The so-called Celtic type, exemplified by individuals of rather less than average height, brown-haired and brachycephalic, is the fundamental element in the nation and peoples the region between the Seine and the Garonne; in southern France a different type, dolichocephalic, short and with black hair and eyes, predominates.
The eastern Eskimo are dolichocephalic, the western are less so, and the Aleuts brachycephalic. On the North Pacific coast, and in spots down to the Rio Grande, are short heads, but scattered among these are long heads, frequent in southern California, but seen northward to Oregon, as well as in Sonora and some Rio Grande pueblos.
Measurements of their skulls show them mesocephalic (index about 78), or intermediate between the dolichocephalic and brachycephalic types of mankind.
During prehistoric times the basin of the Vistula seems to have been inhabited by a dolichocephalic race, different from the brachycephalic Poles of the present day; but from the dawn of history Slays (Poles), intermingled to some extent with Lithuanians, have to be found on the plains of the Vistula and the Warta.
They were of short stature, with dark hair and eyes, and generally dolichocephalic. Their chief centres were at Cnossus (Crete), in Argolis, Laconia and Attica, in each being ruled by ancient lines of kings.