The last cry in bodily modifications is the Implementation of chips under the skin to become One more element of home automation Domestic But we have millennia modifying our aesthetics In a little invasive way, such as The Ötzi tattoos With more than 5,000 years, or in more aggressive ways, such as Padaung They push their clavicles. What they have found in a cemetery near Iran goes much further: a skull from 6,200 years belonging to a woman with a cone -shaped head.
And the thing didn’t end well.
Chega Sofla. In the western zone of Iran is the site of Chega Sofla. Researchers have been investigating the site for years and Nonantring bodiessince there are dozens of tombs in which they have been found from individual burials to burials of complete families.
Some of the human remains They show that, in life, certain people had a more stretched skull than normal not by any kind of natural deformation, but by aesthetics. And, among all, the one who has called the attention of archaeologists is one of those skulls that shows signs of a brutal blow that ended his life. And beyond how, the interesting thing is why and what that young woman did.
Cone head. Called as BG1.12, the life of this woman ended when she gave (or led to her) a Strong blow to the head. Before that, it must have been one more because this cranial modification was quite common. What were done in many ancient civilizations was to wrap the infant’s head with bandages that were squeezing as they grew. Like a splint.
This practice, extended until adulthood, prevented the skull from developing in a normal way, resulting in a more elongated, cone -shaped skull. And, although it was a normal practice that was given more in girls than in boys, we now know that it was not a good idea.


Dangerous. The striking of the wound of BG1.12 led archaeologists to investigate On the cranial development that these people had, discovering that, due to those tight bandages, both the bones and the Diploe (which is a more spongy bone layer that is between two more compact layers in the skull, as if it were a “shock absorber”) were much thinner than those of a typical skull.
This is drawer, but explain that it is something that prevents the skull from exercising its optimal brain protection work. Due to that thinness, before external forces, the “brain shield”It is less effective. At some point in the twenties of that woman, something managed to fracture that weak cranial layer, ending her life.
The researchers, in statements to Livesciencethey claim that the blow would also have ended with a person who had a normal skull and who do not know if he received an attack or hit himself. What is known is that it was buried in a common grave next to people with both normal and modified skulls.


The skull of BG1.12 that shows the wound
The role of women. To affirm that the person would have died even with a normally developed skull, he takes away a lot of mystery to history, but the big question is what role people with modified skulls played in that society. We have found modified skulls in European womenin Japan and in Mesoamerica and reasons that are considered They range from Demonstration of status until the search for differentiation of nearby villages or the approach to the image they had of their divinities. Strictly motifs are also considered Aesthetics.
The mystery of BG1.12 is that it was buried in the same pit as other people with both normal and modified skull and, as all the ‘stuck’ skeletons are, it is difficult to identify all individuals and know what role in society played these people with the deformed skull 6,000 years ago.
And, above all, the moral is that this aggressive modification does not suit. A silly blow to the head, a diploe that does not act as it should … and goodbye. And put your head in a particle accelerator, if you ever have the opportunity, Nor is it a good idea.
Images | Cambridge
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