During the Preclassic period, 2000 BCE – 250 CE, Maya skull modification imitated the head form of Olmec gods depicted throughout Olmec artwork. With the use of new and different techniques emerging in the Classic period, 250-900 CE, new cranial modification styles were endured, possibly as an indicator of membership within a kin group, or as a sign of a specific status. Additionally, in the Classic period, the general population used the erect deformation style of modification, while children expected to have high-status positions were given oblique deformation. Around 900 CE, the modification style standardized, and most human remains were found with tall skulls and flattened foreheads, the same modifications documented by the Spaniards when they arrived in Mesoamerica. Regional differences in cranial modification styles were also evident. Within the Western Maya lowlands, the popular style of modification imitated the shape of the Maize God's head, and therefore, more people were discovered to have slanted skulls. Across the Guatemala highlands, erect deformation shapes were more likely to be used, and sometimes a band was placed vertically down the head to separate the head into two distinct sections. Cranial modification was able to draw lines between different ethnic groups, as well as represent social status/hierarchy within an individual culture. Significance Members of the community were expected to go through cranium modification as a part of a child's integration into the society. Maya men aspired to look like their ruler, Pakal, who was meant to represent incarnations of the deities. Pakal's body was shaped to resemble motifs and images of what the Sun and Maize gods were expected to look like. Evidence of the social hierarchy of the Maya was shown in pottery, figurines, drawings, monuments, and architecture picturing high-status elites with the oblique cranium modification. The oblique style cranuml modification, the style endured by Pakal, may have also meant to shape the head like a jaguar, a figure extremely important to Maya religion, sacred to their culture, and a status of power. Additionally, Maya women standards of beauty were also based on the Maize God. Overall, cranial modifications are significant because of their relation with deities and power symbols of the Maya and the outwardly performative aspect displaying specific characteristics of a member within the Maya culture and society. Motivation Due to a lack of written records on the reasons or motivation for cranial modification, the reason the head was the