Abstract for the 2004 Society for American Archaeology
Meetings
Symposium: Uncovering Social Organization in the Andes: Recent
Developments in Bioarchaeology
Organizers: Deborah Blom and Julie Farnum
Identity Politics: Cranial vault modification as a social signifier in pre-Columbian San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
Christina Torres-Rouff
Department of Anthropology, The Colorado College, Colorado Springs
María Antonietta Costa Junqueira
Instituto de Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Museo, San Pedro de Atacama
The pre-Columbian population of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile interacted with foreign powers and local exchange partners and witnessed substantial demographic shifts in their area. One of the many ways they responded to these changes was through the deliberate modification of head shape; thereby inscribing cultural features on the body. This examination of 659 crania from seven sites (300 BC to AD 1500) occupied during significant transformations in the social environment revealed the use of this visible symbol to affiliate with foreign powers and, during periods of upheaval, to consolidate group identity.