Skull cup

A skull cup is a cup or eating bowl made from an inverted human calvaria that has been cut away from the rest of the skull. The use of a human skull as a drinking cup in ritual use or as a trophy is reported in numerous sources throughout history and among various peoples, and among Western cultures is most often associated with the historically nomadic cultures of the Eurasian Steppe.

The oldest directly dated skull cup^[1] at 14,700 cal BP (12,750 BC) comes from Gough's Cave, Somerset, England. Skulls used as containers can be distinguished from plain skulls by exhibiting cut-marks from flesh removal and working to produce a regular lip.^[2]

^ Bello, Silvia M.; Simon A. Parfitt; Chris B. Stringer (February 2011). Petraglia, Michael (ed.). "Earliest Directly-Dated Human Skull-Cups". PLOS ONE. 6 (2). Public Library of Science: e17026. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...617026B. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017026. PMC 3040189. PMID 21359211.
^ Skulls found in Cheddar Gorge 'used as cups' (web video). BBC. 16 February 2011.

[http://www.plosone.org-1] Bello, Silvia M.; Simon A. Parfitt; Chris B. Stringer (February 2011). Petraglia, Michael (ed.). "Earliest Directly-Dated Human Skull-Cups". PLOS ONE. 6 (2). Public Library of Science: e17026. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...617026B. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017026. PMC 3040189. PMID 21359211.

[2] Skulls found in Cheddar Gorge 'used as cups' (web video). BBC. 16 February 2011.

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