Manifestations of a Conceptual Artistic Ideal within a Prehistoric Culture

Abstract

Excavation of 19 prehistoric burial mounds at ten archaeological sites of coastal West Mexico produced 245 human skeletons during the summers of 1968-74. These archaeological sites are situated within a coastal swamp known as the Marismas Nacionales which encompasses parts of southern Sinaloa and northern Nayarit. Seventy-nine of the 245 specimens unearthed possess complete or nearly complete crania. Examination of these skulls in addition to 25 crania from the nearby sites of Guasave, Sinaloa and Amapa, Nayarit, reveals four varieties of cranial deformation. The skull shapes closely resemble motifs found among figurine heads from the same region and time period in Mexico, suggesting that a single conceptual ideal was held in common by those artificially shaping the infants’ skulls and those manufacturing the clay figurines.