Antique 1850’s Bontoc Headhunters Tangkil Armband Boar Tusk Human Hair Luzon

Antique 1850’s Bontoc Headhunters Tangkil Armband Boar Tusk Human Hair Luzon.

Amazing artifact from a headhunter tribe in the Philippines. These were created of two boars tusk which were stitched together with rattan. The hand carved wooden figure has real human hair.

From the internet:

The Bontoc and Ifugao peoples of northern Luzon wore armbands such as this example constructed from two pairs of wild boar or pig (sus philippensis) tusks, held together with rattan, and mounted by a carved wooden figure of a standing man.

They were worn on a warrior’s forearm and were associated with headhunting, and certainly conquest. Most probably, the carved figure began life as a handle on a wooden spoon or ladle. Such figurative spoons were used by the Ifugao and Bontoc for ritual purposes. The spoons were handled on a daily basis and were kept in an open basket above the hearth in the family home. Such handling and storage accounts for the patina that many of such spoons developed.