Society for Science & the Public, which publishes Science News, uses cookies to personalize your experience and improve our services. For more information on how we use cookies on our websites, visit our Cookie Policy.
News Anthropology

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

By Bruce Bower

This article is only available to Science News subscribers.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address to access our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Science News is a nonprofit.

Support us by subscribing now.

More Stories from Science News on Anthropology

  1. Baka people
    Genetics

    Ancient kids’ DNA reveals new insights into how Africa was populated

    By Bruce Bower
  2. clamshells
    Anthropology

    Neandertals dove and harvested clamshells for tools near Italy’s shores

    By Bruce Bower
  3. Homo erectus skull
    Humans

    Homo erectus arrived in Indonesia 300,000 years later than previously thought

    By Bruce Bower
  4. Homo erectus skullcap
    Anthropology

    Homo erectus’ last known appearance dates to roughly 117,000 years ago

    By Bruce Bower
  5. Neutron star merger illustration
    Science & Society

    These science claims from 2019 could be big deals — if true

    By Cassie Martin
  6. partial Denisovan jaw
    Humans

    Mysterious Denisovans emerged from the shadows in 2019

    By Bruce Bower
  7. A. sediba fossil
    Science & Society

    A Dallas museum hosts rare hominid fossils from South Africa

    By Tara Haelle
  8. Henry V wedding
    Humans

    The medieval Catholic Church may have helped spark Western individualism

    By Sujata Gupta

From the Nature Index

Paid Content