Bizarre, Elongated Skulls Found In Siberia

iAccording to news sources, elongated skulls similar to the ones recently unearthed in Siberia have been discovered in different parts of the globe including burial sites throughout Central and South America, and some, particularly those found in the Shanidar Caves in Iraq, date back as far as 4500 BC.

The theory is that ancient communities performed surgeries known as “cranial deformation” in which the skulls of infants were bound with the belief of increasing their mental capacities. (This is similar to the ancient Chinese belief of binding the feet of infants for the sake of beauty even though this procedure crippled and prevented the developmental ability to walk properly.

Looking at them closely, they are creepy enough to send unbidden shivers up spines and seem almost from another world. (It has been suggested, in fact, that they just might be from some unknown cosmos.) It is known that the ancient Egyptians in hieroglyphic carvings, sculptures and such often depicted the pharaoh, Akhenaten, and his family with extremely elongated heads. The earliest written record of cranial deformation dates to 400 BC in Hippocrates’ description of the Macrocephales people, who were named for their practice of cranial modification.

These elongated skulls are a disturbing reminder that as much as we may think we know about the past, there is so much more that remains nebulous and obscure. What secrets these skulls may hold may never come to light, but even in their darkness, their presence alone is enough to render a slightly uncomfortable, persistent and silent trepidation.