Facial Measurements
Reading edition
HEIGHT OF THE FACE
The height of the face stands largely, though not absolutely, in correlation with the length of the head, a feature which becomes apparent also in our series. The collections from more westerly Virginia and the Lenape groups, all of which show rather short crania, give also the shortest faces. Maine and Massachusetts follow, with Rhode Island and New York. The Indians of Staten Island, Long Island, and Manhattan Island, so far as the males are concerned, all find a place in the upper half of the series, with long faces, and the same is true of the few more easterly Virginia specimens in which the face could be measured, and of the males of southeastern Canada. The latter, with those of Manhattan Island, occupy the upper limit of the scale. The females throughout show more uniformity than the males in their measurements.
BREADTH OF THE FACE
The breadth of the face, as measured by the diameter bizygomatic maximum, stands in a measure in correlation with the breadth of the head, but as it depends very largely on the degree of development of the temporal muscles and as a pronounced development of these muscles, while broadening the zygomatic arches, tends at the same time to restrict the development of the skull in breadth, there are many irregularities in this correlation. In our series, Rhode Island, Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut occupy the lowest positions in the scale, showing faces that for Indians are decidedly narrow. Among the Lenape the faces are about medium, and the same is true of the more westerly Virginians. On Manhattan Island and Staten Island the face was well above the medium in breadth, but not so on Long Island, although the somewhat exceptional position of the Long Island Indians in this respect may be accidental. The Indians of southeastern Canada and New York State, as well as some of the Virginia Indians, had faces decidedly broader than the averages of those of the northeastern states bordering on the Atlantic.
Comparing the average facial breadth with facial height, it is seen that in most of the tribes noted the two measurements occupy a similar position in the scale, the narrow faces being also short, and vice versa; but there are several exceptions.
XCVI. EASTERN INDIAN CRANIA: FACE
Prosthion-nasion height
Group Male Female
Number of specimens P.-N. Number of specimens P.-N.
cm. cm.
New Jersey (Heye collection) (7) 7.15 (5) 6.9
New Jersey (earlier) — — (11) 6.8
Virginia (Valentine collection) (4) 7.3 (5) 6.9
Maine (3) 7.4 (4) 6.8
Massachusetts (8) 7.4 (15) 7
Rhode Island (3) 7.4 (4) 7.1
Connecticut — — (2) 6.85
New York State (10) 7.4 (11) 6.9
Staten Island (3) 7.45 (2) 6.5
Virginia (miscellaneous) (2) 7.5 — —
Long Island (4) 7.5 (4) 7
Southeastern Canada (7) 7.8 (5) 6.75
Manhattan Island (2) 7.95 — —
Diameter bizygomatic maximum
Group Male Female
Number of specimens D. biz. max. Number of specimens D. biz. max.
cm. cm.
Rhode Island (6) 13.35 (3) 13
Maine (2) 13.45 (4) 12.95
Massachusetts (7) 13.7 (8) 12.7
Connecticut (2) 13.8 (2) 12.3
Long Island (4) 13.85 (4) 12.95
Virginia (Valentine collection) (4) 13.85 (6) 13.1
New Jersey (earlier) — — (9) 12.7
New Jersey (Heye collection) (7) 13.9 (6) 12.8
New York State (13) 14.05 (9) 13.1
Eastern Canada (9) 14.1 (5) 12.6
Manhattan Island (1) 14.3 — —
Staten Island (3) 14.7 (2) 12.65
Virginia (miscellaneous) (2) 14.7 — —
Orbits
While describing, in 1902, the skulls of the more easterly Lenape, the writer was impressed by the occasional appearance of very low orbits, and considered at the time the possibility of this feature being characteristic of the tribe. The present examination shows, however, that remarkably low orbits were frequent among some of the tribes of the eastern Algonquians, and that the Munsee and Lenape skulls occupy, with respect to the average orbital index, only a median position. The lowest orbits in the mean were found among the males of Long Island and of the North Atlantic states. Maine and Massachusetts again stand exceedingly close together, with fairly low indexes, while Manhattan Island and Staten Island are about medium. The females of Staten Island show in this, as in other respects, a lack of harmony with the males, with lower index. The highest orbits are found in the skulls from southeastern Canada and Rhode Island, and in both of the series from Virginia. On the whole, the extensive variation of the absolute and relative dimensions of the orbits among the eastern Algonquians (and Iroquois) is very remarkable. Its chief cause in the males is the unequal development of the supraorbital ridges; in the females, excepting in two or three groups, the proportions and indexes are more nearly alike.
XCVII. EASTERN INDIAN CRANIA: FACE
Orbital index
Group Male Female
Number of specimens O. I. Number of specimens O. I.
Long Island (5) 82.6 (5) 87.4
Connecticut (2) 84.6 (3) 92.1
Maine (4) 86.2 (4) 86.2
Massachusetts (10) 86.3 (2) 88.8
New York State (16) 86.8 (13) 88.6
Manhattan Island (2) 87.4 (1) 87.8
New Jersey (earlier) — — (13) 87.2
New Jersey (Heye collection) (7) 87.5 (7) 91.7
Staten Island (3) 87.6 (3) 83
Southeastern Canada (10) 87.8 (5) 89.5
Virginia (Valentine collection) (10) 87.9 (6) 89
Virginia (miscellaneous) (5) 88.9 (2) 85.6
Rhode Island (6) 90 (5) 89
Nasal index
Group Male Female
Number of specimens N. I. Number of specimens N. I.
Manhattan Island (2) 44.9 — —
Maine (4) 45.6 (4) 50
Long Island (5) 46.7 (5) 49
Connecticut (2) 49 (2) 54.7
Southeastern Canada (8) 49.1 (5) 53.4
Massachusetts (10) 49.7 (20) 49.5
Virginia (miscellaneous) (3) 50.6 (1) 52
New Jersey (earlier) — — (13) 51.5
New Jersey (Heye collection) (7) 51.1 (9) 52.9
New York State (15) 51.8 (13) 53.2
Rhode island (6) 52.5 (5) 52.1
Staten Island (3) 53.1 (3) 54.4
Virginia (Valentine collection) (8) 53.5 (6) 54.3
Nasal Index
Among the Eastern Indians, the nose, as already mentioned, is in general relatively small, and the aperture presents often fairly sharp borders, an exceptional feature among Indians of most other parts of the continent. The nasal aperture, or more properly the relation of the breadth to the height of the nose, expressed by the nasal index, differs considerably in the different tribes. The index is low in the northeastern states, on Manhattan Island and Long Island, and in southeastern Canada; medium among the Munsee and other Lenape, among the more easterly Virginia tribes and in New York State; and elevated on Staten Island and in the more westerly Virginians. It was also elevated in both sexes in Rhode Island, which is of interest in that the specimens from that state show a somewhat exceptional position in other respects. On Staten Island, the crania of which stand in regard to nasal index apart from those of Manhattan Island and Long Island, with which they are otherwise so closely related, the character may have been influenced by admixture through the accession of females.
Palate
The relative proportions of the dental arch, as expressed by the “palatine” index, show shortest palates in the northeastern states and longest among the Lenape; but the differences are not very marked.
XCIII. EASTERN INDIAN CRANIA: FACE
Palatine index
Group Male Female
Number of specimens P. I. Number of specimens P. I.
Massachusetts (5) 113.2 (8) 115.4
Manhattan Island (2) 113.2 — —
Maine (3) 113.8 (4) 113.8
Virginia (Valentine collection) (3) 114.1 (5) 116.4
New York State (2) 116 — —
Rhode Island — — (3) 116.1
Staten Island (2) 116.5 — —
Southeastern Canada (4) 117.3 (3) 115.8
New Jersey (Heye collection) (8) 120.7 (5) 120.5
New Jersey (earlier) — — (2) 121.2
Angle of facial prognathism
Group Male Female
Number of specimens Angle, degrees Number of specimens Angle, degrees
Connecticut — — (2) 68
Rhode Island (3) 69 (2) 73
New York State (7) 71 (10) 72.5
Southeastern Canada (5) 72 (3) 72
Maine — — (3) 72
Massachusetts (4) 73 (3) 71
New Jersey (Heye collection) (6) 73 (5) 74
Long Island (4) 74 (3) 71
Virginia (Valentine collection) — — (5) 74
Staten Island (3) 76 (1) 75
Prognathism
Facial prognathism did not differ very greatly in the different groups, yet there is a perceptible tendency toward a greater orthognathy among Indians of the northeastern states and Canada, and to somewhat greater protrusion among those of Long Island and Staten Island, the Munsee, and the Virginians of the Valentine collection. Alveolar prognathism (see table for details) was most pronounced on Manhattan Island, Long Island, and Staten Island; east among the New York Indians and among those of southeastern Canada, Maine, and Massachusetts.
It is evident from the data presented above, that the eastern Algonquian (and Iroquois) Indians, while essentially of one type, approached purity of type much more in the northeastern Atlantic states and in southeastern Canada than farther south. It is further plain that the stock presented numerous and occasionally marked localized or tribal as well as individual variations, and that in several of the states, and possibly even in Rhode Island, it was modified more or less by admixture with individuals of both sexes from across the Appalachians or the south. A locally differentiated group which in many respects already stood more or less apart from the neighboring tribes and was also characterized especially by more than average development, is the cluster of tribes of Manhattan Island, Long Island, and Staten Island. The Munsee and other Lenape stand in close relation in many important respects, though they exhibit also some differences; and both of them, as already shown, agree with the rest of the eastern Algonquians, more especially with their immediate neighbors to the north and south.
The tables of detail measurements of the Eastern Indian crania follow.
XCIX. EASTERN INDIAN CRANIA: FACE (DETAILS)
(A) = Number of Specimens
MALES
Group (A) Upper height Facial breadth Facial index, upper (A) Orbits
Height Breadth Index
cm. cm. cm. cm.
Southeastern Canada (7) 7.8 14.1 55.2 (10) 3.47 3.96 87.8
Maine (3) 7.4 13.45 53.2 (4) 3.36 3.9 86.2
Massachusetts (8) 7.4 13.7 54.3 (10) 3.42 3.96 86.3
Rhode Island (3) 7.4 13.35 55.5 (6) 3.5 3.9 90
Connecticut (2) — 13.8 — (2) 3.25 3.8 84.6
New York State (10) 7.4 14.05 51.7 (16) 3.4 3.9 86.8
Manhattan Island (2) 7.95 (14.3) (54.5) (2) 3.47 3.97 87.4
Long Island (4) 7.5 13.85 54 (5) 3.3 4 82.6
Staten Island (3) 7.45 14.7 50.5 (3) 3.48 4 87.6
New Jersey (Heye collection) (7) 7.15 13.9 51.5 (7) 3.4 3.9 87.5
Maryland — — — — (1) (3.48) (3.98) (87.4)
Virginia (miscellaneous) (2) 7.5 14.7 51 (7) 3.55 4 88.9
Virginia (Valentine collection) (4) 7.3 13.85 56 (10) 3.33 3.8 87.9
FEMALES
cm. cm. cm. cm.
Southeastern Canada (5) 6.75 12.6 52.9 (5) 3.38 3.78 89.5
Maine (4) 6.8 12.95 52.7 (4) 3.28 3.81 86.2
Massachusetts (15) 7 12.7 56.2 (21) 3.36 3.79 88.8
Rhode Island (4) 7.1 13 55.2 (5) 3.45 3.87 89
Connecticut (2) 6.85 12.3 55.7 (3) 3.32 3.6 92.1
New York State (11) 6.9 13.1 52.9 (13) 3.35 3.8 88.6
Manhattan Island — — — — (1) (3.25) (3.7) (87.8)
Long Island (4) 7 12.95 53.1 (5) 3.26 3.73 87.4
Staten Island (2) 6.5 12.65 (51.6) (3) 3.19 3.84 83
New Jersey (earlier) (11) 6.8 12.7 53 (13) 3.38 3.87 87.2
New Jersey (Heye collection) (5) 6.9 12.8 54.1 (7) 3.4 3.72 91.7
Virginia (miscellaneous) — — — — (2) 3.2 3.8 85.6
Virginia (Valentine collection) (5) 6.9 13.1 52.4 (6) 3.31 3.72 89
C. EASTERN INDIAN CRANIA: FACE (DETAILS)
MALES
Group Nose Palate
Number of specimens Height Breadth Index Number of specimens Height Breadth Index
cm. cm. cm. cm.
Southeastern Canada (8) 5.46 2.7 49.1 (4) 5.8 6.8 117.3
Maine (4) 5.1 2.3 45.6 (3) 5.8 6.6 113.8
Massachusetts (10) 5.2 2.6 49.7 (5) 5.75 6.5 113.2
Rhode Island (6) 5 2.65 52.5 (1) (6) (7.3) (121.7)
Connecticut (2) 5 2.45 49 — — — —
New York State (15) 5.3 2.75 51.8 (2) 5.95 6.9 116
Manhattan Island (2) 5.9 2.65 44.7 (2) 6.05 6.85 113.2
Long Island (5) 5.3 2.47 46.7 — — — —
Staten Island (3) 5.1 2.7 53.1 (2) 5.75 6.7 116.5
New Jersey (Heye collection) (7) 5.1 2.6 51.1 (8) 5.6 6.8 120.7
Maryland (1) (5.4) (2.7) (50) — — — —
Virginia (miscellaneous) (8) 5.4 2.7 50.6 — — — —
Virginia (Valentine collection) (9) 5.23 2.74 53.5 (3) 5.9 6.7 114.1
FEMALES
Group Nose Palate
Number of specimens Height Breadth Index Number of specimens Height Breadth Index
cm. cm. cm. cm.
Southeastern Canada (5) 5 2.67 53.4 (3) 5.3 6.1 115.8
Maine (4) 4.9 2.45 50 (4) 5.6 6.4 113.8
Massachusetts (21) 4.97 2.46 49.5 (8) 5.5 6.4 115.4
Rhode Island (5) 5.14 2.68 52.1 (3) 5.6 6.5 116.1
Connecticut (2) 4.75 2.6 54.7 — — — —
New York State (13) 5 2.67 53.2 (1) (5.5) (7) (127.3)
Long Island (5) 4.9 2.3 49 — — — —
Staten Island (3) 4.75 2.58 54.4 — — — —
New Jersey (earlier) (13) 4.87 2.5 51.5 (2) 5.2 6.3 121.2
New Jersey (Heye collection) (9) 4.98 2.63 52.9 (5) 5.25 6.35 120.5
Virginia (miscellaneous) (1) (5) (2.6) (52) — — — —
Virginia (Valentine collection) (6) 5 2.72 54.3 (5) 5.5 6.4 116.4
CI. EASTERN INDIAN CRANIA: FACE (DETAILS)
LEGEND:
A = Number of specimens
B = Diameter frontal minimum
C = Basion prosthion
D = Basion subnasal point
E = Basion nasion
F = Angle of facial prognathism
G = Angle of alveolar prognathism
MALES
Group (A) (B) (A) (C) (D) (E) (F) (G)
cm. cm. cm. cm. ° °
Southeastern Canada (14) 9.7 (5) 10.6 9.3 10.7 72 53
Maine (6) 9.35 (1) (10.4) (9.1) 10.8 (75) (55)
Massachusetts (12) 9.5 (5) 10.4 9.2 10.7 73 58
Rhode Island (6) 9.6 (3) 10.5 9.1 10.3 69 58.5
Connecticut (4) 9.1 (2) — — 10.3 — —
New York State (16) 9.5 (8) 10.5 9.4 10.6 71 54
Manhattan Island (2) 9.5 (1) (11) (10.2) 11.2 (72.5) (64)
Long Island (1) (9.3) (4) 10.3 9.5 10.8 74 64
Staten Island (2) 9.2 (3) 10.7 9.8 11.2 76 62
New Jersey (Heye collection) (8) 9.4 (6) 9.9 9 10.3 73 59
Maryland (2) 9.9 — — — (10.8) — —
Virginia (miscellaneous) (12) 9.5 (1) (10.2) 9.6 10.6 (74) (60)
Virginia (Valentine collection) (14) 9.7 (1) (10.2) 9.2 10.6 (71) (54)
FEMALES
Group (A) (B) (A) (C) (D) (E) (F) (G)
cm. cm. cm. cm. ° °
Southeastern Canada (4) 9.2 (3) 9.6 8.9 9.9 72 56
Maine (6) 9.3 (3) 9.9 9.1 10.2 72 57
Massachusetts (23) 9 (10) 10.1 9 10 71 56.5
Rhode Island (4) 9.4 (2) 10.1 8.7 10.2 73 50
Connecticut (3) 8.9 (2) 10.2 (8.5) 9.8 68 (51)
New York State (13) 8.95 (11) 9.9 9 10.1 72.5 57.5
Long Island (5) 9 (3) 10 (9) 10 71 (59)
Staten Island (3) 9.2 (1) (9.2) (8.8) 9.9 (75) —
New Jersey (earlier) (7) 9.2 (4) 9.8 8.7 9.9 70 54
New Jersey (Heye collection) (9) 9 (5) 9.6 8.6 10 74 57
Maryland (3) 9.1 — — — (10.1) — —
Virginia (miscellaneous) (6) 9.1 — — (9.4) (10.3) — —
Virginia (Valentine collection (18) 9.2 (5) 9.9 8.9 10.25 74 56