In January 1586, leaders of the Collaguas and Cavanas in Yanque, Peru described unique body modification practices to Spanish conquerors, including infant head shaping to resemble surrounding mountains. The Collaguas aimed to elongate heads to reflect their volcanic origins, while the Cavanas produced wider, flatter shapes. Matthew Velasco, in his book "The Mountain Embodied: Head Shaping and Personhood in the Ancient Andes," examines the historical context and significance of this practice, arguing against the oversimplified view of head shape as an ethnic identity marker imposed by colonialism, which overlooked the diversity of experiences in these communities. Variability in head shaping practices also existed over time.
The Collaguas molded the heads of their newborns to lengthen and narrow them as high and elongated as they could so that in remembrance the head would have the form of the volcano from which they came.
Head shaping among the Collaguas and Cavanas served as a form of identity, closely tied to their environments and the mountains they revered as significant cultural landmarks.
The reduction of head shape to a marker of ethnic identity has been a colonial invention, masking great diversity in lived experience across different groups.
The prevalence of head shaping varied over time across society; most individuals in the Collagua region did not modify their skulls before A.D. 1300.
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