Origin and character of the British people / by Nottidge Charles Macnamara.

  • Macnamara, Nottidge Charles, 1832-1918.
Date:
1900
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Origin and character of the British people / by Nottidge Charles Macnamara. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    172/306 (page 120)
    Professor Nilsson states that, with the exception of the Laplanders, the inhabitants of Scandinavia have, from time immemorial, belonged to the dolichocephalic family of human beingsd The accuracy of this statement is borne out by all that we know regarding the skulls of the ancient inhabitants of that country. But during the early neolithic period, there is evidence to show that the Danish islands of Falster, and Moen, were inhabited by a totally different race to that of Sweden; the people dwelling on these islands were brachycephalic (see note, p. 29), having a cranial index of 80 and upwards; they were, in fact, a branch of the Northern Mongolian or Turanian race. They had broad heads and faces, high barrows and dolmens of England; tire entire number are dolichocephalic, having a cephalic index ranging from 63 to 74. These skulls as a rule are not only dolichocephalic but are narrow and with a well-developed frontal region, having all the characteristics of the Aryan type of cranium. Professor Welcher is of opinion that the early Irish were the most dolichocephalic of all Europeans.—Memoirs of the Anthropological Society, vol. iii. p. 75. ‘ S. Nilsson, The Primitive Inhabitants of Scandinavia, p. 115.