Was the Starchild Skull Cradleboarded?

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ANALYSIS OF CRADLEBOARDING AND ARTIFICIAL CRANIAL DEFORMATION (HEAD BINDING) AS A POSSIBLE EXPLANATION FOR THE STARCHILD SKULL'S FLATTENED OCCIPITAL

In Brief: Cradleboarding and other forms of artificial skull deformation are often suggested as the reason for the unusual flattening at the rear of the Starchild Skull. A 2004 study lead by Dr. Ted Robinson concluded that the Starchild Skull morphology is not the result of artificial deformation. Read the full report here.

Cradleaboarding is the practice of strapping infants into cradleboards, which causes the child's soft occipital bone (at the rear of the skull) to flatten like the board it is pressed against. Cradleboarding and all other artificial shaping techniques leave tell-tale signs on the bones of the skull, and none of them are able to change the shape or position of the inion (the small bump at the rear of all human skulls). The Starchild Skull shows no evidence of artificial shaping, and the inion is totally missing. After careful review of the evidence, Dr. Robinson's team concluded that "the extreme flattening of the skull was caused by its natural growth pattern and is not artificial." Therefore the unusual shape of the skull is not caused by cradleboarding or any other sort of intentional or accidental cranial shaping technique.
See below for more detail

In Detail:

Cradleboarding (also known as cradle-boarding, or cradle boarding) is the practice of securing an infant to a cradleboard for safety and convenience [1], and in some cases for the deliberate purpose of cranial deformation [2][3]. A cradleboard is a back-pack like apparatus used in some cultures to carry infants in the first year or two of life [4]. It usually consists of a flat, hard back made of wood with textile or hide sides that can be secured together to hold the baby in place [5].

Positional Polagiocephaly is a condition resulting in abnormal flattening of areas of an infant's skull [6]. This can be caused by pressures from gestation and birthing [7][8], disease [9][10], or from pressure placed on the infant's head by actions such as laying with its head in one position [11][12] and cradleboarding[13]. When an infant is cradleboarded, its soft skull conforms to the shape of the hard back of the cradleboard, leaving the occipital region (the back of the skull where it rests against the board) as smooth and flat as the board it rested against for the rest of the individuals life [14][15]. This type of occipital flattening is termed "posturally produced flattening" [16][17].

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Was the Starchild Cradleboarded?

Posturally produced occipital flattening from cradleboarding results in a flat, distorted area of bone where the head rested against the cradleboard [18][19]. The Adult Female skull reportedly found with the Starchild was cradleboarded, as can be seen in the images below. Note that the shape of the skull is normal and round except for the perfectly smooth, flattened area from the inion (the natural lump at the back of the head, formed when the neck muscles attach) to the top of the head where the skull pressed against the hard back of the cradleboard.

The Starchild also has an abnormally shaped occipital, however, as can be seen in the images below, the occipital does not have the perfectly smooth appearance produced by cradleboarding [20]. Both Radiographs of the Starchild skull show subtle convolutions in the bone of the skull. Such natural convolutions are not present in areas of bone that have been artificially flattened[21].

Two X-Rays (Radiographs) of the Starchild Skull, one view from the bottom of the skull, one from the side.

While displaying normal convolutions [22], the Starchild skull's occipital is still notably flatter than that of a normal human skull. It also lacks an inion [23], the bony lump that is present on all human skulls regardless of cranial shaping [24]. In the area where an inion ought to be, there is instead what Dr. Ted Robinson describes as an "atypical fossa," meaning a slight depression in the bone [25].

Additionally, in order to attain occipital flattening to the extent demonstrated in the Starchild Skull using a device like a cradleboard, an infant would have to be strapped to the board in a manner that would cause asphyxiation. An infant's head would have to be tilted in a manner that forced the chin downward into the neck at so sharp an angle as to compress the wind pipe, preventing the infant from breathing and causing death.

Conclusion

In his report on the Starchild, Dr. Robinson concluded that "the extreme flattening of the skull was caused by its natural growth pattern and is not artificial" [26], a conclusion that is readily verified by the evidence above. The abnormal shape of the Starchild skull's occipital region was not the result of cradleboarding or other posturally produced flattening.

References

1. Red Earth Inc., "Indian Cradleboards," Red Earth Inc. (online), 2005, p1.
<http://www.redearth.org/education.php> (23 Nov 2006)

2. Dr. Vera Tiesler, "Head Shaping and Dental Decoration Among the Ancient Maya: Archeological and Cultural Aspects," Paper presented at the 64 Meeting of the Society of American Archaeology, Chicago 1999, Autonomous University of Yucatan Merida, Mexico p3.
<http://www.mesoweb.com/features/tiesler/media/headshaping.pdf> (22 Nov 2006)

3. Ellen FitzSimmons, MA; Jack H. Prost, PhD; Sharon Peniston, "Infant Head Molding: A Cultural Practice," Archives Of Family Medicine (online), 1998;7:88-90, Intro.
<http://archfami.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/7/1/88> (23 Nov 2006)

4. Red Earth Inc., "Indian Cradleboards," p1-2.

5. Ibid.

6. Neurosurgery Today.org, "Positional Plagiocephaly," Neurosurgery Today.org (online), Sept 2005.
<http://www.neurosurgerytoday.org/what/patient_e/positional_plagiocephaly.asp> (Nov 21 2006)

7. Neurosurgery Today.org, "Positional Plagiocephaly," Causes of plagiocephaly.

8.Ibid

9. Ellen FitzSimmons et al., "Infant Head Molding: A Cultural Practice," Intro.

10. Argenta LC, David LR, Wilson JA, Bell WO, "An increase in infant cranial deformity with supine sleeping position," Journal Craniofacial Surgery. 1996 Jan;7(1):5-11.
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?itool=abstractplus&db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=abstractplus&list_uids=9086895> (24 Nov 2006)

11. Turk AE, McCarthy JG, Thorne CH, Wisoff JH, "The "back to sleep campaign" and deformational plagiocephaly: is there cause for concern?," Journal Craniofacial Surgery, 1996 Jan;7(1):12-8.
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?itool=abstractplus&db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=abstractplus&list_uids=9086896> (24 Nov 2006)

12. Ellen FitzSimmons et al., "Infant Head Molding: A Cultural Practice," Intro.

13. Christina Torres-Rouff, "Shaping Identity: Cranial Vault Modification in the Pre-Columbian Andes," A Dissertation submitted in to the University of California, Sept 2003, p 4.
<http://personalwebs.coloradocollege.edu/~ctorresrouff/research/christina%20diss.pdf> (25 Nov 2006)

14. Coon CS., The Living Races of Man. New York, NY: Alfred A Knopf; 1965.

15. Ellen FitzSimmons et al., "Infant Head Molding: A Cultural Practice," Intro.

16. R. Shane Tubbs, E. George Salter, W. Jerry Oakes, "Artificial deformation of the human skull: A review," Clinical Anatomy, vol 19, no 4, p371-377, 2006., 371-2.

17. Ellen FitzSimmons et al., "Infant Head Molding: A Cultural Practice," Intro.

18. S J Bridges, T L Chambers, and I K Pople, "Plagiocephaly and head binding ," Archives of Disease in Childhood 2002;86:144-145, p 144.

19. Ted Robinson[a], “A Preliminary Analysis of a Highly Unusual Human-Like Skull,” StarchildProject, 25 Sept 2004, 14.
<http://www.starchildproject.com/Reports_Robinson.html> (Nov 17 2006)

20. Ibid.

21. Ibid.

22. Ibid.

23. Ted Robinson[a], “A Preliminary Analysis of a Highly Unusual Human-Like Skull,” 15.

24. Gray, Henry, "5a. The Cranial Bones. 1. The Occipital Bone," Anatomy of the Human Body. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger, 1918; Bartleby.com, 2000.

<www.bartleby.com/107/31.html> (25 Nov 2006)

25.Ted Robinson[a], “A Preliminary Analysis of a Highly Unusual Human-Like Skull,” 15.

26. Ibid.