Scalping.

May 16, 2001 6:52 AM

Scalping. As an amateur historian who concentrates on pre-1900 Texas, I often come across accounts of scalping by the dreaded Comanche. Inevitably, someone claims that the practice was started by Europeans. This link provides archeological proof that the practice was widespread in North America before contact with Europeans. (It also briefly describes a pre-historic massacre of almost 500 people, which in terms of the cultures involved is like wiping out New York.)
posted by CRS (5 comments total)

That's gruesome. That's almost as bad as the Capital Punishment thread from the other day. I'm convinced -- we need to ban scalping.
posted by norm at 7:12 AM on May 16, 2001

scalping was a plot by the wigmakers. Battle trophies are nothing new. the pale face just used it as a psy-ops tool. lets see...scalped or impaled?
posted by clavdivs at 7:21 AM on May 16, 2001

Scalping? Yes, scalping. What about scalping? That scalping, too. And this scalping? No, this scalping.
posted by dfowler at 8:09 AM on May 16, 2001

In many other groups, the taking of heads of enemies was all the rage. Scalping too hairy. I had read that a number of whites living in the West picked up the scalp taking habit. Perhaps we may some day find some for sale at EBay
posted by Postroad at 10:23 AM on May 16, 2001

Didn't polo get started when some Afghani horselord started whacking around some enemy's head?
posted by rodii at 4:40 PM on May 16, 2001