By Alli
Sinclair
Billions of
dollars, perhaps trillions, are spent every year on hair products and styling.
It’s a lucrative industry and is a classic example of us humans obsessing over
our noggins. This fascination isn’t new. In fact, the ancient world took this
one step further—by altering their skulls.
Head
binding, also known as artificial cranial deformation, dates back to 45,000 BC.
The ancient Egyptians, Syrians, Maltese, Russians, Germans, and Australian
Aborigines have all undertaken various forms of skull “enhancement” by binding
their skull or placing cradleboards around a baby’s head to change the shape of
their head.
Zip over to
the Americas, and you’ll find the Mayans, Incas, and the tribes of the
Chinookan and Choctaw people in North America also undertook the custom of
deforming skulls as part of their culture. The Choctaw, Chehalis, and Nooksack
Indians practised head flattening and on the coastal of Peru, not far from
Lima, the Paracas culture had an array of altered head shapes.
Scientists
have discovered at least five different shapes of elongated skulls in different
cemeteries in the Paracas region. The most remarkable being a site called
Chongos, not far from the quaint town of Pisco where the famous cone-shaped
skulls were discovered.
Archaeologists
specialising in the Mayans have discovered how altered skulls vary, depending
on their geography. Skulls found in the lowlands had a slanted appearance,
while skulls discovered in the highlands had an erect shape. They’ve even
unearthed skulls that have a division down the middle and two distinct holes.
The Mayans believed that every object has an essence, including the elements.
While the mother was giving birth, the Mayans ensured the house was closed so
the evil wind couldn’t harm the baby and as the baby’s soul was no yet tethered
to the baby, the infants were even more vulnerable. Binding the baby’s head was
akin to creating a roof over one’s head, and therefore a form of protection for
the young child that would stay with it forever.
Some
archaeologists believe the act of altering one’s skull was to create a
“desirable” shape to make the person more aesthetically pleasing and on Tomman
Island in Vanuatu, where it is still practised today, elongating the skull
signifies intelligence and being closer to spirits. Whether it was for social
status, such as an Incan nobleman, or for an affiliation with a tribe, the act
of altering one’s skull causes great controversy in the archaeological world
and certainly makes for some interesting discussions. Whatever the reasons,
humans have always taken great care to alter their bodies, including their hair
and head. So next time you go to the hairdresser, be careful what you ask for!
Okay, Alli, thank you for my official Wednesday weirding out! I honestly did not know any of that. so I guess this means that those elongated skulls in that terrible Indy movie probably weren't from aliens, then? ;)
ReplyDeleteWell, it depends who you talk to about the alien angle. :-) And it is my pleasure to weird you out on a Wednesday!
ReplyDeleteQuite an amazing post, Alli. I've never known about this obviously long-standing, geographically diverse practice. Thanks.
ReplyDelete