CRANIA FROM THE MOUNDS.
It has already been several times observed that the human remains
found in the mounds are of different eras. The superficial burials,
it has been abundantly shown, are of comparatively late date, and
are to be ascribed to the Indian tribes found in occupation of the
country, at the period of its discovery in the fifteenth century.
These skeletons are seldom deposited more than two or three feet
below the surface, and are generally perfect; the crania rarely if
ever crushed, and the bones still retaining a portion of their animal
matter. In the ancient burials, on the other hand, the skeletons
are almost invariably found at the base of the mounds, and in such
a state of decay as to render all attempts to restore the skull, or
indeed any part of the skeleton, entirely hopeless. The crania, when
not so much decomposed as to crumble to powder beneath the touch, are
crushed and flattened by the falling in of the sepulchral chambers,
and by the weight of the superincumbent earth.
We are therefore unable to present much new light upon the cranial
conformation of the race of the mounds. The only skull incontestibly
belonging to an individual of that race, which has been recovered
entire, or sufficiently well preserved to be of value for purposes of
comparison, was taken from the hill-mound, numbered 8 in the Map of a
section of twelve miles of the Scioto valley, Plate II. Plate XLVII
is a full-sized side view, and Plate XLVIII presents reduced vertical
and front views of the skull in question.
[Illustration: XLVII. From an Ancient Mound in Scioto Valley O.]
[Illustration: XLVIII. Front and Vertical View of the Same.]
The circumstances under which this skull was found are altogether so
extraordinary, as to merit a detailed account. It will be observed
from the map, that the mound above indicated is situated upon the
summit of a high hill, overlooking the valley of the Scioto, about
four miles below the city of Chillicothe. It is one of the most
prominent and commanding positions in that section of country. Upon
the summit of this hill rises a conical knoll of so great regularity
as almost to induce the belief that it is itself artificial. Upon the
very apex of this knoll, and covered by the trees of the primitive
forest, is the mound. It is about eight feet high by forty-five or
fifty feet base. The superstructure is a tough yellow clay, which at
the depth of three feet is intermixed with large rough stones, as
shown in the accompanying section, Fig. 199.
These stones rest upon a dry carbonaceous deposit of burned earth
and small stones, of a dark black color, and much compacted. This
deposit is about two feet in thickness in the centre, and rests upon
the original soil. In excavating the mound, a large plate of mica
was discovered placed upon the stones, at the point indicated by
the letter «a» in the section. Immediately underneath this plate of
[p289] mica and in the centre of the burned deposit, was found
the skull figured in the plates. It was discovered resting upon its
face. The lower jaw, as indeed the entire skeleton, excepting the
clavicle, a few cervical vertebræ, and some of the bones of the feet,
all of which were huddled around the skull, were wanting. No relics
were found with the bones, except a few shells of the fresh-water
molluscs from the neighboring river.
[Illustration: Fig. 199.]
From the entire singularity of this burial it might be inferred that
the deposit was a comparatively recent one; but the fact that the
various layers of carbonaceous earth, stones, and clay were entirely
undisturbed, and in no degree intermixed, settles the question beyond
doubt, that the skull was placed where it was found at the time of
the construction of the mound. Either, therefore, we must admit that
the skull is a genuine relic of the mound-builders proper, or assume
the improbable alternative that the mound in question does not belong
to the grand system of earthworks of which we have been treating.
The skull is wonderfully well preserved; unaccountably so, unless
the circumstances under which it was found may be regarded as most
favorable to such a result. The imperviousness of the mound to water,
from the nature of the material composing it, and its position on the
summit of an eminence subsiding in every direction from its base,
are circumstances which, joined to the antiseptic qualities of the
carbonaceous deposit enveloping the skull, may satisfactorily account
for its excellent preservation.
Of course no general conclusion as to the cranial characteristics
of the ancient people can be based upon a single skull. It may
nevertheless not be wholly unimportant or uninteresting to notice
particularly the more prominent peculiarities of the specimen before
us. The most striking feature is its extraordinary compactness or
roundness. This will best be illustrated by the measurements, which
show the vertical diameter to be 6.2 inches; longitudinal diameter
6.5 inches; inter-parietal diameter 6 inches. The vertical occiput,
the prominent vertex, and great inter-parietal diameter, all of which
are strongly marked in this skull, are, according to Dr. Morton,
features characteristic of the American race, but more particularly
of the family which he denominates the Toltecan, and of which the
Peruvian head may be taken as the type. This skull was accurately
measured by Dr. Morton, with the following results:
MEASUREMENTS.
Longitudinal diameter. 6.5 inches.
Inter-parietal diameter. 6 inches.
Vertical diameter. 6.2 inches.
Frontal diameter. 4.5 inches.
Inter-mastoid arch, 16 inches.
Inter-mastoid line, 4.5 inches.
Occipito-frontal arch, 13.8 inches.
Horizontal periphery, 19.8 inches.
Facial angle, 81 degrees.
Internal capacity, 90 cubic inches.
[p290]
Dr. Morton, in his «Crania Americana», has presented a number of
examples of skulls from the mounds. Five of these are from mounds
within the United States, and three are from the sepulchral tumuli of
Peru. Those of the United States were obtained,—one from the Grave
creek mound, one from a mound near the junction of the French Broad
and Tennessee rivers in Tennessee, one from a mound on the Alabama
river, one from a mound near Circleville in Ohio, and one from a
mound on the Upper Mississippi. The first two may be regarded as
genuine remains of the mound-builders; but it is more than probable,
for reasons already advanced, that the rest are skulls of the recent
Indians, who, as we have seen, often buried in the mounds. Numbers
of these have been discovered by the authors in the mounds, and
the measurements of four of them are introduced in the following
comparative table, A, where they are indicated by an asterisk. This
table exhibits the measurements of the mound skull discovered by the
authors; of the eight skulls described by Dr. Morton; of four modern
skulls recovered from the mounds; of a skull taken from the Mammoth
Cave of Kentucky, three thousand yards from its mouth, and now in the
possession of Messrs. FOWLERS & WELLS, of New York; and also of the
skull of a mummy or desiccated body, taken from the same cave, and
now in the Museum of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester,
Mass. It will be seen that the conclusion already adopted respecting
three of the skulls noticed in the Crania Americana, are sustained
by the general coincidence in measurements between them and those
indubitably of recent date.
The comparatively large facial angle and great internal capacity of
the skull figured in the plate cannot fail to attract attention. The
mean internal capacity of the eight heads presented by Dr. Morton is
but eighty-one cubic inches, while the facial angle does not exceed
seventy-five degrees. The accompanying table, B, exhibiting the mean
results of Dr. Morton’s measurements of American aboriginal heads, as
compared with the skull in question, and the mean measurements of the
skulls supposed to pertain to the race of the mounds, may not prove
unacceptable.
According to the same authority, the mean internal capacity of the
Caucasian head is 87 cubic inch; of the Mongolian, 83; Malay, 81;
American, 82; Ethiopian, 78.
From what has been presented, it will be seen that the skull here
described exhibits, in a marked degree, the cranial characteristics
of the American race, of which it may be regarded as a perfect type.
Whether its peculiarities of form may not be, in part, artificial, it
is not assumed to determine. It may nevertheless be observed, that
the Natchez and Peruvians, as also many of the savage tribes, moulded
the heads of their children in a variety of forms. The naturally
vertical occiput was undoubtedly generally rendered the more marked
by the almost universal practice of lashing the infant with its back
against a board, by which it was suspended or carried about.
Several of the inferior maxillary bones of the mound skeletons
have been recovered, nearly entire. They are remarkable for their
massiveness, and seem to have been less projecting than those
pertaining to the skeletons of a later date. [p291]
TABLE A.—COMPARATIVE MEASUREMENTS OF CRANIA.
Columns:
A - Mound-builder, From a Mound in the Scioto Valley.
B - Mound-builder, From the Grave Creek Mound.
C - Mound-builder, From a Mound in Tennessee.
D - From a Tumulus Near Santa in Peru (Small).
E - From a Tumulus in the Valley of Rimac in Peru.
F - From a Tumulus in the Valley of Rimac in Peru (Small).
G - ? From a Mound on the Upper Mississippi.
H - ? From a Mound Near Circleville, Ohio
I - ? From a Mound in Alabama.
J - Recent Indian, From a Mound in the Scioto Valley.
K - Recent Indian, From a Mound in the Scioto Valley.
L - Recent Indian, From a Mound in the Scioto Valley.
M - Recent Indian, From a Mound in the Scioto Valley.
N - From the Mammoth Cave, Kentucky.
O - Skull of a Mummy Taken From the Great Cave in Kentucky,
Now in the Museum of Am. Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass.
Cranium A B C D E F G H
diameter:
Longitudinal 6.5 6.6 6.6 6.2 6.9 6.5 7.1 7.3
Inter-parietal 6 6 5.6 5.4 5.6 5.6 5.3 5.8
Vertical 6.2 5? 5.6 4.9 5.1 5 5.5 5.4
Frontal 4.5 — 4.1 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.8 4.4
Inter-mastoid:
arch, 16 — 15.2 14.6 15.3 14.7 14.6 14.6
line, 4.5 — 4.4 3.8 4.3 3.8 4.2 4.2
Occipito-frontal
arch, 13.8 — 14 13.3 14 13.2 14.6 14.1
Horizontal
periphery, 19.8 — 19.5 18.5 19.7 19.2 20 20.3
Facial
angle, 81° 78° 80° 71° 72° 74° 79° 76°
Internal
capacity, 90 — 80 74.5 79 76.5 85.5 86.5
Cranium I J* K* L* M* N O
diameter:
Longitudinal 5.9 7.5 7.1 6.8 6.6 6.1 6.7
Inter-parietal 6.6 5.3 5.6 5.7 5.2 5.4 5.5
Vertical 5.1 5.6 5.6 5.5 5.4 5.6 6.2
Frontal 4.4 4.7 4.9 4.7 4.3 4.4 4.5
Inter-mastoid:
arch, 15.6 15.5 14.8 14.6 14.3 14.5 13.5
line, 4.4 4.3 4.4 4.4 3.8 4.4 5
Occipito-frontal
arch, 12.4 15.4 14.2 14.3 13.7 13.6 —
Horizontal
periphery, 19.6 21 20.3 20 18.6 18.4 19.7
Facial
angle, 72° 76° 77° — 70° 78° 61° 52ʹ
Internal
capacity, 80 — — — — 75
[p292]
TABLE B.—COMPARATIVE VIEW OF MEAN CRANIAL MEASUREMENTS.
Groups:
A = Mound Skull, From Scioto Valley.
B = Mound-builders, From Mississippi Valley.
C = Toltecan Nations, Including Skulls From the Mounds.
D = Barbarous Nations, With Skulls From Ohio Valley.
E = American Race, Embracing Barbarous and Toltecan.
F = Flat Head Tribes of Oregon.
G = Ancient Peruvians.
No. = No. of skulls.
Group A B C D
No. MEAN No. MEAN No. MEAN
diameter:
Longitudinal 6.5 3 6.56 57 6.5 90 7
Inter-parietal 6 3 5.87 57 5.6 90 5.5
Vertical 6.2 3 5.93 57 5.3 90 5.4
Frontal 4.5 2 4.3 57 4.4 90 4.3
Inter-mastoid:
arch, 16 2 15.6 57 14.9 90 14.6
line, 4.5 2 4.45 57 4.1 90 4.2
Occipito-frontal
arch, 13.8 2 13.9 57 13.6 90 14.2
Horizontal
periphery, 19.8 2 19.65 57 19.4 90 19.9
Facial
angle, 81° 3 79° 40ʹ 55 75° 35ʹ 83 76° 13ʹ
Internal
capacity, 90 2 85 57 76.8 87 82.4
Group E F G
No. MEAN No. MEAN No. MEAN
diameter:
Longitudinal 147 6.75 8 6.7 3 6.8
Inter-parietal 147 5.55 8 6 3 5
Vertical 147 5.35 8 4.8 3 4.8
Frontal 147 4.35 8 4.9 3 4.2
Inter-mastoid:
arch, 147 14.75 8 14.6 3 13.3
line, 147 4.15 8 4.1 3 4
Occipito-frontal
arch, 147 13.9 8 13.1 3 14.3
Horizontal
periphery, 147 19.65 8 20 3 18.8
Facial
angle, 138 75° 45ʹ 8 69° 30ʹ 3 67° 20ʹ
Internal
capacity, 144 79.6 8 79.25 3 73.2
[p293]