Aug. 1897. Preservation, Etc., of Papuan Crania. — Holmes. 45 



An outstanding strand is carried around in front of the tie proper, 

 and is held in place by a meandering fillet which passes alternately 

 under the loopings of the adjacent parts of the tie proper and the 

 outstanding band. An additional embellishment, seen in a few cases, 

 consists of a neat tie of palm fiber fringed at the ends; this encircles 

 the zygomatic arch in front of or behind the lateral jaw fastenings, as 

 seen in Figs. 5 and 6. 



Ornamental treatment of jaw fastenings is common among the 

 head hunters of Melanesia. The work is generally very neat, and many 

 of the peoples show no little skill in the making of cordage and in the 

 employment of woven or plaited fastenings and decorations. 



EMBELLISHMENT OF CRANIA. 



It is apparent that not only were the crania of this collection 

 cared for in the most scrupulous manner, but that aesthetic consid- 

 erations were of importance. All the seventeen skulls are decorated 

 with designs engraved on the frontal bone, and in two cases (40,613 

 and 40,618) the figures extend back over the coronal suture to the 

 parietal bones. Viewed from the front all are centrally placed, as 



Fig. 7. Engraved Design from Skull Fig. 8. Engraved Design 



No. 40,613. y 2 . from Skull No. 40,610. %. 



seen in the plates. In execution the work is not of a high order; the 

 scratchy lines, evidently engraved in the main with a sharp point, 

 straggle about in a haphazard way. My illustrations, Figs. 7 to 22, 

 engraved one-half actual size, were secured by working over carefully 



