The practice of carving patterns onto skulls was unique to the Kayan Dayak tribe. However, it is not fully understood why skulls were decorated in such a manner. The ritual life of some Dayak groups required human sacrifices to ensure fertility and appease demonic spirits believed to cause illness, disease or crop failure. Headhunting was a component of warfare among enemy groups, where the goal was to enslave those captured and remove the heads of certain individuals for ritual purposes. A human head was believed to contain a powerful spiritual essence that could be harnessed to improve the community’s well being. Today, the Malaysian and Indonesian governments have outlawed headhunting.
