Archaeologists have long been fascinated by how ancient civilizations altered their bodies for beauty, status, or cultural identity. Recently, a striking form of body modification among the Vikings has come to light. While the Vikings are known for filing and painting their teeth, researchers have now discovered something even more dramatic: the intentional reshaping of skulls into an elongated, oblong form. This finding was made by a team examining Viking skulls from Gotland in the Baltic Sea. The team, led by Matthias Toplak from the Viking Museum Haithabu and Lukas Kerk of the University of…