theyeti

I still can't see them. Must be a browser thing. <shrugs>

Mageth

Most of them are the result of skull binding in ancient Peruvian cultures.

One link

Paracas skull binding

The "bubble" skull looks like an extreme case of a hydrocephalic skull.

Here's a more extreme example available on a t-shirt, if you can believe it.

Janaya

Headbinding.

This is a nice overview though you may be offended by the S&M link at the bottom.

I saw a show not to long ago about this. I think it was on the discovery channel or some such. Of course it's easy to see that some people claim that these are alien skulls. I think they called one of them Starchild, supposedly an alien/human hybrid.

Anyway, intentional skull deformation appears to be a worldwide history spanning phenomenon, though it obviously isn't all that popular today, thank Dawg.

Edited to add that headbinding is in the same category as footbinding (Japanese, I think), and women wearing extremely tight corsets to produce that "wonderfully" tiny waist.

RBH

Mageth wrote Here's the alternative explanation .

RBH

Nic Tamzek

Heh, I'd like to see what makes *you* shudder.

On second thought, I wouldn't. Those skulls are scary enough.
<shudder>

nic

Vorkosigan

This one....



...is clearly the skull of Dracula from the Coppola film of a few years ago.

Oolon Colluphid

Monkey, may I suggest you look into developmental biology a little. It�s fascinating stuff. The main relevant point here is that it�s all about genes being turned on and off at the appropriate times in the growing tissues. Much of evolution is to do with a change in control genes that mean the organism ends up with �more of this sort of tissue here�. There�s some pretty basic algorithms involved, with instructions to tissues like �if you find yourself in these circumstances, do this (continue to grow, stop growing, etc).

So potentially all it takes to make a skull like those shown is for a cock-up in the gene instructions so that portions of the skull or brain keep growing beyond normal. There�s nothing (in general -- plenty in detail!) mysterious or -- Darwin forbid! -- super-natural about these sorts of skulls. And remember: most mutations will result in hopeless monsters .

DT

MrDarwin

Here is the "Starchild":

THE STARCHILD SKULL: Deformed Human, Alien, or Hybrid?

I'll let others pick it apart. It's just too bad the picture looks just like a fragmentary human skull.

capnkirk

The other"alternative" explanation is that they are ancient GODS!!! :notworthy

capnkirk

EXCERPT FROM THE ARTICLE: Coming up out of the dirt beside it was a misshapen hand, entwined in one of the human skeleton's arm bones. Gathering her courage, the young girl began to dig away the dirt the hand was rising up out of. She uncovered a shallow grave containing a being smaller than the human, with a body and skull as misshapen as the hand.

Seeing the rest of the skeleton would certainly be helpful.

OBTW: If the skull is in the condition found (sans soft tissue), then how could the little girl have found a "misshapen hand" coming up out of the ground? Only Hollywood skeletons hold together after the soft tissue and such have decomposed. The hand bones would have been a pile or odd pieces on the ground, unrecognizable as a hand without either a trained eye or a lot of reconstruction...or both. Smacks of dramatic enhancement, huh!

While the fact of the skull isn't in contention (I have seen the Discovery Channel show that featured it), I recall no mention, much less presentation of other skeletal remains was offered.