Research Items

Abstract

Human Skulls and Bones from the Naga Hills.—The skulls and bones which are the subject of a report by Dr. B. S. Guha, anthropologist of the Zoological Survey of India, and Mr. P. C. Basu, published as the first Anthropological Bulletin of the Zoological Survey of India, were surrendered in 1926–27 to the expedition of the Burmese Frontier Service for the abolition of slavery and the suppression of human sacrifice among Naga tribes living hi the unadminis-tered area of Burma. The skulls and bones are those of human sacrificial victims from 41 out of the 70 villages in the Triangle which are under the influence of two Kachin families, the Ningmoi and the Shing-bwiyang. Little information was available as to the tribe or place of origin of the victims, as they had passed through many hands and villages before reaching their destination. They would seem to have been forwarded from the south-west and west by middlemen engaged in the traffic. Though they probably belong to the head-hunting Naga tribes of south-west and west of the Triangle in the main, foreigners may have been included. At least one Assamese was sacrificed. Some of the heads had been smoked in accordance with custom, and each of the bones, some with flesh and shreds of skin still adhering, had been pierced by one or more holes for suspension. Some of the smaller bones were bound in lots. In one case a piece of skull and portion of radius were covered with leaves and bound to a bamboo which had two strings for suspension. The total number of bones was 217, of which 21 were whole, or portions of, arm and leg bones, and 117 and 43 were frontal and occipital bones respectively. The skulls and bones have been examined and measured exhaustively, the measurements being given in detail. The skulls fall into two classes, of which the first is markedly Mongolian, while the second in addition shows characteristics of the Australoid type.