by Igor Gontcharov

October 2014

from AncientScienceArtifatcs Website

Part 1
Un/Born with Elongated Head
October 13, 2014

In one of our earlier posts we presented reconstructions/interpretations of a large number of elongated skulls belonging to children.

While tracing the origins of the artificial cranial deformation paradigm, we noticed an earlier attempt to challenge its universality.

Here is a quote from "Types of Mankind" (1854) by Nott and Gliddon:

Finally, the "Peruvian Antiquities" of Rivero and Tschudi corroborate the above scientific view, viz., that the artificial disfigurement of the skull among the Inca-Peruvians and other South American families, owes its origin to the prior existence of an autocthonous race, in whose crania such (to us, seemingly) a deformity was natural.

 

And thus the contradictory materials which induced Dr. Morton at first to deem this peculiarity to be congenital, and afterwards so exclusively artificial, become reconciled; while due regard is preserved to his truthful candor and craniological acumen.

This is the evidence that Rivero (Mariano Eduardo De Rivero y Ustariz) and Tschudi (Johann Jakob von Tschudi) in Peruvian Antiquities (1853 English) and Antiguedades Peruanas (1851 Spanish), offer to support their claim that,

elongated heads were a natural phenomenon for certain Peruvian tribes...

Thus, artificial cranial deformation originated in an attempt to emulate the outward appearance, or possibly certain mental/psychic qualities of the "elongated heads" by tribes with "normal" head shape.

Rivero and Tschudi criticized the protagonists of the hypothesis that artificial cranial deformation was the only way to explain the existence of elongated skulls, pointing out that such views were based exclusively on the observation of adult skulls.

Meanwhile, they noted that the mummies of two infants had become available to the scientific community in England.

Also, the Catholic Church had started to officially 'regulate' the practice of artificial cranial deformation in the sixteenth century.

The [...] question is of great importance, seeing that from its resolution the proof is drawn, whether the formation of the crania is or is not the result of mechanical pressure.

 

Many physiologists, as it would seem, generally consider these forms anomalous, and as an effect produced on the heads of children entirely by pressure with small boards, or broad swathes, with which it was usual to squeeze the crania of infants.

 

It is notorious enough that such a practice did obtain among various barbarous nations of the New World; and that it existed among the Chinchas for the sake of producing distinctive marks in families; an abuse which was 'forbidden' by an apostolic bull in the sixteenth century.

 

But, in our opinion, those physiologists are undoubtedly in error, who suppose that the different phrenological aspects offered by the Peruvian race were exclusively artificial.

 

This hypothesis rests on insufficient grounds; its authors could have made their observations solely on the crania of adult individuals, as it is only a few years since two mummies of children were carried to England, which, according to the very exact description of Dr. Bellamy, belonged to the tribe of Aymaraes.

 

The two crania (both of children scarce a year old) had, in all respects, the same form as those of adults.

Now here comes the evidence which, as we presently understand, was overlooked if not suppressed for the past 164 years and needs to be re-examined.

Rivero and Tschudi continue:

We ourselves have observed the same fact in many mummies of children of tender age, who, although they had cloths about them, were yet without any vestige or appearance of pressure of the cranium.

 

More still:

the same formation of the head presents itself in children yet unborn; and of this truth we have had convincing proof in the sight of a foetus, enclosed in the womb of a mummy of a pregnant woman, which we found in a cave of Huichay, two leagues from Tarma, and which is, at this moment, in our collection.

Professor D'Outrepont, of great Celebrity in the department of obstetrics, has assured us that the foetus is one of seven months' age.

It belongs, according to a very clearly defined formation of the cranium, to the tribe of the Huancas...

We present the reader with a drawing of this conclusive and interesting proof in opposition to the advocates of mechanical action as the sole and exclusive cause of the phrenological form of the Peruvian race.

The same proof is to be found in another mummy which exists in the museum of Lima, under the direction of Don M.E. de Rivero.

Color images are from the

Spanish (1851) edition of "Antigüedades peruanas",

which has a corresponding illustrated Atlas

containing 58 lithographed color plates.

The English edition contains

monochrome images only.

Part 2
Naturally Elongated

October 17, 2014

In the previous above post we provided evidence that some elongated skulls were a natural phenomenon among certain Peruvian populations.

They were NOT a product of artificial cranial deformation because the same elongated shape was found in fetuses and infants. Here is the link to the gallery containing reconstructions/interpretations of the skulls of infants and children.

Before we provide more evidence supporting this view, it is worth remembering that our task is to trace the origins of the currently dominant artificial cranial deformation paradigm, which explains ALL elongated skulls in terms of deliberate reshaping of the natural form of the human skull.

Given the weight of the emerging evidence in support of alternative interpretations, it is not surprising that this dominant school of thought has acted in the same way as many other mainstream paradigms - by excluding and suppressing alternative views and solid new data, silencing and ridiculing researchers who dare to challenge the established "truth".

As was mentioned in our above previous post, in "Peruvian Antiquities" (1851 Spanish, 1853 English) Rivero and Tschudi presented two mummies - a fetus and an infant with elongated heads.

This suggested that, at least in some cases, elongated crania constituted a natural feature and not a product of artificial deformation.

These mummies were found in Peru and, at the time the book was written, remained in South America.
 

It is equally important to draw our readers' attention to the fact that, in the excerpt below, Rivero and Tschudi help us to establish that European researchers had this evidence in their possession since 1841...!

In retrospect, it seems that by 1851 many other scientists could have verified that the elongated skulls of infants and adults were similar.

However, that would have obviously led to questioning the universality of the cranial deformation hypothesis, so it would appear that most scientists chose to look the other way.

We strongly believe that, had the evidence at hand been properly examined at the time, we would not be having this debate today as it would have been undoubtedly established that, in many cases, the artificial cranial deformation hypothesis was untenable.

This is what Rivero and Tschudi wrote:

This hypothesis [i.e. artificial cranial deformation] rests on insufficient grounds.

 

Its authors could have made their observations solely on the crania of adult individuals, as it is only a few years since two mummies of children were carried to England, which, according to the very exact description of Dr. Bellamy, belonged to the tribe of Aymaraes.

 

The two crania (both of children scarce a year old) had, in all respects, the same form as those of adults.

And so we set to work to locate Dr. Bellamy's description.

We indeed discovered that Dr. Bellamy, who was a surgeon, presented his analysis of the mummies to the Zoological Section of the British Association on August 3, 1841.

It was subsequently published in Vol. X (October 1842) of the 'Annals and Magazine of Natural History' (attached at bottom page). Not surprisingly, his account of the mummified remains of infants contradicted the emerging mainstream consensus.

Moreover, Dr. Bellamy challenged the artificial cranial deformation paradigm on several levels!

Reading his presentation from the vantage point of 2014, we see that Dr. Bellamy's pioneering research, albeit of tremendous importance and supported by solid and accessible evidence, was quickly dismissed and forgotten in favor of the emerging status quo on elongated skulls.

He was challenged on the basis of an artifact discovered with one of the mummies, which some scholars viewed as a "head-binding device".

The proponents of the cranial deformation hypothesis were quick to present this artifact as proof of their correctness. The scope of this article does not allow for a detailed analysis of their arguments, but below we cite Bellamy's response to these critics.

The "mummies" (Dr. Bellamy retained this designation but noticed that, in that particular case, he dealt with mummified remains) were discovered and brought to England by Captain Blankley and handed over to the Museum of the Devon and Cornwall Natural History Society in 1838.

Dr. Bellamy suggested that these mummified remains belonged to two infants - male and female,

"one of which was not more than a few months old, and the other could not be much more than one year".

Here are the lithographs of the skulls by J. Basire from the original publication (1842) and Mark Laplume's reconstructions/interpretations (2014).

Dr. Bellamy's analysis is, indeed, very detailed, outlining important structural differences.

For the purpose of this article, we quote only the part in which he directly engages with the cranial deformation hypothesis.

It will be manifest from the general contour of these skulls that they are allied to those in the Museum of the College of Surgeons in London, denominated Titicacans.

 

Those adult skulls are very generally considered to be distorted by the effects of pressure; but in opposition to this opinion Dr. Graves has stated, that,

"a careful examination of them has convinced him that their peculiar shape cannot be owing to artificial pressure",

...and to corroborate this view, we may remark that the peculiarities are as great in the child as in the adult, and indeed more in the younger than in the elder of the two specimens now produced.

 

And the position is considerably strengthened by the great relative length of the large bones of the cranium, by the direction of the plane of the occipital bone, which is not forced upwards, but occupies a place in the under part of the skull, by the further absence of marks of pressure, there being no elevation of the vertex nor projection of either side; and by the fact of there being no instrument nor mechanical contrivance suited to produce such an alteration of form (as these skulls present) found in connection with them.

Thus, not only is Dr. Bellamy persuaded that these infants were not subjected to any form of head-binding, but he also leads us to another disagreeing voice - that of Dr. Graves.

Robert J. Graves, M.D., King's Professor of the Institutes of Medicine, also had an opportunity to examine Peruvian elongated skulls and concluded that,

"their peculiar shape cannot be owing to artificial pressure".

This is actually a quote from Mr. Pentland, with whom Dr. Graves was in agreement.

Dr. Graves' analysis can be found in No.15 of the Dublin Journal of Medical and Chemical Sciences, of which he was the editor.

Before we proceed to Dr. Graves, we would like to quote Dr. Bellamy again.

He suggested that these elongated skulls belonged to a race that occupied the vicinity of Lake Titicaca prior to the arrival of settlers of Asiatic origin and who were subsequently absorbed by the newcomers.

It is probable that the extinction of this once typical variety of the human family was produced gradually by an intermixture of blood with those who afterwards became the lords of the soil, and whose line of princes, untainted by such intercourse, formed the Incas dynasty so remarkable in the history of Peru.

Lastly, I would suggest that the adult skulls of Titicacans before alluded to are of two kinds, the one possessing all the peculiarities of the race in its unalloyed form - the true Titicacan.

 

And the other being of a spurious character, resulting from the union of the indigenae with the settlers of Asiatic origin, the companions of Manco Capac of traditionary fame.

 

Accordingly in the former we observe the receding forehead, the elongated cranium, and the horizontally-placed occipital bone; and in the latter a modified form, in which, combined with the receding forehead and elongated cranium, there is an elevated vertex and flattened occiput, formed principally by an altered position of the occipital bone; which, instead of lying on a plane with the horizon, rises in a sloping direction upwards and backwards to meet the parietal bones.

Most importantly, in the next passage Dr. Bellamy responds to a critic by providing three reasons as to why the bandage found with the younger mummy could not be used for cranial deformation.

We will return to this account in one of our forthcoming posts because these enigmatic devices accompanied several other mummies with elongated crania and were used by the proponents of the artificial cranial deformation theory as evidence in their favour.

After the reading of this paper, Prof. Owen stated that he entertained an opinion that their peculiar form was given to them by pressure, such as might be applied by a bandage passed round the head; and he suggested that a short fillet (about 16 inches long) found with the younger of the two mummies might have been employed for this purpose.

 

This bandage, however, I consider was used to secure the lower extremities to the trunk, and on consideration I am disposed to maintain the same opinion as I have stated above:

• 1st, because this fillet is but 1.5 inch wide, whereas the flattened portion of the skull is more than 3 inches, extending over the os frontis from immediately above the superciliary ridges to an inch beyond the coronal suture, so as to involve the anterior portion of the parietal bones

   

• 2nd, the line of depression in these skulls has a direction over the middle of the os occipitis, and then over the anterior third of the parietal bones, first where the angle dips down between the frontal temporal bones, and then immediately behind the coronal suture, and not at all over the os frontis

   

• 3rd, because, if pressure had been used in this direction, it would have contracted the great fontanelle, of which there is no mark whatever. Indeed in the elder of the two, in which the depressed line is most visible, the fontanelle is most open

   

• Lastly, if a circular bandage had been applied, it would have given a circular form to that portion at least compressed by it ; whereas however a transverse section, taken by measurement, shows that the skulls have a compressed pyriform figure, the larger extremity representing the flattened and upper surface, and the smaller corresponding with the contracted aspect of the occipital bone.

We conclude this discussion with Dr. Graves' citations on the elongated skulls from Bolivia which he observed in Paris, at the Museum of Comparative Anatomy.

Below, Dr. Graves quotes a communication from Mr. Pentland, who excavated the skulls in 1827.

Dr. Graves also cites a reflection on Mr. Pentland's account by Tiedemann.

The singularly shaped skulls which excited your attention, I obtained in 1827, in the Province of Upper Peru, now called Bolivia.

 

They seem to belong to an extinct race of mankind. I found them in the ancient graves called Huacas, in the great alpine valley of Titicaca, which is likewise remarkable for being the country in which civilization, planted by the Peruvians, flourished to a degree unrivaled among the other tribes of the new world.

 

These sepulchres have the form of high round towers, and in some places are constructed of enormous masses of masonry.

 

The stones are very carefully and skilfully arranged, in a manner similar to that observed in the old structures of Greece and Italy, named by our antiquarians Cyclopean.

 

I have met them only in the valley of Titicaca, which extends from the seventeenth to the nineteenth degree of latitude (south), and on the skirts of the Andes which form that valley.

 

They occur in the greatest abundance in the Provinces of La Paz, Oruro, Pacages, and Carangas. I examined several hundreds of these sepulchres, and in all of them found human skeletons, and in all the skull had the same singular shape.

 

The skeletons are in a state of excellent preservation, a circumstance attributable to the great dryness of the climate, the country being situated about two thousand toises above the level of the sea.

 

The skeletons belonged to persons of all ages from the youngest child to the oldest man. All the heads, young and old, had the same form, from which I conceive that it may be with justice inferred that their peculiar shape was not artificially caused by pressure, as is the case with the Caribs, and some other of the barbarous tribes of the new world.*

 

The heads presented to the French museum were selected from a great number, and were found in the following places, viz.: the island in the lake of Titicaca, Chunguys, Tiaguanaco, Licasica, Tolapalea, and Lennas.

 

The present inhabitants of the interior of Peru belong to the same race which peopled the remainder of the continent of South America, and which is distinguished by a copper color of the skin, a thinly scattered beard, straight strong black hair, and a prominent nose.

 

I am of opinion that the present inhabitants of Peru are derived from an Asiatic stock, the last colony of whom migrated probably about the twelfth century.

 

From these latter settlers sprung the dynasty of the Incas or Ingas, which dynasty was overthrown by the Spaniards, after it had lasted about twelve generations.

 

The Asiatic emigrants had gradually spread themselves over the western coast of South America, conquering, as they spread, the natives of the country; and it is to the latter, in all probability, that the skulls in question belonged.

 

Many sepulchres of the present race of Peruvian Indians occur along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, the skulls found in which agree in every respect with the form of that race, but in no instances do they possess the peculiar characters of those found in the interior.

 

A careful examination of these skulls has convinced me that their peculiar shape cannot be owing to artificial pressure.

 

The great elongation of the face and the direction of the plane of the occipital bone are not to be reconciled with this opinion, and therefore we must conclude that the peculiarity of shape depends on a natural conformation.

 

If this view of the subject be correct, it follows that these skulls belonged to a race of mankind now extinct, and which differed from any now existing.

"From this very valuable communication of Mr. Pentland," says Tiedemann, "we are justified in inferring that the continent of America was inhabited by aborigines, who belonged to a race of mankind differing from every other in several important particulars, viz.:

a great projection of the face, great length, flatness, and narrowness of the os frontis, prominence of the back part of the cranium, an exceedingly small facial angle, and an unusual direction of the plane of the occipital foramen.

This race has in the course of ages become extinct, and was probably extirpated by their foreign conquerors."

To conclude, the material presented here highlights the fact that early discussions on elongated skulls were marked by varied opinion and vigorous debate.

However, the conventional theory prevailed and, until recently, the mainstream scientific community ignored all alternative explanations in favor of conventional science reflected by the artificial deformation paradigm.

Nevertheless, we are now reclaiming the origins of elongated skulls research to discover that, as early as 1830-1840s, researchers and explorers who closely observed the elongated skulls of children and infants were compelled to conclude that these skulls had unique structural traits and lacked signs of artificial pressure.

They also noted significant differences between naturally elongated skulls and those produced by artificial means.

These conclusions left them wondering about the kind of race these skulls had belonged to.

They suggested that:

• most likely, naturally elongated skulls belonged to an "extinct race of mankind"
   

• "indigenous" populations constituted later settlers of Asiatic origin
   

• there was a gradual extinction and possible hybridization of ancient and later settlers

It is important to emphasize that these scholars were well aware of widespread artificial cranial deformation practices (which were probably still present even in some parts of Europe at the time).

It is also important to note that they thought this extinct race may have been responsible for the construction of megalithic structures.

The parallels they draw between "Cyclopean" and South American megalithic constructions are most intriguing.

All this warrants further investigation, particularly because naturally elongated skulls are now being discovered in large numbers all over the globe, including in Eurasia and the Americas, as documented by the Root Race Research community.
 

ATTACHMENT

Bellamy, P.F. - A brief Account of two Peruvian Mummies - in the Museum of the Devon and Cornwall Natural History Society. in 'Annals and Magazine of Natural History'. Vol. X, October 1842.