Since ancinet times skulls have been covered with clay, putty, and plaster to restore to them the appearance of a living human face. These revered artifacts were then used as part of ancestor veneration and in funerary rituals, sometimes serving as links to the spiritual world. Written for laymen as well as academicians, Overmodeled Skulls will appeal to anyone with an interest in anthropology, ethnology, tribal art, human behavior, and the material culture of indigenous peoples. Examples discussed in this book originate from Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands, the Near East and the Holy Land, South America, and North America. Overmodeled Skulls is a hard cover book of 360 pages with 140 color photographs published in an 8.5 inch X 11 inch format. It is the culmination of years of effort by world renown mummy expert, Dr. Art Aufderheide. Arthur C. Aufderheide, M.D., is a Professor of Pathology at the University of Minnesota Duluth Medical School. He researches how infectious diseases behaved in ancient populations (paleoepidemiology). He acquires ancient human tissue for analysis by performing autopsies on human mummies, and studies their samples in his laboratory. He travels widely throughout the five continents in search of spontaneously (naturally) mummified human remains. During one such visit to the New Brunswick Museum (Canada) he encountered five overmodeled skulls that missionaries had donated more than 100 years earlier. Their striking countenances fascinated him, so he included investigating the making and use of such artifacts in his formal research goals. Ultimately he identified a dozen ancient cultures, most little known, that carried out this unique mortuary ritual.