Strange Skulls

This article has been modified to remove a reference to another "researcher" and to add watermarks to photographs that are my copyrighted work and research.


I've been reading a lot about the strange, elongated, and large skulls that are being found all around the world.  I've taken some anthropology classes in the past and have noted that the brain capacity of the Neanderthal skull is greater than modern day humans.  The Neanderthal skull is in fact larger than a modern human and has something called an Occipital bun.  So, I decided to go to a local college near me (thank you CLC) and take a look at the skull models and compare them to see if I could get an idea of what the differences were between some recent human specimens, ancient human specimens, and chimpanzee specimens.   The Neanderthal and Peruvian elongated skulls were the largest followed by modern skulls.  Here are my pictures for comparisons:

From the left the skulls are: Homo Erectus, Heildelbergensis, Neanderthal, Peruvian elongated skull, and 3 modern human skulls.

From the left the skulls are: Chimpanzee, Neanderthal, Peruvian elongated skull, and 3 modern human skulls.

From the back:  Heidelbergensis, Homo Erectus, Neanderthal, Peruvian Elongated skull, and 3 modern human skulls

From the left:  Peruvian elongated skull and Cradle board skull

I find it interesting that there were humans (Neanderthals) with larger brain capacities than modern humans.  Perhaps these skulls were modified with skull binding at birth.  But these skulls seem to show up globally from Egypt, to Europe, to Georgia, to Peru.  Again, it appears something was very different in the past than we know.

by Rita Jean Moran (www.thelibrarykids.com)

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occipital_bun





A Possible Answer Regarding Elongated Skulls

 

My picture of replica remains in Arkansas

There has been much talk about elongated skulls and giants.   There is evidence of large caucasian people that existed all around the world.  There are elongated skulls (without bodies and some with it) that are all around the world (Peru, America, Egypt, Georgia, and China).  What caused these elongated skulls is up for discussion.  I have found out about a condition called Craniosynostosis.  According to wikipedia:

Craniosynostosis (from cranio, cranium; + syn, together; + ostosis relating to bone) is a condition in which one or more of the fibrous sutures in an infant skull prematurely fuses by turning into bone (ossification),^[1] thereby changing the growth pattern of the skull.^[2] Because the skull cannot expand perpendicular to the fused suture, it compensates by growing more in the direction parallel to the closed sutures.^[2] Sometimes the resulting growth pattern provides the necessary space for the growing brain, but results in an abnormal head shape and abnormal facial features.^[2] In cases in which the compensation does not effectively provide enough space for the growing brain, craniosynostosis results in increased intracranial pressure leading possibly to visual impairment, sleeping impairment, eating difficulties, or an impairment of mental development combined with a significant reduction in IQ.^[3]
 

Taking a look at this condition, I found one condition in particular that may have caused elongated skulls, similar to those found around the world.  It is called Scaphocephaly.  According to wikipedia:

The literal meaning of the Greek derived word ‘scaphocephaly’ is boathead. A synonymous term is 'dolichocephaly' (the prefix dolicho- means elongated).^[25] Premature sagittal suture closure restricts growth in a perpendicular plane, thus the head will not grow sideways and remain narrow.^[9][26] This is best seen in a view standing above the child looking downwards at the top of the head.^[7] Compensatory growth occurs forwards at the coronal suture and backwards at the lambdoid suture giving respectively a prominent forehead, called frontal bossing, and a prominent back portion of the head, called coning.^[9][26] When viewed from sideways the resulting shape of the head will look a bit like a boat.

From what I've found online, there is no clear cut cause that has been found for this condition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_sutures.jpg

 

 

 

According to wikipedia:

Scaphocephaly (Pronunciation: skaf-O-sef-aly), derived from the Greek skaphe (a light boat or skiff), describes a specific variety of a long narrow head^[1] that resembles an inverted boat.

It is a type of cephalic disorder which occurs when there is a premature fusion of the sagittal suture. The sagittal suture joins together the two parietal bones of skull. Scaphocephaly is the most common of the craniosynostosis conditions and is characterized by a long, narrow head.
 

The answer may be simply that a medical condition or head binding created these elongated skulls.  If it is genetic, the fact that it appears among families of royalty who interbred, is not a surprise.

by Rita Jean Moran (www.thelibrarykids.com)


Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craniosynostosis

http://www.cpcjournal.org/doi/pdf/10.1597/1545-1569(1998)035%3C0204:TDDOAH%3E2.3.CO;2

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK1455/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaphocephaly

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolichocephaly

Chinese God of Good Luck Has a Strange Head

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mammoth_Ivory_Three_Star_Gods.JPG

These are 3 Chinese gods of good luck.  The middle god has a strange looking head.  This head is similar to some of the strange skulls found in Egypt and Peru and America.  As I mentioned in my article regarding my visit to Arkansas, these strange elongated skulls were found in some of the AmeriIndian mounds.  The strange shape was also found in Egypt and Peru. 

According to wikipedia:

"Fu Lu Shou (simplified Chinese: 福禄寿; traditional Chinese: 福祿壽; pinyin: Fú Lù Shòu) is the concept of Good Fortune (Fu), Prosperity (Lu), and Longevity (Shou). This Taoist concept is thought to date back to the Ming Dynasty^[1], when the Fu Star, Lu Star and Shou Star were considered to be personified deities of these attributes respectively. The term is commonly used in Chinese culture to denote the three attributes of a good life. Statues of these three gods are found in nearly every Chinese home and many Chinese-owned shops on small altars with a glass of water, an orange or other auspicious offerings, especially during Chinese New Year. Traditionally, they are arranged right to left (so Fu is on the right of the viewer, Lu in the middle, and Shou on the far left)."


Here is my photo from the mound in Arkansas:

Here is my photo of a statue of an ancient Egyptian from the Chicago Oriental Institute:

Now here is a picture of a normal looking skull:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Human_skull_side_bones.svg&page=1

There was a practice of head binding done in the Americas, but I don't know of any evidence of it being done in Egypt. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maya_cranial_deformation.gif

There are also strange coincidences between these shapes of skulls and European royalty.  Robert the Bruce was a Scottish King who was said to have an above average skull size and it was theorized that he was thus more intelligent.

From an online article in ScienceDirect:

"An estimate of someone's IQ is a potentially informative personal datum. This study examines the association between external skull measurements and IQ scores, and uses the resulting regression equation to provide an estimate of the IQ of King Robert I of Scotland (Robert Bruce, 1274–1329). Participants were 48 relatively healthy Caucasian men (age 71–76 years) resident in Scotland. Using magnetic resonance imaging data, intracranial volume estimated from external skull length and width correlated greater than .5 (p < .001) with measured intracranial area, which correlates very highly with brain volume. IQ scores estimated from the National Adult Reading Test (NART) correlated .56 (p < .001) with measured intracranial area, and .49 (p < .01) with estimated intracranial volume based on external skull width and length. The partial correlation coefficient of this latter association was .25 (p = .09) after adjustment for measured intracranial area. Thus, actual intracranial area accounts for about 74% of the variance shared by NART and estimated intracranial volume. A cast of the skull of Robert Bruce was measured and its intracranial volume estimated. A regression equation between IQ and estimated intracranial volume, based on data from the 48 subjects, estimated the IQ of Robert Bruce at about 128 (95% confidence interval 106 to ≫ 130), i.e. almost two standard deviations above the mean. NART scores show a ceiling effect, so this estimated IQ might be an underestimate. Robert Bruce's estimated high IQ is congruent with his military, political and other intellectual achievements."


Many other portraits show a strange skull shape for other royalty as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Darnley_stage_3.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_I_of_England

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pisanello_016.jpg

What is abundantly clear is that the ancient royalty of the past had a very different physical appearance which included a head shape that was elongated and with a larger brain capacity.  The ancient MesoAmericans used head binding to replicate this natural head shape as an indication of nobility.  Who were these people?  Why were they physically different than the average human?

Are these royal or noble bloodlines from the ancient giants/titans that were talked about in mythology?  Perhaps this is why they marry their own bloodlines, but it appears their brain capacity is decreasing as their height is.  I try and trace this mystery in my book series, The Library Kids, and I have a surprising answer at the end of the series.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:D%C3%A9formation_P%C3%A9ruvienne_MHNT.jpg

by Rita Jean Moran (www.thelibrarykids.com)


Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu_Lu_Shou

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_skull

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_the_Bruce

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289607000670

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_cranial_deformation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Princess_(Pisanello)