# Advice Needed - What do I do with the human skull in my garage? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 14, 2008, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832 "2008-10-14T04:13:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832/21 "2008-10-14T15:31:24Z")
_Turn around Turn around There’s a thing there that can be found Turn around Turn around It’s a human skull on the ground Human skull On the ground Turn around_ [/They Might Be Giants] ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832/22 "2008-10-14T16:15:56Z")
Sounds like you’re all set to do your own stage production of [Hamlet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorick) ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832/23 "2008-10-14T16:29:42Z")
> [@mamakat](#): > > Thanks for all the replies! **Ol Gaffer,** I’m actually in Modesto, CA now. I just forgot to change my info. Who would I talk to here, do you know? It was my aunt’s belief from the way the skeletons were scattered that it was either a burial ground or a place where some kind of battle was fought. (Forgive the foggy details, Great Aunty Dort has been dead for years, so I can’t check my facts!) I will try to get a picture tonight - I have to wake up the kiddos for school now. Hey, you’re just up the road from me. My office is in Fresno. **mamakat** , were the bones found here in California? The reason I ask is that the MLD’s are designated for particular geographical areas (corresponding to the traditional territory of the tribe). If they were found in California, then the easiest thing to do is contact the California Native American Heritage Commission (contact below). The NAHC maintains the MLD registry in California. NAHC 915 Capitol Mall, Room 364 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 653-4082 [nahc@pacbell.net](mailto:nahc@pacbell.net) And **flodnak** , I had a similar experience about ten years ago. I was working on a crew excavating burials out of a cave and every couple of weeks I would load up a truck with the boxes of remains to transport them down to the curation facility we were using. Well, one week I got pulled over by the Highway Patrol. I probably had 25 boxes crammed into a double-cab pickup. The officer asked me what was in the boxes and I kind of grinned and said “Human remains and funerary items.” I then explained what they were where they were coming from and everything was fine, but I was pretty nervous there for a bit. He did recommend that I carry a letter from the tribe authorizing me to transport the stuff. Not a legal necessity but just in case I got pulled over by a less understanding officer. ---
**Author:** ![tetranz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@tetranz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tetranz)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832/24 "2008-10-14T17:32:38Z")
> [@WF\_Tomba](#): > > There is nothing illegal about owning a skull. That’s good to know. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832/25 "2008-10-14T17:35:52Z")
I want it! Seriously. I’ve wanted a human skull forever, and they are quite expensive to purchase. I won’t tell if you send me a birthday present. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832/26 "2008-10-14T18:05:49Z")
I have a plastic skull that I was required to buy in college. The top of the skull is removable, so I put packing tape over the hole in the bottom and use it as a candy bowl for Halloween. [thinking] If I get a short piece of moderately wide tubing, I could attach one end to the hole and the other end behind the teeth of the upper jaw and turn it into the world’s awesomest Pez dispenser.[/thinking] Well, back to work! ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832/27 "2008-10-14T18:09:20Z")
The Shakespeare company I work with is doing Hamlet next year. We’d love to have it. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832/28 "2008-10-14T19:04:55Z")
Goddammit **Thudulow Boinkimus**! Have you any idea how hard it is to read through a thread with that song in your head, hoping against hope that you get to be the one to drag in the reference, only to find you’ve been scooped?! I wish I’d been on the construction crew because I would totally have pointed to one and said, “Turn around! Human Skull on the ground!” Yeah…but nobody there would have gotten the joke. But I would almost certainly have been hauled off to the loony bin giggling my ass off. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832/29 "2008-10-14T19:07:55Z")
Your last name wouldn’t be Gein, would it? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832/30 "2008-10-14T19:12:20Z")
> [@WF\_Tomba](#): > > There is nothing illegal about owning a skull. In practical terms, it’s pretty much mandatory for everyone to own at least one. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832/31 "2008-10-14T19:16:40Z")
> [@Acid\_Lamp](#): > > I want it! Seriously. I’ve wanted a human skull forever, and they are quite expensive to purchase. How expensive? Because I love the bong idea. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832/32 "2008-10-14T19:46:54Z")
> [@1010011010](#): > > Something seems highly irregular about finding human remains while digging a foundation… They moved the graveyard _but they didn’t move the bodies!_ :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832/33 "2008-10-14T19:49:00Z")
Skulls Unlimited sells human skulls. Prices start at 600 dollars. Being a Native American descendant in California, and getting skulls mailed, no questions asked, might be a profitable business. [http://www.skullsunlimited.com/humanskullsnb.htm](http://www.skullsunlimited.com/humanskullsnb.htm) ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832/34 "2008-10-14T20:02:49Z")
Looks like they also sell bargain skulls (missing teeth, poor bone quality) for $400. What a steal! Where the hell do they get these things, anyway? Also, for the person on your list who has everything, Skulls Unlimited sells gift certificates! That’s awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Scoobysnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Scoobysnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoobysnax)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832/35 "2008-10-14T20:46:04Z")
You could always make a camera out of it. [Link](http://www.boingboing.net/2008/09/23/pinhole-skullcamera.html) ---
**Author:** ![Debon\_Err](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ea924/32.png) [@Debon\_Err](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debon_Err)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832/36 "2008-10-15T04:21:11Z")
Perhaps you found Hoffa. :eek: Try e-bay. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832/37 "2008-10-15T05:23:40Z")
How would you know if the skull was Native American? ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832/38 "2008-10-15T08:20:09Z")
> [@WF\_Tomba](#): > > There is nothing illegal about owning a skull. Thank god! How about livers? Joe ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832/39 "2008-10-15T10:32:30Z")
> [@WF\_Tomba](#): > > There is nothing illegal about owning a skull. . We all do, actually. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832/40 "2008-10-15T12:13:25Z")
There’s always the [Tibetan solution](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapala) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-needed-what-do-i-do-with-the-human-skull-in-my-garage/467832.md?page=3)