The ethymological and unanswered question about how how we got from the bowl to the head reminds of the legend of Vikings using their ennemie's skulls as drinking bowl.
I found reference to this being a myth but to the allegation that it was the practice of nomad tribes of German origin.
This would lead me to think that the mazard (skull) use as a mazard (drinking bowl) is not that far fetched.
Ahh, the good old days when thinks were simple and recycling commonplace
Have a happy new year.

welcome, Bert!!

Thanks for that, Bert - it is a very credible theory.

and edible!

Are you callin' him an egghead?!

OED has 1603 for the earliest use of mazard in the sense of 'head'. Sounds a little late for a derivation from Viking drinking practices. I think that just the general shape of the head would be a sufficient explanation.

Sounds a little late for a derivation from Viking drinking practices.

The only citation I am aware of your "enemies skull as drinking bowl" is from Herodotus about the Scythians. A connection bteween head and container/vessel of some kind is in Romance word for head from Vulgar Latin testa 'bowl' which replaced words derived from caput. English crazy comes from a potter's term crazed 'marked by little cracks (in the glaze)'.

We have in Dutch the word "fruittest" , a fruit bowl with little holes in it to drain the water from the washed fruit.

Link

(dropped into the discussion like a pebble in a fruit bowl)

Similar to our colander , Bran...a perforated pan, usually bowl-shaped, for draining off liquids, as in washing fruit & vegetables, pasta and rice. But yours is prettier

I thought the sports ball was originally a 'human head' so went searching and found this interesting article...

The Mesoamerican ballgame or Tlatchtli

The bit about human sacrifice is disturbing....glad I didn't play sport back then!

A different ballgame. Thought it was about the link between head and bowl. Superbowl?

Superbowl?

I've always thought that this connection was between the venue (i.e., classical-style amphitheater) and a punch bowl. A quick look at its etymology (from Old English bolla 'bowl') shows that heads come into play: Old English heáfod-bolla 'skull' (used as translation of Golgotha, Calvary, heáfodbollan stówe), Middle High German hirn-bolle, Old High German hirni-polla 'brain-pan, skull'. Good call, Branshea.

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