1. Volume 26, Issue 13, Pages R544-R547 (July 2016)
Heads of the dead 
Michael Gross 
Current Biology 
Volume 26, Issue 13, Pages R544-R547 (July 2016)
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2. Face off: An anatomical illustration of the human skull and face, lateral view. (Credit: Patrick J. Lynch, medical illustrator; C. Carl Jaffe, MD, cardiologist.)
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3. Stacked up: Mass burial of human skulls and bones can effectively convey the horror of events that led to massive death tolls. Shown here are the Paris catacombs. (Photo: Shadowgate/Wikimedia Commons.)
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4. New face: The Latmul in Papua New Guinea honoured notable ancestors by sculpting a new, beautiful face onto their exhumed skulls, using clay and shells. This is an example from the Gabriel Max collection. (Photo: Michael Gross.)
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5. Brought back: Forensic reconstruction of the faces of unidentified cadavers can enable the identification of the person. This photo by Arne Svenson is from his book Unspeaking Likeness, published by Twin Palms (
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6. Festive colours: Skulls are widely used in the celebration of the Mexican tradition of the Day of the Dead. (Photo: Adrián Cerón/Wikimedia Commons.)
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