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347877001
Jericho skull: plastered human skull, one of a number dating from the 7th millennium BC. In each case, a skull was taken as the base and the features of the face were modelled on it in plaster. The eyes are made of bivalve shells. Headless skeletons in burials of this period have been found, and it is probable that the removal of the skulls for use in this way had some religious purpose, perhaps connected with an ancestor cult; nose damaged. One eye is made from a bivalve shell divided in two. The other has one, smaller, complete shell in place and is missing its twin.
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