So what was the head?

Apologies mods. I realise this thread should have been in the 'spoiler board'. I forgot about that! Duh. My most recent post prob falls into that category also. I'd be obliged if you would do the necessary change of venue for it. Ta.

Nah - Lindeloff just made it all up as he went along....

the head is an expression made by a race that has a serious god-complex. It's particularly scary when viewed with those 2 'hands' in front kind of cradling the vials of malign bioagents. Few things about this movie was more scary for me.

The huge head in the ampule room was amongst some of the first images we ever saw from this film. So I don't think it was unreasonable to think that a bit more might have been made of it in the actual film. Unfortunately we know as much now as we did when we first saw that image all those months ago!

"Lindeloff just made it all up as he went along...." is the correct answer. He's clearly a MARKETING SLUT who knows how to fish those marketing half brains across the Rubicon. He LOST the plot. :) Any geeks know THE FACE OF BO from Dr Who? There, and remember the three heads in Miyazaki's SPIRITED AWAY? And it just was never explored.

My real suspicion was the THERE WAS AN ENTIRE BODY under the head nobody had explored yet, you know, maybe the ENGINEERS left one of their tattoed kind buried in sand a long long time ago. ;)

I think the arrangement of the head and the ampules is symbolic. The head represents the engineers as gods, the ampules bowing to their creator

^ Seems like the most legitimate theory so far to me. Anyone else have an idea?

It was a part of the set on the production of Prometheus.

Space Jockey Mt. Rushmore ?

As far as I can see, it was there, mainly, to cast dramatic shadows and so that there was a huge, "Thing of Awe", to put in the middle of that room and on the posters and whatnot. All it ended up doing in the Story was to provide a reference that, "we look like them" - but it would have done that just as effectively if it was 5 cm high. It just wouldn't have looked so awesome on a billboard.

It's really a giant "jar" that holds an alien queen....

I'm with Newt on this one. I think the humans were brought from Earth, shown the big head, expected to be in awe of the whole show, and then told to stand in front of the urns...

I honestly remember in 1968 everyone asking: "What the hell are those "black slabs???" AND, getting really pissed off that it wasn't made clear. Now, 2001 is regarded with reverence. Please folks. Have patience and give it time. And no, I don't represent Fox. I just like films that make me think.

RSAND if there was a 'like' button for posts, you'd get one for that. By they way, did you see the monolith in this film?

So in 44 years people will be asking what the big head is... probably only us if we manage that far.