Paracas' Cranial Modifications: Status, Ethnicity And Aesthetic?
Since the first explorations at the Paracas Peninsula in the beginnings of the 20th Century, cranial modifications drew attention of archaeologists. Several descriptions and classifications have been proposed, as well as hypothesis regarding the reasons behind this cultural practice; generally eleme...
| Autor Principal: | Tomasto-Cagigao, Elsa |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
| Idioma: | spa |
| Publicado: |
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
2017
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: |
http://revistas.pucp.edu.pe/index.php/boletindearqueologia/article/view/19499/19609 |
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| Sumario: |
Since the first explorations at the Paracas Peninsula in the beginnings of the 20th Century, cranial modifications drew attention of archaeologists. Several descriptions and classifications have been proposed, as well as hypothesis regarding the reasons behind this cultural practice; generally elements of identity such as status, gender, origin and ethnicity.Nevertheless, none of these hypothesis have been demonstrated yet, since there are not systematic studies correlating cranial shapes with archaeological provenience. In the context of the increasing interest regarding the Late Formative social and political dynamics in the South Coast of Peru, the identity of people buried in the Paracas Peninsula cemeteries and their possible relations to populations that inhabited the valleys towards the north and south is a central issue that has been addressed from the study of objects associated to the burials. Nevertheless the study of human remains is crucial and since the DNA preservation in coastal archaeological context is not good, the study of cranial modifications can give important information. In this paper we study and classify the cranial shapes of 38 individuals coming from 35 Paracas mortuary contexts that were excavated at Wari Kayán and at the Palpa valleys. As this sample is non-random and small, this study cannot to give a final answer to the possible reasons behind this practice in the Paracas realm, but it opens the discussion of this type of evidence, showing its potential and proposing a classification that allowed us to differentiate three groups of individuals: Those buried at the Peninsula and associated to Early Horizon textiles, those associated to Early Intermediate textiles and those coming from the southern valleys. |
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