Xinjiang Archaeological Discoveries Skull Perforation Phenomenon

This paper collected the archaeological materials of bored skulls which had been published in Xinjiang. Based on these, the paper discussed the characteristics of these skulls and the distribution of the cemeteries the phenomenon was founded.The introduction part of this paper reviewed the observations and researches of the bored skulls in Xinjiang, explained the purpose and methods of this study.The first part collected and sorted the materials as archaeological discoveries of Xinjiang.The second part studied the morphology of the perforated skulls. Bored skulls discovered in Xinjiang were caused for artificial reason or conscious practice. Grooving technique, boring technique, saw-cut technique were three of the mainly techniques of the practice. The perforations could be divided into five types, which were round, square, irregular-shaped, collapse fractures, cutting-back-on fracture, individual features of statistics found as follows. In this part we made a statistics based on data of the perforation types, location, and individual characteristics. Overall, circular perforation and irregular-shaped perforation took the considerable proportion in the five types. Borings tended to appear in the parietal bone for the position and left side in the sides of the skulls, however, there were different situations in different cemeteries. The behaviors practiced mainly on men of youth or middle-aged. These cemeteries only took a small proportion of the total number, which showed the phenomena only applicated on specific objects in a low-frequency, may have special meanings.In the third part, the paper examined the distribution and characteristics of the cemeteries of bored skulls. In this part, the autuor summarized the regional regulation of Xinjiang by studying on the cemeteries distribution and environment. The paper analyzed the related basic types of cemeteries, compared the similarity of the remains in four aspects of the signs of the surface, grave goods, coffin, and other burial customs. The thesis believed boring on skulls was a special culture phenomenon formed by the interaction among the ancient groups, and also was a practice of the early age inhabitants obeyed. The river valley on the north and south sides of the Tianshan Mountains could be the communication channels for the spreading of the phenomenon.Boring on skulls meat a lot for the cultures of ancient ancestors in Xinjiang. The existence and distribution of the phenomenon showed relationships in north and south sides of the Tianshan Mountains.