The ibans have been always been notorious for head hunting, a custom which is now been eradicated. It was essentially a religious practice, the ibans seeking a consecration for every important event's of his life by the acquistion of one or more skulls.
The young man is not admitted to full tribal rights, nor can he woo a bride with any hope of success, until he has a skull or more to adorn his hut: a chief's authority would not be acknowledged without such trophies of his prowess.
The strictest rules govern head hunting; a period of fasting,of isolation in a taboo hut, precedes the expedition, for which the iban clothes himself in the skins of wild beast. The ibans prefers the head of a fellow tribesman and the hunt is usually one of ambush rather than of open combat. Skulls those of enemies are held in great veneration.
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