Page:American Anthropologist NS vol. 1.djvu/294

HRDLIČKA] anomaly was unilateral or bilateral, or what irregularities of structure, if any, were shown by other parts of the skeleton.

The ethnological nature of the bones occurring in the cave mentioned is not yet fully determined. Undoubtedly the burial place is a very old one, for many of the bones, even those which were still buried deeply in the earth and could not have been denuded by animals, do not show even a trace of the dry, tough, mummified tissues which for centuries cling to bones in similar locations. However, the whole surrounding country is, and was, so far as any data or traditions go, occupied by the same tribe of Indians—the Tarahumare—hence in all probability the bones belong to the ancestors of these people.

The ulna here described lay bare on the nitrous earth, and attracted my attention by a peculiar large foramen situated just above its inferior extremity. The bone is apparently that of a male; it shows pronounced curvatures, as do many of the Indian ulnae; it is strong, though not excessively so, and up to its head and neck it is entirely normal.

The carpal extremity of the bone shows the following conditions : The styloid process is short ; the articular facet on the head, which is usually more or less semilunar in shape with the concavity toward the styloid process, is in this case irregularly circular, with the lateral width greater than the antero-posterior. A few millimetres below the head is situated a well developed, regular, spacious foramen in the bone. The foramen measures 8 mm. in height by 6 mm. in width ; its base and internal side rest on the head and the neck of the ulna, while externally the opening is completed by a span of bone 2 mm. thick and 4 mm. broad in its narrowest part. The bone of the span is entirely normal; the proximal extremity of the bridge is continuous with the shaft of the bone and the interosseous ridge, respectively; while the distal extremity of the bridge, widening considerably, blends imperceptibly with the head of the ulna. There is absolutely no sign of any injury on the lower portion of the ulna.