A relic hunter dubbed “Indiana Bones” has lifted the lid on a macabre collection of 400-year-old jewel-encrusted skeletons unearthed in churches across Europe. Art historian Paul Koudounaris has hunted down and photographed dozens of gruesome skeletons in some of the world's most secretive religious establishments. Photo: Albertus in the church of St George in Burgrain, Germany. Incredibly, some of the skeletons, which took up to five years to decorate, were even found hidden away in lock-ups and containers. (Photo by Paul Koudounaris/BNPS)

An Indian child artisan carries an idol of elephant-headed Hindu God Ganesha at a workshop ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Chennai, India, Saturday, September 7, 2013. Ganesh Chaturthi, which begins from September 9, is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Ganesha who is widely worshiped by Hindus as the God of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune. (Photo by Arun Sankar K./AP Photo)

Comandos de Salvamento rescuers Maria Martinez (L) and Ana Chichilla attend to a wounded homeless man in San Salvador, El Salvador July 16, 2016. The man was attacked with a machete by suspected gang members. In 2015, El Salvador registered a record 103 homicides per 100,000 habitants, making it one of the most dangerous countries in the world outside a war zone. But for many young people who have few chances to distance themselves from rivalries between so-called maras in their schools and neighbourhoods, a civil-society organisation called the Comandos de Salvamento, or Rescue Corps, has been a refuge. (Photo by Jose Cabezas/Reuters)

A Capetonian watches the sun rise from the top of Signal Hill as smoke engulfs the city of Cape Town, South Africa, Tuesday April 20, 2021. A massive fire spreading on the slopes of the city's famed Table Mountain, at right, is kept under control as firemen and helicopters take advantage of the low winds to contain the blaze. (Photo by Jerome Delay/AP Photo)

A woman holds broken umbrella as a powerful typhoon hits Osaka, western Japan, Tuesday, September 4, 2018. A powerful typhoon blew through western Japan on Tuesday, causing heavy rain to flood the region's main offshore international airport and high winds to blow a tanker into a connecting bridge, disrupting land and air travel. (Photo by Nobuki Ito/Kyodo News via AP Photo)

Elephant polo players in action during the King's Cup Elephant Polo event 2016 final between teams King Power (blue) and The Elephant Story, in Bangkok, Thailand, March 13, 2016. Team King Power won the annual charity event, which is now in its 14th edition. This year's edition involved 18 elephants brought from tourist trekking camps in Pattaya as well as some unemployed in Surin, and a total of 10 teams encompassing over 40 players, in this event directed at raising funds to improve the lives of elephants and elephant conservation. (Photo by Diego Azubel/EPA)

A bunker at aformer Swiss artillery fortress called Heldsberg stands near the town of St. Margareten, Switzerland March 22, 2015. Heldsberg fortress, located on the Swiss-Austrian border near the River Rhine and Lake Constance was built from 1938 to 1940 and remained in military use until 1992. Since 1993 it is open to the public as Fortress Museum Heldsberg. (Photo by Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters)

A woman, covered in mud, dances during the traditional “Bloco da Lama” or “Mud Block” carnival party, in Paraty, Brazil, Saturday, February 14, 2015. Revelers in the seaside colonial town threw themselves into deposits of black, mineral-rich slime, emerging covered head-to-toe in the sludge. Bikinis and trunks disappeared beneath the mud, which highlights both gym-pumped pectorals and beer-fed guts. (Photo by Leo Correa/AP Photo)