Mangbetu, also spelled Monbuttu, peoples of Central Africa living to the south of the Zande in northeastern Congo (Kinshasa). They speak a Central Sudanic language of the Nilo-Saharan language family.

Most importantly, the Mangbetu were known for their elongated heads. The custom of skull elongation was known as lipombo and it was seen as a status symbol among the ruling class, it denoted majesty, beauty, power and higher intelligence.
The process of elongating the skull began at birth. The baby’s head was tightly wrapped with a cloth until the desired shape had been achieved. This practice was also traced to the Mayan and Egyptians.
This deformation usually didn’t affect the brain. As long as intracranial pressure remains the same as that of a normal person, the brain should be able to adapt and grow into the new shape of the skull, resulting in no damage beyond cosmetic changes. The brain grows (expands) in the shape it’s given.

The practice started to die out in the 1950s with the arrival of more Europeans. The practice was outlawed by the Belgian government. The hairstyle the Mangbetu women wore was at a time fashionable.

American artists Beyonce and Nina Simone once wore hairstyles linked to the Magbentu tribe.
The earliest written record of cranial deformation dates to 400 BC in Hippocrates’ description of the Macrocephali or Long-heads, who were named for their practice of cranial modification.