
In Patagonia 2k years ago, it was common for people to modify skulls of babies - nsgi
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20151119-the-people-who-reshaped-their-skulls
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matt_morgan
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_cranial_deformation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_cranial_deformation)

And of course it's not just ancient ... my parents had my head shaped (and my
brothers') over several years with metal and rubber bands, mostly in my mouth
but sometimes attached to a frame wrapping around my neck, being slowly
tightened over several years before puberty.

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meric
Wow, do elaborate! What's the shape of your head now? Is it extreme? Would you
choose to have you head shaped if you were given a choice? Why did your
parents do it, is it a cultural thing, did their heads get shaped too?

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sneak
I believe the parent comment is referring to dental braces.

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evincarofautumn
It’s fascinating how various cultures modify their children’s bodies…also a
bit unsettling, since it infringes on a person’s bodily integrity before
they’re even properly a person. I find infant circumcision little different
from head-binding or foot-binding—but that is a rather unpopular opinion here
in the US.

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chimeracoder
> I find infant circumcision little different from head-binding or foot-
> binding—but that is a rather unpopular opinion here in the US.

Circumcision is a lightning rod issue partly because it is often performed for
religious reasons.

One thing that's often overlooked when it's discussed, though: if the child
grows up to be a woman (ie, transgender woman assigned male at birth), being
circumcised makes gender reassignment surgery more complicated and difficult.
It's still possible, but the doctors have less to work with for
reconstruction.

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anon4
Circumcision and transgender issues in one sentence? You like playing with
fire, don't you :) .

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physicsyogi
I wonder what effect this has on brain development.

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allendoerfer
This is still a thing today, but unintentional and to a mich smaller extent.
In some cultures babies are put in tight clothes and lay flat on their backs
most of the time, which gives them a less round skull.

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idlewords
A friend from Sichuan told me that a less drastic form of head binding was
common practice where she came from, though I can't seem to find references to
it online.

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jhwhite
My grandfather tells stories from when he was a boy, about his mother getting
"caps" to put on her kids so they would have a "nicely" shaped skull.

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edge17
If you don't mind me asking, where did your grandfather grow up that that was
a thing?

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jhwhite
Either in South AL or Northwest FL.

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silveira
I wonder if this modifications increased the brain volume, and if this was a
motivation.

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Kliment
Wikipedia says it had no effect on cranial volume, for what that's worth.

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silveira
I think I read the same article (not totally conclusive though). Their
perception of a positive influence could have lead to this behavior (modifying
skulls).

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jerhinesmith
Sounds really interesting, but I'm getting a 503 from their site. :(

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jbrr
I was getting that as well, it's loading for me now if you check again.

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jerhinesmith
Yep, working now. Thanks!

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discardorama
Wow. Is this the BBC?

FTA: "In 2009 a team of archaeologists found _intreaguing_ remains at an
ancient burial."

I didn't read any more. I expected better proofreading from the BBC!

Sorry for the digression, but my OCD kicked in :(

