Scalping

After reading in my spare time about Native American warfare against Europeans, I thought of a few questions that weren't really covered.  So, I thought I would pose the question to our resident "Pre-columbian (and post-) Americas" experts:

Where (or with what tribe) did the practice of scalping enemies and non-combatants originate?  Was it first only something indian braves did after vanquishing an enemy in battle, in order to have a token of their victory? 

It seems the practice of scalping caught on with Europeans (and perhaps Western frontiersmen) in the New World.  Did the Europeans join in because of the economic gain in the selling of scalps with various tribes?

Also, I have always wondered, was this practice also found among the Central/South American (Aztec, Maya, Inca) indians as well?  

Originally posted by edgewaters You've got it backwards. Scalping originated with Europeans, as a way to collect bounties put out on natives. It is thought to have originated with the Earl of Wessex who put bounties on Irish scalps in the 11th century, since it was easier to transport these than whole heads.

So basically, scalping was transplanted mainly by the English to Northern America?  The practice did eventually catch on with the Native Americans (maybe because they became tired of having it afflicted on them); did it not become more than just 'bounty collecting'?  With the Native Americans, did it not become something of an honor system to collect the scalps of enemies?

EDIT:

I was reading a journal article that says there is evidence from some of the early Spanish and French explorer accounts (de Soto in Florida in 1540 and Le Moyne de Morgues in 1564 in northeastern Florida)  of an exclusively Native American practice of scalping, mainly for the same reason, as evidence for taking a bounty.  Furthermore, it says there is much evidence for Native American dances and complex rituals centered around the act of taking scalps.  The article also cites archaeological evidence of pre-Columbian scalping.

James Axtell and William C. Sturtevant, "The Unkindest Cut, or Who Invented Scalping" William and Mary Quarterly 37, no. 3 (1980): 451-472.

 

Edited by Byzantine Emperor

Originally posted by edgewaters As for Indians collecting scalps to collect "bounties" this is not really believable - who would pay these bounties? It doesn't make any sense at all, rewards for aggression in Indian societies never took monetary form but were always tied to status within the community. Even amongst the Aztecs - who had a centralized state and economy capable of making such payments - warriors who brought trophies of state enemies, such as foreign prisoners for sacrifice, were not paid any sort of currency for doing so.

Sorry, I meant to say as trophies of war, not bounties.  The North American indians were settled in relatively detached tribal communities, or loose federations of tribes, and had no centralized currency and economy like the Aztecs.

The article does make it seem that the practice of scalping was indeed more common among the indians (pre-Columbian and after) than what you might think  The ritual of cleaning and stretching the scalps and also the ritualized dancing connected with it were specifically ceremonies for the taking of scalps in war, not a rite for ancestors (p. 461-462)

Edited by Byzantine Emperor

The mesoamericans did not practiced the scalping.
However, they had another rituals to claim trophies.
Mexicas as an example, when theyr were under the dominion of the tepanecas and were sent to war agaisnt the xochimilcas, the mexica warriors returned victorius with bags full of ears amputated from their dead enemies.

Also, the mexicas used to take the skulls from the sacrified enemies and settle into an structure named Tzompantli.

Originally posted by Byzantine Emperor what role did human sacrifice have in Central�American indigenous society?� I think one of the early Spanish explorers (Cortez, perhaps) wrote about the Aztecs sacrificing Spanish captives on pyramids.� Was this common place or a nuanced scare tactic of the time?

Diaz , one of Cortes' men, described that. Although, it's a little debatable if he ever actually saw it. In his account he say's he was standing on the shore of Lake Texcoco, after the Noche Triste, in a town that was some miles away from Tenochtitlan. He describes that he saw men's hearts being removed, but plainly, he could not have made out these kind of details (even though it quite likely did, actually, happen).

Sacrifice played a different role in different Mesoamerican societies. In some cases, sacrifices were voluntary, and used to ensure fertility of the soil or rain or what have you. In other cases, defeated leaders would be sacrificed. It was not practiced in the Yucatan to the same degree that it was practiced in the Valley of Mexico.

Tenochtitlan (the Aztecs) used sacrifice to terrify their enemies, if Diaz's account is to be believed, they had massive horns and drums playing while sacrifices were taking place, which could be heard in all the cities on the lakeshore. They sacrificed fairly large numbers of people, relative to groups like the Maya.

The Inca also undertook human sacrifice. It isn't really clear how much. Defeated captives were sacrificed, but also there were other sacrifices used to dedicate important buildings, and buried in their foundations.

EDIT

I'm just going through Diaz here ... seems I may have made an error. The part where he describes hearts being taken out is not after the Noche Triste, but while they are "guests" of Moctezuma, during which time they attend and observe a sacrifice. My bad.

Interestingly, he also describes the Spaniards boiling down dead Indians from the battlefield to make grease.

Edited by edgewaters

Actually, Edgewaters, you have it a bit backward.

Axtell, an authority on the subject:

"Scalps were not mere trophies or booty of war, however," Axtell wrote. "The whorl of hair on the crown and especially male scalp locks, braided and decorated with jewelry, paint, and feathers, represented the person's `soul' or living spirit. To lose that hair to an enemy was to lose control over one's life, to become socially and spiritually `dead', whether biological death resulted or not."

It was rarely used by native indians out of respect for the slain warrior, and was used as a means of defiling an especially hated enemy of their dignity of dying in battle (dying in battle was one of the most sacred acts a male indian could do).  However Europeans weren't considered "human" by indian standards and the same codes of morality did not apply to the treatment of the Euros who had fallen in battle. (or were considered undeserving of honourable death)

Europeans, finding it much easier to travel through the expansive wilderness with scalps rather then human heads, started collecting scalps instead (or redskins, as they were called)

Edited by zerza

Hi all

Railroad worker survives scalping
http://www.travelchannel.com/video/man-survives-a-scalping

Throughout history, warriors have taken trophies to display as signs of their prowess in battle, ranging from entire heads to ears to scalps.

Although the practice varied among the many peoples of the American Indians, some were exceptionally cruel (the Chiricahua Apache, for ex.) and took scalps.  Others just tortured their captives to death.

European settlers were no better and practiced similar customs, mostly for the same reasons plus bounty money.

I've heard Sherman's men (many of whom were ex-jayhawkers) used to scalp the dead. Troops from Kansas were particularly brutal as they robbed and murdered indiscriminately:
http://www.oakgrovehistory.com/huntcivilwarmemories.htm