The gate of the year

Figures above and below:

Human skulls modeled with clay in order to reproduce the face, sometimes introducing shells in place of the eyes. The specimens in the figure come from Jericho (Palestine) and from Tell Aswad (Syria) and dates back from 7,500 to 6,500 B.C. This particular treatment of the skulls, detached from the bodies and at times placed in special structures under the house floor, is a practice which can be found in most of the Neolithic sites of the Near East. Thus one can hypothesize the existence of a proper ancestor cult during this period (Srejovic 2005).

[Images: http://www.pi-h.ch/gobelkli.htm]




World of the Dead

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Figures above and below: Human skulls modeled with clay in order to reproduce the face, sometimes introducing shells in place of the eyes. The specimens in the figure come from Jericho (Palestine) and from Tell Aswad (Syria) and dates back from 7,500 to 6,500 B.C. This particular treatment of the skulls, detached from the bodies and at times placed in special structures under the house floor, is a practice which can be found in most of the Neolithic sites of the Near East. Thus one can hypothesize the existence of a proper ancestor cult during this period (Srejovic 2005). [Images: http://www.pi-h.ch/gobelkli.htm]