A STUDY OF THE CRANIA OF THE MORIORI, OR 
ABORIGINES OF THE CHATHAM ISLANDS, NOW IN 
THE MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS. 
By EVELINE Y. THOMSON, Crewdson-Benington Student in Craniometry, 
Biometric Laboratory, University College, London. 
1. Introductory. The fact that pure bred Morioris are now very rare if not 
extinct renders of special value any study of such crania of them as still exist. In 
papers referred to below Dr Scott* deals with 50 and Dr Duckworth f with 10 
Moriori crania. Professor Thane possesses two specimens and there are a few 
scattered through various British and Continental museums. Hence the 63 crania 
in the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons almost double the available number. 
Yet if we pool the present measurements with such of Dr Scott's series as are homo- 
geneous, our results are still too slender to warrant the publication of more than 
the measurements themselves and their mean values. As one of the best uses of 
methods of treatment which do not extend beyond the mean the type sections of the 
Moriori crania have been reconstructed. By most kind permission of Professor Arthur 
Keith I have been able to study the collection of Moriori skulls in his charge, and 
he most readily provided facilities for the photographing of a considerable number 
of the crania. Although the collection has been for a considerable time in the 
Royal College of Surgeons no complete set of measurements appears to have been 
published J. Dr Duckworth in the paper just cited makes some remarks on a 
few of the abnormal skulls. Forty-four crania were purchased by the Royal 
College as "from the Chatham Islands" in 1892, i.e. 765i to 765**, six, 765*^ to 
765^0, appear to be later additions, while thirteen, 758-760, 760^, 760^, 761-765, seem 
to have an earlier origin, as well as the three 1015, 1015^ and 1016 from the Barnard 
Davis collection. The very remarkable character of the Moriori skull is not fully 
accounted for by the outlying character of their island, although anthropologists 
naturally look to such islands for the survival of primitive types. Chatham 
* Contribution to the Osteology of tlie Aborigines of New Zealand and of the Chatham Islands. 
Transactions of New Zealand Institute, Vol. xxvi. pp. 1 — 64. Wellington, 1894. 
t On a collection of Crania of the Moriori, Journal of the Anthropological Institute, Vol. xxx. p. 141 
ct seq. London, 1900. 
J Eight have certain measurements given in Flower's Catalogue of the Royal College of Surgeons. 
Barnard Davis gives measurements of three others in his Thesaurus Craniorum. 
