--- title: "These Alien-Looking Skulls Are Actually Human, Expert Says" description: "Cone Heads A viral Facebook post is claiming that strange-looking skulls found in Peru are evidence of alien life, USA Today reports. But fortunately — or disappointingly, depending on your frame of reference — the skulls are almost certainly from plain-old human beings. “The eye sockets are normal and perfectly within the range of human […]" date: "2021-05-20" modified: "2021-05-20" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/alien-looking-skulls-human" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "history" - "SETI" - "skulls" - "the digest" --- # These Alien-Looking Skulls Are Actually Human, Expert Says ![A viral post claims that odd-looking skulls are evidence of alien life, but an expert say that the skulls came from plain old human beings.]() *\Image: Anagoria via Wikimedia Commons/Futurism\* ## Cone Heads A [viral Facebook post]() is claiming that strange-looking skulls found in Peru are evidence of alien life, [*USA Today* reports](). But fortunately — or disappointingly, depending on your frame of reference — the skulls are almost certainly from plain-old human beings. "The eye sockets are normal and perfectly within the range of human variation and look like eye sockets of other human skulls from Peru," University of Wyoming anthropology professor Melissa Murphy told the newspaper. ## Big Headed Astronaut The skulls do indeed look unusual. A [YouTube video]() shared alongside the viral Facebook post shows a variety of skulls with elongated crowns that are admittedly somewhat reminiscent of pop-culture aliens. But the reality is distinctly terrestrial, Murphy told *USA Today*. Ancient people in what is now Peru, she said, had a long history of using binding techniques to coax human skulls into unusual shapes. "Deliberate head shaping is a form of cultural modification of the body that marks different things, like one’s identity, a rite of passage, \[or\] an occupation," she told the paper. **READ MORE:** [Fact check: Elongated skulls in Peru are human, not alien, expert says]() \[*USA Today*\] **More on skulls:** [*Scientists Add Windows to Mice Skulls to Watch Their Brains*]() ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()