Head flattening
|
Painting from 1847 by Paul Kane, showing a Chinookan child in the process of having its head flattened. |
Head flattening, also called
Head binding, is deformation of the
human skull in such a way as to cause it to become flatter. It can be accidental but more usually is a part of a cultural
ritual, typically on an
infant as the skull is most sculptable at this time.
Head flattening has been practiced by various
cultures throughout history. The earliest known culture to bind their children's heads in order to produce more cosmetically pleasing head shapes was the
ancient Egyptians of the third millenium BC. The practice was also known among the aboriginal inhabitants of
Australia and certain tribes of
North American
Natives, most notably, the
Chinookan tribes of the North West, the
Choctaw of the South East.
The different cultures have had differnt ideals of beauty. Some cultures bound the head between two pieces of wood in order to create an elongated head. Some bound the head in cloth to produce a more rounded appearance. Yet others bound the head in such a way as to flatten and lengthen the forehead.
The Native American group known as the
Flathead did not in fact practice head flattening, but were named such in contrast to other
Salishan people who used skull modification to make the head appear more round [
1]. However, other tribes, including the
Choctaw [
2], did practice head flattening, by strapping the infant's head to a
cradleboard.
