As you read this story, you will learn the following:
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Artificial skull deformation is a uniquely human practice that dates back thousands of years and has been practiced in almost every corner of the world.
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Typically, the purpose of head binding on infants is to shape the skull into a conical shape, but a surprising discovery at the Montezuma Balcony archaeological site in Tamaulipas, Mexico, has revealed a deformed, cube-shaped version of the skull.
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Archaeologists investigated whether the man migrated from a people further south, but isotope studies of the skull’s teeth suggested the man had lived in the area his entire life.
There is archaeological evidence of ancient artificial cranial deformation practices in almost every corner of the world. The Huns of Central Asia are a well-known example, as are the Hirota people of ancient Japan, the Mayans of Central America, and even members of the peasant class in late nineteenth-century Toulouse, France.th century. Today, some cultures in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Vanuatu in the South Pacific still practice this tradition.
Most of these examples (both historical and contemporary) were created by binding the infant’s head to create a pointed skull while the skull bones fused (usually until the age of two). it is no Cube-shaped skulls are very common, but the National Institute of Anthropological History (INAH) recently reported one such discovery near the Balcony of Montezuma in Tamaulipas, Mexico—an archaeological site occupied by different ethnic groups between 650 BC and 1200 AD
One of the communities was founded around 400 AD and contains approximately 90 houses and various artifacts. As archaeologists sifted through the finds, they discovered a skull that appeared to be in the shape of a parallelepiped or cube. Artificial skull deformation was a common practice among the Maya, but has not yet been documented at this particular site.
Biological anthropologist Jesús Ernesto Velasco González said: “Not only is deliberate cranial deformation found for the first time at a site of this type, but also a variant of the model identified in Mesoamerica, which has so far not been reported from this region.” Translated press statement. Velasco-Gonzalez noted that similar deformations occurred at the El Zapotal archaeological site in the state of Veracruz further south on the Gulf of Mexico, so scientists tried to piece together potential migration leaks. However, these were not entirely successful.
“Stable oxygen isotope studies of collagen and bioapatite samples of bones and teeth, a technique used to infer the geographical origin of the skeletal remains of the second human, indicate that he was born, lived and died in the mountains,” Velasco González said in a press statement. “The results therefore rule out a direct mobility relationship with Elsa Portal or a group further south.”
The reasons why pre-Columbian Mesoamerican peoples (or any people, for that matter) engaged in cranial formation were almost as varied as the peoples themselves. Sometimes it’s a sign of social class, sometimes it’s a religious ritual, and sometimes it’s just for aesthetics. Although the health effects are controversial, it is generally accepted that the practice does not reduce the size of the skull and therefore the health effects are mostly negligible (although Some studies assert This practice may affect cognitive or memory function).
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