The passing of the great race; or, The racial basis of European historyGrant, Madison
History
The passing of the great race; or, The racial basis of European history
Grant, Madison
Ethnology -- Europe
This cephalic index, though an extremely important if not the
controlling character, is, nevertheless, but a single character and must
be checked up with other somatological traits. Normally, a long skull is
associated with a long face and a round skull with a round face.
The use of this test, the cephalic index, enables us to divide the great
bulk of the European populations into three distinct subspecies of man,
one northern and one southern, both dolichocephalic or characterized by
a long skull and a central subspecies which is brachycephalic or
characterized by a round skull.
The first is the Nordic or Baltic subspecies. This race is long skulled,
very tall, fair skinned with blond or brown hair and light colored eyes.
The Nordics inhabit the countries around the North and Baltic Seas and
include not only the great Scandinavian and Teutonic groups, but also
other early peoples who first appear in southern Europe and in Asia as
representatives of Aryan language and culture.
The second is the dark Mediterranean or Iberian subspecies, occupying
the shores of the inland sea and extending along the Atlantic coast
until it reaches the Nordic species. It also spreads far east into
southern Asia. It is long skulled like the Nordic race but the absolute
size of the skull is less. The eyes and hair are very dark or black and
the skin more or less swarthy. The stature is distinctly less than that
of the Nordic race and the musculature and bony framework weak.
The third is the Alpine subspecies occupying all central and eastern
Europe and extending through Asia Minor to the Hindu Kush and the
Pamirs. The Armenoids constitute an Alpine subdivision and may possibly
represent the ancestral type of this race which remained in the
mountains and high plateaux of Anatolia and western Asia.
The Alpines are round skulled, of medium height and sturdy build both as
to skeleton and muscles. The coloration of both hair and eyes was
originally very dark and still tends strongly in that direction but many
light colored eyes, especially gray, are now common among the Alpine
populations of western Europe.
While the inhabitants of Europe betray as a whole their mixed origin,
nevertheless, individuals of each of the three main subspecies are found
in large numbers and in great purity, as well as sparse remnants of
still more ancient races represented by small groups or by individuals
and even by single characters.
These three main groups have bodily characters which constitute them
distinct subspecies. Each group is a large one and includes several
well-marked varieties, which differ even more widely in cultural
development than in physical divergence so that when the Mediterranean
of England is compared with the Hindu, or the Alpine Savoyard with the
Rumanian or Turcoman, a wide gulf is found.
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