Apr 17, 2024 05:57 PM
(This post was last modified: Apr 17, 2024 05:58 PM by C C.)
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/vi...ted-skulls
EXCERPTS: Three skulls had been subjected to cranial modification to achieve an oblong shape. The skulls belonged to adult women who lived approximately 1,000 years ago. Led by Matthias Toplak of the Viking Museum Haithabu and Lukas Kerk of the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, the team published their recent discovery in the Current Swedish Archaeology. Toplak says the finding sheds new light on how Viking groups interacted with other civilizations.
Cranial modification has been seen in various parts of the world, and is still practiced in some isolated cultures today. But artificial cranial deformation had never been previously linked to Viking culture before this discovery. Toplak and his team hypothesize that the practice was likely picked up during trade travels.
[...] These particular skulls were elongated, which was generally accomplished by wrapping bandages around an infant’s head while the bones are still malleable. Today’s physicians are focused on correcting misshapen infant skulls caused by deformational plagiocephaly, but at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Chief of the Division of Pediatric Plastic Surgery Jesse Goldstein says he and his colleagues have long been interested in the historical practices that sought just the opposite.
[...] Their cone-shaped skulls were likely a sign of status, says Toplak. “We do not think that they were perceived as members of a royal elite on Gotland because of their deformed skulls, but rather that they were a symbol of far-reaching trade contacts and commercial success due to their exotic appearance.”
These women living in Gotland with their distinctive head shapes clearly stood out from fellow Vikings who had not had the opportunity to travel abroad and interact with varied cultures.
“It is still not entirely clear whether the deformed skulls were intended to symbolise [sic] a certain ideal of beauty or whether they were intended to express membership of an elite or a particular social group,” writes Toplak. “It is possible that all these aspects came together and the deformed skulls were an expression of a social elite and thus signalled [sic] status and, inevitably, attractiveness.” (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS: Three skulls had been subjected to cranial modification to achieve an oblong shape. The skulls belonged to adult women who lived approximately 1,000 years ago. Led by Matthias Toplak of the Viking Museum Haithabu and Lukas Kerk of the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, the team published their recent discovery in the Current Swedish Archaeology. Toplak says the finding sheds new light on how Viking groups interacted with other civilizations.
Cranial modification has been seen in various parts of the world, and is still practiced in some isolated cultures today. But artificial cranial deformation had never been previously linked to Viking culture before this discovery. Toplak and his team hypothesize that the practice was likely picked up during trade travels.
[...] These particular skulls were elongated, which was generally accomplished by wrapping bandages around an infant’s head while the bones are still malleable. Today’s physicians are focused on correcting misshapen infant skulls caused by deformational plagiocephaly, but at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Chief of the Division of Pediatric Plastic Surgery Jesse Goldstein says he and his colleagues have long been interested in the historical practices that sought just the opposite.
[...] Their cone-shaped skulls were likely a sign of status, says Toplak. “We do not think that they were perceived as members of a royal elite on Gotland because of their deformed skulls, but rather that they were a symbol of far-reaching trade contacts and commercial success due to their exotic appearance.”
These women living in Gotland with their distinctive head shapes clearly stood out from fellow Vikings who had not had the opportunity to travel abroad and interact with varied cultures.
“It is still not entirely clear whether the deformed skulls were intended to symbolise [sic] a certain ideal of beauty or whether they were intended to express membership of an elite or a particular social group,” writes Toplak. “It is possible that all these aspects came together and the deformed skulls were an expression of a social elite and thus signalled [sic] status and, inevitably, attractiveness.” (MORE - missing details)