Title Headhunting and colonialism : anthropology and the circulation of human skulls in the Portuguese empire, 1870-1930 / Ricardo Roque

Published Basingstoke [England] ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2010

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Description 1 online resource (xiv, 342 pages) : illustrations, maps Series Cambridge imperial and post-colonial studies series Cambridge imperial and post-colonial studies series. Contents Cover; Contents; Illustrations and Maps; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Glossary; Introduction; Part I: Encounters with Parasites; Part II: Skulls and Histories; Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Index Summary Headhunting and Colonialism is an account of colonial violence, Indigenous headhunting and the circulation of human skulls to anthropological museums in the heyday of late European imperialism. Using the example of the Portuguese colony of East Timor, it embeds the history of a museum collection of human skulls within the larger context of the Portuguese imperial expansion, emergence of scientific anthropology in Europe, Christian beliefs about the dead body, and Indigenous cultures. The book examines how human skulls were critical to imperial power and Indigenous communities, and traces how they could be collected, exchanged, circulated, studied, and interpreted in colonial, scientific, and metropolitan contexts. By combining imperial history with historical anthropology and the history of science, it brings out a fresh reappraisal of colonial interactions as mutually parasitic, and a novel framework for understanding the social life of collections as attachments between things and histories "Explores headhunting in the colonial wars and the collection of heads for European museums, 1870s-1930s. By looking at Portuguese colonialism in East Timor, it shows how Indigenous peoples and colonial powers interacted in a mutually dependent way, and how collected remains became objects of political, symbolic, and scientific significance"--Provided by publisher Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 297-322) and index Notes Print version record Subject Craniology -- Portugal -- History Headhunters -- Timor-Leste -- History Rites and ceremonies -- Timor-Leste Skull -- Social aspects -- Timor-Leste Skull -- Social aspects -- Collectors and collecting -- Portugal Ethnology -- Timor-Leste. Museum exhibits -- Portugal Human remains (Archaeology) -- Portugal Exhibitions. Skull. Craniology -- history Colonialism -- history Exhibitions as Topic History, 19th Century History, 20th Century Skull exhibitions (events) skulls (skeleton components) Social & cultural anthropology -- c 1800 to c 1900 -- c 1900 -- c 1914 -- First World War, 1914-1918 -- Inter-war period, 1918-1939 -- East Timor. SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Anthropology -- Physical. Society. Skull Exhibitions Colonization Craniology Ethnology Headhunters Human remains (Archaeology) Museum exhibits Portuguese colonies Rites and ceremonies Timor-Leste -- Colonization Portugal -- Colonies -- Asia. Portugal Timor-Leste Asia Portugal Timor-Leste Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 9780230251335 0230251331

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