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Likely human skull found in Halloween section of Florida thrift store
(www.cbsnews.com)
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this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2023
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It could be from a modern collector because as you mentioned, there are only a few states where it's illegal to buy skeletal parts. My guess is that someone inherited it from an old family collection and didn't want to deal with it.
A few generations ago it wasn't completely unusual for a doctor to have a human skull in his office or study. Eventually Gramps dies, his kids or grandkids inherit his stuff, and now they have a skull that they might remember fondly but don't exactly want to display in their front parlor. So they hide it away in a closet. Maybe in its carrying case, but who knows where Old Doc picked it up.
The primary concern in the article seems to be that it was from a looted native grave. That is possible, even probable, given the suspected age. Article about a prolific grave robber from Indiana.
The modern trade in legal skulls comes mostly from Asia (China and India, last time I checked). They're also quite expensive ($2-3k), so it's not likely a modern collector lost track of it among the contents of a storage shed.