Image Credit: INAH

Old Cube Shaped Skull Reveals Rare Cranial Tradition in Ancient Mexico

Archaeologists in Mexico have uncovered a highly unusual cube-shaped human skull, providing the first evidence that ancient inhabitants of the Balcón de Montezuma region practiced a rare and previously undocumented form of cranial modification about 1,400 years ago.
The skull, belonging to a middle-aged man, was found near the archaeological site of Balcón de Montezuma in Tamaulipas — an area occupied by various Mesoamerican groups from 650 B.C. to A.D. 1200. By around A.D. 400, the settlement had grown into a village of roughly 90 circular houses arranged around two plazas, according to Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).
During a recent review of human remains from the site, researchers noticed that one skull had a shape unlike anything previously recorded in the region. While cranial modification was a known cultural practice in Mesoamerica, the flattened, block-like form of this skull was entirely new for Tamaulipas.
Commonly known examples of head-shaping — often producing elongated, cone-like skulls — were created by binding an infant’s head so it grew in an oblique direction. Other modified skulls from Balcón de Montezuma show an “erect” style, shaped with soft padding to make the skull more upright or pointed.
The newly identified skull, however, features a flat top, creating a geometric, cube-like appearance that specialists describe as parallelepiped cranial modification. Similar shapes have previously been documented in regions such as Veracruz and the Maya area, but never before within Tamaulipas.
Isotope analysis confirmed that the man was local, born and raised in the region, ruling out the possibility that he migrated from an area where such practices were common. This suggests that the unusual head shape may reflect a specific cultural identity, status marker, or symbolic meaning that is no longer understood.
INAH researchers note that across Mesoamerica, variations in cranial form often corresponded to distinct cultural groups. While the man himself was local, the technique used to shape his head may have been introduced by people with different cultural traditions.
According to Tonantzin Silva Cárdenas, director of INAH Tamaulipas, ongoing research into earlier excavations at Balcón de Montezuma will help clarify how this community interacted with neighboring pre-Hispanic cultures — and why one of its members bore such a rare and striking physical marker.

Published on: 06-12-2025

Edited by: Abdulmnam Samakie

Source: Live Science