| Abstract: | Using 151 crania, 8 Preceramic, 86 Formative, 29 Regional Developmental, 28 Integration Period and some isolated skulls from Ecuador I can clarify some origins and diffusion of American cranial deformation. To Imbelloni's classification of Tabular erecta, Tabular obliqua, and Annular I add a new type, Cuneiform, marked by flattening of the entire occiput (not just the upper, membraneous-derived bone) without evidence of counter pressure in front. The Cuneiform type starts in Guayas about 2000 B.C. (perhaps the earliest in America) with diffusion to coastal Peru in Chavin times. Tabular erecta, of coastal origin between Manabi province and the Guyas river basin, about 1,000 B.C. , also spreads to coastal Peru. Tabular obliqua appears in Esmeraldas province probably from Mexico 2000 years ago, and diffuses south into Chile. Annular type starts early in the Southern Andes and appears late in the highlands of Ecuador. |
