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Skull

More ancient skulls bearing evidence of trepanation - a tell-tale hole surgically cut into the cranium - have been found in Peru than the combined number found in the rest of the world.

Ancient Peru's Cranial Surgeons Were Twice as Skilled as American Civil War Doctors

Even with a highly skilled neurosurgeon, the most effective anesthesia, and all the other advances of modern medicine, most of us would cringe at the thought of undergoing cranial surgery today...
Skull from Roman Dead exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands

The Dead Tell Us of a Diverse Londinium

Rebecca Redfern / The Conversation Our knowledge about the people who lived in Roman Britain has undergone a sea change over the past decade. New research has rubbished our perception of it as a...
Image illustrates the difference in skull and nose shape in the three human species tested: Neanderthal, Modern Human, and Homo heidelbergensis.

Professor Lends Anatomy Expertise to Solve Ancient Mystery

Scientists have long wondered why the physical traits of Neanderthals, the ancestors of modern humans, differ greatly from today's man. In particular, researchers have deliberated the factors that...
Eyebrows on fleek: Model of a modern human skull next to Kabwe 1.

Why Expressive Brows Might Have Mattered in Human Evolution

Highly mobile eyebrows that can be used to express a wide range of subtle emotions may have played a crucial role in human survival, new research from the University of York suggests. Like the...
Skeleton with a hole in the skull.  Source: wellphoto/Shutterstock.com via The Conversation

Drilling Holes in the Skull was Never a Migraine Cure

Trepanation – the technique of removing bone from the skull by scraping, sawing, drilling or chiselling – has long fascinated those interested in the darker side of medical history. One stock tale is...
Hyena and Neanderthal teeth on hyena background.

Were Cannibal Leftovers Really Swallowed by an Ancient Hyena?

About 65,000 years ago, a large carnivore, probably a hyena, consumed someone’s face, new scientific data published this week has proven. And, according to the scientists who made this discovery,...
The 10 skeletons were arranged in a spiral pattern found at Tlalpan, Mexico City

Discovered! Ancient Mexican Spiral of Death

Ten ancient skeletons have been unearthed in Mexico this week including a baby of around one-month-old! Ritualistically deformed, in that their skull shapes and teeth had been altered, they were...
The Iron Age skull was deliberately severed from its body.

Iron Age Skull Suggests Sinister Story of Severed Heads Tossed into Wetlands

There is much to consider when a human skull is found. When the authorities reach the scene, they need to find out if it is the mark of a modern death or the remains from a person who lived in the...
The face of the teenager reconstructed from the 9000-year-old skull found in Greece.

Forensic Scientists in Greece Have Recreated the Face of a 9,000-Year-Old Female Teenager

Forensic scientists have reconstructed the face of a 9,000-year-old female teenager based on a skull archaeologists found in a Greek cave. Experts claim that the reconstructed face reveals how much...
An ancient skull (public domain). Note: This image is representational only, and is not a photo of one of the skulls recently-discovered in Mayo, Ireland. Photos have not yet been released of the Neolithic Mayo bones.

5,000-Year-Old Human Remains with Smashed Skulls Discovered in Ireland

The remains of at least ten adults, adolescents and children that were positioned in a 5,500-year-old cave-like structure over the course of 1,200 years during the Neolithic Period, have been found...
A re-analysis of the Dali skull is helping rewrite the story of human origins.

Rewriting Our Origins: Skull Found in China Promotes a Wider Perspective on Human Evolution

Most people discussing the origins of our species suggest that Homo sapiens can be traced back to Africa about 200,000 years ago. However, an increasing amount of evidence suggests that there may be...
Torbrex Tam; facial reconstruction carried out by Emily McCulloch

Skeleton Found in Scotland Was 4,000-Year-Old Bronze Age Farmer

Human remains discovered 138 years ago in Stirling, Scotland, have been identified as belonging to a Bronze Age farmer who worked the land more than four millennia ago. This makes the man officially...
Left: Lilias reconstructed face as she may have looked when alive. (Dundee University) Right: 3D imagery created from the photo of Adie’s skull. (National Library of Scotland)

Face of Notorious “Witch” Digitally Reconstructed 300 Years after her Death

A group of elite forensic scientists from the University of Dundee, has reconstructed digitally the face of one of Scotland's most notorious “witches”, Lilias Adie. The only documents that helped...
Main: A giant wave (public domain) Inset: This is the skull of a person who lived in what's now Papua New Guinea, 6,000 years ago.

6,000-Year-Old Skull is Earliest Known Victim of a Tsunami

Tsunamis spell calamity. These giant waves, caused by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and underwater landslides, are some of the deadliest natural disasters known; the 2004 tsunami in the Indian...
Hatun Tópac; Viracocha, Portraits of Inca Kings, and Inca Tunic (Public Domain), Machu Picchu

Origin Myths of the Inca Civilization & Piecing Together Royal Heritage

According to most historical accounts, especially those collected by the early Spanish chroniclers of the 16th century, and just after the destructive efforts of the conquistadors, the Inca were...

Peruvian Mummy Taken to Children’s Hospital for Revealing X-rays

A 2,000-year-old mummy kept at Corpus Christi Museum of Natural History in Texas, has been transferred to Driscoll Children's Hospital for X-rays. The museum is currently working with the hospital to...
Scene of destruction in the film “Pompeii 3d” (2014). (La Stampa/CC BY NC ND) Insert: Remains of a skull attributed to Pliny the Elder from the Museo di Storia dell'Arte Sanitaria in Rome.

Researchers Look to Crowdfunding to Identify the Skull of Pompeii Hero Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus, better known as Pliny the Elder, was an influential administrator, officer, and author in ancient Rome. His life ended suddenly with the deadly eruption of Mount Vesuvius in...
The skull of the Egyptian pharaoh Sa-Nakht, who may have had gigantism

Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Sa-Nakht May Have Been a Giant, New Study Suggests

A new study suggests that the remains of an ancient Egyptian, believed to be the Third Dynasty pharaoh Sa-Nakht, could belong to the first and oldest known human giant. Experts are now wondering: are...
This unique discovery in the extreme north of Russia was part of an elaborate burial of a child from an elite family, aged no older than three when he or she died.

Skull of 1,000-year-old Arctic Chieftain's Infant Heir Found Encased in Persian Bronze Bowl

By The Siberian Times reporter The skull pieces were discovered by archaeologists above the Arctic Circle on the remote permafrost Gydan peninsula close to the Kara Sea in Yamalo-Nenets autonomous...
Skull in Actun Tunichil Muknal.

Would You Dare to Visit an Ancient Maya Cave of Human Sacrifice? If So, Head to Belize

Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) Natural Monument, or the “Cave of the Crystal Sepulchre,” in Belize is where archaeologists have uncovered evidence of human sacrifice rituals dating back to 3rd century...
The new 3D printed reconstruction of the face of the Lady of Cao

Lady of Cao Comes to Life: Face of Peruvian Priestess Reconstructed from 1,700-Year-Old Mummy

Scientists in Peru have managed to recreate the face of a female Peruvian leader who died 1,700 years ago, with the use of 3D printing. The Lady of Cao was discovered in the ruins of the Huaca Cao...
Before Antibiotics:  Ancient Medical Procedures That Still Baffle Scientists

Before Antibiotics: Ancient Medical Procedures That Still Baffle Scientists

In the modern age, when we think of surgery, we think of doctors working in sterile environments using finely crafted tools on an anesthetised patient. That was not always the case. Early surgical...
3,200-Year-Old Human Remains Discovered in Biblical Gezer, Israel Support Destruction Theory

3,200-Year-Old Human Remains Discovered in Biblical Gezer Support Destruction Theory

A team of archaeologists in Israel has unearthed the human remains of three individuals in what is believed to be the site of the Biblical city of Gezer, almost 3,200 years after its catastrophic...
Images A, C and D show incisions while B shows the hole drilled into the skull.

Evidence of the Earliest ‘Skull Cult’ Activity: Drilled and Carved Skulls Found at the World’s Oldest Temple

Just as people at the world’s oldest known temple site in Southeast Turkey began to make the transition from hunter-gatherers to a more settled lifestyle, they also started a “skull cult” in which...

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