if to any of your characteristic types, to the Chinook of the Columbia.3 It is excessively contorted and flattened, so much so that Dr. Dawson suggests post-mortem modification, but I do not think that this is so myself. I feel sure Dr. Dawson would send it on to you if you have not seen it and if you cared to; and I may say that I should personally feel grateful to you for a few notes upon it to add to my paper with reference to it. I am sorry I cannot send you a copy of my paper yet. The matter of it, I think, would interest you. This skull is practically all the human remains we have recovered from this series of mounds. They are evidently of great age and singularly devoid of relics, a few copper things only having been recovered from them — not a single relic of stone of any kind. From another one a portion of the frontal bone of a second skull was taken, which had been curiously preserved by the verdigris from a copper ring buried with it, and this appears to me to indicate that the excessive flattening of the frontal bone which is seen in the more perfect skull was not peculiar to it but was probably common to the builders of these sepulchres.
In the explorations carried on by myself and a few friends among the middens of the Lower Fraser district, among the relics of interest we have recovered several crania of a type markedly distinct from those of the Indians now inhabiting this region. This will be of interest to you on account of their marked dolichocephaly. But besides their low cephalic index, their other peculiar charactersitcs differentiate them very widely from any of the typical crania of this district, I am not sure that I ought not to say of British Columbia. In looking over your tables of the physical characteristics of the tribes of this region I can find no division in which to place them. They seem to form a type by themselves. The mean cephalic index of the Lower Fraser tribes is, I see, about 88.50, and your minimum index does not fall below 82.7 for these people, whereas the mean of these midden crania of which I am speaking is under 74, judging by those that have come under my observation, none of which show signs of post-mortem or other modification, if we except a slight flattening in the region of the lambda due to the cradle, and which, if it affected their cephalic index at all, would tend to raise rather than lower it. This index is lower than any you have given with the exception of one of the Lytton group, all which you state have suffered from post-mortem deformation. I am familiar with the Lytton type, but see nothing in common between them and the midden dolichocephali, which are undoubtedly true dolichocephali. Contrasted with the brachycephalic skulls, also found in these middens, but I think always in the superior layers, they present very striking differences, two of the most noticeable of which are the entire absence of the parietal bulge, and the lofty sweep of the coronal arc. Indeed I think they might fitly be described by the term acrocephalic.
These middens from which they are recovered are very extensive, one in which I have chiefly worked covering an area of over 4% acres and having a maximum depth of over 15 feet. They are of some age too, having been abandoned for at least half a millenium. They were formed before the alluvial islands in the estuary came into existence and when the salt waters of the gulf extended up as far, at least, as Port Hammond, 25 miles from the present mouths of the river. In speaking of middens I may say that we possess a great number of prehistoric heaps of the kind in this district, all of which have evidently, like those of the Fraser, been abandoned for many centuries. The oldest and biggest stumps of our biggest trees are seen projecting from their masses everywhere along the inlets, and I have thought it possible that this wholesale abandonment of such evidently desirable camp sites, in whose vicinity shell and other fish abound and have abounded in great quantities from time immemorial, may be accounted for by that intrusion of the Salishan warriors, which your linguistic investigations seem to declare must have taken place here at some indeterminate period in the past. I have suggested this explanation in my paper in speaking of these old camping grounds. The undoubted age of the middens, their long abandonment, and these dolichocephalic crania taken from some of them form together at any rate an exceedingly interesting question to my mind. I hope to be able to get the American Bureau of Ethnology to help me in these investigations for the future. More extensive exploration than I have hitherto been able to afford to give them is required. I know of several series of tumuli in other quarters, which I should like to open.
I owe you an apology for this lengthy letter. I would not have ventured to inflict it upon you but for your known interest in these questions and topics. I trust I may hear from you at your leisure. Through the kindness of Dr. G. M. Dawson I possess your 6th and 7th reports on the North-West Tribes of Canada. I should like a copy of your others very much if you have any you can spare, and shall be pleased to send you a copy of my paper when printed later in return. Is your report of the natives of this district issued yet? Dr. Dawson told me you had one coming out.
I am very truly yours
Chas. Hill-Tout
To Dr. Boas.
P.S. Do you mind saying whether you think it possible to effect a pemanent deformation of the bones of the skull by continued practice of cranial contortion through many generations? For example, might not the marked brachycephaly of the Harrison River Indians be accounted for if it could be proved that they were the descendents of the Hatzic mound-builders who flattened their heads excessively. It seems to me that some permanent contortion of the head might result from these causes. Is this possible? C. H-T.
Letter from Franz Boas1
New York 127 East 58th St.
Oct 25th 1895
Prof. Chas. Hill-Tout
Vancouver B.C.
Dear Sir,
I just received your interesting communication of Oct 3rd on my return from a trip to Europe. I have not been to London nor have I heard about the skull which interests me very much. Is it a find from the large stone graves and what were the copper implements found with it? Your find of longheaded skulls is important and I should like much to examine them. It is very likely that I shall be on the coast about the month of May and should be very glad if I could assist you in your interesting work. I may be able to obtain funds for this purpose.
Thanking you for your interesting letter and hoping to hear from you again,
I remain yours very truly
Franz Boas
Letter to Franz Boas
Buckland College
Van. B.C.
Nov 2nd 95
Dr. Franz Boas.
Dear Sir,
Many thanks for your reply to my letter forwarded through Dr. G. M. Dawson. I am expecting every day a proof copy of my paper on the mounds and middens of this area from the printers of the Royal Society of Canada’s Proceedings. I will send you one as soon as I am able. I have spoken of my work among these with some detail in this paper.
The contorted skull was taken from one of the Hatzic tumuli, which are made partly of stone and partly of earth. (They are described in full in the paper.) I had hoped to get a note from you on it before the paper was finally incorporated in the Proceedings. I will write and ask Dr. Dawson to forward it to you, and if you will write a few notes upon its physical characteristics and send me, I will send them to Dr. Bourinot and ask him to add them as a supplement to my paper. I think the matter is interesting enough for this to be done. I have photos of the most contorted skulls of this region known to most of the learned societies but none of them approaches to the excessive deformation of this one. I should value your opinion on this skull, from your wide experience in such matters, very much. You could either send it back to me direct or to Dr. Dawson. It is not in my power to present it to anyone. It is claimed by the person who gave me financial help in my explorations.
With regard to the longheads from the
