Word: Bonce

bonce

[bons]

noun, British Slang.

1. head; skull.

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           Professor Andrews gently placed the wrapped package onto the examining table, for all those gathered to see.  He unwrapped the bundle of cloth, revealing what at first glance appeared to be a human skull.

“Now, can anyone tell me what is wrong with this?” Andrews asked.

It was an unnecessary question, and it did not take long for the others to answer, as each was almost as well versed in the human skeleton as Andrews was.

“The rear of the skull extends four centimeters too long.” One of them said.

“And what is this protrusion coming out of the front?” Another commented.

Indeed, the skull was too long in the back, and there was a nub of bone coming from the front.  The latter looked almost like the beginnings of a horn, or something similar.  The gathered academics poured over the misshapen skull, examining it in every way possible.  They only stopped when a question was posed to Professor Andrews.

“Where did you find this?”

“That is perhaps the most unusual thing about this particular specimen.” Andrews said.  “I found it on a decent dig near the border of Peru and Bolivia.  There are several oddities about this dig.  The first was that this skull was not particularly deep.  One would think at first that this is some distant ancestor or evolutionary divergence.  But that e ground, but not so with this one.  It was a one and a half meters underground.” The others murmured to themselves.  Andrews continued on, undaunted by the reaction.  “In addition, the skull was found exactly as you see it here, with the exception of having been cleaned.  The lower jaw was intact, as it is here, and there was no sign of any other bones nearby.”

“But that’s impossible.” One of the others said.  

“Not impossible.” Said another.  “It could have easily been placed like that deliberately for some ritual.  It could even be a hoax.”

That brought a new round of discussion from the assembly.  Indeed, the odd shape of the skull, lack of other remains, and fairly shallow depth did make it seem like someone playing a joke on the academic world.  Andrews spoke up again.

“I had considered that, of course.  With that in mind, I performed as many tests as I am capable of performing.  The bones seem real enough.  At least the chemical composition and structure are identical to a human’s.  But this also revealed another oddity.  This skull is, according to my test results, one hundred years old.”  

Eyes widened.  A mere century was nothing in terms of human history.  But it was enough to destroy most human remains unless specially preserved.  Certainly a lone skull without any discernible burial methods would never have survived that long in such pristine conditions.  It also made it belonging to some unknown evolutionary offshoot of humanity impossible.  It also made the skull being a hoax unlikely, as nobody would be able to get a hold of hundred year old bones and arrange them so perfectly.  It was not completely impossible, but highly unlikely.

“Gentlemen,” Professor Andrews said while placing a hand on the skull, “What we have here is one of the greatest mysteries in our field in modern history.  I propose we join our collective intellects and allocate as many resources as is reasonable towards figuring out what this skull is.  All in favor?”

It was unanimous.  Everyone stared at the skull, each forming his theories about what it could be.

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Not sure if this'll go anywhere, but we'll see what happens in the future.