Cranial modification, the intentional reshaping of an infant’s head, was likely tied to notions of proper child-rearing in the ancient Andes. However, its relationship to other aspects of childhood experience and socialization is rarely interrogated. This study assesses childhood diet and weaning practices among 85 modified and unmodified individuals from the Colca Valley, Peru (1100–1450 CE), analyzing carbon and oxygen isotope ratios from 190 enamel carbonate samples from 110 teeth. Increasing δ¹³C values between cuspal and cervical enamel, and between early and later forming teeth, suggest that the diets of infants and children, regardless of social identity, were gradually supplemented by maize. Although average isotopic values do not differ systematically by site, sex, or presence or absence of cranial modification, modified individuals show greater variance in δ¹³C than unmodified individuals. Stable carbon isotope data from modified individuals with more than one tooth sampled further underscore the maintenance of distinct diets across juvenile life histories. This dietary diversity may be the outcome of more geographically expansive patterns of resource use that involved temporary residence outside of the valley. This interpretation follows from ethnohistorical models of vertical economy in the Andes, but requires further testing with other lines of isotope data.

颅骨修饰（故意重塑婴儿的头部）可能与古代安第斯山脉适当养育孩子的观念有关。但是，很少有人质疑它与儿童时期经历和社会化的其他方面的关系。这项研究评估了秘鲁科尔卡河谷（公元1100–1450年）的85位改良和未改良个体的童年饮食和断奶习惯，分析了110颗牙齿的190颗搪瓷碳酸盐样品的碳和氧同位素比。增加δ ¹³骨和子宫颈珐琅质之间以及早期和以后形成牙齿之间的C值表明，无论社会身份如何，婴儿和儿童的饮食都逐渐补充了玉米。虽然平均同位素值不通过位点，性别，或存在或不存在颅修改的系统不同，改性的个体表现出更大的方差δ ¹³C比未修饰的个体。来自修饰过的个体的稳定碳同位素数据，该个体采样了一颗以上的牙齿，这进一步强调了整个青少年生活史上不同饮食的维持。这种饮食多样性可能是资源利用方式在地理上更具扩展性的结果，其中涉及山谷以外的临时居住地。这种解释来自安第斯山脉垂直经济的民族历史模型，但需要使用其他同位素数据线进行进一步测试。