INTENTIONAL CRANIAL DEFORMATION IN THE PRE-COLUMBIAN NASCA CULTURE

  • Jakub Wanot Institute of Archaeology, University of Wroclaw
Keywords: deformities, skull, culture Nasca, Peru, anthropological structure

Abstract

Presented article, based on the results of the latest archaeological research and the analysis of cataloged objects, provides a multi-faceted characteristic of the phenomenon of intentional and culturally conditioned cranial deformation in the pre- Columbian Nasca culture. In the light of interdisciplinary research and analysis of iconographic motifs we can notice that Nasca folks specifically identified themselves and recognized each other by particular physical attributes. Especially frontal-occipital cranial deformation is a dramatic example of the situational manipulation of ethnic identity. Results obtained in presented paper clearly demonstrate that the deformation methods and its objectives could be widely different, as well as not homogeneous within the southern coast of Peru.

Author Biography

Jakub Wanot, Institute of Archaeology, University of Wroclaw
MA

References

Allison, M., Gerzten, E., Munizaga, J., Santoro, C., Focacci, G. (1981). La práctica de la deformación craneana entre los pueblos Andinos Precolombinos, “Chungará”, Vol. 7, 238- 260.

Arnold, D., Hastorf, Ch. (2008). Heads of state: icons, power and politics in the ancient and modern Andes. Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press.

Aufderheide, A. (2003). The scientific study of mummies. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

Baraybar, J.P. (1987). Cabezas trofeos Nasca: nuevas evidincias. Lima: Gaceta Arquelogica Andina, Vol. 5, 6 -10.

Brahler, E. (2015). Ancient cranial modifications with medical and cultural significance. Kent: Kent State University.

Browne, D., Garcia, R., Silverman, H. (1993). A Cache of 48 Nasca Trophy Heads from Cerro Carapo, Peru. Washington: “Latin American Antiquity”, Vol. 4 (3), 274–294,

Burger, R. (2007). Late Paracas Obsidian Tools From Animas Altas, Peru. “Andean Past”,

Vol. 8, 2–17.

Carmichael, P. (1988). Nasca Mortuary Customs: Death and Ancient Society on the South Coast of Peru. Department of Archaeology, Calgary: University of Calgary.

Carod, F., Vazquez Cabrera, C. (2012). Trephination and Intentional Cranial Deformations in Ancient Pre-Columbian Cultures. “Neurology”, Vol. 78, 4–8.

Cocilovo, J.A., Varela, H. (2010). La Distribución de la Deformación Artificial del Cráneo en el area Andina Centro Sur. “Relaciones de la Sociedad Argentina de Antropología” XXXV,

–68.

Conlee, Ch. (2003). Local Elites and the Reformation of Late Intermediate Period Sociopolitical and Economic Organization in Nasca, Peru. Washington: “Latin American Antiquity”, Vol. 14 (1), 47–65.

Conlee, Ch., Buzon, M., Noriega, A., Simonetti, A., Creaser, R. (2009). Identifying foreigners versus locals in a burial population from Nasca, Peru: An investigation using strontium isotope analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science, Vol. 36 (12), 2755-2764.

Dembo, A., Imbelloni, J. (1938). Deformaciones del cuerpo humano de caracter etnico. Buenos Aires: Biblioteca del Americanista Moderno.

Drusini, A., Baraybar, J. P. (1991). Anthropological study of Nasca trophy heads. “Homo” Vol. 41, 251–265.

Fehir, A. (2014). In a Blind: Artificial Cranial Deformation in the Americas. “Laurier Undergraduate Journal of the Arts”, Vol. 1, 29–37.

Forgey, K. (2006). Investigating the origins and function of Nasca trophy heads using

osteological and ancient DNA analyses. Chicago: University of Illinois at Chicago.

Guillén, S.A. (2012). A History of Paleopathology in Peru and Northern Chile: From Head Hunting to Head Counting [w:] Buikstra, J., Roberts, C. (red.), The Global History of Paleopathology. Oxford: Pioneers and Prospects.

Hoshower, L., Buikstra, J., Goldstein, P., Webster, A. (1995). Artificial cranial deformation at

the Omo M10 site: a Tiwanaku complex from the Moqegua Valley, Peru. “Latin American Antiquity”, Vol. 6 (2), 145–164.

Kellner, C. M. (2002). Coping with Environmental and Social Challenges in Prehistoric Peru: Bioarchaeological analyses of Nasca Populations. Santa Barbara: University of

California.

Knudson, K., Williams, S. R., Osborn, R., Forgey, K., Williams. P. R. (2009). The geographic origins of Nasca trophy heads using strontium, oxygen and carbon isotope data. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, Vol. 28, 244–257.

Marino, R., Gonzales-Portillo, M. (2000). Preconquest Peruvian Neurosurgeons: A Study of Inca and Pre-Columbian Trephination and the Art of Medicine in Ancient Peru. “Neurosurgery”, Vol. 47 (4), 940–950.

Okumura, M. (2014). Differences in types of artificial cranial deformation are related to differences in frequencies of cranial and oral health markers in pre-Columbian skulls from Peru. “Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi. Ciências Humanas”, Vol. 9 (1), 15–26. Orefici, G. (1993). Nasca: Arte e Societa del Popolo dei Geoglifi. Milan: Jaca Books.

Orefici, G. (2012). Cahuachi. Capital Teocrática Nasca. Lima: Universidad de San Martin de Porres.

Orefici, G., Drusini, A. (2003). Nasca. Hipotesis y evidencias de su desarrollo cultural.

“Documentos e investigaciones” 2, Brescia, Centro italiano studi e ricerche archeologiche precolombiane.

Piasecki, K. (1999). Estructura antropológica del Perú prehispánico. Warszawa:

“Światowit” supplement series H: Anthropology I.

Proulx, D. A. (2001). Ritual uses of trophy heads in ancient Nasca society [w:] Benson, E., Cook, A. (red.). Ritual Sacrifice in Ancient Peru. Austin: University of Texas Press, 119–136. Proulx, D. A. (2006). A Sourcebook of Nasca Ceramic Iconography. Iowa City: University of

Iowa Press.

Schijman, E. (2005). Artificial cranial deformation in newborns in the pre-Columbian Andes. “Child's Nervous System”, Vol. 21 (11), 945–950.

Silverman, H. (1993). Cahuachi in the ancient Nasca world. Iowa: University of Iowa Press. Silverman, H. (2002). Ancient Nasca settlement and society. Iowa: University of Iowa Press.

Silverman, H., Proulx, D. A. (2002). The Nasca. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

Socha, D. (2013). Znaczenie społeczne głów-trofeów w kulturach Nazca i Wari. Warszawa: “Antropologia Religii” V, 6–15.

Strong, W. D. (1957). Paracas, Nazca, and Tiahuanacoid Cultural Relationships in South

Coastal Peru. Salt Lake City: “Memoirs of the Society for American Archaeology”, Vol. 13, 1–48.

Szykulski, J. (2010). Starożytne Peru, Wrocław.

Tello, J. C. (1918). El uso de las cabezas humanas artificialmente momificadas y su representacion en el antiguo arte peruano. Lima: “Revista Universitaria”. Vol. 2, 477–533. Tello, J. C. (1959). Paracas: Primera Parte. Lima: Empressa Grafica T. Scheuch S.A.

Tiesler, V. (2012). Studying cranial vault modifications in ancient Mesoamerica. Journal of Anthropological Sciences, 90, 1–26.

Tiesler, V. (2014). The Bioarchaeology of Artificial Cranial Modifications. New York. Tomasto-Cagigao, E., Reindel, M., Isla, J. (2015). Paracas Funerary Pactices in Palpa, South

Coast of Peru [w:] Eeckhout, P. (red.). Funerary Practices and Models in the Ancient Andes, 69–86.

Trinkaus, E. (1982). Artificial cranial deformation in the Shanidar 1 and 5 Neandertals.

“Current Anthropology”, Vol. 23 (2), 198–199.

Uhle, M. (1901). Die deformierten Kopfe von peruanischen Mumien und die Uta-Krankheit. Berlin: “Jahrgang”, Vol. 33, 404–408.

Ureña, J. (2016). Estudio antropológico de las estructuras cefálicas en una colección osteológica procedente de Chinchero (Perú), Oxford.

Vaughn, K. J., Eerkens, J., Lipo, C., Sakai, S., Schreiber, K. (2014). It's about time? Testing the Dawson ceramic seriation using luminescence dating, Southern Nasca Region, Peru. Washington: “Latin American Antiquity”, Vol. 25 (4), 449–461.

Verano, J. (1995). Where do they rest? The treatment of human offerings and trophies in ancient Peru [w:] Dillehay. T. (red.), Tombs for the living: Andean mortuary practices. Washington: Dumbarton Oaks, 189–227.

Verano, J., Andrushko, V. 2008, Cranioplasty in Ancient Peru: A Critical Review of the Evidence, and a Unique Case from the Cuzco Area. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, Vol. 20 (3), 269–279.

Verano J., Finger, S. (2010). Ancient trepanation [w:] Aminoff, M., Boller, F., Swaab, D. (red.), “Handbook of clinical neurology”, Vol. 95, 3–14.

Wanot, J. (2015). a, Głowy-trofea kultury Nasca. Wrocław: “Śląskie Sprawozdania Archeologiczne”, Vol. 57, 155–190.

Wanot, J. (2015). b, Motywy roślinne w ikonografii kultury Nasca. Kraków: “Maska” XXVII, 47–69.

Weiss, P. (1962). Tipología de las deformaciones cefálicas de los antiguos peruanos, según la

osteología cultural. Lima: “Revista del Museo Nacional”, Vol. 31, 15 – 42.

Williams, S. R., Forgey, K., Klarich, E. (2001). An Osteological Study of Nasca Trophy Heads Collected by A. L. Kroeber During the Marshall Field Expeditions to Peru. Chicago, Field Museum of Natural History, Fieldana Anthropology New Series 33.


Abstract views: 585
PDF Downloads: 304
Published
2016-11-09
How to Cite
Wanot, J. (2016). INTENTIONAL CRANIAL DEFORMATION IN THE PRE-COLUMBIAN NASCA CULTURE. Scientific Journal of Polonia University, 19(4), 11-25. https://doi.org/10.23856/1901