Elongated skulls, without cranial deformation
Long skulls have been discovered among the Olmecs in Mexico, as well as in Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Malta, the Maltese island of Vanuatu, Africa, Russia, Syria, Peru, Bolivia, and elsewhere. The largest elongated skulls in the world belong to the Paracas civilization inhabiting the southern coast of Peru. The practice continued until the 20th century in Congo and on the island of Vanuatu.
It has long been believed that elongated skulls were artificially achieved through binding the heads of infants. Little exploration has been done into the fact that such skulls have been found worldwide, often among elite individuals, whether elongated skulls were a distinctive sign of high social status, or simply a marker of beauty.
The elongated skulls found in Paracas, however, are markedly different. These skulls are naturally elongated and not a clinical condition. Archaeologist Tello discovered 90 elongated skulls, ruling out the possibility of them being subjects with hydrocephalus, which would cause cranial rounding. These skulls have distinct features compared to traditional ones.
In some skulls found in Malta, cranial sutures were sometimes absent, and in one case, a skull lacked the median suture.
Elongated skulls often feature two small natural holes at the back of the skull. According to Lloyd, these holes serve for the passage of nerves and blood vessels, akin to holes found in human jaws.
In a book from 1854 titled "Types of Mankind," written by Josiah Clark Nott (1804-1873) and George Robins Gliddon (1809-1857), it is asserted that remains of elongated skulls were found among the Inca and other South American populations. According to the text, artificial skull deformation originated from the existence of an indigenous race where such cranial shape was a natural congenital peculiarity. Subsequently, due perhaps to the extinction of this population or its intermingling with neighboring groups, this distinctive and unique trait was lost.
Among succeeding populations, attempts remained to emulate this appearance, perhaps associating certain mental qualities of that people with beauty or status symbols, achieving the deformation solely through artificial means. Some skulls, like those from Paracas, had twice the cranial volume of a normal skull, thus increasing brain capacity.
There are always exceptions in clinical cases, where the volume of some of these skulls was found to be twice that of a normal skull, raising the obvious question: How is it possible to increase the cranial and brain capacity of a human being if not caused by genotype, and what is the effect on the individual?
Even more intriguing is the mention of fetuses, one of which was seven months old, found inside a mummified mother. Both children had elongated skulls. The Catholic Church began to prohibit the practice of artificial cranial deformation in the 16th century. It is therefore incorrect to assume that deformation was exclusively achieved through mechanical pressure, using wooden boards tied to children's foreheads or by tightening fabric strips around their heads.
The book mentions two mummified children brought to England a few years earlier, belonging to the Aymaraes of Cuzco, a pre-Incan population from which the Inca dynasty originated. The mummies described by Dr. Bellamy were about a year old and already showed complete cranial shapes similar to adult skulls.
In the book, the testimony of scholars Riviero and Tschudi is reported, stating that they observed many mummified infants without any traces of cranial pressure. They further claim to have had concrete proof by observing a fetus still enclosed in the womb of a pregnant mummy found in a cave in Huichay, two leagues from Tarma, belonging to their collection. The fetus was shown to Professor D'Outrepont, an obstetrician, who confirmed it to be seven months old. According to the cranial formation, it belonged to the Huancas tribe. The book also mentions another mummified fetus from the Lima museum.
These skulls indicate the existence of a natural element or genetic inheritance in ancient populations. Their presence had repercussions on subsequent populations, who emulated their physical appearance by resorting to cranial deformation to achieve what they considered a distinctive sign of great physical beauty or belonging to a high social class.
The color images belong to the Spanish edition of the book "Antigüedades Peruanas" published in 1851, whereas the English edition only includes monochromatic images.
