The man who measured skulls of living people

Edgar Thurston (1855-1935), who was Superintendent of the Madras Government Museum from 1885 to 1908, was also perhaps the most flamboyant of the lot. He was a champion of the science of anthropometry and eyewitness accounts from the period testify that he would invite visitors to the anthropometric section of the museum to have their skulls measured. Today, Thurston is remembered for the monumental seven volume Castes and Tribes of Southern India (1909) that he compiled with the assistance of K. Rangachari. Though science has invalidated many of the anthropomoteric techniques he used, the work is still frequently consulted by scholars for the wealth of information it contains. He also authored a work on the omens and superstitions of southern India.

As part of his research work into his Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Thurston took skull measurements of a few individuals from every caste/tribe. Based on these sample measurements, he would calculate cephalic indices (which is the ratio of the breadth of a skull to its length) and nasal indices. People with long or dolicocephalic skulls (those with low cephalic indices) were considered to belong to the Indo-Aryan race back then while those with broad or brachycephalic skulls (those with high cephalic indices) were believed to belong to the Dravidian race. Thurston writes in his preface that often people would run away when he arrived to measure skulls for many suspected that he was a recruiting officer for the Boer War. A group of Paniyan women refused to participate in the experiment as they feared he might kill them and stuff their bodies for the Madras Museum.

Thurston's tenure as Superintendent was also an eventful period in the history of the museum. The Connemara Library and the Victoria Technical Institute were opened and the discoveries at Adichanallur made their way to the museum during this time. Thurston also carried out a great deal of research work and a list of papers he had published is provided below.

References

  1. Aiyappan, A. (1951), "Hundred years of the Madras Government Museum", Madras Government Museum Centenary Souvenir, 1851-1951.
  2. Thurston, Edgar (1909), "Preface to the Castes and Tribes of Southern India", Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume I.

Picture Source: Madras Government Museum Centenary Souvenir, 1851-1951.

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