Four
hours drive south of Lima Peru one finds the Paracas Peninsula, part of which
is an ecological reserve, where one can see wildlife such as sea lions, and a
myriad of various sea bird species. The area is amazingly rich in seafood, and
abundant fresh water exists just below the surface of the desert sands,
suitable for irrigation free agriculture.
Therefore,
it would seem to be a very liveable place for humans. Stone tools, of
various forms and styles of shaping have been found in the area, and cursory
analysis has established dates of as old as 8000 years. The greatest of
Peruvian archaeologists, Julio Tello, made studies in this area in 1928 and
performed excavations on the north side of the peninsula, in the central area
of the large semi-circular bay there. He discovered and excavated a massive and
elaborate graveyard, where each tomb contained an entire family, each one
ornately wrapped in multiple layers of highly stylized, woven and coloured cotton
cloth. He also found the sand filled remains of subterranean houses, which
turned out to be numerous; so numerous in fact, that the village stretched out
for between 1 and 2 km just above the seashore.
But, the
most amazing finds were the skulls, some enormously elongated. The scientific
name for this is dolichocephally. Most skulls exhibiting this condition, found
in many parts of the world, were clearly the result of the practice of
head-binding, the process being known as cranial deformation. And so how was
this achieved?
A very young child’s skull is pliant at birth, and
remains in this way for months. It is therefore possible, by lashing a rope
around the head, with a board placed at the back of the skull, and perhaps the
front as well, to alter the shape of the head over time. Many authors state
that the time period to perform this shaping was about 6 months to 3 years, but
since the practice is no longer performed to my knowledge, no one really knows.
Examples of this technique, supposedly last performed on infants in the Congo
of Africa and the Island of Vanuatu in the south Pacific Ocean area known as
Melanesia, well into the 20th century, have also been found in
Egypt, during the Amarna period, Sudan, Iraq, Syria, Russia, the island of
Malta, as well as many places in Peru and Bolivia, and amongst the Olmecs of
Mexico.
What you
are capable of doing via this technique is to change the shape of the skull,
but not the actual volume; you can alter the shape, but not the size. However,
Tello found several skulls, at least 300 at the site called Cerro Colorado
adjacent to the main graveyard in Paracas, which had cranial volume larger, and
in some cases 25 percent larger (and perhaps more) than a conventional modern
human skull. How is this possible? As I have said, deformation can alter shape,
but not the volume of bone material.
It is
therefore obvious that we are dealing with 2 different phenomena; elongation
through binding, and elongation via genetics. The Paracas skulls are the
largest found in the world, but from what root race stock would they have
originated? To suggest that the natural elongation was the result of
hydrocephaly or some other clinical condition is ridiculous, when one takes
into account that again, at least 300 of them were found by Tello, and no
one knows how many are still under the earth, in private collections, or
gathering dust in museum warehouses in Peru, and beyond. Hydrocephaly would
tend to make the skull expand evenly, making them more round than elongated.
What is also intriguing is that these Paracas skulls, on average, weigh 60
percent more than contemporary human skulls from the same area.
Tello
believed that the Paracas were related to the people of the Chavin culture, who
created the famous megalithic site of Chavin de Huantar, mainly based on the
fact that he saw similarities in pottery designs and motifs, especially feline
figures. However, to my knowledge, no elongated skulls have been found in the
area where the Chavin lived, north of Lima in the Ancash district, so that
clearly is not the answer as to their origins. But, since Tello was the expert
and main archaeologist at Chavin, where he placed an origin date of at least
3000 years ago, he then simply applied this for the Paracas as well, and no one
has dared or bothered to refute his time line until now.
Recent
DNA testing, by a German team in 2010 of nearby Nazca skulls, as well as a
sampling of Paracas ones, indicate that both the Nazca and Paracas were not
genetically related to any other people in what is now known as Peru.
The
Paracas people, living by the coast, were clearly fishermen, as evidenced by
netting which has been found buried in the sand, as well as ancient middens,
which are heaps of sea shells. No actual and extensive carbon 14 dating has
been performed on the organic matter of the archaeological sites, and this was
certainly not done by Tello, as his work was performed in 1928, whereas carbon
14 dating was not established until the 1940s. Also, very little work has been
done at Paracas since the time of Tello, and the subterranean houses have once
again filled up with sand.
It seems
evident, although unproven at this time, that the Paracas may be the
descendants of an earlier culture that were sea farers. Since the
Chavin-Paracas link set forth by Tello seems improbable, due to the lack of
elongated Chavin skulls, as well as the German DNA testing, it is a worthwhile
hypothesis.
I went to
the excavation sites, most notably those of the graveyard and adjacent village,
which stretches and hugs the shoreline for supposedly 2.5 km, in May of 2011,
with the film crew from the US based Ancient Aliens television series. All of
the subterranean homes and graves had become filled in with sand, due to the
constant wind, blowing in off the ocean.
The site
of Cerro Colorado, which was the burial place of the priestly and ruling class
of Paracas people, located across the main road which takes visitors through
the ecological reserve, is strictly forbidden to visit. This is mainly due to
the fact that huaqueros, or grave robbers, have been looting these locations
since at least Tello’s time, mainly looking for clay pots, gold and silver
figurines, and the finely woven fabrics which the Paracas are famous for having
made.
Mr. Juan
Navarro, owner and director of the local museum, called the Paracas History
Museum, has a fine collection of artefacts from all of the cultures known and
believed to have lived in this area, including the Paracas, Nazca, Chincha and
Inca. Amongst his displayed collection of stone implements and clay pots is an
elongated skull. Upon inquiring as to its age, he stated that he is a firm
believer of the time line set forth by Tello, that the skull could possibly be
3000 years old, and not more recent than 2000. That is because the prevailing
theory is that the Paracas people died out by about the time of Christ, having
been absorbed into the Nazca, who were the next major culture to live there,
spreading out from the area that bears their name.
What is
intriguing about this, is that we see, from viewing the very large skull
collection at the Regional Museum in nearby Ica, that the physical presence of
the elongated skulls does dwindle as the time line of the Nazca progresses.
This would indicate that either the process of head binding itself died out
gradually, and/or that the genetic trait of the elongated cranium faded as
fewer and fewer of the Paracas people existed. The Paracas people also seem to
have occupied the Nazca area prior to the arrival of the actual Nazca tribal
people, and may have been the makers of the famous animal figures on the Nazca
plain; the lines themselves having been made later. Amongst the most famous of
the figures is one called “The Astronaut,” and it is not only human like in
form, but shows signs of having a less than normal shaped head. Whether this
was the result of artistic license, or a realistic portrayal is not known.
The only
way to establish the actual age, and possible genetic origins of the Paracas
people is through DNA analysis of the skulls themselves. Fortunately, Juan
Navarro has a somewhat large collection of the elongated skulls in his
possession, and just recently put them on display at his museum, due to my
urging. Numbering at least 35, and collected as the result of the huaqueros
(grave robbers) leaving the skulls abandoned on the surface after looting
graves, Juan has allowed the taking of samples from 5 of the skulls. The
samples consisted of hair, including roots, a tooth, skull bone and skin, and
this process was carefully documented via photos and video.
The
samples were sent to Lloyd Pye in the US, famous as the caretaker of the Star
Child skull, who has now delivered the samples to his geneticist in Texas. A
further 5 samples, those being molar teeth, one from each of 5 skulls, have
just been sent to Mr. Pye, and they will be both DNA as well as C-14 tested,
with results to be posted as soon as available.
As I have said, the phenomenon of the elongated
skull is not unique to the Paracas area. The Egyptians, at the time of Pharaoh
Akhenaton, seem to have exhibited this cranial feature, as did people on the
island of Vanuatu in Melanesia, Malta in the Mediterranean, and the Olmec of
Mexico, amongst other locations. However, as far as I know, most of these
skulls are elongated as the result of artificial binding; whereas a number of
the Paracas ones show specific characteristics that would seem to indicate that
they were in fact born this way. Of the 5 physical factors, pointed out by
Lloyd Pye and myself, which are not at all common to Homo sapiens, are two that
I will mention. One is the presence of 2 small holes in the back of the skull,
perpendicular to the cranial suture present in the parietal plate of the skull.
Every normal human skull is composed of 3 major bone plates; the frontal plate,
which ends at the upper part of the forehead, and the 2 parietal plates which
lie behind this, intersecting the frontal plate making a “T” shape. The holes
are thought by Lloyd to be natural; every human jaw has a small hole on either
side which is for nerves and blood vessels to exit and feed the tissue there;
these 2 holes at the back of the skull may perform the same function for the
elongated skull.
The other
factor is that there is only one parietal plate, where there should be two.
David
Hatcher Childress and I have recently published a book, delving into the global
phenomenon of cranial elongation, entitled, appropriately, “The Enigma Of
Cranial Deformation,” which is available both through Amazon.com,
as well as David’s publishing company, namely www.adventuresunlimitedpress.com.
I feel
very fortunate to be at the forefront of the research of the elongated skulls
of Paracas. Recent information suggests that these people were much more wide
spread than just the Paracas area. Many related skulls have been found near
Tiwanaku Bolivia, as well as Cusco Peru and the surrounding area. Not
coincidentally, these areas are also known for their mysterious and masterful
ancient megalithic constructions, whose makers are presently unknown. I contend
that the megalithic builders were the elongated skull people, but much more
research has to be conducted to verify this.
My
ongoing on site investigations have shown that the presence of ancient
elongated skulls follow quite a precise geographical pattern, from the mining
areas to the southeast of Lake Titicaca near Potosi, Bolivia to the city of
Cajamarca far to the northwest in Peru. Curiously, the pattern of sites follows
what is called the Path of Viracocha, which is the supposed route taken by very
intelligent teachers from the distant past who educated the locals that they
met the arts and sciences. But more of this in a future article, which will
also cover the intriguing elongated skulls found in the vicinity of the Inca
capital of Cusco. Special emphasis will be on the Huayqui skeleton, a mummified
child whose skull is almost the size of its torso.
Photos
and more information about Huayqui, who is under the care of Sr. Renato Davila
, can be found if you look for the Andahuaylillas Museum in a web browser, or Museo Privado Ritos Andinos.
Mark
Laplume is an artist living in South America who has been making drawings of
the Elongated Skulls, found all over the planet, for about 2 years. Through his
keen eyes, he is able to give us a glimpse into what these people may have
looked like more than 2000 years ago. You can have a look at his web site here.
The
Paracas History Museum welcomes anyone to come and explore this phenomenon, and
I can be contacted through my website.
- See
more at:
http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-americas-opinion-guest-authors/elongated-human-skulls-peru-possible-evidence-lost#sthash.lW4LNdRL.dpuf
