Elongated Skulls

[Doganharp]

I saw a video on myspace about these skulls they found in Russia that had presumably been elongated purposely in a previous culture. That's not so terribly hard to swallow, but then the video says this:

"These people were some sort of living instrument who were able, for instance to determine whether or not there was danger, as well as to predict the weather."

Could these paleontologists possibly be able to read that much into this from the evidence on hand? Are those feats they mentioned even POSSIBLE? Extraordinary claims...:boggled:

[Doganharp]

I'd like to add a link but the forum won't allow me to. Just google "Strange Elongated Skulls Discovered"

[Professor Yaffle]

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4565758/12224414

[Ashles]

Could these paleontologists possibly be able to read that much into this from the evidence on hand? Are those feats they mentioned even POSSIBLE?
No and no.

[Professor Yaffle]

It's hardly news to find such skulls in russia - here's something from 2005:

http://english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/377/16262_skulls.html

The alien/ufo woos love these skulls apparently.

[volatile]

http://wiki.bmezine.com/index.php/Cranial_Binding

"When an individual is young (a baby), the skull is quite malleable. By restricting the growth of the skull and by putting selective pressure on it by binding it or strapping it against boards, its shape can be permanently altered. This is believed to be one of the first body modifications practised by humans, and can still be observed in parts of Africa and South America (most commonly Peru)."

As for the other claims -- this is probably documentation of the kind of thing that has entered legend / myth / folklore rather than any kind of empirical observation based on the bones or what have you. As I understand it, the dominant theory as to the origin of this practice is that it was simply aesthetically-motivated.

ETA: http://fetalneonatal.com/cgi/content/extract/86/3/144

[Eligbak]

Strange, strange. I suppose people with VERY elongated skulls must have looked otherworldly and frightening when alive, or rather funny and shocking.

I wonder if the practice of head binding would have impaired intelligence, or caused other side effects (positive or negative) - a hit on the head must have put increased strain on the neck. Therefore a VERY high head was probably a better thing for an aristocrat than a warrior (just thinking).
The earliest known culture to bind their children's heads were the ancient Egyptians of the third millennium BC. The practice was also known among the Australian Aborigines, Maya, and certain tribes of North American natives, most notably the Chinookan tribes of the Northwest and the Choctaw of the Southeast.

In the Old World, Huns are also known to have practiced similar cranial deformation. In Late Antiquity (AD 300-600), the East Germanic tribes who were ruled by the Huns, adopted this custom (Gepids, Ostrogoths, Heruli, Rugii and Burgundians). In western Germanic tribes, artificial skull deformations have rarely been found[1].

The Native American group known as the Flathead did not in fact practice head flattening, but were named as such in contrast to other Salishan people who used skull modification to make the head appear rounder.[2] However, other tribes, including the Choctaw,[3] Chehalis, and Nooksack Indians, did practice head flattening by strapping the infant's head to a cradleboard.
h**p://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_flattening