We are now acquainted with four forms of the head among the old Peruvians which were produced by artificial means, viz:
1. The horizontally elongated, or cylindrical form, above described.
2. The conical or sugar-loaf form, represented in the preceding diagrams.
3. The simple flattening or depression of the forehead, causing the rest of the head to expand, both posteriorly and laterally; a practice yet prevalent among the Chenooks and other tribes at the north of the Columbia river, in Oregon.
4. A simple vertical elevation of the occiput, giving the head in most instances a squared and inequilateral form.
A curious decree of the ecclesiastical court of Lima, dated A. D. 1585, and quoted by the late Prof. Blumenbach, alludes to at least four artificial conformations of the head, even then common among the Peruvians, and forbids the practice of them under certain specified penalities. These forms were called in the language of the natives, “Caito, Oma, Opalla, &c.;” and the continuance of them at that period, affords another instance of the tenacity with which the Peruvians clung to the usages of their forefathers.
[4-*] See more particularly the communications of Mr. R. C. Taylor, in vol. xxxiv, of Mr. S. Taylor, in vol. xxxiv, and of Prof. Forshey in vol. xlix.
[5-*] We take this occasion to observe, that skulls taken from the mounds, should at once be saturated with a solution of glue or gum, or with any kind of varnish, by which precaution further decomposition is effectually prevented.
[6-*] Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, I, p. 281.
[6-†] Rambles in Yucatan, p. 217.