M0005504: Two human skulls lashed to a pole of the 'Potuma'

Previous title, replaced November 2021: Trophy skulls lashed to a pole of the 'Potuma'

Reproduction of a photograph of two human skulls tied to a pole of the 'Potuma', the club house of the men, taken near Discovery Bay, Papua New Guinea. Originally published in Seligman, C. G: The Melanesians of British New Guinea Cambridge : The University Press, 1910

4 August 1938

1 photograph glass plate negative; 12 x 16.5 cm

Wellcome Collection holds a copy of the publication from which the image is taken

Catalogue data comes from a combination of entries in the original glass plate registers, metadata created when the glass plates were digitised in the early 2000s and enhancements made by the cataloguer in 2021.

Please consult the digitised version as this item is fragile. Email library@wellcomecollection.org to request access to the physical item.