Earliest directly-dated human skull-cups.

<h4>Background</h4>The use of human braincases as drinking cups and containers has extensive historic and ethnographic documentation, but archaeological examples are extremely rare. In the Upper Palaeolithic of western Europe, cut-marked and broken human bones are widespread in the Magda...

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Autores principales:	Silvia M Bello, Simon A Parfitt, Chris B Stringer
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2011
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/4cf1c50b13f54a0381eb9bbb93137dfa
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:4cf1c50b13f54a0381eb9bbb93137dfa2021-11-18T06:58:41ZEarliest directly-dated human skull-cups.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0017026https://doaj.org/article/4cf1c50b13f54a0381eb9bbb93137dfa2011-02-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/21359211/pdf/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203<h4>Background</h4>The use of human braincases as drinking cups and containers has extensive historic and ethnographic documentation, but archaeological examples are extremely rare. In the Upper Palaeolithic of western Europe, cut-marked and broken human bones are widespread in the Magdalenian (∼15 to 12,000 years BP) and skull-cup preparation is an element of this tradition.<h4>Principal findings</h4>Here we describe the post-mortem processing of human heads at the Upper Palaeolithic site of Gough's Cave (Somerset, England) and identify a range of modifications associated with the production of skull-cups. New analyses of human remains from Gough's Cave demonstrate the skilled post-mortem manipulation of human bodies. Results of the research suggest the processing of cadavers for the consumption of body tissues (bone marrow), accompanied by meticulous shaping of cranial vaults. The distribution of cut-marks and percussion features indicates that the skulls were scrupulously 'cleaned' of any soft tissues, and subsequently modified by controlled removal of the facial region and breakage of the cranial base along a sub-horizontal plane. The vaults were also 'retouched', possibly to make the broken edges more regular. This manipulation suggests the shaping of skulls to produce skull-cups.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Three skull-cups have been identified amongst the human bones from Gough's Cave. New ultrafiltered radiocarbon determinations provide direct dates of about 14,700 cal BP, making these the oldest directly dated skull-cups and the only examples known from the British Isles.Silvia M BelloSimon A ParfittChris B StringerPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 6, Iss 2, p e17026 (2011)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Silvia M Bello Simon A Parfitt Chris B Stringer Earliest directly-dated human skull-cups.
description	<h4>Background</h4>The use of human braincases as drinking cups and containers has extensive historic and ethnographic documentation, but archaeological examples are extremely rare. In the Upper Palaeolithic of western Europe, cut-marked and broken human bones are widespread in the Magdalenian (∼15 to 12,000 years BP) and skull-cup preparation is an element of this tradition.<h4>Principal findings</h4>Here we describe the post-mortem processing of human heads at the Upper Palaeolithic site of Gough's Cave (Somerset, England) and identify a range of modifications associated with the production of skull-cups. New analyses of human remains from Gough's Cave demonstrate the skilled post-mortem manipulation of human bodies. Results of the research suggest the processing of cadavers for the consumption of body tissues (bone marrow), accompanied by meticulous shaping of cranial vaults. The distribution of cut-marks and percussion features indicates that the skulls were scrupulously 'cleaned' of any soft tissues, and subsequently modified by controlled removal of the facial region and breakage of the cranial base along a sub-horizontal plane. The vaults were also 'retouched', possibly to make the broken edges more regular. This manipulation suggests the shaping of skulls to produce skull-cups.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Three skull-cups have been identified amongst the human bones from Gough's Cave. New ultrafiltered radiocarbon determinations provide direct dates of about 14,700 cal BP, making these the oldest directly dated skull-cups and the only examples known from the British Isles.
format	article
author	Silvia M Bello Simon A Parfitt Chris B Stringer
author_facet	Silvia M Bello Simon A Parfitt Chris B Stringer
author_sort	Silvia M Bello
title	Earliest directly-dated human skull-cups.
title_short	Earliest directly-dated human skull-cups.
title_full	Earliest directly-dated human skull-cups.
title_fullStr	Earliest directly-dated human skull-cups.
title_full_unstemmed	Earliest directly-dated human skull-cups.
title_sort	earliest directly-dated human skull-cups.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2011
url	https://doaj.org/article/4cf1c50b13f54a0381eb9bbb93137dfa
work_keys_str_mv	AT silviambello earliestdirectlydatedhumanskullcups AT simonaparfitt earliestdirectlydatedhumanskullcups AT chrisbstringer earliestdirectlydatedhumanskullcups
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Earliest directly-dated human skull-cups.

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