Wowowie

October 8, 2004 2:22 PM

5000 year old carved skull "HEAVILY carved with mysterious buddhism objects, symbols and Tibetan letters." Crazy.
(Via Boing Boing)
posted by maniactown (22 comments total)

There's a pretty HUGE difference between a 5000 year old skull and a 500 year old skull.

That said, the skull is pretty impressive, I don't see myself plunking down $8K for it (especially from a seller with a 0 feedback rating) but it's kind of neat in a morbid sort of way.

And for $8K the seller should pay for the shipping. $32 is incredibly lame.
posted by fenriq at 2:31 PM on October 8, 2004

Just curious. If you can't sell a kidney on eBay, how come you can sell a (nudge, wink) "medical use" skull?
posted by 327.ca at 2:35 PM on October 8, 2004

mysterious buddhists everywhere object.
posted by quonsar at 2:36 PM on October 8, 2004

If this really is such a big archeological deal, isn't it likely to be an antique illegally removed from its country of original? Should like, Interpol's Artifacts Trafficking Division be notified?
posted by DenOfSizer at 2:38 PM on October 8, 2004

I hope they waited until he was dead to do all of that to him.
posted by Peter H at 2:50 PM on October 8, 2004

500 years old? Ha! This relief figure is holding a cell phone! It's a fake!
posted by picea at 2:55 PM on October 8, 2004

s/5000/500
Sorry... I read 5000, which was neater, but 500 is still pretty old.

Anybody able to translate the text on the skull? Or have any idea what something like this was for? Would it be religious in nature, like some relic of a saint, or a "tourist" item, produced solely for it's aesthetic appeal?
posted by maniactown at 2:56 PM on October 8, 2004

500 years old? Ha! This relief figure is holding a cell phone! It's a fake!

Now, now, et's not be hasty. The skull could be 500 years old but just carved last week, right?
posted by 327.ca at 3:03 PM on October 8, 2004

picea: That is awesome.
posted by mr_roboto at 3:12 PM on October 8, 2004

So who wants to write an email to the seller asking about the cell phone?

Whoever does MUST post the reply here.
posted by fenriq at 3:16 PM on October 8, 2004

WOW GUYZ ITS REAL
posted by Keyser Soze at 3:29 PM on October 8, 2004

fenriq: picea photoshopped it! That's the awesome part! In the original, it's a dorje or vajra.
posted by mr_roboto at 3:38 PM on October 8, 2004

The characters are a script called Devanagiri, used in Sanskrit-based languages. I cant read the letters exactly, but I recognize the majority of them as being, in part or whole, of the very common "mani" or prayer used in Buddhism, "Um mani padme oom". I cant recall exactly what that translates to, but I do remember that it has various meanings and interpretations depending on how its translated.

I saw something very much like this when I was in a temple in Kagbeni ( I think), in northern Nepal.
posted by elendil71 at 3:52 PM on October 8, 2004

I saw something very much like this when I was in a temple in Kagbeni ( I think), in northern Nepal.

mr. peterman? is that you?
posted by quonsar at 3:58 PM on October 8, 2004

As a corrollary to my previous comment, that skull is actually pretty neat because it probably represents some major aspects of the old Bon religion, an indigenous, very shamanistic/animistic religion that got absorbed into Tibetan Buddhism. I couldn't find a good academic link to Bon practices and iconography, but it's pretty fascinating stuff.

I recall a Nepalese village once that had this really really old painted figure on a crumbling stone wall in a sort of cul-de-sac. It was clearly not one of the traditional Buddha images, and had this gigantic three foot phallus sticking out. Some kids were swinging on it. Made a great photo. According to some folks I talked to, that imagery is a hold-over from the ancient Bon practices.
posted by elendil71 at 4:25 PM on October 8, 2004

mr_roboto, DOH! I'm crawling back under my rock now. Nicely done photoshop job!
posted by fenriq at 4:37 PM on October 8, 2004

Hey Bubba, it's on ebay. It must be legit. Cuz the internut never done me wrong.
posted by fleener at 5:06 PM on October 8, 2004

anybody want some wood?
posted by mwhybark at 8:09 PM on October 8, 2004

eBay pulled this down. Did anyone save a copy of the photo? A friend of mine is interested in seeing it.
posted by alms at 9:15 AM on October 9, 2004

alms, photo (via boingboing).
posted by page404 at 10:22 AM on October 9, 2004

Those tattoos must have hur-urt!
posted by kablam at 11:04 AM on October 9, 2004

The Rock Art of Lake Namtso, Tibet
posted by homunculus at 3:06 PM on October 9, 2004