Located on the border between Bolivia, Peru and Chile, Tiahuanaco was one of the most powerful pre-Inca cities in the Andes. With a population of around 40,000 people, the ancient city enjoyed a long heyday between its construction around 400 BC and its collapse in 1200 AD, becoming an important political actor of the period.
The settlement was so relevant that it even had a port on Lake Titicaca. Its ceramics are characterized by the famous queros (ceremonial vessels), human portraits with relief on vessels and its architectural constructions with astronomical orientation. But there was something else that made this city stand out: Several of its inhabitants suffered deliberate cranial deformations.
For decades, researchers have concluded that these modifications served to highlight class differences in a hierarchical and stratified Andean society. In Tiahuanaco this practice was used to delimit social class, caste, lineage and vocation. And other things too.
As explained by archaeologists from the University of California in an article published in the journal Child's Nervous System, the modification of the skull “was especially useful for warriors, who in the middle of battle could distinguish their companions from their enemies by the differences in their structure. cranial".
The deformation of the bones of the head generally took place within the first months of the baby's life. Two popular cranial styles were achieved, the tabular and the annular, which were obtained through the application of various mechanical devices and resulted in various cranial shapes (conical, box-shaped, flattened...).
To achieve, for example, an “oblique tabular deformation, two wooden boards (often padded) were placed along the frontal and occipital regions of the babies' heads and secured with bandages,” the researchers say. This resulted in a “flattened, box-shaped cranial vault,” often with “a lateral bulge of the head,” leaving the face “foreshortened and broader.”
Describing a second method that produced similar results, the authors explain that “infants' bodies were placed dorsally on a flat wooden surface. A vertical section of wood was bandaged to the flat wooden surface at an angle, protruding upward and resting on the frontal region of the babies' skulls.”
The conical skull, on the other hand, was achieved when “bands, belts and wraps were tied transversely around the heads of the babies with different tension. The compression force was applied to the skull “circumferentially” to obtain the desired shape.
Each modification technique and the duration during which the mechanical tension was applied influenced the solidification of the bones and gave a different shape to the frontal, occipital, parietal and temporal bones, although the scientists do not rule out that these processes could cause cognitive deficits and plagiocephalic defects (memory, attention and executive function problems).
In this way, different groups in society were separated into castes, classes and slaves, although the custom has also been used to mark territory and emphasize ethnic differences between groups. Experts theorize that the practice came to America when humans crossed the Bering Strait and reached the shores of Alaska.
Until 1000 AD, cranial deformation was common among the Apache, Mohave, Yuma, and Pueblo Indians in the southwestern United States. It has also been traced east of the Mississippi, extending to the Atlantic Ocean, in Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Jamaica, Cuba and Puerto Rico, particularly among the Mayans.
In South America, this modification spread throughout the Andean region, from Venezuela to Guyana, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. Although the origin of the ritual had been attributed to the Incas, ancient Peruvians practiced cranial deformation for at least 1,000 years before the formation of the Inca State.
Among the Aymaras of Bolivia, the Caribbean Indians of Colombia, and the Patagonians of Argentina, cranial deformation was carried out mainly in men to indicate membership in the “warrior class” of the community. This allowed soldiers to discriminate their fellow combatants from insurgents and invaders, facilitating recognition and protection.
Signs of this deformation have also appeared in Europe, from Romania to the United Kingdom, passing through Italy, Belgium and France.
