Showing posts with label Trophies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trophies. Show all posts
Friday, 4 March 2011
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Ancient Cannibals Crafted Cups from Human Skulls
LiveScience
February, 16 2011
It seems as though ancient cannibals had a "waste not, want not" attitude, suggests the discovery of Ice Age cups made from human skulls what may be the earliest ones known, scientists say.
Human skulls have been made into macabre cups and bowls for thousands of years. For instance, in the fifth century B.C., ancient Greek historian Herodotus portrayed the Scythians as people who drank from the skulls of their enemies, and similar traditions have been described by the ancient Chinese historian Sima Qian sometime in the first or second centuries B.C.
Still, archaeological evidence of how skull cups were made is extremely rare. Now scientists have discovered three skull cups in England that are roughly 14,700 years old, the earliest ones that researchers have confirmed ages for and the only ones known so far from the British Isles.
In a site known as Gough's Cave in Somerset, England, skull fragments from at least five people were found - a young child about 3 years old, two adolescents, an adult and an older adult. There were signs that their lower jaws had the marrow sucked out, suggesting cannibalism occurred.
Cut marks and dents on the bones suggest they were scalped and scrupulously scraped clean of skin and flesh with flint tools shortly after death. The crafters then removed the face bones and bases of the skulls from the adults and the 3-year-old, meticulously chipping at the broken edges of the resulting cups, possibly to straighten their rims.
"Possibly the most surprising thing is how skilled at manipulating human bodies these early humans were," researcher Silvia Bello, a paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London, told LiveScience. "It was a very meticulous process that just proves how technologically advanced this population was. It also demonstrates a very complex funerary behavior."
"It's impossible to know how the skull cups were used back then," said researcher Chris Stringer, a paleoanthropologist at the Natural History Museum. "But in recent examples, they may hold blood, wine or food during rituals."
A precise cast of the skull cup from the adult individual will go on display at the Natural History Museum in London on March 1 for three months.
The scientists detailed their findings online Feb. 16 in the journal PLoS ONE.
February, 16 2011
It seems as though ancient cannibals had a "waste not, want not" attitude, suggests the discovery of Ice Age cups made from human skulls what may be the earliest ones known, scientists say.
Human skulls have been made into macabre cups and bowls for thousands of years. For instance, in the fifth century B.C., ancient Greek historian Herodotus portrayed the Scythians as people who drank from the skulls of their enemies, and similar traditions have been described by the ancient Chinese historian Sima Qian sometime in the first or second centuries B.C.
Still, archaeological evidence of how skull cups were made is extremely rare. Now scientists have discovered three skull cups in England that are roughly 14,700 years old, the earliest ones that researchers have confirmed ages for and the only ones known so far from the British Isles.
In a site known as Gough's Cave in Somerset, England, skull fragments from at least five people were found - a young child about 3 years old, two adolescents, an adult and an older adult. There were signs that their lower jaws had the marrow sucked out, suggesting cannibalism occurred.
Cut marks and dents on the bones suggest they were scalped and scrupulously scraped clean of skin and flesh with flint tools shortly after death. The crafters then removed the face bones and bases of the skulls from the adults and the 3-year-old, meticulously chipping at the broken edges of the resulting cups, possibly to straighten their rims.
"Possibly the most surprising thing is how skilled at manipulating human bodies these early humans were," researcher Silvia Bello, a paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London, told LiveScience. "It was a very meticulous process that just proves how technologically advanced this population was. It also demonstrates a very complex funerary behavior."
"It's impossible to know how the skull cups were used back then," said researcher Chris Stringer, a paleoanthropologist at the Natural History Museum. "But in recent examples, they may hold blood, wine or food during rituals."
A precise cast of the skull cup from the adult individual will go on display at the Natural History Museum in London on March 1 for three months.
The scientists detailed their findings online Feb. 16 in the journal PLoS ONE.
Monday, 6 April 2009
Wari skulls create trophy-head mystery - B. Bower
Peruvian Civilization, Brief Article
Science News, May 10, 2003
In parts of what's now Peru, the Nasca and other prehistoric civilizations collected heads as spoils of war. Victorious warriors cut off the heads of vanquished enemies, drilled holes in their skulls to extract the brains, and modified these trophies for display and ritual use.
Trophy heads took a surprising twist, however, at a central Peruvian site inhabited by members of the Wad society from around A.D. 600 to 1000. A newly discovered stash of skull remains once used as trophy heads came mainly from children and from men too old to have served as warriors, says Tiffiny A. Tung of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The Wari finds include pieces of trophy heads from at least 24 adults--most identifiable as male--and seven children, as well as 84 human-finger bones. All of these specimens had been intentionally burned and were found in two structures that had been used for ritual ceremonies. Most skulls contained holes drilled at the front and back of the braincase, as well as in the jaw, where a cord was apparently inserted.
Many skull pieces also exhibited worn edges, suggesting that they had been repeatedly handled, probably during rituals, Tung says.
The Wari specimens contain few of the warfare-related sears that have been observed widely on skeletal remains of Nasca trophy heads. For now, the story behind these macabre Waft relics remains a mystery, Tung says.
B.B.
Science News, May 10, 2003
In parts of what's now Peru, the Nasca and other prehistoric civilizations collected heads as spoils of war. Victorious warriors cut off the heads of vanquished enemies, drilled holes in their skulls to extract the brains, and modified these trophies for display and ritual use.
Trophy heads took a surprising twist, however, at a central Peruvian site inhabited by members of the Wad society from around A.D. 600 to 1000. A newly discovered stash of skull remains once used as trophy heads came mainly from children and from men too old to have served as warriors, says Tiffiny A. Tung of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The Wari finds include pieces of trophy heads from at least 24 adults--most identifiable as male--and seven children, as well as 84 human-finger bones. All of these specimens had been intentionally burned and were found in two structures that had been used for ritual ceremonies. Most skulls contained holes drilled at the front and back of the braincase, as well as in the jaw, where a cord was apparently inserted.
Many skull pieces also exhibited worn edges, suggesting that they had been repeatedly handled, probably during rituals, Tung says.
The Wari specimens contain few of the warfare-related sears that have been observed widely on skeletal remains of Nasca trophy heads. For now, the story behind these macabre Waft relics remains a mystery, Tung says.
B.B.
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