Bioarchaeological analysis reveals a unilateral cleft lip in an ancient Andean trophy head, suggesting individuals with craniofacial deformities often attained high priestly status.
The study diagnoses a cleft lip/palate (CLP) of an Andean trophy head from exhibition catalogues, considers how CLP impacts biological sex and age-at-death estimation, and reconstructs how this maldevelopment contributed to health and social status outcomes. A unilateral left lip cleft is confirmed for this probable young adult male trophy head – the first case of CLP in an Andean trophy, and at best, the sixth case identified from remains in the region. Synthesis of published Andean ceramic vessels (n = 30) with CLP from a comprehensive museum and literature review corroborates that individuals with CLP often obtained priestly status in the coastal Andes.
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Beth K. Scaffidi (2025) studied this question.
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