Folk traditions: Why representatives of different tribes of the world from childhood deformed their skulls

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In the culture of each nation, there are certain customs and traditionswhich are often considered inhuman and shocking to representatives of other cultures. These include cranial deformity practice, common, oddly enough, in different countries of the world in different historical periods. Scientists are still puzzling over why people conducted these terrible experiments on themselves, and why this tradition existed in different parts of the world?

The first deformed skulls were found in Peru and described in the early 19th century; a little later, archaeologists found similar finds in Austria. The practice of artificial deformation of the skull appeared in ancient times: skulls with deformation found on the territory of Lebanon, Crete and Cyprus date back to 4-2 thousand BC. NS. At the beginning of our era, this custom was already widespread in Central Asia, from where it penetrated the Sarmatian tribes. Deformed skulls of the Sarmatians were found in ancient burials of the Crimea, the Caucasus, the Volga region. In the 5th century. n. NS. the tradition spread to the territory of Central Europe. Also, such skulls were found in Peru, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, North America, Cuba and the Antilles.

Despite its antiquity, this strange custom has survived to this day: until recently, it was practiced by the Turkmens (until the 40s of the 20th century). After birth, all children were put on deep skullcaps on their heads, and tight bandages were applied on top. Boys were freed from them at the age of 5, while girls wore such bandages until they were married. Until now, the tribes of Central Africa and the inhabitants of the Malay archipelago are engaged in artificial skull deformation.

The most common was the so-called circular deformity, in which the head was pulled around with a bandage around the circumference, simulating an elongated upward and backward shape. At the same time, special plates were often superimposed on the forehead and back of the head, which made them flat. Among the indigenous population of South America, it was also customary to impose longitudinal bandages, because of which the head took the form of two lateral bulges with a constriction in the middle. In North America, the Maya had a frontal-occipital deformity, sometimes extending to the nasal region.

The peoples of the Malay Archipelago and Central Africa are in vogue with the "tower head". To achieve the desired result, the head was tightly bandaged from an early age, squeezing it from the sides, leaving the crown open. The procedure is carried out until the skull is extended. For these purposes, the Indians used special cradles, where boards were placed, clamping the head of the unfortunate baby on the forehead and back of the head. In this position, the child had to lie in the cradle for several days.

The most controversial until now is the question of the reasons for such actions. Most often, the main one is called the aesthetic motive - the elongated shape of the skull was simply considered beautiful. Scientists also suggest that this could serve the purposes of ethnic identification - a certain shape of the skull as a sign of belonging to a tribe or ethnic group. It is also likely that people were thus likened to the gods, who were depicted with a cone-shaped head. Or, representatives of a certain caste were labeled this way - for example, priests or the ruling elite. Peruvian researchers even hypothesized that the Indians were trying to resemble the representatives of extraterrestrial civilizations they saw.

From the point of view of modern medicine, such experiments with the skull are not safe for health. Deformation of the skull can lead to chronic headaches and the development of serious mental pathologies.

Skull experiments can be much safer and more aesthetically pleasing: skulls made of anything from Noah Scalin or glamorous skulls from Amy Sargsyan