The current speculation surrounding the Lydenburg Heads is that they may have been created to serve ritualistic and or ceremonial purposes including initiation rights.
The two larger specimens could have been worn by a small individual such as young man.
If so, these heads may represent a significant point in a boy's life such as becoming a man, or ceremonial purposes like memorialising an ancestor.
The five smaller heads have holes in their sides which some archaeologists suggest may have been used to connected them to something at the time of their use.
The marks across the foreheads and between the eyes are postulated to represent scarification marks, a widely practice behaviour in Africa.
 However, no evidence of scarification is seen practised within the modern descendants of those who manufactured the heads.
Researchers suggest that the heads may not have been just disposed of but purposely buried, or destroyed at the conclusion of a specified ceremony, which may indicate their significance.
 These heads may be a result of ceremonial ritual or aggrandizement of significant ancestors.
  The heads show charicteristics of several different groups throughout the continent including; The Bantu, The Ndebele, and The Bini.
The current speculation surrounding the Lydenburg Heads is that they may have been created to serve ritualistic and or ceremonial purposes including initiation rights. The two larger specimens could have been worn by a small individual such as young man. If so, these heads may represent a significant point in a boy's life such as becoming a man, or ceremonial purposes like memorialising an ancestor. The five smaller heads have holes in their sides which some archaeologists suggest may have been used to connected them to something at the time of their use. The marks across the foreheads and between the eyes are postulated to represent scarification marks, a widely practice behaviour in Africa.  However, no evidence of scarification is seen practised within the modern descendants of those who manufactured the heads. Researchers suggest that the heads may not have been just disposed of but purposely buried, or destroyed at the conclusion of a specified ceremony, which may indicate their significance.  These heads may be a result of ceremonial ritual or aggrandizement of significant ancestors.   The heads show charicteristics of several different groups throughout the continent including; The Bantu, The Ndebele, and The Bini.
Lydenburg heads