A Study of the Temporal Sequence and Global Spatial Distribution of Cranial Modification

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Intentional cranial modification (ICM) represents one of the most outstanding biocultural practices of the past in the Americas, resulting from a millennial evolution within distinct cultural territories. When the Europeans first arrived in the Caribbean in 1492, ICM was a widespread tradition among most of the native populations of the continent. Here we present a project aiming to trace the origin and dispersal of these practices. To that end, we collated published records 743 records, spanning 40 countries across five regions, including Central (n=271), South (n=53), and North America (n=54), the Caribbean (n=113), and Eurasia (n=252), registering geographic location (decimal coordinates), ICM type, biological sex, period, and date. Moreover, we estimated the spatiotemporal sequence of head-shaping practice using Empirical Bayesian Krigging. Preliminary results indicate the highest incidence of ICM throughout the New World and identified clusters of diverse modification types and potential areas of missing data due to sampling bias in the archaeological record. Moreover, global overviews of diffusion and convergence are presented. Results suggest that there were probably multiple ICM developments in the different social contexts and modes in which this practice has been documented.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37644.0