Quality crafted Dayak, Asmat inspired headhunter shrunken head trophy skull staff. High quality PVC skull is mounted on bamboo shaft; headdress is adorned with humanely sourced horse hair. Approximately 56-60" in length. Skull measures 4 inches tall, 3.5 inches wide, and 5 inches long.

Staff is in two segments for shipping/storing purposes. Non-segmented full staff may be requested prior to ordering. Keep in mind, shipping is roughly $75+ for Priority Mail due to dimensional weight calculations by USPS.

Please note: Item appearance may vary from sculpture to sculpture due to availability of items throughout the season, making each one unique in it's own way.
 
ABOUT:
 
The Dayak, Ifugao, and Naga human skulls are head hunting trophies. The Asmat, Vanuatu, and Palawan human skulls are also considered "ancestor" skulls. The difference is; head hunted skulls are acquired from enemy victimsAncestor skulls are collected and venerated to remember deceased family members. The Ifugao collect bones of the dead relatives, wrap them in tribal textiles, and store them in the rafters under their huts. In South America the heads were often preserved, as by the Jívaro, by removing the skull and packing the skin with hot sand, thus shrinking it to the size of the head of a small monkey but preserving the features intact. There, again,headhunting was probably associated with cannibalism in a ceremonial form.Despite the prohibition of headhunting activities, scattered reports of such practices continued well into the 20th century.Head hunting may have originally evolved from cannibalism.
 
Many people believe that the head represents the core of thepersonality and to take it is therefore both an act of violence against and an insult to the victim. It is a common belief that the soul is concentrated in the head and that taking an enemy's head therefore weakens the enemy's entire community. In manyheadhunting societies taking a head is considered a rite of manhood, denoting the transition from childhood to adulthood, and young menmay not marry until they have taken one. Victorious hunters claim the heads as trophies and display them prominently to increase their personal reputations and that of the tribe as a whole, with the added bonus of helping to intimidate current and future enemies.
 
Headhunting has a long history as a supremely effective weapon and those that practice it often have extremely fierce reputation.

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