Furniture, Works of Art, Arms & Armour - 06 Apr 2016
An early female skull
An early female skull, with a contemporary wound to her cranium and with an iron stake discovered with the skull, together with a contemporary newspaper cutting, map and typed report on card, 14.3cm high, 12cm wide.
Provenance: The skull was discovered in 1951 by workmen excavating foundations on Brook Road, Kinson, Bournemouth. It was found at a depth of about two feet with tree roots growing through it. It is believed to be of a woman between thirty-five and forty-five years old. The skull is possibly three hundred years old and the woman was subject to a deliberate and gruesome death. There is a small hole to the rear of the hole where the iron stake was found and it seems that a first attempt was abortive due to the resistance of the inter-parietal suture. Why would a female be subject to such an attack? Perhaps she was a witch and was tortured or perhaps she was an informer on the pirates who used Kinson Church tower to store their contraband.