Schwebenden

Antler headdress made from the skull of a large stag

Mesolithic Britain, ca. 8000BC

Excavated by Clark at Star Carr, North Yorkshire, between 1949-1951.  

Lines of cut marks made by flint tools show that the skin was deliberately removed from the skull. The bones forming the top of the nose were then broken off and the edges of the remaining skull part trimmed. The rim of the brain case has been smoothed and interior projections cut and scraped smooth. The antlers were also broken off and the remaining stumps thinned down and trimmed around the base. The two holes in the back of the skull, one through each of the parietal bones, were made by cutting and scraping away bone on both sides. The holes would probably have been used to tie the modified frontlet onto the head. 

Chinese oculist posters, circa 1930

Rafael Canogar