HEADS IN PROFILE 393 
of the Neanderthal head to the neck, the absence of the 
pyramidal projecting mastoid processes, nor the manner 
in which the in ion rises high above our base line 
(fig. 144). In the Piltdown skull as in the modern, the 
inion lies below the level of the base line (fig. 143). 
The features we shall fix our attention on are those 
relating to the formation of the brain case, so far as the 
side wall of the skull is concerned. 
Five bones enter into the formation of this wall — the 
frontal, parietal, and occipital along the vault, and two 
others below, near the base, the temporal and great wing 
of the sphenoid. The two bones named last merit our 
attention first. They cover the greater part of the 
temporal lobe of the brain, and hence give us some clue 
to its size and development. In the ape's skull (see fig. 
136, p. 378) the upper margins of these bones seldom rise 
more than 10 mm. above the base or standard line. The 
upper margin of the temporal bone where it overlaps the 
lower margin of the parietal at the squamous suture is 
nearly straight. The great wing of the sphenoid is com- 
paratively small. All those features are indications of a 
small temporal lobe to the brain. In the large Neanderthal 
skull of La Chapelle the upper margin of the temporal bone 
is more curved than in the ape, and rises 20 mm. above the 
base line. The great wing of the sphenoid attains a wide 
development. In modern skulls, and particularly in the 
ancient one from Piltdown, the upper margin of the 
temporal is highly arched ; it rises about 30 mm. above 
the base line. In the Piltdown skull we know that the 
great wing of the sphenoid must have been of wide 
extent, for the impress it has left on the lower margin of 
the parietal and of the frontal bones is 35 mm. long, and 
clearly demarcated (fig. 143). The great wing of the 
sphenoid is larger than in modern skulls of a moderate 
capacity. A survey of those features alone is sufficient 
to make us realise that the Piltdown race was in some 
respects highly evolved — at least had departed widely 
from simian lines of evolution. 
In order that the reader may have an opportunity of 
