Head shaping or artificial cranial deformation, was a bizarre form of body modification practiced until the 20th century. Hear about it on urban legends and stranger Truths in 2013, archaeologists were in for a shock when they uncovered the tomb of a French aristocrat who had died 1600 years ago. Her skull had a distinct shape, with the front flattened, while the rear part rose like a cone, giving the impression of a gray alien to the untrained eye