Identifying and Characterizing Artificial Cranial Modifications in Western Mesoamerican Populations

Abstract

Abstract Artificial cranial modifications are the practices of transforming the skull of a newborn via daily massages or the implementation of a cephalic device independent of or associated with a cradle. The resulting shapes as well as the intentions underlying these cultural performances are manifold. Appreciating their meanings in past populations primarily requires reliably identifying and characterizing these practices. For biological anthropologists and bioarchaeologists, this might be substantially difficult owing to the archaeological context itself (e.g. certain soils being detrimental to bone preservation, the identification of artificial cranial modifications is based on partial cranial remains only). Moreover, some techniques result in subtle modifications that are challenging to identify and describe. This chapter reviews 3D imaging methods (e.g., geometric morphometrics) and shows how they can be used to circumvent these problems and how suitable these tools are for identifying and differentiating artificial cranial modifications among past West Mesoamerican populations.