"Olmec" Head Shapes among the Preclassic Period Maya and Cultural Meanings

Bibliographic Data

ID4373603
AuthorsTiesler (0000-0003-0532-5819, corresponding author), Vera Tiesler
Year2010
Volume21
Issue3
Pages290-311
Publication date2010-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLatin American Antiquity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1045-6635 • E-ISSN: 2325-5080
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.7183/1045-6635.21.3.290
OpenAlexW2324427292
LanguageEN
Citations received19
References cited7

This paper analyzes the biographical and related archaeological information of 10 artificially shaped skulls from the broader Maya area, which bear resemblance to the high and narrow head morphology depicted in Olmec art. The skeletal evidence of this head form, which was accomplished by combining compression cradleboards with constricting horizontal wraps (tabular erect type in its pseudo-circular variety), is rare and predates A.D. 250 in all cases. Here I compare the cranial vaults shaped in this fashion with that of 49 other Preclassic period Maya indivisuals from different parts of the Maya world. The discussion explores the possible evolving social and religious roles of this emblematic body modification. I argue that Olmecoid head modification was a syncretic cultural adoption, since it was just one of many expressions of a deeply embedded Preclassic tradition, still practiced centuries after the demise of Olman's societies themselves. The visible effect of the artificial pear-shaped heads most likely reflected gradual shifting ideological schemes, probably emulating early versions of the Maya Maize God, given the resemblance to Preclassic period renderings of this supernatural force

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Demise · Head (geology · Ideology · Maya · Period (music · Politics · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Paleopathology and ancient diseases · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Geology · History · Law · Paleontology

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub