The Ancients — "The Skulls of Jericho"

Podcast: The Ancients (History Hit)
Host: Tristan Hughes
Guest: Raven Todd Da Silva (Archaeologist & Art Conservator)
Air Date: February 15, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode delves into one of prehistory’s most intriguing and mysterious artifacts: the plastered skulls of Jericho and their counterparts across the ancient Levant. Host Tristan Hughes is joined by award-winning archaeologist and art conservator Raven Todd Da Silva for an exploration of the cultural, technological, and spiritual significance of these 8,000-10,000-year-old objects. The conversation spans their discovery, how they were made, how their meaning is interpreted, their artistic features, and the various theories about their purpose—including ancestor worship, funerary practice, and social ritual.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Introduction to Jericho and the Plastered Skulls

• [00:56] Setting the Scene: Jericho, one of the world’s oldest continually occupied sites, with occupation stretching back 10,000 years in the Jordan Valley, north of the Dead Sea.
• Discovery Moment: During Kathleen Kenyon’s 1953 excavation at Jericho, a skull covered in plaster and decorated with shell eyes is found—the first of many such skulls, later uncovered across the region.
• Question Framing: The episode asks: What were these skulls for? How were they made? Who did they represent?

Archaeological and Historical Context

• [03:35] Timeframe: Tracing back to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB), ~8,500–6,500 BCE, coinciding with the dawn of agriculture in the Levant and Anatolia.
• Settlement Changes: The era marks a shift from hunter-gatherer life in roundhouses to settled communities in larger, denser rectangular houses—proto-urban development at sites like Jericho and Ain Ghazal.

The Discovery at Jericho

• [07:47] Kathleen Kenyon's Dig:
  • Last week of the 1953 season, a cluster of plastered skulls is uncovered.
  • Seven skulls in one pit: “...a whole cache of seven of these skulls that are coated in plaster, all looking quite similar that they could identify that they're basically a group altogether.” (B, 10:04)
• Excavation Style: Deep, grid-trench digging; detailed stratigraphy records.

Anatomy & Artistry of the Plastered Skulls

• [12:14] Physical Description:

  • Skulls are coated with smooth, blobby lime plaster; eyes inlaid with shells or stones; features such as noses, cheeks, and ears modeled in plaster.
  • Mandibles (lower jaws) often missing, resulting in a squatter facial appearance.
  • Notably, the British Museum’s Jericho Skull is CT scanned; 9,000-year-old fingerprints are found in the packed soil at the back.
  • “The cheeks, the nose, you can see in some. They have these beautiful eyes that have been carved out of the plaster, and they look so realistic. Some of them have ears. It's amazing.” (B, 16:21)

• Materials Used:

  • Shells (often cowries or others) for eyes.
  • Bitumen and paint for fine details (eyelids, eyelashes, decoration).
  • Dirt, reeds, clay, and plaster for support and sculpting.

Construction Process

• [16:40] Step-by-Step:
  1. Body is buried (often under a house).
  2. After decomposition (a few years), skull is exhumed.
  3. Skulls sometimes packed with dirt or material; sometimes, teeth are removed or re-filled with plaster.
  4. Facial features are sculpted from plaster, then details added (shell eyes, paint).
  5. Some preserved with possible evidence of headdress or “wigs”.

Artistic and Biological Variation

• [19:29] Differing Examples:
  • Eyes sometimes open (with vertical or horizontal pupils) or closed.
  • Some skulls are particularly well-crafted, as at Tell Aswad: “They are the most aesthetically pleasing. They're absolutely stunning. When you look at a photo of them ... Their features are just so lifelike. It does look like a sleeping person.” (B, 35:49)
  • CT and facial reconstructions at museums.

Notable Quotes & Theoretical Insights

• Vertical Pupils and Animal Symbolism:

  • “The pupil. My theory, they do look very vertical, very animalistic... animals that have vertical pupils are foxes, birds of prey, like vultures, snakes as well, some cats... these are all predators.” (B, 23:18)
  • Theory: This animal symbolism could represent a ritual memory from communal spaces (like Göbekli Tepe) being moved into the household during social change.

• Differing Identities:

  • “We originally thought they were all men... From what I've seen, it's about 50-50: there are females, there are males, there's even some juveniles.” (B, 28:27)
  • The presence of children, men, and women complicates the idea of exclusively ‘ancestor cults.’

Sites Beyond Jericho

• [29:38] Discovery at Other Sites:

  • Ain Ghazal (Jordan): 3 detachable “faces,” six more plastered skulls, and large plaster statues.
  • Tell Aswad (Syria): Beautiful closed-eye skulls with fine bitumen work.
  • Tel Ramad (Syria): ~23 skulls.
  • Baisamun and Yiftahel (Israel): Noted for unique eye depictions.
  • Nahal Hemar (Israel): Skulls with bitumen netting, possibly for headgear.
  • Çatalhöyük (Turkey): Woman buried cradling a plastered skull, found in later periods.

• Contexts of Deposition:

  • Skulls found in various positions: alone, in pits, under house floors, in cemeteries, as foundation deposits, and alongside regular burials.
  • Some areas show clear intentionality in the placement and reverence for these skulls.

Theories on Meaning and Function

• [41:10] Ancestor Worship:

  • “The initial theory ... was ancestor worship ... collective ancestor, kind of bring us all together as a collective, as some sort of ritual or regular practice.” (B, 41:19)

• Headhunting and Social Power:

  • The affinity for the human head means skulls may have held spiritual meaning or been used as "trophies" of status, honor, or even violence.

• Continuing Bonds Theory (Grief):

  • “Maybe we're just being way too impersonal ... what about people dealing with grief? Is this a way for them to keep their loved ones close?” (B, 44:14)
  • But the delay required for skeletonization makes this problematic.

• Territorial/Ritual Markers:

  • Skulls may have defined sacred ground, especially in cemeteries.

• [48:09] Multiple Meanings:

  • “...their purpose could have differed between place to place ... that would explain why you have the different contexts, some that are visible, some that aren't, some in houses, some in cemeteries, and so on.” (A, 48:09)

Artistic Innovations and Color

• [49:37] Color and Decoration:
  • Evidence of “stripes on his head” (Citadel of Amman museum), colored plaster, red ochre, yellow ochre, black bitumen. Not all color survives, but some skulls were indeed painted or decorated.

Plastered Skulls as Portraiture

• [50:29] Earliest Human Portraits?
  • While some claim plastered skulls as the earliest portraiture, it’s unclear if they are true representations. “There is something to be said about just the detail that they go into.” (B, 50:29)
  • Comparisons are drawn with later larger plaster statues (e.g., Ayn Ghazal) and recent discoveries of carved human faces at Karahan Tepe, Turkey.

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On the Emotional Impact:

  • “You can't help but actually feel something when you see that ... For me, it's very touching.” (B, 39:20) — On newborn burials placed alongside plastered skulls.

• On The Mysteries of Prehistory:

  • “What I love about the Neolithic is that it is just such a fun mystery … we’ll just never know.” (B, 07:47)

• Reflections on Time:

  • “Even if you look at the last, what, 50 years of our history, how much has changed? … we’re looking at 2,000 years of history over there. That’s the Romans to us. So much can happen, and we will just never know.” (B, 48:58)

Important Timestamps

• 00:56 — Setting the scene at Jericho, 1953, and context of discovery
• 03:35 — Pre-Pottery Neolithic B explained, transition to agriculture
• 07:47 — Discovery of the first plastered skulls at Jericho
• 12:14 — Description and analysis of the Jericho Skull (British Museum example)
• 16:40 — Step-by-step process of creating a plastered skull
• 19:29 — Variations between skulls; use of different shell types for eyes
• 22:20 — Discussion on vertical pupils and animal symbolism
• 28:27 — Identity and demographics: men, women, and children among plastered skulls
• 29:38 — Expansion of the phenomenon: key sites in the Levant and Turkey
• 35:49 — Detailed case: the Tell Aswad skulls
• 41:10 — Theories about meaning: ancestor worship, headhunting, grief
• 48:09 — Argument for multiple simultaneous meanings and regional variation
• 49:37 — Evidence for color and artistic decoration
• 50:29 — Plastered skulls as possible earliest human portraiture
• 52:03 — Evolution towards large plaster figurines (Ayn Ghazal)

Conclusion

The Jericho plastered skulls represent a remarkable crossroad of art, ritual, and social change at the dawn of civilization. Their exact meaning remains elusive—ancestor cults, memorialization, ritual power, or perhaps even all at once, varying across sites and through centuries. Yet, as Raven Todd Da Silva’s infectious enthusiasm and detailed research demonstrate, their careful construction and haunting individuality ensure their place as some of humanity’s most extraordinary ancient creations.

Further Explorations

• Visuals and reconstructions are available on the British Museum site and the Ancients YouTube channel.
• Related episodes: “Origins of the Inuits” and future coverage on plaster figurines from Ayn Ghazal and Karahan Tepe faces.

“I'm always happy to come and talk skulls with anyone, so thank you so much for having me.” — Raven Todd Da Silva (53:00)