10 Human Skulls

skull

On loan from the Department of Anatomy for this display. Entry form 634 refers.

skull coronet

THACKRAY LEEDS & LONDON (stamped on the top) MANU Thackray Early 20th century Leeds and London England This item was used to create traction on the skull, usually for treatment of injuries to the cervical vertebrae. The screw pins would be tightened so that they penetrated the skull and hold it firmly.

skull [trepanned]

CULT UNKNOWN Peru South America

Human Skull

Ingisund, Northwall, Sanday, Orkney, Scotland MANU unknown Part of assemblage: 2 complete human skulls, a fragment of another, a fragment of pelvis and a vertebra (axis). Presumably from a human burial in the vicinity of Northwall at HY/7444.

skull with mandible

Tiree, Argyll, Scotland See A.1912.20 for the full record with notes.

human skull with mandible

Graemeshall cist, Orkney Scotland Rude stone cist One of the collection of Cursiter skulls. The skull has "Graemeshall, Orkney" written in ink on the forehead and "Holm" written in pencil on the forehead. The right parietal bone has a long rectangular label saying, "Rude stone cist, Graemeshall, 10th May 1896". The skull is Dolichocephalic and is delicate and light, with a thin cranium. The skull is probably of a very young adult female. The mandible of this skull is kept separately for storage reasons but both the skull and mandible have the accession numbers on them.

human skull without mandible

A5 Torlin, [north of Lagg, southern Arran, North Ayrshire], [Scotland] cairn, Neolithic One of the collection of Bryce skulls, excavated from Arran in 1900. Upon photographing the skull, the right zygomatic arch and maxilla were put back in place. Skull is mesocephalic and is moderately heavy. The skull shows continuation of the zygomatic arch along the temporal bone, forming a supramastoid crest. The glabella of the skull is also well marked. These are features of the male. The individual was probably an adult male.

human skull without mandible

B4 One of the collection of Bryce skulls. Upon first examination the skull appears juvenile but sutures are almost completely obliterated suggesting an older person. It should be noted however, that this may be due to the rather eroded surface of the skull. The skull is mesocephalic and is relatively heavy for its size. The individual is probably that of an adult female. The site of excavation of this skull is unknown. It had previously been catalogued under the name of Mountstuart, which refers to Bryce?s excavation of the Bronze Age cist on Bute [Bryce, 1904]. However, Bryce does not actually recover any skull from this area but merely refers to a skeleton excavated previously by Dr Munro. The skull that was excavated from Mount Stuart is now in the National Museum of Scotland (registration no. NMS X.EQ 102) [Sheriden, 2004].

human skull without mandible

Sties, Sanday, Orkney Scotland Skull from "Styes", Sanday. The place name suggests that this may be the skull of the Norseman who was buried in a "tumulus at Sties" with the iron sword No. 215 and perhaps other objects. (EWM)

human skull without mandible

north of Cross Church, Sanday, Orkney, Scotland One of the collection of Cursiter skulls. The skull has a large label covering the coronal suture and another small label with '129' on it. The skull is dolichocepalic and has an especially broad face, due to very large zygomatic bones. The skull is moderately heavy and robust. Unknown if the zygomatic arch suture break happened post-mortem or in life.The skull is probably from a young adult male. Cursiter ex Dennison (129).