Headhunters from the Marquesas

Tattoos were so important in Marquesan society that women would not marry an untattooed man because the decorations represented either wealth or fame or both, hence status. Chiefs and great warriors bore distinctive marks and after a battle the victor would check the body of slain enemies to see if is a chief had been killed. If so, the enemy’s head was taken, preserved and kept in a basket as a trophy.

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