Story highlights Warriors in New Guinea used daggers made from human thigh bones They sourced bones from the skeletons of their ancestors These bone daggers were believed to possess symbolic power (CNN)In New Guinea, bands of brave warriors once used daggers crafted from bone to finish off their enemies in hand-to-hand combat. They expropriated bones from two very different sources — one was the thigh bones of fierce and flightless birds called cassowaries, and the other, the bones of their ancestors. A recent study published in Royal Society Open Science gives an insight into the reverence with which they held the daggers made from human bones — showing how they engineered them to better protect these weapons in combat. Warriors typically sourced human thigh bones from the skeletons of their fathers who had proven themselves in battle, or other men of status in the community, explained cultural anthropologist Paul Roscoe, one of the authors of the report. Read: Skeletons tell story of horrifying 5th-century massacre Read More “It was almost like a spiritual aura, like your father was watching over you, and you were carrying him into battle with you,” said Roscoe. Anthropologist Albert Buell Lewis took photos a and… Read full this story
- Archaeological finds confirm Neolithic period in New Guinea 5,000 years ago: Aussie-led study
- Mysterious Ice Age structure made from hundreds of mammoth bones discovered in Russia
- Ancient human ancestor 'Little Foot' makes public debut
- Mystery Bone Circles Made From Mammoth Skulls Dating Back 20,000 Years Helped Humans Survive the Ice Age
- Was it a temple? Was it a larder? Archaeologist baffled why ancient humans built a massive 'mammoth house' out of thousands of mastodon bones over 20,000 years ago
- Ancient human ancestor 'Little Foot' probably lived in trees, new research finds
- How Bill Gates warned in 2015 TED Talk that the next big threat to humanity was a 'highly infectious virus' that 'we are not ready' for
- New Video Games Out This Week: Half-Life Alyx, Bleeding Edge, and More
- What would a real life Animal Crossing: New Horizons island be like? We speak to zoologists to find out
- What the luck! New Zealand, and the randomness of life (or a World Cup final)
Why warriors in New Guinea used human bones as formidable daggers have 353 words, post on us.cnn.com at May 5, 2018. This is cached page on Vietnam Colors. If you want remove this page, please contact us.