Artificial cranial deformation—or the practice of intentionally altering the shape of a person’s skull—has been practiced by Neanderthals about 40,000 years ago until very recently, maybe even still today. People on every continent except Antarctica have done it, making heads more cylindrical, cone-shaped, and ridge, bumpier or flat depending on the area. (Romero, et al 2010: 2-5) This paper argues that Mayans practiced cranial deformation to show an association with a particular social group. Further research should focus on the effects of cranial modification on effects. Mayan methods of skull deformation. The two heads on the right were shaped with wooden boards. Image: Fruitpunchline/Wikimedia Commons
Introduction
The first cranial deformations may have been by accident. Infants are born with lots of different bones in their skulls, which enables them to exit the womb more easily and for their brains to grow. By age five, the gaps between the bones start to combine together to make the skull more contiguous, like we see in adults. It’s easy to opine that a baby with a soft skull that lies for a long time while his mother is working would get a partial flattened skull as a …show more content…
“But most of the research and most of the cranial deformation has been focused on wooden boards and bandages. That’s when you get the most extreme deformation,” (Okumura 2010:3-4). One of the most dramatic methods was putting a large stone on infant’s head. According to anthropologists, the stone often caused avascular necrosis to infants. Avascular necrosis is the death of bone tissue due to a lack of blood supply. Also called osteonecrosis, avascular necrosis can lead to tiny breaks in the bone and the bone 's eventual collapse. (Okumura 2010:
Introduction
The first cranial deformations may have been by accident. Infants are born with lots of different bones in their skulls, which enables them to exit the womb more easily and for their brains to grow. By age five, the gaps between the bones start to combine together to make the skull more contiguous, like we see in adults. It’s easy to opine that a baby with a soft skull that lies for a long time while his mother is working would get a partial flattened skull as a …show more content…
“But most of the research and most of the cranial deformation has been focused on wooden boards and bandages. That’s when you get the most extreme deformation,” (Okumura 2010:3-4). One of the most dramatic methods was putting a large stone on infant’s head. According to anthropologists, the stone often caused avascular necrosis to infants. Avascular necrosis is the death of bone tissue due to a lack of blood supply. Also called osteonecrosis, avascular necrosis can lead to tiny breaks in the bone and the bone 's eventual collapse. (Okumura 2010: