The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

DECORATIVE ART 239
a little below these and nearer the middle line are
the two hands ; and below these again the two legs
stand out, carved not merely in relief, but in the
solid, and bent a little at the knee. The feet are
indicated below and more laterally. From the
crown of the head projects a ring of short hair made
up of tufts white, black, and red in colour. Another
short tuft projects from the region of the navel
(? pubis), and a pair of tufts project laterally
a little below the level of the mouth. The
extremity of the main shaft of the antler projects
a little beyond the feet of the human figure, and is
carved in a form which is clearly an animal
derivative— probably from the dog or possibly the
crocodile. From its open jaws projects a long tuft
of hair, and a pair of short tufts project laterally
from the region of its ears. The whole of the
carved part of the hilt thus represents a man standing
upon the head of a dog (or crocodile). The
interpretation of the whole is much obscured by
the fact that the parts of the human figure named
above are separated from one another by areas
which are covered with a continuous scroll design
in low relief, and by the fact that all the lateral parts
of the carved area bear, scattered irregularly in
relief, reduplications of the various features of the
human figure, e.g, of the hands, elbows, knees, and
even of the teeth, as well as many pairs of interlocking
hooks. These last, which recur in other
decorative designs, and which (as was said above)
seem to symbolise the taking of heads, form an
important and constant feature of the whole scheme
of decoration. In the more elaborate examples
usually one
they are carved out of the solid ; and
hole (or more) about 5 mm. in diameter perforates
the thickest part of the hilt, and contains in the
middle plane a pair of these interlocking hooks.
In the most elaborate examples of these carved