center of this modification is still not clear. One reason is possibly the need for children to be protected when they are born. The Maya believed when children were born, they were vulnerable and thus needed to be protected from soul loss and evil winds. The soul was encased within the head, and therefore these newly souled infants needed to be guarded; cranium modification was one of the ways to protect the soul from being snatched from the newborn. The head was understood to be a portal into a person's true essence or essential entity, which could be harmed, stolen, or manipulated. Performing cranial modification as soon as the child was born ensured the soul, or essence, of the child was fully protected. Additionally, hair was seen as a way to preserve the essence of the soul, tonalli, from leaving the head of the body. Cutting the hair of a boy too soon was thought to diminish that individual's knowledge and reason. Lastly, Tzompantli, or skull racks, were associated with passage to the celestial world, and the heads on the rack were believed to contain the essence of the individual spirits. Therefore, by killing an enemy and removing their skulls from their bodies, the essence of the individual was violated. Dental modification Dental modification may have been a way to identify with a lineage, polity, ruler, or region. The modification of teeth was dependent on social status, as well as location. The Maya practiced two different types of tooth modification, filing and inlay. Filing was altering the tooth shape to create notches, grooves, or points. This type of dental modification appeared during the Early Preclassic period (1400-1000 BCE) and was completed with stone abraders and water. Inlay was drilling holes to insert different materials, and was popular throughout the Middle Preclassic period (900-600 BCE). In the remainder of the time periods the two were used simultaneously, but filing was much more common overall. Most likely teeth were modified as a part of ritual or for aesthetic purposes, and younger children usually did not have modified teeth. Once their permanent teeth had arrived, adolescent warriors had their teeth filed to sharp points to give them a fierce appearance, and as a further mark of status.[4] Maya women filed their teeth, or had holes drilled into them where precious stones or luxury materials, such as jade, pyrite, hematite, or turquoise could be