Overmodelled skull explained

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]

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, .
• Book: fr. Objets de pouvoir en Nouvelle-Guinée . Réunion des musées nationaux : musée d'Archéologie nationale. Saint-Germain-en-Laye . 2006.
• Anthony JP Meyer, Oceanic Art, Könemann, 1995.
• Arthur C. Aufderheide, Overmodeled Skulls, Heide Press, 2009

Notes and 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 https://hal-univ-paris10.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02010488/document
3. Anthony JP Meyer, Oceanic Art, Könemann, 1995, p.382