Forensic skull identification (oh also another blade identification)

Factual Questions
#1

sorry, i just don’t know who to ask. i went to an antiques auction today and somecrazyhow came home with a pair of real human skulls.

yeah it’s 100% legal and legit.

question is: do any of you know how to determine the age of the persons via skull attributes? the one i’m more interested in is either a child or a female…it’s the more yellow one and the majority of pics are of it.

note the lower mandible and the lack of molar sockets. what the heck is that about? also there’s a small bone sticking down below the ear (behind the jaw). i dunno if that’s a typical earboney thing that all people have or if that’s the thing that moves as you age (isn’t that a thing? doesn’t a bone in your ear move when you get older so you can’t hear the “mosquito” ringtones? or am i all confused…)

i think they are turn-of-the-century, but it’s neat the cranium is not cut.

any help would be appreciated. PICS:






OH totally not related (but however creepy to add in):
i bought this unknown cutting tool as well. what caught me about it was the silken smooth handle that is from just being used to death. i don’t know if it was previously pointed and the tip broke off or if it was always that shape. the seller said he thought it was a form of a tobacco cutter, but i have a suspicion it was a long-handled meat ax or a form of “cow splitter.”

any help iding that would be fun as well.

#2

It’s the styloid process, and it is indeed a typical skullboney thing that all people have.

#3

i didn’t think about this before, but i do not think the teeth are baby teeth. i am, however, confused as to why there are only sockets for what looks like 8 teeth on the lowers.

#4

looking at thispicture, i can see that the molar area on the smaller skull is worn way down compared to the other. so i think it was an elderly person who lost their teeth and wore that portion down past where the sockets would be.

am i on to anything, here…?

#5

I’m not confident the one is a female.
It looks like it might have prominent brow ridges that suggest it is male. A sloping forehead instead of a rounded flat forehead could also suggest male (I can’t tell from the pictures). A pointy chin would also suggest male. If it has an ‘occipital bun’ on the back bottom part of the cranium, that would also suggest male.

The completely fused sutures of the skull make it definitely an adult. The person probably is old and lost their teeth. The sockets seal up and heal when the teeth are removed while the person is still alive.

Historically real skeleton’s have come from India (or maybe China). There was a market in India before the 1980s to sell your body to scientific companies before you died. WHen you died they would get your body and prepare your skeleton for sale to education institutions. I wouldn’t know if your skulls are from this trade. The fact that the crania aren’t cut would suggest they aren’t. They may be from less repudible sources like grave robbery in S.E. Asia; but that is purely speculation on my part.