Page:Palæolithic Man and Terramara Settlements in Europe.djvu/168

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114
ANTHROPOLOGY

review the special features of the cranium and lower jaw. In Mr Newton's carefully prepared description of this skeleton there is not the slightest suspicion of special pleading, so that we may unreservedly accept his measurements of the skull as the most accurate that could be procured under the circumstances. Here are his words :—

"The calvarium was fortunately less broken than the long bones:— it is evident, however, that in drying it has become twisted somewhat; but its general characters are clearly shown. The base and facial portions of the skull are wanting, as well as much of the left side ; the right side, however, is more perfect, the outer part of the orbit, with the maxilla and jugal bones, being all that is really absent. A portion of the foramen magnum is preserved, with sufficient of the supraoccipital bone to show the form of the under and back parts of the brain case.

Figure(s):24

FIG. 24. Galley Hill Skull, side view (½). (After E. T. Newton.)

"The most striking features of this skull (Fig. 24) are its extreme length (205 mm.) in proportion to its width (about 130 mm.?), the complete obliteration of the coronal, sagittal, and lambdoidal sutures, both internally and externally, and the prominence of the superciliary ridges. The extreme narrowness of the cranium is best seen when viewed from above ; but this peculiarity is somewhat exaggerated by the distortion which the skull has undergone, the right temporal bone, and the parts posterior to it, being pushed over towards the left side ; and besides this, parts of the left side are wanting. The greatest width of the skull is low down near the mastoid region, but its imperfections prevent the exact width from being measured.

"The walls of the cranium are in most parts very thick, the middle of each frontal measuring as much as 12 mm. The superciliary ridges are very strongly developed, especially at their inner part, although now in a denuded condition ;