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Skulls – also known as Death's Heads – have fascinated the masses for millennia, which accounts for the runaway popularity that skull jewelry, skull tattoos, and skull accessories still enjoy today. Convenient online sources offer a vast array of skull-themed items, including rings, watches, lighters, apparel, bracelets and earrings. The familiar skull and crossbones has performed centuries of service as a decorative emblem, and in this capacity has adorned everything from the sails on a pirate vessel to the gas tanks of custom choppers.

In the past thousand years, skulls have been associated with many different meanings and a like multitude of uses, depending on the tribe, its culture, and its beliefs about death and the afterlife. As might be expected, the skull symbolizes death and knowledge to most; scholars in Medieval Europe placed a skull on the desk as a momento mori, a reminder of life's impermanence. The skull may also represent evil to some, particularly among cultures where skulls play a role in dark magic rituals. The ancient warrior Celts beheaded enemy soldiers, keeping the skulls as trophies or presenting them as a sacrifice to the Celtic deities. From the rainforests of South America to the jungles of Papua New Guinea, isolated headhunter tribes persist to this very day. Their nontraditional lifestyles have captured the imagination of America's toy companies, and these manufacturers have created their own brand of whimsical, lighthearted toys on this theme that are a cinch to amuse and delight any small child (just kidding!).

The human skull has been studied for its overall shape and lumpiness thereof, as in the centuries-old-and-almost-as-long-discredited pseudoscience of phrenology, which held that the lumps and dents on one's cranium were the key to understanding one's psychology and behavior. In a presumably futile effort to release evil spirits and set free festering mojo, healthcare professionals and amateur practitioners alike have been known to drill large holes into people's skulls. This practice, known as trepanning, has been going on for at least 7,000 years and may date clear back to the days of Cro Magnon man.

But enough of these grisly, bony details and random skull trivia. No more head games, we promise. Below are links to some of the leading sources of products with a skull theme or motif, from skull jewelry and accessories to books and other items. Enjoy.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Phrenology: How To Tell Your Own And Your Friend's Character From The Shape Of The Head 1910	The Mystery of the Crystal Skulls	Skull Jewelry