Part 41

+--------------------------------------------- | Males -------------+------------+---------+--------+------------ Bones of |Southwestern| Seward| Point| Seward both sides | and|Peninsula| Hope| Peninsula taken | midwestern| [192]| | and together |groups [191]| | |northwestern | | | | Eskimo in | | | | general | | | | [193] -------------+------------+---------+--------+------------ Humeri: | (143)| (261)| (67)| (100) | | | | Length | 30.69| 31.42| 31.07| 31.17 maximum | | | | | | | | At middle-- | | | | | | | | Diameter | 2.40| 2.46| 2.46| 2.46 maximum | | | | | | | | Diameter | 1.80| 1.81| 1.86| 1.85 minimum | | | | | | | | Index at | 75.1| 73.8| 75.8| 75.1 middle | | | | | | | | Radii: | (98)| (20)| (15)| (37) | | | | Length | 22.90| 23.63| 23.44| 23.50 maximum | | | | | | | | Radio- | | | | humeral | _74.5_| _75.2_| _75.4_| _75.4_ index | | | | (approximate)| | | | | | | | Femora: | (195)| (44)| (10)| (60) | | | | Length, | 42.50| 43.20| (44.06)| 43.46 bicond. | | | | | | | | Humero- | | | | femoral | _72.2_| _72.7_| [195]| _71.7_ index | | |(_70.5_)| (approximate)| | | | | | | | At middle-- | | | | | | | | Diameter | | | | antero- | 3.08| 3.17| (3.33)| 3.21 posterior | | | | | | | | Diameter | 2.70| 2.72| (2.68)| 2.72 lateral | | | | | | | | Index at | _87.6_| _85.8_|(_80.4_)| _84.8_ middle | | | | | | | | At upper | | | | flattening-- | | | | | | | | Diameter | 3.35| 3.34| (3.27)| 3.32 maximum | | | | | | | | Diameter | 2.51| 2.57| (2.58)| 2.59 minimum | | | | | | | | Index at | | | | upper | _75_| _77_| (_79_)| _78.1_ flattening | | | | | | | | Tibiae: | (141)| (35)| (41)| (79) | | | | Length (in | 33.86| 34.52| 36.40| 35.52 position) | | | | | | | | Tibio- | | | | femoral index| | | | | | | | (approximate)| _79.7_| _79.9_| [194]| _81.7_ | | |(_82.6_)| At middle-- | | | | | | | | Diameter | | | | | | | | antero- | 3.12| 3.13| 3.26| 3.19 posterior | | | | | | | | Diameter | 2.12| 2.12| 2.20| 2.16 lateral | | | | | | | | Index at | _67.9_| _67.7_| _67.4_| _67.8_ middle | | | | -------------+------------+---------+--------+------------

+--------------------------------------------- | Females -------------+------------+---------+--------+------------ Bones of |Southwestern| Seward| Point| Seward both sides | and|Peninsula| Hope| Peninsula taken | midwestern| | | and together | groups| | |northwestern | | | | Eskimo in | | | | general | | | | -------------+------------+---------+--------+------------ Humeri: | (136)| (26)| (55)| (83) | | | | Length | 28.40| 28.75| 28.83| 28.83 maximum | | | | | | | | At middle-- | | | | | | | | Diameter | 2.10| 2.14| 2.16| 2.15 maximum | | | | | | | | Diameter | 1.54| 1.59| 1.63| 1.62 minimum | | | | | | | | Index at | 73.2| 74.4| 75.4| 75.1 middle | | | | | | | | Radii: | (109)| (16)| (8)| (24) | | | | Length | 20.50| 21.26| [194]| 21.25 maximum | | | (21.58)| | | | | Radio- | | | | humeral | _72.2_| _74_|(_74.8_)| _74_ index | | | | (approximate)| | | | | | | | Femora: | (132)| (26)| | (31) | | | | Length, | 39.36| 40.12| | 40.44 bicond. | | | | | | | | Humero- | | | | femoral | _72.2_| _71.7_| | _71.3_ index | | | | (approximate)| | | | | | | | At middle-- | | | | | | | | Diameter | | | | antero- | 2.69| 2.85| | 2.88 posterior | | | | | | | | Diameter | 2.46| 2.55| | 2.56 lateral | | | | | | | | Index at | _91.5_| _89.6_| | _88.9_ middle | | | | | | | | At upper | | | | flattening-- | | | | | | | | Diameter | 3.02| 3.04| | 3.06 maximum | | | | | | | | Diameter | 2.26| 2.37| | 2.40 minimum | | | | | | | | Index at | | | | upper | _74.5_| _78_| | _78.4_ flattening | | | | | | | | Tibiae: | (147)| (18)| (17)| (36) | | | | Length (in | 31.32| 31.90| 32.90| 32.50 position) | | | | | | | | Tibio- | | | | femoral index| | | | | | | | (approximate)| _79.6_| _79.5_| | _80.4_ | | | | At middle-- | | | | | | | | Diameter | | | | | | | | antero- | 2.71| 2.71| 2.80| 2.75 posterior | | | | | | | | Diameter | 1.89| 1.93| 1.92| 1.92 lateral | | | | | | | | Index at | _69.9_| _71.3_| _68.8_| _70_ middle | | | | -------------+------------+---------+--------+------------

The first fact shown by the preceding figures is the slightly greater length of all the long bones in the midwestern and northwestern groups as compared with those of the Bering Sea (midwestern and southwestern). This means naturally that the people of the Seward Peninsula and northward average somewhat taller in stature.

The second evident fact is that the people of the Seward Peninsula and the more northern groups (so far as represented in these collections) show a slightly greater stature of all the bones than the groups farther south, showing that they were both a somewhat taller and somewhat sturdier people.

The next fact of importance is the remarkable agreement in some respects in the relative proportions of the main skeletal parts between the people of the more southern and the more northern groups. The males are more regular in this respect than the females. The relative proportions of the humerus and again the tibia at their middle are identical in the males of the southwestern and midwestern groups and those farther northward; and the radio-humeral, humero-femoral, and tibio-femoral indices are all very closely related. Why there should be less agreement in these respects among the females it is difficult to say; in all probability the series of specimens are not sufficiently large.

The next table presents data and some racial comparisons. Here the western Eskimo are taken as a unit. They are seen to considerably resemble the Yukon Indians, but somewhat less so other Indians in the radio-humeral and tibio-femoral indices, and they resemble all the Indians in the relative proportions of the femur at its middle. In other respects there are somewhat more marked differences, especially between the western Eskimo and the Indians in general. Some irregularities in the Yukon series may be due to insufficiency of numbers.

When compared with the bones of the whites and the negroes the Eskimo and Indians separate themselves in many respects as a distinct group, while the white and the negro bones are particularly distinct through the greater relative thickness of the humerus and tibia at their middle, and of the femur at its upper flattening; in other words the Eskimo as well as the Indians are more platybrachic, platymeric and platycnemic than the whites or the negroes.

The basic relation of the Eskimo to the Indian bones is quite evident; though the Eskimo, when compared to Indians outside of Alaska, show a relatively shorter radius and tibia, indicating the already discussed relative shortness of the forearm and leg.

FOOTNOTES:

[191] Principally Hooper Bay, Nunivak Island, Pastolik, and St. Lawrence Island.

[192] Mainly Shishmaref, Wales and Golovnin Bay.

[193] Including Point Hope.

[194] Number of radii insufficient.

[195] Number of femora insufficient.

WESTERN ESKIMO, LONG BONES: COMPARATIVE DATA

MALES

+--------+-------+------+----------+-------+------+------- | | | Femur | | | ---------------+--------+-------+------+----------+-------+------+------- |Humerus:| Radio-| Index| Index of|Humero-|Tibia:| Tibio- | Index|humeral| of| shaft at|femoral| Index|femoral | of| index| shaft| upper| index| of| index | shaft| | at|flattening| | shaft| | at the| |middle| | | at| | middle| | | | |middle| | (all| | | | | | | groups)| | | | | | ---------------+--------+-------+------+----------+-------+------+------- | [196]| (135)| (255)| (255)| (243)| (220)| (220) | (243)| | | | | | | | | | | | | Western Eskimo | 75.1| 75| 86.2| 76.5| 72| 67.9| 80.7 | | | | | | | | (10)| (10)| (14)| (14)| (10)| (14)| (14) | | | | | | | Yukon Indians | 70| 75.7| 87.1| 70.7| 74.5| 66| 81.5 | | | | | | | | (448)| (370)| (902)| (902)| (378)|(1259)| (324) | | | | | | | Other Indians | 73.3| 77.7| 87.3| 74| 72.5| 66.1| 84.4 | | | | | | | | (1930)| (1052)| (207)| (836)| (800)|(1400)| (1216) | | | | | | | United States | | | | | | | whites | | | | | | | | | | | | | | (miscellaneous)| 83| 73.6| 97| 83| 72.5| 71.1| 82.1 | | | | | | | | (112)| (74)| [197]| (48)| (50)| (63)| (68) | | | (14)| | | | | | | | | | | United States | 84.1| 77.3|(91.2)| 86.8| 71.6| 73.9| 84.9 negroes | | | | | | | ---------------+--------+-------+------+----------+-------+------+-------

FEMALES

+--------+-------+------+----------+-------+------+------- | (213)| (133)| (153)| (153)| (153)| (183)| (183) | | | | | | | Western Eskimo | 74.1| 73.1| 90.2| 76.5| 71.8| 70| 80 | | | | | | | | (348)| (200)| (327)| (248)| (200)| (910)| (384) | | | | | | | Other Indians | 70.1| 76.6| 91.8| 70| 72.5| 70| 84.3 | | | | | | | | (770)| (424)| (100)| (192)| (290)| (600)| (520) | | | | | | | United States | | | | | | | whites | | | | | | | | | | | | | | (miscellaneous)| 79.3| 72.7| 97| 77.7| 71.6| 71.9| 81.5 | | | | | | | | (52)| (34)| [197]| (48)| (52)| (44)| (48) | | | (17)| | | | | | | | | | | United States | 79.2| 77.2| (100)| 81.1| 70.2| 75.9| 83.7 negroes | | | | | | | ---------------+--------+-------+------+----------+-------+------+-------

FOOTNOTES:

[196] Bones of both sides.

[197] Numbers insufficient.

LONG BONES IN ESKIMO AND STATURE

One of the most desirable of possibilities in the anthropometry of any people, but particularly in groups now extinct, is a correct estimation of their stature. For this purpose the most useful aid has been found in the long bones, and various essays have been made by Manouvrier, Rollet, Topinard, Pearson, and others[198] at preparing tables or arriving at methods that would enable the student to promptly and satisfactorily obtain the stature as it was in life from the length of the long bones. But all these essays were based on observations on white people, and it has always been recognized that they could not with equal confidence be applied to other racial groups. They would in all probability be especially inapplicable to the Eskimo with his relatively short forearms and legs; yet the possibility of estimating the stature in many localities of the Eskimo territory, where no living remain, would be of real value. Fortunately for this purpose there are now some data on hand which make this possible.

In 1910, in my Contributions to the Anthropology of the Central and Smith Sound Eskimo, I was able to report both the stature and the length of the long bones in two normally developed adult males and one adult female from Smith Sound. To this it is now possible to add larger though less direct data from the group of St. Lawrence Island. We have the stature of many of the living from this place and also the measurements of numerous long bones from the dead of the same group. The relations of the two are given below, together with corresponding data from Smith Sound. There is in general such a striking agreement in the relative proportions that the latter may, it would seem, be used henceforth for stature estimates also in other parts of the Eskimo region.

FOOTNOTES:

[198] See section on Estimation of Stature from Parts of the Skeleton, in author's Anthropometry, Wistar Inst., Philadelphia, 1920.

LENGTH OF PRINCIPAL LONG BONES, AND STATURE IN THE LIVING, ON THE ST. LAWRENCE ISLAND

+---------------------+---------------------- | Male | Female +---------------------+---------------------- | (63) | (48) | Mean stature: 163.3 | Mean stature: 151.3 +----------+----------+----------+----------- | | Percental| | Percental | Mean | relation | Mean | relation |dimensions|to stature|dimensions|to stature | | (S = 100)| | (S = 100) ---------+----------+----------+----------+----------- | (58) | | (49) | Humerus | 30.41 | _18.6_ | 27.77 | _18.3_ | (23) | | (35) | Radius | 23.03 | _14.1_ | 20.77 | _13.7_ | (100) | | (38) | Femur | 32.54 | _27.8_ | 38.12 | _25.1_ | (58) | | (50) | Tibia | 34.16 | _20.9_ | 31.13 | _20.5_ ---------+----------+----------+----------+-----------

LONG BONES VS. STATURE IN ESKIMO OF SMITH SOUND[199]

+---------------+-------- | Male | Female ---------------------------------+-------+-------+-------- | _a_ | _b_ | Stature | 155.0 | 164.0 | 146.7 Humerus: | | | Mean length (of the two) | 28.95| 29.0 | 26.55 Percental relation to stature | _18.7_| _17.7_| _18.1_ Radius: | | | Mean length | 21.3 | 23.2 | 19.85 Percental relation to stature | _13.7_| _14.1_| _13.5_ Femur: | | | Mean length | 39.1 | 42.1 | 38.55 Percental relation to stature | _25.2_| _25.7_| _26.3_ Tibia: | | | Mean length | 30.25| 34.45| 30.9 Percental relation to stature | _19.5_| _21.0_| _21.1_ ---------------------------------+-------+-------+--------

FOOTNOTES:

[199] Hrdlička, A., Contribution to the anthropology of central and Smith Sound Eskimo. Anthrop. Pap. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., V, pt. 2, 280. New York, 1910.

A STRANGE GROUP OF ESKIMO NEAR POINT BARROW

In 1917-1919, in the course of the John Wanamaker Expedition for the University Museum, Philadelphia, W. B. Van Valin, with the help of Charles Brower, the well-known local trader and collector, excavated near Barrow a group of six tumuli, which proved in the opinion of Van Valin to be so many old igloos, containing plentiful cultural as well as skeletal material. The collections eventually reached the museum, but due to lack of facilities they were in the main never unpacked.

I heard of this material first from Mr. Brower, with whom I sailed in 1926 from Barrow southward, and later with Dr. J. Alden Mason I saw the collection still in the original boxes, at the University Museum. In April of this year the skeletal remains were transferred to the Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, and after their transfer I obtained the permission of Dr. Milton J. Greenman, director of the Wistar Institute, to examine the material, which was of importance to him in connection with his own collections from Barrow and southward. A due acknowledgment for the privilege is hereby rendered to both Doctor Greenman and Doctor Mason.

The study proved one of unexpected and uncommon interest. The material was found to consist of two separate lots. The first of these consisted of a considerable number of brown colored, more or less complete skeletons with skulls, proceeding from the "igloos"; while the second lot comprised a series of whitened isolated skulls, without other skeletal parts and mostly even without the component lower jaws, gathered on the tundra near Barrow. At first sight, also, the skulls of the two groups were seen to present important differences.

The "igloo" crania, while plainly pure Eskimo, proved to be of a decidedly exceptional nature for this location. The skulls, in brief, were not of the general western Eskimo type, but reminded at once strongly of the skulls from Greenland and Labrador. And they were exceptionally uniform, showing that they belonged to a definite and distinct Eskimo group.