The first Yukon Indian skull measured was that of a half-chief of
the Nulato group, collected in the early sixties by William H. Dall.
There are now three records of this skull, originally and again now a
Smithsonian specimen, one in Wyman ("Observations on Crania," Proc.
Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., 1868, XI, 452, No. 7530), one in the Otis
"Catalogue" (35, No. 259), and one in Hrdlička's "Catalogue of Human
Crania in the United States National Museum Collections" (p. 30, No.
242925). It is a normal, well-developed male skull, which gives no
suggestion of mixture. The true measurements of this "type" specimen,
taken by present-day instruments and methods, are as follows:
_Yukon Indian skull No. 242925_
Vault:
Length cm 18.4
Breadth cm 14
Height to bregma cm 13.8
Cranial index _76.1_
Mean height index _85.2_
Height-breadth index _98.6_
Cranial module
(mean diameter) cm 15.40
Cranial capacity c. c. 1,520
Face:
Menton-nasion (teeth but
slightly worn) cm 12.1
Alveolar point-nasion cm 7.3
Diameter bizygomatic
maximum cm 14
Facial index, total _86.4_
Facial index, upper _52.1_
Facial angle 69°
Alveolar angle 53.5°
Orbits:
Right--
Height cm 3.25
Breadth cm 4.2
Left--
Height cm 3.45
Breadth cm 4
Mean index _81_
Nose:
Height cm 5.1
Breadth cm 2.5
Index _49_
Upper alveolar arch:
Length cm 5.7
Breadth cm 6.7
Index _85.1_
Basio-facial diameters:
Basion-alveolar point cm 10.6
Basion-subnasal point cm 9.4
Basal-nasion cm 10.5
The skull is seen to be mesocephalic, rather high, and of good brain
capacity; the face is of medium Indian proportions; the orbits are
unequal, rather low; the nose is of medium height and breadth; the
upper dental arch, the basic-facial diameters, and the facial and
alveolar angles, are all near medium Indian.
There was another Indian skull in the five Wyman reported, but its
identity is uncertain. A later collection by Dall included three Indian
female crania from Alaska, but their exact provenience is uncertain;
their measurements are given in my catalogue.
On the 1926 trip I succeeded in collecting directly from the burials
along the lower middle Yukon 17 adult skulls and skeletons. Such
material is both scarce and difficult to obtain, due to the attitude
of the Indians. All the specimens in the collection are from the
Russian times on the river. A few of the skulls show traces of Eskimoid
in their features, but none offer a suspicion of a mixture with the
whites. The measurements are given below. They partly agree, partly
disagree, with those of the Nulato skull. The vault, the breadth of
the nose, the dimensions of the dental arch, are much alike, but the
height of the face, nose, and orbits in the Nulato specimen is somewhat
lower. These may be tribal but also simply individual differences.
We may generalize by stating that the lower middle Yukon Indian was
mesocephalic, with a fairly high vault, and moderate capacity. The face
was of relatively good height but moderate breadth, resulting in a high
upper facial index. Facial and alveolar prognathism and other features
approach the prevalent Indian medium.