OCR Text |
Show 61 With reference to this question, we examined a considerable number of Indian skulls contained in the collection of the United States Army Medical Museum, but we must confess that among the modern ones we did lot meet with any deformation that could reasonably be attributed to the influence alluded to. Among a series of skulls exhumed from mounds in Kentucky, So. 723 is deformed very slightly, while No. 730 shows a pronounced depression of the lower and posterior portion of the left parietal bone, and in No. 242 we meet with an almost perpendicular occiput, perceptible especially when viewed from the right side. A considerable number of crania from mounds near Vicksburgh, Miss., could not be used to strengthen our argument, as they are all, with scarcely any exception, deformed intentionally and in every possible direction. Having obtained these rather negative results, we examined the collection of Indian cradles contained in the National Museum, trying to establish some relation between the construction of the cradle- board and the mode of deformation of the skull. If we were to judge from the specimens as they present themselves at the Smithsonian Institution, we might under the circumstances arrive at erroneous conclusions, jis most likely the majority of these cradles are incomplete, consisting in most cases of scarcely anything but the frame- work. Probably, some tribes prepare the head- rests for the children more carefully than others, and the deformation of the skull will be found accordingly. Unfortunately, there are no skulls of Indian tribes that now inhabit the vicinity of the region in question within our reach, and therefore we are unable to draw any comparisons or to point out cranial affinities that might exist between the ancient inhabitants of the ruins and the people that now live near those deserted dwellings. • According to other evidence, however, there is not much room left to doubt that the present Pueblo Indians are the direct descendants of tbe ancient inhabitants of Southern Colorado and New Mexico, although there are either no traditions preserved pointing toward this direction, or the few that do exist are of too vague a nature to be relied upon. As one of the arguments in favor of this view, we may take the mode of constructing the houses. Tbe structures erected by the present Pueblos do not differ materially from the majority of dwellings built by the ancient architects. Tbe whole modifications the former offer are merely dae to the different topographical features of the ground on which they stand, and to the influence of the white raee, as can readily be proven. In the present mode of constructing the dwellings, there is, however, one detail worthy of attention and further investigation. We mean the arched building,* as there are but two tribes inhabiting this continent whose architectural skill proved efficient enough for this purpose, namely, the Peruvians and the Eskimos. As tbe dome- like structure is only found among this race ( besides the people just mentioned), it would be worth while to investigate whether this style of architecture is original or adopted from the Spaniards, and whether it is of rare occurrence or to be met with frequently. As another evidence in favor of the view that the preseut Pneblos are the descendants, or rather the remnant, of the ancient cliff- house builders, we may take tbe pottery found near the ruins. The shape of the pots now in use among tbe Pueblos is the same as that of the few pieces brought east, so are the ladles with their characteristic hollow handles, and the ancients were in the habit of burying their water- jugs in the ground in order to keep them cool, just as we see it practiced •" Descending to the chamber by a ladder, it was found probably twenty- five or thirty feet in diameter, arched above, and about twenty feet high."- Report of Chief of Engineers, |