Head shaping is one of the most distinctive and deeply rooted practices of the ancient Maya, one they inherited from their olmec forebears. Of the 1600 skulls that have been studied by 122 Maya sites in presant day Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Handuras, an astounding 90 percent had artificially shaped cranium, with males and females equally represented.

The practice of head shaping was a regular part of pre-Hispanic life and was required for a child's integration into society which took the form of name celebrating. Artistic representation of deforming apparatuses have been found on whistles and other musical instruments used to accompany these rites and caromonies. During the preclassic period (2000 B.C-A.D. 250) Maya had tall round heads, emulating a head of the Olmec Gods depicted in Olmec art work.