Modelar la cabeza: Una tradición mesoamericana milenaria desde el Preclásico hasta la actualidad

Translated title of the contribution: Head-shaping: A mesoamerican millennial tradition from the Preclassic era to modern times

Rafael Yon, Adriana Gómez, Ana Lucía Morales, Andrea Argueta, Sara Quiñónez, Clara Secaira, Paulina Garzaro, Shintaro Suzuki

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Head shaping was a widespread prehispanic practice deeply rooted in Mesoamerican people's everyday life, especially among the Maya. After the Spanish Conquest, this practice was prohibited and has fallen in disuse, until becoming an interesting research topic for bioarcheology, physical anthropology, and ethnohistory, or, at least, this is what is commonly thought. Our research began by asking this point. Is the cranial shaping tradition really extinct? To address this query, we conducted questionnaires and interviews in the current territory of Guatemala. After that, we compared results with the recent bioarchaeological discussions and found an excellent analogy that glimpsed the continuation and transformation of this prehispanic tradition.

Translated title of the contributionHead-shaping: A mesoamerican millennial tradition from the Preclassic era to modern times
Original languageSpanish
Pages (from-to)157-181
Number of pages25
JournalEstudios de Cultura Maya
Volume50
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Contemporary Maya
  • Corporal anthropology
  • Embodiment
  • Guatemala
  • Head shaping

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Archaeology
  • Cultural Studies
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Head-shaping: A mesoamerican millennial tradition from the Preclassic era to modern times'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this