The 'Jericho Skull' is one of a group of seven plastered and ornamented Neolithic skulls found while excavating the Tell es-Sultan (ancient Jericho) in 1953. One of this group was donated to the British Museum in 1954.
The ‘Jericho Skull’. A human cranium with facial features modelled in plaster and shell. Jericho, Palestinian Authority, 8200–7500 BC.
This page contains a video podcast, from the curator's corner series, by Alexandra Fletcher about the recent research. Together with a British Museum podcast about the related exhibition, and 1956 episode of Buried Treasure about the excavations.
Also see, Creating an ancestor - the Jericho Skull 
, Collection online - Jericho skull , Facing the past: the Jericho Skull
## The oldest portrait in the British Museum
YOUTUBE bMZWsM687MY Over many years, Curator Alexandra Fletcher has formed a particularly strong bond with one of the… older people in the British Museum. In fact, she was one of the first to see his face in over 9,500 years. The Jericho Skull is arguably the oldest portrait in the British Museum – a human skull from the ancient city of Jericho which had plaster applied to it to form a type of early facial reconstruction. The Jericho Skull is fascinating to look at, but since being discovered in 1953, archaeologists weren’t able to find out much more about this man – until now. Using CT scanning, 3D printing and facial reconstruction, Alexandra and her team have finally been able to reveal the man behind the plaster.
## Walls of Jericho (British Museum Podcast)
http://traffic.libsyn.com/britishmuseum/The_Walls_of_Jericho.mp3?dest-id=379765 The ideal scenario for any archaeologist? Finding something different. Something unexpected. Something that had never been found by anyone before. But what if you made this discovery in the middle of the Jordan Valley, on the last day of excavations, with most of your equipment already packed up and only a handful of staff still on site? This is exactly what happened to the archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon at Jericho in April 1953. One of her team, Peter Parr, had finished the final recording for the work done that year and pointed out that a stone protruding from the side of his trench was a skull. Concerned that it might be damaged through being left exposed, he and Kenyon decided to excavate. What they found continues to fascinate archaeologists – and the wider public – today.
## The Walls of Jericho - Episode of BBC series Buried Treasure
YOUTUBE RNleggDIyjU First transmitted in 1956, presenter Glyn Daniel talks to archaeologists about excavations at Jericho, which have led to the discovery of the oldest city known to man. Discussing footage filmed at the site are Dr Kathleen Kenyon, Director of the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem, who is in charge of the excavations and Sir Mortimer Wheeler who visited the site. Among the archaeologists who have dug there is Lady Wheeler, who is in the studio to discuss dig live at Jericho.