Next to the cranial index, the most important feature of the vault of
the skull is its height, and the Eastern crania, as already stated, are
characterized by good to pronounced development in this direction. The
averages of the measurements, and those of the ordinary height-length
and height-breadth indexes, will be found in the final tables, but
none of these are very satisfactory for showing the true value of this
dimension, which on the one hand is proportionate to the size of the
skull, and on the other stands in a more or less compensatory relation
with both the length and breadth of the vault. It has long been felt
by the writer that some expression of the real relative value of the
height measurement was required, and this need led him ultimately to
compare it not with the very variable length or breadth of the skull,
but with the mean of these two measurements. The resultant index,
which may be called simply the height index of the vault, gives us a
new means of comparison and classification of the skull and promises
to prove much more satisfactory than the two older indexes. In the
Eastern crania here described, it ranges from 83 to almost 90, and the
arrangement of the various tribes on its basis is harmonious and of
considerable interest. The main points brought out by the index are as
follow:
In the northernmost tribes the height of the skull is on the whole
relatively lower than in those farther south. The Munsee and other
Lenape crania agree with those of the more northerly groups, but differ
somewhat from each other, the skulls in the Heye collection being in
both sexes perceptibly lower than those of the other Lenape. The Staten
Island, Manhattan Island, and Long Island skulls are again grouped, so
far as the more important male skulls are concerned, and are all high.
Of the Virginia collections, the first series, from various eastern
localities, shows a medium height or slightly above; but the Valentine
collection, from a more westerly part of the state,[122] gives in
both sexes the highest index of all the groups, showing the greatest
relative height and indicating that this group had been subjected to
influences which did not affect equally the Indian population of other
parts of the state.
[122] For details concerning this collection, see Report of the
Exploration of the Hayes Creek Mound, Rockbridge County, Virginia,
_Publ. Valentine Museum_, Richmond (_ca._ 1892).