“How often the pillars of our wisdom have crumbled into dust!”- Erich von Däniken, Chariots of the Gods
Elongated Skulls
The elongated skulls of Paracas in Peru sparked controversy in 2014 when a geneticist that carried out preliminary DNA testing reported that they have mitochondrial DNA with mutations unknown in any human, primate, or animal known so far.
Now a second round of DNA testing has been completed and the results are just as controversial. The skulls tested were shown to have European and Middle Eastern Origin. These surprising results change the known history about how the Americas were populated.
The Paracas desert peninsula is located on the south coast of Peru. In 1928 Julio Tello made the amazing discovery of a massive graveyard of intricate tombs filled with the remains of people with the largest elongated skulls found anywhere in the world. Along with the Nazca Lines these skulls add to the enigma that is ancient Peru.
Skepticism
Like many other ancient mysteries there is a scientific or cultural explanation. In the case of the elongated skulls scholars speculate that the skulls were purposely formed by head flattening, head binding or just cranial deformation.
Cultural vs. Science
So let's assume these ancient people had a cultural norm where they practiced this deformation. It still doesn't explain the DNA results of European and Middle Eastern descent. This in my opinion makes the argument stronger that our understanding of ancient #humanity is still very much unknown.