Sketchbook Page 2: A Peruvian Tradition?
February 6, 2010 § 2 Comments
Canis familiaris (from Peruvian notebooks)
Domestic Dog skull discovered at site in Peru. Note cranial deformation resulting in elongation of frontal and occipital bones.
Explanations are sought as to why this specimen has come to take this form.
osteography 
Can’t remember the exact reason why but native Peruvians used to strap wood to their babies heads which created the same effect. When the skull was still soft it would grow upwards and elongate. I think it was a religious/spiritual belief that made them do so and it also defined them as a particular group.
Fashion. Bred to wear a small pointy hat? Made to wear said hat from birth? Possibly to sport a poodle-like top knot? Remember the pekinese, fed on rice wine to make them smaller so they could be kept in the voluminous sleeves of their owners (or is this just a wikepedia fact?).