Chinese investigate discovery of skulls -- A LOT OF SKULLS!
At first they thought they were monkey skulls;
but, now, it's certain they're human. 121 human skulls!
I’ve been following this for a day or two in the Chinese press. There are a lot of basic forensic questions unanswered, so far. Like…how old are these skulls? Have they been stashed for years — or centuries?
The Ministry of Public Security has dispatched three officers to look into the case of the 121 suspicious skulls, Beijing News reported. They arrived noon yesterday in Gansu’s Tanshanling Town, where the skulls were discovered, together with about 20 police officers from the town.
A herdsman found the 121 skulls in a forest in Tanshanling Town of the Tibet Autonomous County in Tianzhu last Monday. The forest is on the border between Gansu and Qinghai. The skulls were first thought to be monkeys.
The skulls discovered had been lobotomized. The tops of the skulls had clearly visible, clean-cut edges which implied they had been sawn off.
Life science professor Liu Naifa from Lanzhou University in Gansu first identified them as human on Friday…”I’m confident of my experience and expertise in zoology. I didn’t measure the skull sizes to judge if they are humans or monkeys because there was no need,” Liu said. “As simple as it could be, one of the skulls that the police sent me wore false teeth. Is it possible for a monkey to wear false teeth?”
If you know your gastronomic history, you’ll remember there was a recipe popular among wealthy Chinese centuries ago that required “live monkey’s brain”. Who knows?
Updated 5:28 AM, 6 April. So far, forensic investigation notes [1] no signs of cause of death, [2] the skulls had been removed after death, [3] no medical expertise evident in the way the skulls were sawed open.
Posted: Wed - April 5, 2006 at 05:58 AM