NEED TO KNOW
- A cube-shaped skull was discovered at an archeological site in Mexico from the Mesoamerican Classic period (400-900 AD)
- The skull was a product of a practice known as “intentional cranial deformation,” per Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History
- The practice was performed on children within the “first years of life”
Researchers in Mexico have discovered the cube-shaped skull of a man who lived in the region more than 1,000 years ago, and it may reveal key information about the ancient practice known as “intentional cranial deformation.”
Archeologists believe the skull belonged to a man over 40 years old who lived in the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range during the Mesoamerican Classic period (400-900 AD), per a translated press release from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History.
The find appears to prove that a practice known as “cranial deformation” was carried out by the people of the area at the time, per the release.
INAH
Intentional reshaping of the skull was done within the “first years of life” through a process of boards, bandages, caps and cradles, per the Institute. The reshaping of the skull was intended to alter a person’s appearance and emphasize headdresses and ornaments that would distinguish them from others later in life.
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“Not only was intentional cranial deformation identified for the first time for this type of site, but also a variant [was found] with respect to the models recognized in Mesoamerica not reported until now in the area,” said anthropologist Jesús Ernesto Velasco González, according to the release.
He said the type of intentional cranial deformation found at the site “causes the head to show a more square shape, unlike the [other] conical shape.”
INAH
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Researchers additionally said that the discovery may support the theory that there are cultural and historical links between the ancient people of the mountainous region of the northern Huasteca and the Mesoamerican peoples of the Lowlands on the Gulf Coast, as well as groups from northern Mexico and “even from the territory that is now the southern United States.”
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