[Lonely Bull]

I guess we had sharp instruments at the time so that they could shave their heads but is that an artistic license thing?

Deformity
Ms Barber’s work revealed that the Viste Boy had scaphocephaly (“boat-head”), a congenital deformity which makes the skull long and narrow. She left the modelled head hairless to show this.

[rarestia]

I admit I didn’t read the whole article. Thank you for doing my homework for me.

[afraidfortherepublic]

We need a profile to clearly appreciate the “boat head” aspect of this model. The article called it a “congenital deformity”, but couldn’t it also be the way the mother carried the baby after he was born? for instance, American Indians used to have flat heads in the back because they were bound to papoose boards. Did the Norwegians bind their babies into some kind of contraption to keep them still and easily portable before they were old enough to walk? Even as late as the 1960s, American women were cautioned to not put their babies to bed on their backs, or their heads would become mishapen. Of course the advice is totally opposote now.