CRANIAL DEFORMATIONS: DEFINITION, HISTORY, CULTURES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The cranial deformations were artificial forms of intentionally modify the skull. It was made through the use of various deformation devices such as wooden planks, caps or bandages with application of force.

This aesthetic procedure occurred during childhood of the person who is subjected to cranial distortion. During childhood, the bony structure of the skull is softer and more malleable. Therefore, the head was easier to modify.

Museum of Lima. Sample of deformed skulls.

There are four possible forms of cranial deformation: flattening, elongation, round shape caused by cloth bandages, and the cone shape. Flattening and lengthening occur by bandaging two plates on both sides of the head.

The various Latin American indigenous cultures practiced this type of tradition as a symbol of beauty and power. These groups include the Paracas, the Incas, the Nazcas, the Mayans, among others.

Generally, head wrapping and other methods of cranial deformation begin from the moment the child is born and continue for about six months.

Characteristics of cranial deformations

Cranial deformations are also known as flattening or head bandaging. They occur when the child is subjected to a process of molding the skull by various methods.

Cranial distortion must be performed at an early age, even at the time of birth, when the bones of the head are softer and allow this modification.

In adulthood it is not possible to do so, due to the hardness of the skull when it is fully formed. It is done through various techniques.

Flattening

The flattening of the head was produced using hard wooden boards, which caused an elongated effect on the skull. For a long period, the head was pressed against the planks, one from the front and one from behind.

Some pre-Columbian native tribes and the United States used a wooden device in the crib to mold the skull of children.

Bandage

Another technique was to forcefully bandage the child's head upward to produce the effect of a cylindrical skull. With the same technique of placing bandages on the head, the head was molded into a cone shape.

This was a dangerous method; if the bandage was too tight, the child ran the risk of dying, as has been proven in various archaeological excavations in the Andes.

History

The molding or deformation of the head was practiced throughout history by many peoples of America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Oceania, simultaneously.

Even some tribes in the Republic of Congo and Vanuatu still practice it. This indicates that the technique was invented more than once by different cultures.

The archaeological data known so far indicate that the practice of cranial deformations has been carried out for about 45,000 years in various places on the planet.

Other ancient records dating to the time of Hippocrates in 400 BC describe the shape of the skulls of an African tribe called Macrocephalos or Longheads.

The reasons for making them were aesthetic or as a symbol of power. Around 2,000 years ago, head deformation was common among the hunter-gatherer tribes of Patagonia.

Cultures that used this technique

Various peoples and cultures have historically resorted to the practice of cranial deformation. All for status and aesthetic reasons, both in the American continent and in Africa.

The shape of the head was altered according to the wishes of the children's parents, some were wide, others elongated. For this, different tools and methods were used. There were also variations between one culture and another.

These were some of the pre-Columbian peoples who practiced it:

Paracas

The Paracas were a people that lived on the coast of Peru south of Lima, between 700 BC and 100 AD, according to anthropological studies carried out.

In archaeological excavations there is evidence of the practice of head deformation by means of the bandage technique. But, this practice was reserved for the nobility as a symbol of status and distinction.

The deformed skulls have been found in several indigenous cemeteries, specifically in Chongos, a place near the city of Pisco, located north of the port town of Paracas.

They are known as the long heads because of their tubular appearance. They are larger than a normal head, with a cranial capacity of 1.5 liters. The average of a current head is 1.4 liters or cm3.

In the Paracas culture a pad filled with wool was used that was placed on the frontal bone and another woven bag filled with wool also in the occipital area, both tied with ropes. Meanwhile, the child was immobilized in a wrap in his probably hanging crib.

The knitted hat or turban (llauto) was worn on the back and back of the head with small balls that deformed the occipital area. It was used against a wool pillow filled with wool or vicuña hair.

Nazcas

The Paracas merged with the Nazca. This Peruvian people lived approximately 1200 years BC.

They used paracas-like artifacts, such as the turban to cause high-vaulted cranial deformation and the pads that they placed on the front and occipital part of the child.

The main findings of skulls with deformation of the Nazca culture were made in the cemeteries of Montegrande, Callango Tunga, Laramate and Palpa.

Incas

The Incas made cranial modifications as a symbol of social status as well. Generally, it was used to distinguish the nobility. Upper-class people had an erect tubular head.

This culture used the method of the cradle and the llauto to cause cranial deformations. In the first years of the Colony, the Spanish conquerors noticed this custom.

By 1576, the I Provincial Council of Lima issued laws to combat "the superstition of shaping heads", due to the deaths of many children.

Three years later, the viceroy of Peru, Francisco de Toledo, ordered that "no Indian, not even Indian woman, squeeze the heads of newly born creatures" because their skulls grew larger, causing them irreparable damage.

The Oruro of Bolivia, another pre-Columbian culture, also practiced cranial deformations as a symbol of social class.

The indigenous aristocracy had an erect tubular head and the individuals of the middle class had an oblique tubular head. The rest had a ring-shaped head.

Mayas

For the ancient Maya, the practice of cranial deformation was a symbol of beauty.

Skulls that are conserved in the Museum of the Mayan Culture of Mérida (Yucatán, Mexico) show the methods used by the Mesoamerican aborigines to achieve these deformations.

It was initially believed that the Mayans deformed their skulls by lengthening them to wear large headdresses. But, later more skulls with deformations of more rounded shapes were found.

The Mayans used the head crush technique, using wooden boards tied tightly to the child's head in front and behind. They also rounded the skull by using bandages.

References

1. Why and how did some ancient cultures deform baby skulls? Retrieved on February 12, 2018 from bbc.com.
2. The enigma of the Olmecs and the crystal skulls (PDF). Recovered from books.google.co.ve.
3. Allison, Marvin J. and others (PDF): The practice of cranial deformation among pre-Columbian Andean peoples. Recovered from books.google.co.ve.
4. Borja Villanueva, César Andrés and Gálvez Calla, Luis H (PDF): Artificial head deformations in ancient Peru. Recovered from google.co.ve.
5. Cranial deformation as an ideal of beauty of the Mayans. Recovered from ellitoral.com.