Comments on: Mayan body modifications http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/3379 Feel Smart Again Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:13:02 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Whitney http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/3379/comment-page-1#comment-35496 Whitney Mon, 12 Nov 2007 15:48:50 +0000 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/3379#comment-35496 Veronice: Tp answer your question, a number of cultures practice "skull-binding". Keep in mind however, that many cultures including many indigenous American cultures used cradleboards ("cradle boarding") for their babies and this practice also modifies the shapes of the skull. Veronice: Tp answer your question, a number of cultures practice “skull-binding”. Keep in mind however, that many cultures including many indigenous American cultures used cradleboards (”cradle boarding”) for their babies and this practice also modifies the shapes of the skull.

]]> By: jen http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/3379/comment-page-1#comment-35485 jen Mon, 12 Nov 2007 14:27:50 +0000 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/3379#comment-35485 Among the body modification practices, let us not for get to ad corseting. Women had their torsos bound in order to produce extreme hour-glass shapes in the name of beauty. Not only did the practice alter the rib cage but also the internal organs. Among the body modification practices, let us not for get to ad corseting. Women had their torsos bound in order to produce extreme hour-glass shapes in the name of beauty. Not only did the practice alter the rib cage but also the internal organs.

]]> By: Amanda http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/3379/comment-page-1#comment-5853 Amanda Tue, 12 Dec 2006 18:14:31 +0000 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/3379#comment-5853 Yeah Veronica, I'm with you. I haven't seen the article on Anthropology.net but I don't recall ever hearing about the Maya binding or boarding heads in school. Maybe it was the Olmec. They were cool, too. Yeah Veronica, I’m with you. I haven’t seen the article on Anthropology.net but I don’t recall ever hearing about the Maya binding or boarding heads in school. Maybe it was the Olmec. They were cool, too.

]]> By: Amanda http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/3379/comment-page-1#comment-5852 Amanda Tue, 12 Dec 2006 18:11:43 +0000 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/3379#comment-5852 I could go on and on about the Maya. They are incredibly awesome and the most wickedly bitchin civilization I learned about in my undergraduate career thus far. I ain't gonna talk your head off but here are a few facts that may interest you ~ - Not only would they stud their teeth with gems but they'd extract their own teeth and insert jaguar dentures! - Blood sacrifice was necessary to keep the universe in motion and, besides war captive heart removal, the elite would do their part by stabbing their wieners and clitorises with sea urchin spines and collecting the blood in big bowls. - They had the 365 1/4 day calendar down before anybody, they knew the position of Venus to a thousandth of modern calculations, and they predicted that this current and final incarnation of the universe will end on the Winter Solstice 2012. I could go on and on about the Maya. They are incredibly awesome and the most wickedly bitchin civilization I learned about in my undergraduate career thus far. I ain’t gonna talk your head off but here are a few facts that may interest you ~

- Not only would they stud their teeth with gems but they’d extract their own teeth and insert jaguar dentures!

- Blood sacrifice was necessary to keep the universe in motion and, besides war captive heart removal, the elite would do their part by stabbing their wieners and clitorises with sea urchin spines and collecting the blood in big bowls.

- They had the 365 1/4 day calendar down before anybody, they knew the position of Venus to a thousandth of modern calculations, and they predicted that this current and final incarnation of the universe will end on the Winter Solstice 2012.

]]> By: veronica http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/3379/comment-page-1#comment-5836 veronica Tue, 12 Dec 2006 02:34:00 +0000 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/3379#comment-5836 Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it the Olmecs, not the Mayans, who practiced skull-binding? I saw this article on Anthropology.net and I wonder if it might be mistaken. Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t it the Olmecs, not the Mayans, who practiced skull-binding? I saw this article on Anthropology.net and I wonder if it might be mistaken.

]]>