Building on the notion that human remains provide a window into the past, especially regarding identity, the contributors to this volume reflect on intentional and ritualized practices of manipulating the human head within ancient societies. These essays explore the human head's symbolic role in political, social, economic, and religious ritual over the centuries. By focusing on the various ways in which the head was treated at the time of death, as well as before and following, scholars uncover the significant social meaning of such treatment. This illuminating collection highlights biological and cultural manipulations of human heads, ultimately revealing whose skulls and heads were collected and why, whether as ancestors or enemies, as insiders or outsiders, as males, females, or children. Featuring a wealth of case studies from scholars across the globe, this volume emphasizes social identity and the use of the body in ritual, making it particularly helpful to all those interested in the cross-cultural handling of skulls and heads.

This volume is based on papers submitted to the session Skull Collection, Modification and Decoration organized for the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists, held at University College Cork in Cork, Ireland, September 511, 2005. The intent of the volume is to bring together and make available to a wider audience a body of information on skull collection, modification and decoration that spans the Early Neolithic to the twentieth century.