WEBVTT - Into the Ossuary: Consult the Bones - Part 2 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:06.000 Welcome to stuff to Blow Your mind from how stuff 0:00:06.000 --> 0:00:13.600 Works dot com. Hey, welcome to stuff to blow your 0:00:13.640 --> 0:00:15.560 my My My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Douglas, 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:17.680 and we are joining you once more from the House 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:21.600 Stuff Works Awsuary, the the catacombs beneath the House Stuff 0:00:21.600 --> 0:00:27.640 Works Headquarters, the bone choked hallways, beneath the bone chandeliers, 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:31.360 and under the gaze, the watchful gaze of of of 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:35.479 countless human skulls. Indeed, and we're going to rethink bones today. 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:37.640 We think of them just propping up the meat bags 0:00:37.680 --> 0:00:39.760 that we inhabit. That hey, they're doing a lot more 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:46.800 than that, they sure are. We're going to discuss the 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:51.600 bones of Santa Claus himself. Oh when we're talking about 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:55.200 Santa Claus here, and we're not talking about the mythical 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:57.720 jolly fat man that lives in the North Pole and 0:00:57.760 --> 0:01:01.640 brings gifts more of what we're talking about the origin 0:01:02.280 --> 0:01:05.240 of this a bit the the actual living human being 0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:09.959 who himself is wrapped in myth up to this day. Um, 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:13.720 But we're talking about St. Nicholas uh born marchis tenth 0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:17.040 in the year to seventy CE, died in the year 0:01:17.560 --> 0:01:21.480 three forty three on December six, fourth century Christian Saint 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:24.400 Greek Bishop of Mira, which is in modern day Turkey, 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:29.200 also known as Nicholas the wonder Worker because he has 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:32.320 all these various miracles attributed to him as a reputation 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:35.080 as a gift giver. And two of the stories are 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:37.320 pretty great because they tie in nicely with what we 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:40.279 just discussed about Benjamin Franklin, because one of the stories 0:01:40.319 --> 0:01:44.360 involves essentially a serial killer and the other one involves prostitutes. Um, 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:46.440 would would you like to tell the prostitute story? Well, 0:01:46.480 --> 0:01:48.840 the prostitute would be like sort of would be prostitutes? 0:01:48.920 --> 0:01:51.920 Possibly there was there was a man and his three daughters, 0:01:52.040 --> 0:01:55.480 and he didn't have the money to provide dowries for 0:01:55.600 --> 0:01:58.000 his daughters, which meant that they were about to be 0:01:58.160 --> 0:02:00.560 sold into slavery, which is probably mean they're about to 0:02:00.560 --> 0:02:03.320 become prostitutes. So what does old good st Nick do? 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:07.320 He himself from a wealthy family, which in accounts for 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:09.560 that he gave away a lot of his money. Is 0:02:09.600 --> 0:02:13.640 that he took bags of gold and tossed them through 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:18.280 the windows of these three daughters on three consecutive nights. 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:22.959 Uh thereby saving them from a life of wretched prostitution. There. 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:25.040 So there we have gift giving and also some sort 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:28.480 of innate understanding of what's going on with people's lives 0:02:29.000 --> 0:02:31.679 that he knows that you've been naughty or nice or 0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:36.320 indeed what you really need this Christmas? And also uh, 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:40.560 sort of breaking the parameters of someone's house and yeah, 0:02:40.680 --> 0:02:43.240 breaking in and just and uh and getting done when 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:47.320 needs to getting done. Another story, the serial killer story, 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:49.160 if you want to frame it that way, is that, 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:53.079 according to legend, there was a famine, and what happens 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:54.960 in famine there's not enough food to go around. And 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:57.280 if your business is that of a butcher, what are 0:02:57.280 --> 0:02:59.240 you gonna do? You need meat to sell, people need 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:01.920 meat to eat. Sometimes you got to improvise. Sometimes you 0:03:01.960 --> 0:03:04.680 have to lure three children into your house, kill them, 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:07.200 slice them up, and put their meat in a barrel 0:03:07.280 --> 0:03:10.480 to cure them. His Ham well St Nick cole w 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:13.160 into this, so because he was in talent at the time, 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:16.239 you know. And so what did he do. He raised 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:19.239 the Ham brothers from the dead using only the power 0:03:19.280 --> 0:03:25.080 of prayer, like unhanded them and rehumed them right there, 0:03:25.440 --> 0:03:28.359 presumably right there in the butcher's shop. And and I 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:30.320 don't know what happened in the butcher's business. I assume 0:03:30.400 --> 0:03:33.640 it ruined him. Um, that was the Barbara Fleet Street 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:38.680 right it wasn't. Yeah, but yeah, as you can see, 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:42.280 this guy St. Nick St. Nicholas is full of do goodery, 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:46.440 literally full of do goodery. Yes, because we're about to 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:50.320 discuss St. Nick himself is arguably the gift that keeps 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:52.720 on giving. That's right. When he died, he was buried 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:57.680 and his remains were revered as holy relics. And the 0:03:57.760 --> 0:04:00.200 years after his death, his tomb was said to give 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:04.040 off a sweet smell and to weep a mysterious liquid 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:08.280 which would cure those who touched it. Yes, and this liquid, 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:12.000 according to those who collected and uh and those who 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:16.720 spend the myths around it, is supposedly manna. Uh. And 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:19.600 for for those of you are not versed in your 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:23.520 biblical studies, manna is the edible substance provided by God 0:04:23.600 --> 0:04:28.640 to the wandering Israelites. Uh. Precious stuff that again just 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:30.560 manner from heaven. You've all heard that phrase, and that 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:33.360 the ideas this was literally some sort of a food 0:04:33.400 --> 0:04:36.760 substance that came from God and just fell right into 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:40.840 their laps. Uh, what that food substance actually was. You know, 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:43.560 you can just go like a completely supernatural route and 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:46.200 say it's just something magical that sustains you. You can 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:49.560 you can go along with a certain rabbinical writings that 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:53.039 say that no one pooped from eating manna, and in fact, 0:04:53.240 --> 0:04:55.880 it wasn't until several decades later when the manna ceased 0:04:55.880 --> 0:04:58.640 to fall that people began pooping. I don't know, now, 0:04:58.640 --> 0:05:01.000 I'm not not sure that means that there was no 0:05:01.160 --> 0:05:04.400 pooping from mana at all, and then when they had 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:06.600 to eat other things then they started pooping in or 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:09.040 if there's like a block of build up of poop 0:05:09.080 --> 0:05:12.840 over those decades until the manna ran out, I'm not 0:05:12.839 --> 0:05:15.320 sure you can. Yeah, these are things that are lost 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:17.919 in history. Yeah they're they're lost in history. But but 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:20.080 then there are just there have been scientists that have 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:24.320 argued that manna might have actually been something like locusts um, 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:27.400 that it could have been an appetite suppressing cactus sap 0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:31.600 or even appetite suppressing psychedelic mushrooms, which would have been 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:33.800 perfect because then you also have you know, something like 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:37.960 psilocybin that's that's playing into some sort of spiritual experience 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:41.760 as well. Now, for hundreds of years now, the manna 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:45.720 has been collected, mixed with holy water, embottled in small 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:49.560 glass vials, decorated with icons of the saint, and put 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:53.440 up for sale to pilgrims, people who were visiting St. 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:57.000 Nick's manna for sale to the pilgrim And I would 0:05:57.000 --> 0:05:59.520 like to say, if if you have some of this, 0:05:59.839 --> 0:06:03.520 or are habitedt on hand, or or can obtain it, 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:05.520 do send it to us. I would love to have 0:06:05.720 --> 0:06:08.279 some of this nana so you don't so you would 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:10.400 never have to poop again. I'm I'm willing to give 0:06:10.400 --> 0:06:13.040 it a shot. I'm not really a fan of pooping. 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:16.240 So you know, if there's some sort of holy a lick, sir, 0:06:16.320 --> 0:06:18.880 that seeped from the bones of a dead saint, that 0:06:18.960 --> 0:06:21.480 I can take and stave that off for a decade 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:24.279 or so, I'm all in. As much as I'd like 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:27.560 to delve into a rich poop conversation, I'm going to 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:30.120 back away from it. And I'm going to point out 0:06:30.279 --> 0:06:33.280 that this manner was produced in a couple of locations, 0:06:33.400 --> 0:06:36.840 so it was in in modern Turkey what we now 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:41.240 is modern Turkey and also in Bari, Italy, because in 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:46.679 ten eighties seven Italian soldiers moved St. Nicholas's bones to Italy, 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:51.160 citing invading Seljuk Turks as a concern for the bones welfare. 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:54.200 And here to the bones were found to have a 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:59.960 liquid around them. So there's all such a different encount 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:02.960 it's here of what that liquid was actually composed of. 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:06.680 There was one analysis of a bottle that was just water. 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:10.120 There was another one where it was vegetable oil from 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:13.280 a long, long time ago. Yeah, because it can essentially 0:07:13.320 --> 0:07:15.080 be anything if you just you wrap it in a 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:19.320 nice story and enough belief, then it doesn't matter. Now 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:22.880 when we start asking the hard questions of what is 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:26.360 it really and is there really some sort of liquid 0:07:26.400 --> 0:07:29.239 it's seeping out of this box that and then people 0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:33.160 are bottling and drinking um, the answer is a little 0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:36.520 less fantastic but but but also kind of disgusting. So 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:39.040 it's it's a win win. Do you think it's gross? 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:41.400 I mean, it's a little bit we're talking about I mean, 0:07:41.400 --> 0:07:45.160 we're still talking about bone water um, because essentially we're 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:48.880 talking about condensation burries a port town. It's a marble 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:51.800 tomb it's below sea level. And there was a two 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:55.120 thousand and four documentary titled The Real Face of Santa 0:07:55.640 --> 0:07:58.320 in which they actually took a small camera and they 0:07:58.400 --> 0:08:00.960 jabbed it into the tomb so they can actually look 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:04.520 at the bones, and the bones are deteriorating. They're they're 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:09.560 lying in pools of shallow water. So this presumably is 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:13.680 the source of the manner the condensation, bones soaking in 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:17.040 the condensation and the leaking out. Yeah, because really, as 0:08:17.040 --> 0:08:21.120 you said, it's underground, you have seawater being redistributed around 0:08:21.160 --> 0:08:27.080 it in these capillaries, so that is a really dank area, 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:31.640 and of course condensation happens. Um, I'm not trying to 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:36.599 poop poo the holy water that allows you not to 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:40.640 poo poo waiting for that. It's still magical bone water. 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:43.400 So I'm I'm I'm happy with it either way. Indeed, 0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:47.800 and here's a little historical side note on husband killing 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:53.280 poisons that used throughout the centuries, because a lot of 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:55.760 times that was the only way to get out of 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:59.080 a bad relationship. Yeah, you're in a crappy relationship. You 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:02.400 have a bottle of this manna sitting around with a 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:05.000 little icon of st Nicholas on it. Maybe your husband 0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:07.240 has a cold, Maybe you slip in a little bit 0:09:07.280 --> 0:09:09.960 of poison in there and say, ah, you should really 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:13.520 take this. I think it's going to cure you. This 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:17.840 happened more than once with these vials. And actually there's 0:09:17.880 --> 0:09:20.520 a pretty big history of arsenic being used as a 0:09:20.559 --> 0:09:23.680 husband killer as well that we could go into, but 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:27.160 I just wanted to mention that in terms of St. Nicholas. Okay, well, 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:29.920 if you, if you do send a bottle of man 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:33.120 to us, please don't put any poison in it, or 0:09:33.160 --> 0:09:34.760 go ahead and put poison in it, because now I'm 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:37.240 gonna be a little hesitant about drinking it. Yeah, all right, 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:39.000 we're gonna take a quick break and when we come 0:09:39.000 --> 0:09:49.160 back more bones. Now, if you walk down the hall 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:53.840 here of the hs W headquarters asso Harry Basement, you 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:58.040 will see another specimen. Yes, a very curious specimen, because 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:03.280 the the skull is is elongated, kind of swollen looking, 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:07.679 almost kind of a cone head looking skull. And you know, 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:09.160 if you didn't know anybody, you might look at this 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:13.400 and say, this is clearly some sort of non human 0:10:13.520 --> 0:10:17.400 hominid ancest here, some sort of weird cone head ape 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:22.120 that predated human human civilization, or you might look at 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:27.160 the stars for anning for an explanation. Yeah, Child's deformed skull, 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:31.760 later dubbed the star Child skull, was found in the 0:10:31.800 --> 0:10:35.640 early nineteen thirties in the arid region around Chihuahua. Now, 0:10:35.720 --> 0:10:40.720 at the time, little was known about Meso American civilizations 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:45.280 or really any other sort of extenuating circumstances that might 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:50.240 shape a skull in such an unusual manner. But this 0:10:50.280 --> 0:10:54.480 guy found the skull, looked at it and thought, hmm, 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:59.880 this could be some sort of ancient alien civilization relic. 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:03.720 And people thought, hey, this is evidence here that that 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:07.880 aliens are around, they exist. Yeah. Indeed, I mean if 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:10.560 you if you look at enough skulls that that seem 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:13.120 to be deformed, you can begin to pull out any 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:15.319 number of ideas about what's going on here. You you 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:18.959 constantly see pictures of weird skulls throwing showing up on 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:21.960 the internet, be it something that presumably has horns or 0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:25.240 it's or some sort of weird deformation that makes it 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:29.640 appear less human and uh, and you'll see the explanations 0:11:29.720 --> 0:11:32.800 ranging from the you know, the the realistic and scientific 0:11:32.880 --> 0:11:36.480 all the way into the cryptozoological and uh and cosmic. 0:11:37.160 --> 0:11:41.440 But when it comes to elongated skulls, these these tall skulls, 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:44.760 these kind of cone head skulls, um you see these 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:49.800 around the world. You see these popping up just about everywhere. 0:11:49.840 --> 0:11:52.160 And then and then you have to ask these questions, 0:11:53.640 --> 0:11:57.640 what's going on here? Who are these co netted individuals? Right? 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:01.280 And I had mentioned meso American civilizations. Well, this is 0:12:01.320 --> 0:12:05.040 where you see a lot of examples of this. And 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:08.360 of course this would need to be done in childhood 0:12:08.520 --> 0:12:11.000 because the bones of the skull are much more malleable 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:14.280 than and at birth the heads of babies were tightly 0:12:14.320 --> 0:12:17.120 wrapped with cloth in order to give their heads that 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:22.640 kind of streamlined, elongated look. Of course, the question is why. 0:12:22.800 --> 0:12:27.200 And archaeologist Christina Garcia Moreno, director of the research project 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:31.840 that looked into this, said that quote, cranial deformation in 0:12:31.880 --> 0:12:35.880 Mesoamerican cultures was used to differentiate one social group from 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:39.560 another and for ritual purposes. So this is also a 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:43.199 largely esthetic thing. Yeah, I mean aesthetics is key here. 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:47.440 The the idea that a larger skull, a taller skull, 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:50.640 brings you closer to heaven or it gives you a 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:53.640 higher social status, or that it means you're smarter, you 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:57.520 have a bigger brain. In there um and UH and 0:12:57.559 --> 0:13:00.680 so you you see variations of this in the in 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:02.720 various cultures around the world. You see it in UH 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:05.559 in Meso American cultures, you see it in African cultures. 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:08.920 You see it UH in some of the Pacific island cultures. 0:13:08.920 --> 0:13:11.040 I mean, you even see it in in cultures where 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:14.560 there's UH, there's there's there's not necessarily any evidence of 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:20.680 existing or even recent UH skull deformation rituals. For instance, 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:23.800 you look in in Chinese culture. If you've ever been 0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:26.440 to a Chinese hotel or even like a Chinese home 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:30.680 or Chinese restaurant, you may have seen UH statues of 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:33.440 these three little men or sometimes there's three big men, 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:35.400 depending on the size of the statues, of course, but 0:13:35.960 --> 0:13:39.520 their Foo, Lou, and Show Um and they each stand 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:43.400 for a different cosmic entity UH. And you have food 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:45.920 that represents good fortune, and he's seen in a scholars 0:13:46.000 --> 0:13:48.120 dress holding a baby. And then there's a Lou that 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:51.000 represents prosperity. But then there's this old man named Show 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:54.319 and he's holding the peach of immortality and he has 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:57.280 this giant head, and he's this old man with a 0:13:57.400 --> 0:14:00.280 giant head because he's old and he's wise, and he 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:03.080 presumably spent that teen years in his mother's room before 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:06.439 he was born. I'm sure that was a happy day 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:09.360 for her. Yeah, well she should be proud. He's old 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:11.439 and wise and uh, you know he he used to 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:14.680 be venerated with a giant head that she gave birth to. 0:14:15.440 --> 0:14:19.920 Now the January in March nineteen sixty seven issue of 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:25.360 the French fashion magazine Official featured the Mangbatwo people of 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:29.520 Congo and they practiced lapombo at the time. Again, this 0:14:29.760 --> 0:14:33.960 this head elongation, although the practice began dying out in 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:37.240 the nineteen fifties with your arrival of more Europeans in westernization, 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:42.640 but it's an example of it occurring um in recent history. 0:14:43.360 --> 0:14:47.680 And because of this distinctive look too, you'll often recognize 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:51.600 it in Magbatwo figures. In African art. You see depictions 0:14:51.680 --> 0:14:55.000 of the daughter of Pharaoh amatep the fourth, and you 0:14:55.040 --> 0:14:58.600 can note a definite elongated skull present in both both 0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:02.360 the art and in the Mamma fid remains uh of 0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:06.120 of both the Amatet the fourth and his son famous 0:15:06.160 --> 0:15:09.720 son Tuton, common king Tut and Uh. It really depends 0:15:09.720 --> 0:15:14.320 on who you ask regarding why those skulls are so shape. 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:16.720 Some people will go straight up star child on you 0:15:16.800 --> 0:15:20.200 and say that they was because clearly, uh, the ancient 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:25.160 Egyptians were interbred with extraterrestrials. Others will say that there 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:29.200 was probably some some sort of skull deformation ritual going 0:15:29.240 --> 0:15:32.160 on to give them that that appearance, or that it's 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:35.640 just mere heredity. Um, you can sort of pick and 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:38.680 shoes as far as the star talk goes. That skull 0:15:39.000 --> 0:15:41.560 um was actually tested the DNA hay and it was 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:45.200 confirmed that it is in fact a human skull, and 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:48.680 in fact it was a male child who likely suffered 0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:52.200 from hydrocephalus, which is a condition that leads to skull 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:56.760 elongation in deformation. So that one's out now in other 0:15:56.840 --> 0:16:01.120 people that actually still practice skull deformation to this day 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:06.840 are the Vana two people. And Vana two people associate 0:16:06.880 --> 0:16:10.320 elongated heads with the folk hero and that who had 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:13.920 higher intelligence, greater social status, and closer proximity to the 0:16:13.920 --> 0:16:16.400 world of the spirits. And as according to an excellent 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:18.840 article from the Australian Museum that I'll link to, at 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:22.000 the bottom of this landing page for this episode. Now, 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:24.560 this might seem kind of strange as practice, but really 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:27.280 this is body modification, and if you look at it 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:32.120 this way, it's not really any stranger than taking say 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:36.200 your skin on your face and stretching it back so 0:16:36.280 --> 0:16:40.640 it's smooth over your bones, or filling your breast with 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:44.080 you know, material to make them larger, your peanuts, or 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:48.680 but for that matter, I mean, there's we've been modifying 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:51.600 our bodies for a very long time. This is just 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:54.520 a different expression of it. Yeah, and more to the point, 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:56.680 this is this is not in the same league as 0:16:56.720 --> 0:16:59.840 something say like foot binding. Uh. This is even the 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:02.920 sometimes see this referred to as skull binding. Uh. There's 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:04.600 no evidence to show that this is in any way 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:08.359 painful for the child. It's generally done by you have 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:10.960 to have something to wrap around the child's skull during 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:14.840 that during that time period when the skull is still solidifying, 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:17.640 and get into that in just a second. But but yeah, 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:21.239 there's no pain. And then once they have actually grown up, 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:25.160 there's no there's no known detrimental aspect to having a 0:17:25.240 --> 0:17:28.840 different shaped skull. So it's you know, it's totally starbellied 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:32.879 sneeches in terms of that it's an aesthetic of beauty 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:35.040 in that culture, not exactly, and who's to say that 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:37.240 it's it's not beautiful. I mean, certainly you look at 0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:41.560 these images of you know, Egyptian queens and it looks 0:17:41.560 --> 0:17:44.720 pretty there, and that any weirder than anything else we do, 0:17:45.080 --> 0:17:49.120 uh in terms of of the actual ability the window 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:52.080 in which we can manipulate that skull. Uh. This of 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:54.159 course comes back to the fact that babies have soft 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:59.040 heads because essentially because we decided to become bipeds. Uh, 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:01.280 well we didn't decide, it happened. And in doing so 0:18:01.520 --> 0:18:05.399 there was a certain amount there's a certain problems came up. 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:07.880 It had to do with the size of the pelvis, 0:18:07.920 --> 0:18:09.680 and then the head has to squit has to fit 0:18:09.800 --> 0:18:14.800 through uh that uh, that pelvis uh and allow and 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:17.280 then also you need to allow breathing room for a 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:20.239 large brain to girl in there. So you have this 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:23.159 this window where the bones in the in the in 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:25.919 the skull don't completely fuse together and during that time 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:29.840 you can change the shape uh and and therefore um 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:33.600 alter the finished form of the skull. Yeah. Indeed, and 0:18:33.600 --> 0:18:36.119 that's why you say it's it's not something that is 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:40.879 harmful to the child or painful. Again, these bones are 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:43.160 malleable at that point. Yeah, And I mean you see 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:46.119 this too as as well with infants. Sometimes if infant 0:18:46.160 --> 0:18:48.159 sleeps too much in the same position, you'll get kind 0:18:48.160 --> 0:18:51.760 of a flat part on the back of the skull. Um. Uh. 0:18:51.760 --> 0:18:55.040 And there was actually you actually had something called to 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:59.880 loose deformities caused by infant headbands in pre twentieth century France, 0:19:00.240 --> 0:19:01.879 wrapping all the babies in these head bands and it 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:04.360 just ends up changing the shape of the skull. Well, 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:06.840 just even think about a child who's in their seat 0:19:06.880 --> 0:19:09.159 carrier a lot, a lot of times the back of 0:19:09.160 --> 0:19:12.040 their heads will flatten. Um. I'm sure any parents out 0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:15.439 there who have experiences can say yes, and you know 0:19:15.560 --> 0:19:17.919 that does happen, and you have to try to shift 0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:20.240 their head around a lot when they're sleeping to try 0:19:20.240 --> 0:19:23.440 to even it out. So apparently in some cases, there 0:19:23.480 --> 0:19:26.280 there have been cases where doctors have used headgear to 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:31.520 try and help readjust skulls that seem to be taking 0:19:31.560 --> 0:19:36.320 on a less desired form. But the research is kind 0:19:36.320 --> 0:19:40.080 of on both sides to whether it actually makes a difference. Uh. 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:42.040 To if you actually need to put a headgear on 0:19:42.080 --> 0:19:44.000 the child, or if you just basically make sure the 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:47.359 child is in some different positions to even it out. Now, 0:19:47.520 --> 0:19:50.800 the next example we're going to cover is actually something 0:19:50.840 --> 0:19:53.400 that is that we have here is it's in um 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:56.320 a jar from aldehyde. It's at Jonathan Strickland's desk. You 0:19:56.320 --> 0:19:59.439 won't let anybody move it, but we still can go 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:04.280 Jonathan Strickland's desk all the way down here in the ossuary. Um. 0:20:04.320 --> 0:20:06.560 You know, well, it's just one of his locations. He's 0:20:06.600 --> 0:20:09.520 got several satellite Well, I think he works well. I 0:20:09.560 --> 0:20:12.840 guess with the skeletons, you know he does. He needs 0:20:12.840 --> 0:20:15.040 his you know, quiet time, and I guess this provides it. 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:17.400 It is quiet down here. But what we're talking about 0:20:17.600 --> 0:20:24.480 is a bizarre harry frog that has catlike extendable claws, 0:20:24.560 --> 0:20:28.400 except for they're not like claws. Their their bones. Indeed, 0:20:28.640 --> 0:20:32.560 these bones really put any human bones to shame. And 0:20:32.560 --> 0:20:34.720 and really they're enough to make any I think any 0:20:34.760 --> 0:20:37.439 comic book fan also a little jealous, because this is 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:41.840 we're talking wolverine s powers here. Um. The harry frog, 0:20:41.880 --> 0:20:46.119 the Trictobaractus robust us of Cameroon has this unique ubility 0:20:46.160 --> 0:20:49.199 ability to flex a few muscles and in doing so 0:20:49.400 --> 0:20:53.679 break sharp bits of bone off in its hind legs 0:20:53.800 --> 0:20:57.200 and drive them through the skin. So at this point, 0:20:57.240 --> 0:21:00.240 each toe has what looks like a thorn or acts 0:21:00.280 --> 0:21:04.000 claw emerging from the skin. Uh. But it's but it's not. 0:21:04.160 --> 0:21:07.040 It's not a claw, it's not a tooth, it's not keraton, 0:21:07.080 --> 0:21:10.760 it's not enamel. It's good old broken bone. Uh, which 0:21:10.800 --> 0:21:14.120 is gonna jab. It's a amace with I mean, it's 0:21:14.160 --> 0:21:18.639 breaking its own bones and piercing its own flesh to 0:21:18.800 --> 0:21:22.000 make a weapon come out of it. It's amazing, Like 0:21:22.040 --> 0:21:24.200 we couldn't do it because we're talking about a compound fracture. 0:21:24.200 --> 0:21:27.560 If we get a compound fracture, it's it's horrific and 0:21:27.760 --> 0:21:31.159 it needs it needs medical attention right away. Um, and 0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:33.199 you're certainly not going to go stabbing people in the 0:21:33.240 --> 0:21:37.320 neck with it, right But but biologists suspect that these 0:21:37.359 --> 0:21:41.040 bone claws with the with the hairy frog simply slide 0:21:41.040 --> 0:21:45.560 back into place and everything just regenerates. How cool is that. 0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:49.159 Here's here are the specifics at rest. The claws of T. 0:21:49.359 --> 0:21:52.199 Robust Us are found on the hind feet only and 0:21:52.240 --> 0:21:56.000 they're they're nestled inside a mass of connective tissue, and 0:21:56.040 --> 0:21:58.520 a chunk of collagen forms a bomb between the claws 0:21:58.560 --> 0:22:00.440 short point and a small piece of bone at the 0:22:00.480 --> 0:22:03.679 tip of the frog's toe. So the other end of 0:22:03.680 --> 0:22:06.000 the claw is connected to a muscle, and when the 0:22:06.040 --> 0:22:09.840 animal is attacked or threatened, it contracts this muscle which 0:22:09.880 --> 0:22:13.600 pulls the claw downwards, and then the sharp point then 0:22:13.680 --> 0:22:16.439 breaks away from the bony tip and cuts through the stone, 0:22:16.560 --> 0:22:23.600 the toepad emerging on the underside. Now to that well 0:22:23.800 --> 0:22:26.040 or can you? I don't know, because we have another 0:22:26.040 --> 0:22:30.120 specimen here, also in Jonathan Strickland's desk, which the desk 0:22:30.240 --> 0:22:32.280 is also made out of bones, just in case anyone 0:22:32.320 --> 0:22:33.639 was wondering. By the way, we need to move the 0:22:33.720 --> 0:22:37.440 jar back into the little round circle that he drew underneath, 0:22:37.600 --> 0:22:41.560 or else he gets really upset this Uh. This second 0:22:41.560 --> 0:22:45.600 specimen is the Spanish ribbed newt and wind threatened, the 0:22:45.640 --> 0:22:50.639 slimy amphibian strange its ribs until they break through the 0:22:50.760 --> 0:22:54.200 skin and emerge like a row of sharp claws along 0:22:54.200 --> 0:22:57.760 its side. Uh. And then if this isn't enough, it 0:22:57.880 --> 0:23:02.680 also secretes a powerful toxin. UH. So you really don't 0:23:02.720 --> 0:23:04.760 want to eat this guy. It like makes it, It 0:23:04.840 --> 0:23:08.440 makes itself appear to be like the boniest, most toxic 0:23:08.520 --> 0:23:11.560 piece of fish on the plate. You know, I'm not impressed. 0:23:11.600 --> 0:23:17.280