Artificial deformation versus normal variation: re-examination of artificially deformed crania in ancient Korean populations

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to examine cranial deformation versus normal cranial variation in ancient Korean populations from the 1st century B.C. to the 7th century A.D. by means of geometric morphometrics and multivariate statistical methods. The samples of human crania in this study were 7 male and 11 female individuals from the Yean-ri site, 4 males and 6 females from the Nukdo site, and 6 males and 4 females from the Imdang site. Of the 38 adult individuals, 2 females (Ye085 and Ye099) from the Yean-ri site were reported to have artificially deformed crania in a previous study. In the present study, two-dimensional geometric morphometric methodology was employed to evaluate cranial shape variation. Deformed crania were characterized as an anteroposterior modification based on Antón's classification system. Deformed crania showed relatively flatter frontal and occipital bones and superoposteriorly developed parietal bones from a lateral view, which may reflect compensatory development due to pressure from an anterior to posterior direction. Moreover, Im095 (female) and Nu051 (male) had relatively flatter frontal bones and were similar to the deformed group; however, the convexity in the occipital bone was too pronounced to allocate these individuals to the deformed group.

Quantitative discrimination of deformation in Fueguian crania

“…The deformed crania present a flattened frontal area (the FRA is more open; and the subtense (FRS) is shorter), the parietal gains length (the Lambda radius (LAR) is longer; and the parietal angle (PAA) is sharper), the length of the foramen magnum (FOL) is lesser, the Basion‐Nasion‐Bregma angle (NBA) is sharper and finally the radius at the vertex (VRR) is greater. The significance of the differences in the observed variables is compatible with the results reported in other studies: Australia (Brown, ), Peru (Anton, ), north‐central Peru (Pomeroy, Stock, Zakrzewski, & Lahr, ), south central Andes (Cocilovo et al, ), and Korea (Jung & Jin Woo, ). A similar deformation pattern, the morphological differences between ethnic groups or populations (Perez, ), and the differential interactions between the deformation of the cranial vault and the structures of the face and the base of the cranium (Anton, ; Cheverud, Kohn, & Konigsberg, ; Jung & Jin Woo, ; Kohn, Keigh, Jacob, & Cheverud, ; Rhode & Arriaza, ) explain why the classification functions are not interchangeable and why the sub‐groups of more informative variables do not match overall.…”

“…In particular, the deformation observed was seen in three units or functional complexes: (a) forward projection of the face due to nasal and sub‐nasal prognathism (BPL, AVR, PRR, PRA, BNL, NAA, and ZMR) and effects on the bone structures of the face (ZYB, SSA, and IML); (b) depression of the bregmatic area (more flattened frontal (FRA y FRS) along with higher bregma (BRA)); and (c) action of the muscles associated with the mastoid process and the occipital area (MDH and OCF). This type of variation in the vault has also been described in the literature: Peru (Anton, ), Peru and India (Cheverud et al, ), south central Andes (Cocilovo et al, ; Rhode & Arriaza, ), north‐central Peru (Pomeroy et al, ), and Korea (Jung & Jin Woo, ).…”

Archaeological Artifacts from the Stone Age Solve the Mystery of the First Native Americans

“…In South Korea, artificial cranial deformation (ACD) customs can be found in the Records of the Three Kingdoms (三國志魏書東夷傳), which were written by Jinsu, of Chinese heritage (陳壽, 233-297 bce): "People who had lived near Gadeok Island had the custom of artificially transforming the skull by wrapping wood, stones, or cloth around their heads at infancy." A Korean skull with ACD (Figure 2B) was excavated in 1976 at the Yean-ri site in Gimhae, approximately 30 km from Gadeok Island (Jung & Woo, 2017). These customs were also performed among North America's Chinookan tribes of the Northwest, the Choctaw of the Southeast (Meigs, 1866), and in Latin America (Meigs, 1866;Schijman, 2005).…”