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Culturally modified skeletal remains from the site of Huamelulpan, Oaxaca, Mexico
Author(s) -
Christensen Alexander F.,
Winter Marcus
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
international journal of osteoarchaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1099-1212
pISSN - 1047-482X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1212(199709/10)7:5<467::aid-oa390>3.0.co;2-1
Subject(s) - citation , crania , anthropology , history , library science , sociology , archaeology , computer science
A series of crania from the site of Huamelulpan, Oaxaca, Mexico (400 BC to AD 800), were examined. Four showed notable cultural modifications. One exhibited a healed trephination, while the other three were perforated through the frontal. The cultural context and significance of these modifications is discussed, especially in relationship to the site of Monte Albán, where trephination was more common than anywhere else in Mesoamerica. The post‐mortem cranial perforations appear to be connected with the practice of ancestor veneration. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.