During the excavation of a Neolithic site (the end of the Stone Age) in Houtaomuga, Jilin Province, northeast of China, archaeologists found 1 1 slender skulls, both male and female, which showed signs of intentional remodeling of skulls. Wang Qian, a researcher and associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Dentistry, Texas A&M University, participated in the study. If this practice starts in East Asia, it will probably spread westward to the Middle East, Russia and Europe through the prairie, and cross the Bering Continental Bridge eastward to America. "[A reconstructed ancient long-headed woman]
The site of Houtaomuga is a treasure house, which preserves tombs and cultural relics from 12000 to 5 years ago and 1000 years ago. During an excavation from 20 1 1 to 20 15, archaeologists found 25 human remains, of which 19 were well preserved enough for ICM research. The researchers put these skulls into a CT scanner, which can generate 3D digital images of each specimen and confirm that 1 1 skull has indisputable signs of formation, such as flattening and lengthening of frontal bone or forehead.
The oldest ICM skull belongs to an adult male who lived from 12027 to 1 1747 years ago. According to radiocarbon dating,
The age of M72 skull is between 6300 and 5500 years. (Wang Qian) Archaeologists have found reconstructed human skulls all over the world, from every inhabited continent. But this special discovery, if confirmed, "will be the earliest evidence of conscious head plastic surgery, which lasted for 7000 years in the same place after it first appeared," Wang told Life Science.
These 1 1 ICM individuals died between the ages of 3 and 40, which shows that skull plastic surgery started from a very young age. At that time, Wang said that human skulls were still plastic.
Wang said that it is not clear why this special culture will change the skull, but it may be caused by fertility, social status and beauty. The people who buried ICM in Houtaomuga probably came from the privileged class, because these people often had graves and funeral decorations.
"Obviously, these young people got a decent funeral, which may show that they are a high socio-economic class," Wang said.
20 10 was excavated at this site. (Photo credit: Li Xinwang) "KDSPs", although HouTaMuga people are the earliest known ICM cases in history, it is a mystery whether other known ICM cases spread from this group or rose independently. Wang said: "It is too early to say that the intentional makeover first appeared in East Asia and spread in other places; Perhaps independence originated in different places. " . He said that older DNA research and skull examination around the world may reveal the spread of this practice:
The study was published online in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology on June 25th.
25 Terrible Archaeological Discoveries The most mysterious 25 archaeological discoveries on earth can be traced back to the Stone Age: 17 An important milestone in the Paleolithic Age was first published in Life Science.