The purpose of this research is to analyze intentional cranial modification at the site of Túcume located in Peru. Intentional cranial modification is the permanent alteration of the infant cranium through the use of apparatuses that will alter the shape of the skull resulting in lifelong implications. This analysis serves to answer three research questions through testing the hypotheses in regards to the variation among individuals, the sex-based differences in the population, and how cranial modification patterns differentiate normal burials from sacrificed individuals at Túcume. The data include a total of 480 individuals with 375 crania observable. It was found that 26% of individuals with crania were modified. A sex-based pattern was identified since 47% of females were modified while only 18% of males were modified. There were 99 sacrificed individuals with only 6% of them being also modified. The data indicates that there was not a statistically significant difference in the modifications between the sacrificed and non-sacrificed individuals. There is also not enough evidence to indicate that the sacrificed individuals were from other locations. The individuals that were sacrificed were most likely from Túcume. In regards to classification type, it was found that fronto-occipital vault modification was the most prevalent at 56% regardless of sex or age. Fronto-occipital and lambdoidal modifications were more frequently performed on females while occipital was more frequent among males. From the data, this indicates that this was not a common practice at Túcume. There was enough variation in the types of modification that suggests it was not a universal practice. The practice of head shaping in past societies is an important aspect because it holds social implications. It is clear that this thesis provides important insight into Túcume’s past and contains important information in regards to sex-based patterns of head shaping as a marker of group identity.

Presented in the session "Cultural Meanings of Head Treatments in Mesoamerican and Andean Societies.” Over the past 10 years researchers in Mesoamerica have increasingly come to agree that cranial modification was a normal part of growing up in Maya society. One component of cranial modification appears to have been ritually sealing one or more of these animating essences in infants’ heads. Bodies in Mesoamerica were both permeable and partible and contained multiple animating essences associated with various aspects of personhood, animacy, and illness. Thus, one current question is identifying precisely what was being sealed in cranial modification. In this paper I review animating essences among the Maya to discuss which appear to have been the most likely candidates for sealing through cranial modification. The two most relevant essences are baah and ik’. Baah is a conflation of personhood and the head, could be interacted with by other individuals after corporeal death, and appropriated by enemies. Ik’ is breath soul and could exit the body from various orifices. Although baah is explicitly associated with the head among the Maya, here I argue that ik’ is at least as likely as baah to have been targeted for sealing through cranial modification.

Yes / Theories of Continuing Bonds, and more recently, the Dual Process of Grieving, have provided new ways of understanding the bereavement process, and have influenced current practice for counsellors, end-oflife care practitioners and other professionals. This paper uses these theories in a new way, exploring their relevance to archaeological interpretation, with particular reference to the phenomenon of the plastering of skulls of the deceased in the Neolithic of Southwest Asia (the Middle East/Near East), suggesting that traditional archaeological interpretations, which focus on concepts of status and social organisation, may be missing a more basic reaction to grief and a desire to keep the dead close for longer.

No description available.