Huxley, Busk,[1] and others into the physique of the people described in the last chapter, who buried their dead in the tombs, and whose skeletons are met with in the alluvia and peat-mosses, reveal the important fact that the population of the British Isles was uniform in character through the whole of the Neolithic age. They were small in stature, averaging five feet five inches in height, according to Dr. Thurnam. The stature of the dead buried in the sepulchral caves of Perthi Chwareu, and in the chambered tomb at Cefn, is estimated by Prof. Busk at a maximum of five feet six inches and at a minimum of four feet ten inches.[2] Their skulls are of fair average capacity, and are of the long or oval type[3] (Fig. 110), the length being due to a develop-
- ↑ Thurnam, Mem. Anthrop. Soc., vols. i. and iii. Thurnam and Davis, Crania Britannica. Wilson, Prehistoric Man, and Prehistoric Annals of Scotland. Laing and Huxley, Prehistoric Remains of Caithness. Busk, Journ. Ethnol. Soc. Lond., 2d ser. ii.
- ↑ The stature of the people buried in the long barrow of Nether Swell, Gloucestershire, is estimated by Prof. Rolleston at 5 feet 5 inches for the men and 4 feet 9 to 10 inches for the women. Journ. Anthrop. Inst. v. p. 21.
- ↑ Human skulls are classified, according to Dr. Thurnam and Prof. Huxley, as follows—the basis of classification being the "cephalic index," or the ratio of the extreme transverse to the extreme longitudinal diameter of the skull, the latter measurement being taken as unity (Huxley):—
I. Dolichocephali, or long skulls,with cephalic index at or below ⋅70
- Subdolichocephalifrom ⋅70 to ⋅73
II. Orthocephali, or oval skulls⋅74 to ⋅77
- Subbrachycephali⋅77 to ⋅79
III. Brachycephali or broad skullsat or above ⋅80
It has been argued from the diversity in the forms of the skulls observable at the present time among people living under artificial conditions, such as ourselves, that it is impossible to tell a man's race by the shape of his skull. To some extent this is true of our highly organised communities in Europe and America, where people of different nations and
