The Seri Indians. (1898 N 17 / 1895-1896 (pages 1-344*))McGee, W J
History
The Seri Indians. (1898 N 17 / 1895-1896 (pages 1-344*))
McGee, W J
Seri Indians; Seri language; Yuman languages
If the skull under examination is considered from a purely evolutionary
standpoint, it must be pronounced to be in many points inferior to
the average white and even to the majority of Indian crania. An
anthropological identification of the specimen is difficult, for
the reason that we are still very imperfectly acquainted with the
craniology of the peoples of southwestern United States and northern
Mexico. From what we know of the crania of the Pima, and the extinct
Santa Barbara, Santa Catalina, etc., Californians, it is possible to
say that the individual whose skull is here reported upon may have
belonged to a people physically related to either of these groups. The
skull is very distinct from that of an Apache. The female Seri cranium
examined by me before does not show certain of the peculiarities of
this specimen; nevertheless it is very possible that both crania
belonged to individuals of the same tribe.
ALEŠ HRDLIČKA.
In making his examination, Dr Hrdlička compared the unquestionably
authentic cranium of the entire skeleton with two skulls preserved in
the American Museum of Natural History, viz., No. 99/84, designated as
a skull of a Tiburon mound-builder, and No. 99/85, labeled as having
been found in a shell mound at Tiburon, California; but, in view of the
possible error in identification in these cases, the comparisons are
omitted. Otherwise, Dr Hrdlička’s determinations are as recorded in the
following report (and his drawings of the anterior and left lateral
aspects of the cranium are reproduced in figure 6):
[Illustration: FIG. 6—Anterior and left lateral aspects of Seri
cranium.]
REPORT ON AN EXAMINATION OF A SKELETON FROM SERILAND
[By Dr Aleš Hrdlička, Associate in Anthropology, Pathological
Institute, New York]
_The Skeleton_
All the bones of the skeleton are present, except the sternum, the
coccyx, a few of the teeth, and a few of the small bones of the
extremities.
It is a skeleton of a young adult, between 20 and 24 years of age,
female. The age of the subject is indicated mainly by the unattached
epiphyses of the long and some of the short bones, those epiphyses,
namely, which are the last to coossify. The femininity of the subject
is indicated by the generally slightly marked ridges, etc., of muscular
attachment, and by the decidedly feminine character of the pelvis
(light, well-spread ilia, broad subpubic arch) and of the skull (lack
of supraorbital ridges, thin dental arches, small mastoids, etc.).
There are no wounds or pathological conditions noticeable on the
skeleton. Several peculiarities and anomalies are observable. They will
be described with the parts they concern.
The measurements to follow are expressed in centimeters. The French
anthropometric methods and nomenclature have been adopted.
_The Skull_
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