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Brian Byrd, courtesy Gary O. Rollefson, Ain Ghazal Institute

At Ain Ghazal, Jordan, archaeologists found a cache of plaster heads (shown here, compare with photo of skeleton with head removed)—still clearly attached to their human skulls—buried beneath the finely plastered floor of a house. These skulls were buried separately from skeletons, which were also found buried beneath house floors. One house, which had been occupied for 400 years, contained the remains of 12 people—suggesting that one person each generation was given such a privileged resting place.