Skulls. They’re something that we see throughout film, music, fashion and of course, tattooing. Perhaps the reason why we are drawn to the visual is that they’re fairly universal, no matter who you are or what you look like, your skull is pretty much the same as everyone else’s. Although faux skulls are everywhere, human skulls are actually somewhat tricky to come by in nature and the sale of them has a very controversial history.

Up until 2016, it was totally legal to sell and purchase human remains, including full skulls on eBay. That’s right, the same place you go to hunt down that rare Beanie Baby or bid on a mint condition pair of Nikes. Many had been critiquing eBay’s sale of human skulls for years, with claims going back to 2004, however, it wasn’t until Buzzfeed stuck their nose into the mix that they nixed the online bone trade.

Currently, the laws around the human bone trade are still a bit murky and it depends on which state you happen to live in. However, people continue to purchase skulls online to this day and they can go for thousands of dollars a head. One of the problems that’s often discussed in the bone black market is sourcing, as sellers frequently refrain from disclosing where these skulls came from. Many of these skulls come from avid collectors, several of which have sourced from medical offices and professionals. These are the types of collectors you want to buy from, as there’s an unfortunate history of people obtaining human skulls overseas and profiting off the stolen bones. Additionally, many sketchy sellers try to sell off imitation skulls as the real deal, so research is crucial.

Now that you’ve learned a bit more about human skulls, take a look at some of our favorite skull tattoos by talented artists from around the world.