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# Burial of a 2nd-century infant with a deformed skull found at the Kyz-Aul necropolis in Crimea
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/v-krymskom-nekropole-kyz-aul-naideno-zakhoronenie-mladentsa-ii-veka-n-e/
- Published: 2017-07-27T06:50:04.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T19:08:00.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Archaeology, Ethnography

A burial of an infant of the 2nd century AD has been found in the Kyz-Aul necropolis in Crimea. What makes it unusual is that, in keeping with a barbarian tradition, the skull of the deceased had been severely deformed. The burial was at once dubbed the “alien's grave”.

Beside the skeleton lay accompanying material consisting of a hand-modelled vessel placed near the head, small beads, glass paste, and a copper-alloy bracelet worn on the right arm. The burial itself had been made in an earth grave without a slab covering. The deceased lay with the head to the east. In the opinion of the anthropologist, it was a boy, no more than 1.5 years old at the time of death. This is indicated by the fontanelles of the skull, which had not yet closed. It follows that his head had been subjected to deformation almost immediately after birth. The layer in which the “alien” was found contains burials from the 1st century BC to the 3rd century AD. To the same period belong the monumental stone vaults, which are considered the burial places of the Sarmatized military nobility of the Bosporan Kingdom.

Just three metres from this burial, our volunteers are clearing one such vault. Skull deformation is found most often among the Sarmatians, especially the later ones, and is one of the features by which they are identified. It is known that the first finds of artificially deformed skulls were made by the founder of Bosporan archaeology, Paul Du Brux, in 1826, in the necropoleis of the Cimmerian Bosporus, in the area of Kerch. Cranial deformation was most probably practised to mark membership of a group or to display social status. Naturally, for the champions of palaeocontact, skulls of this kind are irrefutable proof of contact with visitors from other worlds.

Meanwhile, according to some researchers, such alteration of the shape of the skull led to a change in the person's character, for example to heightened aggressiveness. Thus the Sarmatians, among whom skull deformation was very widespread, were a militarised people and were distinguished by heightened aggression. It is quite possible that the boy buried in the Kyz-Aul necropolis was likewise destined in time to become a warrior, a mounted cataphract, a defender of the Bosporan state.

Source: [http://www.archae.ru/news/news\_1024.html](http://www.archae.ru/news/news%5F1024.html?ref=theparnassian.com)