Chauchilla Cemetary, human remains preserved for over 500 years, Nazca, Peru, South America

Blue whale lower jawbones form an arch in front of the Anglican Church, Stanley, Falklands, UK Overseas Protectorate, South America

Detail of figurines on sale for the Day of the Dead celebration, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico, North America

Detail of figurines on sale for the Day of the Dead celebration, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico, North America

Detail of figurines on sale for the Day of the Dead celebration, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico, North America

Whale Bone Alley, Ittygran Island, Chukotka, Russia, Eurasia

Thick-billed raven (Corvus crassirostris) feeding on a carcass, Simien Mountains National Park, Amhara region, North Ethiopia, Ethiopia, Africa

Face and body painted local tribes celebrating the traditional Sing Sing in Paya, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia, Pacific

Whale Bone Alley, Ittygran Island, Chukotka, Russia, Eurasia

Decorations for the Day of the Dead festival, Plaza Principal, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico, North America

Passover celebration dishes, Paris, France, Europe

Christ Church cathedral green and houses, seen through whale bone arch, Stanley, East Falkland, Falkland Islands, South America

The Chapel of Bones (Capela dos Ossos), city of Evora, Alto Alentejo, Portugal, Europe

Reconstruction of buildings, Los Millares prehistoric Chalcolithic settlement archaelogical site, Almeria, Andalusia, Spain, Europe

Altar, Day of the Dead, Patzcuaro, Michoacan state, Mexico, North America

Whale remains in Gashamna (Goose Bay), Hornsund, Spitsbergen Island, Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, Scandinavia, Europe

Day of the Dead decoration, Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico, North America

Astronomical clock, Town Hall, Old Town Square, Old Town, Prague, Czech Republic, Europe

Whale remains in Gashamna (Goose Bay), Hornsund, Spitsbergen Island, Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, Scandinavia, Europe

Mexican folk art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States of America, North America

Decorations for the Day of the Dead festival, Plaza Principal, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico, North America

Whale skeleton, Fernandina Island, Galapagos Islands, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Ecuador, South America

Whale remains in Gashamna (Goose Bay), Hornsund, Spitsbergen Island, Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, Scandinavia, Europe

Sunrise, Flaming Cliffs, area of dinosaur bone and egg fossils, Gurvan Saikhan National Park, Bayanzag, Gobi Desert, Mongolia, Central Asia, Asia

Muskox (Ovibos moschatus) skull and vertebrae, Myggebukta (Mosquito Bay), Christian X's Land, Northeast Greenland, Polar Regions

Sunrise, Flaming Cliffs, area of dinosaur bone and egg fossils, Gurvan Saikhan National Park, Bayanzag, Gobi Desert, Mongolia, Central Asia, Asia

Muskox (Ovibos moschatus) skull, Halvo, Northeast Greenland, Polar Regions

Brown hyena (Hyaena brunnea) scavenging remains of lion kill, Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park, Northern Cape, South Africa, Africa

Whale bone on a beach, Baffin island, Nunavut, Canadian Arctic, Canada, North America

Whale bone on a beach, Baffin island, Nunavut, Canadian Arctic, Canada, North America

Whale bone on a beach, Baffin island, Nunavut, Canadian Arctic, Canada, North America

White-backed vultures (Gyps africanus) feeds on an African elephant (Loxodonta africana), Savuti, Chobe National Park, Botswana, Africa

Skull from a short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala Macrorhynchus), Urbina Beach, Isabela Island, Galapagos Islands, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Ecuador, South America

Cathedral and Whale Bone Arch, Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, South America

Cathedral and Whale Bone Arch, Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, South America

The town of Sisimiut as seen through whale jawbone arch, Western Greenland, Polar Regions

Skeleton from a Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera brydei) in the lava on Fernandina Island, Galapagos Islands, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Ecuador, South America

Whale bone on the shore of Diskobukta, Svalbard, Arctic

Old whale skeleton, Jougla Point near Port Lockroy, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica, Polar Regions

Fossils on display, Museum of Fossils from Meride, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Monte San Giorgio, Switzerland, Europe

Old whaling station, Grytviken, South Georgia, South Atlantic

Fossils on display, Museum of Fossils from Meride, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Monte San Giorgio, Switzerland, Europe

Fossils on display, Museum of Fossils from Meride, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Monte San Giorgio, Switzerland, Europe

Artisans Market, San Miguel de Allende (San Miguel), Guanajuato State, Mexico, North America

Eskimo whale bone mask, Portland Museum, Portland, Oregon, United States of America, North America

Portrait of a man and wife with bone and cowry shell jewellery and decoration at a Sing-sing in Papua New Guinea, Pacific Islands, Pacific

Eskimos, sledge and whale bones at Yanrakino village (population 150), Chukchi Peninsula, Russian Far East, Russia, Asia

Encuento Nacional de Danza Mexica Cultural Show, Cholula, Puebla State, Mexico, North America

Fijian girl in traditional costume with bone necklace during native ceremony at tribal gathering in Fiji, South Pacific

Children in traditional dress, Papua New Guinea

A cigarette between the lips matches the bone through his nose for this man at a Sing Sing tribal gathering in Papua New Guinea

Bare-breasted tribeswoman and tribesmen wearing face paints, bone necklaces and feathered headdress during a gathering of tribes at Mount Hagen in Papua New Guinea

Tuqilaks, statues carved from whale teeth, at Angmagssalik, Greenland, Polar Regions

Bones, relic of whaling industry, Port Lockroy, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica, Polar Regions

Remains of an Iron Age woman, excavated in 1976 near Rudston, East Yorkshire, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe

The Ossuary in Sedlec, Kutna Hora, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Czech Republic, Europe

Nepal. Sonam & boom praying at charnel grounds. Humla. Vajrayana is tantric mahasiddha, lives fearlessly in terrifying places like remote jungles charnel grounds. nyingma lamas perform ritual at cremation grounds. lama rattles damaru, a small ritual drum to have origins in - shamanism. damaru, used as a tantric device to summon gods ward evil spirits, once made from human skull bones dried human skin as a reminder of impermanence of body. other lama, boom blows a kangling, a human thigh-bone horn. kangling is used in exorcism is capable of gods demons. Traditionally, best bones a kangling come from brahmans, particularly sixteen-year- brahman girls-or from tigers

Nepal. Ritual, sonam/boom. Lobsangs cremation. Humla. traveler reached of journey! In freedom of infinite he is free from sorrow, fetters that bound thrown away, burning fever of life is no more,oesays dharmapada. Lobsang having spent whole life preparing moment of death, finds liberation on february 14, 1986. Extensive ritual follows cremation-traditionally a forty nine period, sonam lama rattles damaru. A small ritual drum to have origin in - shamanism. damaru, used as a tantric device to summon gods ward evil spirits, once made from human skull bone dreid human skin as a reminder of impermanence of body. Boom lama blows a kangling, a human thigh-bone horn. kangling is used in exorcism is capable of gods demons. Traditionally, best bones a kangling come from brahmans, particularly sixteen-year- brahman girls-or from tigers. On makeshift altar rest chhome, votive lamps filled with butter, cups of water, grains, tormas, holy food made of barley meal decorated with medallions of butter offered to gods. Alone, boom lama continues prayers of deceased

A householder in Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands who has created a whale museum, with an anti whaling slant.

The Christian, Christ Church Cathedral in Port Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands, the most southerly cathedral in the world, with a whale bone arch from Blue whale lower jaw bones.

The Christian, Christ Church Cathedral in Port Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands, the most southerly cathedral in the world, with a whale bone arch from Blue whale lower jaw bones.

11th generation practicing amchi tsampha ngawang shows dragon bone used treating broken bones sticks to tongue. He treats patients throughout kali gandaki region is very active with training other amchis from over tibet, nepal mongolia

Seal meat being butchered by an Inuit man in Ilulissat in Greenland, Polar Regions

A view of the abandoned bowhead whaling station with bones strewn about in Hornsund (Horn Sound) on the southwestern side of Spitsbergen Island in the Svalbard Archipelago, Barents Sea, Norway.

Crabeater seal (Lobodon carcinophaga) skull on the beach on Bird Island, Antarctica

Whalebone Alley, female tourist sitting on bowhead whale bone, Itygran Island (Bering Sea) Russia, Asia. MORE INFO: Whale Bone Alley was discovered by Soviet archaeologists in 1976, but has remained untouched since and little is known of this place. There is a long double line of bowhead whale bones -- jaws and ribs -- running parallel along the shore for hundreds of yards. Many of the bones, especially the enormous jaw bones, are still standing, propped up by lichen-covered rocks. The location is thought to have been used in about 1300 as a ceremonial site, for a men's secret society or feasting site.

Whalebone Alley, Bowhead whale bones, Itygran Island (Bering Sea) Russia, Asia. MORE INFO: Whale Bone Alley was discovered by Soviet archaeologists in 1976, but has remained untouched since and little is known of this place. There is a long double line of bowhead whale bones -- jaws and ribs -- running parallel along the shore for hundreds of yards. Many of the bones, especially the enormous jaw bones, are still standing, propped up by lichen-covered rocks. The location is thought to have been used in about 1300 as a ceremonial site, for a men's secret society or feasting site.

Whalebone Alley, Bowhead whale bone, Itygran Island (Bering Sea) Russia, Asia. MORE INFO: Whale Bone Alley was discovered by Soviet archaeologists in 1976, but has remained untouched since and little is known of this place. There is a long double line of bowhead whale bones -- jaws and ribs -- running parallel along the shore for hundreds of yards. Many of the bones, especially the enormous jaw bones, are still standing, propped up by lichen-covered rocks. The location is thought to have been used in about 1300 as a ceremonial site, for a men's secret society or feasting site.

Whalebone Alley grand vista, high altitude flora, Itygran Island (Bering Sea) Russia, Asia. MORE INFO: Whale Bone Alley was discovered by Soviet archaeologists in 1976, but has remained untouched since and little is known of this place. There is a long double line of bowhead whale bones -- jaws and ribs -- running parallel along the shore for hundreds of yards. Many of the bones, especially the enormous jaw bones, are still standing, propped up by lichen-covered rocks. The location is thought to have been used in about 1300 as a ceremonial site, for a men's secret society or feasting site.

Whalebone Alley, female tourist standing between bow head whale rib bones, Itygran Island (Bering Sea) Russia, Asia. MORE INFO: Whale Bone Alley was discovered by Soviet archaeologists in 1976, but has remained untouched since and little is known of this place. There is a long double line of bowhead whale bones -- jaws and ribs -- running parallel along the shore for hundreds of yards. Many of the bones, especially the enormous jaw bones, are still standing, propped up by lichen-covered rocks. The location is thought to have been used in about 1300 as a ceremonial site, for a men's secret society or feasting site.

Seal meat being butchered by an Inuit man in Ilulissat in Greenland, Polar Regions

Whalebone Alley, female tourist standing around still intact extremly old inuit elder grave, skeleton still present. Itygran Island (Bering Sea) Russia, Asia. MORE INFO: Whale Bone Alley was discovered by Soviet archaeologists in 1976, but has remained untouched since and little is known of this place. There is a long double line of bowhead whale bones -- jaws and ribs -- running parallel along the shore for hundreds of yards. Many of the bones, especially the enormous jaw bones, are still standing, propped up by lichen-covered rocks. The location is thought to have been used in about 1300 as a ceremonial site, for a men's secret society or feasting site.

Whalebone Alley grand vista, female tourist standing on cliff face, Itygran Island (Bering Sea) Russia, Asia. MORE INFO: Whale Bone Alley was discovered by Soviet archaeologists in 1976, but has remained untouched since and little is known of this place. There is a long double line of bowhead whale bones -- jaws and ribs -- running parallel along the shore for hundreds of yards. Many of the bones, especially the enormous jaw bones, are still standing, propped up by lichen-covered rocks. The location is thought to have been used in about 1300 as a ceremonial site, for a men's secret society or feasting site.

Whalebone Alley grand vista, female tourist standing on cliff face, Itygran Island (Bering Sea) Russia, Asia. MORE INFO: Whale Bone Alley was discovered by Soviet archaeologists in 1976, but has remained untouched since and little is known of this place. There is a long double line of bowhead whale bones -- jaws and ribs -- running parallel along the shore for hundreds of yards. Many of the bones, especially the enormous jaw bones, are still standing, propped up by lichen-covered rocks. The location is thought to have been used in about 1300 as a ceremonial site, for a men's secret society or feasting site.

Svalbard reindeer antlers (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus) on the gentle plains of Talaveraflya on the south shore of Borentsoya. in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway

Upper and lower jaw bones (+ one rib) of a blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) at an old whaling station. BBC Broadcaster John Craven for scale. Snaefellsness Peninsular, Iceland.

Whale bone marking the shaman's grave on Shishmaref, a tiny island between Alaska and Siberia in the Chukchi sea, home to around 600 Inuits (Eskimos, United States of America, North America

A border collie dog chewing a bone

Alligator skull, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, South America

Orange Sea Lichen (Caloplaca marina) on whale bone, Devon, UK

Beluga grave yard at an old whaling station on Spitsbergen. Svalbard.

Seal meat being butchered by an Inuit man in Ilulissat in Greenland, Polar Regions

A view of the abandoned bowhead whaling station with bones strewn about in Hornsund (Horn Sound) on the southwestern side of Spitsbergen Island in the Svalbard Archipelago, Barents Sea, Norway.

Snow-covered whale bones on Jougla Point, in Port Lockroy at the western end of Wiencke Island, Antarctica, Southern Ocean

A view of the abandoned bowhead whaling station with bones strewn about in Hornsund (Horn Sound) on the southwestern side of Spitsbergen Island in the Svalbard Archipelago, Barents Sea, Norway.

Snow-covered whale bones on Jougla Point, in Port Lockroy at the western end of Wiencke Island, Antarctica, Southern Ocean

Upper and lower jaw bones (+ one rib) of a blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) at an old whaling station. Snaefellsness Peninsular, Iceland.

Street dog sitting in rubbish eating a bone, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

Risso's dolphin skeleton (Grampus griseus). Isle of Mull, Scotland

A whale bone arch and old vats for rendering down whale blubber in Ilulissat, Greenland, Polar Regions

Cuttlefish bone Sepia officinalis, Jersey, British Isles

Whale Bone Alley, tombs. Lorino, Siberia, Chukotskiy Peninsular, Russia

A view of the abandoned bowhead whaling station with bones strewn about in Hornsund (Horn Sound) on the southwestern side of Spitsbergen Island in the Svalbard Archipelago, Barents Sea, Norway.

A cuttlefish bone on a public beach in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Middle East

Cuttlefish bone. UK (RR)

A view of the abandoned bowhead whaling station with bones strewn about in Hornsund (Horn Sound) on the southwestern side of Spitsbergen Island in the Svalbard Archipelago, Barents Sea, Norway.

A view of the abandoned bowhead whaling station with bones strewn about in Hornsund (Horn Sound) on the southwestern side of Spitsbergen Island in the Svalbard Archipelago, Barents Sea, Norway.

Various types of billfish. Uncontrolled fishing in Ecuador.

Views of the Jougla Point, Antarctica. Jougla Point is located in Port Lockroy at the western end of Wiencke Island

Whalebones - relicts from early whaling in the Deep South. Wiencke Island, Antarctic Peninsula