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CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN HEYE FOUNDATION Volume III
PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE LENAPE OR DELAWARES, AND OF THE EASTERN INDIANS IN GENERAL
BY ALEŠ HRDLIČKA
NEW YORK THE MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN HEYE FOUNDATION
10 East Thirty-third Street 1916
NOTE.
This memoir, published in the series of Bulletins of the Bureau of American Ethnology, is based largely on a collection of skeletal remains recovered by an expedition of the Museum of the American Indian in the summer of 1914 in a cemetery associated with the site of an historic Munsee settlement near Montague, in the Delaware valley, northwestern New Jersey. These skeletal remains were presented to the United States National Museum by the Museum of the American Indian and therefore formed the basis of the study by Dr. Hrdlička, the results of which are herein presented. The archeological observations conducted at the Munsee site are incorporated in a paper bearing the title “Exploration of a Munsee Cemetery near Montague, New Jersey,” by George G. Heye and George H. Pepper, which forms Volume II, No. 1, of
Contributions from the Museum of the American Indian
, to which the present memoir may be regarded as supplementary.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 62
PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE LENAPE OR DELAWARES, AND OF THE EASTERN INDIANS IN GENERAL
BY ALEŠ HRDLIČKA
WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1916
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
Washington, D. C., November 10, 1915.
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a report by Dr. Aleš Hrdlička on “Physical Anthropology of the Lenape or Delawares, and of the Eastern Indians in General,” and to recommend its publication as a bulletin of the Bureau of American Ethnology.
Very respectfully,
F. W. Hodge, Ethnologist-in-Charge.
Hon. Charles D. Walcott, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution.
CONTENTS
I. SKELETAL REMAINS OF THE MUNSEE
PAGE
Introduction 11
Condition of the collection 15
General 15
Age and sex 15
Artificial deformation 16
Pathology 16
The crania 19
General observations: Differences in type 19
Chief descriptive features 20
Measurements 20
Form of the vault 20
Size of the skull 22
Relation of size of skull to stature 23
Size and shape of the face 25
Orbits. Nose 27
Prognathism 28
Palate 30
Foramen magnum 31
Lower jaw 32
Detailed observations on the crania 32
The vault: Forehead 32
Sagittal region 33
Temporo-parietal region 33
Occiput 34
Sutures: Serration 34
Occlusion of sutures 35
Wormian bones 35
Bregma and Inca bones 36
Parietal foramina 36
Retromastoid foramina 37
Mastoids 37
Supraorbital ridges 38
Nasion depression 39
Nasal bridge 39
Nasal bones 40
Nasal aperture 40
Nasal spine 40
Orbits 41
Suborbital fossæ 41
Malar bones. Zygomæ 42
Upper alveolar arch 42
Lower jaw 43
Palate 43
Base of the skull 43
Glenoid fossæ 43
Floor of the auditory meatus 44
Styloid processes 44
Middle lacerated foramina.
Posterior lacerated foramina 45
Depressions of the petrous portions 46
Pterygo-basal foramina 46
Posterior condylic foramina 47
Miscellaneous anomalies 47
The teeth 48
Dentition 48
Loss and decay 48
Wear 48
Size, quality, shovel-shaped incisors 48
Anomalies 49
Cuspids 49
Summary of measurements and observations on the crania 50
The bones 52
Humerus 52
General observations 52
Detailed observations 55
Shape of the shaft 55
Perforation of the septum 55
Supracondyloid process 56
Radius 56
Ulna 57
Femur 58
General observations 58
Measurements 58
Humero-femoral index 61
The shaft 61
Platymery 63
Special characteristics of the femora 65
Linea aspera 66
Shape of the shaft 66
Third trochanter 66
Tibia 67
Fibula 70
Clavicle 71
Sternum 72
Scapula 73
General features 73
Descriptive features 75
Type of body 75
Superior border 76
Scapular notch 78
Ribs 79
Spine 80
Sacrum 81
General observations and measurements 81
Segments 82
Curvature 82
Ossa innominata and pelvis 83
The ossa innominata 83
The pelvis as a whole 85
Short and other bones 87
Patella 87
Bones of the hand 90
Bones of the feet 91
First metatarsal 91
Os calcis 93
Articular facets for astragalus 95
Astragalus 96
Scaphoid 99
Cuboid 102
Internal cuneiform 104
External and middle cuneiform 106
Summary of measurements and observations on parts
of the Munsee skeleton other than the skull 106
II. EASTERN INDIAN CRANIA IN GENERAL
General observations 110
Cranial index 114
Height of skull 116
Size of skull 117
Facial measurements 119
Height of the face 119
Breadth of the face 119
Orbits 120
Nasal index 121
Palate 122
Prognathism 122
APPENDIX
Iroquois and most nearly related Eastern Indian crania 127
ILLUSTRATIONS
Plate Page
1. Anthropological map of the Indian population of eastern
United States and Canada according to present knowledge 11
2. General view of the locality of the Munsee cemetery at
Minisink, New Jersey 15
3. Plan of the Munsee burial site showing location and
position of the burials 17
4. Two typical Munsee burials in moderately contracted position 18
5. Two burials in extended position 20
6. Male Munsee skull No. 285,303, U.S.N.M. (front view) 22
7. Male Munsee skull No. 285,303, U.S.N.M. (side view) 25
8. Male Munsee skull No. 285,303, U.S.N.M. (view from above),
showing typical features 26
9. Male skull No. 99-6669, A.M.N.H., from Manhattan Island
(front view) 28
10. Male skull No. 99-6669, A.M.N.H., from Manhattan Island
(side view) 31
11. Male skull No. 99-6669, A.M.N.H., from Manhattan Island
(view from above), showing long ovoid outline 32
12. Male Munsee skull No. 285,308, U.S.N.M. (front view) 34
13. Male Munsee skull No. 285,308, U.S.N.M. (side view) 37
14. Male Munsee skull No. 285,308, U.S.N.M. (view from above) 38
15. Undeformed typical female Munsee skull No. 285,309, U.S.N.M.
(view from above) 40
16. Male Munsee skull No. 285,306, U.S.N.M., showing fine
ovoid outline 40
17. Large male skull No. 2010-4423, A.M.N.H., from Manhattan
Island, showing fine elliptical outline 40
18. Adult male skull from Manhattan Island, No. 99-6667, A.M.N.H.,
showing an exceptionally high and narrow face 42
19. Brachycephalic extraneous female skull, No. 285,311, U.S.N.M.
(view from above), found with the Munsee Indians 44
20. Skull of Munsee child of about six years of age, No. 285,329,
U.S.N.M., showing fronto-occipital compression 45
21. Base of female skull No. 285,311, U.S.N.M. (brachycephalic
extraneous), found among the Munsee burials, showing
excessive size of the foramina ovale, especially on the
right side 48
22. Lower jaw of female Munsee skull No. 285,307, U.S.N.M.,
showing complete fusion of the right lower lateral incisor
and canine 49
23. Supracondyloid process in a femur, and a spurious
supracondyloid foramen in a humerus of the Munsee 54
24. Fusion of humerus and ulna; male Munsee skeleton
No. 285,303, U.S.N.M. 58
25. a. The seventh cervical vertebra of female Munsee skeleton
No. 285,311, U.S.N.M., with a cervical rib.
b. Scapula of female Munsee skeleton No. 285,328, U.S.N.M.,
showing semilunar shape of the superior border 76
26. a. Male Munsee sacrum showing bilateral articulation
with an extra segment introduced between the last lumbar
and the sacrum.
b. Female Munsee sacrum showing bilateral articulation
with extra segment 81
27. Female Munsee sacrum showing unilateral articulation with
the fifth lumbar 82
28. a. Patella of female Munsee skeleton No. 285,311,
U.S.N.M., showing marked obliquity.
b. Patellæ of female Munsee skeleton No. 285,309,
U.S.N.M., showing pronounced vastus notch.
c. Internal cuneiforms of male Munsee skeleton No. 285,301,
U.S.N.M., showing each a double metatarsal facet.
d. Pair of female Munsee scaphoids showing unusual
broad talus facet and peculiar tuberosity 90
29. a. The right and left first metatarsal of Munsee skeleton
No. 285,326, U.S.N.M., showing disproportion in
size; also a canal in the smaller bone, possibly the
vestige of an early fracture.
b. The calcanei of male Munsee skeleton No. 285,313, U.S.N.M.,
showing wide separation of the two facets for the astragalus 96
Figure 1. Map showing the location of the Munsee cemetery 12
PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE LENAPE OR DELAWARES, AND OF THE EASTERN INDIANS IN GENERAL I. SKELETAL REMAINS OF THE MUNSEE