Skulls

Each of these hand-painted wooden boxes, which date to between the 16th and 19th centuries, contains a genuine human skull.

The skull of this patron saint is kept in a shrine located in his hometown.

A remarkable cabinet of curiosities in an art space in the center of Berlin.

A museum built around the site where the most controversial human remains in the country were found.

An unusual "skull with ears" sits in the crypt of this small church tucked away at the end of a narrow alley.

The old church, buried by the 1784 Mount Vesuvius eruption, is a remarkably well-preserved place where people now pray for the souls of the dead.

The corner walls of a primary school showcase a Mexican version of memento mori.

A mysterious shape catches the eye in this 16th-century painting.

This museum explores the grim reality of life in the earliest British colonies in America.

The enigmatic skull gazes out over the ruins of a once-great Mayan city.