Chapter V: Caves of the Neolithic Age (2)

It would seem, therefore, that platycnemism may arise from an
unusual antero-posterior expansion of the bone, either in front or
behind the level of the interosseous ridge. What this difference
may indicate, or of what importance it may be in the consideration
of questions relating to platycnemism, I am not prepared to
discuss; but as in all probability it is connected with a
difference in the cause of the deformation (if it be deformation),
I have thought that the observation should be recorded, and would
merely, in addition, remark that, so far as I have noticed,
the occasional and not infrequent platycnemism observed in the
shin-bones of negroes is what may be termed anterior.

With respect to the ethnological value of the platycnemic _tibia_,
I conceive we are as yet very much in the dark. That it is a
race-character would seem to me in the highest degree improbable,
seeing that it would be difficult to find any other points of
resemblance between the Cro-magnon platycnemic men and those
whose remains were met with in the Gibraltar caves, although the
platycnemism is of the same kind in each; and still less could
the former gigantic race be identified with the occupants of
the Perthi-Chwareu sepulchre, from whom they differ not only in
stature, but even more remarkably in cranial conformation.

If, then, platycnemism cannot be regarded as of any value as a
race-character, it can _a fortiori_ be still less looked upon as
indicative of simian tendencies, a notion that M. Broca seems
somewhat inclined to favour. It is quite true that the _tibiæ_
of the gorilla and of the chimpanzee are, to a certain extent,
platycnemic; but it is by no means so much so as the human
platycnemic bone. The _tibia_ of a male gorilla in the College of
Surgeons has a latitudinal index of ·681, and that of a female of
·650, whilst that of the chimpanzee is ·611, or exactly the mean of
the Perthi-Chwareu bones. It is needless to insist upon the other
marked distinctions between the simian and the human _tibia_; but
as regards platycnemism it will be obvious, if we are disposed to
trace it to any genetic descent, that the descendant has, in this
respect, at one time far out-simianized the Simiæ.

But this comparison with the anthropoid apes may, perhaps, afford
ground for a suggestion respecting some possible connection
between this peculiar form of the _tibia_ and the habits of the
people amongst whom it has been observed. One great distinction
between the human and the simian foot consists in their respective
adaptations to totally distinct functions. In the one case it
is simply an organ of support and progression; in the other,
for the most part, of prehension. This necessarily involves a
considerable difference in the proportions, &c., of the muscles by
which the greater mobility and adaptability of the foot, and more
particularly of the digits, are ensured. Would it not, then, be
admissible to inquire how far, at any rate, posterior platycnemism
may be connected with the greater freedom of motion and general
adaptability of the toes enjoyed by those peoples whose feet have
not been subjected to the confinement of shoes or other coverings,
and who at the same time have been compelled to lead an active
existence in a rude and rugged or mountainous and wooded country,
where the exigencies of the chase would demand the utmost agility
in climbing and otherwise?

Some common cause of this kind would seem to be not improbable; and
it would not, perhaps, be difficult to ascertain whether it is a
_vera causa_ or not. But, with respect to this, observations are at
present wanting.

From the foregoing data we may conclude:--

(1) That the Perthi-Chwareu bones belonged to a race characterized
by the proportionally rather large dimensions of the cranium,
whose form presents nothing very remarkable, and is pretty nearly
conformable to several of those found by Mr. Laing in the ancient
shell-mounds in Shetland.[111]

(2) That this form is distinctly different from that of the
Mewslade skull, in which the vertical region is somewhat
flattened, as is the case also with several Anglesey crania,
which, however, appear to pass, by gradual transition, into the
Keiss and Perthi-Chwareu shape, through such a form as that of the
Towyn-y-capel skull figured by Professor Huxley;[112] and the whole
of them consequently may be regarded as belonging to the so-called
“River-bed skulls” of that author, excepting the Borris cranium,
which appears to belong to a different type altogether.

(3) That the people whose remains were found in this locality were
of low stature (the mean height, deduced from the lengths of the
long bones, being little more than 5 feet), the tallest being 5
ft. 6 in., and the shortest adult not more than 4 ft. 10 in., the
intermediate ones being 5 ft. 1 in. and 5 ft. 2 in.

(4) That the proportions of the long bones are rather thick, and
the muscular impressions in all are very strongly marked.

(5) That the _tibiæ_ are, for the most part, of a much more
compressed form than those of the modern English, but that this
platycnemism does not appear to be exactly of the same kind as
that which is exhibited in the Gibraltar bones and in those from
Cro-magnon (as figured by M. Broca), the difference consisting in
the fact that in the two latter instances the bone is expanded
backwards behind the transverse plane at the interosseous ridge as
much as it is in front of that plane, whilst in the Welsh _tibiæ_
it is the anterior portion of the shaft only which is expanded;
or, in other words, the platycnemism in them is due simply to an
absolute compression of the shaft.

§ 3. HUMAN REMAINS FROM THE CEFN TUMULUS.

These remains, as submitted to my inspection, consist of:--

(1) Portions of three frontal bones, two of which are nearly
complete, and one constituted of little more than the superciliary
region.

(2) Two parietals and a left temporal, probably belonging to the
same skull as the more mutilated frontal.

(3) Portions of four thigh-bones, two left and two right, one of
the latter wanting the proximal, the other both extremities.

We have thus the remains of three individuals from this interment.

I. _The Frontal Bones._--No. 1. The least transverse diameter,
immediately behind the external angular processes, is 3″·6, and
its greatest (at the coronal suture) about 4″·3. Longitudinal arc,
4″·1. The profile outline of the forehead is slightly receding;
the frontal sinuses moderately developed; and the supraorbital
border thin and acute, whilst the glabellar eminence is large
and prominent. The bone is a good deal compressed on the sides,
so as to have almost the appearance of having formed part of a
cymbecephalic skull. The bone itself is thin, and probably without
any _diploë_.

No. 2 presents exactly the same characters, except that the
longitudinal arc is greater, being 5″·3. The postorbital or least
transverse diameter is 3″·4, and the coronal or greatest 4″·4.
The frontal sinuses are well developed; the supraorbital ridge
rather prominent, but thin and sharp; the external angular process
prominent and thick. Glabellar eminence large and prominent.
The nasals remain _in situ_, and project almost, if not quite,
horizontally forwards, with a rapid curve at first, and then
straight out. The general contour of the bone is exactly like that
of No. 1, in which also, although the nasals are wanting, the
position of the surface by which they were attached shows that they
must in all probability have resembled those of No. 2. The _crista
galli_ of the ethmoid, which is left _in situ_, is remarkably thick
and high.

No. 3 is a portion of a larger and wider bone, the postorbital
diameter being at least 4″·0. The frontal sinuses are very large,
but distinctly defined, as the remainder of the supraorbital border
is not thickened. Owing perhaps to the greater prominence of the
sinuses, the glabella does not appear so protuberant as in the
other instances. The nasal bones remain and project forwards in
the same curious fashion as in No. 2. The frontal crest on the
inner surface is remarkably developed, being at least half an inch
high, though it is separated by a wide notch from the equally
strongly developed _crista galli_ of the ethmoid.

No. 4, when the three bones of which it is composed are put
together, consists of the greater part of the parietal region of
the skull, to which, as before said, the last-described frontal
may have belonged. The left parietal is quite perfect; and a
considerable portion of the right also remains, together with the
entire left temporal; so that a very sufficient estimate of the
proportions of the parietal region of the skull can be obtained.

As well as can be estimated, the parietal longitudinal arc, or
length of the sagittal suture, is 5″·2. The vertical transverse
arc, or that drawn from one auditory foramen to the other, over
the point of junction of the coronal and sagittal sutures, is
12″·2, the parietal 13″, and the occipital 12″·2. In the temporal
bone, the external auditory foramen is large, the mastoid process
of moderate size, but the digastric fossa is wide and deep. The
channels for the middle meningeal artery and its branches are large
and deep; and very deep depressions on the sides of the sagittal
suture show that the _glandulæ Pacchioni_ must have been greatly
developed. The bone is very thin, and with scarcely a trace of
_diploë_ where its structure is visible. None of the sutures,
however, which are strongly serrated, are in the slightest degree
closed, although, as I should imagine, the skull must have been
that of a man beyond the middle period of life.

II. _The Thigh-bones._--Two of these bones, which, though much
alike, differ sufficiently to show that they did not belong to the
same individual, are decidedly carinate.

No. 1 wants the upper and lower ends. The least circumference
of the shaft, which is at a point about 3½ inches below the
_trochanter minor_, is 3″·2. That process, as well as all the
other muscular impressions, is strongly developed; and that for
the insertion of the _gluteus maximus_ is peculiar in presenting
the form of a deep elongated pit instead of a roughened elevation
as usual. The antero-posterior and transverse diameters of the
shaft, about 1½ inches below the _trochanter minor_, are ·85 × 1·4;
and the shaft at this part, like that of the above-described from
Perthi-Chwareu, presents a rather acute or narrow external and
internal border instead of the usual more rounded form. Lower down,
the shaft becomes strongly carinate; and, owing to the flattened
form of the anterior surface, its transverse section affords a
subtriangular figure (fig. 55). The walls, or cortical substance,
are rather thicker than usual, and the substance of the bone is
dense and hard.

No. 2 is very similar in character to the foregoing, but is not
quite so much compressed in the upper part, measuring ·8 × 1·2.
Nevertheless the inner border is very acute, and the outer more so
than in the common form of _femur_. The shaft lower down is not so
strongly carinate as it is in the former instance, but is still so
in some degree (Fig. 56); and the walls (or cortical substance) are
still thicker in proportion.

No. 3. A third specimen consists of the lower half, or rather
more, of the right _femur_. The least circumference is 3″·2.
The bone exhibits no special external characters, and is in no
degree carinated. The shaft, at about the middle of its length,
is somewhat angular in front; and the pit for the origin of the
_popliteus_ muscle is deeper and perhaps larger than in most
bones of the same size. The texture of the cortical substance is
quite eburneous; and it is extremely thick, so that the medullary
canal is reduced to a calibre of little more than 0″·25 in its
longest diameter. The shaft, however, is straight, and exhibits
no other sign whatever of having been affected with _rachitis_.
It is, however, a curious circumstance that many of the Gibraltar
thigh-bones, most of which are carinate, present the same
thickening of the cortical substance (Fig. 57).

No. 4. A fourth specimen is constituted of merely a portion of the
shaft, about 12 inches long, and without either extremity. Its
least diameter is 3″·3, and its antero-posterior and transverse
diameters, at the same point as in the other bones, 1 × 1·25, or
pretty nearly in the usual proportions. Nevertheless the bone,
throughout its whole remaining extent, is less rounded on the
inner side of the shaft than is usual. The _trochanter minor_ is
of gigantic size; and the shaft of the bone, about and below the
middle, exhibits a subtriangular aspect (Fig. 58), though scarcely
to be called carinate. The cortical substance is of the normal
thickness.

III. _Tibiæ._--No. 1 consists of the greater portion of the left
tibia, wanting only the lower extremity. The proximal end measures
2·9 × 1·9; and the diameters of the shaft, about the middle,
are 1·2 × ·75, giving a latitudinal index of ·620. The shin is
remarkably sharp and prominent, and rather curved over to the outer
side; and the apparent compression or tendency to platycnemism may
in some measure be referred more to the production in front of the
anterior part of the bone than to actual narrowing of the posterior
side of the triangle, which is nevertheless rather more rounded
than in most cases. The axis of the shaft is quite straight; and
the bone has not the least rickety appearance.

No. 2 is also a portion of the left tibia. Both extremities are
wanting, and the bone offers nothing worthy of remark. Its least
circumference is 2″·65; and the shaft, at the middle, measures
1″·1 × ·65; so that the latitudinal index is about ·640, showing a
slight degree of compression. The entire length of the bone may be
estimated as rather more than 13 inches, corresponding to a height
of about 5 ft. 4 in. or 5 ft. 5 in., so that the subject may be
supposed to have been a female.

These remains represent at least four individuals--one probably
somewhat aged, another of strong and robust make, and one, in all
probability, a woman--in fact, a family group. No correct idea can
be formed of the cranial conformation of these persons. In general
shape it would seem to correspond with that of the Perthi-Chwareu
skulls; but two of them at any rate are of smaller size, if we
may judge from the least frontal diameter. The forehead also is
perhaps a little more reclined. The most striking feature in two
of the specimens, and which appears also to have existed in a
third, is the extraordinary projection forwards of the nasal bones.
In the present case this may probably be regarded as a family
peculiarity; but with reference to it, it should be remembered
that M. Broca[113] has described a very similar condition in the
skull of the “Old man” of Cro-magnon, in whom, he says, “the ridge
of the nose, slightly depressed at its base, rises again almost
immediately, and advances boldly forward, making a rapid curve,
with the concavity directed rather forward and especially upward,
so that the lower ends of the _ossa nasi_ are placed 18 mm. (·7
inch) in front of a line dropped vertically from the fronto-nasal
suture.”

The condition of the bones from the Cefn tumulus differs very
considerably from that of the remains from Perthi-Chwareu. They all
have an appearance of much greater antiquity. With the exception of
the very dense _femur_, they adhere to the tongue; and they are all
deeply stained with manganous oxide, by which the substance even of
the hardest portions is stained to a depth of more than one-eighth
of an inch. That this discoloration, which for the most part does
not assume the dendritic appearance, is due to manganese and not to
any vegetable stain, is quite certain.

The form of the skull, so far as it can be ascertained from
such imperfect remains, and the rather platycnemic shape of the
_tibiæ_, may perhaps justify our supposing that the Cefn bones
belong to a cognate race to those whose remains were deposited at
Perthi-Chwareu, or to one which had lived under similar conditions.
But the cranial data are hardly sufficient to allow of any
satisfactory inference being drawn from them: and as regards the
_tibiæ_, it has already been pointed out that platycnemism cannot,
in the present state of our knowledge, be regarded as an important
ethnological character amongst priscan peoples, though it may
undoubtedly be considered a character betokening remote antiquity.

§ 4. SKULL FROM THE CEFN CAVE, NEAR ST. ASAPH.

The only specimen of human remains from this locality is a nearly
entire _calvaria_, wanting the whole of the face below the
superciliary border.

In the middle of the left parietal bone is a small irregular
opening, with short radiating lines of fracture proceeding from it;
but this appears to have been recently caused, and from the inside.

The bone generally is of a brown colour, and, as regards firmness,
in a natural condition; and it does not adhere to the tongue.
Judging from its aspect alone, it would not appear to be of any
very great antiquity; but as it has lain in a dry soil, and
sheltered from rain or moisture, this appearance may be deceptive.

Its dimensions are given in Table I. (_supra_), from which it
will be seen that the cephalic or latitudinal index is ·770, and
the altitudinal ·702. It belongs, therefore, to the category of
subbrachy-cephalic skulls of Thurnam and Professor Huxley.

In the side view (_norma lateralis_--Plate 7, Fig. 59), it so
closely resembles, except in one respect, that described and
figured by Professor Huxley (_loc. cit._ p. 125, Figs. 60, 61) from
the bed of the Nore, at Borris, in Ireland, that we can scarcely
refuse to recognize a common character between them, which, since
in the present case it cannot be looked upon as denoting a mere
family relationship, may reasonably be regarded as indicative of
some affinity of race. The chief difference observable in this view
of the two skulls is the greater development of the frontal sinuses
in the Borris _calvaria_. The occipital view (_norma occipitalis_,
Fig. 8) is also very similar, except that in the Borris skull the
greatest width appears to be in the temporal, and in the other the
parietal region. In the Borris skull, also, there is a shallow
groove in the course of the sagittal suture, which does not exist
in that from St. Asaph.

The Borris skull is said to be of the extraordinary length of 8
inches; and this may account for the much lower cephalic index
of the skull, whose absolute width in reality somewhat exceeds
the Cefn specimen (5″·9 and 5″·7), whilst the altitudinal as
compared with the latitudinal is but very little greater than it
would be were the skulls reduced to the same breadth. They may
both, therefore, be regarded as “low,” or, as this class of skull
might be termed, in the euphonious language of craniologists,
“tapinocephalic.” One great peculiarity of the Cefn _cranium_
(which exists also, but apparently not to quite so great a
degree, in the other) is the absolute horizontality of the plane
of the subinial portion of the occipital bone. And it is to this
flattening that the comparative lowness may perhaps be chiefly
attributed.

The sutures, where visible, appear to be open. The mastoid
processes and all other muscular impressions are strongly marked.

A third skull of very similar character, except that it is not so
much depressed, has come under my observation. It was discovered in
a submarine or, rather, subterranean peat-bed or ancient forest,
30 feet below the sea-level, at Sennen, near the Land’s End, in
Cornwall; and a brief notice and outline figure of it will be found
in the “Natural History Review” for 1861.[114] The Sennen skull has
the same elongated form; but it is higher than either the Cefn, St.
Asaph, or Borris crania, having an altitudinal index of ·730.

On the whole, these three skulls (_i.e._ those from Borris, Sennen,
and St. Asaph) would appear to have a common character, and to be
of a different type from either the Perthi-Chwareu or the Mewslade
form.

As a rule it may, I think, be stated that in all brachy-cephalic
skulls the breadth exceeds the height, whilst the reverse is the
case in the dolicho-cephalic. Individual exceptions are of course
not unfrequently met with, more especially among very mixed races,
such as the modern English; but I am myself acquainted with only
two dolicho-cephalic _races_, properly so termed, in which the rule
does not hold good. These are the Tasmanian (not Australian) and
the Bushman.

Any exceptions, therefore, to either rule among ancient and,
consequently, less mixed races are worthy of being noted.

As regards modern brachy-cephalic skulls the law holds almost
universally, the only marked exception, except in an individual
here and there, being in two Karén skulls, in which, although both
decidedly brachy-cephalic, the respective indices stand as ·848 to
·924, and as ·790 to ·842.

Among priscan brachy-cephalic skulls the most remarkable and
important exceptions I have met with occur among the neolithic
crania in the Copenhagen Museum, more than half of which are
brachy-cephalic, and most of the others nearly so, the mean
cephalic index of 21 skulls being ·790, whilst the mean altitudinal
is as high as ·810. In fact, out of 12 skulls whose indices vary
from ·795 to ·838, no fewer than 10 have the latitudinal index less
than the altitudinal.

The exceptions to the rule as applied to dolicho-cephalic skulls
also appear to be far more common among the ancient than among the
modern, excepting the two races I have above referred to.

In a long list of ancient and priscan skulls, I find the following
having the tapino-cephalic character:--

+-------------------------------------------+----------+------------+
| | L. Ind. | Alt. Ind. |
+-------------------------------------------+----------+------------+
| 1. From the Thames alluvium at Old Ford | ·792 | ·753 |
| 2. From the same deposit at East Ham | ·774 | ·690 |
| 3. From the same deposit at Battersea | ·763 | ·745 |
| 4. From the same deposit at London Bridge | ·762 | ·611 |
| 5. From tumulus at Stanshope | ·763 | ·684 |
| 6. A Guanche skull | ·775 | ·737 |
| 7. A Guanche skull | ·763 | ·684 |
| 8. Cefn, St. Asaph’s | ·770 | ·702 |
+-------------------------------------------+----------+------------+

The number is but small, it must be confessed, and perhaps hardly
sufficient to do more than prove the rule; but still I think it
will be found worth inquiry whether a departure from the rule
in question was more frequent among the unmixed or little-mixed
races of ancient times than it is amongst similarly unmixed races
of the present day; and whether consequently its infraction in a
considerable number of instances may or may not be indicative of a
lower type, as which we are accustomed to regard the Tasmanian and
Bushman races.

_General Conclusions as to Human Remains._

The human remains in the caves of Perthi-Chwareu and Cefn, and in the cairn near the latter place, imply that the men to which they belonged were a short race, the tallest being about 5 feet 6 inches, and the shortest 4 feet 10 inches.[115] Their skulls are orthognathic,[116] or not presenting a lower jaw advancing beyond the vertical line dropped from the forehead; in shape ortho-cephalic, or subbrachy-cephalous, and of fair average capacity. The face was oval and the cheek-bones were not prominent. Some of the individuals were characterised by the peculiar flattening of shin (platycnemism), which probably stood in relation to the free action of the foot that was not impeded by the use of a rigid sole or sandal. This character, however, is neither peculiar to race, nor to be viewed as a tendency towards the simian type of leg. These conclusions, which Professor Busk has arrived at from the examination of the remains which were submitted to him, have been fully borne out by the numerous skeletons which have been subsequently discovered, both in the sepulchral caves at Rhosdigre and in a second chamber in the cairn of Tyddyn Bleiddyn near Cefn.