Trophy skull

Description

human skull without lower jaw, brown patina, the brain pan decorated with fine curved floral engravings with hatched areas;
in former times some of the Dayak people were dreaded headhunters. For religious reasons they used to keep the enemy skulls and display them in their naves. By headhunting the Dayak warrior proved his virility and was able to take possession of the killed enemies soul. A wide-spread motif for headhunting was the animist belief, that the slained had to follow his murder in the hereafter as slave. The Iban abandoned headhunting much earlier in time than the Dayak, presumably because as coast dwellers they got into contact with european cultures much earlier. In the 19th century headhunting was prohibited by the European colonial powers.