Skull - Igbo - Nigeria (No Reserve Price)

Bronze head from Nigeria.

The Igbo, Jukun, Chamba, and Mumuye are ethnically groups geographically close to each other. They also revolve around these well-known and recognized ethnic groups, with smaller minority groups geographically located in Taraba State, the capital being Jalingo.

Before the arrival of European colonists, the Igbo were recognized for their love of working the land, with a tendency to expand their cultivable territories beyond the imposed limits.

They ended up encroaching on the lands of their neighbors, the Jukun, thereby creating significant tensions.

Initially, a happy settlement was reached: in exchange for part of their harvests, the Jukun accepted the inconvenience caused.

But as the years passed, the new Igbo generations decided to 'forget' this arrangement. Their numerical superiority allowed them to generalize the spoliation of the Jukun without any further compensation.

Clashes broke out...

Another source claims that, in fact, the blame lies with the Jukun, who once refused to take their share of cereals, demanding the return of the land before a season of abundant harvests.

It was the beginning of a tribal war. Eventually, the Jukun managed to drive out the Igbo from their lands.

But the Igbo who had buried their family on Jukun land could no longer retrieve the remains. They tried to negotiate for the right to honor their dead on Jukun land, but the latter no longer wanted to see Igbo on their land, not even to hold memorial ceremonies.

Rumors suggested that the Jukun desecrated the graves of their parents.

Desperate, the Igbo consulted the sages and the diviners. They all gathered and had a revelation and solution in a dream.

The spirits told them that their buried parents there complained about being abandoned among their enemies, and deep inside their tomb, they were angry with their descendants.

By coincidence, the harvests of that year were very poor due to an early drought, which was very unusual.

So they took the signs seriously, expecting the worst.

The Igbo people consulted the elders and the diviners again to seek their advice on what needed to be done to soothe the anger of their ancestors.

After another dream, the diviners ordered the entire Tiv people to each make a coffin and a miniature skeleton. They would bury it at home after performing the rites customary for the dead, and a large funeral ceremony was organized at the main marketplace of that time.

This is how the idea of the skeleton statues was born among the Tiv.

As time passed, they began to carve increasingly larger skeletons. Each era had roughly its own size. Today, size has a meaning and signifies that man is born (small skeleton), man has grown (medium size), and then man has lived (large size). Coffins degrade, but statues eventually end up being resold.

Other objects serve as supports, like a caryatid seat, for the skulls of ancestors.

It is possible that this cult overflowed onto the Ibo, who also have artifacts that are stylistically similar.