Ancestor skull "ndambirkus"
Description
human skull, the lower jawbone tightly attached to the skull with cord material, the eye-sockets filled with a mixture of beeswax and tree gum, decorated with grey seeds of Job’s-tear grass and red seeds of the crab’s eye vine, nose ornament “ufeti”, ear ornament with tufts of cassowary feathers, net-like weave around the head, in dense row decorated with bird feathers, traces of old age, on metal base;
the basic themes of Asmat culture are head-hunting and ancestor worshipping. Their ceremonial life is aimed on appeasing the spirits of the dead, which is why skulls of treasured ancestors"ndambirkus" were so elaborately embellished like the present one. The importance of captured heads in traditional Asmat life is clearly demonstrated by the role they played in male initiation. It was impossible for boys to become men without taking a head. A man’s vital strength is said to be particularly present in the skull, and the life force of another provided the energy necessary for a boy to make the jump to manhood.