This Japanese ancient civilization intentionally reshaped their skulls

Japan’s Hirota people found to practice ICM

Shells found in burials were not local to the island

Hirota skulls notably flatter at the back

Similar to those of China, Peru and Mexico

Further investigations into Japan’s ancient civilizations

Cultural practice: a fluid and changing phenomenon

An ancient practice

Though it may sound extreme, the practice of intentional cranial modification (ICM) has been present throughout history, in many ancient civilizations around the world.

Asia, Europe and Mesoamerica

Modified skulls have been found in burials across Asia, Europe and Mesoamerica, and even in medieval sites in Germany and Croatia.

Japan’s Hirota people found to practice ICM

However, for the first time last year, an international team of researchers found evidence that the practice also took place in Southern Japan, specifically in the Hirota community, an ancient civilization residing on Tanegashima Island (pictured).

An expression of collective identity

The findings, published in the journal PLOS ONE, suggest that the Hirota people reshaped both men and women skulls as an expression of collective identity.

Photo: Malcolm Lightbody/Unsplash

Forging trade connections?

Moreover, two of the study’s authors told CNN, the practice may have also helped the group to forge trade connections.

Long-distance trade of shellfish

“We hypothesize that the Hirota people deformed their crania to preserve group identity and potentially facilitate long-distance trade of shellfish, as supported by archaeological evidence,” coauthors Noriko Seguchi and James Frances Loftus told CNN.

Shells found in burials were not local to the island

Shells found in Hirota burial sites were abundant but not local to the region. In fact, they were thousands of kilometers away, suggesting that Hirota people traded for them, the researchers explained.

Photo: Mandy Henry/Unsplash

Comparing skulls between civilizations

For the study, the scientists 3D-scanned and digitally modeled 19 Hirota skulls to conduct more detailed morphological analysis, comparing them to skulls from two other ancient Japanese groups: Jomon and Doigahama.

Hirota skulls notably flatter at the back

In the Hirota skulls, the occipital region (cranial bone at the back) was notably flatter than in Jomon and Doigahama skulls, the study showed.

In the photo, A is a Doigahama sample and B is Hirota.

credits: PLOS ONE

Similar to those of China, Peru and Mexico

Distinguishable cranial morphologies observed in the Hirota people, can also be found

in old China, Peru, and Mexico, which made the researchers conclude the skull modification was intentional, they said in the paper.

Further investigations into Japan’s ancient civilizations

The authors said they were hopeful that the study will lead to further investigation into the Hirota and other ancient Japanese civilizations’ way of life.

Photo: Hirota skull/ PLOS ONE

Cultural practice: a fluid and changing phenomenon

“We hope that this study will open the eyes of researchers of this and other periods of Japanese prehistory to lines of thinking which allow us to view Japan through an international lens, seeing cultural practice as a fluid and changing phenomenon,” they told CNN.