While describing, in 1902, the skulls of the more easterly Lenape, the
writer was impressed by the occasional appearance of very low orbits,
and considered at the time the possibility of this feature being
characteristic of the tribe. The present examination shows, however,
that remarkably low orbits were frequent among some of the tribes of
the eastern Algonquians, and that the Munsee and Lenape skulls occupy,
with respect to the average orbital index, only a median position. The
lowest orbits in the mean were found among the males of Long Island
and of the North Atlantic states. Maine and Massachusetts again stand
exceedingly close together, with fairly low indexes, while Manhattan
Island and Staten Island are about medium. The females of Staten
Island show in this, as in other respects, a lack of harmony with the
males, with lower index. The highest orbits are found in the skulls
from southeastern Canada and Rhode Island, and in both of the series
from Virginia. On the whole, the extensive variation of the absolute
and relative dimensions of the orbits among the eastern Algonquians
(and Iroquois) is very remarkable. Its chief cause in the males is
the unequal development of the supraorbital ridges; in the females,
excepting in two or three groups, the proportions and indexes are more
nearly alike.