Is it known whether the changes were rgadual, or sudden. or were the two skull types around at the same time? I don't get this information from the article.

If the change was gradual, is it possible that the quality of the water available was a factor in that change process?

The potential for water quality to be affected by the quality of the thoughts being projected by the community at that time, as with Masaru Emoto's discoveries concerning this, may be part of that change [see 'Messages from Water' on YouTube].

Happy times = good thoughts = developing brains
Dreadful times = bad thoughts = shrinking brains

Thoughts?

Chris McDermott, Chester, England

It would be interesting to learn who they were trading with @ the time & if another group of nomadic peoples brought this trait with them as they settled into the area.

Cary charles, Merrillville, Indiana

i like a combination of the prominent theories. some sort of protective device employed on newborns to prevent them from getting the plague. the skull is quite maleable at birth and hardens with age. behavior can spread faster than a pathogen.

steve wilson, kansas city, missouri

Jordan,

Great minds, as they say. :-)

I defiantely buy your hypothosis. Genes can be tied to multiple traits, so the same sequence that protects from the plague may be tied to the rounder skulls. It wouldn't have to be, of course, but it very well could be. Of course, both of us could be wrong, but our hypothosis are sound.

Mitch, Petaluma, California

This is fascinating- and though taboo in some circles, I wonder if human gene modulation of chimp DNA would produce some human qualities in chimps. I'm not talking about embryos or human crosses- but something applied in the early develepmental stages of a young chimp....it may help us understand the reasons chimps are chimps and humans are humans.....since there is no in between- Fantasy or possibility?

Patti Rizzo, Seattle, Washington

Maybe it was a fashion trend of sorts. Fashion in the sense of desireable traits in a marriage or coupling. Look at how our culture has moved form a curved voluptuous female form and now to a slender more athletic form based on public opinion. Could the could the rounder head shape have been thought more desireable as a mate for whatever reasons then after time fell out of favor by the populace?

Lincoln, Markle, IN

The food-gatherers of west-central Europe responded to an earlier and equally extensive brachycephalization during the Mesolthic, a period of profound climatic change.

Ferd Smith, Lancaster, PA

Didn't anyone see the movie "Village of the Damned"?

Babs, Montgomery,

Fat heads tried once, and failed. This time we're breading more and getting the better jobs. Second time lucky! Ha! Seriously though,

WORLD DOMINATION IS OURS

Shirlz, Morecambe, Great Britain

perhaps children in the area had to wear tight hats of some sort.

drew, portland, OR, US

head gear change.

Rob, San Antonio,

Skulls do not change that fast by climate alone. It had to be the population change as a whole; either due to the plague, or due to migration influx of the long headed Nordic types. Oh , I was wondering if you could have a long fat head.

Tim, Livermore, California

One possible cause of morphological changes is gene expression modulation due to retro viral infection.

Most of our genes are the same as chimps but the regulation of those genes is very different and that is what makes us human.

After a number of generation the population would become resistant to the virus or the virus mutated in a way that prevented it from having the same effect.

DSMatthews, NSW, Australia

I would imagine that the changing skull shape was probably due to sudden population drop during the various bouts of plague that spread through Europe. With less people you have a greater chance of unusual traits being passed on in the genes, only to normalize later as populations grow, spread, diversify and migrate. Particularly in the much smaller urban areas of the time.

Mitch, Petaluma, California

Mitch - Strange, that's the same thing I said, with the exception that the round-headed people may have also been carrying a gene that made them more resistant to plague. Their genes took over for that momentary point where it was advantageous and then slipped back under when the crisis passed.

Jordan, Portland, Oregon, USA

What else was unique to that time period? Plague perhaps?

Suppose that the plague survivors had rounder skulls but the genetic trait for narrow skulls was still present...

All of the folks with narrow skulls die off leaving the round-heads. Once the plague crisis passes the narrow skull trait re-asserts itself.

Too simple?

Jordan, Portland, Oregon, USA

The important thing is that the fat heads are now extinct and mankind can now go forward and evolve with our post dark age slender heads.

krelnarb, Richmond, CA

It's probably due to a recently gene governing brain size that had been selected due to the agricultural lifestyle. ...They'll come up with it soon.

Nosmo, Sydney, Auustralia

I would imagine that the changing skull shape was probably due to sudden population drop during the various bouts of plague that spread through Europe. With less people you have a greater chance of unusual traits being passed on in the genes, only to normalize later as populations grow, spread, diversify and migrate. Particularly in the much smaller urban areas of the time.

Mitch, Petaluma, California

Wow, really detailed reporting.

Maff, Essex, uk

I dont have a view because you havent told me enough

keith, kings lynn,

Maybe it is just the way the infants were swaddled? These practices may change over the years without any written evidence.

Petra Maas, Loosdrecht, Netherlands