Maori heads (mokomokai): the usefulness of a complete forensic analysis procedure.

Based on an analysis of 19 mummified Maori heads (mokomokai) referred to our forensic laboratory for anthropological analysis prior to their official repatriation from France to New Zealand, and data from the anthropological and medical literature, we propose a complete forensic procedure for the analysis of such pieces. A list of 12 original morphological criteria was developed. Items included the sex, age at death, destruction of the skull base, the presence of argil deposits in the inner part of the skull, nostrils closed with exogenous material, sewing of eyelids and lips, pierced earlobes, ante-mortem and/or post-mortem tattoos, the presence of vegetal fibers within nasal cavities, and other pathological or anthropological anomalies. These criteria were tested for all 19 mokomokai repatriated to New Zealand by the French authorities. Further complementary analyses were limited to fiberscopic examination of the intracranial cavities because of the taboo on any sampling requested by the Maori authorities. In the context of global repatriation of human artifacts to native communities, this type of anthropological expertise is increasingly frequently requested of forensic anthropologists and other practitioners. We discuss the reasons for and against repatriating non-authentic artifacts to such communities and the role played by forensic anthropologists during the authentication process.

[Skull cult. Trophy heads and tzantzas in pre-Columbian America]. / El culto a los craneos. Cabezas trofeo y tzantzas en la America precolombina.

INTRODUCTION: The skull cult is a cultural tradition that dates back to at least Neolithic times. Its main manifestations are trophy heads, skull masks, moulded skulls and shrunken heads. The article reviews the skull cult in both pre-Columbian America and the ethnographic present from a neuro-anthropological perspective. DEVELOPMENT: The tradition of shaping and painting the skulls of ancestors goes back to the Indo-European Neolithic period (Natufian culture and Gobekli Tepe). In Mesoamerica, post-mortem decapitation was the first step of a mortuary treatment that resulted in a trophy head, a skull for the tzompantli or a skull mask. The lithic technology utilised by the Mesoamerican cultures meant that disarticulation had to be performed in several stages. Tzompantli is a term that refers both to a construction where the heads of victims were kept and to the actual skulls themselves. Skull masks are skulls that have been artificially modified in order to separate and decorate the facial part; they have been found in the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan. The existence of trophy heads is well documented by means of iconographic representations on ceramic ware and textiles belonging to the Paraca, Nazca and Huari cultures of Peru. The Mundurucu Indians of Brazil and the Shuar or Jivaroan peoples of Amazonian Ecuador have maintained this custom down to the present day. The Shuar also shrink heads (tzantzas) in a ritual process. Spanish chroniclers such as Fray Toribio de Benavente 'Motolinia' and Gaspar de Carvajal spoke of these practices. CONCLUSIONS: In pre-Columbian America, the tradition of decapitating warriors in order to obtain trophy heads was a wide-spread and highly developed practice.

El culto a los cráneos. Cabezas trofeo y tzantzas en la América precolombina / Skull cult. Trophy heads and tzantzas in pre-Columbian America

Introducción. El culto a los cráneos es una tradición cultural que se remonta, al menos, al Neolítico. Sus principales manifestaciones son las cabezas trofeo, las máscaras cráneo, los cráneos moldeados y la reducción de cabezas. Se revisa desde una perspectiva neuroantropológica el culto a los cráneos en la América precolombina y en el presente etnográfico. Desarrollo. La tradición de moldear y pintar los cráneos de los antepasados se remonta al Neolítico indoeuropeo (cultura natufiense y Gobekli Tepe). En Mesoamérica, la decapitación post mortem era el primer paso de un tratamiento mortuorio que daba lugar a una cabeza trofeo, un cráneo del tzompantli o una máscara cráneo. La tecnología lítica empleada en las culturas mesoamericanas hacía necesario que la desarticulación se realizase en varias etapas. El tzompantli es un término que se refiere tanto a una construcción donde se colocaban las cabezas de las víctimas como a los cráneos mismos. Las máscaras cráneo son cráneos modificados artificialmente para separar y decorar su porción facial, y se han encontrado en el templo Mayor de Tenochtitlán. La existencia de cabezas trofeo se ha documentado iconográficamente en cerámicas y textiles de las culturas paracas, nazca y huari de Perú. Los indios mundurucú de Brasil y los shuar o jíbaros de la Amazonia ecuatoriana han mantenido esta costumbre. Los shuar, además, reducen las cabezas (tzantzas) en un proceso ritual. Cronistas españoles como Fray Toribio de Benavente ‘Motolinía’ y Gaspar de Carvajal relataron estas prácticas. Conclusión. En la América precolombina se desarrolló profusamente la tradición de la decapitación para obtener cabezas trofeo de guerreros (AU)

Introduction. The skull cult is a cultural tradition that dates back to at least Neolithic times. Its main manifestations are trophy heads, skull masks, moulded skulls and shrunken heads. The article reviews the skull cult in both pre-Columbian America and the ethnographic present from a neuro-anthropological perspective. Development. The tradition of shaping and painting the skulls of ancestors goes back to the Indo-European Neolithic period (Natufian culture and Göbekli Tepe). In Mesoamerica, post-mortem decapitation was the first step of a mortuary treatment that resulted in a trophy head, a skull for the tzompantli or a skull mask. The lithic technology utilised by the Mesoamerican cultures meant that disarticulation had to be performed in several stages. Tzompantli is a term that refers both to a construction where the heads of victims were kept and to the actual skulls themselves. Skull masks are skulls that have been artificially modified in order to separate and decorate the facial part; they have been found in the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan. The existence of trophy heads is well documented by means of iconographic representations on ceramic ware and textiles belonging to the Paraca, Nazca and Huari cultures of Peru. The Mundurucu Indians of Brazil and the Shuar or Jivaroan peoples of Amazonian Ecuador have maintained this custom down to the present day. The Shuar also shrink heads (tzantzas) in a ritual process. Spanish chroniclers such as Fray Toribio de Benavente ‘Motolinía’ and Gaspar de Carvajal spoke of these practices. Conclusions. In pre-Columbian America, the tradition of decapitating warriors in order to obtain trophy heads was a widespread and highly developed practice (AU)