Skull, with the exception of the mandible, showing artificial deformation

Object numberGC.3588
TitleSkull, with the exception of the mandible, showing artificial deformation
DescriptionSkull, with the exception of the mandible, showing artificial deformation from an indigenous tribe of South America. The deformation is produced by the tribal custom of pressure on the pars frontalis during infancy and childhood, by means of a flat board held in constant contact.
The skull is strong and large and there has been a full complement of teeth though most of them have been lost. The facial bones are unaffected. The skull is large, its circumference is 490 mm., its length 160 mm. and its breadth 154 mm. give a cephalic index of 96.02, establishing a high degree of brachycephalism. In height the skull measures 121 mm. and is therefore hypsocephalic with an altitudinal index of 75.5. A basinasal length of 97 mm. and a basialveolar length of 106 mm. shows the skull to be very prognathic, the gnathic index being 109.27. A nasal index of 50 shows the skull to be mesorhine and an orbital index of 92.68 makes it megaseme. The cranial capacity is 1360 c.cm. and the skull is therefore mesocephalic. The frontal squama is flattened anteriorly and the glabella and superciliary arches are poorly developed. The site of each frontal tuberosity is marked by linear impressions for branches of the supra-orbital nerves. The left half of the frontal is somewhat more depressed than the right and with a corresponding bulge posteriorly gives the skull a definite left plagiocephaly. In the temporal and bregmatic regions the coronal suture and throughout its whole length the sagittal suture is synostosed though still faintly recognisable on the outer table. The parietal bones bulge laterally, the left to a greater extent than the right. There is only one parietal foramen present, the right. The occipital bone is unaffected. The base of the A skull is symmetrical, the foramen magnum is spherical and its long axis lies accurately in the sagittal plane.
Production placeSouth America
Object nameBONE, skull
Object categoryAnatomical, specimen
Dimensions
- Height: 24 cm
Width: 16 cm
Depth: 20 cm