THE DESCRIPTION OF A NEANDERTHALOID AUSTRA-

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44 A. St N. Burkitt and J. I. Hunter this line in the region of the lambdoid suture as it is traced upwards, is a well-marked linea nuchae suprema. Thus the crista muscularis of the adult male gorilla is represented in No. 792 by four distinct lines-the temporal portion by the superior and inferior temporal lines and the occipital portion by the supreme and superior nuchal lines. The affinity with the anthropoid condition is shown by the close approximation of the posterior three lines for a distance of 50 mm. in the mastoid region (see fig. 7). Moreover in R. 60 and R. 24 there is a close approximation of the supra-mastoid crest to these three lines. In B. 3714 (Australian Museum), actual fusion of the four lines has occurred for a distance of 28 mm. producing a rough elevated area in the region of the asterion 14 mm. in width. This closely simulates the condition in the young anthropoid. Aboriginal specimens are thus met with in which the superior temporal line after continuing inferiorly, skirts the lambdoid suture in order to cut the parieto-mastoid suture about 10 mm. in front of the asterion. This may then become, as pointed out by Wilson (24), continuous with the mastoid crest (No. 792, No. 477, Medical School Museum; R. 2, R. 16, R. 24, R. 36, R. 60, No. 1245 and B. 3714, Australian Museum). In the majority of the above skulls including No. 792, the posterior inferior angle of the parietal bone is distinctly ridged by this continuation, recalling the considerable degree of prominence of the crista muscularis in the region of the asterion in anthropoids. The parieto-sphenoid articulation is present and measures 5 mm. on the right side and 8 mm. on the left. The parieto-temporal suture has a more horizontal course than in the modern European, but the junction between the squamous and mastoid portions is clearly indicated (fig. 7). It is to be noted that the fronto-sphenoid articulation lies on a level with the zygomaticofrontal suture, i.e. at a somewhat lower level than is usually the case in modern skulls. The level of this suture is even still lower in the Anthropoids. Klaatsch's method of measuring the post-orbital depression on the glabellainion horizon was followed and the annexed table incorporates his figures for purposes of comparison: Pithecan- R. 24 No. 792 thropus Spy I Spy II Post-orbital depressions ... 90 91 87 104 103 mm. Supra-orbital breadth ... 120 112 106 123 124 mm. Index of the post-orbital depression a x 100/b ... 75 81-25 82 08 84.55 83-06 Distance of the post-orbital depression from the glabella . ... ... 50 44 35 37 39 mm. The above measurements illustrate the similarity of the Australian skull with the Spy, Neanderthal and Pithecanthropus specimens in the sphenoidal regions. None of the measurements, however, are outside the range of those found in the aboriginal skulls of the Roth collection. For instance, the distance of the post-orbital depression from the glabella, exceeds that found in the Spy specimens and also Pithecanthropus, all of which have a measurement
Description of a Neanderthaloid Australian Skull between 35 and 40 mm. Several skulls of the Roth collection were found by Klaatsch in which the distance was between 45 and 50 mm. (R. 24, R. 28, R. 57, R. 62). All these examples contrast with the European where the depression is usually placed closer to the glabella (Schwalbe, quoted by Klaatsch). Klaatsch measured the greatest supraorbital breadth, i.e., the distance between the ectorbital prominences which overhang the frontozygomatic suture. The degree of development of the external angular process is then given by comparing this measurement with the post-orbital diameter. The smaller the index the larger and more prominent is the external angular process and we may note that the index in No. 792 is slightly below that of Pithecanthropus and the Spy skulls. (b) The Cranial Vault. In No. 792 the distance of the inferior temporal lines from the sagittal suture in a projection is 45 mm. in the frontal region (fig. 1); in the anterior parietal region it is approximately the same (45.5 mm.). The two temporal lines are separated from one another by a distance of 5 mm. even when only a short distance above the fronto-zygomatic suture. They diverge somewhat from one another and at the' coronal suture are separated by an interval of 15 mm. On crossing this they both deviate upwards and skirt the upper margin of the parietal eminence. The interval between the temporal lines is occupied by a well-marked bregmatic eminence forming a diamond-shaped area somewhat spread out both from side to side and from before backwards, approximating to the condition found in the W.A. B. 10283 (Australian Museum) skull. The anterior angle of this eminence which can be traced forwards to the supraorbital depression forms a torus frontalis medianus. Posteriorly the bregmatic eminence continues to the vertex (fig. 7); the highest point of the eminence is situated behind the bregma. The general form of the eminence in No. 792 is intermediate between the broad, flat elevation seen in the female Tasmanian in the Australian Museum and the more sharply defined eminence of Pithecanthropus. E. 11348 and S. 1158 (Australian Museum) have a similar eminence to No. 792, but it is separated posteriorly by a distinct depression from the vertex as in Pithecanthropus and R. 60. The receding forehead presents on either side of the torus frontalis medianus practically no signs of tubera frontalis. In No. 792 the parietal eminences although present, are ill-developed, the interparietal diameter (117 mm.) being 15 mm. less than the greatest width (132 mm.) which coincides with the supramastoid breadth. Turner (21), referring to the parietal bone in the Tasmanian aboriginal, states that "in the postero-parietal region a broad, shallow, median depressed area exists, bounded laterally by a low ridge on the parietal bone and along the middle of this depression the sagittal suture lies below the general plane of the vault." This condition is also to be observed in the skull of the Australian aboriginal, e.g., in No. 791, No. 618, R. 78, R. 45, R. 17, R. 14. R. 8 and R. 12, but is absent in No. 792. 45
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Page 25: Journal of Anatomy, Vol. LVII, Part

THE DESCRIPTION OF A NEANDERTHALOID AUSTRA-

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