What is a scalp? Most often, this question is of interest to those who read books about Indians. There is nothing surprising. After all, they often talk about the fact that Indian wars during a battle take a scalp from a person as a proof of their own courage.
Why is it necessary
It turns out that these trophies were held in high esteem by the ancient Gauls and Scythians. So what is a scalp? This is the scalp cut off from the skull along with the hair. Native American tribes of North America did this not only to humiliate the enemy. Scalp was a magical attribute. He decorated the war shield and was a necessary attribute of military triumph.
You can and for money
In the 18th century, Americans did not wonder what a scalp is. They knew very well how the Indians took him off his head, and even managed to use it for their own purposes. They set a reward for each scalp taken from members of neighboring tribes. Therefore, in pursuit of profit, the Indians helped the colonists destroy their own kind. And they did it with their own hands. Not even women and children were spared.
Process description
Having learned what a scalp is, I want to understand how you can remove it from a person. Of course, most often this was done with the deceased. But sometimes living people also scalped. The Indian took up the hair of his victim, then with a knife he cut the skin in a circle from his forehead to the back of his head. Then, resting on the shoulders of the unfortunate, he pulled the skin along with the hair, like a stocking, from the back of the head. A living person experienced excruciating pain from which he could lose consciousness or even die, but sometimes such people survived. After such an execution, scars remained on the head and the hair no longer grew.
What's next
What was done with this skin, which was probably covered in fresh blood? The Indian warrior, if there was no pursuit, made a stop in order to process his trophy. With a knife, he scrubbed the remnants of the flesh from the scalp. Then he washed it and pulled it on a special construction of branches to dry it. Then he hung on his shield and went to the village. As he approached his dwelling, he made loud cries as many times as the scalps hung on his shield. The more trophies, the more successful the warrior.
Not everyone was lucky
The victims of the Indians were not only white people, but also members of neighboring tribes. If such victims survived, then in some tribes they were considered outcasts and lived as hermits until their death. Scalped not just shy of their appearance. According to Native American beliefs, they were considered not living people, but living dead. Therefore, they shunned. They lived in caves and went out only at night. The Indians did not scalp blacks and those who committed suicide.
It is good that this barbaric tradition is a thing of the past. It is better to know what a scalp is for educational purposes than to see it in reality.