Effegies of the deceased

B&W photographic print. 'A group of carved and painted grave effigies, placed in a shelter belonging to the clan, so that the villagers can see them and remember the deceased as they pass by. They are dressed and ornamented as they would have been in life, and with them are various other objects...

Full description

Archive & Special Collections PP MS 58/02/D/15 Open

Date(s) of creation: 16 April 1923
Level: Item
Format: Archive           
Main author: Mills; James Philip (1890-1960); colonial administrator and anthropologist
URL: http://digital.soas.ac.uk/LOAA004385
URL Description: Digital version available online at SOAS Digital Collections

collection SOAS Archive
id PP_MS_58.02.D.15
recordtype archive
scb_item_location Archive & Special Collections
item_location Archive & Special Collections
scb_loan_type Reference only
callnumber PP MS 58/02/D/15
callnumber_txt PP MS 58/02/D/15
callnumber-sort PP MS 58/02/D/15
prefix_number 15
title Effegies of the deceased
scb_date_creation 16 April 1923
scb_level Item
level_sort 8/Collection/Sub-Collection/Sub-Sub-Collection/Sub-Sub-Sub-Collection/Series/Sub-Series/Sub-Sub-Series/File/Item
scb_extent 1 photograph
author Mills; James Philip (1890-1960); colonial administrator and anthropologist
author_facet Mills; James Philip (1890-1960); colonial administrator and anthropologist
authorStr Mills; James Philip (1890-1960); colonial administrator and anthropologist
author_letter Mills; James Philip (1890-1960); colonial administrator and anthropologist
format Archive
description B&W photographic print. 'A group of carved and painted grave effigies, placed in a shelter belonging to the clan, so that the villagers can see them and remember the deceased as they pass by. They are dressed and ornamented as they would have been in life, and with them are various other objects, such as baskets, associated with their lives. The effigies have wooden "horns", between which the skull of the deceased is placed after it is separated from the body. According to J.P. Mills the fertility or 'soul-force' of the deceased is channelled via the wooden figures back into the earth, thus benefiting the village even in death. (It has to be noted that the theory of a 'soul-force' is not an indigenous concept but an anthropolgical interpretation of the time.) '
scb_access_status Open
scb_copyright Copyright held by J.P. Mills
language No linguistic content
language_search No linguistic content
scb_scripts_material Unwritten
scb_physc_charac_tech_reqs 9.5 x 7 cm
scb_copies Digital version available online at SOAS Digital Collections
note Effigies
Sepulchral monuments
Naga (South Asian people)
Ethnic group: Naga
Ethnic group: Konyak Naga
scb_url http://digital.soas.ac.uk/LOAA004385
scb_url_description Digital version available online at SOAS Digital Collections
hierarchy_top_id_raw PP MS 58
hierarchy_sequence PP_MS_58.0002.00D.0015

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