Ancient cone-shaped skull shows signs of fatal trauma

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Archeologists have spent over a decade excavating an ancient graveyard in western Iran known as Chegla Sofla. The Copper Age site contains a trove of skeletal remains, offering insight about regional life approximately 6,200 years ago, and even contains the oldest-known tomb constructed from brick.

However, one of the most recent finds isn’t a feat of engineering, but of body modification: the skull of a young girl with distinct evidence of cranial modification. And according to the team’s conclusions recently detailed in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, she died from head trauma—but it’s unclear what or who caused it.

The practice of artificial head elongation has been documented across cultures around the world dating back millennia, including societies in Eurasia, Africa, South America, and the Americas. The desired results were typically accomplished by tightly binding a child’s head with cloth bandages for years in order to mold their pliable cranial bones into the desired conical shape. Some of the earliest examples date to 9th millennium BCE proto-Neolithic groups living in present-day Iraq. But based on discoveries at Chegla Sofla, similar traditions extended well into the 5th millennium.

Images of elongated skull with fractures from scientific journal — *The red rectangle shows the prominent cranial fracture that likely proved fatal. Credit: International Journal of Osteoarchaeology*

Archeologists including experts at Iran’s Tarbiat Modares University analyzed the remains to better understand their subject after excavating the skull of a young woman estimated to be under 20 years old. To do this, the team used computing tomography (CT) scanning to assess both her cranial bones and diploe—the spongy part of bones that function as shock absorbers. They determined her skull was thinner than usual—a feature indicative of cranial binding.

CT scans also revealed a fracture extending from the front of the skull all the way to the rear with no signs of healing. The injury’s severity is particularly prominent in the form of a triangular fracture along the left parietal bone’s sagittal border.

Further examination made it clear the injury was inflicted by a blunt object that did not penetrate the cranial vault. But beyond these findings, it’s hard to know the circumstances surrounding her death.

“We know this woman experienced the fracture in the final moments of her life, but we don’t have any direct evidence to say that someone intentionally struck her,” study lead author Mahdi Alirezazadeh told Live Science.

While cranial elongation resulted in thinner bones more prone to fracturing, it seems clear that even a naturally developed skull wouldn’t have fared well against the injury.

“It should be noted that the blow was so severe that it would have fractured a normal, unmodified skull as well,” explained Alirezazadeh.

Unfortunately, there’s little else currently available that might clarify the woman’s final moments. Although her skull has been recovered, the same can’t be said for the rest of her skeleton. Her remains were found in a mass grave at Chegla Sofla, so it may be a while before experts match the skull to other bones.