Plastered Skull from Jericho

Illustration

by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin
published on 19 February 2019

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Plastered Skull from Jericho — People invented plaster during the Neolithic period by burning limestone. This new material was used in daily life and for cultic practices. A new tradition also appeared then, that of plastering skulls of the deceased, which were removed after burial when the flesh had decayed. The face was molded onto the skull with plaster and shells were placed as eyes and lined with bitumen. These skulls were kept inside houses; therefore, they may represent an ancestral cult. Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, 8800-6900 BCE. From Jericho, modern-day Palestinian Territories. (The Jordan Museum, Amman, Jordan).

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About the Author

Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin

Associate Professor of Neurology and lover of the Cradle of Civilization, Mesopotamia. I'm very interested in Mesopotamian history and always try to take photos of archaeological sites and artifacts in museums, both in Iraq and around the world.

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Uploaded by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin, published on 19 February 2019 under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.

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APA Style

Amin, O. S. M. (2019, February 19). Plastered Skull from Jericho. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/image/10055/

Chicago Style

Amin, Osama S. M. "Plastered Skull from Jericho." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Last modified February 19, 2019. https://www.ancient.eu/image/10055/.

MLA Style

Amin, Osama S. M. "Plastered Skull from Jericho." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 19 Feb 2019. Web. 31 Jul 2020.

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