Research – IFICAH Blog

The historical and spiritual meaning of headhunting in Asia

The exhibition is dedicated to the subject of “head-hunting. Head-hunting refers to the killing of a person with the intention of taking his head. Head-hunting is an ancient tradition which was earlier practised widely in almost all of Asia and Europe. For the pre-Christian and pre-Roman peoples of Europe (Celts, Teutons, Scythians, Italics/Ligurians, Iberians, etc.) headhunting has been widely testified and proven to have existed, both by classical authors and archaeology. In some parts of the world, such as some areas of Southeast Asia, Africa, New Guinea and Latin America, headhunting has persisted for a very long [...]

Ainu – The indigenous people of northern Japan

Ainu is the generally established name for the indigenous people of northern Japan, especially Hokkaido, which was formerly known as Edo. The Ainu also populate parts of north-eastern Russia, such as Sakhalin and the Kuriles. The Ainu (literally "man") refer themselves as Ainu or Utari. In the recent past, the Ainu lived and worked mainly as hunters, fishermen and gatherers. Only the southern groups were engaged in subsistence agriculture and animal husbandry. Today between 50,000 and 150,000 people living in Japan, consider themselves Ainu. For centuries there has been a progressive mixing with Japanese, so that the classification is [...]