Oops, sorry for any misunderstanding- I was meaning only to set aside the comparision of the the cowrie-shell "eyes" of ancient Jericho remains with the "coffee-bean" eyes of the al-Ubaid statuettes, as I personally don't believe there is a connection to be drawn between the two; if there was poor wording, I'm not of the idea, or aware, of any evidence of skull-binding practice in the area of the Fertile Crescent whatsoever- although again my knowledge is very limited. The only mention of any sort of regular skull-binding I've come across in my pokings here and there, would be the references to Olmec/Mayan practices, and the Dropa/Dzopa disc controversy (China/Tibet border). I was not intending to foment controversy or disappointment, nor am I now- just trying to clarify. I'm fascinated by the interweavings of "Eye idols", "reptilians", various prehistoric "mother goddess" sculptures, Minoan "snake-goddess" figures, the Indus culture "dancing-girl", the "Master of Animals" seen in Sumerian, Indus and Celtic imagery, the comparision of Ninhursag and Inanna, Nut and Hathor, Hera and Artemis, Durga and Kali (and that's just the "goddess" side of things). It's all good food for thought to me, whether derivative, parallel, or what-have-you...