The cephalic characters of the old man of Cro-Magnon are to be found
more or less strongly marked in all the men of the same race. They
are generally modified in the women. Thus, even in that specimen,
the head of which, unfortunately incomplete, was discovered not far
from that of the old man, we see the beautiful lines of the skull
preserved, and the forehead even rising a little higher still. But
the posterior surface is less pronounced, the dysharmony is less
strong between the skull and the face. The latter is relatively
longer, the orbits are higher, the nose is broader, and the
prognathism is modified. We cannot, however, deny the ethnical
relation of the two heads which were found together, and which thus
constitute definite terms of comparison for the two sexes.
The Cro-Magnon race was tall. The mean height deduced from the
measurements taken by M. Hamy upon a skeleton and the isolated bones
of five men is 1·78 m. (5 feet 10 inches). With the old man of
Cro-Magnon it was about 1·82 m. (5 feet 11·6 inches), and with the
Mentone man, whose skeleton was found by M. Rivière entire and _in
situ_, it was as much as 1·85 m. (6 feet 0·8 inches). The Cro-Magnon
woman measured 1·66 m. (5 feet 5·3 inches). These bones and all those
which have been connected with them, moreover, give indications of
a remarkably strong race. They are thick and solid. In all cases
the muscular impressions are very strongly marked. In the old man
of Cro-Magnon the femurs are also the broadest and thickest that
M. Broca has ever measured, as we have already remarked. The linea
aspera is also of an unusual breadth and thickness, and forms a sort
of prominent column or buttress.
Finally, in the Cro-Magnon men, a fine open forehead, a large,
narrow, and aquiline nose, must have compensated for any strangeness
which the face may have acquired from the probable smallness
of the eyes, from very strong masseters, and from a slightly
lozenge-shaped contour. With these features, the type of which is
in no way disagreeable, and allows of real beauty, this magnificent
race combined a high stature, powerful muscles, and an athletic
constitution. It seems to have been fitted in every way for
struggling against the difficulties and perils of savage life.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account