The Hindu : International : Sugar skulls and a record

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 02, 2004

International

International

Sugar skulls and a record

MEXICO CITY, NOV. 1. The National Autonomous University of Mexico on Sunday claimed sweet victory in establishing a new record for collecting small candy skulls.

Students and faculty at the university's medical school in Mexico City collected more than 5,600 of the edible skulls, which are traditional offerings during the Day of the Dead festivities in Mexico, the university announced in a statement.

The collection was documented so that an application can be submitted to the Guinness World Records, according to National Autonomous University, or UNAM.

Guinness World Records officials could not be reached on Sunday for comment. UNAM officials said that the Guinness World Records set 3,000 skulls as a minimum for establishing a record.

Mexicans honour the dead on November 1, when the souls of dead children are believed to arrive, and the next day, when adults are believed to return. Small skulls made of sugar are often left at tombstones that also are surrounded by candles, orange marigolds and favourite foods of the deceased.

UNAM anthropologist Jorge Miranda said he believed the skulls, which were arranged on a terraced slope, represented the largest skull wall in Mexico, where stacked skulls carved from stone decorate prehistoric temples. Real human skulls from religious sacrifice victims were once strung together outside temples throughout Mesoamerica.

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