'A bunch of hair'

George Forster, in 'A Voyage Round the World' wrote at length on the 'ornaments' worn by the Marquesans.  He notes that 'they were also fond of having bunches of human hair tied on a string round their waist, arms, knees and ancles (sic).  All these ornaments they freely parted with for a trifling consideration, except the last, which they valued very highly, though they were the usual residence of many vermin.  It is probably that these bunches of hair were worn in remembrance of their dead relations and therefore looked upon with some veneration; or else they may be  the spoils of their enemies, worn as the honourable testimonies of victory.  However a large nail or something which struck their eyes, commonly got the better of their scruples.'

1886.1.1267 Hair ornament, Marquesas

This is number 137 in the 'Catalogue of Curiosities' - 'A bunch of hair, tied on the arms, knees or ancles'.  It was collected at Vaitahu, on the island of Tahuata, as were all the Marquesan objects in the Forster collection.  

Hardy, in 'The Native Culture in the Marquesas' (Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin No. 9, 1923) identifies these hair ornaments as ouoho (literally head-hair).  They were worn by males and females, and the hair was usually that of relatives, although the hair of enemies was sometimes used. The hair was taken to a tuhuna hana titi ouoho (specialist) who wrapped it on small sticks, bound the rolls with leaves and baked them in an oven of heated stones.  The hair was then bound into bundles and attached to a braided coconut fibre cord.  

Shiny consolidant is visible at the base of the hair bundles

The hair ornament in the Pitt Rivers collection has been treated in the past to consolidate the brittle hair.  We have no records of the treatment, which was probably carried out before 1970, when the conservation department was started.  The consolidant is now brittle and shiny, and cannot be removed without damaging the hair further.

Barkcloth

Barkcloth is used extensively in the construction of the Tahitian Mourner’s costume.  It is a fexible, cloth-like material made from the inner bark of several types of tree.  Tapa has become a generic name for barkcloth, although on Tahiti it was known as ahu.

Beater marks on barkcloth

The bark of the paper mulberry or the breadfruit tree was collected, then soaked in water for several days until the outer bark could be removed.  The inner bark was wrapped in leaves and left to ferment for a few days, before it was beaten into barkcloth.  Barkcloth beaters were generally square in section, and each side had grooves carved in it of various thicknesses.  Beating started with the coarsest side, and the side with the finest grooves was used to give a fine finish to the cloth.  Beater marks are often visible in the surface of barkcloth.  Thicker cloth was made by ‘felting’ thinner layers together.

Cape from Mourner's costume (1886.1.1637 .6)

Much of the barkcloth used in the Mourner’s costume is coloured, and was either dyed or painted.  The dyes are usually plant based, and red, yellow, brown and black were all commonly produced. 

At the Pitt Rivers, we have two Mourner’s costume headdresses.  Both have barkcloth capes.  The cape of the headdress currently associated with the rest of the costume has stripes of red, yellow and black barkcloth, while the other headdress is striped with brown barkcloth, and a decorated barkcloth which has resin applied on the surface in a pattern of dots.

Detail of barkcloth from second headdress, 1886.1.1637 .9

Barkcloth strips and core of plaited hair

Very large pieces of barkcloth are used to make the ‘ponchos’ which make up the bottom layers of the costume, but barkcloth is also used in other ways, for example twisted to form a cord for tying up the bindings used for the headdress. Barkcloth is also used in the bindings of the headdress as narrow strips wound around a core of finely plaited human hair.