In regards to article I posted last week on Robley and his collection of mummified Maori heads, a reader sent me the following:

On the Indonesian island of Borneo the Dayak tribe had a economy based on the trade of human skulls. Traditionally a tribe of headhunters and cannibals, objects of value were bought and paid for with skulls. For example, if a warrior wished to wed, he was required to present to the bride’s father the skulls of several enemy warriors.

In modern times, the tribe had given up its headhunting ways until the island people of Madura began to encroach on the Dayak’s territory. From the late 1990’s to 2003 the Dayak people were responsible for the multiple beheadings of Madurian settlers.

This story has been confirmed via Mental Floss.

Read more about the life of the Dayak here.

Labels: article, history