Skull modification around the world

Arawe skull lengthening in Papua New Guinea 

Mangbetu skull elongation in DRC

The scifi illustration Through the Gate was inspired by elegant Mangbetu head shapes and hair-styles.

A (non-exhaustive) list of cultures that practiced head shaping for aesthetic or social reasons:

People	Continent	Description
Chinook	North America	For Chinookan people, who lived on both sides of the Columbia River from its mouth to The Dalles, the head flattening process started at birth and continued until the child’s forehead was permanently reshaped.1
Tillamook	North America	The aristocracy of the Tillamook of Oregon, USA practiced skull flattening on infants.2
Shoalwater Bay Tribe	North America	This tribe from Washington, USA, practiced skull flattening on individuals of chiefly lineage into the late 19th/early 20th century.3
Maya	Central America	The Mayans had several styles of head modification, which may be status-related.4
Tiwanaku	South America	People of the Tiwanaku Empire of Peru/Bolivia/Chile had apparatuses for reshaping the cranium.5
Mangbetu	Central Africa	The Mangbetu ethnic group of DRC practiced an elegant style of skull elongation into the 20th century.6
Arawe	Oceania	The Arawe of Papua New Guinea practiced head-binding to lengthen infants' skulls.7

Notes:

1. Chinookan Head Flattening - The Oregon History Project
2. Ruby , Robert H. ∓ Brown, John A.(1992), A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest, p241
3. Ruby & Brown, (1992) A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest, p191
4. Kellye French, Head Shaping of the ancient Maya at Wild Cane Cay and Moho Cay, Belize
5. University of Florida - Cranial Deformation
6. Mangbetu People
7. Pitts River Museum - Head Shaping: lengthening