Recent examinations have shown a very ancient cannibalistic ritual, and utilitarian use of skull caps. Anthropologists have pointed out that not every cultural sub-unit objects to cannibalism, but it is rare. Practitioners most likely ingest rare diseases over time and don't last long - for instance HIV is often thought to have been derived from the eating of bush meat, i.e. anthropoids. Other practitioners do this out of desperation, and low food supplies.
Here is a brief summary and link to a full article. This seems very Lovecraftian, as HPL wrote the Hound frequently referencing body fragments, and late in life adored a human skull trophy a fan sent (Willis?) - likely a Native American skull.
... bone cups made from human skulls, unearthed in a Somerset cave, are the oldest of their kind, researchers believe ... the handiwork of early modern humans, who used stone tools to prepare and finish the containers around 14,700 years ago ... three cups, made from the skulls of two adults and one three-year-old child ... , were dug up several decades ago, alongside the cracked and cut-marked remains of ... have now been re-examined using new techniques ... the human bones show clear signs of butchery, implying that the bodies were stripped for meat and crushed for marrow before the heads were severed and turned into crockery.
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