Necromancy? or Utility?

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.

Link

Necromancy

Lovecraft, later in his life, began to read about mysticism (qabbala) and rituals. At one time he had a skull in his posession. He wrote in The Hound about fiendish rituals, albeit partly tongue-in-cheek.

"Niches here and there contained skulls of all shapes, and heads preserved in various stages of dissolution." The Hound, HPL

Here is a little modern archaeology that might be of interest to game players, and those interested in the sociology of magic and necromancy.
_____
In Biblical Archaeology Review, No. 200, a letter from Dr. Meir Malul, Professor Biblical Studies, University of Haifa appeared on the topic of necromancy.

AS might be expected, necromancy was banned in Judaism, but was often practiced. The practice of using a skull (recall that in Near Eastern magic, the soul was considered to be in the stomach area) is a bit of a mystery. The surface does not easily lend itself to inscriptions, especially long inscriptions, being a rounded, irregular surface.

Malul, an expert on teraphim, household gods and idols, reminds the reader that these clay images reflected beliefs of the afterlife, the world of the dead, and necromantic rites.

Malul recites an eighth century text C.E. by Pirque de R. Eliezer that makes connections between teraphim and human skulls with a specialize light (candle, oil lamp?) while consulting with the dead. "What are the teraphim? They slay a man, a firstborn, and they pinch off his head and salt it with salt, and they write upon a golden nameplate the name of an unclean spirit and place it under his tongue, and they put it in a wall, and they kindle lamps before it and bow down to it, and it speaks to them."

The unclean spirit might easily be Lilith.

In a passage in Maimonides Mishneh Torah (the laws of idol-worship) we read, "One who willingly and knowingly practices necromancy or wizardry is liable to karet (Hebrew, derived from 'cut off' - excommunication) What are the acts of necromancy? A necromancer stands and burns specific incenses … and speaks slowly in matters known to necromancers … or takes the skull of a dead person, buring incense to it and divining with it."
_____

[April 13, 2009] {Controversial}… evidence attests to the fact that ancient Jews used human skulls in ceremonies, despite a strict Halakhic prohibition on touching human remains. British researcher Dan Levene from the University of Southampton published findings in Biblical Archaeological Review about the human skulls, known as incantation bowls, some of which bear inscriptions in Aramaic.

The skulls, unearthed in former Babylonia, are believed to have been used during the Talmudic era. Levene added … the talisman was used by someone desperate …used to ward off increased ghosts or demons … belief in demons was widespread at this time … these incantation bowls are known not only from Jewish communities but from other communities as well. To combat demons - who cause medical problems as well as other mishaps and ills - people invoked numerous magic rites and formulas.