Here Are 5 Of The Most Bizarre Elongated Skulls Ever Found

Elongated skulls have been found all over the planet. No matter which ancient cultures are being studied, it seems that almost all ancient civilizations had elongated-skulled people in their society.

But why? Are elongated skulls a natural deformation? Or, as some experts believe, are these mysterious skulls the result of artificial cranial deformation?

Artificial cranial deformation?

Elongated skulls and artificial cranial deformation is something that is older than history. This practice was common across a wide range of ancient cultures that were separated not only by great geographical distances but also chronologically.

Despite this, it appears that many cultures have developed this practice individually.

The earliest suggested examples were thought to include the Proto-Neolithic Homo sapiens component (ninth millennium BC) from the Shanidar Cave in Iraq, and Neolithic peoples in Southwest Asia.

It is believed that the cranial deformation was probably performed to signify affiliation with a group or even to demonstrate a higher social status.

Looking back in history, we find that the oldest written record of cranial deformation can be traced back to Hippocrates, who mentions Macrocephaly or Long Heads, named for their practice of cranial modification around 400 BC.

And while elongated skulls have been found all over the planet, in this article, we’re going to take a look at five of the most bizarre discoveries involving elongated skulls.

Elongated Stonehenge Skull from Russia

It was reported that in 2015, researchers in Russia made a truly bizarre discovery at an archaeological site known as Arkaim.

Nicknamed the Stonehenge of Russia, the ancient monument is believed to have been built in the 17th century BC.

There, experts discovered a truly unusual skeleton with a frighteningly large, elongated skull.

While conspiracy theorists have rushed to make UFO-related claims, experts have revealed that the remains belonged to a woman who lived around 2,000 years ago in the region.

The elongated skull was a product of tribal tradition, as in many other places around the globe. “Her skull was elongated because the tribe made it by tying the heads of their children with ropes. It was clearly a tradition in the tribe,” researcher Maria Makurova revealed in 2015, in an interview with Russian news agency TASS.

2,000-year-old elongated Crimean skull

Although it belonged to ancient Sarmatian culture, Russian researchers discovered the remains of a child with an oddly elongated skull during excavations in an ancient Sarmatian village in 2017.

“Elongated skulls were traditional for the Sarmatian culture,” revealed Nikolay Sudarev of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences in an interview with the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper. “They found it more beautiful,” he added.

The discovery was made at Kyz-Aul, near Kerch. It is believed that ancient cultures considered elongated skulls a sign of true warriors.

The skulls of Paracas

Perhaps the most famous of all elongated skulls. Discovered in 1928 by Peruvian archaeologist Julio Tello in the province of Pisco on the southern coast of Peru, the Paracas skulls have been the subject of debate for over 90 years.

In total, Tello discovered within a massive cemetery more than 300 elongated skulls, some of which date back around 3,000 years.

According to some ‘controversial claims’, the skull of Paracas skulls is at least 25% larger and up to 60% heavier than the skulls of ordinary humans.

elongated skull of mexico

A rather bizarre discovery was made by archaeologists in Mexico in 2012 while excavating an archaeological site known as “El Cementerio”, located in the vicinity of Onavas.

The skulls were so strange that the discovery even went under titles like ‘Alien-Like’ skulls discovered in Mexico.

There, the researchers discovered up to 25 skulls, 13 of which were strangely shaped and bizarrely elongated, with cranial features different from those of ordinary humans.

“Cranial deformation has been used by different societies around the world as a ritual practice, or for the distinction of status within a group or to distinguish between social groups,” said researcher Cristina García Moreno, an archaeologist at Arizona State University, in 2012. as noted by Scientific American.

“The reason these El Cementerio individuals deformed their skulls is still unknown.”

Bavarian elongated skulls

During the 1960s, researchers came across a number of cemeteries in Germany. So-called Bavarian skulls have been excavated alongside skulls on a regular basis near six modern southern German towns along the Danube River. The remains are believed to date back to around AD 500 and have intrigued experts.

A new DNA analysis revealed that the elongated skulls belonged to women who were likely high-ranking “treaty brides” from Romania and Bulgaria, married to cement political alliances.

“This is one of the weirdest things I’ve ever read,” Israel Hershkovitz, an anthropologist at Tel Aviv University in Israel who specializes in ancient human anatomy, revealed in 2018 in an interview with Science Mag.

“I don’t buy.”