snipped this from a web site:
MELUNGEON PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
There are some physiological characteristics which are called ethnic markers, that seem to
be passed on through the lines of some Melungeon descendants. There is a bump on the back of the HEAD of SOME descendants, that is located at mid-line, just ABOVE the juncture with the neck. It is about the size and shape of half a golf ball or smaller. This is called an ANATOLIAN BUMP, and indicates ancestry from the Anatolian region of Turkey. If you cannot find the bump, check to see if you, like some descendants, including myself, have a ridge, located at the base of the head where it joins the neck, rather than the Anatolian bump.
This ridge is an enlargement of the base of the skull, which is called a Central Asian Cranial Ridge. My ridge is quite noticeable. It is larger than anyone else's that I have felt, except my father's. I can lay one finger under it and the ridge is as deep as my finger is thick. Other ridges are smaller. To find a ridge, place your hand at the base of your neck where it joins your shoulders, and on the center line of your spine. Run your fingers straight up your neck toward your head. If you have a ridge, it will stop your fingers from going on up and across your head. ONLY people who live/d in the Anatolian region of Turkey or Central Asia also have this "bump/ridge.
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There is also a ridge on the back of the first four teeth - two front teeth and the ones on either side (upper and lower) of some descendants. If you place your fingernail at the gum line and gently draw (up or down) you can feel it and it makes a slight clicking sound. The back of the teeth also curve outward rather than straight as the descendants of anglo-saxon parentage do. Teeth like these are called Asian Shovel Teeth.
Many Indian descendants also have this type of teeth. The back of the first four teeth of Northern European descendants are straight and flat.
Based on your assessment data I believe I have a shovel tooth also. On my Mother's side there is a trait for extreme reaction to alcohol present in some of the females causing what appears to be hot flashes that last for hours.
Now you have really complicated my family tree! I thought Irish, English, German, Cherokee, and Choctaw was mixed up enough but I have the bump on the back of my skull and a pronounced ridge on the back of my four front teeth.
Dang. I have the ridge at the base of my skull, and the wat you described with the teeth. This is a feature of Turkish ancestry??
American Words -- Or Are they Turkish?
Following are a few of the many American words that bear striking similarities to Turkish/Ottoman words, along with definitions. Brent Kennedy and other Melungeon researchers suggest that these are examples of the clear linguistic clues linking Melungeon and Turkish heritage:
1. Allegheny -- Allah genis -- God's vastness
2. Alabama -- Allah Bamya -- God's graveyard
3. Appalachian -- Apa-la-che -- widespread/multitude
4. Shawnee -- sah ne -- great shah, or great king
5. Shenandoah -- sen doga (pronounced "shen-doah") -- happy natural setting
6. Shindig -- sen lik (pronounced "shen-lick") -- happy party
7. Krill (Appalachian term for a sprain or twisting of the ankle) -- kiril -- to twist or break
http://www.blueridgecountry.com/melung/melung.html