Preliminary Report on the Cranial Cast [of the Piltdown Skull

Abstract

The observations recorded in these notes were made upon the cranial cast which was submitted to me for examination by Dr. Smith Woodward, under whose direction the remains of the cranium were fitted together and the cast obtained from it. The accompanying sketch (fig. 11) represents the left norma lateralis, and will explain better than a description the extent of missing cranial wall. The greater part of the right parietal bone and a considerable part of the occipital were found, and it was possible to fit them into position. Thus the form and proportions of the whole brain can be estimated. The sharply-cut meningeal grooves upon the bones have produced upon the cast the whole pattern of the middle meningeal veins and arteries with great distinctness. The diagram shows the arrangement upon the left side: upon the right it conforms to Giuffrida-Ruggeri9s Typus 1. Unfortunately, there are only very slight indications of the arrangement of the furrows upon the surface of the cerebral hemisphere. Nevertheless many of them can be detected, if not by sight, by passing the finger over the surface and locating the depressions by touch. These features are represented (with considerable exaggerations so far as depth of shading is concerned) in the diagram (fig. 11) on the preceding page. At first sight, the brain presents a considerable resemblance to the well-known Palaeolithic brain-casts, and especially to those obtained from the Gibraltar and La Quina remains, which are supposed to be women9s. Like these casts this one is