June
12
/ 2025
About 6,200 years ago, in a village on the northern rim of the Persian Gulf, a young woman died after being struck on the head. She was probably younger than 20. Her skull, recently discovered at the prehistoric graveyard of Chega Sofla in western Iran, speaks two tales — one of cultural shaping, and one of traumatic violence. Her cranium was elongated, reshaped through years of tight bandaging during childhood, a form of body modification practiced by ancient societies across Eurasia and beyond. But it was also cracked — split by a forceful strike with a wide, blunt object. Whether the blow was delivered in conflict or by accident, we’ll never know. What remains is the scar in the bone
