M0005508: A man in a field with human skulls on poles, Goaribani Island, South Pacific

Previous title, replaced November 2021: Head hunting a rite of harvest. Skulls to bring in a bumper crop. Goaribani, South Pacific

Reproduction of a photograph of a man standing in a field alongisde human skulls on poles. The photograph was published with the caption "Head-hunting a rite of harvest: skulls to bring a bumper crop" in Hutchinson, Walter: Customs of the world : a popular account of the manners, rites and ceremonies of men and women in all countries, volume III, London: Hutchinson, 1913. A copy of the book illustration was acquired by the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum and accessioned in 1938 (accession number PHO 10810).

4 August 1938

1 photograph glass plate negative; 12 x 16.5 cm

Catalogue data comes from a combination of entries in the original glass plate registers, metadata created when the glass plates were digitised in the early 2000s and enhancements made by the cataloguer in 2021.

Please consult the digitised version as this item is fragile. Email library@wellcomecollection.org to request access to the physical item.