Ancient Mystery Unearthed: 12,500-Year-Old Skull Reveals Europe’s Earliest Cranial Modification—What Secrets Does It Hold?
The Skull Unearthed In Arene Candide Cave Is Found To Be The Oldest Cranial Modification In European History
T. Mori et al./Scientific ReportsPhotos of the elongated skull, which is currently housed in the Museum of Anthropology in Florence.
The skull, known as AC12, was found inside Italy’s Arene Candide Cave in a part of the site known as the “Tomb of the Antlers.” The site was used as a cemetery thousands of years ago, with some remains dating as far back as 11,600 to 12,500 years ago.
Though the skull was found in pieces, it was reconstructed in the 1970s, further revealing its elongated shape.
Since its initial reconstruction, scientists have struggled to settle on an explanation as to how the skull came to be shaped in such an unusual way. Possible theories included trauma or injury to the head during childhood, or the impacts of some sort of disease.
Now, a new study published in Scientific Reports suggests that the head shape was changed on purpose, making AC12 the earliest recorded instance of ACM in Europe.
Researchers used CT scans to virtually deconstruct the skull. They then used the separated bones to reconstruct AC12 in four different ways.
Using geometric morphometrics, which is a way to analyze bone shape, the researchers compared the four versions of the reconstructed skull with other skulls. This revealed that AC12 was more similar to other purposefully modified skulls than it was to either normal skulls or skulls impacted by trauma and disease.
Researchers believe this particular modification was carried out by wrapping the head with fabric around its circumference during infancy.
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