Chapter IV: Introduction

In 1902, in pursuance of a study of the antiquity of certain skeletal remains found in the vicinity of Trenton, New Jersey, the writer collected and described all the crania of the Lenape or Delaware Indians which at that time were preserved in our museums.[1] From that time until 1914 no further anthropological discoveries of consequence were made in the region over which the tribe once extended; but during the spring of the latter year careful archeological exploration was conducted in the upper Delaware River valley in behalf of the Museum of the American Indian in New York, by Mr. George G. Heye, with the assistance of Mr. George H. Pepper, in the course of which were found the remains of no fewer than 57 Indian skeletons.[2] The bones were not in the best state of preservation, but they were collected with scrupulous care, and shortly after the field work was completed they were presented by Mr. Heye to the United States National Museum. This skeletal material forms an important addition to the previously limited collections representing the Lenape Indians, whose physical identity it is highly desirable to establish.

[1] Hrdlička, The Crania of Trenton, New Jersey, and their Bearing upon the Antiquity of Man in that Region, _Bull. Amer. Museum of Natural History_, XVI, art. 311, New York, 1902, pp. 23-62, 22 pl., 4 fig.

[2] For details and archeological results, see George G. Heye and George H. Pepper, Exploration of a Munsee Cemetery near Montague, New Jersey, _Contributions from the Museum of the American Indian (Heye Foundation)_, II, pt. 1, New York, 1915. The Heye Expedition reports some additional burials, but the skeletal remains therefrom were in a very defective condition.

The remains came from a cemetery in the form of a low mound on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River, opposite Minisink Island, 3 miles below Montague, in the northwestern corner of Sussex County, New Jersey. The accompanying map (fig. 1) shows the site of the cemetery, which lay in the heart of the region once occupied by the Munsee branch of the Lenape Indians.

FIG. 1.—Map showing the location of the Munsee cemetery.]

On the arrival of white settlers, the entire region afterward known as New Jersey belonged to the Lenape or Delawares,[3] whose settlements extended “from the Mohicannituck [Hudson River] to beyond the Potomac,” and “from the heads of the great rivers ‘Susquehannah’ and ‘Delaware’ to the Atlantic Ocean” (Heckewelder). The neighboring tribes to the north (Mohegan, Narraganset, Pequot, and others), as well as those on the south (Nanticoke, the Powhatan confederacy, and others), all acknowledged relationship with the Delawares, with whom, there is no doubt, they were affiliated linguistically.

The Lenape were divided into three large groups, or, as Brinton calls them, “sub-tribes,” namely, the Munsee or Minsi (the Wolf), the Unami (the Turtle), and the Unalachtigo (the Turkey).[4] These sub-tribes, it seems, were subdivided into numerous smaller groups with distinctive names.[5] The three branches of the tribe occupied special regions, but it has not been reported whether their boundaries were stable and definite. The Minsi, according to Heckewelder,[6] had “chosen to live back of the two other tribes and formed a kind of a bulwark for their protection.... They extended their settlements from the Minisink, a place named after them, where they had their council seat and fire, quite up to the Hudson on the east, and to the west or southwest far beyond the ‘Susquehannah’; their northern boundaries were supposed originally to be the heads of the great rivers Susquehannah and Delaware, and their southern boundaries that ridge of hills known in New Jersey by the name of Muscanecun, and in Pennsylvania, by those of Lehigh, Cohnewago, etc.”[7]

[3] _Captain John Smith’s Works_, 1608-1631, Arber ed., Birmingham, 1884; _William Penn’s Letters_, 1683; G. Thomas, _History of New Jersey_, London, 1698; Thomas Campanius Holm, _Short Description of New Sweden_, Stockholm, 1702, transl. by Duponceau in _Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania_, III, Phila., 1834; T. Acrelius, History of New Sweden, Stockholm, 1759, transl. in _Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania_, XI, 1874; Samuel Smith, _History of the Colony of Nova Cesarea or New Jersey_, Burlington, 1765; Peter Kalm, _Travels into North America_, London, 1770-71; G. H. Loskiel, _History of the Mission of the United Brethren among the Indians in North America_, London, 1794; Geo. Chalmers, Political Annals of the Present United Colonies, etc., 1780, _New York Historical Society Collections_, 1868; John G. E. Heckewelder, History, Manners and Customs of the Indian Nations who once Inhabited Pennsylvania and the Neighboring States, Phila., 1819, _Mem. Hist. Soc. Penn._, XII, 1876; also MSS.; James Grahame, _History of the Rise and Progress of the United States of North America_, London, 1827 (new ed., 1836, 1845); Thos. F. Gordon, _History of New Jersey_, Trenton, 1834; J. Curtis Clay, _Annals of the Swedes on the Delaware_, Phila., 1835; Yates and Moulton, _New York_, N. Y., 1824; Isaac Mickle, _Reminiscences of Old Gloucester_, Phila., 1845, Camden, 1877; A. Gifford, Aborigines of New Jersey, _Proc. N. J. Hist. Soc._, IV, Newark, 1859, pp. 163-198; D. G. Brinton, _The Lenape and their Legends_, Phila., 1885; Handbook of American Indians, _Bull. 30, Bureau of American Ethnology_, Washington, 1907-1910.

[4] These designations are not translations of the terms given in parentheses, but “refer to the location of these sub-tribes on the Delaware River,” Minsi (from _minthin_, to be scattered, and _achsin_, stone), meaning “people of the stony country” or “mountaineers”; Unami (from _nahen_, down-stream) means “people down the river”; and _Unalachtigo_ (from _wunalawat_, to go towards, and _t’kow_ or _t’kou_, wave) means “people who live near the ocean.” Wolf, Turtle, and Turkey are the totemic designations of the three sub-tribes. (Brinton, op. cit., p. 34.)

[5] From the above tribes, in course of time, sprang many others “who, having for their own conveniency, chosen distant spots to settle on, and increasing in numbers, gave themselves names or received them from others.” (Heckewelder, _Hist. Indian Nations_, p. 53; see also ibid., p. 51.)

[6] Heckewelder, _Hist. Ind. Nations_, p. 52. Brinton (op. cit., p. 37) is of the opinion, but on what grounds is not stated, that the extent of the territory of the Munsee as given here is too great. In his words, “that at any time, as Heckewelder asserts, their the Munsee territory extended up to the Hudson as far as tide-water, and westward ‘far beyond the Susquehannah’ is surely incorrect. Only after the beginning of the eighteenth century, when they had been long subject to the Iroquois, have we any historic evidence that they had a settlement on the last named river.” It seems, however, that even if the presence of the Munsee on or beyond the Susquehannah may be open to contention, their presence along the Hudson is well established. Gifford (_Aborigines of New Jersey_, p. 180) states that “the Minsi tribe extended as far on the west banks of the Hudson as Tappan.” Yates and Moulton (_History of New York_, I, p. 225) place the Minsi even farther east, “from Long Island to and beyond Minisink.” According to Ruttenber (_History of the Indian Tribes of Hudson’s River_, p. 50) the Munsee territory “extended from the Katskill mountains to the headwaters of the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers, and was bounded on the east by the Hudson; their council-fire was lighted at Minisink [about 10 miles south of Maghackemek, New Jersey.” The Unami joined the Munsee on the south, somewhere about Stony Point. Going farther than this, Ruttenber gives (p. 93 et seq.) the various subdivisions of the Munsee along the Hudson and their location: the Waoroneck, about Dans-kammer; the Warranawonkong, from Dans-kammer to Saugerties; the Mamekoting west of Shawangunk mountains; the Wawarsink, in the district which still bears their name; the Katskills, north of Saugerties.]

[7] Quoted from Hrdlička, _The Crania of Trenton_, op. cit., pp. 32-33.

This is evidently one of the rare instances in which it is possible to make a clear tribal identification of older skeletal remains in eastern North America, and it is also an instance in which the contents of graves enable a fairly close estimate of the age of the site. The artifacts found with the various burials include a number of objects introduced by early settlers, a fact that shows the cemetery to be of historic date. Furthermore, one of the skeletons is that of a tall white man of Scandinavian or Nordic type, possibly one of the Dutch, English, or Swedes who reached the upper valley after 1614. As the remainder of the skeletons do not indicate any trace of admixture of white blood, the cemetery may be regarded as dating from the period of the earlier contact of the Indian and Caucasian races, or probably from the latter part of the seventeenth or the beginning of the eighteenth century. It was surely earlier than 1740, for in that year the main body of the Munsee was forced to move from the Delaware, settling first on the Susquehanna and soon after on the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania, where some of them had gone as early as 1724.

An event of anthropological importance in connection with the Munsee before their removal from the Delaware is noted by Ruttenber.[8] In the latter part of the seventeenth century, at the outbreak of hostilities between the Five Nations and the French, the advance of the Iroquois in the south was being contested by the Shawnee, who at that time were also engaged in war with the Cherokee. “In the latter they [the Shawnee] suffered severely, and but for the timely aid of the _Mohicans_ would have been destroyed. The _Lenapes_ (Delawares) invited them to remove to their country; the invitation being accepted, the _Minsis_ brought the matter to the attention of the government of New York, in September, 1692, on an application to permit their settlement in the Minisink country. The council gave its assent on condition that they should first make peace with the Five Nations.[9] This was soon effected, and the messengers departed, accompanied by Arnout Vielle, an interpreter, and three Christians, to visit the country of the _Shawanoes_ and consummate the transfer.... Captain Arent Schuyler visited the _Minisinks_ in February, and there learned that the Shawanoes were expected early in the ensuing summer. This expectation was realized.”

[8] Ruttenber, _History of the Indian Tribes of Hudson’s River_, p. 178.

[9] “River Indians returned from a residence with the Shawanoes, brought with them some Shawanoes who intended to settle with the Minisinks, asking permission to that end. Council directed that the Shawanoes must first make peace with the Five Nations.—_Council Minutes_, Sept. 14, 1692.”

GENERAL VIEW OF THE LOCALITY OF THE MUNSEE CEMETERY AT MINISINK, NEW JERSEY]

From this it appears that between 40 and 50 years before their removal from the Delaware, the Munsee were joined by some Shawnee, which fact may explain certain peculiar conditions shown by the skeletal remains that will be considered in the following pages.

The mound or cemetery explored by the Museum of the American Indian was known for many years, and some human bones had been removed from it, especially by Doctor Dalrymple, who exhumed at least 15 skeletons, but unfortunately these have been lost to science.

CONDITION OF THE COLLECTION

GENERAL

As already stated, the collection from the Museum of the American Indian consists of 57 Indian skeletons, which range from nearly complete to such as are represented by only a few bones. Notwithstanding the fact that the condition of the material leaves much to be desired, many of the bones are sufficiently well preserved to afford fairly good data for study. The bones show neither vestiges of greenness nor traces of mineralization. There is no post-mortem deformation, except in a few detached bones of the skulls of infants. The color of the bones is predominantly brownish yellow, shading in some specimens to light dirty yellowish and in others to a darker brownish hue.

AGE AND SEX

Of the 57 individuals, 34 were adults and 23 (40 per cent) were adolescents or children. Among the adults the estimated ages of the individuals range from 24 to 70 years, and nearly half were 50 years or more. Young infants (first year) and fetuses are absent, having either been buried separately, or, more likely, had turned to dust, while the older, more substantial bones resisted disintegration. The cemetery was obviously one that served during a limited period as the communal burial place of a sedentary group of moderate population. The determination of the sex was facilitated by the good development of the sexual characteristics in the skulls, and by the presence of the pelvic and other bones of the skeleton. The results show that the 34 adults were divided equally between the sexes, as might be expected in the case of the remains of adults in the cemetery of a peaceful population.[10]

ARTIFICIAL DEFORMATION

A fact of considerable interest is the presence of artificial deformation in more than half of all the skulls preserved. In the majority of cases this appears to be a simple occipital, cradle-board flattening, but there are three or four instances in which there are plain traces of bilateral frontal compression, which indicates intentional deformation and suggests that all the posteriorly flattened skulls may possibly be of this variety, though the applied pressure failed in most cases to leave a distinct mark on the frontal bone.[11] The result of no such practice has been observed in any other part of the northern or middle Atlantic States, but deformation of exactly this type was common in Arkansas and Louisiana, as well as in the area to the northeastward.[12] Among the crania of the earlier and somewhat more easterly Lenape reported by the writer[13] to the number of 25, only two (both females) showed slight occipital flattening. These facts are significant and point either to some difference in derivation between the Munsee and other Lenape and eastern Algonquian tribes, or, if of common derivation, to a connection between the Munsee and some people from the Trans-Appalachian region to the southwestward. It is in this connection that the historic accession to the Munsee of some Shawnee is suggestive, for the latter, or a part of them, lived in Kentucky and Tennessee, where the practice of fronto-occipital deformation was not uncommon, and in some parts of that area, indeed, was quite general.

[10] Had the cemetery, prior to its disturbance, contained the remains of as many as 200 bodies of all ages, including infants, with a yearly mortality in the tribe of 35 per thousand, it could have been in use only about 60 years by a population of 100, and proportionately less, of course, for a larger group.

[11] As happened frequently on the coast of Peru, for instance, where the same type of deformation was practiced. No board was used in these instances, the frontal compression being effected by means of pads.

[12] Report on a Collection of Crania from Arkansas, _Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila._, XIII, 558-563, Phila., 1908; Report on an Additional Collection of Skeletal Remains from Arkansas and Louisiana, ibid., XIV, 1909, pp. 173-240, 9 figs.; Report on Skeletal Remains from a Mound on Haley Place, near Red River, Miller County, Ark., ibid., XIV, 1912, pp. 639-640; Report on a Collection of Crania and Bones from Sorrel Bayou, Iberville Parish, La., ibid., XVI, 1913, pp. 95-100.

[13] _The Crania of Trenton_, op. cit., 1902.

PATHOLOGY

The bones in the collection are exceptionally free from the effects of injury and disease. The skulls exhibit no scars or injuries, and no disease, with the exception of a case of perforating mastoiditis in one of the children (no. 285,348). There is, however, as will be shown later, a considerable proportion of dental caries, with some indications of _pyorrhea alveolaris_.

PLAN OF THE MUNSEE BURIAL SITE SHOWING LOCATION AND POSITION OF THE BURIALS]

In the remaining bones of the skeletons the only marks of injury or disease are as follow:

_Humeri_ (total number present, adults,[14] 56):

Left bone of no. 285,307: Old surface injury involving lower
fourth of external border, with formation of some callus and
a peculiar foramen (pl. 23).
Right bone of no. 285,303: Complete ankylosis with ulna, at
right angle, possibly as a result of an early fracture of the
olecranon (pl. 24).
Both humeri of no. 285,320: Some periostitis on distal third.
Both humeri of no. 285,306: Osteoperiostitis, distal half.

[14] The bones of the children show nothing pathological.

_Radii_ (total number, adults, 45):

Both bones of no. 285,320: Some osteoperiostitis over distal half.

_Ulnæ_ (total number, adults, 44):

Left bone of no. 285,306: Moderate osteoperiostitis, lower bone
(right healthy).

_Femora_ (total number, adults, 60):

Pair, no. 285,306: Moderate osteoperiostitis, distal half.
Right bone of no. 285,336: Some osteoperiostitis, distal half
(left healthy).
Right bone of no. 285,320: Moderate osteoperiostitis, distal half
(left healthy).
Right bone of no. 285,313: Marked “mushroom head” (arthritis
deformans); left healthy.
Left bone of no. 285,321: Moderate “mushroom head.”

_Tibiæ_ (total number, adults, 58):

Right bone of no. 285,301: Trace of periostitis at middle
(left healthy).
Right bone of no. 285,303: Slight osteoperiostitis on external
surface, middle third (left healthy).
Right bone of no. 285,306: Osteoperiostitis, proximal half
(left healthy).
Left bone of no. 285,313: Moderate localized osteoperiostitis,
middle (right healthy).
Right bone of no. 285,336: Moderate osteoperiostitis, middle
three-fifths (left healthy).
Left bone of no. 285,309: Trace of periostitis (right healthy).
Pair of no. 285,320: Osteoperiostitis.
Left bone of no. 285,321: Slight arthritis, upper articular
surface (right healthy).

_Fibulæ_ (number present, adults, 51):

Pair, no. 285,320: Osteoperiostitis.

_Clavicles_ (present, 44):

Pair, no. 285,305: Moderate osteoperiostitis.
Right, no. 285,320: Osteoperiostitis.

_Sternum_ (present, 14):

Moderate arthritic changes in nos. 285,305, 285,309, and 285,314.

_Scapulæ_ (present, 25): Nothing pathological.

_Ribs_ (present, 420):

No. 285,305: Two long ribs fractured, well healed.
No. 285,309: One long rib fractured.
In addition, most of the ribs of nos. 285,305 and 285,333 show
traces of arthritis.

_Spine_ (of 25 individuals, mostly complete):

No. 285,305: Some marginal exostoses (arthritic) in the cervical
and lumbar regions.
No. 285,306: Moderate arthritic exostoses, lumbar region.
No. 285,333: Advanced spondylitis deformans, involving parts of
dorsal and whole lumbar region with sacrum, synostosis.
No. 285,319: Moderate arthritic exostoses on nearly all.
No. 285,311: Moderate arthritic exostoses.
No. 285,320: Moderate arthritic exostoses.
No. 285,328: Moderate arthritic exostoses in cervical and lumbar
regions.

_Pelvic bones_ (of 20 individuals):

No. 285,321, right: Some marks of arthritis about acetabulum.

_Bones of the hand_ (number, 774):

No. 285,303: Carpal bones of right all damaged, crushed, and
fused with third metacarpal.
No. 285,320: One of the carpals crushed in life.

_Bones of the feet_:

Os calcis (number, 61): Nothing pathological.
Astragalus (number, 58): Nothing pathological.
Other bones (number, 537):
No. 285,321: Right scaphoid, arthritis (left healthy).
No. 285,326: First right metacarpal diminutive (may have been
injured in early life).

_Patellæ_ (number, 38):

Pair of no. 285,329: Slight arthritis.

A summary of the above details shows that there are only six, possibly seven, instances of more noteworthy injury, and of these three pertain to ribs (two in one person) and two to the wrist. These are very moderate proportions of traumatism, and show plainly that the people represented by the remains led unusually peaceful lives.

TWO TYPICAL MUNSEE BURIALS IN MODERATELY CONTRACTED POSITION]

As to disease, there is evidence of only four conditions, namely: Periostitis, osteoperiostitis, arthritis, and arthritis deformans; and of these four the first two and again the last two are closely related, being really only degrees or varieties of the same processes. It is quite possible that all four conditions are merely differing manifestations of arthritis. There is no well-founded suspicion of the existence of syphilis in the tribe, and there is no trace of either rachitis, tuberculosis, or tumors of the bones. (Dental caries will be referred to under Teeth.)

We may now approach the more strictly anthropological observations.

THE CRANIA

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS: DIFFERENCES IN TYPE

Although the remains comprise seventeen adult males and the same number of females, some of the skulls are so defective that measurements and notes of value could be made only on those of ten males and thirteen females.

In examining and arranging these specimens, the first realization of importance is that, while the majority clearly belong to one type, there are a few that must be classed apart. The main type, as will be noted later and more plainly from the measurements, is that characterized by dolichocephaly to mesocephaly, and agrees with that prevalent among other Lenape as well as other Eastern tribes. The additional type is brachycephalic. Among the twenty-five skulls of adults there are four of the brachycephalic type, all females. A few additional examples existed evidently among the children; and several of the remaining skulls may be transitional as a result of admixture. The brachycephaly is so marked that it can not be due to normal individual variation within the series, and if we exclude this possibility the only remaining conclusion is that the broad-heads could not have been Lenape, except by adoption. The individuals represented by these skulls might have come from western Pennsylvania, where brachycephaly seems to have prevailed at least in some districts; or from farther southwestward, from a region to which points the intentional deformation among the “Munsee” crania. These possibly represent the Shawnee, who came from that section and who, according to growing indications, while speaking Algonquian were of a different type physically.

The admixture of this type existed evidently also among other branches of the Lenape, and to a more limited extent among various other tribes of the Atlantic states. The writer called attention to this mixture in 1902,[15] and will return to the subject in the second part of this memoir, which deals with Eastern skulls in general.

[15] _Crania of Trenton_, op. cit.

CHIEF DESCRIPTIVE FEATURES

The skulls are of good size, but otherwise are characterized by moderate development. There is no massiveness, no heavy supraorbital arches or crests, no heavy jaws. It is plain that they did not belong to a tribe of great huntsmen or warriors.

The frontal region, though prevalently somewhat low in the females, in a large majority of the cases is well arched; the zygomæ are not excessively broad, the malar bones not heavy. The nose is rather short, the face only mildly prognathic. The dental arches, as in the majority of Indians, are very regular, and the same applies to the medium sized teeth. The vault of the skull from above is either ovoid (58 per cent) or elliptical (42 per cent), while the outline of the norma posterior approaches more or less the pentagonal.

In addition there may be mentioned an unusual scarcity of Wormian bones and an equal sparsity of marked anomalies. These and other features are treated in detail in another part of this paper. (See pp. 35, 47.)

MEASUREMENTS

The measurements[16] offer many points of interest, although, so far as the vault is concerned, they are considerably interfered with by artificial deformation in some of the specimens. As in certain former reports by the writer, they will be dealt with in order according to their significance.

[16] All measurements presented in this report were taken personally by the writer, with proved instruments and due care. Unless otherwise noted, the methods follow strictly the international agreements of Monaco and Geneva.

FORM OF THE VAULT

The measurements relating to the form of the vault comprise the maximum length and breadth, and the basion-bregma height, with the resultant percentage-relations or indexes. The details are given in the accompanying table. Although the number of undeformed specimens in good condition is small, it will be seen (_a_) that there is an absence of extremes in the several dimensions, (_b_) that the crania range in type from dolichocephalic to mesocephalic, and (_c_) that they show good height. As a result of the latter, both the height-length and the height-breadth indices are high, though corresponding well with those of many other Indian tribes and those of numerous other branches of the yellow-brown race. Comparisons will be found in the second part of this report, which deals with the Eastern Indians in general.

The lower burial is of special interest as showing how much of a skeleton may be decayed or scattered without disturbance of the remainder]