FEATURE
86
the dimensions turned out to be too small.
We then approached Pepijn Kamminga, curator
of the vertebrates department of the Naturalis Biodiversity
Center, to fi nd out if skeletal material was
available for pigs from New Guinea (fi g. 4). As it
turned out, there were two skeletons that could be
studied, one Sus scrofa vitalis and one Sus scrofa
celernensis. When we laid out the leg bones and
compared them with otsjes, one candidate stood
out: the femur of the hind leg (fi g. 5). In cases where
the bone close to the hip joint was preserved and
not sacrifi ced for the ornamentation, the characteristic
asymmetrical circumference of the bone can
still be recognized. Also, the longitudinal curves
and ridges could be discerned during real-time
inspection, but these are diffi cult to reproduce in
photo documentation (fi g. 6). Therefore, our investigation
strongly suggests that the majority of
otsjes in museums and private collections are made
from pig femurs. Individual size variation between
nose bones can be explained by sexual dimorphism
(males being somewhat larger than females); subspecies
differences, since in old fi eld photographs
both slender and robust animals appear; and the
age at which animals were slaughtered.
HEADHUNTING AMONG THE ASMAT
To an uninformed person, it may seem as though
New Guineans, fully dressed up with body paint,
colorful feathers, etc., live joyous lives, looking forward
to one feast after the next. It may come as a
surprise that the opposite is true. Their paraphernalia
are part of a stringent code used to communicate
with the threatening natural environment, the ancestors,
members of the same group, and potential
enemies from neighboring villages. Spirits need to be
placated and honored, and enemies intimidated and
repulsed by fear. In such a setting, it is clear that, like
other ornamentation, otsjes carry a message, but can
we decipher it?
In trying to understand the symbolism of nose
ornament design, it is necessary to recognize the
signifi cance of headhunting that was pervasive in
Asmat societies. The fi rst Westerner to live among
the Asmat, Father G. A. Zegwaard, who was there
from 1952–56, provided an in-depth account of the
mythical stories relating to their possible origins,
and he described the rituals he witnessed (Zegwaard
1959). The Asmat believe that there is a cosmic balance
between life and death. Sunrise, for example, is
thought of as birth and sunset as death. One cannot
exist without the other, as both are part of the daily
course of the sun. When children are born, they
are feeble and weak, despite the fact that they eat
plenty. In order for them to have vitality and a place
in the cosmos, other human beings need to die—in
short, the sun needs to set before it can rise again.
Members of the village had to go on a headhunting
raid in order to take heads, which would make the
children strong and healthy. After a successful raid,
the trophy head was used in an initiation ceremony
that took a couple of days. A key part of this ceremony
was the time during which the initiate meditated
with the trophy head between his legs, touching his
genitals. The Asmat associate the human body with
a tree, and indeed “Asmat” translates to “man resembling
a tree.” The legs are associated with the
plank roots, the body with the trunk, the arms with
the boughs, and the head with the fruit. They observe
time and again how from fallen fruit a new tree
can grow, therefore, they expected that the “human
fruit”—the head—would generate fertility for the
young initiate as well.
Another element of the initiation was the submersion
in the sea of the initiate along with the trophy
head. Where the Asmat live, the sea is to the west
and is the place where the sun sets. While in their
canoes on the river traveling toward the sea, the initiate
would act like a worn-out old man, appearing
to become weaker and weaker, facing his sunset. The
subsequent immersion in the sea symbolizes rebirth,
and in celebration the Asmat would return to their
village, which is in the east where the sun rises.
The initiate received the name of the victim. This
new identity would prove useful in the future when
meeting relatives of the murdered person. They
FIG. 7b: Praying mantis
devouring her mate’s head.
Note the prominent hooked
front limbs.
Photo: Wikimedia.
FIG. 8 (right and following
spread): A selection of forty
nose ornaments, otsjes.
They are grouped into
fi ve categories (A, B, C,
D, and E) based on overall
resemblance. One example
of each category is treated in
detail in the text and in the
forthcoming pictures.