Cranial Modification Practices in Postclassic West Mexico: Interaction and Identity in the Aztatlán Tradition

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Artificial cranial modification is a social identity marker that was practiced throughout Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, including in the Postclassic Aztatlán tradition of West Mexico. Modified human crania from Tizapán el Alto (Jalisco) and Amapa (Nayarit) are assessed to identify cranial modification trends that may indicate a shared ideology at Aztatlán sites. Methods include macroscopic identification of cranial modification styles, comparison of digitized lateral profiles of modified crania, and statistical analysis of craniometric measurements. Results suggest the existence of intra-site trends in the Tizapán el Alto and Amapa assemblages where all individuals with crania were modified in the tabular erect style, there being few modification forms and varieties, and most crania were asymmetrical. The comparison of cranial modification practices from other Aztatlán sites demonstrates that there are similarities throughout these sites, as well as with other Postclassic Mesoamerican sites, with the majority of individuals being modified and all modified individuals having tabular erect modifications. These similarities may suggest the embodiment of shared ideologies regarding cranial modification at Aztatlán sites, indicating possible inter-site interactions. However, the presence of different cranial modification forms and varieties suggests that local identity also influenced the modification practice. Images of human skeletal remains will not be shown.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 52443