An overmodelled skull is a skull covered with various materials to reconstruct the appearance of a human head. This technique of art and religion is described in many countries throughout the ages.

Origins

A custom that has existed since the

Neolithic era The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

, it is widespread in

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

and the

Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...

. It originated as a cult of ancestors and consists of covering the dry skull with a plastic material, such as earth, clay, ash, plaster or lime. Skulls can be embellished with pigments, jewellery etc. Sometimes, skulls of animals are also over-modelled.Anthony JP Meyer, ''Oceanic Art'', Könemann, 1995, p.382

Gallery

File:Crâne surmodelé du Vanuatu.jpg, Overmodelled skull,

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

. File:Basel Museum der Kulturen Crâne surmodelé Vanuatu 25102013 2.jpg, Overmodelled skull, Vanuatu. File:Exposition "Cheveux chéris" (musée du quai Branly, Paris) (8168058284).jpg, Skull in the musée du quai Branly. File:Marratampirivit overmodelled skull-ETHOC 010205-IMG 2277-black.jpg, Skull of the musée d'ethnographie de Genève, 19th. File:Crâne néolithique surmodelé (musée archéologique, Amman, Jordanie) (39030812611).jpg, Overmodelled skull in

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

, neolithic era.

References

Articles annexes

Skull The skull, or cranium, is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate. In some fish, and amphibians, the skull is of cartilage. The skull is at the head end of the vertebrate. In the human, the skull comprises two prominent ...

* Papua New Guinean art *

Plastered human skulls Plastered human skulls are human skulls covered in layers of plaster and typically found in the ancient Levant, most notably around the city of Jericho, between 8,000 and 6,000 BC (approximately 9000 years ago), in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B per ...

Bibliography

* Alain Nicolas, ''Art papou'', Nouvelles Éditions Scala, Paris, 2000 & ''L'art papou : Austronésiens et Papous de Nouvelle-Guinée'' (catalogue d'exposition, Musée de

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, 2000. * Maxime Rovere, Magali Melandri, ''Rouge kwoma : peintures mythiques de Nouvelle-Guinée : exposition, Paris, Musée du quai Branly, 14 octobre 2008-4 janvier 2009'', Réunion des musées nationaux : Musée du quai Branly, Paris, 2009, . * * Anthony JP Meyer, ''Oceanic Art'', Könemann, 1995. * Arthur C. Aufderheide, ''Overmodeled Skulls'', Heide Press, 2009 Culture of Papua New Guinea Indigenous art {{art-stub