News, U.S. tourists unknowingly buy human skulls as souvenirs (airport, Greece)

[John1960]

(CNN) -- Two U.S. tourists unknowingly bought six human skulls in Greece, which they learned when they were stopped at the airport in Athens.

The Americans carried the skulls in their hand luggage, which was scanned during a layover on their way back to the United States from the island of Mykonos.

U.S. tourists unknowingly buy human skulls as souvenirs - CNN.com

[rxpwas]

At Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not in Gatlinburg, Tenn., they have (or at least used to, may still have) a shrunken Jivaro Indian skull from Peru. Very interesting, but would hate to have been the chap who's skull was shrunken. Also, seems like they had (or was it the Ripley's in St. Augustine) a chair if you sit in it, supposedly guarenteed to become pregnant. (I always wondered what if you've been through the change already or have had a hysterectomy or only a 4 year old girl, or if you are a man, how that worked?). Anyway, the Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg was of a more relaxing and non-freakish nature, watching the sharks and jellyfish and stingrays and pirhanas and all in their tanks.

[sky1949]

How can someone buy six such skulls and not notice that they are probably human? I realize that certain ape or other primate skulls might "sort of" look like human skulls, but size, brow, dentition and other distinguishing characteristics would seem to lead a reasonable person to check this out. Really good fake skulls wouldn't be easy to make, either. The composition of fake bone in that type of detail would be extrordinarily difficult to create, and would undoubtedly be very expensive; yes, even more expensive than real skulls.

[jtur88]

So what? Are humans on the endangered species list, like ivory and snake-skins?