Modified skulls found in an ancient burial site in Japan were deliberately reshaped in both men and women as an expression of collective identity. The practice may also have helped the group to forge trade connections, a new study suggests.
In all the skulls, the normally rounded part at the back of the head was flattened and squared off, possibly through binding or being pressed against a flat surface during infancy.
Shells adorning Hirota remains were abundant but were not local to the region. The artifacts originated thousands of kilometers south of the burial site, suggesting that Hirota people traded for them. It's possible, the researchers suggested, that the Hirota cranial reshaping played a part in their trading success.
Other researchers had previously speculated about the flattened Hirota skulls in Japan, but it was unknown whether the Hirota modifications were deliberate or merely a byproduct of other cultural practices. In all three groups, male and female skulls were deformed. But in the Hirota skulls, the occipital region — a cranial bone at the back — was notably flatter than in Jomon and Doigahama skulls. Certain indentations were also identified in Hirota skulls but were absent in those of Jomon and Doigahama individuals. These depressions may have been left by binding practices that deformed the infant skulls, the scientists said.
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