ossuary skull

From Paul Koudounaris' book, The Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses. A charnel house is a place used to store human skeletal remains, there are lots of them in monasteries around the world, and they are often built next to churches in case bones are dug up somewhere. An ossuary is quite similar, but the word is usually associated these days with the bone relics that get transported around in some kind of box. A fascinating look at our on-going obsesssion with death, sainthood, religion and the afterlife.