Peruvian Head Binding

General Questions
#1

Do any of the Teeming Millions know of a site on-line that has photos of skulls of people who had been subjected to cranial deformation? Specifically, I need well-documented pictures from Peruvian noble or preistly mummies showing the results of infant skull binding.

My usual five minutes with search engines came up dry. Thank you.

Dr. Fidelius, Charlatan
Associate Curator Anomalous Paleontology, Miskatonic University
“You cannot reason a man out of a position he did not reach through reason.”

The wøndërful telephøne system

#2

Here ya go, Doc:

http://paradigm-sys.com/ae/lib/archeo/askulls.html

Pretty gruesome!

#3

Oops! I guess I should have read the text first. Apparently the skulls on that page are naturally occuring anomolies.

Nevermind.

#4

Thanks Big Bear, but that is the site that started me on this. The site asserts that these skulls are not the result of head binding, but they offer NO context for the specimens nor do they show a “real” skull-binding victim’s cranium for comparison.

I am looking for some good photos to share with the person who first gave me that link.

Oh, and the punkin-head looks like a child of about three years (judging by the sutures) who suffered from hydrocephaly. But it is nearly impossible to do any forensic analysis on a graphic on a web page when there isn’t even a clue in the photo to give the specimen’s size.

Dr. Fidelius, Charlatan
Associate Curator Anomalous Paleontology, Miskatonic University
“You cannot reason a man out of a position he did not reach through reason.”

The wøndërful telephøne system

#5

I do not know of any books describing cranial deformation but the Museum of Anthropology and History in Merida, Mexico has a collection of ritually deformed Mayan skulls. The deformation is so dramatic that the skulls looked like they could be from aliens. Is the brain that plastic that it can be squished around and still function. I am right now admiring several reproductions of temple carvings from Palenque. The Mayan king, Pacal, has no forehead. My theory, for what it is worth: cranial deformation was practiced by cultures that used tump lines across their foreheads to carry burdens. The deformation was done to the nobility, removing the possibility or showing that they did not use a tump line.

#6

I found this, I don’t know if it helps. I thought the topic was curious, so I poked around. It’s a discussion about it, there are no photos but it might lead somewhere.
http://www.anatomy.usyd.edu.au/danny/anthropology/sci.anthropology/archive/november-1995/0132.html

#7

Damn, I just found out what make the text too wide for the screen. Sorry, I’ll fix the links next time when they are that long.

#8

Peruvian? Wow! I had read that this had occurred in the Pacific Northwest somewhere, but didn’t know what it was so common.

#9

Can I just butt in at this point and say this is in fact a really great name for a rock band.

#10

“Decorative” skull shaping was also practiced in the Philippines, in the Central Visayas, and described by the Spanish.