus. It may be an unusual Mediterranean type, 
but in view of the definite statement of the finder that it differed from the 
Mediterranean skulls found in the island and of later date, we may provisionally 
suggest that the same mixed type which we shall shew is so characteristic of the 
area under discussion in later times, may have also been found as early as the 
Neolithic Age, but at present we have insufficient evidence to justify such a 
conclusion. 
