Bucranium was a form of carved decoration commonly used in Classical architecture. The name is generally considered to originate with the practice of displaying garlanded, sacrificial oxen, whose heads ...

What does the word Bucrania mean?

The architectural term for these skulls is bucranium (pl. bucrania or bucranes), a word derived from the Latin bos, meaning ox or cow, and cranium, the Medieval Latin term for a skull. ... The skulls allude to the ancient Greek and Roman ceremonies of sacrifice.

What is Bucrania in art?

Bucranium (plural bucrania; Latin, from Greek βουκράνιον, referring to the skull of an ox) was a form of carved decoration commonly used in Classical architecture.