Jericho Skull
c.8000 – 7000 BC
Ancient Jericho, West Bank (formerly Jordan)

Gallery 32, Ancient Near East

  Related Objects in the Ashmolean
 

 

1. Head and shoulders of a human figure
Pre-pottery Neolithic B c.8000 - 7000 BC
(same case as Jericho Skull)

This is another example of sculpture from the same time as the Jericho Skull. This highly stylised spade-shaped head shows no features so it is not absolutely clear which is the front and which the back. The front may only be distinguished from the back by a slight swelling at chest level.

 

 

2. “Cigar-shaped” Mud Brick
Pre-pottery Neolithic B c.8000 - 7000 BC
(to the bottom left of the Jericho Skull)

The circular houses that existed during the lifetime of the Jericho Skull, were the first permanent homes in the world. They were built of the world’s first bricks, like the example shown here. The marks on the surface of the mud bricks are the finger marks where the clay has been pressed into by its maker.
The homes would have had wide openings and polished red plaster floors along with sculptures such as the Jericho Skull.