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Headhunting and Colonialism

Anthropology and the Circulation of Human Skulls in the Portuguese Empire, 1870-1930

  • Book
  • © 2010

Overview

Authors:
  1. Ricardo Roque

    1. Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal

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Part of the book series: Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies (CIPCSS)

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiv
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  2. Introduction

    1. Introduction

      • Ricardo Roque
      Pages 1-14

  3. Encounters with Parasites

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 15-15
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    2. Parasitism in Colonial Interactions

      • Ricardo Roque
      Pages 17-39

    3. The Order of Ceremonial Government

      • Ricardo Roque
      Pages 40-69

    4. The Circulatory System of Colonial Headhunting

      • Ricardo Roque
      Pages 70-100

  4. Skulls and Histories

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 101-101
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    2. Trajectories of Human Skulls in Museum Collections

      • Ricardo Roque
      Pages 103-126

    3. Human Skulls as Anthropological Objects

      • Ricardo Roque
      Pages 127-151

    4. Histories and Classification in Timorese Anthropology

      • Ricardo Roque
      Pages 152-182

    5. Collecting and the Dramas of Colonial Hostility

      • Ricardo Roque
      Pages 183-215

  5. Conclusion

    1. Conclusion

      • Ricardo Roque
      Pages 216-225

  6. Back Matter

    Pages 226-342
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Keywords

About this book

An exploration of headhunting and the collection of heads for European museums in the context of colonial wars, from the 1870s to the 1930s. The book offers a new understanding of the mutually dependent interaction between indigenous peoples and colonial powers, and how collected remains became regarded as objects of wider significance.

Reviews

'The scanty information about the skulls was not a limitation but a challenge for the Portuguese historian Ricardo Roque, who performs detective work of the skulls' trajectory to explore Portuguese colonialism, violence, collecting practices and anthropology.'

- Fenneke Sisling, Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde

'Roque's Headhunting and Colonialism provides a stimulating and well-conceptualized read. His integration of primary research with theoretical outlooks throws light on historical topics that have generally been neglected in Pacific research. Portugal and Portuguese colonialism in East Timor have received only marginal consideration in historical research. His book thus figures as an important contribution to the fields of colonialism and ethno-geography in the Pacific.'

- Rainer F. Buschmann, The Bulletin of the Pacific Circle

'The book is particularly timely in that it provides an excellent case study of the historical processes that may confuse efforts to determine the provenance of human remains, reminding us of the need for close investigation of provenance before any research or repatriation activities are commenced. [ ] It should be recommended reading for anyone involved in the museum management of human remains and, in particular, for those involved in repatriation.'

- Michael Pickering, The Journal of Pacific History

Authors and Affiliations

  • Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal

    Ricardo Roque

About the author

RICARDO ROQUE is Research Fellow at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal, and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Sydney, Australia. He works on the history and anthropology of colonialism, human sciences, and cross-cultural contact in the Portuguese-speaking world. He has published extensively on crime and rebellion in British India, including Thuggee: Banditry and the British in Early Nineteenth-Century India (2007) and The Great Fear of 1857: Rumours, Conspiracies and the Making of the Indian Uprising (2010).

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