Elongated heads were a mark of elite status in an ancient Peruvian society

A study of 211 skulls from a pre-Inca society suggests head-shaping developed over time

skull

GOING LONG  Starting around 1300, high-ranking members of a pre-Inca population increasingly had their heads bound into a narrow, elongated shape during infancy, a researcher says.

M. Velasco/Current Anthropology 2018

Bigwigs in a more than 600-year-old South American population were easy to spot.