The gig’s up!

Skulls found in man’s apartment | Chicago Tribune

Uh-oh. I seriously hope the authorities aren’t going to start confiscating skulls, because I have one too. And yes, I boiled mine on my stove. That’s what you do to get a skull clean, respectable and Yorick-esque. If you’re lucky, the ear ossicles will fall out in the process, and you’ll have a delicate little malleus, incus, and stapes – perhaps even two sets.

I suppose law enforcement has to check out a report of a guy boiling skulls on his stove. But between anatomy students, medical illustrators, artists, anatomy professors, doctors, and nostalgic former Hamlets, there must be a LOT of old human skulls in private hands. Is this even news?

It might be news if the skull was studded with diamonds, and worth fifty million pounds. (Apparently Damien Hirst is a bigger joker than Yorick.)

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2 Responses to The gig’s up!

  1. John Dennehy says:

    I am glad I am not the only one to boil skulls. Somehow it makes me feel much less creepy. Doesn’t it?

    Well actually I only did it once, but it was a bison skull so I had to do it outdoors in a gigantic cauldron.

  2. Alex says:

    I learned from my Forensic Anthropolgy teacher that often Vietnam vets would bring back Vietnamese heads/skulls as war trophies. After the vet died (or moved) the family would toss out these reminders. If someone happens upon one, they call the cops and bam, it’s a new homicide. She had a couple of pretty funny stories about it too.
    I wish I had a skull. : /

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