CAVES OF THE NEOLITHIC AGE.
Neolithic Caves in Great Britain.--The Refuse-heap at
Perthi-Chwareu.--The Sepulchral Caves.--The Neolithic Caves in
the neighbourhood of Cefn, St. Asaph.--The Chambered Tomb near
Cefn.--Interments in Tomb and Caves of the same age.--Contents
of Tomb and Caves.--Description of Human Remains by Professor
Busk--From Cave No. 1 at Perthi-Chwareu--from Cairn at Cefn--from
Cave at Cefn.--General Conclusions as to Human Remains.
It is evident, from the scanty remains found in caves, that they were
not the normal habitations of men in the Bronze or Iron stages of
culture. We shall, however, find that they were used by the neolithic
peoples, both for shelter and for burial, in nearly every portion of
Europe which has been explored.
_Neolithic Caves in Great Britain.--Perthi-Chwareu._
The most remarkable examples of caves, turned to both these uses, in
Britain, are offered by the group clustering round a refuse-heap at
Perthi-Chwareu, a farm high up in the Welsh hills, about ten miles to
the east of Corwen, and a mile to the west of the little village of
Llandegla, in Denbighshire.
_The Refuse-heap._
The first intimation of any prehistoric remains in that locality was
afforded by a small box of bones forwarded to me by Mr. Darwin, in
1869; and this I was able to follow up, through the kind assistance of
Mrs. Lloyd, the owner of the property on which they were found, from
time to time, during 1869-70-71-2. The mountain limestone, which there
forms hill and valley, consists of thick masses of hard rock, separated
by soft beds of shale, and contains large quantities of _producti_,
crinoids and corals. The strata dip to the south, at an angle of about
1 in 25, and form two parallel ridges, with abrupt faces to the north,
and separated from each other by a narrow valley, passing east and west
along the strike. The remains sent by Mr. Darwin were obtained from a
space between two strata near the top of the northern ridge, whence the
intervening softer material had been carried away by water. Its maximum
height was 6 inches, and its width 20 feet or more; and it extended
in a direction parallel to the bed of the rocks. The bones, which
had evidently been washed in by the rain, and not carried in by any
carnivora, belong to the following species:--
_Canis familiaris_--The Dog.
_Canis vulpes_--The Fox.
_Meles taxus_--The Badger.
_Sus scrofa_--The Pig.
_Cervus capreolus_--The Roe-deer.
_Cervus elaphus_--The Red-deer.
_Capra hircus_--The Goat.
_Bos longifrons_--The Celtic Short-horn.
_Equus caballus_--The Horse.
_Arvicola amphibius_--The Water-rat.
_Lepus timidus_--The Hare.
_Lepus cuniculus_--The Rabbit.
The Eagle.
Nearly all the bones were broken, and belonged to young animals. Those
of the Celtic short-horn, of the sheep or goat, and of the young pig,
were very abundant; while those of the roe and stag, hare and horse,
were comparatively rare. The remains of the domestic dog were rather
abundant, and the percentage of young puppies implies also that they,
like the other animals, had been used for food. Possibly the hare may
also have been eaten, but its remains were scarce, and belonged to
adults. Some of the bones had been gnawed by dogs. The only reasonable
cause that can be assigned for the accumulation of the remains of these
animals is, that the locality was inhabited by men of pastoral habits,
but yet to a certain extent dependent on the chase, and that the relics
of their food were thrown out to form a refuse-heap. The latter had
altogether disappeared from the surface of the ground, from the action
of the rain and other atmospheric causes, while those portions of it
which chanced to be washed into the narrow interspace between the
strata were preserved, to mark the spot which it once occupied.
There was nothing in the deposit that fixes the date of its
accumulation. It may have been of the stone, bronze, or iron age; but
from the presence of the goat, short-horned ox, and dog, it certainly
does not date so far back as the epoch of the reindeer, mammoth,
rhinoceros, and cave-hyæna. The presence of the Celtic short-horn
throws no light upon the antiquity, because for centuries after it
had ceased to be the domestic breed in England it remained in Wales,
and still lives in the small black Welsh cattle, that are lineal
descendants of those which furnished beef to the Roman provincials in
Britain.
_The Sepulchral Caves._
[Illustration: FIG. 36.--Section of Cave at Perthi-Chwareu. Scale 12
feet to 1 inch.]
While the refuse-heap was being explored, I chose a small depression
(Fig. 36 A) in the precipitous side of the southern ridge, that formed
a kind of rock shelter overlooking the valley, and that seemed to be
a likely place for the abode of man, or of wild animals. On setting
the men to work, in a few minutes we began to discover the remains of
dog, marten-cat, fox, badger, goat, Celtic short-horn, roe-deer and
stag, horse, and large birds. Mixed with these, as we proceeded, we
began to find human bones, between and underneath large masses of rock,
that were completely covered up with red silt and sand. As these were
cleared away, we gradually realized that we were on the threshold of
a sepulchral cave. In the small space then excavated, human remains,
belonging to no fewer than five individuals, were found. Subsequently
the work was carried on by Mrs. Lloyd, under the careful supervision
of her agent Mr. Reid. The rock-shelter narrowed into a “tunnel cave,”
that penetrated the rocks in a line parallel to the bedding, and,
roughly speaking, at right angles to the valley, having a width varying
from 3 feet 4 inches to 5 feet 6 inches, and a height from 3 feet 4
inches to 4 feet 6 inches.
The entrance was completely blocked up with red earth and loose stones,
the latter, apparently, having been placed there by design (Figs. 36,
37). The inside of the cave was filled with red earth and sand to
within about a foot of the roof. The remains were found, for the most
part, on or near the top; but in some cases they were deep down. One
human skull, for example, was found six inches only above the rocky
floor. The human bones were associated with those of the animals of
which a list has been given, and occurred in little confused heaps.
One human femur was in a perpendicular position. The account of the
continuation of the digging is given almost in the words of Mrs.
Lloyd. On the second day, after an hour’s work, a human skull was
found near the roof of the cave, resting on a femur; then eleven feet
explored brought to light a large quantity of human bones, including
nine femurs. The third and fourth days were devoted to clearing out
the cave (Fig. 36-7 B) up to this point, and to excavating about four
feet further in, or fifteen from the entrance. During the work two
teeth of a horse were found, resting on the floor near the entrance,
and nine more about ten feet within the cave; also a boar’s tusk of
remarkable size, and close by a mussel and cockle-shell, and valve
of _Mya truncata_, along with a quantity of human and other bones;
including five skulls, more or less perfect, and many fragments. All
these skulls were found between the tenth and fifteenth feet from the
entrance. During the fifth and sixth days, the work was superintended
by Mr. Reid, who entirely cleared the cave for about thirteen feet
further: the first eight feet yielded a small quantity of human and
other bones, including the perfect skull of a marten-cat and the
incisor of a wild boar. The only implement found in the cave, a broken
flint flake, occurred here, and a nearly perfect human skull, lying
face downwards, with the pelvis adhering to one side. The last five
feet furnished only two bones, both of the short-horned ox. The end of
the cave was composed of unproductive grey clay. (Figs. 36-7 C.)
[Illustration: FIG. 37.--Plan of Cave at Perthi-Chwareu.]
Small fragments of charcoal occurred throughout the cave, and a great
many rounded pebbles from the boulder clay of the neighbourhood.
The human remains belong for the most part to very young or adolescent
individuals, from the small infant to youths of twenty-one. Some,
however, belong to men in the prime of life. All the teeth that had
been used were ground perfectly flat. The skulls belong to that type
which Professor Huxley terms the “river-bed skull.” Some of the tibiæ
present the peculiar flattening parallel to the median line, which
Professor Busk denotes by the term platycnemic, and some of the femora
were traversed by a largely developed and prominent _linea aspera_;
but these peculiarities were not seen on all the femora and tibiæ,
and cannot therefore be considered characteristic of race, but most
probably of sex. They were not presented by any of the younger bones.
All the human remains had undoubtedly been buried in the cave, since
the bones were in the main perfect, or only broken by the large stones
which had subsequently fallen from the roof. From the juxtaposition
of one skull to a pelvis, and the vertical position of one of the
femora, as well as the fact that the bones lay in confused heaps, it
is clear that the corpses had been buried in the contracted posture,
as is usually the case in neolithic interments. And since the area was
insufficient for the accommodation of so many bodies at one time, it is
certain that the cave had been used as a cemetery at different times.
The stones blocking up the entrance were probably placed as a barrier
against the inroads of wild beasts.
These remains are the first in this country which present the peculiar
character of platycnemism, noticed by Professor Busk and Dr. Falconer
in human remains in the caves of Gibraltar, and by Dr. Broca in some of
those from the dolmens of France, and subsequently in the celebrated
skeletons found in the cave of Cro-magnon. I have also observed the
same peculiar flattening of the tibia in the only fragment of human
bone obtained by Mr. Foote, in the Lateritic deposits of the eastern
coast of Southern India, along with the stone implements figured in the
Norwich Volume of the International Congress of Prehistoric Archæology
(1868, p. 224).
The remains of the animals associated with the human bones belong
to the same species as those mentioned above from the débris of a
refuse-heap, and are in a similar broken and split condition. They may
have been deposited at the same time as the human skeletons, but, from
the fact that some of them are gnawed by dogs, it is most probable
that they were accumulated while the cave was used as a dwelling. If
the bodies were placed on an old floor of occupation, and afterwards
disturbed by rabbits and badgers, the remains would be mingled together
as they were found to be mingled. The contents had evidently been
disturbed by the burrowing of all these animals.
Subsequently we discovered and explored no less than four other
sepulchral caves, within a few hundred yards of the refuse-heap, in
which the corpses had been buried in the same crouching posture. From
one on the farm of Rhosdigre we obtained a perfect celt of polished
greenstone which had never been used (Fig. 38), together with several
flint flakes, and numerous fragments of pottery, rude, black inside,
hand-made, and containing in their substance small fragments of
limestone.
Similar potsherds are preserved in the Oxford Museum, from the
superficial deposits of the caves of Gailenreuth and Kuhlock, and I
have observed them also among the remains from Kent’s Hole. The celt
was most probably, from its unworn condition, buried with the dead, and
it stamps the neolithic age of the interments of the whole group.
[Illustration: FIG. 38.--Greenstone Celt, Rhosdigre Cave. (Nat. size.)]
Among the broken bones from this cave were the teeth of the brown
bear, and the lower jaw of a wolf; and the fractured bones of the
dog implied that that animal ministered to the appetite, as well as
obeyed the commands, of the neolithic inhabitants. I have met with
similar evidence of the use of dog’s flesh for food among the broken
bones which Canon Greenwell obtained from the neolithic tumuli of the
Yorkshire Wolds. On the other hand, the marks of the teeth of dogs, or
wolves, on some of the human femora, implied that those animals made
their way into this cave and feasted on the corpses.
The neolithic age of these interments is proved, not merely by the
presence of the stone axe, or of the flint flakes, but by the burial in
a contracted posture,[97] and the fact that the skulls are identical
with those obtained from chambered tombs in the south of England proved
to be neolithic by Dr. Thurnam.
The number of skeletons of all ages, and of both sexes, buried in
these caves was very considerable; and they had been placed on the
old floor of occupation at successive times. In that of Rhosdigre
the accumulation of charcoal, broken bones, and fragments of pottery
below some of the human skeletons, proved that it had been used for a
habitation before it was used for a burial-place. It is very probable
that originally the head of a family, or a clan, or a tribe, was buried
in his own cave-dwelling, and that it was afterwards used as a cemetery
for his blood relations and followers.
_The Neolithic Caves in the neighbourhood of Cefn, near St. Asaph._
The same class of remains, referable to the neolithic age, have been
met with in the caves in the limestone cliffs of the beautiful valleys
of the Clwyd and the Elwy, near St. Asaph. In the collection of fossil
bones in the possession of Mrs. Williams Wynn, discovered in 1833, in a
cave at Cefn, by Mr. Edward Lloyd,[98] is a human skull and lower jaw,
along with platycnemic limb-bones. They were found mingled with the
bones of goat, pig, fox, and badger, and cut antlers of the red-deer,
inside the lower entrance of the cave, in which the extinct pleistocene
animals were found in the valley of the Elwy. Four flint flakes also
were discovered along with them.
The skull in its general features strongly resembles those found in the
group of caves at Perthi-Chwareu, and presents a cephalic index[99]
of ·770, which comes within the limits of the extreme forms from that
locality. Professor Busk, however, as will be seen in his account of
this skull, because of its low altitudinal index--·702, as compared
with ·710 of the lowest Perthi-Chwareu skull--is inclined to view it as
of a different type. The conditions, on the other hand, under which it
was found appear to me to be circumstantial evidence that the interment
is of the same relative age as that of Perthi-Chwareu. Both were in
caves: in both the remains of the same domestic and wild animals were
found in the same fragmentary condition. Flint flakes also occurred
in both; and what is more important, the platycnemic limb-bones in
both imply a somewhat similar mode of life in the people to whom they
belonged. This body of evidence, in favour of the interments having
been made by the same race of men who lived some time in Denbighshire,
seems to me of greater weight than that to the contrary afforded by
the difference of ·008 in the altitudinal indices of the skulls. After
a comparison of the carefully prepared measurements of the crania
published in the “Crania Britannica” with those published elsewhere,
I cannot resist the conviction, that if similar modes of life and of
burial in Britain imply an identity of race, cranial variation within
the limits of that race is by no means very small. Absolute purity of
blood in an island so near the Continent as Britain cannot be looked
for; and unity of type resulting from isolation from other races, such
as that presented by the Australians, is not likely to be met with. It
is therefore very probable that some of the variations may be accounted
for by the blending of different ethnical elements in one race. I am
consequently inclined to view the interments in these two caves as
having been made by the same people, in spite of the small cranial
difference manifested by the Cefn skull.
The cave in Brysgill, a small ravine leading into the valley of the
Elwy, explored by Mr. Mainwaring and Mrs. Williams Wynn in 1871,
furnished evidence of the occupation of man, probably of the neolithic
age. From a dark layer composed of loam, black with fragments of
charcoal, a flint arrow-head, a core, a flake, and broken bones of the
horse, _Bos longifrons_, goat, and dog, were obtained, as well as a few
human bones which had not been broken by design.
The excavations carried on in the small tunnel-cave of Plas-Heaton, by
Mr. Heaton and Professor Hughes, have shown that it was inhabited at
two different ages. In the upper or prehistoric stratum were broken
bones of the dog, badger, goat, _Bos longifrons_, and stag; while in
the lower, or pleistocene, were the remains of the hyæna, reindeer,
cave-bear, and the lower jaw of the glutton.
_The Chambered Tomb near Cefn, St. Asaph._
While the caves at Perthi-Chwareu were being explored, the accidental
discovery of human remains in the cairn of Tyddyn Bleiddyn, near Cefn,
St. Asaph, in 1869, led to a systematic examination of its contents by
Mrs. Williams Wynn, under the superintendence of the Rev. D. R. Thomas,
myself, and the Rev. H. H. Winwood, which has resulted in the proof,
that the people who buried their dead in caves used stone-chambered
tombs for the same purpose.
The cairn of loose fragments of limestone had been removed for
road-mending before the cap-stones of the stone chamber were exposed,
and these were broken before any scientific observation was made. The
Rev. D. R. Thomas, however, rescued many of the human remains from
destruction, and began the exploration which defined the extent of the
chamber A (Fig. 39).
[Illustration: FIG. 39.--Plain of Chambered Tomb at Cefn.]
Subsequently it was resumed in my presence, and the chamber A (Fig.
39) fully cleared out. At the point _c_ it was partially shut off
from the passage B by a slab of stone 18 inches high. The passage led
from the chamber in a northern direction, and was 6 feet long by 2
wide. The chamber gradually narrowed towards the passage, being 5 feet
wide at its broad end, and 9 feet long. In the passage, as well as
in the chamber, there were human bones belonging to individuals who
had been buried in a crouching posture. Unfortunately, as the remains
have been scattered, it is impossible to ascertain the exact number of
the burials. I have, however, restored one skull and examined seven
frontal bones, and other remains, which indicate that there were at
least twelve persons, varying in age from infancy to full prime, buried
in this tomb. In addition to these, there is a large box of bones in
the possession of the Rev. D. R. Thomas, as well as other remains in
other hands. But although the exact number of bodies interred cannot
be made out, there is full proof that there were too many to have
been deposited at one time in so small a cubic area; and therefore
they must have been deposited at different times, as in the caves
at Perthi-Chwareu. There were no remains of either wild or domestic
animals; and the only foreign object was a small slightly chipped flint
pebble. From the remarkable conformation of the nasal bones of some of
the skulls, it would seem likely that the burial-place belonged to one
family; but, for a reason (see Notes on Human Remains, p. 183) stated
by Professor Busk, this is by no means a certain inference.
The plan of the chamber and passage corresponds with that of the long
barrow of West Kennet, figured in the “Crania Britannica,” and with
that of the cromlech of Le Creux des Fées, Guernsey, described by
Lieutenant Oliver.[100] In the former of these the corpses were buried
in a contracted posture, along with flint scrapers and fragments of
rude pottery. In the latter the original contents have disappeared. To
speak in general terms, the chamber and passage belong to the class of
tombs which Dr. Thurnam names “Long Barrows,” and Professor Nilsson
“Ganggräben,” and which are found in Scandinavia and France, as well
as in Britain. And it is worthy of note that the partial insulation of
the chamber A (Fig. 39) from the passage B by a slab (_c_), which does
not reach up to the height of the walls, is to be seen in similar tombs
both in Guernsey and in Brittany.
A second and larger chamber, composed of cave slabs of limestone,
was discovered in the same cairn in 1871 by the Rev. D. R. Thomas,
and completely excavated by him along with myself and the Rev. H. H.
Winwood. It was of a rudely triangular form, 10 feet long by 6 wide,
traversed by a partition of slabs, and provided with a narrow passage
10 feet long by 2 feet 6 in width, opening to the north, and fenced off
completely from the chamber by a slab, as in the preceding case. Both
the chamber and the passage were full of human remains of all ages,
buried in a contracted posture; the number of interments being far too
great to have allowed the bodies to have been deposited at one time.
From the former I identified the broken jaw of a roebuck and remains of
goat, a broken flint, and round pebbles of quartz, while in the latter
there were the teeth and bones of the dog and the pig.
Some of the tibiæ from both the chambers were platycnemic, but that
character was only to be recognized in the older bones. The skulls,
from the second of the two chambers, agree so exactly with those from
the caves, that it is not necessary to add to the table of measurements
which Professor Busk has drawn up (p. 171).
_Correlation of Chambered Tomb with Interments in the Caves of
Perthi-Chwareu and Cefn._
Nor are we without evidence that the builders of this cairn belonged
to the same race as those who buried their dead in the caves of
Perthi-Chwareu and of Cefn. The crania and the limb-bones are
identical, and in both the tombs and caves the dead were buried in a
contracted posture.
Why then, it may be asked, were the remains of animals so rare in the
one and so abundant in the other? In my opinion this difference may
be explained by the hypothesis, invented by Professor Nilsson, of the
origin of chambered tombs.[101] The idea of the “gallery graves,”
according to that high authority, was derived from the subterranean
house in which the deceased lived, and in which he was buried after
his death, after the fashion of the Eskimos at the present day. The
plan of the houses, like that of the ancient Lycian dwellings described
by Sir Charles Fellowes, was preserved in the tombs, and probably for
many ages after houses were no longer made in that fashion; since the
principle of conservatism and the force of custom are more deeply
rooted in religious and solemn ceremonial than in the changes of
every-day life.
The rarity of the remains of the animals may be explained by the
fact of these tombs never having been used as dwellings, while their
abundance in the caves may be accounted for by the latter having been
inhabited by man, and thus the idea of the dead resting in his own
house would be the cause of burial both in caves and chambered tombs.
It is not at all strange that the same race should have used both for
sepulture, when we consider that a “gallery grave” is an artificial
cave, and that natural caves are few in number.
This ancient race is proved by the remains to have been pastoral,
rather than dependent on the chase, their principal food being the
domestic goat, the short-horn (_Bos longifrons_), the horse, and
hog. They are also proved to have been neolithic, not merely by the
discovery of a polished stone axe in one of the caves, but also by the
shape of the “gallery graves,” which Professor Nilsson and Dr. Thurnam
agree in referring to that stage of culture.
_Table of Contents of Caves and Chambered Tomb._
The contents of the caves and the stone chambers may be gathered from
the Table which we give on the next page.
The broken bones of the hare prove that there was no prejudice against
its flesh, as was the case among the neolithic dwellers in the Swiss
Pfahlbauten. We shall see in the next chapter that the animal was
also eaten by the dwellers in the neolithic caves both of France and
Belgium.
_List of Objects in Neolithic Caves and Cairn in North Wales._
Column-heading Key:
A Refuse-heap, Perthi-Chwareu.
B Cave No. 1.
C Cave No. 2.
D Cave Rhosdigre No. 1.
E Cave Rhosdigre No. 2.
F Cave Rhosdigre No. 3.
G The Cefn Cave.
H Cairn of Tyddyn Bleiddyn, near Cefn.
+------------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| ANIMALS. | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H |
+------------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| DOMESTIC. | | | | | | | | |
|_Canis familiaris_--Dog | X | X | X | X | X | X | | X |
|_Sus scrofa_--Pig | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
|_Equus caballus_--Horse | X | X | X | X | X | X | | |
|_Bos longifrons_--Celtic Short-horn | X | X | X | X | X | X | | |
|_Capra hircus_--Goat | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| | | | | | | | | |
| WILD. | | | | | | | | |
|_Canis lupus_--Wolf | | | | X | | | | |
|_Canis vulpes_--Fox | X | X | X | X | X | | X | |
|_Meles taxus_--Badger | X | X | X | X | X | | X | |
|_Ursus arctos_--Bear | | | | X | | | | |
|_Sus scrofa_--Wild Boar | | X | | | | | | |
|_Cervus elaphus_--Stag | X | X | | X | | | | |
|_Cervus capreolus_--Roe | X | X | | | | | | X |
|_Lepus cuniculus_--Rabbit | X | X | X | X | X | | | |
|_Lepus timidus_--Hare | X | X | | X | X | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Polished Celts | | | | X | | | | |
|Flint Flakes or Chips | | X | | X | | | X | X |
|Pottery | | | | X | X | X | X | |
|Human Skeletons | | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
|Platycnemic bones | | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
+------------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
_Description of the Human Remains by Professor Busk._
For the following account of the human remains, reprinted from the
“Journal of the Ethnological Society,” January 1871, I am indebted to
the kindness of my friend Professor Busk, to whom examples of all the
forms were forwarded:--
_Notes on the Human Remains._ By Professor BUSK, F.R.S.
§ 1. INTRODUCTION.
The remains discovered in the sepulchral cave at Perthi-Chwareu,
according to a list furnished by Mr. Boyd Dawkins, are as under;
but I believe this catalogue does not include all that were found
in the locality.[102]
1. Eleven more or less perfect skulls, some, however, represented
by mere fragments.
2. Twelve mandibles.
3. Seven arm-bones or _humeri_--four right and three left.
4. Six _ulnæ_.
5. Twenty-two thigh-bones, including five pairs, five odd ones of
the right side, and seven of the left; and amongst them are three
of very young children.
6. Seventeen _tibiæ_ or leg-bones, nine of the right and eight of
the left side, and apparently none of them in pairs; so that there
must probably have been a good many more.
7. Eight _astragali_.
8. Nine _calcanea_, or heel-bones.
The number of individuals, therefore, whose relics were deposited
in this cavern could not have been less than sixteen, and may have
been many more. They appear to have been of all ages and of both
sexes.
Of the other bones of the skeleton, of which there must have been
abundance, I have received no information.
In the Cefn Cave there were discovered:--
1. One mandible.
2. One _humerus_.
3. Two _ulnæ_.
4. A pair of thigh-bones.
5. A pair of leg-bones.
and in the tumulus:--
1. Portions of seven skulls.
2. Two right _humeri_.
3. A pair of _ulnæ_.
4. A right _femur_.
From St. Asaph the only bone that has come under my observation is
a single _calvaria_.
§ 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE BONES FROM THE CAVERN AT PERTHI-CHWAREU.
(a.) _General Condition._--In general condition, as regards colour
and texture, these bones present some, but no very striking,
differences; on the whole they are much alike, though it might
be supposed that some have lain longer in the ground than the
others. One or two among them (but these are apparently the
younger bones) are fragile; the majority, however, are as firm as
common churchyard bones, and some have quite the natural degree of
hardness. They are of a lightish-yellow colour, do not adhere to
the tongue, and afford scarcely any earthy smell when breathed upon
or moistened: only one among them presents any staining from oxide
of manganese; and this exists in diffuse blotches, and is not at
all of the dendritic form. Many are partially covered with a very
thin film of crystalline carbonate of lime.
[Illustration: FIGS. 40, 41, 42.--Skull from Sepulchral Cave at
Perthi-Chwareu.]
(b.) _The Skulls._--Of these only three of the more perfect have
come under my observation. These alone will form the subject of
what I have to remark on this portion of the skeleton. But in
the subjoined Table I. (p. 171) I have given, together with the
dimensions of these three, those of five others which have been
furnished to me by Mr. Dawkins.
In the specimen No. 1 (Figs 40, 41, 42) the entire facial part
is wanting, together with the whole of the base and a great part
of one side of the _calvaria_. The skull is of an oval form,
symmetrical, with a rather prominent occiput. The region of the
vertex is slightly and evenly arched; and the forehead, though
not high, is vertical, and slightly compressed on the sides. The
sutures are all open and finely serrated. The frontal sinuses
are distinct though small. The supra-orbital ridge is thin, but
rather prominent towards the external angular process. The mastoid
processes are very large, and the digastric _fossa_ remarkably
deep. The occipital spine is very prominent, as are the lateral
ridges. The temporal ridges, also, and, in short, all the muscular
impressions, are very strongly marked.
The skull is evidently that of a powerful, muscular man, in the
prime of life, and apparently of robust, but not coarse build.[103]
[Illustration: FIGS. 43, 44, 45.--Skull from Sepulchral Cave at
Perthi-Chwareu.]
Skull No. 2 (Figs. 43, 44, 45) is that of an adult male,
presenting as nearly as possible the same dimensions, form,
and other characters as that above described, except that the
bone is somewhat thicker and heavier. The muscular ridges and
impressions are even more strongly developed than in the former,
and especially the temporal ridges immediately above the external
angular processes. The left _maxilla_ remains loosely attached,
containing the two bicuspid teeth, which are of small size, and
worn quite flat, and to such an extent as to render it probable
that the man was somewhat advanced in years, although none of the
sutures are closed. The face is strictly orthognathous, and the
skull dolichocephalic and aphanozygous.[104]
Skull No. 3 is the entire _calvaria_ of a very young individual.
The two milk-molars remain on either side; and behind them the
first true molar is fully out, but not in the least worn. The
incisors and canines have fallen out. The former, from the size of
the _alveoli_, were of the permanent set, but not the latter. The
age of the individual, therefore, may be estimated as about seven
or eight.
The only point worthy of notice in this _calvaria_ is the existence
of a well-marked depression across the middle of the occipital
bone, which appears exactly as if it had been caused by the
constriction of a bandage. The depression barely extends beyond
the lambdoidal suture into the parietals. It requires, perhaps,
some imagination to perceive the slight traces of a corresponding
depression in the forepart of the skull; but I think a faint
depression may be there perceived on careful inspection. The effect
of the occipital constriction, if it be such, reminds one of some
of the deformed French skulls described by M. Foville[105] and by
M. Gosse.[106] In all other respects the skull is well formed and
symmetrical. It is strictly orthognathous, and of a broad oval
shape.
If deformed artificially, it would come under the head of “tête
annulaire” of M. Gosse; and Dr. Foville shows that this kind of
deformation arises from the popular custom of applying a kind of
bandage round the head of the new-born infant, which, passing
over the anterior fontanelle, descends obliquely, and is crossed
behind the occiput and brought back and tied in front. This band,
or “serre-tête,” he states, is worn during the first year, and
for a longer period by female children than by males. Dr. Lunier
gives pretty nearly the same account, adding, however, further
particulars.[107] It may be remarked, also, that the Berbers, who
formed great part of the Moorish forces that invaded Europe in
the eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries, used to elongate the skull
posteriorly and flatten the forehead.
TABLE I.--_Dimensions of Perthi-Chwareu Skulls._
+--------------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------
| | | | | Least |Greatest|
| | | | |frontal |frontal |Parietal
| No. |Length.|Breadth.|Height.|breadth.|breadth.|breadth.
+--------------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------
| 1. | 7·5 | 5·7 | -- | 4·0 | 5·0 | 5·5
| 2. | 7·6 | 5·7 | 5·4 | 4·0 | 4·9 | 5·5
| 3. | 6·5 | 5·2 | 5·5 | 3·4 | 4·5 | 5·1
| 4. | 7·4 | 5·8 | 5·8 | 3·9 | 5·0 | 5·8
| 5. | 6·7 | 5·0 | -- | 3·5 | 4·4 | 5·4
| 6. | 6·8 | 5·4 | -- | 3·6 | 4·3 | 5·3
| 7. | -- | 5·5 | -- | -- | -- | 5·3
| 8. | 7·0 | 5·2 | -- | 3·6 | 4·4 | 5·2
+--------------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------
|Mean[A] | 7·07 | 5·5 | 5·6 | 3·8 | 4·64 | 5·4
+--------------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------
|Cefn Cave | 7·4 | 5·7 | 5·2 | 3·8 | 4·7 | 5·5
+--------------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------
|Cefn Tumulus | 7·38 | 5·65 | -- | 3·6 | 4·5 | 5·55
+--------------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------
|Ditto | 7·2 | 5·6 | 5·7 | 3·6 | 4·35 | 5·5
+--------------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------
| | 7·5 | 5·4 | 5·9 | 4·0 | 4·6 | 5·35
+--------------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------
|Genista Cave, | 7·95 | 5·5 | 5·7 | 3·9 | 5·0 | 5·4
|Gibraltar | | | | | |
+--------------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------
|Ditto | 7·35 | 5·6 | 6·1 | 3·8 | 4·9 | 5·4
+--------------+-------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------
+--------------+---------+---------+-------+--------+--------
| | | | | |
| |Occipital|Zygomatic|Frontal|Vertical|Parietal
| No. |breadth. |breadth. |radius.|radius. |radius.
+--------------+---------+---------+-------+--------+--------
| 1. | 4·6 | -- | -- | -- | --
| 2. | 4·8 | -- | 4·9 | 5·0 | 5·2
| 3. | 4·1 | 3·9 | 4·2 | 4·5 | 4·7
| 4. | 4·4 | 4·7 | 4·4 | 4·6 | 4·7
| 5. | 4·1 | -- | 4·0 | 4·3 | 4·6
| 6. | 4·0 | -- | 4·3 | 4·5 | 4·8
| 7. | -- | -- | -- | -- | 4·6
| 8. | 4·1 | -- | 4·1 | 4·3 | 4·5
+--------------+---------+---------+-------+--------+--------
|Mean[A] | 4·3 | -- | 4·3 | 4·5 | 4·7
+--------------+---------+---------+-------+--------+--------
|Cefn Cave | 4·8 | -- | 4·6 | 4·6 | 4·7
+--------------+---------+---------+-------+--------+--------
|Cefn Tumulus | -- | -- | 4·5 | 4·6 | 4·9
+--------------+---------+---------+-------+--------+--------
|Ditto | 4·35 | 4·6 | 4·45 | 4·8 | 4·9
+--------------+---------+---------+-------+--------+--------
| | 4·35 | 4·9 | 5·0 | 5·0 | 5·05
+--------------+---------+---------+-------+--------+--------
|Genista Cave, | 4·45 | 5·2 | 4·7 | 4·8 | 4·9
|Gibraltar | | | | |
+--------------+---------+---------+-------+--------+--------
|Ditto | 4·5 | 5·2 | 4·75 | 4·9 | 5·1
+--------------+---------+---------+-------+--------+--------
+--------------+---------+---------+-------+--------------
| | | |Fronto-|
| |Occipital|Maxillary| nasal |
| No. | radius. | radius. |radius.|Circumference.
+--------------+---------+---------+-------+--------------
| 1. | -- | -- | -- | 21·2
| 2. | 4·4 | -- | 3·7 | 21·6
| 3. | 4·1 | 3·2 | 3·0 | 19·0
| 4. | 4·3 | 3·9 | 3·6 | 23·5
| 5. | 4·0 | -- | -- | 18·5
| 6. | 4·2 | -- | -- | 19·8
| 7. | 4·0 | -- | -- | --
| 8. | 4·1 | -- | 3·4 | 19·5
+--------------+---------+---------+-------+--------------
|Mean[A] | 4·2 | 3·5 | 3·42 | 20·0
+--------------+---------+---------+-------+--------------
|Cefn Cave | 4·0 | -- | 3·8 | 21.0
+--------------+---------+---------+-------+--------------
|Cefn Tumulus | 4·5 | -- | 3·6 | --
+--------------+---------+---------+-------+--------------
|Ditto | 4·3 | -- | 3·7 | 20·1
+--------------+---------+---------+-------+--------------
| | 4·35 | 4·2 | 4·2 | 20·9
+--------------+---------+---------+-------+--------------
|Genista Cave, | 4·25 | 4·1 | 3·75 | 20·6
|Gibraltar | | | |
+--------------+---------+---------+-------+--------------
|Ditto | 4·9 | 4·0 | 3·65 | 20·8
+--------------+---------+---------+-------+--------------
+--------------+--------------+------------+--------+---------
| | | | |
| | |Longitudinal| (_a_) | (_b_)
| No. |Circumference.| arc. |Frontal.|Parietal.
+--------------+--------------+------------+--------+---------
| 1. | 21·2 | -- | 5·0 | 5·5
| 2. | 21·6 | 15·9 | 5·5 | 5·6
| 3. | 19·0 | 14·7 | 4·9 | 5·3
| 4. | 23·5 | 16·9 | 5·0 | 5·0
| 5. | 18·5 | -- | 4·4 | 5·2
| 6. | 19·8 | 14·6 | 4·8 | 5·3
| 7. | -- | -- | -- | --
| 8. | 19·5 | -- | 4·5 | 4·9
+--------------+--------------+------------+--------+---------
|Mean[A] | 20·0 | 15·3 | 4·9 | 5·2
+--------------+--------------+------------+--------+---------
|Cefn Cave | 21.0 | 15·1 | 5·0 | 5·5
+--------------+--------------+------------+--------+---------
|Cefn Tumulus | -- | -- | 5·2 | 5·2
+--------------+--------------+------------+--------+---------
|Ditto | 20·1 | -- | 5·0 | 5·0
+--------------+--------------+------------+--------+---------
| | 20·9 | -- | 4·9 | 5·6
+--------------+--------------+------------+--------+---------
|Genista Cave, | 20·6 | 14·0 | 5·2 | 4·8
|Gibraltar | | | |
+--------------+--------------+------------+--------+---------
|Ditto | 20·8 | 15·3 | 4·8 | 5·6
+--------------+--------------+------------+--------+---------
+--------------+----------+----------+----------+----------
| | | Frontal | Vertical | Parietal
| | (_c_) |transverse|transverse|transverse
| No. |Occipital.| arc. | arc. | arc.
+--------------+----------+----------+----------+----------
| 1. | -- | 12·0 | 13·0 | 14·0
| 2. | 4·8 | 13·0 | 13·5 | 13·8
| 3. | 4·5 | 11·6 | 12·45 | 13·4
| 4. | 6·? | 11·0 | 13·0 | 14·0
| 5. | -- | 11·0 | 12·5 | 13·4
| 6. | 4·5 | 14·0 | 12·0 | 13·0
| 7. | -- | -- | -- | --
| 8. | 4·8 | 11·0 | 11·5 | 13·0
+--------------+----------+----------+----------+----------
|Mean[A] | 5·0 | 12·0 | 12·5 | 13·5
+--------------+----------+----------+----------+----------
|Cefn Cave | 4·6 | 12·2 | 12·8 | 13·8
+--------------+----------+----------+----------+----------
|Cefn Tumulus | -- | 12·4 | 12·4 | 12·8
+--------------+----------+----------+----------+----------
|Ditto | 4·9 | 12·0 | 13·1 | 13·25
+--------------+----------+----------+----------+----------
| | 4·6 | 12·8 | 13·25 | 13·25
+--------------+----------+----------+----------+----------
|Genista Cave, | 4·0 | 12·5 | 13·2 | 13·3
|Gibraltar | | | |
+--------------+----------+----------+----------+----------
|Ditto | 4·9 | 12·3 | 13·2 | 13·3
+--------------+----------+----------+----------+----------
+--------------+----------+-----------+-----------+
| |Occipital |Latitudinal| |
| |transverse|or cephalic|Altitudinal|
| No. | arc. | index. | index. |
+--------------+----------+-----------+-----------+
| 1. | 12·0 | ·760 | -- |
| 2. | 12·4 | ·750 | ·710 |
| 3. | 11·2 | ·800 | ·846 |
| 4. | 12·0 | ·797 | ·797 |
| 5. | -- | ·746 | -- |
| 6. | 11·0 | ·794 | -- |
| 7. | -- | -- | -- |
| 8. | 12·0 | ·743 | -- |
+--------------+----------+-----------+-----------+
|Mean[A] | 11·8 | ·765[A] | -- |
+--------------+----------+-----------+-----------+
|Cefn Cave | 12·0 | ·770 | ·702 |
+--------------+----------+-----------+-----------+
|Cefn Tumulus | 10·9 | ·765 | -- |
+--------------+----------+-----------+-----------+
|Ditto | 11·5 | -- | -- |
+--------------+----------+-----------+-----------+
| | 10·5 | -- | -- |
+--------------+----------+-----------+-----------+
|Genista Cave, | 11·4 | ·748 | ·714 |
|Gibraltar | | | |
+--------------+----------+-----------+-----------+
|Ditto | 11·6 | ·761 | ·889 |
+--------------+----------+-----------+-----------+
[A] In taking this mean, the cephalic index of the young skull,
No. 3, is omitted; if included, the mean would be ·785.
[Illustration: FIG. 46.]
(c.) _Thigh-bones._--I have had an opportunity of examining only
a single perfect specimen of the thigh-bones. This is an entire
bone, 18·2 inches long, with a least circumference of 3·5. Its
perimetral index[108] consequently is ·192, which is about the
normal standard. The _linea aspera_, at the middle of the bone more
especially, is very prominent, so that the bone may be termed, in
some degree, carinated (Fig. 46). The shaft is straight; and the
chief peculiarities, besides the prominent _linea aspera_, which it
presents, are (1) an unusual compression in the antero-posterior
direction in the upper part, for the extent of about three inches
below the _trochanter minor_. At about two inches below that
process, or at a point corresponding with the lower part of the
insertion of the _pectineus_ muscle, the shaft measures ·9 × 1·45,
whilst in three other ordinary _femora_ with which I have compared
it, the bone at the corresponding part measures ·9 × 1·20, ·9
× 1·10, ·9 × 1·15, showing that the Perthi-Chwareu _femur_ is
unusually expanded laterally in the upper part of the shaft. The
consequence is to give the bone at that part a peculiar aspect,
which is especially seen in an acute internal angle, and one rather
less acute externally, instead of the usually rounded internal and
external borders. (2) The distal extremity appears to be rather
disproportionately large as compared with a recent well-formed bone
of the same length, the condyles measuring 2·5 × 3·3 instead of 2·4
× 3·05; and the lower part of the shaft is also somewhat expanded.
But the chief peculiarity, as above remarked, is the compression of
the shaft in the upper part. Besides the _linea aspera_, all the
muscular impressions are strongly marked, and especially those for
the insertion of the _gluteus maximus_ and the _trochanter minor_.
The neck is long and very oblique, and the head, upon which only
a small portion of the articular surface is left, must have had a
diameter of about 1·9.
Mr. Boyd Dawkins has furnished me with the principal dimensions of
several other _femora_, varying in length from 16 to 18 inches,
and affording an average length of about 17, corresponding to a
mean height of the individuals of about 5 ft. 4 in. to 5 ft. 5 in.,
the tallest being perhaps 5 ft. 6 in., and the shortest about
5 ft. 2 in., no doubt a woman. The mean perimetral index of the
eight _femora_ is ·186, which shows, in comparison with the usual
thickness of well-formed male thigh-bones of the present day, a
certain degree of slenderness. That this is not altogether owing
to the circumstance that the bones include those of perhaps more
than one female is proved by the fact that in no instance does the
perimetral index exceed ·192, and in one thigh-bone, 18″·2 long, it
is not more, if the circumference is correctly given, than ·178,
the normal perimetral index for the adult male _femur_ in this
country being taken as about ·194.
(d.) _Tibiæ._--Of the leg-bones brought under my notice, five are
entire and five more or less defective. The principal dimensions
and proportions of these bones, so far as they could be taken, are
given in the subjoined Table.
TABLE II.--_Dimensions, &c., of Perthi-Chwareu Tibiæ._
+-----+-------+----------+--------+----------+----------+-----------+
| | | | | Antero- | | |
| | |Transverse| |posterior | | |
| | | diameter,| Least | diameter |Perimetral|Latitudinal|
| No. |Length.| proximal |circum- | and | index. | index. |
| | | end. |ference.|transverse| | |
| | | | | diameter | | |
| | | | | of shaft.| | |
+-----+-------+----------+--------+----------+----------+-----------+
| | | | | | | |
| 1. | 14·9 | 2·8 | 3·2 | 140 × 80 | ·214 | ·571 |
| 2. | 13·7 | 2·7 | 2·9 | 120 - 75 | ·211 | ·625 |
| 3. | 13·2 | 3·0 | 3·0 | 135 × 80 | ·227 | ·592 |
| 4. | 12·9 | 2·5 | 2·5 | 125 × 70 | ·193 | ·541 |
| 5. | 12·9 | 2·5 | 2·75 | 100 × 70 | ·211 | ·700 |
| 6. | -- | -- | -- | 135 × 90 | -- | ·666 |
| 7. | -- | -- | -- | 140 × 90 | -- | ·642 |
| 8. | -- | -- | -- | 130 - 70 | -- | ·538 |
| 9. | -- | -- | -- | 135 × 85 | -- | ·629 |
+-----+-------+----------+--------+----------+----------+-----------+
| | | | | | | |
|Mean.| 13·5 | 2·7 | 2·86 | 129 × 79 | ·211 | ·611 |
| | | | | | | |
+-----+-------+----------+--------+----------+----------+-----------+
In this Table the _length_ means the extreme length of the bone as
measured from the summit of the spinous process to the point of the
internal malleolus; and the numbers in the fifth column represent
the antero-posterior and the transverse diameter of the shaft at
the point where the popliteal line terminates at the inner border
of the bone, which is usually about an inch and a half below the
nutritive foramen. The _latitudinal_ index represents the relation
that the transverse diameter bears to the antero posterior, and
it is employed to indicate, with some degree of precision, the
actual amount of compression or flattening of the shaft as compared
with the normal form, which may, so far as my observations
show, be taken for the ordinary English _tibiæ_ as from ·700 or
·800, or in the mean at ·730, as will be seen in the subjoined
Table, which contains the proportions of thirteen leg-bones taken
indiscriminately from a drawer in the College of Surgeons.
TABLE III.--_Proportions, &c., of ordinary Tibiæ._
+-----+-------+----------+--------+----------+----------+-----------+
| | | | | Antero- | | |
| | |Transverse| |posterior | | |
| | | diameter,| Least | diameter |Perimetral|Latitudinal|
| No. |Length.| proximal |circum- | and | index. | index. |
| | | end. |ference.|transverse| | |
| | | | | diameter | | |
| | | | | of shaft.| | |
+-----+-------+----------+--------+----------+----------+-----------+
| | | | | | | |
| 1. | 16·7 | 3·15 | 3·4 | 130 × 100| ·202 | ·769 |
| 2. | 16·4 | 3·2 | 3·5 | 150 × 115| ·213 | ·766 |
| 3. | 15·8 | 2·95 | 3·0 | 120 × 90 | ·189 | ·750 |
| 4. | 15·5 | 2·95 | 2·9 | 140 × 90 | ·122 | ·642 |
| 5. | 15·3 | 2·9 | 2·8 | 130 × 90 | ·150 | ·692 |
| 6. | 15·2 | 3·0 | 3·2 | 140 × 90 | ·213 | ·642 |
| 7. | 15·0 | 2·8 | 2·8 | 140 × 90 | ·187 | ·642 |
| 8. | 15·0 | 2·6 | 2·8 | 120 × 85 | ·187 | ·709 |
| 9. | 15·0 | 2·6 | 2·8 | 120 × 90 | ·187 | ·782 |
| 10. | 15·5 | 3·0 | 2·9 | 120 × 95 | ·193 | ·791 |
| 11. | 13·5 | 2·8 | 2·9 | 120 × 90 | ·214 | ·750 |
| 12. | 13·4 | 2·75 | 2·7 | 120 × 85 | ·201 | ·708 |
| 13. | 12·8 | 2·5 | 2·4 | 100 × 85 | ·187 | ·850 |
+-----+-------+----------+--------+----------+----------+-----------+
| | | | | | | |
|Mean.| 15·1 | 2·88 | 2·9 | 126 × 91 | ·188 | ·730 |
| | | | | | | |
+-----+-------+----------+--------+----------+----------+-----------+
Comparison of the mean proportions given in the two Tables shows:--
(1) That the Perthi-Chwareu leg-bones are, on the whole, shorter,
and absolutely smaller in all dimensions but one, viz. in the
antero-posterior diameter of the shaft, which, notwithstanding the
smaller size generally of the bones, is rather greater (that is to
say, in the proportion of 129 to 126) than in the ordinary run of
English _tibiæ_.
(2) That their perimetral index is greater, showing that, in
proportion to their length, the Welsh bones are somewhat thicker,
or in the proportion of 211 to 188.
(3) But the most marked difference is seen in the latitudinal
index, which in the Perthi-Chwareu bones is ·611, and in those of
the ordinary type ·730, varying in the former case from ·538 to
·700, and in the latter from ·642 to ·850; but the last is probably
an exceptional case. In accordance with this, we find that the mean
transverse diameter of the shaft at the point above indicated is
greatly under the usual mark, viz. as 79 to 91.
It is clear, therefore, that the Perthi-Chwareu _tibiæ_ are more
compressed or flattened than the usual run of modern European
_tibiæ_; in other words, they belong to the platycnemic type.
As this is, I believe, the first instance in which the occurrence
of _tibiæ_ of this peculiar conformation has been observed in
this country, the circumstance is of some interest, especially
with relation to the occurrence of priscan bones of the same type
elsewhere.
This peculiar conformation of the _tibia_, to which we gave the
name of “platycnemic,” was, I believe, first noticed by Dr.
Falconer and myself, in 1863, in the human remains procured by
Captain Brome from the Genista Cave, on Windmill Hill, Gibraltar,
of which an account will be found in the Transactions of the
International Congress of Prehistoric Archæology for the year 1868
(p. 161); and about the same time, or in May 1864, M. Broca[109]
independently observed the same condition in _tibiæ_ procured from
the dolmen of Chamant (Oise), and afterwards in bones from the
dolmen of Maintenon (Eure-et-Loire). Similar bones have since been
noticed in other localities on the Continent, as, for instance,
in the diluvium of Montmartre, by M. Eugène Bertrand. But that
the peculiarity in question is not common in all the varieties of
priscan man belonging to the reindeer period is shown by the fact
that it has not been observed in any of the _tibiæ_ exhumed by M.
Dupont in the Belgian caves.
M. Broca’s almost exhaustive remarks upon the anatomical,
physiological, and pathological relations of this form of _tibia_
leave but little to be said under those heads. I would, however,
venture to add a few words as to its ethnological significance. But
before doing so I would remark that there appear to be two forms
of platycnemism, apparently indicative of some difference in the
cause or nature of this aberration from the more usual shape of the
bone. To save many words, I subjoin outlines of several well-marked
instances of platycnemic bones, all drawn of the natural size and
in the same position, the letter (_a_) in each corresponding to the
interosseous ridge, and (_b_) to the _crista_ or shin.
The line _b c_, drawn through the _crista_ and the middle of the
posterior surface of the bone, is bisected by another (_a d_),
drawn at right angles to it, at the level of the interosseous
ridge.
In Fig. 47, which represents what may be regarded as a normal
_tibia_, the length of that portion of the antero-posterior line
which is behind the transverse line is to that of the anterior as
274 to 1,000, whilst in Fig. 48, taken from M. Broca’s outline of
the Cro-magnon _tibia_, which would seem to represent the extremest
degree of platycnemism as yet observed, the proportion in question
is as 623 to 1,000.
[Illustration: FIGS. 47, 48.]
[Illustration: FIGS. 49, 50, 51.]
Figs. 49, 50, 51, are taken from as many of the Gibraltar
_tibiæ_,[110] in which the proportion varies from 600 to 523,
whilst it will be observed that in Figs. 52, 53, 54, taken from
the most platycnemic of the Perthi-Chwareu _tibiæ_, the proportion
in one only differs in any considerable degree from the extreme
normal proportion shown in Fig. 47; and in this it is as 512
to 1,000, whilst in Fig. 53, which is nevertheless undoubtedly
platycnemic, the proportion is exactly the same as in the most
triangular form of bone.
It would seem, therefore, that platycnemism may arise from an
unusual antero-posterior expansion of the bone, either in front or
behind the level of the interosseous ridge. What this difference
may indicate, or of what importance it may be in the consideration
of questions relating to platycnemism, I am not prepared to
discuss; but as in all probability it is connected with a
difference in the cause of the deformation (if it be deformation),
I have thought that the observation should be recorded, and would
merely, in addition, remark that, so far as I have noticed,
the occasional and not infrequent platycnemism observed in the
shin-bones of negroes is what may be termed anterior.
[Illustration: FIGS. 52, 53, 54.]
With respect to the ethnological value of the platycnemic _tibia_,
I conceive we are as yet very much in the dark. That it is a
race-character would seem to me in the highest degree improbable,
seeing that it would be difficult to find any other points of
resemblance between the Cro-magnon platycnemic men and those
whose remains were met with in the Gibraltar caves, although the
platycnemism is of the same kind in each; and still less could
the former gigantic race be identified with the occupants of
the Perthi-Chwareu sepulchre, from whom they differ not only in
stature, but even more remarkably in cranial conformation.
If, then, platycnemism cannot be regarded as of any value as a
race-character, it can _a fortiori_ be still less looked upon as
indicative of simian tendencies, a notion that M. Broca seems
somewhat inclined to favour. It is quite true that the _tibiæ_
of the gorilla and of the chimpanzee are, to a certain extent,
platycnemic; but it is by no means so much so as the human
platycnemic bone. The _tibia_ of a male gorilla in the College of
Surgeons has a latitudinal index of ·681, and that of a female of
·650, whilst that of the chimpanzee is ·611, or exactly the mean of
the Perthi-Chwareu bones. It is needless to insist upon the other
marked distinctions between the simian and the human _tibia_; but
as regards platycnemism it will be obvious, if we are disposed to
trace it to any genetic descent, that the descendant has, in this
respect, at one time far out-simianized the Simiæ.
But this comparison with the anthropoid apes may, perhaps, afford
ground for a suggestion respecting some possible connection
between this peculiar form of the _tibia_ and the habits of the
people amongst whom it has been observed. One great distinction
between the human and the simian foot consists in their respective
adaptations to totally distinct functions. In the one case it
is simply an organ of support and progression; in the other,
for the most part, of prehension. This necessarily involves a
considerable difference in the proportions, &c., of the muscles by
which the greater mobility and adaptability of the foot, and more
particularly of the digits, are ensured. Would it not, then, be
admissible to inquire how far, at any rate, posterior platycnemism
may be connected with the greater freedom of motion and general
adaptability of the toes enjoyed by those peoples whose feet have
not been subjected to the confinement of shoes or other coverings,
and who at the same time have been compelled to lead an active
existence in a rude and rugged or mountainous and wooded country,
where the exigencies of the chase would demand the utmost agility
in climbing and otherwise?
Some common cause of this kind would seem to be not improbable; and
it would not, perhaps, be difficult to ascertain whether it is a
_vera causa_ or not. But, with respect to this, observations are at
present wanting.
From the foregoing data we may conclude:--
(1) That the Perthi-Chwareu bones belonged to a race characterized
by the proportionally rather large dimensions of the cranium,
whose form presents nothing very remarkable, and is pretty nearly
conformable to several of those found by Mr. Laing in the ancient
shell-mounds in Shetland.[111]
(2) That this form is distinctly different from that of the
Mewslade skull, in which the vertical region is somewhat
flattened, as is the case also with several Anglesey crania,
which, however, appear to pass, by gradual transition, into the
Keiss and Perthi-Chwareu shape, through such a form as that of the
Towyn-y-capel skull figured by Professor Huxley;[112] and the whole
of them consequently may be regarded as belonging to the so-called
“River-bed skulls” of that author, excepting the Borris cranium,
which appears to belong to a different type altogether.
(3) That the people whose remains were found in this locality were
of low stature (the mean height, deduced from the lengths of the
long bones, being little more than 5 feet), the tallest being 5
ft. 6 in., and the shortest adult not more than 4 ft. 10 in., the
intermediate ones being 5 ft. 1 in. and 5 ft. 2 in.
(4) That the proportions of the long bones are rather thick, and
the muscular impressions in all are very strongly marked.
(5) That the _tibiæ_ are, for the most part, of a much more
compressed form than those of the modern English, but that this
platycnemism does not appear to be exactly of the same kind as
that which is exhibited in the Gibraltar bones and in those from
Cro-magnon (as figured by M. Broca), the difference consisting in
the fact that in the two latter instances the bone is expanded
backwards behind the transverse plane at the interosseous ridge as
much as it is in front of that plane, whilst in the Welsh _tibiæ_
it is the anterior portion of the shaft only which is expanded;
or, in other words, the platycnemism in them is due simply to an
absolute compression of the shaft.
§ 3. HUMAN REMAINS FROM THE CEFN TUMULUS.
These remains, as submitted to my inspection, consist of:--
(1) Portions of three frontal bones, two of which are nearly
complete, and one constituted of little more than the superciliary
region.
(2) Two parietals and a left temporal, probably belonging to the
same skull as the more mutilated frontal.
(3) Portions of four thigh-bones, two left and two right, one of
the latter wanting the proximal, the other both extremities.
We have thus the remains of three individuals from this interment.
I. _The Frontal Bones._--No. 1. The least transverse diameter,
immediately behind the external angular processes, is 3″·6, and
its greatest (at the coronal suture) about 4″·3. Longitudinal arc,
4″·1. The profile outline of the forehead is slightly receding;
the frontal sinuses moderately developed; and the supraorbital
border thin and acute, whilst the glabellar eminence is large
and prominent. The bone is a good deal compressed on the sides,
so as to have almost the appearance of having formed part of a
cymbecephalic skull. The bone itself is thin, and probably without
any _diploë_.
No. 2 presents exactly the same characters, except that the
longitudinal arc is greater, being 5″·3. The postorbital or least
transverse diameter is 3″·4, and the coronal or greatest 4″·4.
The frontal sinuses are well developed; the supraorbital ridge
rather prominent, but thin and sharp; the external angular process
prominent and thick. Glabellar eminence large and prominent.
The nasals remain _in situ_, and project almost, if not quite,
horizontally forwards, with a rapid curve at first, and then
straight out. The general contour of the bone is exactly like that
of No. 1, in which also, although the nasals are wanting, the
position of the surface by which they were attached shows that they
must in all probability have resembled those of No. 2. The _crista
galli_ of the ethmoid, which is left _in situ_, is remarkably thick
and high.
No. 3 is a portion of a larger and wider bone, the postorbital
diameter being at least 4″·0. The frontal sinuses are very large,
but distinctly defined, as the remainder of the supraorbital border
is not thickened. Owing perhaps to the greater prominence of the
sinuses, the glabella does not appear so protuberant as in the
other instances. The nasal bones remain and project forwards in
the same curious fashion as in No. 2. The frontal crest on the
inner surface is remarkably developed, being at least half an inch
high, though it is separated by a wide notch from the equally
strongly developed _crista galli_ of the ethmoid.
No. 4, when the three bones of which it is composed are put
together, consists of the greater part of the parietal region of
the skull, to which, as before said, the last-described frontal
may have belonged. The left parietal is quite perfect; and a
considerable portion of the right also remains, together with the
entire left temporal; so that a very sufficient estimate of the
proportions of the parietal region of the skull can be obtained.
As well as can be estimated, the parietal longitudinal arc, or
length of the sagittal suture, is 5″·2. The vertical transverse
arc, or that drawn from one auditory foramen to the other, over
the point of junction of the coronal and sagittal sutures, is
12″·2, the parietal 13″, and the occipital 12″·2. In the temporal
bone, the external auditory foramen is large, the mastoid process
of moderate size, but the digastric fossa is wide and deep. The
channels for the middle meningeal artery and its branches are large
and deep; and very deep depressions on the sides of the sagittal
suture show that the _glandulæ Pacchioni_ must have been greatly
developed. The bone is very thin, and with scarcely a trace of
_diploë_ where its structure is visible. None of the sutures,
however, which are strongly serrated, are in the slightest degree
closed, although, as I should imagine, the skull must have been
that of a man beyond the middle period of life.
II. _The Thigh-bones._--Two of these bones, which, though much
alike, differ sufficiently to show that they did not belong to the
same individual, are decidedly carinate.
No. 1 wants the upper and lower ends. The least circumference
of the shaft, which is at a point about 3½ inches below the
_trochanter minor_, is 3″·2. That process, as well as all the
other muscular impressions, is strongly developed; and that for
the insertion of the _gluteus maximus_ is peculiar in presenting
the form of a deep elongated pit instead of a roughened elevation
as usual. The antero-posterior and transverse diameters of the
shaft, about 1½ inches below the _trochanter minor_, are ·85 × 1·4;
and the shaft at this part, like that of the above-described from
Perthi-Chwareu, presents a rather acute or narrow external and
internal border instead of the usual more rounded form. Lower down,
the shaft becomes strongly carinate; and, owing to the flattened
form of the anterior surface, its transverse section affords a
subtriangular figure (fig. 55). The walls, or cortical substance,
are rather thicker than usual, and the substance of the bone is
dense and hard.
[Illustration: FIG. 55.]
[Illustration: FIG. 56.]
No. 2 is very similar in character to the foregoing, but is not
quite so much compressed in the upper part, measuring ·8 × 1·2.
Nevertheless the inner border is very acute, and the outer more so
than in the common form of _femur_. The shaft lower down is not so
strongly carinate as it is in the former instance, but is still so
in some degree (Fig. 56); and the walls (or cortical substance) are
still thicker in proportion.
[Illustration: FIG. 57.]
[Illustration: FIG. 58.]
No. 3. A third specimen consists of the lower half, or rather
more, of the right _femur_. The least circumference is 3″·2.
The bone exhibits no special external characters, and is in no
degree carinated. The shaft, at about the middle of its length,
is somewhat angular in front; and the pit for the origin of the
_popliteus_ muscle is deeper and perhaps larger than in most
bones of the same size. The texture of the cortical substance is
quite eburneous; and it is extremely thick, so that the medullary
canal is reduced to a calibre of little more than 0″·25 in its
longest diameter. The shaft, however, is straight, and exhibits
no other sign whatever of having been affected with _rachitis_.
It is, however, a curious circumstance that many of the Gibraltar
thigh-bones, most of which are carinate, present the same
thickening of the cortical substance (Fig. 57).
No. 4. A fourth specimen is constituted of merely a portion of the
shaft, about 12 inches long, and without either extremity. Its
least diameter is 3″·3, and its antero-posterior and transverse
diameters, at the same point as in the other bones, 1 × 1·25, or
pretty nearly in the usual proportions. Nevertheless the bone,
throughout its whole remaining extent, is less rounded on the
inner side of the shaft than is usual. The _trochanter minor_ is
of gigantic size; and the shaft of the bone, about and below the
middle, exhibits a subtriangular aspect (Fig. 58), though scarcely
to be called carinate. The cortical substance is of the normal
thickness.
III. _Tibiæ._--No. 1 consists of the greater portion of the left
tibia, wanting only the lower extremity. The proximal end measures
2·9 × 1·9; and the diameters of the shaft, about the middle,
are 1·2 × ·75, giving a latitudinal index of ·620. The shin is
remarkably sharp and prominent, and rather curved over to the outer
side; and the apparent compression or tendency to platycnemism may
in some measure be referred more to the production in front of the
anterior part of the bone than to actual narrowing of the posterior
side of the triangle, which is nevertheless rather more rounded
than in most cases. The axis of the shaft is quite straight; and
the bone has not the least rickety appearance.
No. 2 is also a portion of the left tibia. Both extremities are
wanting, and the bone offers nothing worthy of remark. Its least
circumference is 2″·65; and the shaft, at the middle, measures
1″·1 × ·65; so that the latitudinal index is about ·640, showing a
slight degree of compression. The entire length of the bone may be
estimated as rather more than 13 inches, corresponding to a height
of about 5 ft. 4 in. or 5 ft. 5 in., so that the subject may be
supposed to have been a female.
These remains represent at least four individuals--one probably
somewhat aged, another of strong and robust make, and one, in all
probability, a woman--in fact, a family group. No correct idea can
be formed of the cranial conformation of these persons. In general
shape it would seem to correspond with that of the Perthi-Chwareu
skulls; but two of them at any rate are of smaller size, if we
may judge from the least frontal diameter. The forehead also is
perhaps a little more reclined. The most striking feature in two
of the specimens, and which appears also to have existed in a
third, is the extraordinary projection forwards of the nasal bones.
In the present case this may probably be regarded as a family
peculiarity; but with reference to it, it should be remembered
that M. Broca[113] has described a very similar condition in the
skull of the “Old man” of Cro-magnon, in whom, he says, “the ridge
of the nose, slightly depressed at its base, rises again almost
immediately, and advances boldly forward, making a rapid curve,
with the concavity directed rather forward and especially upward,
so that the lower ends of the _ossa nasi_ are placed 18 mm. (·7
inch) in front of a line dropped vertically from the fronto-nasal
suture.”
The condition of the bones from the Cefn tumulus differs very
considerably from that of the remains from Perthi-Chwareu. They all
have an appearance of much greater antiquity. With the exception of
the very dense _femur_, they adhere to the tongue; and they are all
deeply stained with manganous oxide, by which the substance even of
the hardest portions is stained to a depth of more than one-eighth
of an inch. That this discoloration, which for the most part does
not assume the dendritic appearance, is due to manganese and not to
any vegetable stain, is quite certain.
The form of the skull, so far as it can be ascertained from
such imperfect remains, and the rather platycnemic shape of the
_tibiæ_, may perhaps justify our supposing that the Cefn bones
belong to a cognate race to those whose remains were deposited at
Perthi-Chwareu, or to one which had lived under similar conditions.
But the cranial data are hardly sufficient to allow of any
satisfactory inference being drawn from them: and as regards the
_tibiæ_, it has already been pointed out that platycnemism cannot,
in the present state of our knowledge, be regarded as an important
ethnological character amongst priscan peoples, though it may
undoubtedly be considered a character betokening remote antiquity.
§ 4. SKULL FROM THE CEFN CAVE, NEAR ST. ASAPH.
The only specimen of human remains from this locality is a nearly
entire _calvaria_, wanting the whole of the face below the
superciliary border.
In the middle of the left parietal bone is a small irregular
opening, with short radiating lines of fracture proceeding from it;
but this appears to have been recently caused, and from the inside.
The bone generally is of a brown colour, and, as regards firmness,
in a natural condition; and it does not adhere to the tongue.
Judging from its aspect alone, it would not appear to be of any
very great antiquity; but as it has lain in a dry soil, and
sheltered from rain or moisture, this appearance may be deceptive.
Its dimensions are given in Table I. (_supra_), from which it
will be seen that the cephalic or latitudinal index is ·770, and
the altitudinal ·702. It belongs, therefore, to the category of
subbrachy-cephalic skulls of Thurnam and Professor Huxley.
[Illustration: FIGS. 59, 60, 61.--Skull from Cave at Cefn, St.
Asaph.]
In the side view (_norma lateralis_--Plate 7, Fig. 59), it so
closely resembles, except in one respect, that described and
figured by Professor Huxley (_loc. cit._ p. 125, Figs. 60, 61) from
the bed of the Nore, at Borris, in Ireland, that we can scarcely
refuse to recognize a common character between them, which, since
in the present case it cannot be looked upon as denoting a mere
family relationship, may reasonably be regarded as indicative of
some affinity of race. The chief difference observable in this view
of the two skulls is the greater development of the frontal sinuses
in the Borris _calvaria_. The occipital view (_norma occipitalis_,
Fig. 8) is also very similar, except that in the Borris skull the
greatest width appears to be in the temporal, and in the other the
parietal region. In the Borris skull, also, there is a shallow
groove in the course of the sagittal suture, which does not exist
in that from St. Asaph.
The Borris skull is said to be of the extraordinary length of 8
inches; and this may account for the much lower cephalic index
of the skull, whose absolute width in reality somewhat exceeds
the Cefn specimen (5″·9 and 5″·7), whilst the altitudinal as
compared with the latitudinal is but very little greater than it
would be were the skulls reduced to the same breadth. They may
both, therefore, be regarded as “low,” or, as this class of skull
might be termed, in the euphonious language of craniologists,
“tapinocephalic.” One great peculiarity of the Cefn _cranium_
(which exists also, but apparently not to quite so great a
degree, in the other) is the absolute horizontality of the plane
of the subinial portion of the occipital bone. And it is to this
flattening that the comparative lowness may perhaps be chiefly
attributed.
The sutures, where visible, appear to be open. The mastoid
processes and all other muscular impressions are strongly marked.
A third skull of very similar character, except that it is not so
much depressed, has come under my observation. It was discovered in
a submarine or, rather, subterranean peat-bed or ancient forest,
30 feet below the sea-level, at Sennen, near the Land’s End, in
Cornwall; and a brief notice and outline figure of it will be found
in the “Natural History Review” for 1861.[114] The Sennen skull has
the same elongated form; but it is higher than either the Cefn, St.
Asaph, or Borris crania, having an altitudinal index of ·730.
On the whole, these three skulls (_i.e._ those from Borris, Sennen,
and St. Asaph) would appear to have a common character, and to be
of a different type from either the Perthi-Chwareu or the Mewslade
form.
As a rule it may, I think, be stated that in all brachy-cephalic
skulls the breadth exceeds the height, whilst the reverse is the
case in the dolicho-cephalic. Individual exceptions are of course
not unfrequently met with, more especially among very mixed races,
such as the modern English; but I am myself acquainted with only
two dolicho-cephalic _races_, properly so termed, in which the rule
does not hold good. These are the Tasmanian (not Australian) and
the Bushman.
Any exceptions, therefore, to either rule among ancient and,
consequently, less mixed races are worthy of being noted.
As regards modern brachy-cephalic skulls the law holds almost
universally, the only marked exception, except in an individual
here and there, being in two Karén skulls, in which, although both
decidedly brachy-cephalic, the respective indices stand as ·848 to
·924, and as ·790 to ·842.
Among priscan brachy-cephalic skulls the most remarkable and
important exceptions I have met with occur among the neolithic
crania in the Copenhagen Museum, more than half of which are
brachy-cephalic, and most of the others nearly so, the mean
cephalic index of 21 skulls being ·790, whilst the mean altitudinal
is as high as ·810. In fact, out of 12 skulls whose indices vary
from ·795 to ·838, no fewer than 10 have the latitudinal index less
than the altitudinal.
The exceptions to the rule as applied to dolicho-cephalic skulls
also appear to be far more common among the ancient than among the
modern, excepting the two races I have above referred to.
In a long list of ancient and priscan skulls, I find the following
having the tapino-cephalic character:--
+-------------------------------------------+----------+------------+
| | L. Ind. | Alt. Ind. |
+-------------------------------------------+----------+------------+
| 1. From the Thames alluvium at Old Ford | ·792 | ·753 |
| 2. From the same deposit at East Ham | ·774 | ·690 |
| 3. From the same deposit at Battersea | ·763 | ·745 |
| 4. From the same deposit at London Bridge | ·762 | ·611 |
| 5. From tumulus at Stanshope | ·763 | ·684 |
| 6. A Guanche skull | ·775 | ·737 |
| 7. A Guanche skull | ·763 | ·684 |
| 8. Cefn, St. Asaph’s | ·770 | ·702 |
+-------------------------------------------+----------+------------+
The number is but small, it must be confessed, and perhaps hardly
sufficient to do more than prove the rule; but still I think it
will be found worth inquiry whether a departure from the rule
in question was more frequent among the unmixed or little-mixed
races of ancient times than it is amongst similarly unmixed races
of the present day; and whether consequently its infraction in a
considerable number of instances may or may not be indicative of a
lower type, as which we are accustomed to regard the Tasmanian and
Bushman races.
_General Conclusions as to Human Remains._
The human remains in the caves of Perthi-Chwareu and Cefn, and in the
cairn near the latter place, imply that the men to which they belonged
were a short race, the tallest being about 5 feet 6 inches, and the
shortest 4 feet 10 inches.[115] Their skulls are orthognathic,[116] or
not presenting a lower jaw advancing beyond the vertical line dropped
from the forehead; in shape ortho-cephalic, or subbrachy-cephalous,
and of fair average capacity. The face was oval and the cheek-bones
were not prominent. Some of the individuals were characterised by the
peculiar flattening of shin (platycnemism), which probably stood in
relation to the free action of the foot that was not impeded by the use
of a rigid sole or sandal. This character, however, is neither peculiar
to race, nor to be viewed as a tendency towards the simian type of
leg. These conclusions, which Professor Busk has arrived at from the
examination of the remains which were submitted to him, have been
fully borne out by the numerous skeletons which have been subsequently
discovered, both in the sepulchral caves at Rhosdigre and in a second
chamber in the cairn of Tyddyn Bleiddyn near Cefn.