Vera Tiesler is currently research professor at the University of Yucatan, Mexico. She holds a Ph.D. in anthropology (National University of Mexico, Mexico), a B.A. degree in art history (Tulane University, New Orleans, USA), B.A. and M.A. degrees in archaeology (Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico), and five years of additional training in human medicine (Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Germany, and Politécnico Nacional, Mexico). Tiesler is member of the Mexican National Research Foundation and of the Mexican National Academy of Sciences. Her research has focused on the integrated study of human remains within their archaeological, cultural and social undercurrents. Her studies assess general health and dietary conditions, along with physical embodiment and mortuary traditions among pre-Hispanic and colonial Maya. She has participated in several field projects and has studied hundreds of skeletal collections from Mesoamerica, the Caribbean, Andes, and Europe, including forensic research. Recent publications include the co-edited books: Janaab’ Pakal of Palenque. Life and Death of a Maya Ruler (Arizona University Press), Natives, Europeans, and Africans in Colonial Campeche. History and Archaeology (University Press of Florida), and New Perspectives on Human Sacrifice and Ritual Body Treatments in Ancient Maya Society (Springer Press).

• Introduction.- PART I: INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES TO ARTIFICIAL CRANIAL MODIFICATION.- Cultural frameworks for studying artificial cranial modifications.- Physical embodiment, identity, age, and gender.- Cranial expansion and artificial vault modifications.- Reconstructing ancient head-shaping traditions from the skeletal record.- Source compilation on head-shaping practices in Hispanic America, with comments by Pilar Zabala.- PART II REGIONAL APPROACHES: HEAD PRACTICES AND THEIR CULTURAL MEANINGS IN PRE-COLUMBIAN MESOAMERICA AND BEYOND.- Meanings of head-shaping practices in Mesoamerica.- Emulating Olmec gods through head form. Origins and Preclassic Period.- Head shapes in Classic period Mesoamerica.- Growing up Maya. Gender, Identity and dynasty.- Head-shaping during the second millennium. Postclassic and post-contact Mesoamerica.- Conclusions: New perspectives for studying head-shaping practices in Mesoamerica.

Vera Tiesler is currently research professor at the University of Yucatan, Mexico. She holds a Ph.D. in anthropology (National University of Mexico, Mexico), a B.A. degree in art history (Tulane University, New Orleans, USA), B.A. and M.A. degrees in archaeology (Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico), and five years of additional training in human medicine (Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Germany, and Politécnico Nacional, Mexico). Tiesler is member of the Mexican National Research Foundation and of the Mexican National Academy of Sciences. Her research has focused on the integrated study of human remains within their archaeological, cultural and social undercurrents. Her studies assess general health and dietary conditions, along with physical embodiment and mortuary traditions among pre-Hispanic and colonial Maya. She has participated in several field projects and has studied hundreds of skeletal collections from Mesoamerica, the Caribbean, Andes, and Europe, including forensic research. Recent publications include the co-edited books: Janaab’ Pakal of Palenque. Life and Death of a Maya Ruler (Arizona University Press), Natives, Europeans, and Africans in Colonial Campeche. History and Archaeology (University Press of Florida), and New Perspectives on Human Sacrifice and Ritual Body Treatments in Ancient Maya Society (Springer Press).

• Introduction.- PART I: INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES TO ARTIFICIAL CRANIAL MODIFICATION.- Cultural frameworks for studying artificial cranial modifications.- Physical embodiment, identity, age, and gender.- Cranial expansion and artificial vault modifications.- Reconstructing ancient head-shaping traditions from the skeletal record.- Source compilation on head-shaping practices in Hispanic America, with comments by Pilar Zabala.- PART II REGIONAL APPROACHES: HEAD PRACTICES AND THEIR CULTURAL MEANINGS IN PRE-COLUMBIAN MESOAMERICA AND BEYOND.- Meanings of head-shaping practices in Mesoamerica.- Emulating Olmec gods through head form. Origins and Preclassic Period.- Head shapes in Classic period Mesoamerica.- Growing up Maya. Gender, Identity and dynasty.- Head-shaping during the second millennium. Postclassic and post-contact Mesoamerica.- Conclusions: New perspectives for studying head-shaping practices in Mesoamerica.

Vera Tiesler is currently research professor at the University of Yucatan, Mexico. She holds a Ph.D. in anthropology (National University of Mexico, Mexico), a B.A. degree in art history (Tulane University, New Orleans, USA), B.A. and M.A. degrees in archaeology (Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico), and five years of additional training in human medicine (Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Germany, and Politécnico Nacional, Mexico). Tiesler is member of the Mexican National Research Foundation and of the Mexican National Academy of Sciences. Her research has focused on the integrated study of human remains within their archaeological, cultural and social undercurrents. Her studies assess general health and dietary conditions, along with physical embodiment and mortuary traditions among pre-Hispanic and colonial Maya. She has participated in several field projects and has studied hundreds of skeletal collections from Mesoamerica, the Caribbean, Andes, and Europe, including forensic research. Recent publications include the co-edited books: Janaab’ Pakal of Palenque. Life and Death of a Maya Ruler (Arizona University Press), Natives, Europeans, and Africans in Colonial Campeche. History and Archaeology (University Press of Florida), and New Perspectives on Human Sacrifice and Ritual Body Treatments in Ancient Maya Society (Springer Press).

• Introduction.- PART I: INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES TO ARTIFICIAL CRANIAL MODIFICATION.- Cultural frameworks for studying artificial cranial modifications.- Physical embodiment, identity, age, and gender.- Cranial expansion and artificial vault modifications.- Reconstructing ancient head-shaping traditions from the skeletal record.- Source compilation on head-shaping practices in Hispanic America, with comments by Pilar Zabala.- PART II REGIONAL APPROACHES: HEAD PRACTICES AND THEIR CULTURAL MEANINGS IN PRE-COLUMBIAN MESOAMERICA AND BEYOND.- Meanings of head-shaping practices in Mesoamerica.- Emulating Olmec gods through head form. Origins and Preclassic Period.- Head shapes in Classic period Mesoamerica.- Growing up Maya. Gender, Identity and dynasty.- Head-shaping during the second millennium. Postclassic and post-contact Mesoamerica.- Conclusions: New perspectives for studying head-shaping practices in Mesoamerica.