Paracas is located in the Pisco Province in the Inca Region on the Southern coast of Peru. Home of the ground breaking discovery in 1928 by Julio Tello of a massive graveyard containing tombs filled with the remains of individuals with elongated skulls, now known as the famous Paracas Skulls.
They are approximately 3000 years old, and initial DNA analysis of them has revealed that they may not have come from humans, but from a completely new species, according to Paracas Museum assistant director, researcher and author Brien Foerster. Here is the apparent quote from the geneticist who did the testing
“Whatever the sample labeled 3A has came from – it had mtDNA with mutations unknown in any human, primate or animal known so far. The data are very sketchy though and a LOT of sequencing still needs to be done to recover the complete mtDNA sequence. But a few fragments I was able to sequence from this sample 3A indicate that if these mutations will hold we are dealing with a new human-like creature, very distant from Homo sapiens, Neanderthals and Denisovans. I am not sure it will even fit into the known evolutionary tree. The question is if they were so different, they could not interbreed with humans. Breeding within their small population. they may have degenerated due to inbreeding. That would explain buried children – they were either low or not viable” (Source)(Source)
It’s always been thought that the skulls were a result of cranial deformation, where the head is bound or flattened to achieve the shape. Many authors state that the time period to perform this shaping was approximately 6 months to 3 years, but the practice is no longer performed, which makes it hard to really know. According to Forester:
“From the doctors that I have spoken to, they have said that you can alter the shape of the skull but you cannot increase the size of the skull. The skull is genetically predetermined to have a certain volume.” (Source)(Source)
What he is saying is that you can change the shape of the skull, but not the actual volume of it, the shape, but not the size. This is why these skulls are such a mystery, because of their cranial volume, which in some cases is 2.5 times larger than a conventional human skull. Again, it’s well known that cranial deformation changes the shape of the skull, it’s been done by ancient cultures before by binding the head between two pieces of wood, or binding in cloth, but this does not change the volume and cause elongation like we see with the Paracas skulls.
“As I have said, deformation can alter shape, but not the volume of bone material, and certainly not twice as much. We are dealing with 2 different phenomena: elongation through binding, and elongation via genetics. The Paracas skulls are the largest found in the world, but from what root race stock would they have originated? To suggest that natural elongation was the result of hydrocephaly or some other clinical condition is ridiculous, when one takes into account that at least 90 of them were found in 1928.” (Source)
I would also like to quote author and historian Graham Hancock.
“I have grave doubts about stories presently doing the rounds on the internet, and apparently bought hook, line and sinker by many, making extravagant and premature claims about the implications of DNA testing on certain elongated skulls from Paracas in Peru. We have no details of the lab that’s done the testing, and even in the sensationalist reports that have been attracting so much attention it is emphasised that the findings are preliminary. Let’s wait until we see the findings themselves, rather than someone referring to them, and let’s get more detailed results, before we get in the least bit excited. That being said, previously unknown species of human have been coming out of the woodwork recently (Denisovans, Homo Floresiensis) so who knows? It’s always good to keep an open mind but right now I fear this whole thing with the Paracas skulls is going to blow up into a great discredit to alternative history. I do hope I am proved wrong.” (Source)
Foerster has raised thousands of dollars so far for the initial DNA testing, but a full genome study to completely verify the theory would cost at least one hundred thousand dollars.
Juan Navarro, the owner and director of the Paracas History Museum allowed the taking of samples from 5 skulls. The samples collected consisted of hair, tooth, skull and bone skin. Apparently, the process was documented via photos and video. The samples were given to the geneticist, who was not given any information about where they came from.
The implications of this are huge, regardless of what the final findings will be! We’ll try and keep you updated. Here is a full interview with Brien Foerster, and you can check out the sources for more information. Hopefully more proof surfaces within the next few days, interesting story to say the least. I am very open to the possibility of the discovery of a new species, possibly extraterrestrial in origin, but there is still lots of work to be done. I am also open to the possibility that they are human.
Sources:
Source: http://www.collective-evolution.com/2014/02/12/dna-analysis-of-paracas-elongated-skulls-released-unknown-to-any-human-primate-or-animal/
