Intentional cranial modification as a marker of identity in Paracas Cavernas, South-Central Coast of Peru

Intentional cranial modification (ICM) was a cultural practice followed by many ancient groups across the world with considerable geographic and temporal variability. Since the pioneering descriptions of the ICM in the Paracas Peninsula skulls (South-Central Coast of Peru), studies have suggested the association between the type of ICM and sex. Thus, the current study explores whether the types of ICM during the Paracas Cavernas period (550–200 cal BC) in Cerro Colorado were signs of identity based on sex, social status, or kinship. The cranial shape of 159 individuals (137 adults and 22 non-adults) was described and classified using non-metric parameters. The results demonstrate that nearly all individuals (98%) presented with ICM. Although Tabular Erect was the most frequent type of ICM in the entire sample (60%), the Bilobate type was significantly more frequent in females (34%) than in males (19%). All ICM types are evenly distributed among the status groups without obvious patterns of ICM frequency among burial spaces. To explain the findings, we discuss the quadripartition principle, a notion of Andean cosmology related to gender perception, which may have contributed to defining the shapes of heads during the Paracas Cavernas period.