Overmodelled skull

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, it is widespread in Oceania and the Near East. ^[1] 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. ^[2] Skulls can be embellished with pigments, jewellery etc. Sometimes, skulls of animals are also over-modelled. ^[3]

Gallery

• 
  Overmodelled skull, Vanuatu.
• 
  Overmodelled skull, Vanuatu.
• 
  Skull in the musée du quai Branly.
• 
  Skull of the musée d'ethnographie de Genève, 19th.
• 
  Overmodelled skull in Amman, neolithic era.

References

1. Ergul Kodas, Le surmodelage du crâne au Néolithique au Proche-Orient : Approche contextuelle, funéraire et visuelle, Tiempo y sociedad, Num. 18, 2015, pp. 5-45
2. Fanny Bocquentin, Après la mort, avant l’oubli. Les crânes surmodelés du Levant sud
3. Anthony JP Meyer, Oceanic Art, Könemann, 1995, p.382

Articles annexes

• Skull
• Papua New Guinean art
• Plastered human skulls

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, 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, ISBN   978-2-915133-93-6.
• Objets de pouvoir en Nouvelle-Guinée (in French). Saint-Germain-en-Laye: Réunion des musées nationaux : musée d'Archéologie nationale. 2006.
• Anthony JP Meyer, Oceanic Art, Könemann, 1995.
• Arthur C. Aufderheide, Overmodeled Skulls, Heide Press, 2009