Story: Medical research

Osteological research on Māori and Moriori, 1893

Osteological research on Māori and Moriori, 1893

This illustration is from John Halliday Scott's paper, ‘Contribution to the osteology of the aborigines of New Zealand and the Chatham Islands’, published in the 1893 volume of Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. Scott, who was based at the Otago Medical School, measured a range of Māori and Chatham Island Moriori skulls and other bones. He came to the conclusion that both peoples were of mixed Polynesian and Melanesian ancestry.

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Royal Society of New Zealand
Reference: John Halliday Scott, 'Contribution to the osteology of the aborigines of New Zealand and the Chatham Islands', Transactions and proceedings of the Royal Society 26 (1893), plate I

Permission of the Royal Society of New Zealand must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Derek Dow, 'Medical research - Early days, 1890s to 1930s', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/artwork/45800/osteological-research-on-maori-and-moriori-1893 (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Derek Dow, published 22 Oct 2014