Human trophy collecting

American sailor with the skull of a Japanese soldier during World War II.

The practice of human trophy collecting involves the acquisition of human body parts as trophy, usually as war trophy. The intent may be to demonstrate dominance over the deceased (such as scalp-taking or forming necklaces of severed ears or teeth), to humiliate or intimidate the enemy (such as shrunken heads or skull cups), or in some rare cases to commemorate the deceased (such as the veneration of the relics of saints). It can be done to prove one's body count in battle,[1] to boast one's prowess and achievements to peers,[2] or as a status symbol of superior masculinity.[3] Serial killers' collection of their victims' body parts have also been described as a form of trophy-taking.[4]

While older customs generally included the burial of human war trophies along with the collector, such items have been sold in modern times.[5]

  1. ^ Academic American Encyclopedia. Vol. 10. Danbury, California: Grolier. 1997. ISBN 978-0717220687. In some cultures head-hunting can be considered a manifestation of the widespread practice of removing parts of the body of a slain enemy – as in scalping or the severing of an ear or nose – for war trophies.
  2. ^ Selbie, John A. (1913). "The head as trophy or cult object". Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics. Vol. 6. Adegi Graphics LLC. p. 534. ISBN 978-0543978707.
  3. ^ Knight, Rachel K. (December 2017). "Migration, Masculinity, and Mastering the "Queue": A Case of Chinese Scalping" (PDF). Journal of World History. 28 (3–4). Honolulu, Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press.
  4. ^ Fox, James Alan; Levin, Jack (January 1998). "Multiple Homicide: Patterns of Serial and Mass Murder". Crime and Justice. 23. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press: 407–455. doi:10.1086/449274. S2CID 145738770.
  5. ^ Quigley, Christine (2005). The Corpse: A History. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. pp. 249–251. ISBN 978-0786424498.