Headhunting In the real world and the collection of bodily trophies

[indonesiancat]

I'm a big fan of Warhammer. I draw alot of inspiration from the art, lore and the writing style. Something that is very apparent in this universe, is that the more barbarous and savage cultures in this world seem to have a fetish in the collection of heads, skulls and basically bodyparts in general.

I can see the obvious effects it has on the psychology of enemies, but I don't see how this would work in a practical sense. So, to digress to the title, how has this worked in the real world? There are undoubtely primitive cultures who have spent considerable time with headhunting, either as a way to instill fear, or as some form of traditional, rite of passage.

Hacking off somebody's head and attaching it to your belt is all well and good, but then what? A decapitated head is bound to start rotting and carrying around a multitude off severed, decaying bodyparts close to you can not be good for either your nostrils or your health in the long run. So how did these cultures really do it? Did they balm the heads and stuff them like hunters do with their game? Oh and just to be clear. I'm not talking about shrunken heads, which is a process I am very familiar with. Just the collection of heads in general and how these cultures went about their business with it.

Thanks beforehand!

 

[Jerseydevil]

First off, Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!

Anyway, most people who collected body parts (not a sentence I normally use) did not usually carry them around with them, as least as far as I know. Usually the skull or other part was a trophy to show off to the rest of the tribe, but not carried on the person directly. If they did, I would imagine the flesh would be stripped off so it wouldn't rot and just the bone would be used. People recognize what human bones look like and there will be little missing from the psychological shock. The Scythians were well known for using their enemy's skull as a drinking cup, as did other nomadic tribes of that region.

 

[Peat]

There are very few examples that I'm aware of where they'd carry the heads around with them - the Qin armies of China being the only one I can find right now. The Celts hung them from horse and chariots. Most of the time though, as far as I know, the heads were stuck into a collection.

 

[CupofJoe]

Oh and just to be clear. I'm not talking about shrunken heads, which is a process I am very familiar with.

Why does those words make me want to take very great care in replying...
"How familiar can you be with the process of shrinking heads?" is NOT a question I am going to ask... I might not like the answer...
I can see how bones and other hard/dry bits might be used as Jewellery and adornments.
Different context but a how-to could be worked out from Egyptian mummification practices... They had all the same problems but for a different reason.

 

[FifthView]

What lies beneath: new discoveries about the Jericho skull | British Museum blog

In this case, the skull was prepared for a plaster coating. This was a skull about 9K years old; so, the process is old.

This work has also revealed new details about how the skull was prepared for plastering. The CT scans showed concentric rings of grits within the soil and a ball of finer clay sealing the access hole at the back. This suggests that the soil was deliberately put inside the skull to support the surface as the plaster face was being added. It is possible that the round piece of bone cut away to form the access hole was originally put back after the cranium had been filled. Although it was subsequently lost, its earlier presence may explain why the soft soil filling has survived so well.​

I have found references to skulls having been coated by plant resin and by lacquer; resin for similarly old skulls and lacquer for some 16th C Japanese skull cups.

But I've also found references to skulls found in South America that were not treated with any coating, apparently, although they, like many that were coated elsewhere, received a lot of special treatment in the cutting and preparation of the skulls - including holes drilled so that jaws could be attached to craniums with some kind of thread or rope and teeth polished and cut to fit within sockets to replace missing teeth (perhaps from other skulls).

Much archeological evidence points to very careful removal of flesh and brains, and careful cutting to shape skulls into bowls and cups. The older examples, circa 13K years or more ago, were most likely associated with cannibalism also.

Tibetan kapala are interesting, although some lengthy searching has not turned up any complete description of their preparation.

Edit: Obviously, I was looking at the use of skulls, not heads w/ flesh being kept. I am not sure you'll find many examples of heads fully preserved, beyond mummification practices.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

I'd be thinking about necklaces made of eye teeth maybe - or ears a la Universal Soldier. While you could mount the heads on the wall of your hunting lodge.

Cheers, Greg.