Headhunting is the practice of hunting a human and collecting the severed head after killing the victim, although sometimes more portable body parts are taken instead as trophies. Headhunting was practiced in historic times in parts of Europe, East Asia, Oceania, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Mesoamerica, South America, West Africa, and Central Africa.
Digital painting of a Mississippian-era priest, with a ceremonial flint mace and a severed head, based on a repousse copper plate.
A 1908 photo of a Bontoc warrior bearing a headhunter's chaklag chest tattoo
Punan's heads taken by Sea Dayaks
Human skulls in a tribal village. Photograph taken in colonial Papua in 1885.
The practice of human trophy collecting involves the acquisition of human body parts as trophy, usually as war trophy. The intent may be to demonstrate dominance over the deceased, to humiliate or intimidate the enemy, or in some rare cases to commemorate the deceased. It can be done to prove one's body count in battle, to boast one's prowess and achievements to peers, or as a status symbol of superior masculinity. Serial killers' collection of their victims' body parts have also been described as a form of trophy-taking.
American sailor with the skull of a Japanese soldier during World War II.
