Craniometric measurements of artificial cranial deformations in Eastern European skulls

Abstract

With 3 figures and 2 tables Summary: Standardized lateral cephalograms of eleven skulls with artificial cranial deformations from Eastern Europe and twenty normal skulls from the same population were made, digitized and imported into the AutoCAD 2005 computer program. The x-and ycoordinates of defined measuring points were determined and angle measurements were made. The form difference of the skulls was tested with the Euclidean Distance Matrix Analysis (EDMA) and the difference of the angle measurements were compared statistically using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney test. All deformed skulls belonged to the tabular fronto-occipital type of deformation. The results of the EDMA and the angle measurements indicated significant differences for the neurocranium and the facial cranium in height between the normal and the deformed skulls, but not in the cranial length. It can be concluded that in Eastern Europe one method of cranial molding was used. The deformation of the neurocranium also affected the development of the facial cranium regarding facial height. This may indicate a dependency of the developmental fields of the neurocranium and facial cranium.

Morphological consequences of artificial cranial deformation: Modularity and integration

“…This cranial modification practice was widely distributed both geographically and temporally [1,49,51,[54][55][56]. Despite findings about the presence of ACD in Central Asia [57][58][59], in Near and Middle East [60][61][62], in Eastern [63][64][65][66][67], and Western Europe [68][69][70][71], ACD exhibits particularly high frequencies in the Americas as exemplified in [72][73][74], especially in the South-Central Andes [1,51,55,73,[75][76][77][78][79][80]. Regarding the effect that ACD has on the skull the available evidence shows that ACD is not confined to the calvaria but also affects the cranial base.…”

Antiquity and geographic distribution of cranial modification among the prehistoric groups of Fuego‐Patagonia, Chile

“…Although artificial cranial modification has been identified around the world (see for example Trinkaus, ; Ozbek, ; Logan et al, ; Arnold et al, ; Durband, ; Ayer et al, ; Enchev et al, ; Romero‐Vargas et al, ), this practice was most widespread in South America (Björk and Björk, ; Verano et al, ; Schijman, ; Manríquez et al, ; Torres‐Rouff, ; Nagaoka et al, ). Conquistadors and chroniclers provided the first reports of cranial modification in this region.…”

Two God-Kings, Two Skulls: Artificial Cranial Deformation in Akhenaten of Egypt and Khingila of the Huns

“…ACD is done for a variety of motives - including ethnic and cultural identity [ 3 ], the distinction between classes [ 4 ], a desire to make children more obedient [ 2 ], and even for a perceived “enhancement of beauty, health, and intelligence” [ 2 ]. While it is no longer practiced on infants to a significant extent today outside a few scattered enclaves, it is fortunate that ACD only has a minor effect on the development of the facial cranium and mandibular development and has been noted to have no discernible impact on intelligence [ 5 ].…”