ESKIMO CRANIA, BARROW AND VICINITY_Anthropological Survey in Alaska

--------------------+-------------------+-----------------

| Old Igloos | Surface burials,

| | Barrow

--------------------+---------+---------+--------+--------

| Males | Females | Males |Females

| (27) | (25) | (37) | (36)

--------------------+---------+---------+--------+--------

Vault: | | | |

Length maximum | 19.25 | 18.11 | 18.90 | 17.77

Breadth maximum | 13.30 | 12.72 | 13.73 | 13.23

Basion-bregma | | | |

height | 14.02 | 13.21 | 13.78 | 12.97

Cranial index | _69.1_ | _70.2_ | _72.6_ | _74.5_

Height-breadth | | | |

index | _105.5_ | _104.6_ | _99.6_ | _98.1_

Mean height index | _86.2_ | _86.4_ | _84.6_ | _82.9_

Cranial module | _15.52_| _14.72_| _15.46_| _14.66_

Face: | | | |

Height: menton- | | | |

nasion | 12.4 | 11.21 | -- | --

Height: upper | | | |

alveolar | | | |

point-nasion | 7.7 | 7.01 | 7.89 | 7.18

Breadth: Diameter | | | |

bizygomatic | | | |

maximum | 14.2 | 13.08 | 14.34 | 13.16

Facial index, | | | |

total | _86.9_ | _86.8_ | -- | --

Facial index, | | | |

upper | _54.5_ | _53.8_ | _55_ | _54.7_

Basion-nasion | 10.70 | 10.18 | 10.61 | 10.01

Basion-subnasal | | | |

point | 9.33 | 9.12 | 9.31 | 8.86

Basion-upper | | | |

alveolar point | 10.45 | 10.13 | 10.39 | 9.85

Lower jaw: Height | | | |

at symphysis | 3.72 | 3.38 | 3.95 | 3.27

Orbits: | | | |

Mean height | 3.62 | 3.47 | 3.60 | 3.61

Mean breadth | 3.97 | 4.01 | 4.04 | 3.88

Mean index | _91.3_ | _91_ | _89.2_ | _93_

Nose: | | | |

Height | 5.45 | 5.02 | 5.52 | 5.19

Breadth | 2.37 | 2.23 | 2.39 | 2.32

Index | _43.6_ | _44.4_ | _43.4_ | _44.7_

Alveolar arch: | | | |

Length | 5.57 | 5.34 | 5.59 | 5.22

Breadth | 6.68 | 6.29 | 6.45 | 6.13

Index | _83.4_ | _84.9_ | _86.6_ | _85.1_

--------------------+---------+---------+--------+--------

--------------------+-----------------

| Surface burials,

| Point Barrow

--------------------+--------+--------

| Males | Females

| (49) | (52)

--------------------+--------+--------

Vault: | |

Length maximum | 18.74 | 17.91

Breadth maximum | 13.84 | 13.32

Basion-bregma | |

height | 13.78 | 13.08

Cranial index | _73.9_ | _74.4_

Height-breadth | |

index | _99.6_ | _97.8_

Mean height index | _84.7_ | _83.4_

Cranial module | _15.44_| _14.75_

Face: | |

Height: menton- | |

nasion | -- | --

Height: upper | |

alveolar | |

point-nasion | 7.86 | 7.22

Breadth: Diameter | |

bizygomatic | |

maximum | 14.26 | 13.06

Facial index, | |

total | -- | --

Facial index, | |

upper | _55.1_ | _55.3_

Basion-nasion | 10.54 | 9.94

Basion-subnasal | |

point | 9.23 | 8.73

Basion-upper | |

alveolar point | 10.39 | 9.77

Lower jaw: Height | |

at symphysis | 3.9 | --

Orbits: | |

Mean height | 3.61 | 3.55

Mean breadth | 4.02 | 3.90

Mean index | _89.9_ | _90.7_

Nose: | |

Height | 5.48 | 5.11

Breadth | 2.31 | 2.29

Index | _42.2_ | _44.9_

Alveolar arch: | |

Length | 5.63 | 5.25

Breadth | 6.47 | 6.01

Index | _86.9_ | _87.4_

--------------------+--------+---------

Let us now contrast the Igloo skulls with those of southern Greenland

from the collection of the United States National Museum.[200] The size

of the series is such that they are nicely comparable. And to the two

is added a small recent series (A. H., 1926, and Collins, 1928), from

Golovnin Bay and Sledge Island (Seward Peninsula).

MAIN MEASUREMENTS OF THE BARROW "IGLOO" AND OF GREENLAND ESKIMO

CRANIA

---------+--------------------------+--------------------------

| Males | Females

---------+--------+-------+---------+--------+-------+---------

| | | | | |

Number | (8)| (27)| (49)| (13)| (25)| (52)

of | | | | | |

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

Length | 19.20| 19.25| 18.97| 18.03| 18.11| 18.04

| | | | | |

Breadth | 13.70| 13.30| 13.61| 13.36| 12.72| 12.98

| | | | | |

Height | 14.08| 14.02| 13.95| 13.21| 13.21| 13.12

| | | | | |

Cranial | _71.3_| _69.1_| _71.8_| _74.1_| _70.2_| _72_

| | | | | |

breadth | _102.8_|_105.5_| _102.5_| _97.9_|_104.6_| _101_

| | | | | |

Mean | _85.6_| _86.2_| _85.7_| _84.2_| _86.4_| _84.6_

| | | | | |

Module | 15.66| 15.52| 15.51| 14.87| 14.72| 14.72

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

nasion | 12.70| 12.39| 12.38| 11.98| 11.21| 11.52

| | | | | |

nasion | 7.90| 7.71| 7.61| 7.35| 7.01| 7.05

| | | | | |

Breadth | 14.29| 14.16| 14.05| 13.25| 13.08| 13.03

| | | | | |

Facial | _88.9_| _86.9_| _87.1_| _90.4_| _86.8_| _85.7_

| | | | | |

index, | _55.3_| _54.5_| _54.1_| _55.4_| _53.8_| _54.1_

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

Mean | 3.65| 3.62| 3.64| 3.58| 3.47| 3.55

| | | | | |

Mean | 4.11| 3.97| 3.99| 3.92| 4.01| 3.85

| | | | | |

Mean | _88.8_| _91.3_| _91.4_| _91.2_| _91_| _92.4_

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

Height | 5.58| 5.45| 5.24| 5.15| 5.02| 4.99

| | | | | |

Breadth | 2.35| 2.37| 2.27| 2.29| 2.23| 2.20

| | | | | |

Index | _42.1_| _43.6_| _43.3_| _44.5_| _44.4_| _44_

---------+--------+-------+---------+--------+-------+---------

A comparison of the Igloo and Greenland series shows striking

similarities; hardly any two geographically separate groups originating

from a single source could reasonably be expected to come nearer. The

Igloo skulls are even narrower in the vault than the Greenlanders,

which means so much farther away from the southwestern, midwestern, and

Asiatic Eskimo; and offer a few other differences, but all these are of

small moment, not affecting the essential relations of the two groups.

A comparison of the Igloo and Greenland series with the material

from Golovnin Bay and Sledge Island shows also numerous similarities

but with them some rather material differences. The differences are

especially marked in the females, whose characteristics approach

more those of the midwestern Eskimo, which suggests that an important

proportion of them may have been derived from the latter. However,

even the males tend to differ. Both sexes show absolutely a somewhat

broader skull than that of the northerners; in both sexes the skull,

as seen from the cranial module, is slightly larger in the Seward

Peninsula series than in either of the other groups; but the principal

differences are seen in the face, which in the Seward Peninsula group

is perceptibly larger and especially higher than it is in either the

Igloo or the Greenland series. The orbits also in the southerners are

larger and the nose is slightly higher.

On the whole it may be said that the resemblance of the Igloo crania to

those of Greenland is closer than that to either or both of the series

of Golovnin Bay and Sledge Island. This suggests the possibility that a

similar though not quite the same differentiation in the skull may have

taken place both in the Seward Peninsula and in the far north; though

the possibility of a derivation of any one of the three groups from any

of the others can not be discarded. So far as the skull is concerned a

definite solution of the identity of the Igloo material would have to

be, it would seem, postponed to the future.

The used data on the Greenland Eskimo skulls agree closely with those

of Fürst and Hansen (Crania Groenlandica, fol., 1915), and also with

the much fewer and scattered records of Virchow, Davis, Duckworth,

Oetteking, Pittard, etc.,[201] on Eskimo skulls from Labrador.

_Stature and strength._--The bones of the skeleton of the Igloo series

show the people to have been of good height and of above medium Eskimo

robustness. The principal measurements are given below, together

with the corresponding ones on the western and the Yukon Eskimo. The

material is not all that could be wished for, either in numbers or

representation, but it will suffice for rough comparisons. Regrettably

nothing for comparison is available as yet from Greenland or other

parts of the far northeast where we meet with long, narrow, and high

skulls.

THE LONG BONES OF THE IGLOO PEOPLE AND OTHER ESKIMO BONES OF THE

TWO SIDES TOGETHER

Column headings:

-----------+---------------------------+---------------------------

| Males | Females

-----------+---------------------------+---------------------------

| | and| | | and|

| | | | | |

Humerus: | (35)| (100)| (16)| (27) | (83)| (16)

| | | | | |

Length- | 31.17| 31.17| 32.10| 28.41| 28.82| 28.31

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

Diameter, | 2.47| 2.46| 2.33| 2.11| 2.15| 2.07

| | | | | |

Diameter, | 1.86| 1.85| 1.80| 1.60| 1.62| 1.51

| | | | | |

Index | _75.2_| _75.1_|_78.2_| _76.1_| _75.1_|_73.2_

| | | | | |

Radius: | (31)| (37)| (16)| (17) | (24)| (16)

| | | | | |

maximum | 23.53| 23.50| 23.44| 20.98| 21.35| 20.18

| | | | | |

Radio- | _75.5_| _75.4_| _73_| _73.8_| _74_|_71.3_

| | | | | |

Femur: | (33)| (60)| (22)| (25) | (31)| (27)

| | | | | |

bicondylar | 43.86| 43.46| 43.78| 40.31| 40.44| 41.11

| | | | | |

Humero- | _71.1_| _71.7_| _73_| _70.5_| _71.3_| _69_

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

antero- | 3.37| 3.21| 3.05| 2.88| 2.88| 2.74

| | | | | |

Diameter, | 2.90| 2.72| 2.67| 2.51| 2.56| 2.44

| | | | | |

Index | _86.1_| _84.8_|_87.6_| _87.3_| _88.9_ |

| | | | | |_88.8_

| | | | | |

Diameter, | 3.51| 3.32| 3.31| 3.09| 3.06| 3.02

| | | | | |

Diameter, | 2.71| 2.59| 2.57| 2.30| 2.40| 2.27

| | | | | |

Index | _77.2_| _78.1_|_77.4_| _74.4_| _78.4_|_75.4_

| | | | | |

Tibia: | (29)| (79)| (22)| (24) | (36)| (27)

| | | | | |

position | 35.60| 35.52| 35.14| 31.94| 32.50| 32.01

| | | | | |

Tibio- | _81.2_| _81.7_|_80.3_| _79.2_| _80.4_|_79.8_

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

antero- | 3.26| 3.19| 3.16| 2.80| 2.75| 2.61

| | | | | |

Diameter, | 2.20| 2.16| 2.15| 1.87| 1.92| 1.90

| | | | | |

Index | _67.5_| _67.8_|_68.3_| _66.7_| _70_|_72.8_

The above table shows some remarkable and interesting conditions.

The first of the most apparent facts is that the type of the Yukon

Eskimo stands well apart from both of the other series in a number of

essentials, showing that it is not very nearly related and that it may

be left out of consideration.

On the other hand the long bones from the Seward Peninsula and the

northwest coast, especially those of the males, show very closely to

those of the Igloo group. The male bones of the two series are almost

identical, except that the Igloo bones are somewhat stronger.

Such close resemblances can hardly be fortuitous. They speak strongly

for the basic identity of the old Igloo people with those of at least

parts of the Seward Peninsula and parts of the northwest coast. If we

take the bones from the Seward Peninsula alone (see p. 314) it is found

that these resemblances still hold.

The evidence thus shown constitutes a strong indication that the old

Igloo group may be inherently related to that part of the Eskimo

population of Seward Peninsula which shows the long and narrow skull;

but the data offer no light on the questions as to whether the Igloo

group may have been derived from that of the Seward Peninsula or vice

versa, and on the true relation of either or both of these to the

Eskimo of Baffin Land, Greenland, and Labrador.

To definitely decide the problem of the Igloo group there are needed

data on the long bones of the northeasterners; in the second place it

is highly desirable to know how large and how ancient was the group of

the narrow-headed people on the Seward Peninsula and Sledge Island; and

in the third place it is important that the cultural history of the two

groups be known as thoroughly as possible. All of which are tasks for

the future.

The possibility of a development of the Igloo cranial type on the

northwest coast itself can not be denied, in view of the facts that

all its characteristics are within the ranges of normal individual

variations on that coast, and that similar developments have evidently

been realized elsewhere. But in such a case it would be logical

to expect, locally or not far away, some ancestry of the group,

and the group would not probably be limited to a little spot and a

few scores of persons. Had the group developed incidentally from a

physically exceptional family, it could not be expected to have been

anywhere nearly as uniform as the group under consideration. The

high degree of uniformity of the Igloo contingent speaks for a well

accomplished differentiation; and as there is no other trace of this

in the conditions near Barrow, and there are no ruins denoting a long

occupation, the evidence is against a local development and for an

immigration of the group. A coming of a small-sized contingent from the

Seward Peninsula would be easy; its coming from Greenland or Labrador

or Baffin Land would surely be difficult, but not impossible to the

Eskimo, who is known to have been a traveler.

Whatever may be the eventual solution of the Igloo problem, it is plain

that the presence of that group near Barrow, together with the presence

of evidently closely related groups in a part of the Seward Peninsula

and again in the far east of the Eskimo region, offers much food for

thought and investigation. The most plausible possibility would seem

to be a relatively late (within the present millennium) coming of a

physically already well differentiated small group, from either the

south or the east, with a relatively short settlement at the Barrow

site, some local multiplication in numbers, and then extinction partly

through disease, partly perhaps through absorption into a stronger and

newer contingent derived from the western people.